Joy in the Trials

All right. Good morning. It's good to see you guys. I'm glad you all are here. I want to welcome you and invite you to stand with us. We'll pray and we'll get started. Father, we thank you for the day and we thank you for this time and for your word. Thank you for another opportunity, Lord, to be here in your house and to lift praise to you, Lord. May it be a sweet song in your ear.

Help us to focus on you and soften our hearts this morning to receive your word. We ask your blessing upon this time in Jesus' name. Amen. We want to praise you, Lord, because you are so good to us and so kind so much and we thank you for how great your love is. Lord, you love us so much, Lord, that you went and you took our rightful place on that cross. But, Lord, you didn't stop.

Lord, you were buried, but then you rose again three days later. And, Lord, because you are alive today, Lord, that means you've overcome sin and death. Lord, you have life, Lord, and because you've done that, Lord, we have new life. In this one and the next, Lord, God, we thank you. Lord, God, you are our salvation. We praise you.

You are my salvation. You are my salvation.

My salvation.

We thank you that you, God, we just thank you. Thank you again for another day. And, Lord, teach us to abide in you. Lord, teach us to stay close to you. To be people of constant prayer and people who are constantly in your word. And, Lord, I pray that this morning, now's your day. And, Lord, I pray that this morning, now's your day. word goes out. I pray that it would go out with power and not return void, but accomplish the

purpose for which it was sent, Lord. Lord, may your Holy Spirit move mightily in this place this morning. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's take some time and greet one another. All right, good morning. You guys can go ahead and start finding your way to your seats. We'll get started. Glad you guys are here. Glad you guys can make it out on this cold, wet morning.

Pastor Ryan is at an FCA camp this weekend. He should be on his way home this afternoon sometime, so be in prayer for him. Be in prayer for safe travels. If you have your bulletins, go ahead and open those up. The left side of your bulletin, there's all kinds of Bible studies. So if you're looking for a place to get plugged in, take a look there and find something to get plugged into.

In the middle of your bulletin there, we have our weekly Bible reading plan that's actually printed on the very last page. So if you're looking for a place to get plugged in, take a look there and last page of your bulletin there, but there's this week's verse. So there's that. As far as the building is concerned, my understanding is within the next couple of weeks, hopefully the building should be starting to go up. So praise the Lord. National Day of Prayer is May 1st from 12 to 1

at Wilson Park. So if you can make it, that would be great. And then for our next agape fruits for Christmas, it actually takes place on Mother's Day this year. So what we've decided to do instead is actually just do a little picnic out in the parking lot for Mother's Day. So if you can be there, that'd be great. We can celebrate you awesome moms out there. And then Ladies Bible

Study, they're starting the book of Philippians. And I believe Teresa said she has the new packets out there for anybody who wants to join in that. So I believe that is all of the announcements. This morning, if you have your Bibles, open them up to Psalm 27, if you don't, for our responsive reading. And go ahead and stand with me. If you don't have a Bible, there should be one there in

your row. We'll be reading out of the New American Standard. Psalm 27. If you'll follow along with me and Brother, or back up, strike that, reverse it. I'll read the odd verses if you follow along with Brother Glenn and the even verses. 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? When abledoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my

adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war arise against me, in spite of this, I shall be confident. One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall see, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple. For in the day of trouble, he will conceal

me in his tabernacle. And in the secret place of his tent, he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me. And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. You said, seek my face. My heart said to you, your face, O Lord, I shall seek. 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.

For my father and my mother, have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a level path because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me and such as breath out of violence. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord.

Be strong and let your heart prosper. take courage yes wait for the lord and yes lord god we wait for you lord we know that you are coming again soon we wait patiently and expectantly of you and lord as we open up your word this morning pray that you bless this time and may your word go out with power give us ears to hear and hearts to receive and give us hearts to do your word father we love you and we praise you jesus name amen please be seated get myself organized here if you have your bibles go ahead and open them up to james chapter one james chapter one i've titled the message this morning joy in the trials joy in the trials to give you a little bit of background about the book of james

