Don't Be Deceived, Persevere

James chapter 1 verse 12 Through 18 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial For once he has been approved. He will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him Let no one say when he is tempted. I'm being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil and He himself does not tempt anyone But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust Then when lust has conceived gives birth to sin and when sin is accomplished it brings forth death Do not be deceived my beloved brethren Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above Coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow In the exercise of his will he brought us forth by the word of truth So that we would be a kind of firstfruits among his creatures I was struck by this impress this expression in the middle of this passage a one little sentence in verse 16, which says do not be deceived my beloved brethren and I asked myself What is James telling me I shouldn't be deceived about? There's a sentence before and there's a sentence after What is God what is James? God is God trying to tell me I shouldn't be deceived about and I I'm gonna take it as both before and after and Very simple Things about 13 and 14 and 15. That's the before do not be deceived and Don't be deceived why you fell into sin Sandeep don't be deceived why you fell into sin earlier today or yesterday or Five minutes back. Don't be deceived Don't think it is for any other reason but verse 14 You were carried away and enticed by your own lust Wasn't my wife it wasn't my children. It wasn't my co-worker it wasn't anybody else the reason you even came into that temptation is because you got carried away and Then you allowed that desire to conceive and it gave birth and sin don't be deceived as Nobody to blame but yourself and don't be deceived that sin is gonna cause death in you Don't be deceived along any of those ways Along the way as we give in to sinful thoughts we give in to sinful patterns You don't let a blame your family your neighbors your society you were carried away and And don't be deceived it's going to end up in death it's gonna kill you It's not some small little thing that you can allow to do it don't be deceived so I think The the summary of that it should be nothing new to you is that we must take temptations very seriously No matter where the temptations come from one thing we can know it didn't Go originate from God God may have allowed it, but God doesn't tempt anybody. That's what it says in verse 13 But I get carried away and I have to be very careful that it doesn't end up in death That is how serious sin is and that's where I can deceive myself about it in Thinking how I spent my time what is in my thoughts? Don't be deceived Sunni when you start thinking evil about somebody else in your mind Don't be deceived You're getting carried away by all the emotions that are in your head. Don't be deceived It'll conceive sin and it'll cause death in you. Don't be deceived. That's the one part of that Do not be deceived. That's what comes before that and the other part of it is what comes after that Don't be deceived brothers and sisters God is so good. God is so good. Don't be deceived God is so good. Everything comes for every good thing and perfect gift comes from above from the father of lights There is no shifting shadow. There's no shadow in a light that comes from the Sun There's no shadow in the Sun It's when it comes through the trees of this earth that shadows come. It's when the things of this earth block it it's other things that block but God's full of light and it's pure light and His Thoughts for you his intentions for you his plans for you are all good Are so amazingly good. Don't be deceived Don't allow yourself to be deceived that God has anything but the best plans for your life as We heard that is why we have to be very careful against anxiety and the way we take a sword Against anxiety is to see the deception That God that the devil is trying to bring into me He started to deceive me about how good God is and he started telling me God's not that good But verse 17 and verse 18 This is how good God is God brought us forth verse 18 So that we would be the first fruit of all his creatures He chose us to be first He chose those he has Called and he says I want you to be in the front of the line of all human beings forget the animals the lions and the cheetahs and all of the other animals even among humans We are called to be the first fruits because God opened our eyes to the truth of who he is And that Jesus died for us. I mean imagine that Not everybody has that you we all have relatives and friends who probably don't see that the truths of the new covenant We didn't deserve it he chose us that you come to the front of the line you come I'm gonna get you first I'm gonna serve you first the first fruits Don't be deceived dear brothers and sisters. God is so good to you So these are the things that we have to take to our daily life a Weekly life and say well, how did I spend my 24 hours the same amount of talents that you give everybody else? Did I live in deception? On the one hand thinking that sin I can treat it lightly or that it won't end up in death It won't kill me spiritually on the one hand or did I give in so much to my anxieties? rather than Fighting it with how good God is That God brought me to the front of the line Line yourself up with all the people in your school Line yourself up with all the people in your community in your town. Think about all the people you grew up with in your town in your neighborhoods You're probably one of the few Who have been opened your eyes to these truths What did he do? God said hey you come come come to the front of the line. I'm gonna open your eyes to this Think about all your relatives Who'd never got to hear this and God said I want you to be a first fruit Don't be deceived dear brothers and sisters. God has been so good to us. He's brought us to the front of the line He told you I want you to be the first fruit first top the best fruits Among all his creatures, so what should we do? verse 12 Because of this rather than be deceived by either one of those two don't be deceived or how Dangerous temptation and sin is don't be deceived that God is not good. God is totally good And so what should I do as a result? Persevere under trial He's chosen you for a first fruit and he's got a crown of life That he's prepared for you and he's promised for you and he's saying I'm I've got it reserved for you Persevere on the trial don't give up Don't get deceived by these side roads That branch out from the narrow road that leads to life. There's a crown waiting for us at the end of our lives for those who persevere Under the trials of anxiety or whatever the sins there are Let us fight against deception Don't be deceived. Each one of us is tempted when we are carried away Lord Jesus my mouth got carried away I'm not gonna blame anybody else who provoked me. I'm not gonna blame the situation, which is why I'm caught up with anxiety No, Lord. I am allowing myself to get carried away Let me think about You you are so good and you're calling me to be a first fruit You brought me in so many ways already to the front of the line Ahead of everybody else in my family in most cases ahead of most of them in my town In my neighborhood my streets you pulled me up to the front of the line to be a first fruit Blessed is a man who perseveres Lord I'll do my part. I just stick with you. I'm not gonna give up Keep coming back to you and fighting the deception that can easily trip us up So may God help us God is for you dear brothers and sisters more than you can imagine and you just have to think about it Think about all the people who died Whom you know who are younger than you and think about all the people who don't know the love of God We don't get to hear these truths week after week and ask yourself. Why God? Why did you do that for me? Why'd you pull me up to the front of the line? I didn't deserve this. What did I do? for no reason It says then verse 18 in the exercise of his will he just decided He said suddenly come to the front of the line and he put your name there In the exercise of his will he got to choose it No other reason he brought us forth he brought us to the front of the line let us live in lives of our gratitude God I don't need anything in my life. I just want to persevere on the trial And God says it'll get even better for you. If you persevere on the trial you get a crown of life It's a wonderful gospel dear brothers and sisters that we have in front of us. May God help us to Persevere on the trial