Temptations and Choices

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Short Summary
The discourse emphasizes the Apostle James’ practical counsel in James chapter one, urging believers to joyfully embrace diverse trials as opportunities for spiritual growth and character development. It highlights the importance of making right choices during testing, seeking and applying godly wisdom through reverence, study, and obedience, and persevering with patience and humility to achieve completeness in faith. Furthermore, it stresses resisting sin, relying solely on God’s truth, controlling one’s speech, and living out pure religion through love and service to others as essential for maturing into Christlikeness and securing the promised reward.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse on James Chapter One

Context and Purpose:
– The discourse was delivered in fellowship with North Seattle brethren during the pre-memorial season, a time noted for intense spiritual experiences.
– The speaker chose James chapter one as the focus, emphasizing its practical, pragmatic counsel.
– The approach involved in-depth analysis of James 1:2, then a verse-by-verse study of the remainder of the chapter to connect the entire message.

James 1:2 – “Count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations”:
Audience (“My brethren”): Refers to spiritual Israelites, both Jewish and Gentile, begotten of the Spirit, who benefit from James’ counsel.
“Diverse temptations”: The Greek word implies a wide variety of tests or trials, which serve as proofs of one’s character.
Meaning of “temptation”: Not necessarily sin, but trials to test and develop character.
“Fall into” (Greek *parapipto*): Misleading in English; it means “to encounter on all sides” or face comprehensive testing, not to stumble into sin.
“Count it all joy”: A deliberate choice to adopt a calm, spiritual joy (not merely fleshly happiness) in response to all trials.
– The joy is linked to faith in God’s promise that all experiences work for our good (Romans 8:28).
– Emphasis on the choice of attitude: complain or rejoice; murmur or give thanks.

James 1:3 – “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience”:
– Faith here means Christian convictions or firmly held beliefs.
– Tests reveal whether convictions withstand trials or falter.
– Endurance in trials develops *patience*—defined as cheerful constancy, endurance without complaint or compromise.
– A cheerful attitude is difficult but necessary.

James 1:4 – “Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing”:
– The word “but” in KJV is better understood as “and so,” emphasizing continuation rather than contrast.
– Patience must be allowed to complete its work—steadfast perseverance through all trials.
– Result: perfection (completion, maturity) and entirety (wholeness, completeness) in character.
– “Wanting nothing” means lacking nothing godlike in character.
– Character growth is a process requiring cooperation and perseverance; God guarantees completion (Philippians 1:6).

Takeaway from verses 2-4:
– Trials are spiritual privileges to prove loyalty and develop character.
– We should never complain but receive trials with joy and endurance to become like Christ.

James 1:5-8 – Wisdom for making right choices:
– Wisdom means exercising godly judgment to make right choices in trials.
– We lack this wisdom naturally and must ask God, who gives liberally without reproach.
– Asking must be done “in faith” — with sincere conviction and intention to apply the guidance.
– Double-mindedness (wavering) prevents receiving wisdom.
– God’s wisdom is acquired through:
1. Fear of Jehovah (Proverbs 9:10): Reverence and trust in God’s perfect judgment.
2. Acquiring knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6): Through reverent study of God’s Word and prayer for His Spirit.
3. Obedience (Proverbs 3:6): Listening to and following God’s direction to walk the right path.
– Wisdom also comes from following Jesus’ example and consulting brethren.

James 1:9-11 – Humility vs. pride in trials:
– The lowly brother should rejoice in being exalted; the rich should rejoice in being humbled.
– Pride leads to spiritual withering and failure; humility leads to growth and exaltation.
– Jesus taught: “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).

James 1:12 – Reward for enduring temptation:
– Blessed is the one who endures temptation; they will receive the crown of life promised by God.

James 1:13-15 – Nature of temptation to sin:
– God does not tempt us to evil; temptation to sin arises from our own lusts.
– Lust conceives sin, and sin, when fully grown, brings death.
– We must resist sin actively; failing to resist leads to spiritual death.

James 1:16-18 – God’s perfect gifts and the Word of Truth:
– Every good and perfect gift comes from God, who is unchangeable.
– God’s Word is the “Word of Truth” that begat us as new creatures.
– The Word is the only source that can truly transform and develop us spiritually.
– We must not be deceived by other sources or philosophies.