it's generally agreed that james the half-brother of jesus is the author of this book now if you remember there are several different jameses uh throughout the gospel so and it's it's believed jesus's half-brother that wrote this particular this particular book during jesus's earthly ministry james didn't necessarily believe that jesus was the messiah or the son of god however after the resurrection first corinthians tells us that jesus appeared to james and most likely caused his conversion and becoming becoming a believer and follower of jesus um this book is written to the 12 tribes dispersed abroad because james was over the church in jerusalem he wrote to those jewish believers who had been dispersed who'd been scattered out uh

outside of israel because of because of persecution and oppression um and it is believed that this book was written sometime uh between the resurrection and the destruction of the temple in ad 70 um for me this book is a great read uh i actually read through it when i was about 11 or 12 years old before i became a follower of jesus and i remember sitting there thinking in my room because i read through a book of the bible i was thinking i was like some kind of biblical big shot you know um but spoiler alert it's only five chapters so you know um but this is this is a really good book of the bible it it brings some much needed encouragement but also it brings some much needed correction

of the bible um so it is really good book to start off with so with that kind of as our background let's get started here james chapter one verse one it says james a servant of god and of the lord jesus christ to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad greetings excuse me james introduces himself here in verse one as a servant or some of your translations may say a bond servant of god and of the lord of the lord jesus christ and knowing what we know about james being the half-brother jesus is just to it's interesting he didn't claim that here. He didn't claim, introduce himself, that he was the half-brother of Jesus, but rather 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 one of permanent voluntary service. Throughout history, there have been many who have voluntarily served their masters, for one reason or another, but oftentimes just because that particular master has been very good to them. And so when that particular slave would become free, they would say, because you were so good to me, I want to continue serving you, and I want to permanently and voluntarily serve you for the rest of my life. And that's what James is saying here. That's the idea being presented here,

is that James, who is not only the half-brother of Jesus, but is more importantly 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 God above his earthly relationship with Jesus. And when I was in college, I interned for a couple of summers at the refinery where my dad worked for 30 plus years. And I'll never forget the first couple of days when I was being

introduced around to the different people in the refinery, and I'd say, hey, I'm Jared Doyle. I'm Alan Doyle's son. And they would go, yeah, I know you. You're Alan Doyle's boy, which is fine. I was proud to be his son. I still am now. But without that relationship with my dad, who was I? I mean, I was nobody. I was another kid on the block. I kind of rode in on the laurels

of my dad, but James could have established himself. Here as the half brother of Jesus and had some pretty major clout with the people that he was writing to, but he didn't do that. Instead, he voluntarily humbled himself as a permanent voluntary servant of God and of his Lord Jesus Christ. James had finally come to the point in his life where Jesus was more than just his half brother. Jesus was his Lord. So first question

that I have is who is Jesus to you? Is he your Lord? Or is he just another person in history that's done some pretty awesome things? You know, who is Jesus to you? Jesus actually presented this question to Peter in Matthew 16. He says, these people say this thing, say I am this person and this person and this person. But Peter, who do you say I am? And he said, you are the Messiah. You are the son of the living God. Peter humbled himself and

confessed 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 dispersed abroad. And we briefly covered that in the introduction, but in case you're already asleep, there it is again. So because James is in charge of the church of Jerusalem, he was most likely addressing his letter to a broad group of Jewish believers outside of Israel that had been kind of scattered.

So verse two, it says, consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters, when you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its full effect so that you may be mature. And complete, lacking nothing. Excuse me. Verse two, it says, consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters. Yes, I like that. I like to consider things joy. That's good. That's very good. Consider

it great joy, my brothers and sisters, when you experience various trials. Okay, let's stop you right there. I was right up with you, James, right up until that point. You know, I don't know about you guys. I don't necessarily consider going through trials a joy. I'm pretty sure Job never enjoyed his boils and sores, right? You know, I mean, honestly, whoever says it's a joy to go

through trials, but it goes on to say, consider it pure joy because the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its full effect so that you may be mature and complete and lacking nothing. James goes on to say that these trials, these temptations, these adversities, this testing that we go through produces something good in us. It produces patience or endurance. So when we know, when we know that something good can come out on the other side of that dark tunnel that we're going through, we can consider that joy. We have something to look forward to. We know that something good is

going to come out of it. The following account is based on a true story and some of the names of it have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. Several weeks ago, my wife and I experienced a particular trial with one of our children. Said child came home one day and we discovered that they had cut their hair and it looked awful. We didn't know anything about it until he came home

from school. And so, and so it was just, it looked awful. It looked dumb. And the father, the following argument that ensued, guys, lasted an hour and a half. Lasted an hour and a half. I mean, you, you just could not convince this child that the only way to fix their hair was to cut their hair really, really short. All right? You, we argued about this for an hour and a half. You

couldn't convince this kid the sky was blue, you know, the grass was green. You couldn't do it.

