JAMES 1:12-202009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: James 1:12-20

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. More of him and less of me. More of him and less of me.

John the Baptist, when he was there preaching, he was baptizing there at the Jordan and then along came Jesus. John baptized Jesus and Jesus then began his ministry there.

And the disciples of John began to be concerned because as they were walking with John, as they were watching the work that God was doing, they began to notice that, well, that church down the street began to grow a little bit. And Jesus and his disciples, well, there was more followers there with Jesus than there was with John. And so they began to notice that, well, that church down the street began to grow a little bit.

Soon Jesus began to draw a larger crowd and the disciples of John became worried and they said, hey, John, there's a problem here. Look, I mean, his followers are greater now. There's more people going to him. There must be some problem. There must be something that needs to be fixed here.

But John the Baptist, knowing his position, knowing his role and his calling in ministry, knowing that he was the forerunner, that he was supposed to lead people to the Messiah and announce the way and prepare the way of the Messiah, John the Baptist said something incredibly profound. He said, he must increase and I must decrease.

John the Baptist told his disciples when they're concerned that that ministry was doing well and flourishing and those people were gathered around Jesus instead of himself. And John the Baptist said, Jesus must increase and I must decrease. More of him and less of me. This is what every one of us needs. We need more of Jesus and less of ourselves.

Last week as we began the book of James, we started by looking at trials. And the author here, James, tells us that we need to count it all joy. Because we know that the trials are producing in our lives patience. That God is allowing these trials and He's using these trials to do a great work and to bring us to completion.

But as you and I know, we know very well, in the midst of trials and difficulties, things can be quite confusing. It is easy to lose your bearings in the midst of a storm. And we can become confused about where things are originating from. And so here, as we continue on in the book of James chapter 1,

James is clarifying. He wants to make sure that we have a good understanding, a solid grasp on where certain things are coming from in our lives. What are those things that are of God in our lives? And what are those things that are not of God in our lives? In the midst of storms, in the midst of pain and trial and difficulty, what are those things that are of God in our lives?

Well, it can be quite confusing and we can become deceived as to what is the cause and the source of our pain and our troubles and our heartache.

Jesse, when he shared a couple of weeks ago, did such a wonderful job. And one of the things that I liked that he shared, the thing that continues to stick in my head, was the picture he gave of our hands towards God. And when we're going through difficulty or trials, we have a tendency to have our fists clenched and we're shaking our fists at God.

frustrated and upset over the difficulty, over the trial, over the pain. But then he went on to encourage us to, instead of having our fists shaking at God, to open our hands so that we are able to receive from God. Because in the midst of a trial, our tendency, we get confused, we start blaming God, when in reality, God wants us to receive from Him. He has good things in store for us.

When you go to get an insurance policy, there's the insurance for those acts of God, they call them. And what are the acts of God? Well, the acts of God are like hurricanes and tornadoes, those great tragedies, earthquakes, those massive things that they call them acts of God because they can only be done or controlled by God. But is that really an act of God?

You see, we have that term, we have that phrase, but is that really where those things come from?

Here James gives us some insights into the origin of some things, of specific things that we need to know about as we are going through, as we will go through trials and tribulations, testings, persecutions, pain, heartache, difficulty, and all of those things. It's very important for us to know the source of the things that we're experiencing. And so look at verse 12.

He says, Blessed is the man who endures temptation or trial. It could be translated as well. For when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. From God, we have reward. Where does our reward come from? It comes from God. Here he tells us, the first point here in verse 12 is that our reward is from God. Our reward is

For enduring trials and temptations, for enduring difficulties and hardship, is from God. And so he says, blessed is the man who endures temptation. Are you blessed this morning? Blessed is the one who endures trial, tribulation. Are you blessed?

This word temptation here, as I made reference to, I also talked about last week a little bit. It's the same word that's translated trial just a few verses earlier in the book of James. Temptation, trial, they're both the same word. Literally, it's the idea of testing. There's testing that is going on. And testing is...

Well, it's not really good nor evil. Testing is testing, although we would, of course, consider testing to be evil. But we understand that just because a teacher administers a test doesn't mean that the teacher hates you and wants to destroy your life.

When God administers a test, it's not because He hates us and wants to destroy our lives. It's because He loves us. And it's because, well, we're blessed when we endure because our reward is from God. We need to know that the reward for endurance, the reward for going through, for persevering, for continuing on, the reward that we will receive is from the Lord.

