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What is the difference between trials and temptations? How can a good God allow such difficult trials to impact our lives? Join Pastor Richard for his message entitled Testing and Bessel.

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This morning, I'm so glad we're here at the book of James. And before we get to it, I want to just read a couple verses here from the book of Matthew. And so it starts off, this is in Matthew chapter 24, but concerning that day and hour, no one knows. Talking about when is the Lord going to come back, the second coming. And so it says, just as were the days of Noah, so is will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, and so forth. And it comes down here, and we're in verse 40 of Matthew chapter 24. Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one left. The reason I share this before we get into the book of James is because we need to be sure of our salvation. According to this, it's as if two people are side by side. And yet somehow one had put their faith in God and one had not on the inside. On the outside, they appeared the same, but on the inside there was a difference. The reason I read this verse is because we're here, the book of James. James, I call him a speech and conduct hero. He the the the book is wonderful. It's about practical theology, it's about walking out our faith, and we need to walk out our faith. And so as we have these verses from Matthew in mind, two are there, one is taken, but one is left behind. You know what? We need to be sure of our faith, church. And so, James, I I my three favorite books of the New Testament would be Acts, Philippians, and James. And so I'm I'm very glad that we're here. James, he he doesn't pull his punches, he's he's not very politically correct. Um, in his letter, he is being very serious uh to the recipients of that letter, and it's really coming from the heart. James says, religion, this is in chapter 1, verse 27, religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Is that practical? Does he just have his head in the clouds? No, his mind is on God, but he's he's very real. Uh our faith needs to be practical. Our faith needs to be worked out. And so I find that as we okay, we come back to our passage uh that we had read for us uh just now, and there's a question that I think needs to be asked. If God is good, why does he allow serious trials to disrupt our lives? Is this a serious question? If God is good, why is it that he allows serious trials, serious things to disrupt our lives? For many of us, I mean myself include, this isn't just an academic question because we need to make sense of who God is and how can these things happen to ourselves or people that we love and care about. Looking at our passage, the word for trial and the word for temptation is actually more or less the same Greek word. They're using the same word here, but we know from context that it's not always talking about the same thing. That's why sometimes it is translated trial, sometimes it's translated temptation. English, you can love a cheeseburger, you can love your pet, and you can love your spouse. That same word is used with very, very different meanings, and so it is here. Um, it is the same word, and yet the meanings are different, and we see this from the context. And so we're gonna look into this here. What is the difference between trials and temptations? What is the difference here? The source of trials is external, it comes from the outside, it may come as a natural result of circumstances. God may also at times bring tests into our lives to build our faith. All right, so trials are external. Uh, some biblical examples. I think of Abraham, first and foremost. And God asked him, Your son, your only son Isaac, would you sacrifice him as a test of faith? And so this was an external thing coming. It wasn't testing him to see if he would sin, it was testing him if he would act in faith. Uh, Joseph, right? Joseph was the brothers who took him, threw him into a pit. They're gonna leave him there to die under the desert sun. Then instead, uh circumstances changed. He was sold into slavery instead. He was there as a slave, he was falsely accused of rape of Potiphar's wife, and then he was thrown into prison. All this was external circumstances that were serious trial to his life. We have Moses, who, as we know, led Israel, which was a grumbling people, again and again and again, and testing his patience, testing his faith in that sense. And these this was a trial that he had to endure. It wasn't a short one. We could even think of Daniel and him holding his faith in under a pagan government, and yet he held he was going to hold to his faith, and he prayed to God three times a day. And he was thrown into the lions, then for. So there are all sorts of trials. These are all examples, biblical trials, things that are external. We could look at the New Testament, we could look at John the Baptist, there's so many examples. For us, perhaps trials can show up in the form of a loss of job, a loss of employment. That is a crisis, that is a big trial in our lives when that takes place. It can be illness, whether to ourselves or someone else. It can be a serious illness, it can be a permanent thing. These are trials. It can be persecution for our faith. These are all external things that test us. And so these we would say are trials. Trials is not a sign of something gone wrong with you or your choices. And I think this is important. I wish every believer would get this. So please, you remember nothing else. Please remember this. Going through a trial is not a sign of something gone wrong. Can you tell your neighbor that? Going through a trial is not a sign of something gone wrong. Friends, uh we'll be real with one another. Many times when things go wrong, we there's a trial that's come, there's a circumstance that is really testing us. We immediately start to question did I do something wrong? Is it because I sinned? Is it because of this thing? Is it because of that thing? Being in a trial is not an indicator of something being wrong. It doesn't mean that we made a wrong choice. So don't start to doubt your standing with God just because you're in the midst of a trial. We think of Job and everything that happened in that story and how it was allowed that he would be tested. His faith was tested. Did Job do something wrong? No, it wasn't because of Job having done something wrong. The trial was external. So trials are external. And please you remember nothing else, remember that going through a trial is not a sign of something gone wrong in you or your life. But if it's not necessarily your fault, then why does God allow it to happen? We'll get to that. We'll get