James 1:19-21 – Self-will vs. God’s will in trials:
– Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
– Human anger does not produce God’s righteousness.
– Put away filthiness and receive God’s word with meekness, as it can save souls.
– Complaining and angry reactions show self-will, which damages spiritual growth.

James 1:22-25 – Be doers of the Word, not just hearers:
– Hearing without doing is self-deception.
– The Word of God is like a mirror revealing defects; true growth comes from acting on that awareness.
– The “perfect law of liberty” is the law of Christ—the law of love.
– Following this law leads to blessing; ignoring it leads to stagnation.

James 1:26-27 – Pure religion and controlling the tongue:
– Religion is vain if one does not control their speech, especially fault-finding or evil speaking.
– Pure religion involves caring for the fatherless and widows (those in need) and keeping oneself unspotted from the world.
– The truth is given to develop godlike hearts and compassion.

Conclusion:
– James gives a highly pragmatic lesson: our thoughts, choices, habits, and character shape our destiny.
– The process of character growth involves daily choices to align with God’s will.
– The famous quote by Emerson: “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”
– Final paraphrase of James 1:2: “My dear fellow spiritual Israelites, choose to receive with spiritual joy every experience designed to prove your loyalty and develop your character in all respects.”

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Key Bible Verses Referenced:

– James 1:2 – “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations.”
– James 1:3 – “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
– James 1:4 – “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
– Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God…”
– Philippians 1:6 – “He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
– 1 Kings 3:28 – Solomon’s wisdom in judgment.
– Proverbs 9:10 – “The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom.”
– Proverbs 2:6 – “For the Lord giveth wisdom…”
– Proverbs 3:6 – “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
– Luke 14:11 – “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
– James 1:12 – “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life…”
– James 1:13-15 – On the source of temptation and sin.
– James 1:16-18 – God’s gifts and the Word of truth.
– James 1:19-21 – Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
– James 1:22-25 – Be doers of the word, not hearers only.
– James 1:26-27 – Pure religion and controlling the tongue.

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This summary encapsulates the detailed exposition and practical application of James chapter one, emphasizing the importance of attitude, faith, perseverance, humility, wisdom, and obedience in the process of spiritual character development.

Transcript

Thanks be to the Lord and to our North Seattle brethren for this opportunity of fellowship on things of the Spirit. You know, oftentimes in the pre memorial season, the Lord’s people have more intense experiences than at other times of the year, and primarily for this reason, we thought that some remarks based on James chapter one in particular might be helpful. So our approach during this hour will be twofold. First of all, we will consider James Chapter one, verse two in some detail.

And second, we will consider verse by verse, the balance of chapter one to see how it beautifully connects to verse two. The Apostle James of course, was a very pragmatic brother, and this lesson is a very pragmatic lesson to us. No doubt we all remember the verse in James chapter one, verse two. That which reads my brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations.

Who are these brethren that James refers to as being his brethren? Well, we believe that James brethren are his spiritual brethren. They were spiritual Israelites. They were could be either Jewish Israelites, spiritual Israelites or Gentiles, but all of whom would have been begotten of the Spirit. We believe that to be the case because spiritual Israelites are really the only ones who can at the present time benefit from the blessed counsel of this verse and of the Apostle James admonitions throughout this entire chapter.

The word diverse means divine diverse. It means various. It means a wide variety things that are varied in character. The word temptation means to put to proof. It means a trial.

It means a test that manifests our character. Now what develops or damages our character is how we exercise our judgment when making decisions. You know, we are constantly faced with countless choices in our daily natural lives. When shall we arise? What shall we eat?

What shall we wear today? How much should we sleep? When should we go to sleep? Many, many choices that we have to make in our daily natural lives. But likewise, we are faced every day with making choices in our spiritual lives.

It was already mentioned earlier today about the privilege of prayer and how often we take advantage of that priceless privilege. So when should we pray? How many times should we pray? For what should we pray? Should we study today?

How much should we study? What should we study? Is there any way today that we can be of service to the Lord and to our brethren? Again, so many choices that we indeed make every day relative to our spiritual lives, and of course, sometimes we do, we can, and we do make poor choices.

