SCRIPTURE: James 1:12-15 (ESV)
DATE: 2-15-26
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
PASTORAL PRAYER
Last week we reintroduced an ancient practice in our worship service — a time of pastoral prayer. Where — each week — we’ll be more intentional about praying for people, circumstances, and situations going on in our congregation, community, country, and world.
Today we’ll be praying for the marriages in our congregation, for Findlay High School students — as they grieve due to one of their classmates taking his life this past week — for president Trump, and for Muslims around the world as Ramadan begins this week.
So — with that — please join me in prayer.
Heavenly Father, what a faithful God you are. When we are faithless — you remain faithful — for faithful is who you are.
Faithful is something you call us to be in our relationships as husbands and wives. You tell us to, “Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.” (Heb 13:4 NLT) You command husbands to, “love your wives, just as Christ loved the church.” (Eph. 5:25b) And wives are to “respect her husband.” (Eph. 5:33b NLT)
Holy Spirit, empower the husbands and wives among us so that we are faithful to our spouses demonstrating our faithfulness to you. For one cannot claim faithfulness to God while being unfaithful to our spouse. Thank you for these commands and your vision of what our marriages are to be. And thank you for empowering and equipping us to fulfill your vision for marriage.
For our community — we lift up Findlay High School, the students who attend, the teachers and staff, and especially the family of the student who took his life this past week. Father, Son, and Spirit, may you lead, guide, and direct pastor Chris as he ministers to this family in their time of deep grief. For the students who are in shock, confused, perhaps feeling hopeless — may the staff, teachers, coaches, and others who follow Jesus — be used by you to give comfort, hope, and peace in the days ahead.
Tomorrow our nation celebrates president’s day. So it seems fitting to lift up our nation’s president to you today. Father, may you draw President Trump closer to you. I have no idea the condition of his heart or his faith in you — I don’t personally know the man — so I ask that you do the work in his heart that will bring you the most glory. Help him to recognize the potential he has to point people to Christ and may he use the influence you’ve given him to do so.
And for our world, we pray for the hundreds of millions of Muslims as this week begins Ramadan for them. During the weeks ahead — as they seek our spiritual truth — Jesus may you awaken their hearts to you — the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. Spirit, give them eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to receive the truth about who Jesus is so they believe in him and find everlasting life.
We pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
We’re continuing our series in James this weekend. We’ve been learning what it means to be wise from the younger brother of Jesus on a variety of topics. And today’s topic — like the ones we’ve previously looked at — is practical for all of us — Christian or not. So let’s see what wisdom wants to teach us today.
If you have your Bible, please turn with me to James chapter one. We’ll be in James chapter one — beginning in verse twelve. There we read…
James 1:12–15 ESV
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
We’re going to do something different today — and that is — we’re going to start at the end of our verses and work our way back to the beginning. We’re doing so because this will lead us to James’ point — which he states in verse twelve. And I don’t want us to forget his point — so we’ll save it until the end.
So this backwards journey of ours will begin by looking at where temptation comes from. Then we’ll see a way that God is not like us. And — finally — we’ll discover God’s purpose in our trials.
Where temptation comes from. How God is not like us. And God’s purpose in our trials.
WHERE TEMPTATION COMES FROM
So — first — where does temptation come from? We’re in verse fourteen.
James 1:14–15 ESV
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Now — to me — these two verses are like a bad version — or a bizzaro world version — of one of Jesus’ parables. If you don’t know — a parable is a short story that teaches a moral truth — and Jesus loved to use parables to teach his listeners. And — the parable I’m thinking of — is the parable of the soils.
We’ll look at this parable in a few weeks but — for now — know that it’s a story where Jesus compares our hearts to different kinds of soil. And Jesus’ point is that when the message of hope — what’s called the gospel — the news of what Jesus has accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection — when the gospel is heard — it’s similar to a farmer throwing seed out onto a field. The seeds that are thrown are all the same — what matters is the condition of the soil on which the seed lands. And Jesus’ point for his listeners — and us — is for us to each examine the condition of our hearts and our receptivity to the gospel message.
Now here — in James —we have a similar opportunity — an opportunity to examine our hearts. For our heart is either soil that produces a gospel harvest — a harvest of life — or — as James is making clear — our heart is soil that produces death. Because James says that those who — when tempted — give into the lure and enticement of their desires — James says that these people create the right conditions for the seed of those desires to give birth to sin — which — when matured — leads to death. Jesus talks about a seed that produces life — while James talks about a seed — or a desire of our heart — that produces death.