to that. First, I want to say temptation, in contrast to trials, temptation is internal and it can be resisted. There's this phrase that growing up I heard, it's not my fault. I didn't do it, and besides, it was an accident. You see how everything is very quickly, we we try to uh shift out blame. The source of temptation is internal and it comes from evil desires. It comes from evil desires, from that uh the broken nature as a result of sin. Ephesians 6.12 says that our fight's spiritual, though, right? Says, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Yes, there are spiritual attacks. Of course there are. But you know what, honestly, there's often no need for any spiritual interference. Uh without God's redemptive work, our own hearts tend to lead us astray. That's why we we think of uh the psalm Create in me a clean heart. And maybe you know that song, uh, those of you who enjoy the older songs, create in me a clean heart. We need our hearts to be made clean again. But there are cases, of course, where there's spiritual attack, but even that is not really an external attack. It's trying to stir up these evil desires within us. So temptation is internal, trials are external. All right, these are two different things. The trial attests our faith, the temptation entices us to sin. The fruit of temptation, I just read again a couple of the verses from James that we had this morning. It says, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death. The imagery that I see here is of fishing. I don't know how many of you enjoy fishing, uh, but it's the image of a fish chasing a lure. Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed. And I think it was my grandfather on my mother's side who's since passed away. It's hard to remember, but I remember this memory from when uh I was quite young, and maybe we're in the shed, and there was the the tackle box with all the fishing lures and things, and I was going through it looking at them, so interesting, and my grandfather took out one, it was a long lure, and had the hooks at the ends and a flat uh shaped bit. And on that, there was a picture of a woman in a bikini. Grandpa! And so at the time I was very young and I didn't understand, but it came to me as I was preparing because that's that's just it, right? We are tempted when we are lured and enticed by evil desires, and so this is this is temptation, the fruit of it. He says that this desire, when it has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And it's imagery again of uh giving birth to a child, but this is not this is not a human child, this is not a good child, this is something that when it is full grown, it brings death, it actually murders us. This is what happens when we allow sin to have its place in our lives and we become comfortable with it, and we allow it to grow and to grow and to grow. See, James declares that it means we've given birth to a bouncing baby, sin. And instead of just facing desire, now we have to do battle with its offspring, that is sin. And we face a second battle, a critical choice. Do we care for it and nurture it, providing everything it needs to grow and mature? Because if we do, there's only one outcome: death. And it won't be the sin that dies, it will be us. And it'll destroy our relationship with God, it'll destroy our relationship with those around us. And so internal temptations, we we think of uh easy examples will be alcoholism or drug and other substance abuse. If that is allowed to take root in our lives, it slowly destroys us financially. Uh more and more needs to be spent because there's a tolerance buildup to this thing. And relationships begin to uh be soured and broken off, and eventually it's something that can destroy us. We could look at pornography, we could look at gossip, we could look at all sorts of examples. Temptation leads to death. Now I want to be clear, being tempted, and I hope we know this, being tempted doesn't mean you're sinning. Uh I don't know who can go through life without being tempted. All right? None of us can raise our hands and say, oh, I've never been tempted to anything. Even from a very young age, you see children, they always want to touch and get into the things they shouldn't do. Temptation is not sin, but it's when we allow it to, we we give it space, we we give it a little more space, a little more space, we become a bit more comfortable. Well, just this amount, and as it slowly takes over in that way. And sin is not something you fall into. We talk about falling in love, right? Um, I think half of all songs ever written are about falling in love, probably. And yet we don't actually fall in love. There's attraction, and we choose to follow up on that attraction, we we choose to think upon it, we we allow it space in us. There are steps, actually. It is the same with sin. We talk about someone falling into sin, but actually we don't fall into sin. It's a matter of steps. And so we must ask the Lord to help us, give us that clean heart, renew our heart, renew us daily, renew our thinking that we would not fall into this. But the fruit of trials is quite different. And so, of course, today the the title of the message was testing and blessedness, right? Uh, and we're going through the different verses here in James. And so, if God is good, why does he allow serious trials to disrupt our lives? Well, we'll go back. I think this was the first message we had in our James series, chapter one, verses two to four. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. What is steadfastness? It's stability in our commitment and our belief. That's what's produced. Uh verse 12, it says, Blessed is the man who remains steadfast, who remains stable in commitment and belief. 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. Trials test our faith, and the testing of our faith brings about the maturity. I mean, think about it. Would you work with me here? Would you hire a bus driver who had only taken their theory test? No, right? Would you send your children to school where none of the teachers have had any classroom experience? No, you'd be writing in. I don't, my child is not going there. Would you have a surgical procedure done by someone who's never held a scalpel before? No. There needs to be something that takes place. Maturity is of great value. You wouldn't uh call a grab to come get you from someone who was never driven before. And we shouldn't call. We should be very careful calling someone a Christian who has never given any evidence of their faith. This is very much James' message. As you are in Christ, there will be evidence of it. Not you must work to be in Christ, no. But as you are in Christ, there will be evidence of it. Your walk, your conduct, your speech will change. A good God allows