Joy in the Trials

just right here perfect thank you brother brother appreciate you good morning i'm glad you're here it's good to see you glad you can make it out on on this uh on this wet morning so if you if you want to stand with us we'll pray and we'll get started father we thank you for the day thank you for another opportunity lord to be here to serve you lord and to to spend some time in your word and to to lift praise to you lord uh help us to sit everything that's going on in our lives aside and to focus to focus on you this morning to be able to lift a joyful noise to you and may it be a sweet sound in your ear or prepare our hearts this morning we love you and we praise you in jesus name amen yes lord god we praise your your holy name this morning god

well we praise you for who you are we praise you for how great you are lord god we thank you

but then you didn't stop there well you rose again three days later having conquered sin and death and lord god because you because you are alive today that lord that means we have new life that means you are our salvation lord god and so lord god we praise you this morning and we thank you would you guys stand with me for this last one but jesus we just thank you for the day and we just thank you for another opportunity lord to be here to be in your presence this morning and to abide in you and lord as we open up your heart to you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and

to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and to be with you and morning and give us ears to hear and hearts to receive it and give us hearts to do your word as well, Lord. We love you and we praise you in your precious and holy name. Amen. Let's go ahead and take some time and greet one another. All right. Good morning. Morning. If you guys go ahead and

find it, find your way to your seats, get the announcements out of the way and we'll get started. Really glad you're here this morning. Pastor Ryan was at an FCA camp this weekend, so he's traveling home today. So pray for safe travels for him and all the people going home from that. If you got your bulletins with you, go ahead and open those up real quick and just

kind of take a look at what's going on this week. Find a spot to get plugged in there. On the left side of your bulletin are all the studies, all the different studies that are happening through the week. So if you're looking for a place to get plugged in, find one of those. We'd love to have you. In the middle section of your bulletins there, just be mindful of, we're continuing through the Bible reading plan. That should be on the

very last page of your bulletin here. So have those out this week. Should be starting on the new building here probably in the next week or two is what I'm understanding. So praise the Lord. It's coming along. It's going to get there. Whether it gets done before Jesus comes back, I don't know, but we'll see. Take note of the National Day of Prayer. That's May 1st from 12 to 1 at Wilson Park. So if you can

attend, that'd be great. For Mother's Day this year, Mother's Day falls on a Sunday where they do agape fruits. Excuse me. So what they're going to do is instead of having their normal meal down at the end of the hall, we're going to have a little picnic out in the parking lot for all the moms and everybody. That's going to be on Sunday, May 11th at 530. So if you can make that, that'd be great. And Ladies'

Bible Study, they're starting a new book or a new chapter, goodness gracious, a new book in Philippians. So if you can make that, I believe those, I don't know if those papers are out there on the, they are. Okay. Teresa says the papers are out there on the desk as you walk in there. So if you have any questions, get with Teresa Moore. I believe that is all of the announcements that I have. So if you want to go ahead and stand with us

or stand with me, we'll do our responsive reading this morning. We're going to, we're going to be in Psalm 27 this morning. If you don't need, if you don't have a Bible, there should be one there in your row. Psalm 27. We're reading out the New American Standard version this morning. I'll read the odd verses. If you want to read the even verses this morning. Psalm 27, a Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and

my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life. Whom shall I dread? Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war arise against me, in spite of this, I shall be confident. For in the day of trouble, he will conceal me in his tabernacle. In the secret tent, he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be

gracious to me and answer me. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a level path because of my foes. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would be saved. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would be

saved. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Read verse 14 with me. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. And yes, Lord, we wait on you this morning, God. Lord, we know your word says that you are coming for us. So we wait patiently and expectantly of

you. So, Lord, this morning, as we open up your word, I pray that I pray that you would overflow, overflow us with your Holy Spirit, Lord. Give me the words to speak, to speak clearly, to communicate your message effectively this morning. Father, we love you. We ask your blessing upon this time. In Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated.

If you have your Bibles, go and open them up to James chapter 1. James chapter 1.

