Let us turn again to God's Word
and directing you this evening to words that we find in the
General Epistle of James. The General Epistle of James
chapter 1 and reading the portion from verse 12 through 14. Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation for when he is tried, He shall receive the crown of
life which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him. 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. But every
man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin
when it is finished bringeth forth death. Here then in this
opening chapter of the General Epistle of James and verses 12
through 14. As we consider then the content
of these verses I want to take up the theme of the blessing
of trials or more particularly the paradox of Christian experience
under trial. The paradox of the Christian's
experience under trial. We know that, really in general
I suppose, the life of the child of God, the life of faith, is
a strange paradoxical life. in his Gospel Sonnets, which
deals with many aspects of the life of the believer in poetical
form. That's a lovely little book by
Ralph Erskine, Gospel Sonnets, he calls it. There's a whole
section there which he entitles The Believer's Riddle. The Believer's
Riddle. the strange ways of the Lord
in dealings that he has with his children. And as I said,
it's a truth really to the Christian life in a very general sense. And we see it in Paul. Paul who speaks of himself as
a pattern to them which should hereafter believe. We learn something of the life
of the Christian from what is recorded in Scripture concerning
that particular man, the apostle to the Gentiles. And you can
think of some of the statements that he makes when he's writing
to the Corinthians. He's having to defend himself.
He's having to establish his authority as one who is truly
the Lord's servant, the Lord's apostle. because they had their
minds turned against Paul. And so what does he do? He doesn't
just come and address them in terms of the importance of sound
doctrine and the necessity of living the Christian life. He
doesn't just give them instruction and practical direction with
regards to living the life of the believer, but he has to on
occasion speak of himself. And when he speaks of himself
we see how his life is such a strange life. Think of the language that
we have at the end of that second epistle to the Corinthians, and
there in chapter 12, in verse 10, he says of himself, when
I am weak, then am I strong. Surely there is a contradiction
if ever there was one. How is it possible to be weak
and strong at one and the same time? And yet that's what the
Apostle says, when I am weak, then am I strunk, but not only
there, previously in that same 2nd epistle in chapter 6 he sets forth a number of statements
that are quite plainly contradictory there in that 6th chapter at
verse 9 he says of himself and his ministry as unknown and yet
well known as dying and behold we live as chastened and not
killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making
many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. What strange talk is this? Here
is a man who says he's unknown and yet he's well known. Here
is a man who says he's dying and yet he's living. He's sorrowful
and yet at the same time he's a man who's rejoicing. He has
nothing, and yet he's in possession of all things. All the paradox,
the paradox of the life that Paul is describing. And of course
there's a reason why these things are written in Scripture. They're
written for our learning. All that came upon the apostle
during the course of his ministry that caused him to write in the
way that he does. That's all under the sovereign
hand of God. And so God orders events that
this man has to tell us something of his experience. He doesn't
just therefore write a doctrine and the practical life of the
Christian in these epistles, but he writes out of the fullness
of his own heart's experiences. And it's all for our learning. And as with with Paul so in a sense we might
say it's the same with all the apostles although principally
with that man but it's in the life of all these men because
they're all men of faith the same faith that we see in Paul
is the faith that we see in John or in Peter or as we have it
here in the epistle of James. And what does James say? He says
here in verse 12, blessed is the man that endureth temptation
for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which
the Lord hath promised to them that love him and the word that
we have blessed literally means happen this is the happy man
and the happy man is the man who has to endure temptation and trial How can
a man be happy in the midst of these bitter experiences? There seems to be some contradiction
here, but this is the way of the Lord Jesus Christ, is it
not? When we go to the Gospels, and of course, we never forget
that although Paul is a patterned believer, he does say to the
Corinthians, be followers of me as I am a follower of Christ,
We're not followers of Paul, we learn from Paul and his experiences,
but like Paul, we're to be those who are followers of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And in the Gospel, of course,
we read of the Lord's own experiences, and if we're followers of Him,
we'll know similar experiences to those. And what was the Lord's
experience? Well, when He begins His public
ministry, It's marked there at the river Jordan where he goes
to be baptized by John. He's fulfilling all righteousness.
This is the path that was ordained for him in the eternal covenant.
