Man, that was a good prayer, Blair. Thank you. James chapter one will be in verses 15 through 18. This is part five of our summer series, verse by verse through James chapter one called Tried and true faith under fire. And it's going pretty quickly.

Summer's flying by, right? You know, you'll either approach today's sermon with eagerness or you'll approach it with just another time period to endure. My humble prayer is that I'll be able to serve you a meal from the bread of life here and that the Spirit of God would arrest your attention so that you can hear truth at least once this week. Because you can watch the news and scroll on your phone and see lots of things that aren't true and are false. But God's word is true and we believe it.

Verses 15 through 18. Read this then. When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

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 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. My brothers and sisters, the Word of the Lord. Pray together.

Father, we want to know what these words mean. We want the spirit of God to show us how to apply them this afternoon and tomorrow and to walk in your word. God, help the preacher to get out of the way and to say it right. God, for those whose bodies are weary, God, I pray that the spirit of God would superintend them. Just give them a second window, just for a few moments to hear from heaven in your word.

And for those believers that just couldn't wait to hear another message from the Word that they hold so dear God, feed them and bless them in these next few moments. We give you this time and we proclaim and confess. It's yours and it's for your glory, Jesus Christ. It is in your name that we pray. And a faith filled church said.

Today I want to preach a message I call what's growing in you. What's growing in you? The battle inside and the goodness above. And let's be real life often feels like a crowded room where everyone wants a piece of you. We're too spiritual to admit that, but it's true about when we go to work and with our kids and in our closest friendships and relationships.

It feels like this constant juggling act just to keep everything from crashing in on us. And in the middle of the chaos, we often find ourselves tempted to disobey God. But the truth is, temptation rarely shows up. With a pitchfork and dressed in a red suit, most days, temptation is a quiet whisper. You deserve this.

Just this once won't hurt. No one will ever know. And let's be honest. Temptation looks good. It promises relief.

It promises to satisfy. It promises even an escape from the daily grind. But in the verses that I just read to us, James is waving a big red flag. What you feed in your life doesn't stay small. Whether it's resentment or bitterness or compromise, it grows.

And sin, when it's full grown, always leads to death. And it might be the death of your joy. It might be the death of the peace that you feel. It might be deaths in relationships, or it might even lead to physical death. Well, here's the question I want you to wrestle with today.

In your life right now, what are you feeding your spirit? In your life right now, what are you feeding your spirit?

Because what you feed grows, and what grows shapes your future.

In these verses that we read, James shows us two things. On the one hand, he shows us the weeds that will choke your soul. And on the other, he shows us the good gifts that bring life. And you get to choose. You get to choose the weeds that choke your soul or the good gifts that bring life.

I have divided my sermon today under two headings. Here's heading number one. James says, watch what you're feeding.

Watch what you're feeding. James 1, 15, 16. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it's full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

So James says that our desires inevitably produce sin. And then this sin gives way to death. And listen, we are easily fooled by the lust inside our hearts when we think of the idea of temptation. What most often comes to mind when we see the word lust is some kind of sexual overtone. So I think I'm going to go down that pathway for a few moments.

Because the Scriptures give clear, repeated warnings against sexual sin. And In Proverbs, chapter 7. In Proverbs, chapter 7, King Solomon now narrates for his sons this anecdote, this illustration, this play that is playing out right in front of his eyes about sexual temptation. So I'm going to walk us through that to illustrate verses 15 and 16. So picture this.

A father stands at his window. He's looking out at the streets below as the sun dips and as the shadows creep in. And what he spots is a young man. And this young man is naive. He's older than a boy, but not quite full grown.

He has no guiding principles. He hasn't lived long enough to make solid life commitments yet. And this young man is wandering down the street and Proverbs 7 says, near her corner, just as the darkness settles in, this guy is easy prey because he is unrooted. He's just drifting through life, going to the next pleasure and the next whim and the next excitement and the next adventure. And that's when she shows up.