Something interesting to be aware of is that the word James uses — that we translate as “desire” — is a neutral word. Meaning — though we may read into his statement “sinful desires” — that’s not what James meant. He simply means “desires” — and desires can be good, neutral, or sinful. But by using this neutral word for “desire” — what James is saying is that — even non-sinful desires — can lead to death. For even good desires can lead to sinful decisions when — instead of trusting God and his timing — we do whatever we can to get what we want.
This is the individual who desires to be married — a good desire — and — instead of waiting for God’s timing — takes things into his own hands and finds himself married to someone who does not love Jesus. And — inevitably — the person who doesn’t love Jesus influences the person who does more than the other way around. As a pastor — I’m telling you — this is just how it works. Thus — this non-sinful desire — to be married — results in a life that seems more like death. Why? Because sin controls the marriage you’re in.
That’s just one example that shows how our desires can entice us. Now the word “entice” means “to be baited.” This is where the desire we have — again — not necessarily a sinful desire — but this is where a desire we have is like a worm on a hook baiting us to take a bite.
“Wait. Josh, are you saying we’re the fish?”
In what James is describing to us — yes — that’s exactly what I’m saying. We’re the fish — not the one fishing.
Now the Bible does give us some examples of what the fishermen are like — those who are trying to entice — or bait us — by our desires. The apostle Peter tells us…
2 Peter 2:12–14 NET
12 But these men, like irrational animals — creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed — do not understand whom they are insulting, and consequently in their destruction they will be destroyed,13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways. By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight, they are stains and blemishes, indulging in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you. 14 Their eyes, full of adultery, never stop sinning; they entice unstable people. They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children!
“They entice unstable people” — which reminds me of all of the “tossing to and fro by the winds and waves” imagery that James used earlier in his letter.
Peter goes on to say…
2 Peter 2:18–19 NET
18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words they are able to entice, with fleshly desires and with debauchery, people who have just escaped from those who reside in error.19 Although these false teachers promise such people freedom, they themselves are enslaved to immorality. For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.
So these false teachers lure people — even God’s people! — into sin and corruption by getting us to bite down on the hook so they can reel us into death. But notice how they hook us. They appeal to our desires and promise us that freedom will be the result of us getting what we want — only to enslave us all over again to the sin we were freed from.
Again — James warns us…
James 1:14 ESV
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
We’ve looked at the words “desire” and “entice” — now the word “lured.” The word that James uses — that’s translated as “lured” — is only used here in the New Testament. And the word means “to be dragged away.”
So — back to our fishing illustration. Our desires — sinful or not — bait us like a worm on a hook to a fish. And — once we’ve taken the bait — we’re then dragged off in a direction we do not want to go — towards death — just like a fish on the end of a line.
Friends — my concern right now is that some of us think we’re above being dragged off — against our will — in the direction towards death. We think such things may happen to others, but not to me. And such thinking is exactly what false teachers — used by our enemy, Satan — use to get us hooked on their lines of deceit and lies.
- It’s the husband who thinks that a little porn is OK. You’re on the line being dragged to death.
- It’s the student who thinks a little cheating is OK. You’re on the line being dragged to death.
- It’s that extra glass of wine to numb you to the pain you don’t want to face.
- Making the time to scroll on social media while never finding time to be in God’s Word.
This isn’t meant to make you fearful of the desires you have — but is meant to make sure that all of your desires are submitted to God and his authority over your life. Because — the answer to our question — where does temptation come from — is: It comes from within us — from within you. That’s what James is telling us.
Though outside factors may play a role — ultimately — we’re responsible for the decisions we make — you’re responsible for whether or not you give into your desires — for whether or not you take the bait and get dragged off in a direction you never intended to head in.
GOD IS NOT LIKE US
But there’s someone who tends to get more of the blame than others — when it comes to us taking the bait. And — unfortunately — it’s not the false teachers that we just learned of. It’s not even Satan. And it’s definitely not ourselves. No — usually at the top of mankind’s go to for casting blame — is God. So let’s see what James has to say about God and our temptations. We’re in verse thirteen.
James 1:13 ESV
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Here — James pushes against what many people believe. Because it’s our nature — in not wanting to be responsible for giving into our desires — to look for someone else to blame. And many people have no issue in blaming God.