He will submit to John's baptism of repentance so there is no
need of any repentance in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was holy, he was harmless,
he was undefiled. He's a sinless one, but He identifies
there with those sinners who stand in need of repentance. And though we have the record
there in the Gospels, for example, in the account in Matthew chapter
3, and though it was such a blessed occasion for the Lord, as He
is obedient to His Father, He is baptized, and what blessings
come upon Him. The end of Matthew 3. Jesus,
when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.
And, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. And, lo, a voice from heaven
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Oh, what blessings in the path
of obedience! the opening of the heavens, the
descent of the Spirit, baptized with the Spirit without measure,
glorious outpouring of the Spirit upon Him, He is the Anointed
One, and then the Father's voice, My Beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased. Great blessing, and yet what
follows at the beginning of the next chapter, then was Jesus
led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the
devil." Oh, this blessed man. Oh, he must suffer the assaults
of the great adversary. Oh, Satan will come and tempt
him. And then Matthew goes on to say,
he resists the devil, but the devil leaves him for a little
season. In a sense, his whole life is
one of temptations when he comes to the end he says in Luke's
account to his disciples he are they which have continued with
me in my temptations and yet ever the blessed man the happy
man and so as with the Lord Jesus it's also the case in the experiences
of his own children We think of the words of the
hymn 309 in the book concerning the believer when his pardon
is signed and his peace is procured from that moment. His conflict
begins. Oh, there's a conflict. There's
a conflict with sin. There's a conflict with self,
the old nature. There's a conflict with Satan,
the prince of this world. There's a conflict with the world. That's the life of the believer.
And yet, he's a part of the sinner, he has peace with God. It's a
strange life. Well here, we read of trials. Trials, troubles, temptations, testings, chastenings. And clearly,
What James is saying in this chapter is these trials are profitable. There's profit in these things.
Look at what he says earlier. In the second verse, my brethren,
he says, "...count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations,
knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."
But let patience have her perfect work, that she may be perfect
and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and that breaketh
not. And it shall be given him, but
let him ask in faith, not in wavering. We need wisdom to understand
the ways of the Lord, and the way in which the Lord causes
His children to grow in grace. There's a hymn, isn't there,
of John Newton's, again, in the book. It's not really suitable
for public worship, but I would draw your attention to it. The
opening line, I ask the Lord that I might grow in grace. Let me just find the hymn. I'm
sure it's in the book. 295. I don't intend to read it through,
but I would draw your attention to the contents of that book.
You're probably already well aware of it. Prayer answered by crosses. I
ask the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every grace
might more of his salvation know and seek more earnestly his face.
I hope that in some favoured hour that once he'd answer my
request and by his love's constraining power subdue my sins and give
me rest. Instead of this he made me feel
the hidden evils of my heart and let the angry powers of hell
assault my soul in every part. You can read through the hymn,
295. But you see, what Newton is saying
there, is all that experience was profitable. That's the way
the Lord makes his children to grow in grace, when he comes
and he tests them. And so James says, we're to count
it all joy. The trying of your faith, work
of patience, he says. Let patience have a perfect work. This is how you're going to grow
in grace. when the Lord comes and brings afflictions and difficulties
and reversals. And life seems to be impossible
at times. There seems to be no way at all
forward. And of course, what James is
saying is much the same as the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter
5, and there at verse 3 following. He says not only so but we glory
in tribulation also knowing that tribulation workers patience
and patience experience and experience hope and don't make us not ashamed
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. Oh, there's
profit in these things. It's a trial that encourages
and brings the growth, the development in grace the living of the life
of faith, the life of complete and utter dependence upon the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Peter. You see they all say much the
same, these men. James, or Paul, or Peter. Look at the language of Peter
there in the opening chapter of his first epistle. At verse
7 he says, "...a trial of your faith." being much more precious
than the gold that perisheth, though it be tried in the fire,
is found unto praise and honour and glory, that the appearing
of Jesus Christ." All trials are good, blessed
is the man, happy is the man, whom the Lord chasteneth. That's what the psalmist says. Psalm 94 and verse 12, we have
several Psalms that speak to us of the blessed man. In times
past we've looked at some of those Psalms. And amongst them
the blessed man who is chastened. Blessed is the man whom thou
chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law, that thou
mayest give him rest from the days of adversity. nor the Lord
will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance. But the Lord will teach His people,
and not just teach them intellectually, but teach them in their soul's
experience, in chastenings at times, and correctings. Again,
we have it in the book of Job. We read there in the opening
The verses of that book, the mystery of God's ways with Job. But what do we read later? Job
5, 17, Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth. Therefore
despise not thou the chastening of the law. The man whom God
corrects, the man whom God chastises, the man whom God tries and tests,
is a happy man. And there that verse in Job 5
opens with the behold. Here is something that we should
consider. Here is something to be examined, to fix our eye upon. Behold, happy is the man whom
God correcteth. All fix our eyes there, gaze
upon this. Why? Because there is much here
that is so strange. And we try to ponder these things.
