WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.640 So James, it's a great book to look at and it fits in with our theme for the year, which 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:13.000 is being doers of the word and not only hearers. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:19.879 It's a really interesting book, James, and it's kind of like the New Testament version 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:23.960 of Proverbs, but much shorter. 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:25.960 It's observational. 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:34.960 It darts a lot of the time from one subject to another, but its whole foundation, similarly 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:42.799 to the book of Proverbs, is based on wisdom and on the fear of the Lord, really. 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:49.120 And in the New Testament context, that is loving Christ and knowing Christ. 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:58.039 Proverbs 12 talks about the importance of the promises that God has for those who love 00:00:58.039 --> 00:00:59.039 Him. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:04.599 The whole foundation, the whole basis of the book is the relationship with Christ, although 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:08.039 he doesn't speak much about the atonement itself. 00:01:08.039 --> 00:01:10.519 I think I mentioned that before. 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:19.239 But it's really about how being a new creation in Christ, because we're different, because 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:22.199 we've got a new heart, it changes how we live. 00:01:22.199 --> 00:01:28.239 And it's really looking at that throughout its chapters. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:36.560 And tonight we're looking at trials, and we'll also ask the question, is it trials or temptations? 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:40.359 So thank you, but simple, based on these two areas. 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:48.760 So the whole focus of these early verses is, what do we do as Christians with trials or 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:51.000 testings or temptations? 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:57.280 I'll explain a little bit more about the differences, maybe, towards the end. 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.960 And it's interesting, he doesn't define what these trials are specifically. 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:09.959 He just says, whenever you meet trials, whenever they happen, and he leaves it quite deliberately 00:02:09.959 --> 00:02:15.959 general, because trials and difficulties will always come, and they come in all shapes and 00:02:15.959 --> 00:02:16.959 sizes. 00:02:16.959 --> 00:02:19.400 It's simply part of life. 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:22.840 Whenever they come, we all face that. 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:25.759 And being a Christian doesn't change that. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:29.079 Sometimes we think it does, or it should. 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:34.480 But it doesn't change that for us. 00:02:34.480 --> 00:02:42.000 And it really is challenging us to consider how the change of heart that we have, because 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:47.439 we're Christians, because we're the Holy Spirit in us, because we've got life, how that changes 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:52.960 our outlook and our response to trials and to difficulties in life. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:59.680 And much of James is about that, about it kind of dips back into all these things. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:01.159 Sometimes it's riches. 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:08.879 Yeah, riches can be a trial, you know, a trial to not be proud or not to be self-sufficient, 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:13.520 or it could be poverty, or it could be how we speak, or it could be our attitudes, or 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:15.640 our ambitions, or illness. 00:03:15.640 --> 00:03:21.800 James deals with all these things and dips back into them and through the letter. 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:28.480 And so how do we deal with difficulties that we face in our lives, as we all do? 00:03:28.480 --> 00:03:32.280 Well, he asks us to do several things. 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:34.680 They're really good principles for us to think about. 00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:39.520 The first is, we always use our mind in our lives as Christians. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:43.760 He says, count it all joy, verse 2, count it all joy. 00:03:43.760 --> 00:03:48.000 That word, count it, it's considerate. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:54.080 It really means, I think that the word really means, put it to the forefront of your mind. 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.840 May it be your leading thought. 00:03:56.840 --> 00:04:05.319 So he's really saying, be conscious and intentional and prayerful, but think about these things 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:07.000 when they happen. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:10.800 Look at life, look at life around you. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:11.800 Look back at your life. 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:13.680 Not everything works out. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:19.920 Look around everyone else around you as well, that life doesn't work out the way we want 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.920 and there's often difficulties. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:28.879 And very often we see in life, and not just in Christian life, but you'll see it with 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:35.960 other people, that often hardship produces great character and helps people to become 00:04:35.960 --> 00:04:38.240 mature and strong. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:45.600 You know, in our own experience, whether it's in a job or in a relationship or in a sport, 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:54.240 the overcoming, persevering, breaking the barrier of pain can be a good and a powerful, 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:56.079 satisfying thing. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:57.960 We learn about ourselves. 00:04:57.960 --> 00:05:05.120 We learn about our character and we become more character-ful people when we come through 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:09.040 struggles and difficulties. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:12.160 And it makes us mature. 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:17.399 That's true generally in life and we need to consider that that is going to be true as 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:19.840 well in our Christian lives. 00:05:19.840 --> 00:05:28.240 Otherwise, when suffering and difficulties come and we don't work through them, we stay 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:31.399 immature and we don't grow up. 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:36.120 And you know there's nothing worse than an adult who is childish, is there? 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:45.719 There's nothing more frustrating than a grown-up who refuses to grow up, who's spoiled and who 00:05:45.719 --> 00:05:51.560 throws tantrums and who needs to get their own way all the time. 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:57.239 We get frustrated when a grown person acts like a five or six or seven-year-old because 00:05:57.239 --> 00:06:01.319 they haven't matured. 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:03.759 And the same is true spiritually. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:09.959 If every time we hit difficulties and troubles and trials, we just, we throw a tantrum at 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:16.279 God and we stomp about and we go in a huff with him. 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:21.159 We never mature and we never grow our character spiritually. 00:06:21.159 --> 00:06:28.480 He uses trials to, as he says here, to make us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:29.800 That is, he matures us. 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:37.520 And we don't look for trials, but it reveals a lot about who we are and our hearts, our 00:06:37.520 --> 00:06:38.520 response to them. 00:06:38.520 --> 00:06:41.000 So use our mind, that's the first thing. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:46.040 The second thing is we need to check our hearts because when he says consider it, and I mentioned 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.879 this before, last day, consider it all joy. 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:55.800 And that's an emotion, a sense that comes from within us. 00:06:55.800 --> 00:07:02.040 And it is because we have a different attitude to our trials. 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:09.520 If we can respond with a degree of joy in our sufferings because we recognize that we 00:07:09.520 --> 00:07:15.439 are new creations, we recognize that God is there and involving them and maturing us through 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:22.240 them, then it keeps us from responding with bitterness or with covetousness or pride or 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:27.120 self-sufficiency or blaming God or blaming others. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:35.720 We have a different worldview, therefore, and we can respond with joy, with a deep-seated 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:43.400 sense of this is not just meaningless and hopeless because God is in our lives and because we 00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:45.240 have purpose and we have hope. 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:48.879 I might return to that briefly at the end. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:56.719 So it's important to use our mind and it's also important to check our hearts when we 00:07:56.719 --> 00:07:59.399 go through difficulties and trials. 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:08.240 Can I just say a little aside here, please be aware of or be aware of not using a verse 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:13.639 like this to be a job's comforter for other people when they're going through difficulties. 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:20.120 I don't think this verse at all is meant to be the first step that we give to anyone in 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:24.279 grief counseling or in struggles or battles. 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:29.479 When someone's going through deep difficulties as a Christian, I don't think the best thing 00:08:29.479 --> 00:08:34.720 to say is, hey, consider all pure joy, have a great time, God's maturing you, he's giving 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:37.600 you a lesson in growing up. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:40.439 That's not really what's meant in this verse. 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:44.520 You're more likely to get a Bible whacked across your head from someone going through 00:08:44.520 --> 00:08:52.600 troubles if that's how you respond with your counsel to them. 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:56.120 It's much more to be a general principle. 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:59.440 This is not speaking about specific difficulties. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:06.480 It's a general principle whenever trials come to examine our own hearts. 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:15.759 It's not a sticking plaster text that we stick on someone else's trials to, because it's 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:24.560 more about how we respond to ourselves and how we are able to examine our own hearts and 00:09:24.560 --> 00:09:29.840 be empathetic and be loving towards others. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:33.159 So that's just an aside. 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:40.120 In order to consider trials and tribulations joyful, which seems a very hard thing to do, 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:45.799 I think we need to bear in mind two things that James says here that are also very significant 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:47.919 and I hope helpful. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:58.439 In order to recognise God's hand in all the various trials we face, we need two things. 00:09:58.439 --> 00:10:02.639 We need wisdom and we need faith. 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:07.240 In verse 5, wisdom comes back to you again and again in his letter. 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:13.319 If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all their approach. 00:10:13.319 --> 00:10:20.600 So there's a recognition there, isn't there, that this conclusion of our hearts, this ability 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:26.319 to consider it joy is an act of great wisdom. 00:10:26.319 --> 00:10:28.200 We need God's wisdom. 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.600 In other words, we need the clarity that comes from God. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:40.639 We need to recognise that his will is being done and we're to avoid being deceived by 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:45.080 sufferings and trials and difficulties. 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:49.279 And that requires wisdom. 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:57.040 It's easily tellt, but it's something that God alone can give. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:03.879 God's wisdom is a great thing to enable us to take us through trials and it's his gift. 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:05.959 Isn't that a great thing here? 00:11:05.959 --> 00:11:08.879 These two things are God's gift. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:09.879 God's gifts. 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:16.719 And it's lovely what he says. 00:11:16.719 --> 00:11:26.559 Four reasons that we should be thankful that wisdom is God's gift because he says God is 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:28.079 the giver. 00:11:28.079 --> 00:11:30.079 God gives generously. 00:11:30.079 --> 00:11:38.279 God gives to all without reproach and he will give them his gift. 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:41.000 So he gives, he gives generously. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:48.959 He gives to all who ask and he gives without reproach, without rebuke. 00:11:48.959 --> 00:11:55.000 So these are four really good reasons to be praying and to be praying specifically for 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:57.799 wisdom. 00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:02.679 It enables us to have a mature response in trials. 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:09.120 And that should, I hope it motivates you to pray because you know what it's like if you're 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:15.240 asking somebody for something and you think they're a miser, very difficult to ask them, 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:16.240 isn't it? 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.720 Because you think the answer is going to be no. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:25.240 But if they're really generous, it's much easier to ask them because you sense that they're, 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:28.759 because they're generous, they're going to give you what you're asking. 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:37.000 And this is the giving generous without favourites and without reproach. 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:39.840 God who gives to everyone who asks. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:42.080 So you know, wisdom is his gift. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:43.960 This is not about intelligence. 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:47.519 This is about wisdom and it's open and available to us all. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:55.240 So in order to have joy, we need wisdom through trials and also we need faith because it goes 00:12:55.240 --> 00:13:00.639 on to say, but let him ask in faith with no doubting for the one who doubts like the way 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:03.399 they see. 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:08.360 The double minded person doesn't receive anything from the Lord. 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:09.360 So we need faith. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:14.319 I was just to find that quite a discouraging verse because I thought, well, we all doubt 00:13:14.319 --> 00:13:16.000 and it's a bit of a struggle. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:24.960 But really, it's more about a fixed attitude of mind. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:29.440 It's not saying that we're not going to be doubters because we all have doubts, but it's 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:31.759 what we do with them. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:37.759 And it's recognising that our responsibility is to take our doubts again before God in 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:45.559 prayer and ask for greater faith to believe and to take away our doubts. 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:51.879 We take our doubts to God and we leave them there. 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:56.519 It's different from grudgingly saying, well, I suppose I should pray about this. 00:13:56.519 --> 00:13:58.359 I don't really believe God will answer. 00:13:58.359 --> 00:14:03.559 I don't believe he's interested in me and I don't really believe in prayer. 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:04.559 But I'll pray anyway. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:11.199 You shrug your shoulders and you pray, but you don't really have any sense of trust or 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:17.520 belief in the presence and the power of God. 00:14:17.520 --> 00:14:18.759 And I think there's a difference. 00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:26.080 If you walk away saying, you shrug your shoulders, well, I tried praying and it didn't work. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:27.080 It's not like that. 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:36.480 It's not some kind of one-off attempt to try and bribe or try and persuade God. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:42.720 It's much more that we say, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:43.720 Overcome my unbelief. 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:44.720 Give me more faith. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:45.840 I do believe. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:53.759 Help me to believe more and give me that faith and that wisdom that enables me to see trials 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:55.279 the way that you see them. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.759 Okay, that's the first thing. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:05.560 And briefly and secondly, the second section really from verse 12 to 18 or maybe verse, 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:14.679 maybe 13 to 18, actually, he changes the word and he uses the word temptation. 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:21.799 And that's quite a difficult change and it's quite a difficult word. 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:24.119 A lot of people struggle with the Lord's prayer. 00:15:24.119 --> 00:15:31.279 Matthew 6 verse 18, Lord, lead us not into temptation, especially in the light of this 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:37.159 verse which says, you know, that God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:38.159 no one. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:44.240 So why do we pray, don't lead us into temptation if he doesn't tempt us anyway and can't tempt 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:46.839 us? 00:15:46.839 --> 00:15:54.480 It seems like a bit of a contradiction and it's quite a difficult concept in many ways. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:57.720 But in reality, the words are the same. 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:05.080 The same words that are used for trials, for testing and temptation. 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:10.920 And really it's the context that we find them that determines the meaning of these words. 00:16:10.920 --> 00:16:15.720 And in many ways, the Lord's prayer, you could say, you could rephrase, you could paraphrase 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:20.759 that Lord's prayer about, lead me not into temptation. 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:26.440 As Lord, you know, give me the faith that will keep this trial that I am in from becoming 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:36.040 a temptation or keep me from trials that I'm likely to be tempted to sin through. 00:16:36.040 --> 00:16:42.600 And there's a nuance there and there's a closeness there so that there is a link between testing 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:46.840 and temptation in many ways. 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:51.560 Because with faith, testing makes us stronger. 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:57.239 But without faith, testing becomes temptation and can lead us into sin. 00:16:57.239 --> 00:17:06.359 If you can see that nuance there between the two, we are to allow testing to strengthen 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:15.000 our faith rather than to allow testing to lead us into temptation, to unbelief and to 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:16.000 turn away from God. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:20.960 So it's in a sense, it's the difference between turning to God and testing and turning away 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:28.480 from God, allowing it to become a temptation maybe to curse God and die or whatever it 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:29.480 might be. 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:31.039 Can I give you an example quickly? 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:35.120 I hope this might be or maybe not helpful. 00:17:35.120 --> 00:17:40.799 Take the example of Joseph with Potiphar's wife. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:47.680 And you know, he had gone to this position of trust and God had honoured him, taken him 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:55.440 from into that position in Egypt. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:18:08.720 And Potiphar's wife almost demanded that he stay with her and sleep with her. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:15.200 Now she might have been very beautiful, we don't know. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:25.160 And as a beautiful woman, that beauty was a gift to her from God, God who created beauty. 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:27.799 And it was a test of Joseph's faith. 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:32.799 He'd been brought to this place, God had protected and kept him. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:39.240 And there was a test as to whether he would continue to obey God or whether he would be 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:44.960 tempted to say, well, God's kind of given me a raw deal over this last well. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.680 All these dreams that had none of them have come true. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:52.160 I think I'll just make the most of it and just have a bit of a fling here with Potiphar's 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.480 wife and enjoy myself. 00:18:55.480 --> 00:18:58.799 And you can see the two differences, can you? 