Sometimes we choose to let the flesh get the better of us, but other times the choices we make favor our growth and favor our development. As new creatures.

Now, the word count in verse two that we read is from a Greek word that means to deem or to consider. We also might replace or substitute the word choose. You know, in our daily experiences, we have a choice as to how to receive each of our experiences. We have a choice in how we respond to each of our experiences. For example, we can choose to complain or murmur or chafe about our experiences, or we can choose to give thanks for each of our experiences.

It’s a matter of choice. James is urging us to make the right choice. He says, choose to receive every experience with the right attitude. Choose to receive each developmental experience not with just some joy. But notice here, he says, but rather with all joy.

All here means literally 100%. All means all experiences all the time. So all in fact means all. Joy means cheerfulness. It means calmly happy.

Now, this is an inner joy. It’s a spiritual joy joy. This joy does not mean facing our testing experiences with a fleshly feeling of happiness necessarily. In fact, most of the time, it’s not very happifying for the flesh for many of our experiences. But this joy that James is talking about is a Romans 8:28 joy.

This is a faith joy, knowing all experiences are working to advance our spiritual growth.

The King James phrase of fall into in verse two, we suggest is a little bit misleading. To fall into a temptation would seem to imply that we have succumbed to a sin. We have succumbed to a fault. We have succumbed to a weakness. But this is not the correct thought.

You and I know that there’s no delight in falling into a sin. Every one of us has, no doubt from time to time, stepped into a wrong course, and as soon as our sanctified conscience realizes it, we regret it. The truly consecrated heart never has one bit of spiritual delight in taking a wrong course. So this phrase fall into does not and cannot mean stepping or stumbling into a wrong course.

The phrase fall into is from the Greek word.

The prefix peri is a clearly recognizable clue as to the meaning of this entire Greek word. We recognize the word peri In English, it means all around. Peri means surrounded. We use the word periscope. A periscope is a visual aid device that allows one to see all the way around 360 degrees, such as the mariners do in submarines.

A periodontist specializes in what’s all around our teeth that supports them, such as the gums, the bone, etc. The suffix pipto means to come to or to encounter or to face something. So the full thought of the Greek word Parapipto is to encounter all around. In other words, to be tested in every aspect of our character development. Paul tells us that Jesus was tested in all points of his character, and so we likewise, as we follow in his footsteps, we must be tested in all points of our character, just as Jesus was.

Now, there’s a wide difference between facing or encountering a test and entering into a wrong course. So parapipto does not mean to stumble into a wrong course. It simply means the full circle of tests necessary to develop us fully. Now, an oversimplified paraphrase of what James is saying in James 1:2 might be something like My dear fellow spiritual Israelites, choose to receive every choose to receive with spiritual joy every single one of your experiences designed to prove your loyalty and develop your character in all respects. Verse 3, James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Now, verse two told us that we need to view all trials with the right attitude if we’re going to benefit from them. In verse three, James says, I’m going to help you maintain a delightful attitude toward being tested. The beginning two words knowing this, in other words, here’s what you need to know to maintain spiritual joy about trials, and of course, then the Apostle James continues with his remarks. The word faith is from the Greek word that means convictions.

A conviction, as we know, is a firmly held belief. You know, James is not just talking about our desires or our hopes. He’s talking about our firmly held beliefs, our convictions. He’s talking about our Christian convictions. He’s talking about our consecration, our consecration being put to the test.

Will our Christian convictions withstand the test? Will they hold up under trial? Or will they fade or even fail when put under trial? For example, if our conviction is to do the will of God under all circumstances is put to the test, if that conviction is put to the test, will that test show that we are true to that conviction? Or will it show a willingness to gravitate into and do our own will?

If we see personal advantage by compromising the will of God, will we remain fixed in our conviction if tested? If our convictions do hold up under trial, James assures us that such success will work. Patience. To work patience simply means to accomplish patience. Patience it means to develop, means to achieve it.

The word patience is from the Greek word meaning cheerful constancy, cheerful continuance, cheerful endurance. Cheerful constancy means, when tested, that we do not compromise, that we do not give in to a wrong course. But it means more than that. Cheerful constancy means that we do not murmur or complain or chafe in the midst of our tests. Very difficult for us imperfect human beings to do.