“If God’s really in control of everything — as you Christians say you believe — then he shouldn’t have put that drink in my hand, or that porn on the internet, or that opportunity to cheat on my spouse in my life.”
Yet James say’s, “God does not tempt us with evil” — which is another way of saying that God doesn’t tempt us to sin. James also gives us a profound truth about God — for he tells us that God also can’t be tempted with evil.
You see — God is holy — which means he’s completely pure and without sin. Thus he has no inclination to sin or to be tempted by it. God is also righteous — which means he only does what is right — and — he does what is right all the time — in every situation — including every situation in your life — Christian or not.
So the question then becomes, “If God can’t be tempted with evil — and if he doesn’t tempt us with evil — then what’s his purpose in the trials — or temptations — that we face? Because he doesn’t stop them. And — if he doesn’t stop them — then what’s his purpose in them?” For as Scripture tells us…
Romans 8:28 NLT
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
And “everything” means “everything.” Nothing is excluded. So what’s God’s purpose — or his goal — in us facing temptation?
We find our answer in two Old Testament accounts that would’ve been familiar to James and his original readers. One is from the book of Job — and the life of the man for whom the book of Job is named. And the other is from the book of Genesis — from the life of Abraham.
First — Job’s story. Job’s story begins this way.
Job 1:1–5 NLT
1 There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless — a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters. 3 He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area. 4 Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. 5 When these celebrations ended — sometimes after several days — Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
Here we learn that Job is blameless, a man of integrity, he feared God, and he avoided evil. We learn about his family and his wealth. And we even learn that he offered sacrifices to God on behalf of his children — just in case they had sinned. If ever there was a man devoted to God — it was Job.
But — after these opening words — quite possibly one of the strangest events in all of the Bible takes place. We’re taken to the heavenly court — where angels are present before God— and Satan’s there too! And here’s what happens.
Job 1:7–12 NLT
7 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” 8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless — a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” 9 Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! 11 But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” 12 “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.
Now what comes next is a shock. We learn that Satan takes everything away from Job: his animals, his wealth, and even his children — they’re all killed. It’s one blow after another after another. And how does Job respond to all of this tragedy?
Job 1:20–22 NLT
20 Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. 21 He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” 22 In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.
As you can imagine — Job’s response did not please Satan. So we’re taken back to the heavenly courts and God asks Satan how things are going with Job. And…
Job 2:4–6 NLT
4 Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. 5 But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!” 6 “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.”
And we’re told that Satan strikes Job with a disease on his skin that covers him from head to toe. The pain was so unbearable that Job took broken pottery to scrape at his skin. And…
Job 2:9–10 NLT
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.
The book of Job — which is part of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, by the way — goes on to record the back and forth conversation Job has with some of his friends. And — in the end — though Job is an imperfect man — he did receive correction from God — he’s proven faithful.
And that was God’s purpose in allowing Job to experience this trial in life — along with all of the temptations that came with his suffering. God proved to Satan that Job was a man who — with integrity — meant it when he said, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
A question you must wrestle with is this: Is your God this sovereign? Can he use temptation, suffering, trials, persecution, and even extreme hardship in your life to prove to Satan that you are a man or woman of integrity when it comes to your faith in Jesus? Does God have that kind of authority over your life — or — would that be him taking things a bit too far?
Now we turn to Abraham. At this point in Abraham’s life, God has promised to him that one day he would be the father of many nations. It was an incredible promise for many reasons — one of which was that Abraham — and his wife, Sarah — we’re old. And — I mean — old, old. We’ve got a few ladies among us in their nineties and I don’t think any of them are eager to have a child at their age — but that’s the age bracket Abraham and Sarah were in when Isaac was born.
Now Isaac is the promised child — the child through whom God’s promise to Abraham would be fulfilled — the son through whom descendants would come numbering like sand on a seashore — like the stars in the sky. Yet here’s what happened.
Genesis 22:1–19 NLT
1 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” 2 “Take your son, your only son — yes, Isaac, whom you love so much — and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” 3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” 6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” 8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. 9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!” 12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” 13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” 15 Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. 16 “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that 17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. 18 And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed — all because you have obeyed me.” 19 Then they returned to the servants and traveled back to Beersheba, where Abraham continued to live.
A different kind of test than what Job faced. So what was God’s purpose in this test in Abraham’s life? God’s purpose was for Abraham to learn that his God will provide for his every need. And as we learn in the New Testament…
Hebrews 11:17–19NLT
17 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18 even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” 19 Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.