And we need to be careful not to look too closely in this life for that reward because ultimately, he says, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. We're looking for an eternal reward, the crown of life that will be given in eternity. It's the reward for enduring the testing, for going through the test, for passing the test. He says, blessed is the man who endures testing.

For when he has been approved or when he has passed the test, he will receive the crown of life. Testing in our life is very important because it brings out some things that we'll talk about in just a few moments. It brings to the forefront some issues that need to be dealt with. In Isaiah chapter 48 verse 10, God tells his people, Behold, I have refined you, but not as silvered.

He says,

but also to reveal in you those areas that need to be dealt with. And so James has been talking about trials. He's still talking about them. And he says, blessed are you when you endure these kinds of testing because God is refining you. He's doing a work in your life. He is bringing you to completion. And when you've passed the test, when you've gone through,

Then you will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. We can count it all joy because of what we know James has been teaching us. We know that testing produces patience. It's what we looked at last week. Patience produces character and hope as Romans chapter 5 taught us. Patience also brings us to completion, James shared last week. And so testing is important.

The trials and the heartache and the difficulties that we go through are difficult. They are painful. They are hard. But we need to remember that through it all, God will reward us. Our reward is from God. He is going to reward. He's going to give the crown of life to those who love Him, to those who pass the test, to those who persevere and get through those trials and testings.

The crown of life, again, is not something that we should look for in this life, but it's our eternal reward. In Revelation chapter 2, Jesus is speaking to the church of Smyrna. And he tells the church of Smyrna, hey, hard times are coming for you guys.

And he tells them,

The source of our reward is God. He is the one who will reward us. He tells Smyrna, listen, there's going to be some difficult days ahead. There's going to be some imprisonment. There's going to be some testing. You're going to have tribulation. He says, be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. God promises this.

to those who endure, to those who make it through, to those who pass the test, He will give the crown of life. God allows these things in our life because He can use them. But He also rewards us when we make it through them. We could look at countless examples throughout the scriptures of this. Joseph, Jesus, Peter, and so on and so forth. We could look at these examples, how

They're brought through trials and temptations and difficulties and hardship. But God has promised reward for those who endure. He doesn't just use them in our lives right now. That's more what we were working with last week. But looking forward, looking ahead, He rewards us for enduring through them. Now I should point out, it's not that we deserve reward. It's not that we have earned reward. It's not that we have earned reward.

Because enduring the trial and going through it, well, doesn't make us worthy of deserving the reward that God wants to give us. But he gives it to us regardless. Does a cop ever pull you over and instead of giving you a ticket, give you $200 for doing the speed limit? No, he doesn't reward you for doing what you're supposed to be doing. He just finds you when you don't do what you're supposed to be doing.

In the same way, the trials and things that we endure, we're supposed to go through those. We're just doing what we're supposed to be doing. We're doing what is right. But God, because He's gracious and merciful, rewards us even though we don't deserve it or we haven't earned it. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 17, the Apostle Paul says, "...our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Our reward is from God. And the afflictions that we go through, they're light, they're momentary, even though they don't feel that way in the midst of it. That's really, if you zoom out and look at this little portion of time and the scope of eternity, it's light, it's momentary,

But it's working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Our reward is from the Lord. So hang in there. Endure. Pass the test. Because God has great reward in store for you. The second thing we find here in James that we're looking at this morning, the source of reward is God. That comes from God. What's the source of temptation? Well, he tells us in verse 13,

The source is not God. Evil temptation is not from God. Look at verse 13. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. Now again, in the midst of the storm, it's easy to lose your bearings. It's easy to become confused. And sometimes in the midst of trials...

And the temptations that we face, we begin to say, God is tempting me with evil. Trials and temptation really go hand in hand. It's in the midst of trials that temptation to evil, that the temptation to sin becomes most intense and most clear.

Jesus was tempted by the devil after he had fasted in the wilderness for 40 days. It was during that trial, during that time, that difficulty, that the devil brought that temptation to Jesus. And so it's during trials that we often experience this temptation to do evil, this temptation to sin. But he wants to make it clear. He wants us to understand, although God allows trials, and although God uses trials, he

And although trials and temptation here in the text is the same word, there is a big difference, a significant difference. And no one is able to say, I am tempted by God. God may test us in the furnace of affliction, but we can never say that God tempts us to sin. The testing simply reveals that which is already within us.

