1. God’s intentions for His tests are good (9-12)
a. God’s pattern for testing (9-11)
b. God’s freedom from testing (12)
2. Transition verse (13)
3. Satan’s intentions for God’s tests are evil (14-15)
a. Satan’s pattern for temptation (14)
b. Satan’s bondage from temptation (15)
4. Conclusion (16)
This morning we’re continuing in the introduction part of James. Remember how the book of James is set up. The first verse is the greeting to his letter. Then in verses 2-18, he gives an overview to the theme of his entire letter. Last week we covered the first part of his overview in verses 2-8. This morning we’re going to get to the second part of it in verses 9-16.
One of the most difficult things we will ever have to understand in life is why bad things happen. Why did 9/11 happen? Why did Hurricane Katrina happen? Why did the Virginia Tech shooting happen? Why is there sickness and pain and disease and heartbreak in the world today? Most of us who have any understanding of Scripture would be quick with an answer. We would be quick to point out that all those things are a result of sin. Not necessarily our personal sin, but original sin. We live in a fallen world because God cursed it as a result of the original sin committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. That’s the answer. As they used to say on the old Dragnet show, that’s the facts ma’am. But how do the facts help when we’re the one who is being tested? When we’re the one going through the trial? How do they help when we’re the one who has lost a spouse? How do they help when we’re the one who’s been diagnosed with an incurable disease? If God is truly all-powerful, doesn’t He have the power to overrule our fallen world? If He is truly in control of everything, why doesn’t He take those things away? Well, let me first say that God is all-powerful. He has the power to do anything except contradict His own nature. And God is truly in control of everything. He doesn’t cause everything, but what He doesn’t cause, He allows. Another way to put it is to say that God ordains everything. One of the most popular verses of the Bible is Romans 8:28. It says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” God works all things together for good. Now, how could He do that if He wasn’t truly in control? How could He do that if He didn’t ordain everything? Now, don’t get confused—ordain doesn’t mean cause. Ordain means either cause or allow. And God ordains everything—including trials. Including testing. Like everything ordained by God, He intends testing and trials for our good. But Satan has evil intents for what God intends for good. Satan twists God’s good tests into temptation. His desire is for us to fail God’s good tests by succumbing to the temptation he brings from them. Now remember last week I said that James uses the word “tempted” or “temptation” 6 times in his introduction. The original word doesn’t necessarily carry the negative meaning we attach to the word. In the original, it simply meant “test” or “trial”. Where the different meanings come into play is in how that test is intended. See, God ordains the test. He intends it for our good. But Satan intends that same test for evil—that’s temptation in the way we think of it. This morning, I want us to flee from the devil’s temptations by recognizing that God is in control of testing us. And when we recognize God’s hand in our testing, may we enjoy the freedom that only comes from faithfully passing His tests. In order to do that, we’re going to look at two intentions for the tests we go through. The first intention for the tests we go through is God’s intentions. Look with me in verses 9-12.
JAMES 1:9-12
God’s intentions for His tests are good. Some of the hardest questions a person will ever have to answer is “Why do bad things happen to good people?” and “Why do good things happen to bad people?” Don’t think that we’re the first ones to come up with that question. It’s probably as old as the fall. We know that the psalmist asked the question. That’s what the 73rd Psalm is about. In verses 3-5 he wrote, “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men.” Even the prophet Jeremiah wrestled with it. In Jeremiah 12:1 he wrote, “Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?” So, don’t think you’re the first one to come up with that question. It’s been around forever. So what’s the answer to it? The answer is the same one that Jesus gave to His disciples when they walked past a man who had been born blind. John 9:1-3 says, “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” Jesus told them that this man had been blind from the time of his birth for a reason. He had to endure the tests