She is bold, she is brash. She has an essence about her that is just unstoppable. Also, she's loud, she's defiant, and she is dressed to kill. That evening, Proverbs 7, 11, and 12 calls her, and I quote, a loud and rebellious woman. Her feet would not stay at home, and she's now in the street, now in the open square, lurking at every corner.

End quote. She walks right up to our guy here with a smile that's hiding something. It's hiding her snare.

Her smooth words drip with honey and poison at the same time. Her clothes scream, look at my body. Look at how stacked I am. Look at what I have to offer you. Proverbs 7:10.

Dressed like a harlot and cunning of heart, she is a master manipulator with no shame in her approach. And she flatters the young man. She tells him that he's the one she's been looking for. She makes him feel like the most special person in the world.

And just in case he was raised with any faith standards, she even plays the religious card. Proverbs 7:14 quotes her saying, I have peace offerings with me today. I have paid my vows. Doesn't that sound spiritual? She makes it sound like what she wants to do with this young man will be a holy sacrifice to God.

But it's just a cover. She's using religion to hide her sin. And did you notice what she appeals to? 2 things. He's a dimwit, so she appeals to his physical drive, his glands, and she appeals to the pace of his life, his lack of patience.

She basically says to him, hurry, we have to do this tonight.

And next comes the flattery. Proverbs 7:15. She says to him, so I came out to meet you diligently to seek your face, and I have found you. She's saying, young dude with no history and no job, you're the one I wanted all along. It's you and only you.

Now let me meddle a little bit. Her forward approach matches the suggestive way she dresses. And for you note takers, write this down. Because a promiscuous woman knows no shame. Let me say that again.

A promiscuous woman knows no shame. Preacher, how dare you say that? Where did you get that from? I got it from Proverbs 30:20.

This is the way of an adulterous woman. She eats and wipes her mouth and says, I have done no wickedness, no shame.

Because we live in this Corinthian age and because biblical standards of sexuality have been first mocked and then abandoned and then barely even spoken of in the church, and because of the rise of Internet pornography and all the secret ways that we can sin sexually. And in 2025, I need to ask this question to people in this room. What goes through your mind after your latest unmarried sexual encounter?

Is there any conscience that stirs? Or do you just eat and wipe your mouth and say, I've done no wickedness?

Does it bother you at all because God made the sexual relationship for married men and their wives? That should have been an amen. It's proof that we need to hear these things. Let me just say sexual sin isn't the only area where our consciences can go numb. There are other weeds that grow just as quietly.

There are other weeds that grow just as dangerously until we don't even feel bad about them anymore. And let's be real. If sin had a sound, some of us have hit the mute button. So what else do we stop feeling bad about? Let me give you three categories.

Number one, we've stopped feeling bad about gossip and slander. Now we dress it up in spiritual clothing. We say, I just need to get this off my chest, or, hey, let's be praying for so and so. You know why, but let's call it what it is. We're speaking about people in ways that we wouldn't dare say into their face.

And over time, the sting fades, the shame diminishes, and the consciences grow quiet. But James is going to tell us in chapter three, out of the same mouth, proceed. Blessing and cursing, my brethren. These things ought not to be so. Gossip and slander.

We don't feel bad about it anymore. Number two, bitterness and unforgiveness. We carry grudges like heirlooms. We polish them up and we pass them down. Our children and our close friends hear the venom that we feel against those that have hurt us.

We say, I'll forgive, but I won't forget. And it becomes our motto. And before long, we feel completely justified in our Anger. When Jesus says, in your anger do not sin. When Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:31, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, bitterness and unforgiveness.

No conscience anymore. Number three, lying and exaggerating. We tell half truths to save face, or we tell half truths to to pad the story to make us sound more impressive. And when no lightning strikes us for doing that, we start to believe that the lie is no big deal.

But Proverbs 12:22 says, Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are his delight.

