Trial, Temptation, and Triumph

James 1:12-15
January 31, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Dear Highland, I want you to be encouraged by God as you start another week. God loves you. He knows that you are going through trials of various kinds. He knows that your faith is being tested. He knows because he has ordained the trials and tests for you. And as you go through it all - as you remain steadfast, as you ask for wisdom in faith, as you boast in Christ and boast in your humiliation and exaltation - God wants you to believe what he is saying to you today and God wants you to trust him now with all your heart. Please listen to him.

Brothers, sisters, if you are right now remaining steadfast under trial, then you are blessed. You are actually and truly blessed. How can this be? How can you be blessed when you go through suffering and misery and heartache and pain? The reason is this. You are blessed because of what you will receive in the future. When you have stood the test, you will receive the crown of life. You will be victorious as you stand before Christ the King. You will have eternal life in the kingdom of the new heavens and new earth. This is your future. Do you see it? Do you see it now? Do you see it now as you are under trial? As you are put to the test? This is your future. And God promises you that this will be your future. He knows that you love him. Your love is not perfect. You may admit that you do not love God as you want to. But God loves you. His love for you is perfect. He wants you to know right now that he loves you. He wants you to know that he will bless you with the crown of life. Therefore, remain steadfast under trial. Stand the test. Do not lose heart. Your suffering and misery and heartache and pain is all going to be worth it. Your light momentary affliction is preparing for you an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Do not ultimately look at things that are seen - things in your life such as cancer or persecution or disaster or this world. Look to things that are unseen - things in your life such as your eternal life, your glorification, your perfection and completion as a new creation person without sin, your world that is to come. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. You will receive the crown of life. You are actually and truly blessed. So change your mind. Change the way that you think about your trials and tests. This is wisdom. Let’s say that you get a vaccine for the coronavirus and you end up shaking in your bed for a day. You are actually blessed. Why? Because if you find yourself shaking in your bed for a day, it means that your body is fighting a good fight and your immune system is learning a good lesson. You may not think that way in the heat of the moment, but what if you did? Or let’s say that you eat something that is wrong and you end up throwing up in an unpleasant and embarrassing manner. You are actually blessed. Why? Because if you find yourself with vomit in front of you, it means that your body has succeeded in protecting you from serious harm. You may not think that way in the heat of the moment, but what if you did? The trials and tests that God gives to you are a good thing. He is making you more and more steadfast. He is making you more and more wise. He is training you to boast more and more in Jesus. He is preparing you more and more to see that there is nothing better than Jesus and his crown of life. We therefore count it all joy. If you are going through trials and tests right now, change your mind in how you see them. God loves you. Believe his word for you today.

And brothers, sisters, if you are right now being tempted about something sinful, then that is on you and not on God. God does not tempt you. He is not against you. He is for you. It is absolutely true and it is grammatically correct to say that God has ordained the trials and tests in your life for your good. Trials and tests come from God. But not temptation. It is absolutely false and it is grammatically incorrect to say that God tempts you to sin. This is impossible. The reason why is because of the character of God. Because of who God is. God is without sin. God is perfect in righteousness and holiness. God cannot be tempted. And God does not tempt you. He never wants you to stumble and sin. He never enjoys seeing you sin. He never tries to entice you or get you to sin. God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. So when you are tempted, do not say, “I am being tempted by God.” When you say that, you are putting the blame and the responsibility on God when the blame and the responsibility belongs to you and you alone. This is serious, especially since this is the hinge moment and the turning point upon which so much people have a relational falling away from God. People want to say stuff like: God, why did you make everything this way… God, I would be a better Christian if that temptation never happened to me… God, you set me up to fail… God, this is all your fault, I hate you, and I’m done with you. This is very serious. Because it is an attack on the character of God, it is a rejection of the doctrine of God, it is a twisting of the truth about God, it is a denial of the love of God. This is not wisdom. This is foolishness. Do not think this way when you are faced with temptation. Instead, when you are faced with temptation, remember this. Temptation does not come from God. Temptation ultimately comes from you. Don’t overthink this. You are tempted when you are lured and enticed by your own desire. You are tempted to sin because you want to sin. And that’s on you. Not on God. Do not say, “The world made me do it.” Do not say, “The devil made me do it.” Do not say, “God made me do it.” Instead, be humble, be wise, speak the truth, and say, “I did it. I was tempted. I was lured and enticed by my own desire. I sinned. I am responsible. I am to be blamed. It’s on me.” This is the right way to think about temptation and sin. It is not a popular way. But it is the biblical way. God is not against you. God is for you. God loves you. Obey his word for you today.

And thanks be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Before you were graciously given repentance and faith in Jesus, you were dead in your sin. Desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin. And sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. But that was you back then. Because of Jesus, that is your old you. Jesus died for your sins. He took the wrath and the punishment and the hell that you deserved. Jesus sacrificed himself by taking your record of sin and making it his own and by being a substitute for you. This is how he took away your sin. Jesus lived for your righteousness. He fulfilled the law that you were supposed to fulfill - a law that if fulfilled perfectly would result in eternal life. Jesus obeyed the law that you were supposed to obey - a law that if obeyed perfectly would be rewarded with a blessed eschatological relationship with him. He represented you by taking his record of obedience and righteousness and crediting it all to you, so that it is now under your name, as if you had never had nor committed any sin, and as if you yourself had accomplished all the obedience required by the law for eternal life. Jesus rose again from the dead. He has given you resurrection life in him. Jesus has made you into a new creation. And so this means that you now have new desires in your new heart. This means that you now have new thoughts in your new mind. You are not just taking off the old. You are putting on the new. This is amazing good news. So when you are tempted, when you are lured and enticed by your own old desire, by the old you, remember that you are a new creation. Know that God is giving you new desire. And as you are being sanctified by grace, be assured that you are learning to be drawn and persuaded by your own new desire, by the new you, that is united with Christ Jesus. As a fully forgiven child of God, this is how you overcome temptation and sin now as you wait for Jesus’ return. I want you to know this gospel truth. But be warned. Desire that comes from your old self is still very real. Such desire can still result in terrible tragedy. This is the warning James gives to you. Your old desire is personified as someone with whom you want to start a family with. If you go with your old desire, you will have a child together. That child is sin. And that child will go on to have another child. The child of the child is death. This graphic and horrifying family tree is a wake up call for you. Do not take this spiritual warfare lightly. This is the wisdom of God for you. God loves you. Receive his word for you today.

Dear Highland, there is trial. There is temptation. But there is triumph. Now is the time to think rightly about God. As you remain steadfast, as you ask for wisdom in faith, and as you boast in Christ and boast in your humiliation and exaltation, your thoughts about God matters. So take today’s passage to heart and be wise in Christ. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

Soli Deo Gloria