The testing simply reveals that which is already within us. A teacher administers a test. We could, again, say, well, that's a trial. And the students say, and that's difficult. And that's hard and it's painful. And it causes me to stay up at night and worry and stress. All the things that we relate to trials. So the teacher administers a test. In the midst of the test, during the test, the students have to decide if they...

will try to cheat or not. Now, would you then say, well, that teacher is tempting those children to cheat by administering a test? Well, no, of course not. We all understand. No, that's not the teacher's fault if the student cheats. You wouldn't blame the teacher. In the same way, when looking at trials...

We have a tendency to look and say, God is tempting me with this. He's putting this thing in front of me that is tempting. He's tempting me to sin. And James wants to make it clear. Listen, temptation to sin does not come from God any more than a teacher could be blamed for a student's cheating. God cannot be blamed for our sin and the temptation to sin.

When I was growing up, my parents decided to homeschool me and my sister. So from third grade on, I was at home doing school. And I had a lot of independence and a lot of freedom because, well, I was a pretty diligent student and I would get my work done quickly.

But there came a point where there was some certain subject, well, it was geometry, that I didn't particularly care for, and I didn't like it so much. And so I was able to use that freedom that I had earned, that I had gained, and I began to, well, I took an unauthorized year off from math and kept it hidden from my parents. And the way I kept it hidden from them was...

Well, I just took the answers out of the back of the book and wrote them in on my own with my own handwriting so that, you know, it looked like I had actually done the work. And quite cleverly, yes, I was brilliant. I got away with it. Until, well, the thing with geometry is there's a major portion of geometry that's known as, well, it's called proofs. And I don't know how you like those kinds of subjects or those kinds of challenges, but...

My mom, she was the one who was in charge of our schooling and stuff like that. And so she had no idea on how to do proofs and those types of things. And so it was late in the year, and throughout the year she kept asking me, you know, have you gotten to the proofs yet? Because, man, I really hated those in high school and all. I would say things like, you know, well, I could see that they're preparing us for it. And, you know, just making up stuff off the top of my head, trying to get away with it still.

And this was a long time ago, okay? Remember, a long time ago. And so finally it got to the point though where she was like, well, I don't know how to tell if you're really understanding this or really getting this because it was such a dramatic thing for her. She remembered she didn't do well. So she had my dad see if he could help me out.

And so my dad, my mom goes, you know, I don't know what's really going on and, you know, how he's doing with them. And so we're there in the living room and my dad asked me, well, very simple, what do you do on the left side? I'm thinking, I'm thinking, how do I get out of this one? So finally I had to break down and say, I need to talk to you guys about something. And then I devastated them and they've never loved me since. No, I'm just kidding.

But my dad asked me, how do you do the proofs? What do you do on the left side? What do you do on the right side? He administered this spur of the moment pop quiz, this test. He's not the one who caused me to cheat. He's not the one who caused me to lie. But he brought me, by administering the test, he brought me to the point where I would acknowledge my sin so that it could be dealt with.

Until that point, it could not be dealt with. Until that time, it could not be dealt with. Now, if I had not cheated, then the test would have proven so. But the test just revealed where I really was. And that's what testing and trials produce in our lives. It's not that He tempts us to do evil. It reveals, the testing reveals what is already within us.

God does not do anything that is evil. He does not tempt with evil. He is not tempted by evil, James says. He does not think evil thoughts. He does not speak evil. God has nothing to do with evil. In 1 John 1.5, John says, This is the message which we have heard from him and declared to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

God is light and in him is no darkness, no evil, no wickedness, not even a little bit, not even a hint. Never ever does God tempt with evil. One more story. Me and Will Gorel, we were hanging out back when I was living with him and Rebecca a few years ago. And I don't remember how we got onto it, but...

We discovered, I think we were trying to see what kind of light birds could see. And so they had a parakeet. And so we discovered that they could see a laser pointer. And we discovered that by, well, you guessed it, pointing the laser pointer around the birdcage. And it was so hilarious. We were rolling laughing because...

Every time you would point it into the birdcage, it would see the light and it would just freak out. And it would just like bang itself against the sides of the walls, flying around, trying to get out of the cage, trying to get away from the light. There we were, you know, you try to chase it. And then it would calm down and then we'd kind of like, we'd start it like its tail. Okay, when's it going to notice? We're running the light up the bird, you know, all of a sudden it sees on its shoulders. You know, flapping its wings and freaking out. And man, we had such a good time. It was great.