She eats and wipes her mouth and says, I've done no wickedness. Friends, if we don't deal with these things early, they become like scar tissue. They make us numb to conviction. And that's what James is warning us about in verses 15 and 16. And that's what Proverbs 7 is exposing sin dulls the senses until the voice of God sounds like elevator music to us.

It's there, but it's easy to ignore.

Everybody survive that one.

Next, the seductress paints a picture of a perfect night. I'm going to put this on the screen for you. Proverbs 7, 16, 17, she says to the young man, I have spread my bed with tapestry colored coverings of Egyptian linen. Do they sell that on Amazon? I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

Let me just break that down for us. It looks good, it smells good, it tickles all of our senses in the right place. She's got the five star hotel experience ready for this guy. There's luxury, there's pleasure. It's pleasing to the eye.

And then she tops it off with an irresistible offer. In verse 18 she says, Come, let us take our fill of love until morning. Let us delight ourselves with love. My bedroom and my body is open to you.

What does she promise? She promises passion without commitment. She promises a night of love with no strings attached. And this makes her particularly dangerous because she gives so much and asks for so little in return.

But she's not done yet. She seals the deal with dismissive assurances. Proverbs 7, 19 and 20, she says, for my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. He has taken a bag of money with him and will come home on the appointed day.

She says, we've got plenty of time. My husband's on a long road trip. He took enough money to keep him occupied and I know the Exact day he's coming back. In other words, no one's watching. We will get away with it.

You have nothing to fear, my brothers and my sisters. That is temptation's oldest trick, separating consequences from the deed or the action. Did you notice that she doesn't even bother to argue whether it's right or wrong. Just that no one will know.

No one will know. Do you know Psalm 139:1 3. O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off you comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

No one will know.

Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Friends, the only one that matters to know knows well. The Father's voice trembles with urgency as he describes what happens next. Proverbs 7:21 to 23 with her enticing speech she caused him to yield.

With her flattering lips she seduced him immediately. He went after her as an ox goes through the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till an arrow struck his liver as a bird hastens to the snare. He did not know it would cost him his life. Desire gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. Think about that arrow in his liver.

The liver is the heaviest organ in the body. When it's filled with blood and you pierce a blood filled liver with an arrow, that's no small wound. There are no ambulances, there are no first responders in the ancient world. There are no hospitals, and there's not a surgeon on earth that can put you back together. If an arrow pierces your liver, it was a death sentence.

And friends, listen to me very carefully. That's what temptation aims for. It doesn't just want to trip you up, it wants to kill what matters most.

And let's not forget this chilling line from Proverbs 7. Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death. James 1:16 puts it simply, do not be deceived, my beloved brethren, don't be deceived. That's right, temptation is a liar. It offers freedom but brings chains.

It promises satisfaction, but it delivers emptiness.

I urge you, as your pastor, ask God to show you what you're feeding that needs to be starved. Pull the weeds early before they choke out the good stuff. Pray something like this. Lord, help me to see temptation's lies before they become my regrets.

James says, watch what you're feeding in verses 15 and 16.

Well that's the heavy part of the sermon. You ready for an easier one?

The second thing that James says in our text today in verses 17 and 18, is trust what God is growing. Trust what God is growing. Here's verses 17 and 18. 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 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.

How many of you believe that God's a good giver?

God's gifts are different from temptation's bait and switch. God's gifts are always good. There are no hidden price tags. There's never any fine print. And James says every good gift comes from above, from the Father.

And God doesn't change. He doesn't tease, he doesn't lie. He's consistent. He's the same in our darkness as he is in our light. And what is the first good gift that he gives from our text?

James 1:18 says it loud and clear. Of his own will. He brought us forth by the word of truth. Brought us forth? Doesn't that sound like birthing language?

Doesn't that sound like a new life? You see, the first good gift, James could barely get another sentence out before he celebrated it. God's best gift is new life. It's the chance to be reborn. It's the chance to go from God's enemy to God's child.