trials to come into our lives because that's how we grow. If you have a child in K1 or even younger, think of my own children. You know what? Five years old, we will not cross a busy road or really any road without holding hands. You know, when my daughters, uh when my eldest daughter is 40 years old, if she still needs to hold my hand across the road, there's something wrong. We need to be mature, we need to grow. And trials is part of how God brings that about. He allows the trials to come into our lives that our faith will be proven. It will be shown, it will be uh proved real. And so God loves us. The trials aren't to punish us, they're because he does love us and he wants us to be able to grow our faith. So, how are testing and blessedness connected? I mean, if you think of, let's say, the the non-believer, the one who hasn't believed in Christ yet, testing is difficult. All right, we go through all sorts of trials in life, whether we're a believer or not, there's no difference there. And yet, for the one who is uh who has not believed in God or put their faith in Jesus Christ, often it it just brings about pain. It's a difficult season. And it ends up being a painful memory, but it's not something that there's no treasure there. But for us who are believers, it is quite different because we know that our faith is being matured, and as it's being matured, it's being perfected and completed. And so James tells us that for those who love God, they will receive the crown of life, they will wear life. And that crown uh remove from your mind the heavy crown, as we think of a monarch wearing or something. The imagery here would have been the laurel wreath. All right, laurel weaved into a wreath. Uh, if you think of Greek history. And athletic competitions, it's that laurel uh wreath. And so this is the the imagery being used for this crown of life. So testing is it it's because God loves us, it's because he cares about us, it's because he he wants us to mature, it's because he wants to have that faith be proved real. And that we will also have confidence that I really am saved, I really am adopted into God's family. Because when I'm put to the test, I do turn to the Lord, I do hold on to my faith. Well, James concludes uh this short section with these verses. He says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. And of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Every good gift and every perfect gift, which is to say every desirable and every complete gift is from heaven. It is from the Father of lights. You think of the we go back to the context. Why does he say father of lights? You know, they they didn't have an electric torch that time, they didn't have electricity at all, they didn't have solar lighting. When the sun went down, that was it. It was dark, and there was just candles if you wanted the light at night. And candles, if you've ever enjoyed candles, you've had the romantic dinner. Uh the candle flickers, right? And the shadows are cast here and there. And yet the father of lights, he doesn't change. The flickering candle, for those thinking at the time, would be like the the Roman or Greek gods of mythology who, according to the thinking, would like to play tricks on people, um, who are not someone you could fully trust in that sense. But our God is a God who never changes. He's the father of lights, he's the father who spoke creation into existence, spoke light into existence, and he's reliable. And I can tell you from my own life, I've been able to rely upon him. There have been tough things that have happened. There have been trials, my friends. There have been trials, and yet he has proved dependable through everyone. All through the years, God has proven very dependable. He does not change. And it says of his own will, he brought us forth, that he brings uh a spiritual birth, that he brings us forth into new life. And uh so thankful for those who have been baptized uh today uh for Kenneth and for my daughter Cassia, because it's a symbol of that new life, and we believe and we know that God's spirit is at work in you, and God's spirit is at work in each one of us who has believed, and that is the new life. So if you know me, you know I prefer to end my messages with an action point. Uh before before God, I I just feel that's the way that uh things need to be. And so I usually you hear let's let's make a choice right now. Let's come to the altar for prayer, let's let's have an opportunity to respond to the Lord uh outwardly for something that he's doing inwardly. Today is it's a little different. Not that we don't respond, but really the takeaway is we it's time for us to have maturity in Christ. And one of the things of that is that when we face trials, we don't start to doubt our standing with God. All right? Trial does not mean that we made a wrong step somewhere, we made a wrong choice. Instead, when trials come, we trust that the Lord is with us in it, that he is allowing it for a purpose. We may not know what it is, it may be very unpleasant, but you know what? We know that God loves us. And so being mature, we're going to be strong in this. We're going to trust that God does not change, that he does love us, that he does care for us. And Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10, it says, For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. And so, friends, we we we need to continue growing. It's wonderful to come and to worship the Lord and to enjoy fellowship together, and we are going to continue in that. But, church, we're going to continue on because you know what? God has created good works for us to do. In some of you, for your workplace, there is a co-worker where there's a good work waiting where you are going to minister to that co-worker. There are going to be opportunities for us to reach out to the community. If we are paying attention, God will give us opportunities to walk out our faith because we are saved not just to praise the Lord and wait for his return. We are saved to also be a witness to those around us that there is a God who is alive and a God who cares for us. There is more to Christianity than this. Amen. And so, church, uh, it's time for us to grow in our maturity in Christ. We don't just want to be enjoying the baby food, the milk. We want solid food. We want to go further in our faith. We want to live it out. And this is the wonderful message of the book of James. And if you haven't read it in a while, read it again. Our faith is meant to be walked out, it's meant to be spoken out, and we will see God move.

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We pray that you've been ministered too by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about the Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.