God doesn't do that. That's evil. God doesn't do that. He doesn't say, let me just see, let me see how I can make them freak out. Let me see if they'll bounce around the cage. Let's see if they'll fall into sin, if they'll lose their temper. Let me just see what'll happen if I do this. That doesn't come from God. God is not evil. James wants to make sure that we know, that we have a clear understanding. The source of temptation to do evil is not from God.

Never be mistaken about that. Don't become confused about that. It's not from God. God is not to blame for that. Well, where does this temptation come from then? And I think automatically, our response would be, well, it comes from Satan. It's the devil. That darn devil. He brings us that temptation and it's his fault. But that is not entirely accurate. We see, as we go on in verse 14, the source of temptation is our own selves.

temptation and sin are from us. That's the third point this morning. The source of reward, that's from the Lord. The source of temptation is not from God. Temptation and sin, that's from us. Verse 14. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own evil desires and enticed. When are we tempted? When we're drawn away by our own evil desires. Whose evil desires?

Our own evil desires. Temptation to do evil happens when we're drawn away by our own desires. This world, society, the media, the philosophers, and on and on and on. They try to teach us that man is basically good. And we love to believe that man is basically good.

And the idea is that if you just get man in the right environment, then everything will be perfect. And the problem and the reason why there's crime and difficulty and hatred and racial tension and all those things, the problem is their environment. And if you could just take man out of that imperfect environment and put him in a good environment, man is basically good. And so then everything will be good.

But that doesn't measure up to what the scripture says because you can just start at the very beginning and look at Adam. Perfect environment, the Garden of Eden. You don't get more perfect than that. He didn't even have to work. He could just walk around and pluck fruit off the tree. I mean, it was just perfect environment. Your dream retirement probably. And yet, Adam, he sinned. You could think, well, he was close to God.

Sometimes people are shocked when people who are close to God sin. Well, Adam, he had a perfect relationship with God. Before he sinned, he was close with God. He walked with God there in the garden. And he sinned, just like any of us would have in his position. God calls him on the sin. Adam, what have you done? And what does Adam respond? He says, Lord, it was the woman.

He starts playing the blame game. You've heard of the name game. Well, this is the blame game. Eve, Eve, Bobive, it's her fault, Lord. She did it. But he doesn't just stop there. He says, it was the woman you gave me, God. He blames Eve and God immediately there in that one sentence. It's your fault, God. You gave me this woman and it's her fault because she's the one who made me do it. This, well, it's really how most of us respond as well.

When we're confronted with our sin. It's somebody else's fault. It's God's fault. It's my wife's fault. It's my co-worker's fault. They're the ones. If they wouldn't have done that, then I wouldn't have done this.

The reality is you cannot blame anyone else. He says, each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own evil desires and enticed. Those are your desires. They're from within you. They're not from within somebody else. They're from within you. And we might say, no way. That can't be within me. I don't have those horrible thoughts. That must be from Satan. He must put those there. I don't want...

Those wicked desires, those aren't from me. Couldn't be from me. That's not my heart. That's not my desire. That's not my mind. That is so evil. How could that come from within me? We would ask. Because we're so convinced that we, well, we're pretty good. But the reality is temptation happens when

Each one is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Paul the Apostle in Romans 7, 18 says, I know that in me that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. Do you know that? Do you know that in you, in your flesh, nothing good dwells? If you don't know that, it's what we need to learn. It's why we're looking at James this morning. Because we need to know the source. We need to know the source of

This is our sinful condition. And this is exactly why we need a Savior. This is why we cannot get to heaven on our own. This is why good behavior will not work. Because our desires are evil. Verse 15.

Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Anybody know what that is? Take you back to high school for just a moment. He says, when desire has conceived, very specific language, what is necessary for conception to take place? I don't want to continue to distract you. What is necessary for conception to take place? Conception requires two components. One is

The seed and the egg. And it's when those two meet that conception happens. That conception takes place. He says, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. We have the desires. Sin is birthed when those desires meet our will. Temptation in and of itself is not sin. Jesus was tempted. But the difference is, his desires, his will, well, they were sin.

in line with the Lord. They were submitted to God's will. But when our desires, that evil, the evil desires within our hearts meet with our will, conception happens. It gives birth to sin. Sin is birthed in our lives when we then decide to act on that temptation, on those desires. Where's the source? The source of temptation is

It's from within us. It's our desires and our will. And those two together, there's conception, it gives birth to sin, and then sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Sin brings forth death. It brings death and destruction in our life, in every case without exception. That's the source. That's the origin of sin. That's the origin of temptation to do evil. It's not from God. You cannot blame God.

