The Book of James – Part 3:
Endurance
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON INTRODUCTION
We
have been looking at the book of James over the last few weeks, and today we
are going to talk about Endurance.
Paul
speaks of endurance, and running the race which has a great prize at the
end. The prize is called the Crown of
Life! In addition, ALL who finish the
race will receive it!
Today
I ask, are you qualified to receive it?
If so, are you running the race?
You
will never reach your destination standing still.
LAST WEEKS SERMON
Part 1 - Faith and Wisdom
Part 2 - Poverty and Riches
TODAY’S SERMON
Part 3 - Endurance
James
1:12-18
Blessed is the one
who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will
receive the crown of life that the
Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.”
For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but
each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire
and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth
to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and
perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us
birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all
he created.
I.
THE CROWN OF LIFE
a.
How to be Blessed
i.
Persevere under trial
ii.
James 1:2-4 “2
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of
many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that
you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
1.
How many are tested in their faith, and surrender?
2.
How many give in before allowing perseverance to finish
its work?
3.
This is why so many remain immature and incomplete and
lack so much in their Christian walk.
iii.
When our faith is tested, we must endure the trial and
resist the temptation of our flesh and
its desires. The result is a
perseverance that builds in us spiritual maturity, and completeness so that we
will lack nothing in our faith...IF we allow perseverance to continue its work
in us.
1.
How do we allow it to finish its work? Like verse 12 says, enduring the temptation
of our flesh and its desires.
b.
How to Receive the
Crown of Life
i.
When our faith is tested, we persevere, standing strong
against it, creating perseverance in those who let it finish its work.
ii.
A pot of noodles continuously removed from the burner
will never boil, and the result you are working for (cooked noodles), will take
a very, very long time, if it happens at all!
iii.
So it is with our Spiritual maturity... without testing and perseverance
our faith and spiritual walk remain immature.
c.
Who is Qualified to
Receive the Crown of Life?
i.
Not everyone who perseveres receives the Crown of Life
from our Father in Heaven.
1.
Verse 12 states the Lord has promised this crown to
those who love Him.
2.
Remember that love has nothing to do with feelings or
emotions. God is talking about ACTION.
3.
Jesus says, “If
you love me, you will obey my commands.” John
14:15
a.
Commands such as; “love your neighbor, love your brother
in Christ, love your enemy.”
b.
These are all commands of Christ, and “love” they
mention is I Corinthians 13!
II.
GOD IS NOT TEMPTING
YOU
a.
God cannot be Tempted
by Evil
i.
Temptation is an offer of something that you do not (or
should not) have, or cannot obtain in a timely manner. What does God lack? Nothing, therefore, there is nothing you can
tempt or bargain with God for. He literally
cannot be tempted.
b.
God does not Tempt
Anyone
i.
Some have said God is tempting them, but this is not
true. According to scripture, God cannot
be tempted, nor does He tempt anyone!
ii.
Temptation is an offer of something you shouldn’t have,
or isn’t good for you... This is against God’s nature and Character, therefore
it is impossible for God to tempt you...
iii.
God may test you, but that is different that
temptation.
1.
Temptations goal is for you to sin against God.
2.
The goal of testing is through perseverance you mature
spiritually, and recognize the need for God in your life drawing you closer to
Him.
ILLUSTRATION
God
tested Abraham’s faith when He commanded him to sacrifice his son Isaac.
This
was NOT because God wanted to know if Abraham would obey...God already knew
that, that is why He had a ram waiting to be a substitution for Abraham’s son.
God
did this for a couple reasons.
1. God wanted to give us foreshadowing of the
coming Christ, God’s only begotten, who would be sacrificed for our sin, and
would be provided by God (the ram).
2. God wanted Abraham to see that his faith in
God was complete, and he would do anything God asked of him.
So,
God does NOT tempt you with sin, but He may test your faith for your own
benefit. This is to grow you, and
strengthen you for things in your life, and to make you whole and complete so
that you may better serve Him!
So
if God is not testing you, where is this temptation coming from?
Satan
gets FAR TOO MUCH credit... Evil desires come from the desires of OUR flesh...
if we surrender to them, they give birth to sin (because desire and temptation
is not the sin, giving in to them is).
If
you continue in the sin you gave in to, (called living in sin) the sin you gave
birth to will continue until it is full grown, leading to Spiritual Death and
eternal damnation.
III.
THE LIFE CYCLE OF
SIN AND DEATH
a.
When is a Person
Tempted?
i.
“...each person is
tempted when they are dragged away by
their own evil desire and enticed.”
1.
Many times the temptations and trials in our lives are
not the testing of God or the temptations of Satan, but we are dragged away from faith by our OWN evil
desire.
2.
You see, we tempt ourselves with sin!
a.
You may ask, “How can this be?”
b.
However, it is simple...
c.
If you have a tiger kitten, and you want it to grow,
you feed it. If we continue to feed it,
it thrives and grows into an unmanageable tiger! If we stop feeding it, it withers and dies.
d.
What are you
feeding in your life?
3.
If you want to know what you are feeding in your life,
here is a simple test.
a.