It's the opportunity to be adopted into his family out of the world of rebellion. It is new birth. Every Christian in this room, you are proof that God is good.

If you've obeyed the gospel and believed in Jesus out of his own will, he brought us forth through the word of truth. You know that your salvation was God's idea. Your salvation was God's choosing.

You are so safe and secure in Christ that he didn't leave it up to chance. He didn't leave it up to your fallen will. And it looks like a choice from us. But James says it's out of his own will that he brought us forth. We didn't bring ourselves forth, didn't birth ourselves.

God's gifts are pure. They're life giving, and they lead you closer to him. And Jesus said the same thing. Matthew, chapter 7, verses 9 through 11. He says, or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father, who is in heaven give? Good gifts? Give good things to those who ask him.

Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater. He says, if your child needed to be nourished, would you give them something inedible? If he asked for bread, would you give him a stone? If your child needed something for health, would you give him something that would kill him? If he asked for a fish, would you give him a serpent?

And he says, remember about you. You needed to be redeemed. And you have some of this special grace from God where you're able to give good things to your children. How much more? Your Father in heaven.

Temptation's fruit is rotten and it's empty, and it leaves you worse off than before. But God's gifts that come down from heaven change everything. And they're all good.

I want to tell you about Mickey Mantle. Mickey Mantle played. Was it center field or right field? One of you old guys? Center field for the New York Yankees in the 1960s.

Mickey Mantle is one of the greatest baseball players that America ever knew. At the time that baseball was America's pastime, he was one of the greatest players to ever swing a bat. He had the talent, he had the fame, he had the money, he had the notoriety. He had the adoration of millions. I mean, everybody read the box score the next day, see how the Yankees did, and see what Mickey Mantle did from the plate.

But Mickey Mantle also had a secret battle. That battle was alcoholism. Off the field, his life was spiraling. His drinking cost him relationships. His drinking cost him his health.

It nearly cost him his legacy. In a brutally honest interview later in life, Mickey Mantle said, and I quote, God gave me a great body and an incredible ability to play baseball. I wasted it. I drank too much. I hurt people.

I hurt myself. Don't be like me. End quote. In his final days, after a liver transplant and having a reckoning with his past, Mickey Mantle came to faith in Jesus Christ and was converted. A friend led him to the Lord, and here's what Mickey Mantle said after that quote.

I'm finally learning what real life is about. I only wish I'd learned it sooner.

Here's the sobering truth. The gifts God gives life and love and truth and grace, they were there all along. But Mantle spent most of his life feeding the wrong thing, and it left him empty. His own words. Temptation's fruit looked good in the moment, but it didn't nourish him.

Only when he turned to the giver of good gifts, Did Mickey Mantle begin to experience peace?

May I say to you, we can learn from him? Trust that God's gifts are worth waiting for.

Now, let me tell you a story about a preacher who almost missed the boat, literally and spiritually. I want to tell you about John Wesley. He ended up being basically the founder of the Methodist Church. He was a sharp young man. He was educated, well spoken, articulate.

Freshly ordained into the Church of England, he lived in London. In 1735, he boarded a ship called the Simmons, headed for the American colonies. And he had a grand plan. He was going to convert the Native Americans. He was going to the colonies to preach to the Indians.

He had theology degrees. He had sermons all written up and ready to go. He had all the confidence of a man on a mission. But then came the Atlantic Ocean. Violent storms rolled in like an angry army and waves pounded the ship.

The wind howled against the vessel and all the English passengers screamed in fear. And to be honest, so did John Wesley. He was right there with them, trembling, the man of God, shaken, deeply disturbed. John Wesley's face, so articulate in the classroom, suddenly felt paper thin against the waves. But here's where the story gets interesting.

In the middle of the chaos, Wesley saw something that stopped him cold. It was a group of Moravian missionaries, men, women and children.