But that’s his counsel, and so a paraphrase of what James is saying to us in verse three might be something like when our consecration is put to the test, we can and we should cheerfully endure. Cheerfully continue in each test. Do not compromise with the flesh. Do not complain, because complaining is a manifestation of self will.

Verse 4 James 1:4 but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. The first English word in the King James the word but in this verse is misleading. It’s not a good translation of the Greek. The word but is used normally to suggest a contrast or an exception to what was just said. For example, if I say that I am willing to speak with you privately, but I can’t do so at this particular minute, I’m using the word but to create the contrast.

I’m using the word but to create the exception to my ability to speak with you privately. Now, if we back up one verse to the verse three, James told us that we should face every trial cheerfully and without grumbling. In verse four, James is not creating an exception or a contrast to what he just said in verse three. Verse four is obviously not telling us that sometimes it’s okay to complain about our experiences. Actually, just the opposite, verse 4 enlarges on the importance of exercising cheerful constancy.

Here, the Greek word translated but is used for emphasis, not for contrast. So we suggest that we replace the word but with the words, and so verse four is saying, and so let Patience have her perfect work, and so submit to it, and so cooperate, continue in it. Now, what does it mean to let Patience have her perfect work? It means cheerful constancy.

It means that steadfastness, that perseverance to finish her developmental work, and that takes patience to allow the developmental work to continue and to reach its ultimate conclusion. Cheerful steadfastness in trial, Cheerful perseverance. Cheerful constancy is a choice, and that’s what James is saying.

He’s saying, choose to let your experiences change you. Choose to let your experiences develop you, to perfect you. Character growth, as we all know, comes from being tested and making, or at least trying to make the right choices in our trials. Earnestly practicing making the right choices is what crystallizes our characters. It’s what fixes our characters.

Just like fixing or crystallizing a piece of metal. The last part of verse four tells us the result of this exercise. Perfect and Entire, wanting nothing, the result of always trying to make the right choices, is not only perfection, but also completeness. Now you might ask yourselves, well, isn’t perfection the same thing as entire? Aren’t those two words redundant?

The answer is no. The word perfect is translated from the Greek word that means finished. It means done. It means it’s accomplished. It means it’s developed.

We know that character development is a process that takes time, just like Brother Allen was explaining earlier about the process of the binding of the adversary, and so here, similarly, it’s a process. Character development is a process. It takes time. There’s many events, many occurrences over this process that we call character development.

And we certainly want to get to the end of that process, and we do. We want to get to that process faithfully and successfully. We want that process to reach finality. We want that process to be fulfilled.

The word entire is translated from a totally Greek, different Greek word that means complete or whole. Our development might be going quite nicely, maybe even completed in one particular area. Perhaps a particular test that has given us much difficulty in the past is not so difficult for us now. Perhaps we have grown stronger in this one area, and this one thing is really not that much of a test anymore. Meanwhile, we may be grossly deficient and weak in another area of our character.

James is saying we must cheerfully persevere to allow the full development in all the dimensions of our character. The last two words, wanting nothing in verse four bears out this point. The word wanting does not mean desiring. You know, ordinarily, when we use the word I want something, it means I desire something. But the word wanting does not mean desiring here.

Rather, it means lacking, and James is saying, if we let this process continue on to be completed, to be fulfilled, we will lack nothing, nothing godlike in our characters. In other words, we want to cheerfully persevere until it finishes every aspect of our character growth. If we faithfully allow this work to continue in us, our Christian characters will eventually lack nothing. If we don’t complain, if we don’t rebel, if we don’t give up, if we persevere, if we cooperate to the very best of our ability with the process, it will work.

It’s guaranteed. Remember what the apostle said in Philippians, that he who has begun a good work in us will complete it. There’s the guarantee from the Heavenly Father. But of course, we have to do our part in the cooperation process. At that point we will be ready to receive our perfect spiritual bodies to match our perfect characters.

