James - James 1:12-21

And now we pray together. Father, as we read the Word, it convicts us, and we're glad for this. We have areas in our lives where we must grow. But thank You that the Word of God also changes us; it transforms us; that in this Word is the power to make us more like the Lord Jesus. So help us as we study together. Grant that Your Word shall be just a treasure, the food of our souls, the nourishment of our lives. I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Times of trial can become times of temptation if we are not careful. When you find yourself in the storm of life, you might look for a shortcut, and that's what a temptation is. When you're going through the furnace, when you're carrying special burdens, when it seems like everything around you is falling apart, that's when our old nature and our old enemy, the devil, come along and say, "Well, we have a plan for you, and we can solve all these problems for you." A temptation is an opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a bad way. There's nothing wrong with passing an examination—that's a good thing—but if you cheat, ah, that's something else. Nothing wrong with paying your bills, but if you lie on your income tax to get money to pay your bills, that's something else. Temptations are within us because trials are around us. Learn the difference now.

Trials are those circumstances around us that come from God. Temptations are those opportunities to sin within us, and they come from our old nature and from Satan, who is the tempter. God allows trials to bring out the best in us, but we have temptations—Satan sends temptation to bring out the worst in us. What do we do when trials are around us? We accept them by faith and turn our lives over to the Lord. What do we do with temptations within us? We resist them. We don't accept them; we don't play with them; we resist them because they lead to sin and death. The trials around us can build maturity; James tells us that. But the temptations within us will tear us down and eventually lead to death. Now, the whole lesson of James 1:12-21 is simply: don't play with temptation. When you're going through the trials of life, don't play with temptation. Don't consider it; don't think about it; don't rationalize over it; don't weigh it—just have nothing to do with it.

Let's listen to what the Word of God says. James 1:12: "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, 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 am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 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 firstfruits of His creatures. Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."

Now James writes very vividly. In fact, his entire book is filled with images from nature, and from business, from warfare. And in this paragraph I've just read, James gives us four vivid pictures. First, he takes us to the throne room, and then he takes us to the cemetery, then he takes us to the treasury, and then he takes us to a garden. And in picturing these four scenes, James is warning us against temptation. He's encouraging us to resist temptation when it comes. Now once again, let me repeat it: when there are trials on the outside, beware of temptations on the inside. When we're going through difficulty, beware, because there's always a shortcut waiting for us, and that shortcut leads to long trial and trouble.

Picture number one is the throne room, verse 12. He takes us to a coronation. "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life." Now, this is not the Greek crown. When the Greek athletes won the prize, they were given a crown that was made out of leaves and branches. This is the Hebrew crown, the Jews that James was writing to would have nothing to do with these Greek games, these Gentile rewards. This is the Hebrew crown, which is the crown of gold. It is a crown of glory. Psalm 21:3: "For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head." The Jewish people believed in a royal crown. Now, what he's saying here is this: God wants us to reign. Romans 5:17, that we might reign in life. Romans 5:17 is a key word. We aren't just going to reign in the kingdom, reign in eternity; He wants us to reign in life. "For if by the one man’s offense," that's Adam, "death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." God wants us to reign in life—those who love Him, those who trust Him, those who are saved. The crown of life. You reign in life. Now, how do we do that? By overcoming temptation. Don't lose your crown. You see, when we overcome temptation, God crowns us and says, "All right, you are now a king; you are learning self-control."

I think one of the saddest scenes in the Bible is described in 2 Samuel 1:1. That Amalekite came to David and told David that Saul was dead. Saul had tried to commit suicide; it didn't work, and the Amalekite said he killed him because Saul wasn't going to live anyway. And he said, "I took his crown." What a sad thing. Saul began with the crown on his head; he ended losing his crown. God wants us to live like a king. So the next time you are facing temptation, remember: God wants to crown you. Look at the throne room, go to a coronation, and realize the dignity, the honor, the splendor, the wonder of reigning in life through Jesus Christ. Don't yield to temptation; yield to the Holy Spirit, and you will reign in life.

Verses 13 through 15, James takes us to the cemetery and invites us to watch a funeral. We've gone from the crown of life now to the coffin of death. And in this passage, he compares sin to pregnancy. Isn't that interesting? Verse 15: "Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." This is not a new idea. Back in the Psalms, you'll find the Psalmist talking about sin as pregnancy. Listen to Psalm 7:14: "Behold, the wicked travails with iniquity, conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood." Now, you'll find this same image in Job 15, Isaiah chapter 59, but James picks it up very vividly and he says, "All right, when you're facing a temptation, remember, if you yield to that temptation, you're not just committing an act, you're getting involved in a process—a pregnancy that's going to bring forth death." In Acts chapter 5, when Ananias and Sapphira sinned against the Lord and died, Peter said, "Why did you conceive this thing in your heart?" Pregnancy.

