James 1, verse 12.
The title of the message is Trials can
lead to deception.
Trials can lead to deception.
Here's why.
Here's where we need to be careful.
When we experience trials, we are susceptible to
deception.
It's an open door.
Here's what happens.
We say, why is God allowing this?
Why is God allowing this?
And that deception, that trial, that difficulty, can
lead to deception.
Because what usually happens?
Why is God allowing this?
We get happy or mad.
We get upset.
And we go back to the old lifestyle.
Most people who struggle with addiction will tell
you that they usually go back to that
addiction once the bed of roses has ended.
And life is getting challenging.
God, how can you allow this?
Why did you allow this to happen?
And that can open the door for deception.
That's what James is going to get to
in a minute here.
So let's recap.
James 1, verse 12.
Blessed is the man who endures temptation.
It means you're going to have to go
through temptation.
You're going to have to suffer a little
bit.
It's okay to say that on Wednesday nights,
right?
Sunday mornings, I won't get away with that.
But Wednesday nights, we can say you're going
to have to suffer a little bit for
your faith.
So you endure temptation for when you have
been approved, you will receive the crown of
life which the Lord has promised to those
who love Him.
Let no one say when he is tempted,
I am tempted by God.
For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor
does He Himself tempt anyone.
But each one is tempted when he is
drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth
to sin.
And sin, when it is fully grown, brings
forth death.
Then he goes right into this passage.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above and comes down from the Father
of light with whom there is no variation
or shadow of turning.
Basically saying here that God is not deceptive.
There's no variation.
You know how if you turn things, it
can look different?
Or you turn something the other way, it
looks different?
With God, there's no turning, there's no variation.
He's not a good God one day and
a bad God the next.
He doesn't have your best interests at hand
one day and then He doesn't love you
the next.
God has no variation at all.
So you can stand on His Word, that
He is true, that He will see you
through.
There's no shifting in God.
Verse 18, Of His own will He brought
us forth by the Word of truth, that
we might be a kind of first fruits
of His creation.
I'm sorry, first fruits of His creatures.
So basically He's saying do not be deceived,
don't get thrown off course.
Because James wasn't written with James 1, 2,
3.
James just wrote a whole letter to the
believers.
And He's saying to be careful of these
deceptions, be careful of going into temptation and
don't be deceived when you do.
So the next point in verse 19, He
talks about qualities needed to prevent deception.
So if you're saying like I was, okay,
I don't want to be deceived, how do
I prevent that?
Well here's a few different ways that James
talks about.
So then my beloved brethren, let every man
be swift to hear, slow to speak, and
slow to wrath.
For the wrath of man does not produce
the righteousness of God.
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of
wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word
which is able to save your souls.
So in a nutshell, be swift to hear,
slow to speak, and slow to wrath.
Slow to react, basically.
And not let anger dominate our decisions.
So the first thing we see is reacting
versus responding.
Reacting.
So when a situation arises, we are to
react or are we to respond.
You know the difference?
Reacting usually calls for apology later.
You hit me, I hit you.
You do this, I do this.
It's reacting.
But responding is being quick to listen.
We listen, we perceive, and then we respond
according to God's word.
And God brings clarity while we wait and
when we respond, but confusion arises when we
rush ahead.
Have you ever been confused and you just
rush ahead?
Or when you rush ahead, it brings confusion?
That's why God's telling us to be quick
to listen.
I often tell people make sure to hear
both sides of a story.
Make sure to look at everything on both
sides and be quick to listen and not
get your tongue going.
Because when the tongue's going and the ears
are closed, there's trouble.
So that's one point I hope you take
away from this.
Just be slow to speak.
You don't have to get into the last
word.
You don't have to always comment on everything.
We have to be slow to speak.
Hear both sides.
And then he also mentions that anger is
not productive.
The anger of man worketh not the righteousness
of God.
Basically means you'll never get anything done right
when it's done with anger.