So what’s Our takeaway thus far from verses 2 and 3 and 4. Well, when we are surrounded with a wide variety of tests to prove our loyalty, we should consider each one of these a spiritual joy, a spiritual privilege to be tested. We should never complain or murmur about a single trial, because we know that if we continue to receive each trial with that cheerful constancy, that desire to endure, we will become like our master. Character growth happens if we face trials with a positive attitude, and we strive to make the right choices when we are being tested. Now, we’ve obviously spent considerable time analyzing and discussing verses 2, 3 and 4, and these are the core verses that include our theme text in verse 2 and its immediate context.

However, the remaining verses in chapter one are all relevant to our theme text. So let’s consider verses 5 through 27. Our approach is that we will read each verse, or in many, most instances, actually a group of verses, and offer a few comments.

James, chapter one, verses five through eight. If any man by the way, this is from King James. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed.

For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Now we might begin our consideration of this group of verses by asking ourselves here, why is James discussing wisdom and the need for us to have it? The need for us to ask for it. What we suggested earlier that what builds our character or what damages our character depends on the choices that we make.

Choosing to not compromise with the flesh is a right choice. Choosing not to complain is a right choice. Making right choices builds character. Making wrong choices damages or erodes or character, and there’s where the godly wisdom comes in.

You know, godly wisdom is what guides us to make the right choices. How do we know what choice to make? Well, the answer is godly wisdom. The problem is that we were not born with godly wisdom. That’s why we need to ask for it.

And we need to ask for it from the one and only source that can really provide it, and that’s through our Heavenly Father and through the resources that he has provided and put within our reach. Now, to better understand what godly wisdom is and how we get it, we consider a sort excerpt about and from King Solomon, and of course Solomon was known. He was Internationally known, we might say, because of the wisdom of God that he had at one point in his life.

As we all know, early in his ministration, King Solomon asked God for his wisdom, and God granted it. We’re looking at 1 Kings 3:28. 1 Kings 3:28, and all Israel heard of the judgment which the King Solomon had judged, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment. We note in this verse, godly wisdom means exercising godly judgment.

Now, exercising godly judgment again is not something we were born with. So exercising godly judgment is an acquired skill. It’s something that we have to acquire. When James says that we are to ask for wisdom, he is suggesting that we ask God for good judgment, the ability to exercise sound judgment. Obviously, God does not just reply to our request by opening our hearts and our minds and pouring it in.

As we all know, it doesn’t work that way, but rather we need to acquire it, and Proverbs is telling us. The book of Proverbs has several verses that we’re going to consider here momentarily. Tells us that to get good judgment we need to follow three steps. So if we want to exerciseif we want to acquire godly wisdom, which means exercising godly judgment in our choices, follow three steps.

Proverbs 9, 10. The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom. To acquire good judgment, we must have a supreme reverence for God. We must want to do things his way, not only do his will, but as Brother Art Newell would say over the years, we want to do the Lord’s will in the Lord’s way. We need to see God as possessing good judgment and trust him that he has good judgment, perfect judgment, and that he is willing to give us that skill if we ask.

Conversely, we must have a sense of our own weaknesses and insufficiency to make good choices. I don’t have the ability to make a good choice on my own in every test. We must recognize that we need help to decide aright, and that the Heavenly Father and the resources that he has provided is that help. So the fear of Jehovah, that reverence, that supreme reverence, is the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of being able to gain his wisdom. Step number two in gaining godly wisdom, godly judgment.

Proverbs 2, 6. Proverbs 2 6. For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Now, in order to acquire good judgment on any subject, we must get knowledge, and we must get the understanding of that knowledge. The Proper understanding of that knowledge.

Information by itself doesn’t do us much good. We have lots of information, but we need to have the proper understanding of the information in order for it to be beneficial. So exercising godly wisdom cannot be done if we know or understand nothing about God’s will. For us, that means that we need to seek the knowledge of God, and how do we get the knowledge of God?

Well, he’s given us the resources. We get that from the reverent study of His Word. We seek the wisdom and the understanding of God’s revealed mind, and of course that takes work, doesn’t it? As every one of us know, seeking the knowledge and understanding of God’s mind takes time, it takes energy, it takes focus, it takes endurance, it takes all of these things.

So to get God’s knowledge and understanding, we must pray for more of God’s holy Holy Spirit, his holy influence. Let’s look at step number three in the steps that we need to follow in order to acquire godly wisdom. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 6, proverbs 3, 6. This is from the Bible in basic English translation, the BBE in all your ways, give ear to him and he will make straight paths. He will make straight your footsteps.

