JAMES 1:13-17
FAITH WORKS KNOWLEDGABLY
FAITH WORKS #4
Iron Eyes Cody is a native American actor who once did a TV spot for the Keep America Beautiful campaign. He was an Indian drifting alone in a canoe. As he saw how our waters are being polluted, a single tear rolled down his cheek, telling the whole story. This powerful public service commercial still shows up on TV screens after 17 years. In 1988 Cody repeated an old Indian legend in Guideposts magazine. Here it is:
Many years ago, Indian youths would go away in solitude to prepare for manhood. One such youth hiked into a beautiful valley, green with trees, bright with flowers. There he fasted. But on the third day, as he looked up at the surrounding mountains, he noticed one tall rugged peak, capped with dazzling snow. I will test myself against that mountain, he thought.
He put on his buffalo-hide shirt, threw his blanket over his shoulders and set off to climb the peak. When he reached the top he stood on the rim of the world. He could see forever, and his heart swelled with pride.
Then he heard a rustle at his feet, and looking down, he saw a snake. Before he could move, the snake spoke. “I am about to die,” said the snake. “It is too cold for me up here and I am freezing. There is no food and I am starving. Put me under your shirt and take me down to the valley.”
“No,” said the youth. “I am forewarned. I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite, and your bite will kill me.” “Not so,” said the snake. “I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you.” The youth resisted awhile, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful markings.
At last the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass, when suddenly the snake coiled, rattled, and leapt, biting him on the leg. “But you promised...” cried the youth. “You knew what I was when you picked me up.” said the snake as it slithered away.” Bits and Pieces, June, 1990, pp. 5-7, http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=1542
We are faced with temptation just about every day of our lives.
What are some of the ways that we may be tempted on any given day?
As we continue our studies in the Book of James, whose theme is, FAITH WORKS, we leave behind the concept of trials and progress to facing temptations.
Actually the word King James translates as “temptation” is used with two different meanings in James 1. It can mean “trials” as in verses 2-12 and it can mean “solicitation to do evil” or being tempted to sin as it does in verses 13-17.
Tonight we see that FAITH WORKS KNOWLEDGABLY.
If we are going to overcome temptation we must have working knowledge of what temptation is, how it acts, and how to avoid it. Tonight we want to see that:
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NEED TO COMPREHEND – Vs. 16
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NATURE OF GOD – Vs. 13
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NASTINESS OF TEMPTATION – Vss. 14-15
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NURTURE OF GOD - Vs. 17
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NEED TO COMPREHEND
James 1:16 - Do not err, my beloved brethren.
“Do not err” means “DON’T BE DECEIVED!”
We might say, “Don’t be fooled!”
When it comes to temptation it is important that we not be deceived by the temptation. We can’t afford to be tricked!
Many a person has been tricked into thinking that the pursuit of money leads to happiness and has done dishonest things to get it! Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, lied to Naaman, the former leper in order to get money. He was deceived and ended up with Naaman’s leprosy.
Many a person has been tricked into thinking that the pursuit of food is the key to happiness. Yielding to the temptation to overeat they have hurt their own health.
Many a person has been tricked into thinking that partying is the way to happiness and has gone on to poor health and sinful behavior that can be a result of alcohol.
Many a person has been tricked into thinking that lying to get out of jams will bring them happiness. The problem is, if one is going to lie they have to be consistent in what they say. Most liars are not. They get caught in their own lies. And lies will be exposed, if not in this life, before the Judgment!
In light of verses Vss. 13-15, it would seem that James is saying, “Don’t be fooled!”
God is not to blame when you are tempted.
Satan is not to blame when you are tempted.
Another person is not to blame when you are tempted.
Your environment is not to blame when you are tempted.
Satan, people, and environment may be contributing factors, but it is your own lusts that allow you to be tempted. More about that in a moment.
Actually the words, “Do not err” mean “Stop being deceived.”
We are not thinking when we are busy blaming others for our own faults. We are deceiving ourselves.
Jessica Hawn, former church secretary who committed immoral acts with Jim Bakker (former host of the PTL Club), and later brought down the PTL empire, said on September 28, 1987, that God gave her “real peace” about granting an interview to Playboy magazine and posing for topless pictures.
On September 29, 1987 the news reported that she still considered herself a Christian, but goes to God “one-on-one,” not through any church or organization. Also: she doesn’t consider herself a “bimbo.” But her mother does.
Source unknown, http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=373
Jessica Hawn was deceived.
Our faith needs to be knowledgeable. We need to understand that we will be tempted and that when we are tempted it is our own fault.
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NEED TO COMPREHEND
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NATURE OF GOD
James 1:13 - Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
It’s Bible Trivia time!
Who was the first person to blame God for his or her own sin?
The answer is “Adam”.
Genesis 3:9-12 - And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? [10] And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. [11] And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? [12] And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
R. Kent Hughes – “Putting the blame elsewhere is popular in our culture. Will Rogers once remarked that there are two eras in American history – ‘the passing of the buffalo and the passing of the buck.’ Someone else has said, ‘To err is human, to blame the divine is even more human.’ How true this is of all of us!” R. Kent Hughes, James, Faith That Works (Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books, 1991) p. 44
James is telling us here not to blame God when we are tempted to do what is wrong.
The reason we shouldn’t blame God is because God can not be tempted to do evil.
Why can not God be tempted to do evil?
God can not be tempted to do evil, because he is holy!
1 Samuel 2:2 - There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
When Isaiah the prophet had his vision of God, he realized just how holy God is and just how sinful he was.