It's from within, which means you can't blame your circumstances. Well, I wouldn't have done that except for I was in this situation. I was in that spot and I had to do something and I wouldn't normally, that's not me. My mom didn't raise me that way, but I was in that situation. We're blaming our circumstances. It's because of that situation, that circumstance that I did that. You cannot blame your spouse. It's her fault. I wouldn't be this way if she wasn't that way. We always blame everyone else.

You cannot blame your brother or your sister. You cannot blame that guy who crashed into you for your response, for those desires within you that brought you into temptation to do evil. You can't blame the cop who pulled you over

You cannot blame the lady who cussed you out. You can't blame the guy who flipped you off. You can't blame the co-worker who lied about you. You can't blame the person who robbed you. Listen, Jesus went through all types of injustice. He went through all types of difficulty and hatred. It's not the things that are without that cause us to be tempted to sin. It's the things from within. The source is our own hearts.

It's our own selves. Your sin is not their fault. That is all you, man. It's all you. It's all me. It's what's within me. Again, this is why we need a Savior. This is who we are. And there's no escaping that. There's no reforming that. You can't legislate that. You can't fix it by laws and rules and regulations. The only way to fix it is to get a new heart, to be born again. We must be born again.

Jesus said, you must be born again. We need a new life. We need this old heart to be discarded and a new heart, new life to be born within by the Holy Spirit. It's why we must be born again. Because temptation, sin, it's from within us. It's the desires that are in our hearts that meet up with our will that cause us to rebel against God and ignore what he has said.

So reward, that's from the Lord. Temptation to do evil, that's not from God. That's from within us. Number four, we find that every perfect gift is from God. Here's what's from God. Verse 16. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Now, why do you suppose he would say that? Well, because there's the danger of us being deceived. Again, in the midst of trial, in the midst of difficulty, even in the midst of normal life, we can get confused. Why?

We can get turned around. We can begin to think that things that are not from God are from God. We begin to think that things that are from God are not from God. We get all backwards. And so he says, here's what you need to know. Verse 17. Every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Every good and perfect gift is from above. Where is it from? It's from God.

It's from God. The source of every good and perfect gift is God. God does not tempt us with evil. He only gives us good and perfect gifts. He doesn't give us evil gifts. He doesn't give us gag gifts. He doesn't give us tricks. He doesn't tempt us with evil. He gives us good and perfect gifts.

Because God is good and everything that He does is good and everything that He gives is good and there is no darkness in Him at all. He's the Father of lights. There's no variation. There's no shadow of turning. He doesn't change. He doesn't change His mind. He doesn't get confused and accidentally give you the wrong thing. Every good and perfect gift is from above. It's from God. Everything that is good in your life is from God. We have the example of creation.

There in the beginning, God created this and it was good. And then on the second day, He created this and that and it was good. And then the third day, He created all these things and it was good. And the fourth day, He created all these things and it was good because God is good and every good and perfect gift is from above. Every good and perfect gift in your life is from above. That includes the things in this life, but primarily, more importantly, we're talking about eternity. The good and perfect gifts that are eternal.

that lasts forever verse 18 he gives us an example here of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures by his own will he brought us forth how is it that you have come to salvation sometimes you know we'll share a testimony and my life was this way and i was in this position and then i found the lord how glorious i am i found god

Sometimes we get confused. We think salvation was my idea. I came up with it. I'm the one who did it. Well, yeah, I mean, he died on the cross and stuff, but I found him. I confessed my sin. I did the work. I came to him. I responded. He says, of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. Your salvation was God's idea. That was his will.

It was according to His will. You are born again. You have the opportunity to be born again if you're not born again by the will of God. He brought us forth of His will by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. In John chapter 1, verse 12 and 13, the Apostle John says, "...as many as received Him, those who received Jesus Christ, to them He gave the right to become children of God."

