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Complete Sermon Notes
Trials Can Lead to Deception
INTRO: When we experience trials, we are susceptible to deception – an “open door”. “Why is God allowing this?”
RECAP/CONTEXT: James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 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. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning [GOD IS NOT DECEPTIVE]. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
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“Do not be deceived” – Don’t get thrown off course
Qualities needed to prevent deception:
1. 19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
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Reacting vs. responding – God brings clarity while we wait, but confusion when we rush.
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Hear both sides – try to hear what the person is saying and repeat it back to them.
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Anger is not productive – “quick to listen”
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“Lay aside” – we have responsibility
Obey God and leave the results to him
2. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
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Hearing cannot replace doing – African pastor example
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Saying, “I’ve got to do that”, is not doing it.
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The blessing of obedience.
I Hear – love and forgive; I Hear – turn from sin and obey; I Hear – remove the weight that…
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BUT unless “I DO” – I will not reap the benefit
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I Know about “Jesus”
3. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
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The tongue is the best gauge of maturity.
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Works also reveals the heart.
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Unspotted – untarnished.
CHAPTER 2 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
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Remember – no chapter and verses when James wrote. Verse 27 helps…
We often say, “How can this person benefit me?”
- Skin color, gender, a particular struggle, attire, age, etc.
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