God’s purpose was never for Abraham to kill Isaac — God’s plan was always to provide the ram as a substitute. But Abraham would never have known this was God’s purpose without first going up the mountain in complete trust that — somehow, someway — Isaac would survive — even if it meant God raising his son from the dead.
CONCLUSION: GOD’S PURPOSE IN OUR TRIALS
And both of these biblical examples lead us to our final point: God’s purpose in our trials. We’re in verse twelve.
James 1:12 ESV
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Notice how — though the English word “tempt” is used throughout our verses — here the word “trial” is used. There’s a reason for that. James uses a different word in the original language here. It’s a word that often can mean “temptation” — but here — the word has a different sense to it. Instead of “temptation” the word means “examination.”
So James is saying, “Blessed is the man — or woman — who remains steadfast under examination.” And this helps us to understand God’s purpose in our trials — or examinations — that often include us being tempted. For God’s purpose — just like with Job and Abraham — God’s purpose for the trials in your life is not to see you fail and give in and take the bait — his purpose is that you will remain steadfast during the examination.
James goes on to say, “For when he has stood the test” — “stood the test” means to be approved or to be accepted. Approved by whom — accepted by whom? Like Job, approved by God. Like Abraham, accepted by God.
Friends, what greater reason do we have to remain steadfast under trial — to stand firm when tested — to remain faithful to God when we’re being examined by circumstances in life — than to know that this is an opportunity to please our Father in Heaven — to be approved by him — to be accepted by him?
We see this in children, don’t we? They want the approval of their mom and dad. They desire to be accepted by those in authority over them — like a teacher. In fact — I find it quite common for us to never grow out of this desire to be approved and accepted by others. And — here — James tells us how we can please the God who created everyone and everything.
How awesome is that? What a different way to view the current trial you may be in the thick of right now? To see it as an opportunity to be approved by your God as you remain steadfast and faithful to him while in this trial. To see it as an opportunity to be accepted by the God who loves you and sent his Son to rescue you. To see it as an opportunity to experience your God providing for your every need.
- This is what God did for Abraham after he stood the test on the mountain. A ram was provided to be the substitute for Issac.
- This is what God did for Job — when he restored everything that Job had lost.
- And this is what God has promised to you — if you believe in his Son. For Jesus is One who substituted himself in your place — as he stood firm during the test on the mountain — when he gave his life — in love — for you.
- And — in doing so — he guaranteed an eternal inheritance for those who believe in him. For he’s promised his people the riches of Heaven which are his. For those who give up the desires of this world for him — will be blessed beyond what they can imagine.
And Jesus has done this — because — he knew that we’d never pass the test on our own — he knew that we’d all fail the exam of life — he knew that none of us would remain steadfast and would — instead — bite on hook after hook after hook — being dragged off towards sin and death to the delight of the one who — just like with Job — wants to destroy our lives.
So Jesus did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves: He passed the test. He earned for us his Father’s approval and acceptance by living the perfect life of faith on our behalf, and gave his life as the payment for our sins, rising from the grave, defeating the power of sin and death — so that — we’ll be giving a crown of life — which God has promised to those who love him.
May these sweet words of truth ignite in your soul a great love for — and a desire to live faithfully for — the God who uses trials in your life to remind you of his great love for you. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Father, what love you have for us. That even the trials we face are meant to remind us of your great love for us. For your purpose — in us facing these trials — is not our failure and demise — but for our victory.
Holy Spirit, when we’re in a trial it can be hard to remember your purpose. So remind those who are in the midst of pain, suffering, hardship, disappointment, grief, uncertainty — and whatever form of trial they may be facing — remind them — right now — of your purpose. For them to remain steadfast. To pass the test. To prove to them your power and love.
And — Jesus — the only hope we have in prayers like these being true — is what you’ve done — in love — for us. You not only stood the test — like Job — but are the truly innocent sufferer. You gave up everything for our sake — and did so willingly. You not only climbed up the mountain — like Abraham — but you didn’t receive a substitute sacrifice — you were the substitute sacrifice — in our place — for our sins.
You remained steadfast. You passed the test. And — because you did so on our behalf — through our faith in you — we can now do so. For your Spirit in us — and your love for us — are more powerful than any trial or temptation we may face. Help us to believe this wonderful truth. To believe it more. And to believe it even more. We pray all of this in your name. Amen.
BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)
No matter what you may be facing in life — may you know that God’s purpose is that even this moment is meant to remind you of his great love for you. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.