And there they were, standing on the deck in the middle of the storm, calmly singing hymns to God like Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Silas in a Philippian jail in Acts 16. There's no panic on their faces, there's no fear in their voices. Who were these people? They just had peace. And it rattled John Wesley.

Later he wrote in his journal words that cut to the core, and I quote, I went to America to convert the Indians. But, oh, who shall convert me? I have a fair summer religion. I can talk well, but let death look me in the face. And my spirit is troubled.

Nor can I say, to die is gain.

In other words, Wesley says, I've got the words down. I've got the theology, I don't have the anchor. When Wesley returned to England, that question haunted him. He met a Moravian leader named Peter Bowler. And Peter Bowler asked Wesley a question that drilled right past his credentials and into his soul.

Here was the question, do you know Jesus as your Savior? Wesley replied, I know he's Savior of the world. And Bowler didn't flinch. He said, yes, but do you know that he has saved you? That simple question blew a hole in Wesley's religious resume.

He had knowledge in his head. He had no assurance in his heart. And he realized then that Christianity wasn't just about sounding intelligent or being moral. It was about being born again by the word of truth. Not long after these moments of Peter Bowler, Wesley had his famous Aldersgate moment.

He described it this way. And I quote, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation. Just like that. The preacher who went to save others finally got saved himself.

I want to ask you something. What changed? He stopped trusting in his religious effort and and finally received the first good gift that James talks about. New life in Christ.

So I want to go back to that first question in the title of the message. What's growing in you? Temptation always looks good at first. Like that smooth talking seductress and pretty Proverbs 7. It flatters, it promises, it disappoints, and then it disappears and it just leaves a mess behind you.

James says it plainly, sin starts small, but it always grows into death. But God grows something better.

He gives good and perfect gifts. James says, no tricks, no fine print. And what was that first good gift? New life. A clean heart.

And you can have one, too. A fresh start. If you've been feeding weeds, the weeds of lust and bitterness and lies, it is time, my brothers and my sisters, to starve them out. If your conscience has grown quiet, ask God today to wake it up.

Because God doesn't hand out stones.

He hands out bread. Daily bread. He always does that. I wonder, have you received the gift of eternal life? Maybe you were like me.

I was a lost church member, had a false conversion, a false baptism and a false sense of security. I was in church and didn't know God. Maybe that's you. Or maybe you're new to this whole thing and maybe this is the first time you're hearing that you can be made right with God and that your conscience can be eased in the presence of the Lord and you can have your sins forgiven and you can be made a child of God. Maybe it's the first time.

First time, millionth time. It doesn't matter. Today is the day of salvation. Believe the gospel today. Turn away from your old life of sin.

Say to the Lord Jesus, who's alive, I want you to be my Lord. I want you to be my Savior. I want new life. I want the first good gift you give. I'm here for it.

Think about that as we pray God, I pray that the preaching of the truth today will be clear, that it won't be dismissed, that it won't be forgotten by the time the nightly news starts tonight. I pray that you'd save souls in this room. Boys and girls, students, young married people, widows and widowers, senior citizens, Holy Spirit. Blow through this room with the fires of evangelism and save the lost. This is our prayer.

In Jesus name, amen. Will you stand to your feet with me today? Prayer team members, if you come to the front, I'm getting ready to dismiss our service. But I want you to know that the ministry doesn't end when I adjourn you. We will pray for anyone and everyone about anything and everything.

We'll have some trained prayer leaders down here, and they want to pray with you and for you. And I just want to encourage you. If this message touched your heart today, if it was like God was reading your mail, that was a sign from heaven that there's more work to be done in your life, spiritually. Come, let some of these brothers and sisters pray for you today. Church members, if it's been several weeks since you've received prayer, come forward and say, just pray for me, whatever the Lord lays on your heart.

Would you do that for your pastor and for yourself? You think about that, everybody. Have a great week. We are dismissed.