It's not going to be done according to
God's word when it's done in anger and
frustration.
That's not how God operates.
So one way to not live in deception
is to be slow to speak, quick to
listen, and not respond in anger.
Or not react in anger, but respond later.
So we have this picture of this person
who I wish I could be, right?
All the time.
Quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow
to get upset.
Because the enemy has a hard time.
The way he moves us is like pawns
on a chess game.
With anger.
There goes that queen with frustration.
There goes that with a quick temper or
with a quick, you know, this.
Do most of us, we look back, we
got the majority of the amount of trouble
we've ever been in is with this.
Right?
These have gotten me into some trouble.
Usually when they're like this, right?
Long time ago.
But this is where the majority of the
problems come from.
And you know it.
It's right here.
So James is saying stop that.
We have the ability to stop that.
Lay aside, he says.
Means we have the responsibility.
And the key is really for us is
to obey God and let him handle the
consequences.
We try to handle the consequences and we
will obey God but I'll handle the consequences.
Basically God says obey me and leave the
results to me.
Leave the results to me.
You just obey me and leave the results.
And often when we obey him, it doesn't
happen like we thought.
I don't like the results.
I don't like where this is going so
I'll take matters into my own hand and
I'm not quick to listen.
I'm slow to listen.
I don't want to listen.
I'm very quick to speak and I move
ahead quickly.
So James is saying here's one thing, especially
during a trial.
When you're going through a trial, you want
to respond and not react.
I mean just last week, as soon as
we start on this, many of you know
I overfilled the baptismal at Hope Chapel for
an hour.
The water just kept we're talking thousands of
thousands of thousands of dollars.
Thank God for insurance, right?
So I'm there with the insurance adjuster and
it's like unbelievably embarrassing.
You know it's and then we find out
this week we're trying to refinance and Morgan's
social security number was hijacked so they tried
to run our credit four or five different
times in a week on different charge cards
so talking to the fraud agencies calling all
the major that and you add what's going
on next door you add everything that's going
on it's like I want to react, I
don't want to respond you know but that's
he says don't be deceived handle this by
responding not reacting and when I called our
insurance agent and she said oh water damage
is not covered call me, I said I
don't want to call you right now I'll
show you I said I don't want to
talk right now is what I said so
I waited and called her tomorrow because I
did not want to talk right don't tell
me water damage is not covered that's what
this was what's insurance for?
mosquito damage?
telephone pole falls and you know but I
know we should have done our due diligence
in that area but hopefully, I mean the
other church's insurance is going to cover it
so God worked out on that he's working
out on all of this but when you
fall into these trials we have the tendency
to get angry don't we and take things
into our own hands and get upset that
anger does not produce the righteousness of God
wait on God and leave the consequences to
Him leave the results to Him if not
we get very sidetracked and that little, well
it's not a little trial it's a fairly
good trial that fairly good sized trial becomes
an enormous trial when this gets involved doesn't
it?
