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JAMES 1:2-3

JAMES 1:2-3. “2 My brothers and sisters, you should be very happy when you experience many kinds of troubles, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith will develop more endurance.”. JAMES 1:4-5.

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JAMES 1:2-3

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  1. JAMES 1:2-3 • “2 My brothers and sisters, you should be very happy when you experience many kinds of troubles, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith will develop more endurance.”

  2. JAMES 1:4-5 • “4 Endure, so that your actions will be truly complete. Then you will be mature. You will have everything; you will need nothing. 5 But if any one of you does need wisdom, just ask God. It will be given to you. God is the One who gives freely to all people, and He does this without complaining.”

  3. JAMES 1:6-7 • “6 So, when you ask God, ask with confidence, without doubting, because the person who doubts God is as unstable as a wave of the sea during a storm. 7 A person who wavers like this must not think that his prayer will be honored by the Lord.”

  4. JAMES 1:8-12 • “8 His heart is divided into two parts, and no one can depend on anything he does…12 Therefore, happy is the man who, though tested, endures. When he endures tests, God will give him the reward of eternal life which God has promised to those who love Him.”

  5. JAMES 1:13-14 • “13 When someone is being tested, he shouldn't think that God is tempting him to do wrong. Evil cannot tempt God and God does not tempt anyone with evil. 14 When someone desires things which he knows are wrong, he is tempting himself. His selfish desire pulls him away from God and holds him.”

  6. JAMES 1:15-16 • “15 After that desire has been conceived, it produces sin. Then the sin grows and results in death. 16 Make no mistake about it, my dear brothers, this is true.”

  7. INTRODUCTION • GOOD evening. We thank God… • Please repeat after me: “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue – keepeth his soul from troubles” (Proverbs 21:23).

  8. INTRODUCTION • We are so very thankful for this congregation… • Visitors: you are always our welcomed and honored guest… • We are humbled… • Our topic for this evening is:

  9. TROUBLES, PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES! • Loved ones, the title of this sermon could just as well be: Troubles, Troubles, Troubles, or Problems, Problems, Problems, or Challenges, Challenges, Challenges.

  10. TROUBLES, PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES! • There are three prominent persons named James in the New Testament. It is quite generally agreed that James, called by Paul “the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19), was the writer of this epistle.

  11. TROUBLES, PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES! • Apparently, this letter was addressed to the Jewish converts who lived outside the Holy Land; to the devout Christians of the Dispersion - the scattering (James 1:1).

  12. TROUBLES, PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES! • The main theme is practical religion. James reveals that true religion shows itself in good works, contrasted with mere profession of faith.

  13. TROUBLES, PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES! • We pray right now in Jesus’ name, that God will bless us all with more wisdom and understanding as we study this book on practical Christian living using our Simple English Version of the Bible.

  14. BE HAPPY • Do you ever get the feeling that life is a constant series of challenges? • Or it may be that the problem arises from an entirely opposite situation. • You see, everyone has his own special challenges. • The point is simply that troubles come to everyone - not just you.

  15. BE HAPPY • TROUBLES, PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES!! Won't they ever go away? Why must these things happen to people? At least, why must they happen to Christians?

  16. BE HAPPY • The Bible encourages us not to think of these things in negative terms. God wants us to take a positive view of our challenges.

  17. BE HAPPY • "2 My brothers and sisters, you should be very happy when you experience many kinds of troubles.... 12 Happy is the man who, though tested, endures. When he endures tests, God will give him the reward (* literally, the crown) of eternal life which God has promised to those who love Him " (James 1:2, 12).

  18. BE HAPPY • Don't whine, cry, and give way to despair when you have a difficult situation to face or a hard problem to solve. Celebrate! Sing! Rejoice! Be Happy! • What? Celebrate because you've got troubles?

  19. BE HAPPY • No. Celebrate because you have a loving and powerful Lord who will bring you through your challenges and turn them into steppingstones towards your spiritual maturity.

  20. BE HAPPY • Sing because you are not alone. Rejoice and be happy in the knowledge that you don't have to let your troubles get the best of you.

  21. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • The Greek word translated "temptation" in older versions of the first chapter of James can have two different meanings.