Titled the message this morning, Joy in the Trials. Joy in the Trials. Excuse me. To give a little background on the book of James, it's generally agreed that James, the half-brother of Jesus, is the one who wrote the book of James here. During Jesus' earthly ministry, however, James didn't necessarily believe that Jesus was the Messiah. He didn't necessarily believe that he was the Son of God. And however, after the

resurrection, 1 Corinthians tells us that Jesus had appeared to James. Thus probably causing his conversion and becoming a believer and follower of Jesus. It goes on to say that this book is written to the 12 tribes dispersed abroad. Because James was over the church in Jerusalem, he wrote this letter to the Jewish believers who had been dispersed outside of Israel and were potentially being persecuted or oppressed. And it's believed that

this book was written sometime... Sometime after the resurrection, but before the destruction of the temple in AD 70. This book is a great read. I like it. It's one of my favorites. It brings a lot of needed correction, but it also brings a lot of needed encouragement too. So if you've ever heard me say the expression, this book will wreck your life, it'll do that. I've read through this book for

the first time when I was probably about 11 or 12 years old before I ever became a believer. And I remember sitting there thinking, well, it was some kind of biblical big shot because I read through an entire book of the Bible. But, you know, spoiler alert, it's only five chapters long. So, but I, again, I enjoy the book of James because it brings much needed encouragement, but also brings much needed correction. So, so with that, let's get started here. James chapter one, verse one says, James,

a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes dispersed abroad, greetings. James introduces himself here in verse one as a servant or a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And knowing what we know about James being the half brother of Jesus, he, he didn't claim to be the half brother of Jesus here. He didn't introduce himself that way here, but rather as a bondservant of Jesus. That word bondservant there is kind of a special word. And it carries

with it the idea of not just a slave, but of one of permanent, voluntary service. Throughout history, there, there've been many who have, who have served a master. And when they've been set free, they love that master so much that, and they were so good to that, to that person that they voluntarily enslaved themselves to that person. They, they, they gave themselves to permanent voluntary service to that person. And that's the idea that's being carried,

carried through here. The idea being presented here, that James, who is not only the half brother of Jesus, but is more importantly, he is a permanent voluntary servant of the one true living God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. James thought it important here to put his heavenly relationship with Jesus above his earthly one. He thought it important. I'll say it again. He thought it important here to put his heavenly relationship

with God above his earthly relationship with him. When, when I was in college, I interned at a refinery for a couple of summers and a couple of winters while I was on break, where my dad worked for 30 plus years. And when, on my first days there, I'll never forget, you know, I was introduced around to everybody and I would say, Hey, I'm Jared, Jared Doyle. And they're like, Oh, you're Alan Doyle's boy, right? Yeah, that's me. You know, everybody knew me as Alan Doyle's son,

you know, and that's fine. I love, I love that. I, I'm, I was proud to be his son. I still am. But without that relationship with my dad, who was I? I was nobody. You know, I, I kind of wrote in on the laurels of my dad, but James and James could have established himself here as the half brother, Jesus, and wrote in on those laurels, but no, he didn't do that.

He would have had some major clout had he done that, but instead he voluntarily humbled himself and presented himself as a permanent voluntary servant of God and of him. His Lord, Jesus Christ. Understand that James had finally come to the point in his life where he let down his pride and Jesus finally became the Lord of his life. So the first question is, who is Jesus to you? Who is Jesus to you? Jesus presented this,

this question to Peter in Matthew 16. He said, all these people say, I am this person and this person and this person. But then he says to Peter, but who do you say? I am Peter for once in his life, let down his pride. He humbled himself and for once took his foot out of his mouth. And he said, you are the Messiah. You're the son of the living God. Peter humbled himself and confess Jesus and confess Jesus was the only one who could save him

and bring him into a right relationship with God. Moving on. James addresses his letter to the 12 tribes. The 12 tribes dispersed abroad. And we briefly covered that in the intro, but in case you're already asleep, here it is again. He addressed his letter to these Jewish Christians who were scattered abroad outside of Israel, who had left Jerusalem, most likely because of persecution