Now, I'm really proud of Alyssa and I because we somehow, by God's grace, we managed to get through this whole, this whole thing without completely losing our business. You know, but, but let's just say for now that this particular trial was particularly difficult. Okay? Understand what it says here. It says that the trials produce patience. It doesn't say that you go into the trials with the patience that you need.

It's the trials themselves that produce the patience. The endurance. You know, Alyssa and I, we've, we've been through trial after trial after trial and raising our family. You know, it seems like, seems like some days one thing after another. You know, and by God's grace, we've managed to produce a little bit of patience in our lives. You know, God doesn't necessarily give us patience, but it's a product of the trials

that we go through. You know, and let's just say, let's just say for now that that particular trial produced more than our fair, our fair share of patience and endurance. But, you know, it is what it is. You know, like it was just, it was just so stressful. He was losing his business, you know, and I was so tempted to lose my business. You know, parents doesn't mean, does parents with you older kids, does it get better?

Nope. Oh, great. All right. Okay. Well, we got a lot of young families in the church and we need to know, you know, we need to know one way or the other, you know, but for Alyssa and I in that moment, the one joy that I found in all that mess was knowing that if we kept being patient and we keep enduring through these trials, that is perfect work. It's perfect work will help bring us to maturity, to be complete, to be lacking nothing.

And disclaimer, my wife is way more complete than I am. All right. She's got a lot. She's a lot more patient than I am, but, but I'm working on it. I'm getting there. Okay. Verse five says, now, any, 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 it, let him ask in faith without doubting.

So the doubter is like the surging sea driven and tossed by the wind. That person should. Should not expect to receive anything from the Lord being double-minded and unstable in all his ways. In this next section of scripture, we see the need for wisdom during these trials. You see, patience is the product. Endurance is the product of those trials, but to get through the trials, we need wisdom, not just knowledge.

So many times in the trials, you know, I have no idea how to get through them. I need the knowledge of what and how to get through the trials and to overcome them but the wisdom is what I need. Wisdom is knowing how to use that knowledge. And the problem we see, the problem we often see is that we seek wisdom from everyone and everything except God. It says in verse five, that if we lack wisdom, we should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly.

Some of your translations say liberally without reproach. Guys, we have a great source of wisdom in our creator. You know, you look at how he created everything in the order that he created everything. There's wisdom in it. You know, you can't have plants, you can't, plants can't grow without light. So what did he do the first day? He said, let there be light.

Let there be light. You can't have, nothing can survive without light. So there's wisdom in that and and and how in the order of how he created. Everything in addition, you know, guys, we have an entire book here. The Bible of wisdom more specifically Proverbs. If you want to turn over to Proverbs chapter one with me real quick.

There's an entire book of wisdom guys. It's great. Great stuff. You're going to love it.

Proverbs chapter 1 verse 7 says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 2 1 through 6 says my son. If you accept my words and start 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 six for the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Fast forward of Proverbs 3 verse 13. 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 desire can equal her.

So it seems to me God's word would be the best source of wisdom here. And not only has got our best source of wisdom, but it says that he gives he gives it generously and ungrudgingly some again some translations say he gives to all liberally and without reproach. He gives it. Freely guys, Solomon, take the story of Solomon. Solomon knew he needed wisdom to rule Israel wisely.

So he asked the Lord for it for it. He asked the Lord for wisdom and boy, did he ever deliver? For Solomon, his trial was figuring out how to rule an entire Kingdom at a young age and he needed all the help he could get. So he went to the best place that he could think of. He didn't he didn't go to his. His family. He didn't go to his friends. He didn't go to these,

you know, to these wise people seeking wisdom. He went to God. He went straight to the source of wisdom. 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 glory. But instead you asked for wisdom. And because you asked for wisdom, I'll give you wisdom. And all the other things that you didn't.