now I've got to apologize to that person
I've got to fix this I've got to
undo this so that's why he's saying be
very careful when you go through trials that
you're just quick to listen and slow to
speak and then my favorite verse you've heard
me teach on this many times but be
doers of the word now remember this is
all one letter so he's saying receive with
meekness the implanted word which is able to
save your soul so he's saying lay aside
all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive
which is repent receive God's word it's able
to save your soul but be doers of
the word and not hearers only deceiving yourself
this is probably what I see more often
than anything else in Christians is they know
what to do but they don't do it
and because they know what to do they
think they're okay but so they're living in
this life of deception you can I've counseled
everything from people living together to marriage counseling
to financial difficulties everything and people I'm like
okay you know what to do that's not
enough you have to apply it if not
we live in deception and I can get
caught in this too I know what the
word of God says and I can live
in deception unless I apply it to my
life so it's interesting you can live in
deception I can live in deception if we
know God's word but we do not apply
it and it just dawned on me today
what if we just started working on every
area that God wants us to work on
the reason I say that is because most
people have one point or two points or
three points of rebellion in their own personal
life they know they should be doing something
but they're not taking care of their body
eating better avoiding this, avoiding that shouldn't watch
this, I shouldn't go there all these areas
what if we just took God at His
word and begin to obey Him in those
areas where the Holy Spirit is prompting us
because we can live in deception I love
what I've shared this a few times you'll
know from Lancaster but maybe not if you've
been attending Leona Valley that an African pastor
was asked, I think I shared it Sunday
even, that why is there so much counseling
in the American church people know this, I
mean I can go into counseling appointments and
they'll tell me exactly what I was going
to tell them why is there so much
counseling in the American church but not in
the church in Africa and he said it's
because in America you counsel, in Africa we
repent and that's very true there's a lot
of truth because we can go into counseling
appointments or trying to work on certain things
but we just don't get around to doing
it for if anyone is a hearer of
the word and not a doer, he is
like a man observing his natural face in
a mirror for he observes himself, goes away
and immediately forgets what kind of man he
was, so it's like you look in a
mirror, you're like okay I'm ready for the
day, wait a minute what did I look
like and you go back to that mirror
and you look in the mirror who would
do that, but that's exactly what we do
when we know what God's word says but
we don't do it but he who looks
into the perfect law of liberty, God's word
and continues in it is not a forgetful
hearer but a doer of the work this
one will be blessed in what he does
many people are lacking blessings in their lives
because they are not obeying God's word they're
running from it, hearing cannot replace doing, hearing
cannot replace doing and you'll never grow and
I hope somebody takes this home as a
practical application I'll never grow, you'll never grow
if instead of changing and obeying and doing
what God's word says, you make excuses how
often does that happen I'll talk to somebody
let's just say a guy about you know
we're talking about their marriage and yeah but
she does this and she does that and
she does, yeah but okay great what about
you, yeah but she does this yeah but
what, do you understand something, I hope this
helps somebody it doesn't matter what your spouse
does, it's what you're doing before God okay
Jim thank you because I hear that okay
you need to change yeah but they're doing
this you need to change yeah but you're
doing this and you'll never go forward unless
somebody says yeah I've got to work on
that, help me work on that Lord please
help me work on that, remove the excuses
and that's what we do, we blame shift
even in other areas, what we have with
that person for example if I need to
go to somebody and ask forgiveness, maybe my
wife will tell me you know you need
to go to somebody say no I don't,
they did this and that and this and
that and I don't need to do that,
look what they did to me and see
I stop taking that step of obedience because
of excuses another person caught in addiction yeah
but Shane I had a hard day but
I'm going through a lot and they'll excuse
that addiction and continue in it because do
you see where I'm going with all this
we fail to obey God's word with all
these excuses and yes it's challenging for me,
it's hard to see when I have say
a husband whose wife is not being all
that she should be or vice versa a
wife and it's hard I don't want to
say oh who cares but on one hand
the Bible doesn't say oh okay you don't
need to do any of that unless they
do this because you'll never get anywhere the
Bible always puts it back on us and
it's hard to hear, isn't it hard to
hear you're like oh darn it Shane why
did you bring that up I'm feeling good
in my justification and my excuses but it's
sad for me to see a spouse put