Isaiah 6:1-5 - In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
[2] Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. [3] And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. [4] And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
[5] Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Psalm 145:17 - The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
Allow me to make a clarification before we move on here.
God tests us, but He does not tempt us.
God allows testing so that we will be strong.
Psalm 66:10 - For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
James 1:2-4 - My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; [3] Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. [4] But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
By faith we need to understand that God is holy, and that because He is holy, He could never be tempted to do evil.
And because He can not be tempted to do evil, the last thing He would do is to tempt someone else to do what He himself is opposed to and doesn’t do himself.
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NEED TO COMPREHEND
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NATURE OF GOD
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NASTINESS OF TEMPTATION
James 1:14-15 - But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. [15] Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
First please notice that every man is tempted.
There is no exception to the rule.
The person who seems to be the holiest person you’ve ever met is still tempted to sin.
There is no such thing as a “Get out of temptation free” card.
We are tempted because each one of us has lusts or desires.
Lust in itself is not bad.
It’s a good thing that you desire to eat or else you might starve.
It’s a good thing that you desire to sleep or you might wear yourself out.
It’s a good thing that you desire to work because work is good for you.
It’s even a good thing that you desire to have sex for this is how we do what God says, “Be fruitful and multiply”.
The problem is that from within we let our lusts get carried away and they become sinful. Our lusts center around ourselves so that we want to satisfy our own desires even at the expense of others and in rebellion against God.
It is good to desire to eat but our lusts might lead us to gluttony.
It is good to desire to work, but lusts might lead us to become “workaholics”.
It is good to desire to sleep, but lusts might lead us to being lazy.
It is good to desire to sex, but lust can lead us to immorality.
Every man is drawn or dragged away by his own lust.
It is our own lusts that allow us to be lured away. They drag us away when the temptation is placed in front of us.
Some one is enticed by “bait” that is set in front of them.
It looks just too good to pass up. We succumb to temptation when we are lured away and take the bait.
R. Kent Hughes – “One summer recently my wife, Barbara, and I and our boys spent a week fishing in northern Maine. In the final hour of the final day my boys caught the biggest smallmouth bass I have ever seen – five pounds, one ounce! Those are cosmic dimensions for a smallmouth bass! That old bass, the best I can tell, was over ten years old. For 3,650 days he had resisted every ply know to man around Grand Lake Stream, Main – Until August 1989.
“On that fateful afternoon my boys were slowly trolling a salmon-colored, soft plastic, spinner-bladed jig, innocuously named ‘Little Fishy.’ When it passed by the lair of the monster bass. The combination of the speed of the lure, its depth, the slant of the sun, and the refraction of the light ineluctably dragged the old bronze-backed bass away from his lair, just as the Greek words, ‘dragged away’ in our text describe. Then he began to follow the lure, ‘enticed’ as our text has it, by its peculiar wiggle and the delicate fibrillations, so that he opened his mouth wide and in a sudden burst engulfed the jig. My boys’ shouts echoed across the lake, and today that fish’s grand, painted, mummified form graces my sons’ wall…”
R. Kent Hughes, James, Faith That Works (Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books, 1991) p. 47
Think of Satan as a fisherman.
He will try to lure you away from God.
He will entice you with his bait.
But the only reason he is successful is because of your own lusts.
Just like that big bass, the only reason we can be tempted is because of our own sinful desires.
And imagine Satan’s shouts of joy, when he “lands a big one!”
There is another illustration besides fishing here.
In verse 15 there is reference to lust conceiving.
Think of our lust joining together with what we have been lured away to and what we have been enticed to do.
Lust and luring and enticement join together and the baby that is born to this union is named “sin”.
This is the nastiness of temptation.
We have our own lusts.
We are lured or drawn away.
We take the bait. We are enticed.
Sin is the result!
If sin continues or becomes full blown or finished the result is death.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ezekiel 18:4 - Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Of course, the unsaved person is headed for eternal death or separation from God.
And every time a Christian sins, in a sense, there is death involved, because sin separates us from our Heavenly Father.
Isaiah 59:1-2 - Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: [2] But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
There is good news for us as Christians, however.
There is a promise for relief!
In Christ, we no longer have to give in to temptation, because has provided a way to escape!
1 Corinthians 10:13-14 - There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. [14] Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NEED TO COMPREHEND
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NATURE OF GOD
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NASTINESS OF TEMPTATION
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NURTURE OF GOD
James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Every good gift comes from God.
Every perfect gift comes from God.
Salvation is a good and perfect gift which we couldn’t earn. It came from God by His grace.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Answered prayer is a good and perfect gift from God that comes by his grace.
John 14:13-14 - And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Peace is a good and perfect gift from God that comes by His grace.
John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
My wife and children are good and perfect gifts from God that have come to me by His grace.
Proverbs 18:22 - Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.
Psalm 127:3 - Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
These are just a few of God’s good and perfect gifts.
He is their source as the “Father of lights”.
And with God there is never any variation or turning as a shadow does on a sundial.
God never changes, therefore His gifts are always good!
So, God nurtures us with good and perfect gifts.
How does this relate to our temptations?
God only gives us good things, so when we are tempted, we know that if it is not good, it doesn’t come from God.
FAITH WORKS KNOWLEDGABLY:
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NEED TO COMPREHEND – Vs. 16
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NATURE OF GOD – Vs. 13
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NASTINESS OF TEMPTATION – Vss. 14-15
FAITH UNDERSTANDS THE NURTURE OF GOD - Vs. 17
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