and oppression. Verse two says, consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith is going to be a great test. And so let endurance have its full effect so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. It says, consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters. Yes. Yes. It's things are

getting good here. Consider it great joy when you experience various trials like James, brother. I don't know if I can get you get behind you on that one. You know, I don't know that I consider trials, the trials that I go through very joyous. And honestly, whoever says it's a go, it's a joy to go through trials. Pretty sure Job never enjoyed his boils and sores, you know, pretty sure not. He never enjoyed his trials at all, not even a little bit,

you know, but it goes on to say, because the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its full effect. So that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. Some of your translations may translate endurance for patience and its full effect as perfect work. James goes on to say that these trials, these temptations, these adversities, this testing we're going through produces something good in us. It produces patience and endurance. So that, so when we know,

that something good can come out on the other side of that dark tunnel, we can consider it pure joy. We can we have something to look forward to. The following account is based on a true story. The names of the names have been changed to protect the not so innocent here. A few weeks ago, my wife and I had an incident with one of our children who shall rename remain nameless.

Um,

had cut their hair without us knowing we didn't find out about it until like the next day he got home from school and we're just like what are you doing what are you doing and we told him like the only way to fix this i mean it looks it looked dumb the only way to fix it was to cut his hair short and guys lost his business lost his mind goodness gracious the the following argument lasted an hour and a half with this kid you couldn't convince this guy this kid the sky was blue you know i mean just goodness gracious now i'm really proud of alissa and i because we managed to get through this whole situation without just completely losing our business you know i mean parents amen yeah yes just does it get better

no oh my goodness you couldn't convince this kid the sky was blue but yet somehow my wife and i listen i we made it through this without completely losing our business understand what it says here that trials produce patience it doesn't say that you go into these trials with a little bit of patience but it doesn't say that you go into these trials with a little bit of patience it's the patience that you need it's the trials themselves that produce a that produce patience elise elisa and i have have been through trial after trial after trial raising our kids raising our family and and by god's grace we've managed to produce a little bit of patience in our lives and i'll say that she's produced a lot more patience than i have so just being honest

here so but god doesn't necessarily give us patience it's a product of the trials that we go through let's let's just say for now that particular trial produced more than our fair share of patients here you know for elisa and i in that moment and the one joy that i found in all that mess is that is knowing that we were patient and we endured that particular trial and we know that if we keep being patient and we keep enduring through this trials that it's perfect work will help bring us to maturity to be complete and we know that if we keep being patient and we keep enduring through this trials that it's perfect work will help bring us to maturity to be complete to be lacking nothing

disclaimer my wife is a lot more complete than i am okay so again just being honest here being open so she's way more patient than i am but i'm getting there okay verse five now if any of you lacks wisdom he should ask god who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly and it will be given to him but let him ask in faith without doubting for the doubter is like the surging sea driven and tossed by the wind and that person should not expect to receive anything from the lord being double-minded and unstable in all its ways in this next set of verses here we we see the need the need for wisdom during those trials you see patience is a product of the trials but to get through the trials you need wisdom not just knowledge you need wisdom so

many times in the trials i have no idea how to get through them i need the knowledge of what and how to get through and overcome the trials and wisdom is knowing how to use that knowledge the problem that we often see is that we seek wisdom from everyone and everything around us except god except his word it says in verse five here it says that if we lack wisdom we should ask god who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly and ungrudgingly and ungrudgingly and gives generously and ungrudgingly some of your translations say liberally and without reproach guys we have a great source of wisdom in our creator right i mean he did create the universe and everything in it after all right i mean if you look at the creation story there's wisdom in

the order of how he created things i've taught this in youth group a few weeks ago or a few months ago and now actually um but if you look at the creation story you know he he created light and he created plants and animals but you understand but you see without that light the plants wouldn't have survived he created the land and everything you can't have plants without land right he created everything in order god is a god of order not of chaos there's wisdom in that okay he created everything and in the order and in order god is a great source of wisdom in addition he gave us an entire book of wisdom it's called the bible but more specifically the book of