Ask for. No, I'm paraphrasing there, but God gave Solomon everything, everything he needed to get through that trial that he was going through. Solomon knew he was going to need wisdom to rule Israel wisely. And so he went to God and asked for and God delivered. He went to God in faith. And God delivered that he turned back over to James by the way.

Notice what it says there in verse 6. It says, but let him ask in faith without doubting. The one who does not believe God gives wisdom and gives it freely. Shouldn't expect to receive anything. You know, if we're asking God to give us wisdom, ask in full belief, ask in full faith, and he will deliver. If we ask for wisdom and faith, God will not fail to deliver.

But for the one who doesn't believe it says in verses 6 to 7 that 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 the winds and the wave of the sea is capable of great destruction.

Guys, imagine, imagine not being able to rest. Imagine being constantly worried because of the trials that you're going through. Imagine never having a stable foundation in your life and in the trials. Imagine never having clear direction and everywhere you go, you leave, you leave a trail of destruction in your path. I've known people like this and I've been like this.

Been like this myself several years ago. I was working for the county and the job itself was great. The job itself was great. You know, I was an IT tech and I was the county mapper and got to fix all the computers and do all the mapping for the county. It was great. I felt like doing that gave me great purpose. You know, but the problem that for me was that some of the people I worked for and worked around

just drained me and every sense of the word. I came home physically, emotionally, spiritually drained. Every single day for months and months and months on end. I came home depressed and angry all the time. And during that season, I was like, I was like a wave of the ocean. I didn't ask God for wisdom because I genuinely believed in that season of life that God would give to anybody else but myself.

I felt like God had bigger fish to fry than my than my own problems.

Therefore, the temptation was to quit my job and move anywhere else. Where the job was supposedly better. I got all kinds of emails about job openings in Oklahoma and Texas, Missouri and Arkansas and everywhere. I didn't really care too much about what job I got or even where it was. I just knew I was ready to quit to get out of there to to give in in the middle of that trial of my life.

During that particular trial in my life, the temptation was to be driven. Anywhere anywhere but there because I thought anywhere had to be better than this place anywhere had to be better than what I was going through at that time. And thankfully, my wife God bless you. She is always there to offer me wisdom. And that wisdom was to seek the Lord. Seek the Lord 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 it who knows where I'd be right now. I'd be anywhere but here. I'd be anywhere but getting to serve the Lord in this capacity. Because I'm so thankful for that wisdom. So the so the lesson that we pull from this is when you're going through your trials. Go to the Lord seek his wisdom go to God for wisdom. I noticed Pastor Ryan often.

When he prays for people praise for wisdom and discernment. You know, why the answer is because he that's going to be the answer to whatever it is, whatever trial that they're going through. He asked for wisdom and discernment for those people in that situation. Verse 9 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. It's flower falls off and his beautiful appearance perishes. And in the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities. James goes on to talk about riches here. And he 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 the flower of the field.

Now before we get carried away with this verse, I want us to understand something. It is not a sin to be wealthy. Okay, it is not a sin to have lots of money or to be wise with your money. The Bible is very clear on this first. 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 so with that as context, let's look at this section of Scripture here says for the one who is exalted or lifted up financially. There's reason to celebrate. There's reason to celebrate. He can look back. He can look and see where the Lord brought him from and where he is out now.

He can look back and appreciate where he came from. But on the flip side of that token, we need to understand that we can't get too attached to the to the possessions to the wealth to the money. We can't get too attached to those riches because it says he will pass away like a flower. Understand that wealth can go away. Everything you have can be gone in an instant.

I remember a conversation I had with my previous boss, not the one at the county, but my previous boss who by the way is a is a believer in a and a wonderful man of God. He is he's one of the owners of the mapping company that I worked before worked for before I came here. And I recall the conversation he had with his kids about this very subject. The company the company that I worked for they done very well.

The Lord had blessed them immensely and and this his family was able to live very well. They lived comfortably. But he's had his family down one day and he began to teach them about this biblical principle here. He planted a question in their heads and he says if we lost everything tomorrow, would you still be happy? If you lost everything, if you lost if all of it went away the house the cars the clothes technology the comforts all the money everything if it all went away tomorrow.