What did he give? A good and perfect gift. The right to become a child of God to those who believe in his name. He goes on to describe them who were born not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man but of God. It's God's will. See every good and perfect gift is from above. It's from God and the example of that is salvation. That is from God. It's of God's will.

What does God desire for you? He wants you to spend eternity with Him. He wants you to spend eternity with joy, with peace, with perfection, salvation. That's His will for you. That's His will for me. He is not willing that anyone should perish. Every good and perfect gift is from God. We have salvation as the example, as the proof of that, the demonstration.

For us to say, you know, I found God, that's not really accurate because He saves us by His will. He drew us unto Himself. He does the work. Every good and perfect gift is from God. And that is why we need more of Him and less of me. He says in verse 19, So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.

I need more of Him and less of me. He says, so then. Now, as we understand the origin of these things in our lives, this is what the result should be. This is the action that should result. We should desire more of Him and less of me. Here's what we ought to do. Knowing the origin, knowing the source of these things, the reward, it's from God. The temptation to evil, that's from us. That's not from God. Every good and perfect gift, that's from God.

So then, with that in mind, understanding that, here's what we ought to do. Be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. Of these three things, which is the one we're to be quick at? See, you're being slow to speak. That's very good. He says we're to be swift to hear. Now, this scripture, you've probably heard, you've probably read, you've probably known it for many years if you're a Christian. And it's a fantastic scripture and it can be applied in a multitude of ways and

I encourage you to meditate on it. Read it through every day. And just allow the Lord to speak to you about these things because they're so important. This is how we are to be in light of the source of reward and temptation and good and perfect gifts. In the midst of trials and tribulations, this is important. Let everyone be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. In relating to one another, this is important. Be swift to hear.

Slow to speak and slow to wrath. In relating to unbelievers, it's very important. Be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. To be swift to hear can be something that is difficult for us. But I would suggest to you that most of the time we can accomplish more by listening than we can by speaking. Most of the time we can accomplish more by listening than we can by speaking.

And you say, hmm, you don't believe me? Okay, try it. Just try it. It's often been observed, God gave us two ears and one mouth. So try using that proportion sometime. Listen twice as much as you speak. Listening is powerful. The other day, someone was sharing with me some things that were really shocking. It was...

Well, I was speechless as a result of this issue that they were going through and this decision that they had made. And I was speechless. I didn't even know what to say. And you know, I felt bad because I didn't know what to say. I mean, I felt like, man, Lord, was I supposed to like rebuke them? Was I supposed to just like pull out the scriptures and lay down?

But I didn't know what to say. I was just speechless. I was so shocked. It's one of those times you ever feel like, you know, like you've got the wind knocked out of you and it's just like you can't catch your breath. You can't. And so I just, I was just speechless. And so I ended up just listening to the person and the problem and the decision that they had made, which is a very unbiblical decision. Well, later on, I heard back, man, he didn't even really respond. He didn't say anything. And

It really got me thinking because you were so shocked. You were so surprised. And it caused me to realize I don't want to go down that path and I don't want to make that decision. I was like, well, praise the Lord. Here I was, you know, rebuking myself because I was like, man, I could have put this out and said this and laid down this law. And what spoke to them the most was that I didn't say anything at all. Be quick to hear, swift to hear. And relating to God, be swift to hear and slow to speak.

If you feel like God listens more than he speaks, maybe it's because you speak more than you listen. Stop speaking. Be quiet and listen. I bet you'll find he'll speak to you more than you thought he could or would. Slow to speak, but quick to listen. Slow to speak. Now, consider for just a moment what we just learned about what's within us. Where does that temptation, where does that temptation and the desires to do evil come from? It comes from within us.

That should be motivation enough to be slow to speak. As we understand, that comes from within me. Because Jesus said in Matthew 12, verse 34, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. As we recognize, as we understand, that's my heart. Those evil desires, that wickedness, that propensity to sin, that's from within me. It should cause me to be slow to speak. Because it's out of the abundance of my heart that the mouth speaks.

It should cause me to recognize maybe I need to think a little bit more about what I say. Not just assume that I'm right like I usually do. Not just consider that, hey, what I need to say is important and more important than what anybody else has to say. Because I've seen glimpses of my heart. And I don't want that spilling out all over the place. I need to be slow to speak. Don't be quick to burst it out. In Proverbs, the author of Proverbs, Solomon in Proverbs 10, 30 something, tells us that it's,

That when words are many, sin is not absent. When words are many, sin is not absent. Be slow to speak and slow to wrath. He explains the slow to wrath. Verse 20 says, For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. I remember listening, I think it was Damien Kyle a while back, I was listening to him share on this portion, and he read that verse, the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God, and then he says, darn, darn.