proverbs if you if you got if you open your bibles up to proverbs chapter one with me just real quick my pen there so i can turn back real quick too far come on there we go proverbs chapter one verse seven says the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge the fools despise wisdom and discipline proverbs 2 1 through 6 if you flip over the next page it says my son if you accept my words and store up my commands within you listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding furthermore if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure then you will understand the fear of the lord and discover the knowledge of god pay

attention for the for the lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding proverbs 3 proverbs 3 13 through 15 happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding for she is more profitable than silver and her revenue is better than gold she is more precious than jewels and nothing you can nothing you desire can equal her not only has god our best source of wisdom but he said it says he gives wisdom generously and ungrudgingly you turn back to james if you want he gives wisdom freely salomon knew knew that he needed wisdom to rule israel wisely so he asked the lord for it he asked the lord for wisdom and boy did he ever deliver

first to all of them and his trial was figuring out how to rule an entire kingdom at a young age he needed all the help that he could get so he went to the blood excuse me the best place that he could think of. That was God. He asked God for wisdom. And God's reply was, you could have asked for riches. You could have asked for power, for fame, and for glory.

But instead, you asked for wisdom. And because you asked for wisdom, I'll give you wisdom. And I'll give you all the things that you didn't ask for. I'm paraphrasing that, of course. But God gave Solomon everything that he needed to get through the trial that he was going through. God gave all the wisdom that he was ever going to need. Verse 6 says, but let him ask in faith

without doubting, for the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways. Notice what it says here in verse 6. It says, but let him ask in faith without doubt. Without doubting. The one who does not believe that God gives wisdom and gives it freely should

not expect to receive anything. If we're asking God to give us wisdom, ask in full belief, ask in full faith. Believe that God will give you wisdom if you ask for it. If we ask for wisdom and faith, God will not fail to deliver. But for the one who does not believe, though, it says that that person is like the surging sea. That person is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind, double-minded and unstable in

all his ways. David Guzik's commentary puts it like this. The wave of the sea is never at rest. The wave of the sea is never stable. The wave of the sea is driven by winds. And the wave of the sea is capable of great destruction. Guys, imagine not being able to rest. Imagine being constantly being worried because of the trials that you're going through. Imagine never, ever having a stable

foundation in your life and in the trials. Imagine never having clear direction. And everywhere you go, you leave a trail of destruction in your path. I've known people like this, and I've actually been like this myself. Several years ago, I was working for the county, and the job itself was great. I had a great purpose there. I felt a great purpose. I enjoyed getting up every day and going

and fixing people's computers. I did all the mapping for the county. I worked with a lot of great people. But I also worked with a lot of, I don't know exactly how to describe them, just not my favorite people in the world, shall we say that. Some of the people that I worked for and worked with just absolutely drained me. I started to work for the county. I started to work for the county. I started to work for the county.

I started coming home every single day depressed and angry and just spiritually, emotionally, physically drained and just completely done. And my wife, she came to the point and said, Jared, you've got to do something. You can't keep coming home like this every day.

During that season, I was like a wave. I was like that wave. I didn't ask God for wisdom because I didn't ask in faith. I genuinely believed that he would, I genuinely believed that God would give wisdom to anybody and everybody else except myself because I thought that God had bigger fish to fry. He had bigger problems to deal with in my problems. Therefore, the temptation was just to quit my job and move anywhere else where the job was

theoretically better. You know, I got all kinds of emails about job openings all over the place, like Oklahoma and Texas, Missouri, Arkansas. All these different places. And I was ready to pick up and move at the first job offer. I didn't really care too much about what job it was. Didn't care too much about where it was. I just knew I was ready to get out of there. And during that particular trial in my life,

the temptation was to be driven anywhere, was to be driven by the wind without any direction, to be driven anywhere but there because I thought that anywhere was better. And where I was. And thankfully, my wife is very wise. And she kept telling me, Jared, you need to go to the Lord about it. You need to seek the Lord. Seek his wisdom.