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:06.840 There was a test for his faith because and his faith was strengthened because he ran 00:19:06.840 --> 00:19:11.840 away and in effect, as it were, he ran into God's arms. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:16.879 And he said, you know, I can't, I can't, this would be the God who is, you know, who's my 00:19:16.879 --> 00:19:20.759 Lord and my King at this time. 00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:28.199 And so he didn't allow this testing to become a temptation which he dwell on, which he considered, 00:19:28.199 --> 00:19:34.039 which he was enticed by, and which he gave into. 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:40.839 And so it became something that strengthened his faith because he turned to God in it rather 00:19:40.839 --> 00:19:49.319 than a temptation which weakened his faith because he turned away from God or he allowed 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:51.480 sin to drag him away from God. 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:57.159 Is that interesting phrase about sin there? 00:19:57.159 --> 00:20:02.759 No one tempted in verse 13, let no one say when he's tempted, I'm being tempted by God, 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:04.679 for God cannot be tempted with evil. 00:20:04.679 --> 00:20:08.480 He himself tempts no one, but each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed by 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:10.159 his own evil desire. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:15.720 So we're either drawn to God to make our faith strong in trials or we can be lured away from 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:24.480 him and dragged away by our own desires and our own sins to allow temptation to break 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:27.600 our faith in him. 00:20:27.600 --> 00:20:30.519 And you see that again and again in the, actually in the Old Testament, the word I think is 00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:37.600 used over 50 times testing, temptation in the Old Testament about exposing whether the 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:44.719 faith of the Old Testament people of God was genuine or whether their hearts were hard. 00:20:44.719 --> 00:20:51.240 And very often we find that trials and testings, temptations, they expose where our heart is 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:59.359 and whether we're going to run to God or whether we're going to allow these testings to become 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:08.359 temptations and become doorways and pathways towards sin and further away from God. 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:19.039 So I think we recognize the complexity of our heart and the reality of remaining sin 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:27.119 that we resist and deal with in our lives and that we become mature and we become strong 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:34.839 when we resist temptation and when we overcome testings by relying on God, by praying for 00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:42.879 wisdom and for faith to see him in and through these things because we will all be tested, 00:21:42.879 --> 00:21:46.239 we will all face temptations every day in different ways. 00:21:46.239 --> 00:21:55.679 And can I just finish and conclude with two opposites as it were, to remind all ourselves 00:21:55.680 --> 00:22:01.720 that unchecked sin is a killer in our lives. 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:05.880 Verse 15, you know, then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin and sin when 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:08.880 it's fully grown gives forth death. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:16.120 You see the mixed images, there's a few mixed images or other images here, he's talking 00:22:16.120 --> 00:22:21.680 about either becoming a mature believer, growing up and not staying immature in a childish 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:28.480 behavior, Christian, but if we don't, we become a grown up in terms of sin. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:37.840 You know, sin, this whole conception and then is born and then fully becomes fully grown 00:22:37.840 --> 00:22:38.840 and leads to death. 00:22:38.840 --> 00:22:43.960 So there's a negative growth as opposed to growth in grace. 00:22:43.960 --> 00:22:50.160 There's a growth in sinful death and unchecked, that's what it does for us. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:54.920 I don't think, I certainly know, I don't, I'm sure probably all of us don't appreciate 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:57.400 the depth and the deceitfulness of sin. 00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:02.840 It promises so much to us and it delivers nothing but death. 00:23:02.840 --> 00:23:03.840 That's all it does. 00:23:03.840 --> 00:23:08.600 It doesn't bring us the joy we're looking for or the maturity or the fulfillment or 00:23:08.600 --> 00:23:11.400 the life that we hoped for. 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:14.600 It's a deceiver and it's a killer. 00:23:14.600 --> 00:23:19.000 And I think it's important to bear that in mind when we're tempted, sweet in the mouth, 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:22.160 to travel in the stomach. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:26.400 There's always that regret that goes with it and there's that destructiveness that is 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.400 part of sin in our lives. 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:38.640 When we relegate God to being a bit player in these issues, then we're running away from 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:42.519 Him at the time when we need to run to Him. 00:23:42.519 --> 00:23:47.400 Think of it in our unbelieving friends and neighbors, the people we love, the people 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:53.080 we're closest to that don't know you, that don't know Jesus. 00:23:53.080 --> 00:23:55.480 It leads to death. 