Now we must listen to God’s voice in everything that we do to the very best of our ability, and then follow it, obey it, do it again to the very best of our imperfect ability, and if we obey God’s voice as best we can, it will put us on the straight path. It will order our steps aright, the right path for us to follow. If we are faithful, that path leads us to spiritual success. It leads us to hear God’s well done, good and faithful servant.

And that can be done on an incremental basis. Day by day we can hear that well done. But it also of course applies in the ultimate sense at the end of our earthly course. So there’s the three steps to acquire godly wisdom, which means the exercise of godly judgment, supreme reverence, earnest study, obedience. Now a practical way to get godly judgment is to recognize and to follow Jesus example.

Follow in his footsteps. You know, Jesus is the personification of God’s wisdom, and if we follow in his steps, which we have invited by grace to do, we will have godly wisdom. Follow Jesus example. Another way that God gives us his good judgment is through our brethren, such as the things that we’ve been sharing here already today.

Dialoguing with our brethren, having interchange, interfacing with our brethren, seeking input, asking questions, you know, all These are ways in which we can acquire godly judgment. We’re practicing it here today at this very convention. Now, returning to James, chapter one, verses five through eight that we’ve been considering, James says that God will never upbraid. Upbraid means to rebuff. He will never upbraid or rebuff our request for godly judgment.

Friends, pause for just a moment and let that thought sink in. Imagine that he never upbraids us. He never rebuffs us. God’s wisdom is there for the asking. An inexhaustible supply of godly wisdom is offered to us free of charge.

God puts no limits on the number of times that we ask. He puts no limits on the number of topics that we can address with Him. He’s saying, ask all you want. I am very willing to give you my wisdom, my judgment that you might exercise it in your consecrated walk. You know, we dare say that asking for God’s wisdom, and this is certainly true in this case, in my case, asking for God’s wisdom is perhaps one of our most underutilized opportunities and blessings.

But notice here, at the end of this series of verses, James adds a condition. He says that our asking must be done in faith. In order for it to work, we have to do this asking for godly wisdom in faith. Now what does that mean? Well, it means asking with sincerity and also asking with conviction.

To ask in faith means that we strongly believe in and we sincerely intend to use the guidance that we are given as much as we possibly can. To ask in faith means that we sincerely want God’s instruction, His direction, that we accept it and that we will apply it as much as possible. Now what would not asking in faith look like? Well, to not ask in faith means that we ask God for His guidance and then as James says, we waver. We waver as to whether to use it or how much to use it or whether we just choose to ignore it entirely.

That’s not asking in faith. James says that a vacillating or wishy washy heart attitude. God can’t bless with his judgment with his wisdom. God can’t entrust his wisdom to a double minded person, one who is both fleshly minded and spiritually minded. God can’t give his counsel to the extent that one is still pursuing the things of this world.

Because we’re talking about spiritual wisdom. We’re not talking about worldly wisdom here, we’re talking about godly wisdom, spiritual wisdom. So in order to have that, we cannot be pursuing the things of this World the fleshly pursuits. Verses 9 through 11 James, chapter 1, verses 9 through 11 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made low. Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof fadeth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Now these verses 9 through 11 tell us that humility is essential for us to be exalted, to grow in character. If we face our tests with a humble appreciation of our own deficiencies and a humble showing of our need for help and our asking for help, we of course will grow. Those of humble mind, feeling their own need will be exalted and elevated with growth in Godlikeness. Conversely, James is saying, if we feel rich, in other words, if we have a prideful attitude, our tests are not going to do us any good.

If we face our tests with the attitude of self complacency, as brother David was just speaking about in his discourse a few moments ago, if we face our test with self satisfaction, our trials will fail of their purpose. When the self sufficient are faced with strong tests like the scorching sun, they will wither, they will regress, they will go backwards. You know, God hates pride, and as we are told in Scripture, pride goeth before destruction. Unchecked pride will indeed destroy us as new creatures, as the apostle here is pointing out.