  22. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • As with our English word, it can refer to external stresses that press upon us and test our faith or to internal attractions that tempt us to do wrong.

  23. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • James refers to life's external problems or trials as test of our faith in verses 2, 3 and 12 of chapter one. • Consider the challenges James' original readers were experiencing when this letter was written (Acts 8; James 1:1)

  24. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • Would these Hebrew Christians remain faithful to Christ and the church? Would they decide that too much was being asked of them and give up?

  25. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • God allowed Joseph to be sent into Egypt and to go through a series of trying episodes (Genesis 45:5-8). • “God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (Genesis 45:7).

  26. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • Such troubles have always come upon the people of God to give them an opportunity to prove their faith; i.e., to trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5).

  27. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • Every man or woman is regarded as unproven before God, and the "troubles of many kinds" come to put everyone to the test. • These challenges or trials are not evil in themselves, and God is not blameworthy for allowing them.

  28. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • They fall because they did not build on a solid rock and allow the Spirit of God to reinforce their characters with His strength (Matthew 7:24-27).

  29. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • James next focuses attention on temptations designed to lead people into sin. • "When someone is being tested, he shouldn't think that God is tempting him to do wrong. Evil cannot tempt God and God does not tempt anyone with evil” (James 1:13).

  30. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • As with Abraham, it is true that God proves the real character of men by subjecting them to various tests of their faith (Genesis 22:1). • It is NOT true that God seduces men into evil. Let no man blame his sin or the circumstances which led to it on God.

  31. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • Adam was, in effect, blaming God for his sin when he said, "The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it" (Genesis 3:12).

  32. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • Not only can God NOT be charmed by evil, but He also cannot be responsible for our temptation to do evil. • What, then, is the source of temptations to do evil?

  33. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • "When someone desires things which he knows are wrong, he is tempting himself. His selfish desire pulls him away from God and holds him" (James 1:14). • The blame for sin belongs NOT on God but on man.

  34. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • We do not do as we do because we cannot do otherwise. We are morally free and do wrong because we choose to do wrong. Our "evil desires" (i.e., improper and uncontrolled desires) draw us into sin.

  35. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • Mother fish and her baby's illustration…

  36. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • In the same way, all is well with a man so long as he follows the God of his salvation without turning aside to the right hand or the left. • Unchecked desire within our own heart – not fate, circumstance, or God – causes mankind to sin.

  37. TEST AND TEMPTATIONS • Thus it is that we face problems of two vastly different types (Challenges – Hebrews 12:11 – and Temptations). • God did not create us with a proneness to sin but with freedom of choice.

  38. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AND TEMPTATIONS • We have to live with the troubles which grow out of trials and temptations. Beyond that, we have to overcome them by the grace of God.

  39. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AND TEMPTATIONS • Trials and test of our faith must be endured with patience and grace. Temptations must be conquered with faith and obedience.

  40. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AND TEMPTATIONS • How shall we achieve such a victory? First, we can be optimistic about the struggle. “Be very happy when you experience many kinds of troubles. . ." (James 1:2).

  41. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AND TEMPTATIONS • "You have been tempted the same way all people have been tempted, but God is faithful. He will not allow Satan to tempt you with more than you can resist. No, when you are being tempted, God will also give you a way to escape, so that you can endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

  42. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AND TEMPTATIONS • An attitude of pessimistic fatalism will almost certainly mean failure. • Second, pray that God will meet your daily needs out of His infinite supply of mercy.

  43. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AND TEMPTATIONS • "If any one of you does need wisdom, just ask God. It will be given to you. God is the One who gives freely to all people, and He does this without complaining" (James 1:5).

  44. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AND TEMPTATIONS • "6 So, when you ask God, ask with confidence, without doubting, because the person who doubts God is as unstable as a wave of the sea during a storm. 7 A person who wavers like this must not think that his prayer will be honored by the Lord. 8 His heart is divided into two parts, and no one can depend on anything he does" (James 1:6-8).

  45. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AND TEMPTATIONS • Most of our doubts in prayer are attributable to a divided heart; i.e., being "double-minded" and "unstable." • This type of prayer gets no answer.

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