Triumph over Trials (1 of 5)
Chris Walls
James 1:1-3
Introduction
There are many things in this world that are counterfeited. I was reading an article just this week of a teacher and his students in Georgia who had counterfeited money and passed it out at their school. We have counterfeit clothing and jewelry. I went to Mexico one year and bought a watch. It is a nice looking watch and I paid a big $20 for it. It has the name Seiko on it, but I can guarantee you one thing it is a fake Seiko.
People are constantly checking to see if something is counterfeit in this world. The US Treasury department trains its agents on how to tell the difference between real US paper currency and a counterfeit. The way they train them is not by making them examine the fake bills, but to examine and study the real thing so well, that when a fake comes along they know it the instant it enters the hands.
That is the problem with Christians. They have not gotten so familiar with the real that when a fake does come along they fall into Satan's trap. We are constantly exhorted in Scripture to test our faith, to search our heart and make sure we are in Christ. Satan and his servants put on a good show, because they are often disguised as ''angels of light'' (2 Cor. 11:14-15).
Jesus said it best in the Sermon on the Mount:
Not everyone who says to Me, ''Lord, Lord,'' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ''Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'' And then I will declare to them, ''I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness'' (Matt 7:21-23).
David wrote in Psalm 17:3 ''You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night; You have tested me and You find nothing.'' He echoed the same accord in Psalm 26:1-2, ''Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I ha ...
Chris Walls
James 1:1-3
Introduction
There are many things in this world that are counterfeited. I was reading an article just this week of a teacher and his students in Georgia who had counterfeited money and passed it out at their school. We have counterfeit clothing and jewelry. I went to Mexico one year and bought a watch. It is a nice looking watch and I paid a big $20 for it. It has the name Seiko on it, but I can guarantee you one thing it is a fake Seiko.
People are constantly checking to see if something is counterfeit in this world. The US Treasury department trains its agents on how to tell the difference between real US paper currency and a counterfeit. The way they train them is not by making them examine the fake bills, but to examine and study the real thing so well, that when a fake comes along they know it the instant it enters the hands.
That is the problem with Christians. They have not gotten so familiar with the real that when a fake does come along they fall into Satan's trap. We are constantly exhorted in Scripture to test our faith, to search our heart and make sure we are in Christ. Satan and his servants put on a good show, because they are often disguised as ''angels of light'' (2 Cor. 11:14-15).
Jesus said it best in the Sermon on the Mount:
Not everyone who says to Me, ''Lord, Lord,'' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ''Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'' And then I will declare to them, ''I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness'' (Matt 7:21-23).
David wrote in Psalm 17:3 ''You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night; You have tested me and You find nothing.'' He echoed the same accord in Psalm 26:1-2, ''Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I ha ...
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