In those darkest times during that season, she kept encouraging me. Seek the Lord. Pray about it. Have you prayed about it? No. I haven't prayed about it. You know, I've prayed about it. I've prayed about it. I've prayed about it. I've prayed about it. Seek the Lord. Seek him in faith. Her solution was to go to the source of wisdom, to gain wisdom, to gain that stable foundation, to gain that direction. And I'm so thankful I did because

who knows where I'd be if I didn't. I'd be anywhere but here, getting to serve the Lord in this capacity. So thankful for that wisdom. So the lesson that we pull from this is to seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. Seek him in faith. Her solution was to go to the source of wisdom, seek wisdom from the Lord when you're going through your trials. That wisdom is going to

let you know how to get through those trials. When you don't know how to get through, when you don't know the answer to what you're going through, go to God for wisdom. I noticed Pastor Ryan, often when he prays for people, he prays for wisdom and discernment in most every situation. Why? Because that's going to be the answer to the trial that that particular person is going to be going through. So I'm going to go to God for wisdom.

So I'm going to go to God for wisdom. So I'm going to go to God for wisdom. So I'm going to go to God for wisdom. So I'm going to go to God for wisdom. So I'm going to go to God for wisdom. So I'm going through wisdom and discernment. Verse nine, it says, let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation, but let the rich boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field. For the sun rises and

together with the scorching wind dries up the grass. Its flower falls off and its beautiful appearance perishes. And in the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities. Excuse me. James goes on to talk about riches here. And he says, let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation, but to let the rich boast in his humiliation

because he will pass away like a flower of the field. Now, before we get carried away with this verse, let's understand something. It's not a sin to be wealthy. Okay. It is not a sin to have lots of money, to be wise with your money. The Bible is very clear on this. 1 Timothy 6.10 tells us that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. Ecclesiastes 5.10 similarly says, he who loves money will not be satisfied

with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. So with that as context, let's look at this section of scripture. It says, for the one who is exalted or lifted up financially here, there's reason to celebrate. He could look back and appreciate where he came from and where he is now. But on the flip side of that token, we should not get too attached to those riches, to those possessions, to that wealth

because he will pass away like a flower. Understand that wealth can go away in an instant. Everything you have can be gone in an instant. I remember a conversation I had with my boss that I worked for before I came here, not the one at the county, but before I came here. He's a strong believer and a wonderful man of God. He's one of the owners of the mapping company that

I worked for before I started here. He recalled a conversation that he had with his kids about this very subject. The company has done very well. The Lord has blessed them immensely and therefore his family. He is also blessed. You know, they were able to live very well. And he sat his family down one day and he began to teach them about this principle, about this subject here. And he planted a question

in their heads and he says, if we lost everything tomorrow, would you still be happy? If all of this went away, the house, the cars, the clothes, the technology, and all the comforts that we enjoy today, if they all went away, would you still be happy? If all of this went away, would you still be happy? If all of this went away, tomorrow, would you still be happy? Would you still be content?

And I understood in that moment that he had no significant attachment to the things that he owned. You know, sure, he enjoyed them. And that's what those things exist for. They exist to be enjoyed. But he didn't let those things take the place in his heart that only God is supposed to be. So the question becomes here, if and when trials come, and as a result, you lose everything, are you still content? Are you still trusting in the Lord?

Are you still enduring? It's important for our faith to be tested. Take Job, for example. I'm going to pick on him a few times today. Take Job, for example. God knew Job would be faithful when he was tested. God knew what was in Job's heart. But the question was, did Job? I stole a little bit of this from Chuck Smith, just FYI. So remember, Job was a very wealthy man. And while he did enjoy his riches,

he enjoyed God more. So much so that when everyone told him to curse God and die, he told them to go pack sand. He refused to curse God. Yes, he was miserable. Yes, he had everything and everyone ripped away from him. Yes, his health was taken away. He was, absolutely miserable. But understand that his wealth wasn't in the things that he owned. It wasn't in the things of this earth. His true wealth was in Jesus. Verse 12 says,

Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And because Job endured the trials and temptations, he received the crown of life that God promised to him. So the question becomes, are you storing up for yourselves earthly treasures? Or are you storing up for yourselves heavenly treasures? You know, I've talked to the folks, those wonderful

folks. I teach our kids at the other end of the hall. You know, they don't get paid to be there. They don't get thanked much. It's not a glamorous job. It's oftentimes thankless and an overlooked job. I've heard it described as the black hole of ministry. You know, it can be frustrating. It's dirty. It can be loud and noisy. If you're a nursery worker, it can be smelly, right? And oftentimes they very rarely ever see

the fruits of their labor. But yet I tell them that while they may not see the rewards this side of eternity, they're storing up for themselves heavenly treasures. Their treasure is in the Lord, where thieves can't break in and steal, and where moth nor rust can destroy. They're storing up heavenly treasures, implanting those seeds of God's word in those kids' hearts. And so many times, guys, we view them as glorified babysitters.

We drop our kids off to get a break for an hour and a half. I get it. You know, I get it. I've been there too. But those wonderful people, in my opinion, this is my opinion, those wonderful people that teach our kids at the other end of the hall have the most important job in the church. Yes. Yes. The ushers are important. Yes. The greeters are important. Yes. The pastor is important. Yes.

The worship team is important. Yes. The sound and video people are important. Yes. The people who clean the church are important. But yes, so are those Sunday school teachers. They are taking what is most precious to us, our little ones, and they're teaching them about Jesus and they're doing it for free. They're sacrificing their time, their energy, and their sanity, oftentimes, to be down

there instead of here. They're sacrificing all that to plant those seeds in our kids' lives. That's often thankless and one of the most overlooked and underappreciated jobs in the church. But rest assured, when they get to heaven, God has some big rewards. And may I humbly suggest, you know, if you have kids, you go and pick them up, thank them. If you see a Sunday school teacher,

thank them. Tell them that you appreciate them. Give a big old hug and kiss. I'm kidding. Don't do that. That's weird. Okay? Don't do that. It may not go down so well.

Verse 13, it says, no one undergoing a trial should say, I'm being tempted by God. Since God is not tempted by evil, he will not be tempted by evil. And he himself doesn't tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. James goes on to say that no one

undergoing a trial should say, I'm being tempted by God. Since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn't tempt anyone. Excuse me. Understand that God does not tempt anyone. That word tempt here is talking about a solicitation to evil, to do evil things. God doesn't do that. God doesn't do that. I want to make that very, very clear. Yet he may allow us to be tempted in the trial. And as a trial,

I'm going to pick on Job here again. Remember, God, allowed Satan to tempt Job to test him. The temptation for Job was to curse God in the face of all of his trials. The temptation was to turn away from God when life got hard. And sometimes God does allow us to be tempted in the trial. Sometimes God does allow our life to be hard, but God does not himself tempt us. And we know that because there is no evil within him.

There is no evil. Within God. And even though we may be tempted to evil in the midst of a trial to give up and take the easy way out, God is not the one doing the tempting. He may be the one who allows it. And in a strange way, it's a little bit of a comfort knowing that as Pastor Ryan always says, there's nothing that happens that hasn't been filtered through the hands of a loving God. It goes on

to say that temptation comes when we are instead drawn away by our own evil desires. When we're tempted to throw in the towel and take the easy way out. Guys, Jesus knows the feeling. He knows what you're going through. Matthew 4 documents this well. Jesus has gone 40 days without food and water, and he's in the midst of an intense trial. And I guarantee you, there's nothing he

wants more than food, water, and rest. He's in the midst of an intense trial. And in that intense moment, when his hunger and thirst were at its greatest, when he was tired and physically weak, notice the tempter comes. Satan comes and tempts Jesus to take the easy way out. He offers Jesus food, which if I'm fasting 40 days, that's the one that's going to get me right off the bat.

I love food. I mean, homemade chicken and noodles. I'm out. I'm out. He offers Jesus food. He offers Jesus rest. And he offers Jesus power. If he would just bow down and worship Satan. Excuse me. Satan came and offered Jesus the easy way out in the midst of a trial. And that's oftentimes when Satan shows up in our lives. Amen? Yeah. It's in the midst of an intense trial.