If only it could produce the righteousness of God by the wrath of man. If my wrath, if my anger, if my temper could produce the righteousness of God, that would be fantastic. That would be quick and easy. I could do that without problem. He says, the wrath of man. Now again, look at the source. Where is this wrath coming from? It's coming from man. What do we know about man? Well, we're wicked. So the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Be slow to wrath.

the things that we do in anger, even if it's for a good cause, our wrath does not produce the righteousness of God. We can become angry at homosexuality and what it's doing in our society and our culture, but if we're responding in our wrath, in our anger, it does not produce the righteousness of God. We can become angry at the injustice that we see, at the abuse that we see,

But our wrath... Now there is a righteous indignation. That's a topic for a different time. You can spend some time on it on your own. Jesus demonstrated it there in the temple. Righteous indignation. But the wrath of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God. We need to be slow to wrath. To listen, you can do that quickly. You know why? Because that's not from within you. Listening to the Lord, listening to others, that's not from within you. But the things that are within you...

Well, you need to think twice or three or four times. So you need to be slow to speak, slow to wrath because you know the source. And so James here is challenging us to respond appropriately now that we know where these things are from. Our reward is from God. The reason why we ought to endure, the reason why we ought to persevere in the midst of a trial is

It's because we know that God will reward us. And God is faithful. And He is good. And He is merciful and gracious. His reward is a sure thing. And it's going to be worth it. We'll look back and we'll say, I'm glad you did it that way, Lord. Thank you for allowing those things in my life. Now some things that we go through, that could seem impossible. But that is the reality. Our reward is from God. And we will be glad.

But he allowed our life to go the way that it did. Evil temptation, that's not from God. Never be confused. Never accuse God of tempting you with evil. Well, I really didn't want to lust and lust wasn't within me, but God, you made her so beautiful. It doesn't work. You can't blame God. Well, I didn't want to steal, but Lord, you knew that while it was going to be there, God.

You knew that was going to happen. You let it happen. It's your fault, God. We blame God. God does not tempt you with evil. It's not from God. Temptation is from within us. It's our desires. When they have conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it's full grown, it produces death in us. This is why we need a Savior, someone to rescue us from ourselves. Paul said in Romans chapter 7, Who can deliver me from the body of this death?

Because I have these desires and I continue on and they bring death and destruction in my life, but I can't escape from them. Who can deliver me from the body of this death? And he says, thanks be to Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is why we need a savior. And that's why he sent his son. Every perfect gift is from God. Every good gift, every perfect thing in your life, it's from God. So we need more of him and less of me. He says, look, if you pass the test,

When you're approved, you will be blessed. But if you fail, don't blame God. It's not God's fault. Those tests simply revealed what was already going on within your heart. That was already your condition. The testing just revealed it. One last thing to consider. God doesn't allow you to go through anything that he wasn't willing to go through himself. God sent his son to become a man, a human being.

He lived. He suffered temptation. He suffered trials and heartache and difficulties and hardship. He doesn't require of us something that he was not willing to do himself. Jesus endured those things, paving the way, setting the example for us so that we could know, just as Jesus knew, the reward is from God. Temptation is not from God. Every good and perfect gift is from God. And so we need more of him.

and less of us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I do pray for us that we would have clarity when it comes to this in our lives. Lord, that our hearts would be completely committed to you. Lord, I pray that you would help us to trust you in the midst of difficulty and pain. Lord, that we wouldn't try to run from it, that we wouldn't try to get out of it, that we wouldn't blame you. Lord, I pray that you would help us to stand the test.

not because of some goodness within us, but because of the work that you're accomplishing in our hearts. Thank you, Lord, that you will be faithful to complete the work. And so, Lord, bring clarity to us that we would make good decisions, Lord, that we would recognize the things that are of you and the things that are not of you. And, Lord, that we may choose to fill our lives with more of you, that we would be quick to hear what you have to say, Lord, we would be quick to hear your word,

and slow to respond with our own resources, with our own ideas, with our own desires. Lord, as we recognize the source, we ask that you would empty us, wash us, remove from us our evil hearts of unbelief, and fill us with more of you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.