of a physical handicap his entire life for one reason—to glorify God. God intended good for the tests and trials of that man’s life. Just like He intends good for all the tests and trials of your life. So, understanding that God’s intentions for His tests are good, James sets out to tell us a little bit about the nature of God’s testing. First, he shows us the pattern for God’s testing in verses 9-11. Sometimes God tests by exalting the humble. We don’t normally think of that as testing do we? But it’s the first one test James lists here in verse 9. God can test us with prosperity. Boy, let me get in line for that one. That’s the one I want to volunteer for. But is it? You can define prosperity a lot of different ways, but the one that comes to mind first is by money—big money. Here are some stories of some humble people who were exalted. Evelyn Adams won the New Jersey lottery—not just once, but twice, in 1985 and 1986. She went from average middle-class to multi-millionaire overnight. Now she’s in debt up to her eyeballs and lives in a trailer. Bud Post won 16 million dollars in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988. Now he lives on food stamps. Of course we all know the tragic story of WV lottery winner Jack Whittaker. Each of those stories can be a lesson in ill-gotten gain, but they are also examples of God testing the humble by exalting them. But money is just one way for God to test the humble by exalting them. Have you ever seen anyone get promoted and change the way they treat people? Or see anyone move into a higher class neighborhood and act differently? How do you react to the blessings God gives you? When you’re given the test of prosperity? God can test you with prosperity. He can exalt the humble in order to test them. But He can also humble the exalted like verses 10-11 say. This is the kind of test we don’t want to get in line for. This is the kind of test that we see as a tragedy or a trial. When someone loses a house. When they lose their job. When they lose a child. It’s the kind of test that people respond to by shaking their fist at God. They say things like, “God, how could you let this happen.” It’s the kind of test that Job’s wife responded to by telling him to just curse God and die. How do you react when tragedy strikes? When you’re given the test of humility? God can exalt the humble and He can humble the exalted. That is His pattern for testing.
But I said that His intention for testing is good. So if His intention for testing is good, then He must have an end goal in mind. It must be for a reason. And it is. God’s good intention for testing is found in verse 12. God’s good intention for testing is our passing. God doesn’t test you with prosperity in order to trip you up and make you fail. He intends for you to pass the test of prosperity successfully. If He tests you with prosperity, He intends for you to be a good steward of what He gives you. He intends for you to reject ill-gotten gain. He intends for you to use all other gain according to His will. On the other hand, God doesn’t test you with humility just to be mean and make you fail. He intends for you to pass the test of humility successfully. If He tests you with humility, He intends for you to look to Him in faith. He intends you to look to Him in contentment like Paul did. He intends for you to show His strength through the weakness of your humility. Whether God tests you through prosperity or through humility, His intention is the same. He intends for you to pass the test. And when you pass it, like verse 12 says, you are truly blessed. You’re blessed with an eternal reward and a present reward. Your eternal reward is the crown of life. Your present reward is the hope of God’s promise. The security that comes from knowing you’re in the will of God. That you’re pleasing Him with your obedience. Do you doubt your salvation this morning? That can come from one of two things. It can be that you’re not really saved. Or it can be that you’re not living like it by passing the tests God places before you. Either way, you need to take care of that before you leave this place today. Trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior or if He is your Savior, begin to treat Him like your Lord. Pass the tests He places before you. That’s what He wants you to do.
But what happens so often is, when we’re given a tough test, what do we do? We want to blame God. We shake our fist at God and accuse Him of being mean or unfair. But why do we do that? We do that because we’ve failed the test He’s placed before us. And when we’ve failed the test, we’ve done exactly what our enemy the devil intends for us to do. Look at verse 13.