00:23:55.480 --> 00:24:04.920 There's nothing good about it and it's the killer, it is the killer that we face and 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:08.280 the gospel is serious and it's serious for us. 00:24:08.280 --> 00:24:13.040 Of course it is joyful as well but there's a seriousness to dealing with the battle of 00:24:13.040 --> 00:24:14.040 sin. 00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:19.240 The only answer is prayer, the only answer is turning to God. 00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:26.159 Even when we feel like running a million miles away, the only place to find the wisdom and 00:24:26.159 --> 00:24:33.359 the faith to grow is by going to Him. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:42.119 So unchecked, sin is a killer but it's important to let God's light and truth guide us flicking 00:24:42.119 --> 00:24:47.319 back to Psalm 43 which we looked at on Sunday, that great end to that prayer. 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:50.639 It's the same here in many ways. 00:24:50.639 --> 00:24:55.399 Do not be deceived, verse 16, every good gift, every perfect gift is from above coming down 00:24:55.399 --> 00:24:56.399 from the Father of lights. 00:24:56.399 --> 00:24:59.399 I assume there is no variation or shadow due to it. 00:24:59.399 --> 00:25:03.519 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be the kind of 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:05.239 first fruits of His creation. 00:25:05.239 --> 00:25:08.239 Now the birth image is there again. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:13.640 The birth image is there again that He brought us forth, we are new creations, we're born 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:16.680 again by the living God. 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:23.279 And so He wants us to finish this, I'm finishing this section with this great knowledge that 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:30.839 He's the giver of good things, not Satan, not sin, however good they sometimes feel. 00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:36.759 He's the giver and He is the one who's the source of all goodness. 00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:39.559 And He's the one that's brought us to life. 00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:44.319 The word of truth is just a gospel, isn't it? 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:50.480 And as we mature, we can look forward to having that crown of life that He speaks about earlier 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:54.879 in the chapter that awaits us. 00:25:54.879 --> 00:26:00.160 And that gospel is a great place always to be because when we do doubt and when we do 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:05.359 give an temptation and when we do struggle and when we do fail, He's not there with a 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:11.519 stick, He's the open arms of the Brodical Father ready to take us back in mercy and truth. 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:16.439 Even when we fail again and again and again, He still just wants us to go back to Him and 00:26:16.439 --> 00:26:24.879 receive mercy and grace in time of our need because we are His first fruits. 00:26:24.879 --> 00:26:30.119 We are His first fruits and that's great because the first fruits in the Old Testament were 00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:40.279 a reminder that all we have belongs to God, that it's the very best that we can give and 00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:46.119 that the first fruits were celebrated every year because He is faithful, seed time and 00:26:46.119 --> 00:26:47.119 harvest. 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:50.000 And we recognize that as His first fruits. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:52.159 We are His best. 00:26:52.159 --> 00:26:53.159 We are His best. 00:26:53.159 --> 00:26:56.479 We are the best because of Jesus. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:02.839 We are Jesus first fruits and we're God's best because we are the first fruits of the 00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:08.920 resurrection of Jesus and He will be faithful to us, seed time and harvest. 00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:16.000 Whatever happens in this life, He will never give up on us and we belong to Him and we 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:21.559 return our praise to Him as those who are His first fruits. 00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:30.319 So I hope that encourages you when life is a battle and a struggle and when we face trials 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:37.159 and temptations, there's one place where we're asked to go for, to be mature and perfect, 00:27:37.159 --> 00:27:39.679 complete, not lacking anything. 00:27:39.679 --> 00:27:47.000 Then we are people who just go back to Him for wisdom that we need and who of us don't 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:54.000 and for the faith that we need that enables us to live out being new creations. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:59.799 It makes a difference therefore in all the trials and temptations and struggles that 00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:00.799 we face. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:07.519 And James wants, I think always to emphasize as being doers of the word and not just hearers. 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:16.960 So that's our first look at that and we will hopefully then also have some questions. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:26.680 And further discussion, I really want the city groups to be follow on discussing His 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:34.559 word and learning more and applying it and helping each other to apply it in our lives 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:39.680 and what that means, what we struggle with and how we can help one another so that these 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:45.680 times become really meaningful as we learn them and become doers of the word and not 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:47.240 only hearers.