down another spouse or always saying certain things
and they don't want to work on their
own character issues however a lot of people
in this church are doing that they're filled
with the spirit, they're loving their spouse even
in the midst of difficult challenges so I
want to encourage you in that area just
to keep doing what you're doing there will
be results there will be fruit but for
those who need to obey I want to
just throw that out there what if we
begin obeying God in many areas of our
lives and everything he's convicting us in saying
I've got to do that is not doing
it what I mean by that is a
lot of people say I know I've got
to do that I've got to work on
that and I talk to them six months
later I know I've got to work on
that a year later I've got to work
on that at some point you know the
Bible doesn't give us a lot of wiggle
room it gives us grace but it also
tells us to man up and to obey
what God's word says the blessing of obedience
if you hear God's word and you do
it you will be blessed the blessing of
obedience when a person obeys God's word he
is blessed abundantly people say I hear to
love and forgive but I don't do it
I hear turn from sin and obey but
I don't do it I hear remove these
weights that are easily ensnaring me but I
don't do it that's the whole point of
James's context here we can hear something and
not apply it and that's one of my
concerns for when I was preaching on weekends
or wherever I'm at is that people hear
something here's what happens they'll hear it and
they'll go that's right that's a good point
I'm convicted that's not good I need to
work on that but they don't work on
that they don't make the changes so they
go out but they feel better they feel
justified because they heard it they heard it
they felt convicted but that's where it ends
so they're in this endless cycle of conviction
defeat conviction defeat and James is speaking here
about just be doers of the word verse
26 if anyone among you thinks he is
religious now for all of us we think
we're religious right we probably wouldn't use that
term because we have a relationship with God
but if anyone among us thinks we are
religious if you do not bridle your tongue
you deceive your own heart and your religion
is useless so the tongue is the best
gauge of maturity not how often you read
the Bible that's good not how much time
you get into worship that's great not how
often you go to church but the tongue
is the gauge of maturity so if you're
constantly back to the example if you're constantly
putting down your spouse or this person is
constantly putting down their spouse or they're constantly
putting down something else that tongue gauges your
level of maturity because we should be able
to hold that tongue whoever is truly religious
truly filled with God's spirit will hold their
tongue but those who are not can't it's
like I have to say it it has
to come out so pure and undefiled religion
before God is this to visit orphans and
widows in their trouble and to keep oneself
unspotted from the world so if you want
to know a pure and undefiled religion is
if I really want to be a person
loving God then I need to visit orphans
and widows in their trouble basically saying minister
to those who are in need that's why
it's so challenging and I don't know why
it is but it is it's hard to
find people who want to help at the
hospital homes we've got 4 or 5 hospital
homes throughout the yellow valley that we need
more helpers to go and visit these patients
and that's true religion if you want to
know what true religion is we have to
do things we don't want to do and
go and minister to those that need ministry
and then when you leave there you feel
the filling of the Holy Spirit you don't
get as angry you're not as short tempered
your tongue isn't loose like a cannon boom
boom boom shooting people because you're filled with
the spirit of true and undefiled religion is
this to visit widows and orphans to help
those who are in a time of need
and then of course this one and to
keep oneself unspotted from the world to keep
yourself unspotted from the world now do you
know what unspotted from the world means it
basically means untarnished to keep yourself untarnished from
the world and if you go next door
you can go next door you can see
the big kids connection remodel that's going on
there's a lot of tarnishes that were out
five six different tarnishes and colors and different
things it got on the wood that was
the idea but in the case of a
Christian we're supposed to remain unspotted from the
world and untarnished which means you look at
yourself and like is the world on me
is there no difference there's no distinction and
this is what's challenging about Christianity because yes
it's full of love and grace and mercy
but it's also warfare it's also warfare we
have to put feet to our heart and
go out to minister to those who need
it to visit those in their times of
trouble and remain unspotted untarnished for the world
from the world this is exactly why I
often say the world is either influencing you
or you're influencing the world the world is
either affect the infecting like you get infected
with the disease the world is in either
infecting you or you are affecting with an
a you are affecting the world there's one
of those other things is happening in your
life and as we are infected by the
world we are tarnished we are you look
and you know those people right they look
just like the world so he's saying here