JAMES 1:13
Now remember, all of these original words carry the neutral meaning of “testing” or “trials”. But now, the way they’re used in the context of the verse, they also carry that negative meaning. They carry the same meaning we think of when we use the word “temptation.” Why is that? Because now and in the verses to follow, James moves to talking about the tests that we fail. God gives us tests with the intention of our passing them. Passing them so that His name might be glorified in us. Passing them so that we might receive the future and present blessings that come with obedience. But what are Satan’s intentions for those tests? The second intention for the tests that we go through are Satan’s intentions. Look with me in verses 14-15:
JAMES 1:14-15
Satan’s intentions for God’s tests are evil. James started by telling us a little bit about the nature of God’s testing. Now, he tells us about the nature of Satan’s tempting. Tempting is what Satan hopes to achieve from God’s testing. Remember back to the Garden of Eden? God created everything. He made a beautiful garden for Adam and Eve to live in. In the middle of that garden, He made a tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And He told Adam not to eat its fruit. God didn’t have to make the tree but He did. And God didn’t have to make that rule, but He did. Why did He do it? God made the tree and He made the rule as a test. Of course we know what happened. God intended for Adam to pass the test. But Satan intended for him to fail it. So his evil intent twisted God’s test into temptation. And Adam completed the temptation by giving in to it and failing God’s test. Satan’s temptation is really just a twisting of God’s test. He twists it because his intentions are completely different. He intends for us to discredit God by failing the test. Just like God has a pattern for testing, Satan has a pattern for temptation. James outlines it in verse 14. When we see the word lust there, we automatically think of sexual lust. Well, that can certainly be part of it. But not all of it. See, lust has to do with any desire of our flesh. Lust for food. Lust for power. Lust for fun. Lust for excitement. Lust for pleasure. Lust for position. Go back to the Garden of Eden. When Satan was tempting Eve with the fruit, what did he appeal to? He appealed to her lust of the flesh. He showed her it was good for food. He appealed to her lust of the eyes. He showed her it was pleasing to the eyes. And he appealed to her lust for power. He showed her it was desirable to make her wise. He played on her senses. He played on her mind. He played on her emotions. Senses, mind, emotions. What do they all have in common? Those are all things God gave us to enjoy fellowship with Him and enjoy His creation. But Satan uses those things to tempt us. He uses those things to draw us away from God’s intentions. He uses those things to entice us. Just like he did with Eve. His pattern of temptation has never changed. He twists God’s test. He twists God’s Word. He plays on our senses. He plays on our mind. He plays on our emotions. That is his pattern for temptation. But why does Satan tempt us? If God’s intention in testing us is for good, then Satan’s intention in tempting us must be evil. Satan’s evil intention for temptation is found in verse 15. Look at the words that James uses. He uses words like conceived. The words “bringeth forth” really mean “give birth to.” And then he uses the word “death”. Satan’s evil intention for temptation is our failure to pass God’s tests. But He won’t start off big. He starts off small, just like a newly conceived baby starts off in his mother’s womb. A fertilized egg. Then a couple of cells. Then a few more cells. Then a tiny little fetus. And then it grows and grows until it is large enough and healthy enough to survive outside the womb. And it is born. The baby grows and grows until it takes on its own personality. Until it becomes more and more independent. Until finally it takes on a life of its own. That is the picture James is painting for sin. It starts with God’s test. Satan twists God’s test into temptation. Usually not for a big sin. It’s usually for a little sin. Sometimes it’s so tiny that nobody notices it. But here is the warning. When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. That is Satan’s evil intention. He intends for you to fail. Small at first. But even a small foothold is still a foothold. And once you give him a foothold, he will devour you.
So, what can we do? What is the solution? We know that God is going to test us. We know that His intentions for His tests are good. But we know that Satan is going to twist God’s tests into temptation. And we know that his intentions for God’s tests are evil. We know that God intends for us to pass His tests and we know that Satan intends for us to fail God’s tests. So, what are we supposed to do? Well, James gives us the solution in verse 16. Look with me at verse 16:
JAMES 1:16
Pretty simple, huh? Just don’t sin. Don’t fall for Satan’s lies. Don’t give him a foothold. Recognize his dirty tricks and don’t fall for them. See the tests and trials of life for what they are. They’re not intended for evil. They’re intended for good. They are opportunities for God to show Himself strong in your weakness. They are opportunities for God’s name to be magnified in your life. They are opportunities for God’s glory to shine through the dark clouds of your life to all who are watching. So, how are you doing with the tests God has given you? Are you passing them with flying colors? Are you able to say with Paul in Philippians 4:12, “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”? If you are, praise God. Watch out, that can be a test too. That can be a test that Satan twists into the temptation of pride. The reality is, that’s probably not where most of us are, is it? Most of us are probably failing some of the tests that God gives us. Most of us find ourselves saying with Paul in Romans 7:19: “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” Are you frustrated this morning, because you know the right thing to do, but you keep doing the wrong thing? Do you know the right answers to God’s tests, but keep giving the wrong ones? Are you falling for the lies of the devil this morning? Have you given in to temptation in your life? Has temptation conceived in you and grown into sin? You know that if you leave it unchecked, it can only end up in one place. If left unchecked, sin can only end up in death. That’s why Paul said later on in Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Are you in that place where you’ve given the devil a foothold? Are you wondering who can deliver you from your body of death? Paul answered his own question in the next verse. He said, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” If you are here this morning and you need Jesus to rescue you from your body of death, I’m going to ask you to step out now. As the music plays, come and let Jesus rescue you from your body of death. Pass the test He’s placing before you now, and come.