Would you still be content? I understood in that moment that he had no significant attachment to the things that he owned or to the moment. He had no significant attachment to the money that was in his account. Sure. He enjoyed them and that's what they are there for to be enjoyed. That's what those things exist for 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. Keyword when trials come as a result. You lose everything. Would you still be content? Are you trusting the Lord? Are you still enduring guys? It's important. It's important that our faith be tested. Take job. For example, I'm going to pick on him quite a bit here. Take job. For example, God knew God knew that job would be faithful.

But the question was did job? I stole a little bit of this room from Pastor Chuck Smith just for your information. But remember job was a very wealthy man. And he and he did while. He. He did enjoy his riches his wealth his possessions understand that 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, even his health was taken away. To understand. His wealth wasn't in those earthly things. His wealth wasn't in his bank account. His wealth wasn't in what he owned. His wealth wasn't in his family. It was in Jesus. His true wealth was in Jesus.

First 12 blessed is 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. Because job endured the trials and temptations. He received the crown of life and God promised to those who love him. So the question becomes excuse me. The question becomes are you storing up for yourselves earthly treasures?

Or are you storing up for yourselves heavenly treasures?

I mentioned this in first service, but I've talked with those those wonderful folks at the other end of the hall. You know that they're teaching our kids. Understand that they don't get paid to be there. They don't get thanked much. It's not a glamorous job. It's it's I've heard it described as the black hole of ministry. Sunday school teacher Sunday school is been described as the black hole of ministry guys.

Guys. They don't get paid to get to be there. They don't get thanked much. It's not glamorous. It's oftentimes a thankless and overlooked job. It can be frustrating. It can be dirty. It can be loud and noisy. If you're working in the nursery, it can be smelly. Amen. Yeah. Yes. It can be smelly yet. I tell them that they are storing up heavenly treasures. Oftentimes.

They don't see the they don't see the fruits of their labor. They don't see the rewards of their labor. But I tell them that they are storing up heavenly treasures and planting those seeds and our little ones. I so many times we view them as glorified babysitters. And I'm guilty of this myself. We view them as glorified babysitters. We drop our kids off to get a break for an hour and a half.

But but those wonderful people in my and this is just my opinion. Those wonderful people in my opinion have the most important job in the church. They had the most important job in the church. 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 doing it for free. They're sacrificing their time. Their energy and often their sanity to to plant seeds in our kids lives. And so often one of the most thankless and overlooked and underappreciated jobs in the church. But rest assured when they get to heaven. God has some big rewards for them. Amen. And may I humbly suggest when you go and pick up your kids up this morning.

Thank them. Give them a hug and big old sloppy wet kiss. I'm kidding. Don't do that. They get don't get don't do that. It'll get weird. Okay, I don't want a lawsuit. But when you go and pick up your kids, thank him. Tell him how much you appreciate him. Verse 13 says now no one undergoing a trial should say I am being tempted by God. Since God is not tempted by evil and he himself doesn't tempt anyone but each person is tempted.

He's 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 under undergoing a trial should say that I'm being tempted by God. God is not tempted by evil nor does he himself tempt anyone understand that God does not tempt anyone.

The word tempt here is talking about a solicitation to evil a solicitation to do evil things. God does not do that. He may allow it to happen in our lives. He may allow us to be tempted in the trial or even as a trial. I'm going to go back to Job. Remember God allowed Satan to tempt him. To test him the temptation for Job though was to curse God in the face of the trials.

The temptation was to turn away from God. When life got hard. Sometimes. Sometimes God does allow us to be tempted in the trials. But God himself does not tempt us. We know that because there is no there is no evil within him. There is no evil in God. And even though we may be tempted to do evil in the midst of the trial to give up and take the easy way out.

God is not the one doing the tempting but he is he is the one. Who allows it. In a strange way. It's actually a little bit of a comfort knowing that as Pastor Ryan always says that there is nothing that happens to us that hasn't been filtered through the hands of a loving father.

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. As Jesus knows what you're going through. He knows the trials that you're in. You know, he knows how intense it is. He knows the feeling well. And Matthew 4 documents it for us. Well, Jesus has gone 40 days without food without water.

And without rest and he wants probably wants nothing more than a little bit of food water and rest. So in that intense moment when his hunger and thirst were at its greatest. He was tired. And physically weak. The tempter comes attempts. Jesus to take the easy way out. He offers Jesus food, which fun fasting 40 days. Somebody brings me a bowl of chicken and noodles.