if you want to know what a true
believer is you're going to put feet to
your heart you're going to visit those in
their times of need you're going to reach
out you're going to be a loving comparing
caring compassionate person and in addition to that
you're not going to be resembling the world
so for example you go down your past
history on Netflix right is it 50 shades
of gray and all these things that look
just like the world you're visiting on Facebook
just like the world you're visiting YouTube just
like the world conversations everything is it just
like the world then James saying and you
don't do anything you don't visit anybody you
don't care for anybody it's constantly this constantly
the mouth is going there's no maturity we're
not helping others we're just with this then
James says you might want to check your
heart because pure and real and honest religion
is caring for those who need it and
also remaining unspotted and untarnished from the world
that's why the tongue is the best gauge
of maturity is it not if you look
at mature believers they are very good at
holding their tongue sometimes you wonder aren't you
getting mad don't you want to say something
no no aren't you want to argue mature
believers will hold their tongue and they'll redirect
the conversation that's why I'm learning now when
people get upset at me sometimes on theological
issues not people necessarily go here but other
places on theological things you know just say
oh well I mean you might be right
we'll know in heaven but you might be
wrong I mean you just take that away
I'm not going to sit here and argue
and debate in the tongue and I haven't
yet mastered this area so don't think Shane
is really mature in the tongue area because
that little sucker he's this little right and
he just can set the whole world on
fire James talks about and you know we
think of the tongue and talking do you
know texting and email is the tongue too
and now voice texting that's made it worse
right click this little button and you can
just let them have it you deserve it
you this you I can't believe you have
this inventory and you just let them have
it by the tongue so if you want
to know this is too hard inventory where's
your spiritual maturity at tonight how are you
controlling the tongue one of the best tests
of this too are those little three foot
people running around you all day the kids
or as they get into be teenagers as
well watching that tongue so he says this
in order for us to say Lord I
need you God I need you to help
tame this tongue I help you to help
me take away this anger and this frustration
and he will do that but this is
true religion if you can hold your tongue
remain untarnished from the world and you help
those in times of need and then he
switches what we call chapter two but when
James wrote this he was not writing chapter
two he was just continuing my brethren do
not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus
Christ the Lord of glory with partial partiality
now this one's going to step on some
toes you ready to step on some toes
if we haven't already this issue of partiality
is difficult my brethren do not hold the
faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord
of glory with partiality for if there should
come into your assembly a man with gold
rings and fine apparel and there should also
come in a poor man in filthy clothes
and you pay attention to the one wearing
the fine clothes and say to him you
sit here in a good place and say
to the poor man you stand here or
you sit there and basically just sit in
the back have you not shown partiality among
yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts and
we often say how can this person benefit
me and we treat them accordingly the key
is to see somebody who cannot benefit you
at all at all financially, spiritually at all
and you treat them the same way that
you would treat somebody who you perceive you'll
get something from that's why we show partiality
also we look at skin color do we
not many times there are believers who look
at partiality they'll make judgments based on skin
color and how certain things have happened partiality
we look at gender women and men and
men can look down on women and we
make judgments or we look down on people
because they have a particular struggle in an
area and this often is very evident in
the church you'll see somebody who's got a
very judgmental spirit and they're critical and they're
often chiding the person who can't seem to
give up cigarettes or drinking or whatever it
is and I want to say yeah but
you can't give up your critical spirit do
you realize that that that judgmental critical negative
attitude is just as bad is the person
struggling with something else and often this person
sees their need for God and Lord help
me help me I'm struggling in this and
this person doesn't even see their need so
we can show partiality like I've never struggled
with that I've never struggled with that how
could you like I we just can't relate
can we like cigarette smoking I can't relate
that is I smell it and I run
for cover I don't want to have anything
to do with it or other things you
know Vicodin people get for dental work or
injuries and I don't have any desire for
that so we start to well how can
you get hooked on that or how can
you get hooked on Oxycontin or how can
you get hooked on that well you're hooked
on caffeine we're hooked on coffee this addictive