When you're down, when you're tired, you're weak, and you're ready to throw in the towel. Satan oftentimes shows up offering you the easy way out. And he offers Jesus power. And he offers the easy way out. But blessed, blessed is the one who endures, for he will receive the crown of life. Notice what happens, though, when we take the easy way out. Verse 15 says, then after desire

has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

Its end result is death. All sin eventually leads to death. Romans 6.23 confirms this for us. It says, for the weight of sin, it gives birth to death. And when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. The ages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

This leads us to our last section of scripture here. Verse 16 says, don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of who does not change like shifting shadows. By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits. fruits of his creatures. James tells us not to be deceived because every good and perfect gift

is from above. What is that gift from above? It's eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Understand that things that may seem like blessings sometimes can turn out to be a curse in our lives. You know, I think we've all wondered what we'd do if we ever won the lottery, you know, right? We've all thought about it once, at least once in our lives. If you haven't, you're lying, all right? We've all thought about it at least once.

What would you do with all that money, you know? While winning the lottery would bring about a certain measure of financial peace, at least for a time in time, it could bring about ruin and destruction in your life. You know, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't I listen to a guy named Dave Ramsey all the time. He's a Christian financial counselor.

And countless people have called in talking about their kids or grandkids or relatives who inherited a bunch of money. And it's completely ruined their lives. They've taken that money. They're a prodigal son. They've taken their inheritance and they've run off and they're neck deep in drugs and alcohol and partying. And they come back broke. They come back broken and ruined.

They're left broken and ruined. And what appeared to be a blessing in the beginning was actually turned out to be a curse. What was thought to be a good gift was actually a detriment. Guys, there has to be a testing. Any gift must be measured against eternity. I'm not saying that winning the lottery is guaranteed to bring about your destruction. That's not what I'm saying.

But again, it goes back to what we talked about earlier. It's that love of money is what will bring about that destruction. But notice what it says. But the perfect gift of God is salvation through Jesus. When he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. When God gave us salvation through the gospel of Jesus, we as followers are the first fruits.

The result of the work of the gospel in our lives. And that is the good and perfect gift that is from above.

Guys, understand that God can bless us with worldly gifts and things. But they don't last. You can't take them into eternity.

Charlie, if you want to go ahead and make your way on up here. The absolute most perfect gift there ever was is Jesus. If you want to be blessed with that gift in your life, it's not hard. You have but to simply ask. If you're here this morning and you want to ask Jesus into your life, come find me. Come find one of the leaders. We'd be happy. We'd be happy to talk it over with you and pray with you.

But as a believer, understand that Jesus doesn't promise a problem-free life. He doesn't promise that there won't be trials. It's not a matter of if trials come. It's a matter of when trials come. And we need to expect those trials in our life and know that good things will come from them. Know that patience and endurance, a completeness, a perfect work is being done in our lives in the midst of those trials.

And in the midst of those trials. Seek wisdom from the Lord. Seek the Lord's wisdom in those trials. He gives it freely. It's not a big secret. You don't have to know a secret handshake. Just ask and ask in faith. Believe. And with that, we'll go ahead and let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you for the day. And we just thank you for your word. And Lord, we know.

We know that trials will come. And when they do, Lord. We know that you're there. We know that you never leave us nor forsake us. We know that in the midst of those trials, Lord, you give wisdom. And we know that in the midst of those trials, you're producing something good in us, Lord. Patience, endurance. So that we can be complete. And lacking nothing. Lord, I ask your blessing upon each and every one of us.

As we leave here today. Lord, move mightily in our lives. And we love you and we praise you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

For this side of eternity and the next, Lord God. And we just praise you and we thank you. Lord, we just thank you for your word again this morning, God. And just pray that your Holy Spirit go with us. Make your presence known to us. Lord, when we go through the trials, let us know that you are there. And that you are with us. We love you and we praise you.

And in Jesus' name. Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.