I'm out, you know, bring me a cheeseburger, whatever. I'm out. That's what's going to get me. But Satan comes and he offers Jesus food. He offers Jesus rest and he offers Jesus power. If he would. But bow down and worship Satan. Satan came and offered Jesus the easy way out. In the midst of the trial and that's understand. That's often when times that's oftentimes when when Satan shows up is when we are we are in the middle of it.

When that trial is is hard and you don't know if you can go forward anymore. Guess what? That's when Satan that's when Satan shows up when you're down when you're tired. You're weak and you're ready to throw in the towel. He's so he shows up offering the easy way out. But blessed is the one who endures who endures the trials. Says for he will receive the crown of life.

But notice what happens 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.

It's end result is death. All sin eventually leads to death. Romans 623 confirms that for us saying for the wages 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 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 lights who does not change like shifting shadows. But by his own choice. He gave us birth. By the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. James tells us not to be deceived by every good and excuse me.

He tells us not to be deceived because every good and perfect gift is from above. What is that gift from above its eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord understand that the things that understand that things that may seem. Like blessings. Can sometimes actually turn out to be curses. In our lives. You know. I think we've all wondered at some point. What we do if we if we ever won the lottery.

Right? Yeah, we've all we've all we've all wondered. You're saying you haven't you're lying, you know, I mean. We've all wondered what we do if we won the lottery. What would what would you do with all that money? You know, well, while winning the lottery will bring about a certain amount of financial peace, at least for a time in time. It could bring about our ruin and our destruction.

Okay, I listen to to Dave Ramsey all the time. He's a he's a Christian financial counselor and he has a radio show and countless people have called in to his show talking about these kids who have inherited a bunch. Of money from like their parents or grandparents or whatever. And their lives are completely ruined. They've taken that inheritance. They've gone the way of the prodigal son.

They've taken that inheritance and gone and squandered it. Drugs and alcohol and partying. They're left broke. They're left broken. And they're left ruined. What appear what started out to be a blessing was actually a curse. What was thought to be a good gift was actually a detriment. So there has to be a testing. There has to be a testing. Any gift must be measured.

It must be tested against eternity. I'm not saying that winning the lottery is guaranteed to bring about destruction. But as we talked about earlier, it's that love that love of money that will bring about destruction. 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 for his creatures.

When God gave us salvation. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We as followers of Jesus are the first fruits. The result of the work of the gospel in our lives. This is the good and perfect gift that is from above. Guys understand. God can bless us with worldly gifts and things, but they don't last. All right. Miss Charlie, you want to go ahead and come on up.

God can bless us with the worldly gifts and things, but they don't last. You can't take them into eternity. The absolute most perfect gift there ever was is Jesus. And if you want to be blessed with that gift in your life, it's not hard. All you have to do is ask, but if you're and if you're here this morning and you want to ask Jesus in your life. Come and talk.

To me, come and talk to one of the leaders. We'd be happy to talk, talk it over with you and pray with you.

Believers. Understand. It's not a matter of if trials come. It's a matter of when Jesus never promises us a trial free life. He never promises a problem free life.

We need to expect trials. In our life and know that good things can come from them. Good things. Will come from them. Patience, endurance, God's complete work in our lives. His perfect work. And when they do come, we need to seek the Lord's wisdom in those trials because he gives it freely. It's not, it's not some big secret secret. You don't have to know a secret handshake.

You just ask and ask in faith. Amen. Would you please stand with me?

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the day for another opportunity to be here. Ask that as we leave here today, Lord. That your Holy Spirit go with us. Continue to minister to us Lord. Lord, when we go through these trials. Lord, grant us the wisdom that we need. Let us ask and ask in faith.

Give us the give us the wisdom that we need to get through these trials. Lord got that. We're going through Lord. We know. You know what we're going through Lord. We know that you're with us. Father. We love you. We praise you. Jesus name. Amen.

Lord because you are alive life in this life and the next. We thank you for what you've done for us. And as we leave here today, Lord, I just pray that your Holy Spirit go with us. And bless us and continue to minister to us. We love you. We praise you in Jesus name. Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.