nature sugar we have so we start to
have this partiality and we look at other
people forgetting to look in the mirror and
that's what partiality is or you see two
people and one is dressed well and what
would happen is oh they must be a
giver and this other person must be they're
going to be a drain on the church
this person is going to be in constant
care they're probably going to need some money
or this person probably will give some money
so we form judgments based on that but
God says there's no partiality in a true
believer a true believer yes it's difficult yes
it's challenging but we should not judge people
based on appearance based on dress based on
financial status different things that's one reason that
when it comes to like giving to the
church we want to make sure that like
I wouldn't know or elders sometimes wouldn't know
we don't know what people give because we
want to remove that element of having that
knowledge if you've got somebody who gives $1000
a month and somebody who gives $5 a
month there would be the tendency there to
make sure that other person is happy and
the other one is not not that we
do that I don't think that's a sin
that we struggle with whatsoever but you want
to remove those even the ability to know
these things or you want to remove the
temptation to know these things and we have
to be careful because partiality is something do
we not is there people who make judgments
on skin color or on women or men
or to hire our attire how we dress
our ages I know like sometimes we won't
give a 15 year old the time a
day but a 30 year old we'll talk
to or vice versa somebody can be older
and then we seem okay well they're bothering
me but somebody who's 30 isn't and we
draw these partiality so James is saying be
true religion my brethren do not hold the
Lord the hold the faith of our Lord
Jesus Christ with partiality you have not shown
partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil
thoughts so that's where we're going to leave
off in chapter 2 so I would just
encourage you to read chapter 2 this week
and here's the application what if what if
we obeyed God in all these areas there's
areas in my life that I have not
obeyed God in and I know it some
can be little struggles I've opened up before
about certain putting certain things in my body
whether it's caffeine or coke or it's pepsi
different things where I know this caffeine turns
me into a jerk it makes me like
irritable and anxious and traffic and I just
you know I've opened up I've told you
before I know God's and that's just me
because I know the fruit of the Spirit's
not there or other areas forgiveness in an
area going to somebody in an area taking
better care of our health and this gift
that God has given us God is convicting
us in certain areas that we're not willing
to give up so what if we took
that God is word be doers of the
word and not hearers only be doers I
know there's people with anger problems I've talked
to before and they don't do anything for
it they don't do anything for their anger
problem at all except stop by the liquor
store on their way home like that's going
to fix it for about an hour and
then what happens after that it doesn't fix
it it multiplies the problem and we don't
we have this tendency to be doers I'm
sorry be hearers and not doers so what
if what if we begin to follow God
as word we respond in love we do
what God says we bridle the tongue and
we show no partiality so that's the practical
application and any teacher has this struggle if
they're teaching through the Bible is we don't
want to get on this side of all
you got to do you got to do
you got to do you better do this
and better do this and better do this
and this side is all God's grace and
the work of the spirit and mercy Lord
just rest in that let God change you
you know but if that's all you do
then then God changes us often through obedience
and through obedience he draws closer to us
and it they work together it's almost like
somebody I've met many times before and I've
helped people they want to lose weight say
50 pounds well having Oprah on and eating
donuts with your feet up on your couch
saying Lord change me doesn't work it never
works now you can pray Lord change me
help me and he will but it's going
to take some effort on our part so
that's where the God's word obedience meets great
God's grace and mercy he helps us as
we begin to submit to his work in
the work of the spirit which we've been
talking about on Sundays so that's really if
you want to change what I would encourage
you do is you have to admit it
and you say Lord I need help in
this area I'm fully willing and ready now
got to change this area I'm will you
help me and I'm going to bring it
to the light I'm going to stop excusing
it yeah you've had a bad day so
have I yeah you know I've just had
a tough week so have I well you
don't know what they did no I don't
but I know what God's word says and
we have to stop hiding behind all these
excuses and also just an invitation to if
you don't know God and you've been hearing
about Jesus but you don't know him you
might have relation and not I'm sorry you
might have religion and not a relationship so
tonight the good practical application would be to
finally not be hearers of the word but
also be doers and repent and say God
I need you I'm repenting I'm putting my
trust in you tonight and I'm not playing
these games anymore and he'll hear that prayer
and he'll bring healing and restoration