You know, James was obviously a good student of Jesus because Jesus taught this very same Lesson in Luke 14:11, Luke 14:11, where he says in part, whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. So humility in trial leads to character growth. Pride in trial leads to character damage, and ultimately, if continued in character failure.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him. As we mentioned earlier, trials take time to do their work. That’s letting patience have her perfect work. Character growth is not an event, it’s a process. We get the victor’s crown only if we see the trial through to the end.

And we don’t try to have the attitude of just get this thing over with. You know, if our sole focus in a trial is just to get rid of it, and believe me friends, that’s a very natural reaction to have to many of our more difficult trials. I just want this over with. I just want to get rid of this trial and move on.

If that’s our sole focus, the trial will not have its design beneficial effect. If we truly love God, then we want to endure in the school of Christ to the very end. If we don’t quit school, so to speak, if we don’t drop out, if we endure to the end of our curriculum in the school of Christ, then we will get the diploma. What is that diploma? It’s what the apostle says.

It’s the crown of life. Verses 13 through 15 James 1:13, 15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempteth no man. But each man is tempted. When he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed, then the lust when it had conceived beareth sin, and the sin when it is full grown bringeth forth death.

Wow, what an admonition. What a warning. Verses 13 to 15 are referring to temptations or enticements to do evil, to do sin, to take the wrong path, to do wrong. God does not. He does allow us to be tested, to determine our character, our loyalty, our faithfulness.

But God does not, and he cannot entice us to sin, to do evil. In fact, it’s impossible for God to entice us to do sin. That which entices us to sin arises from the adversary who works through our fallen flesh and its weaknesses. Make no mistake, Satan is very well aware of our sinful propensities.

He knows how to make sin very attractive to our flesh. Sin entices us, or, excuse me, Satan entices us to sin by using external attractions such as the influence of worldly friends or the media or politics or whatnot. The list there is endless. But more often than not, our sanctified consciences will warn us in advance when we are about to step into sin, when we are about to make the wrong choice. James tells us what to do if we are faced with a test of entering into sin or not entering into it.

You know, we know exactly what many of our weaknesses are. We probably don’t know them all, but we know what many of our weaknesses are, and we also know what triggers us to succumb to them. Our task is not to stimulate our weaknesses. This is where the choice of resistance comes into the equation.

Resist the sin. Do not entertain the sin in our minds. Easy to say, hard to do. But do not allow ourselves to be drawn into it. That’s the lust portion that James is talking about.

Don’t rationalize or justify the doing of it. Again, resistance is a choice. If we don’t take that threshold step of resistance, we put ourselves on a slippery slope, and if that slippery slope is continued into long enough, as the apostle says, it will end in death. Verses 16:18 James 1 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Now in these verses James is telling us the importance of God’s word of truth in our consecrated lives, and we all know that the importance of truth in our life. God created the light. The Word of truth is God’s light.

He gave us that light as the perfect gift, a complete gift. God’s truth is perfect because it has virtually everything that we need as new creatures in Christ Jesus, and he gave us not only the word of truth, the truth is in the Bible, but He gave us the resources the the resources that we need to understand the truth. Don’t err, James is saying. Don’t be deceived into believing or relying on anything else to promote or to rely on for our character growth and development.

Don’t be deceived or drawn into any other source of information, any man made information, any man made theories. God’s truth is what begat us. God’s truth is what started this spiritual impulse of life in us. God’s truth is what began us as new creatures, and God’s counsel is what will sustain us in our tests. God’s word is the only force.

It’s the only one that can transform us to that which he desires. The new creation. God’s truth is what will develop us into the choicest place in his creation that is to be the first fruits. Make no error, James says. Make no mistake.

God’s word is the only influence that can and will develop the new creation. Verses 19:21 Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. These verses distinguish very sharply between two things. They distinguish sharply between exercising God’s will versus exercising self will.

Two things indicate that we are exercising self will. First, we speak our own minds, our own unsanctified minds instead of God’s mind. The second indicator we are exercising self will is that we manifest anger in our displeasure with our trials, with our difficulties, with our struggles. You know, James is not talking here about godly anger. He’s not talking about righteous anger.

He’s referring to selfish human anger. Exercising fallen human anger is not promoting the righteousness of God, and of course the righteousness of God. Here is Christian growth, Christian character, reflecting God’s image. James says that we need to separate ourselves from all such filthiness of the flesh and wickedness.