Matthew 12:33-35 “33
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit
will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of
vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what
the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the
good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil
stored up in him.”
b.
Jesus tells us that what we say is coming from what is
stored in our hearts.
i.
Are you feeding the kitten named Sin inside your heart?
ii.
You may think you have it under control...and you may,
since it is a mere kitten after all.
c.
Matthew 15:10-12 “10
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11
What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of
their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12
Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were
offended when they heard this?”
i.
What are you storing up in your heart?
d.
I have actually been criticized by “Christians” in the
past for things I do and do not do in my life, or the way I do them. I am not sure why they find such fascination and
concern with the way I live, but they have.
However here are a few things about me;
i.
I do not care what others think of me in regards to
what I do or do not do...it is not them I have to please, but God alone. I am
in no way a people pleaser.
ii.
I also know where temptation and sin are hiding, and
waiting to pounce...so I avoid them, saving my heart from evil desires. I do not want to feed the baby tiger.
iii.
I am not so naive to think for one minute I am immune
to evil desires...this sinful flesh has the exact same desires of all sinful
flesh. BUT, as long as I am feeding the
Spirit of God in my life, and starving the evil desires, God’s Spirit will do a
work in me.
iv.
Therefore, I avoid certain places and things like the
plague, because in essence, that is exactly what they are to my heart.
ii.
Verse 14 says, “...every
man is tempted, when he is drawn away
with his own lust, and enticed.” in the KJV.
b.
Evil Desire
Conceives
i.
If we feed the kitten named Sin in our hearts, it will
conceive in us.
1.
This is the beginning of the end!
2.
This is where a man’s evil desires (which are in all
flesh) have been fed to a point that it conceives in their heart!
a.
You know when this takes place, because it is there in
your heart and in your mind each time you call upon it.
b.
Your thoughts slowly becoming consumed with it.
c.
Moreover, you continue to feed it, and the kitten named
sin grows in your heart.
c.
Evil Desire Gives
Birth
i.
If you continue to feed it, it grows until it gives
birth!
1.
What does the scripture mean?
2.
The Sin that was once hidden in your heart and mind (especially
hidden from the world) is now born into the world through you!
3.
Your words and deeds start to reflect the Sin you have
allowed ruling your heart and mind!
4.
Like all gestation periods, this process was slow, but
encompassing. You feel helpless and
defeated by the kitten named Sin who has birthed and is now a full size tiger
in your life.
a.
A tiger who is no longer satisfied with simply thinking
about sinful acts, but its evil desires need feeding! It needs “action” it
needs SINFUL ACTS!
d.
When it is Fully
Grown...Brings Death
i.
James warns, if you feed your sinful flesh, evil
desires will grow in your heart, and if you do not repent, they will give birth
to sin in your life!
ii.
In addition, this sin will bring the promise of death
with it. This death is promised in Romans
6:23 “For the wages of sin is
death...”
iii.
This “death” is far worse than simply dying to life as
many of us think or death. In fact, many
sinners argue, “We’re all going to die anyway, so you may as well live life the
way you want!”
1.
However, they do not understand the “death” of which
the scriptures are speaking.
2.
If you allow sin to enter your heart;
a.
You are feeding it..it grows, and gives birth in your
life...and it will bring forth DEATH
b.
This is
spiritual...eternal, everlasting separation from God and heaven!
IV.
DO NOT BE DECEIVED
a.
Every good and perfect gift is from our Father in
Heaven
b.
The “Father of Heavenly Lights” does not Change like
Shifting Shadows
God
chose to give us birth through the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of
firstfruits of all He created.
CONCLUSION
When
you face temptation in your life, you need to ask yourself a few questions.
a) Am I feeding evil desires in my heart?
b) If so, repent and endure the temptations so
that you may persevere, and allow the perseverance to FINISH ITS WORK,
ENDURE! So that you may become Spiritually Mature and Complete and lack
nothing in your faith!
c) If the temptation
is NOT brought by your evil desires, and truly is temptation of Satan, then you
must still endure the temptations so that you may persevere, and allow the
perseverance to FINISH ITS WORK, ENDURE!
So that you may become Spiritually
Mature and Complete and lack nothing in your faith!
James
4:6-8
“God opposes
the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
If
you are resisting the devil, and it does not seem as if he is fleeing...it may
be because he has nothing to do with the temptations you are facing!
It
may be because YOU are feeding YOUR OWN evil desires in your life!!!!
The
temptations will never leave you as
long as you are feeding them!
Repent!!
It
is the double minded who cry out to God one minute, and allow sin in their
hearts the next minute.
James
closes by telling us,
16
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and
perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us
birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all
he created.
If
it is not good or perfect and for your growth, strengthening or building up, it
is not from heaven!
Do
not be deceived by the shifting shadows!
Do
not feed the evil desires of your heart, or give the shifting shadows of Satan
ANY ammunition to use against you in your life!
Blessed
are those who persevere, they will receive the crown of LIFE which is promise
to those who love Him!
Next
week we will look at what the Book of James says about Christian Living.
Want to learn more about
Salvation and Getting Saved?
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