Now, here's the way it goes. First, there's difficulty—we're having problems in our lives, we're being tested. Then difficulty leads to doubt. "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." We start doubting God, blaming God. Now God is holy; God cannot tempt anyone or be tempted. So difficulty leads to doubt, we start questioning God. Then doubt leads to desire. "Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." This is the picture of a hunter baiting a trap or a fisherman baiting a hook. We bait our own hooks. We bait our own traps. We start desiring. Now, desires are good. Nothing wrong with a desire for food, but gluttony is sin. Nothing wrong with a desire for sexual fulfillment in marriage, but sex outside of marriage is sin. So there's desire. Now, desire brings deception. We say, "Oh, we can get along with this." Satan's always right there, isn't he, to use this old nature of ours to deceive us. We bait the hook ourselves. We put the bait on the hook and say, "Oh, I want that." So first there's difficulty, then there's doubt—we start blaming God. Then there's desire—we want something that we're not supposed to have. Something good in itself perhaps, but not good in this context. Then there's deception—we say, "Oh well, we can get away with this." He says in verse 16, "Do not be deceived, do not be led astray, my beloved brethren." Then deception leads to disobedience. We disobey. Desire conceives and gives birth to sin. We say, "Well, that's over with." Oh no, it is not. Sin, like a child, begins to grow, and when it is full-grown, you come to the last stage: death.

Now, the choice is: do you want a crown or a coffin? A crown of life or an experience of death? You see, we think of sin as an act. God looks upon sin as a deadly process. And so, James says the next time you're tempted, remember, go to the throne room and see a coronation: reign in life. Don't lose your crown. Go to the cemetery and see a funeral, and remember, when we yield to temptation and sin, we are bringing forth death.

Now, from the negative to the positive. In verses 16 and 17, he takes us to the treasury and he says, "Look, let's take inventory of all the good things God has done for you." 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. He said, "Just rejoice in God's goodness." This is what Nathan the prophet said to David. David said, "I've sinned and I have sinned against the Lord." Listen to what Nathan has to say to David in 2 Samuel 12:8: "I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more." What's Nathan saying to David? Why did you have to sin? Look around and see all that God has done for you. Every gift God gives is good. The way He gives it is good, even if He gives it in the midst of difficulties. He is the giving God. What He gives is good. He gives only good gifts. He gives consistently, constantly—no change. We never have to worry how God is feeling about us. There's nothing eclipsing His light; there's nothing extinguishing His light. There is a continuous stream of goodness coming from the hand of God. Now, why do we have to yield to temptation? You see, the devil comes to us and says, "Well, you can do this and get away with it." God says, "You don't have to do this, I've given you something better." The devil said to Eve, "Oh, has God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? God's holding out on you." Well, the next time we're tempted, let's look at the treasury and realize how good God has been to us.

Well, in verses 18 through 21, the picture is agricultural. He takes us to the garden. In verse 18, he tells us we have been born by the Word of God. "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth." This parallels what Peter wrote when he said, "being born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, even by the word of God, which lives and abides forever." 1 Peter 1:23. And so, the Word of God gave us our life, and the Word of God nurtures our life. It's the seed that brings forth fruit. In verse 21: "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness"—it's a picture of weeds that are growing and choking out the beautiful flowers and the good fruit—"receive the implanted word." The whole picture is agricultural. We are the firstfruits. We're the first of the harvest. We're the highest of His creatures. By His own will, He brought us forth. We didn't do it ourselves. That's the grace of God. God, in His grace, has made us His firstfruits. God has given to us all of His goodness.

Now, He says, "Why do you want to yield to temptation and bring into this beautiful garden this overflowing of filthiness and wickedness?" Remember now, you and I are gardeners. Our lives are fields. Our hearts are like the field, like the soil. When we yield to temptation, we're planting sin, we're planting lies. When we yield to God and surrender to Him, we are planting His Word. He says, "Now receive the implanted word." Don't plant the seeds of sin in your life. Why? Because one day there's going to be a bitter harvest. You sow to the wind and you reap the whirlwind.

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear"—hear what? The Word of God. Give attention to the Word of God. "Slow to speak"—don't argue with God and say, "Oh, God is tempting me." Don't blame God. "Slow to wrath"—don't get angry at God. Receive the Word of God. Now, your soil in your soul is going to have some kind of seed planted in it all day long. As we see things, hear things, speak things, do things, we're planting seed. And there is going to be a harvest. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. "Therefore, lay aside all filthiness"—it's a picture of changing clothes. He says, "Change clothes, get rid of those dirty garments and get rid of the overflow of wickedness," the rank growth of wickedness, the weeds. Weed out the sin that's growing in your soul. Get rid of those things and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Here then are four pictures that ought to encourage us to live lives of victory over temptation. Don't play with sin. Don't consider it. Don't think about it. Don't listen to it. Go to the throne room and realize you can have the crown of life. Go out to the cemetery and realize that there will be a funeral at the end—sin produces death. Go to the treasury, take inventory and see how good God has been to you. You don't have to listen to the devil's offers. You don't need what the flesh has to offer. Just take what God gives to you. Then go out to the garden and realize there's going to be a harvest. It may take a few years, but that harvest is going to come. Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin. And by the grace of God, through the Word of God, by the power of the Spirit of God, we can overcome temptation and we can win the crown of life.