If we are in the habit of exercising self will when tested or stressed, we need to break that habit. Because exercising self will or not exercising self will once again is a choice. Now, as we read in the previous set of verses, God has given us his word, his light, his instruction, his guidance. If we expect to grow in Christian character as a result of our struggles, our trials, our tests, we must let God’s influence reign supreme. Furthermore, if we want to grow as new creatures, we need to strive to avoid reacting with self will in our difficulties, in our trials and tests.

God’s instruction and not our own fallen fleshly influences is what will save us, is what will protect our souls, our new creatures. As James points out verses 22, 25. But be ye doers of the Word and not hearers, only deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. You know, we can easily deceive ourselves into thinking that we’re doing okay by merely professing that we have the truth. You know, I’ve been in the truth for many years. That’s pretty satisfying. Well, to be a true Christian means more than just receiving the truth.

It means more than just getting information. It means more than just identifying with the body of truth. People we need to meditate on the instruction, and meditation quite often reveals defects in our character. Our responsibility is to take that awareness and apply ourselves to doing something to correct it.

What James is saying here again, James is being very pragmatic. He’s saying, don’t be like the person who looks in the mirror and sees something Ms. You know, our hair is uncombed or our face needs washed, and then walks away and forgets about the fact that his hair needs combed or his face needs washed. Recognizing something amiss in our characters presents us with a test. We see something that’s amiss in ourselves, and so what choice do we make?

The perfect law of liberty that James is referring to here, we believe is the law of Christ. It is the law of love. It’s the love for God, the love for others. If we love God supremely in our neighbors as ourselves, we will want to develop perfect love for both, and we want to use divine instruction to identify and rectify anything within us that does not reflect godly love.

Again, a very high standard, very difficult to strive for and to achieve, but striving to bend and to conform ourselves to that perfect law. If love is how we are supremely blessed. So whether we address defects we see on ourselves or whether we choose to ignore these defects is a choice. Verses 26 and 27. If any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain, pure religion.

And none defiled before God, and the Father is to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. We all say injurious things, wrong things that we later regret. The things we regret are not what James is referring to. The bridle here is a restraint.

And James is talking about fault finding. He’s talking about evil speaking that we do not restrain or we say, and we don’t regret uncomplimentary things that we justify, rather than regret things that have a measure of our heart’s approval. That’s when we don’t have regret, when it has our heart’s approval. Pure religion to truth is given to us for one reason. To make our hearts, our wills, our minds, our activities more godlike.

If we seek the truth for any reason other than to become more godlike, it’s vain, it’s empty, it’s worthless. Our pursuit of the truth should be developing in us. The royal law of love, manifested in mercy, manifested in generosity, manifested in compassion for others. The truth should cause us to want to help others in need. That’s the fatherless and the widows.

These are ones that have special needs, and so the truth should cause us to want to help others in need, which really is the entire groaning creation. The fatherless and the widows here being represented. If we find ourselves becoming spotted with a worldly spirit, a selfish spirit, again we want to take, we must take corrective action. We must take ourselves to the throne of grace and ask for that blemish to be removed by the blood, the cleansing blood, the cleansing fluid, the blood of Christ.

We need to do the best we can to keep our robe of righteousness both wrinkle free and uncontaminated. Well, let’s draw our remarks to a close. In closing, James is impressing on us a very pragmatic lesson, because the apostle James is a very pragmatic apostle. This is an easy to understand lesson, not easy to achieve, but easy to understand. What we regularly allow or not allow to occupy our minds and our hearts and our choices will determine our ultimate reward.

The tests we face and the choices that we make in those tests every day will have much to do with our destiny, as we are no doubt already aware. Ralph Waldo Emerson has well said, sow a thought, reap an action, sow an action, reap a habit, sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character and reap a destiny. You know, each one of these sowings is a choice, and so James is counseling us to choose right thoughts, choose right actions, choose right habits, choose right character.

And therefore we choose by grace to reach the right destiny. We paraphrase to conclude our remarks, James, chapter one, verse two. Again, this is a paraphrased version of James 1:2. My dear fellow spiritual Israelites, choose. Exercise your choice to receive with spiritual joy every single one of your experiences designed to prove your loyalty and develop your character on all points.

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