The mystery of the Lord's ways and the Lord's dealings are so
inexplicable to us at times. Again, the hymn says, "'Tis to
credit contradictions, talk to him one never sees." What a strange
life is that, a contradictory life. But there's profit, there's
profit. However, Thinking more particularly
this evening of the perplexity of these things. As I said, the
paradox of the Christians' experience under God's trials. Trials are
perplexing. And we see it here in what's What's in the text? Verse 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.
But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust
and enticed. Now, we have to distinguish trials
and temptations. Interestingly, it's the same
words that is used in the Scriptures, and it's the context that enables
us to understand whether it's a trial from God or a temptation
from Satan. Temptations clearly do not come
from God. We're told that. 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. That is impossible.
God is not the author of temptation. God is not the author of sin. Abba Cook says of God, Thou art
of purer eyes than to behold evil, and thou canst not look
upon sin. God only does what is right.
He's a holy God. He's a righteous and a just God. Abraham says, shall not the judge
of all the earth do right? Whatever God does is right and
good. Now, Again, we have that statement
back in the book of Genesis in chapter 22 concerning Abraham,
the friend of God, the father of the faithful. You remember
the words that we have at the beginning of that 22nd chapter,
God did tempt Abraham. How do we square that statement
with what James is saying? It says quite clearly that God
did tempt Abraham. And here it says, "...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." Well, interestingly,
when we come to the New Testament, in Hebrews 11 and verse 17, we're
told that God tried Abraham. It would have been better
back in Genesis 22 had the words trial rather than the word tempt
been used. They said it's the same words
and the context is the way in which we establish whether it's
a trying or a tempting. There's a mystery here you see. there's that that's so perplexing
for us. We see it very clearly, do we
not, in the passage that we read at the beginning of Job. The
sovereignty of God in all that comes upon Job. Although the devil's hand is
in it, yet it's all overruled in the sovereignty of God. That's
so evident in the way in which the whole episode is recorded
for us. Remember the words that we were
reading, there was a man in the land of Us, whose name was Job,
and that man was perfect and upright, one that feared God
and understood evil. And then there was a day, verse
6, when the sons of God came to resent themselves before the
Lord and Satan came also among them. And then at verse 12 the Lord
said unto Satan, Behold all that he hath is in thy power only
upon himself put not forth thine hand and Satan goes forth from
the presence of the Lord and then Job's troubles begin. But then it's all repeated in
the second chapter. Again there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came
also among them to present himself before the Lord. And then at
verse 6 there in the second chapter the Lord says unto Satan, Behold
he is in thine hand, but save his life. You might say, well how could
Satan come before the presence of God, if God is of eyes too
pure to behold iniquity? How can a fallen angel, a sinful
angel, appear before God? Why, in God's presence, even
the elect angels cannot look upon the sight of God. They veil
their faces, they veil their feet, as we read there in Isaiah
6, and they cry, Holy, Holy, Holy. There is mystery here. But He teaches us a very solemn
truth that Satan is not a free agent. He is not a free agent. He had set his heart upon Job
because Job was evidently a godly man, a just man, a justified
sinner, that's what Job was. In verse 8 of chapter 1 God says,
I so considered my servant Job. The margin says that literally
it says, as thou set thy heart on my servant Job. He had set
his heart on that man. And in the mystery of his ways
God was pleased to allow Satan to trouble him first of all with
regards to his possessions, and he was a man of great substance,
and then even with regards to his own family, the loss of all
his children, his seven sons and his ten daughters. his three
daughters, his ten children in total. And then in the second
chapter he's even allowed now to touch this man in his own
person. And he struck down his covenant
from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet in awful
boils. Some say it was some sort of
leprous disease. We were thinking of that fearful
disease a little this morning. how awful it is and yet here
is that that is perplexing to us how could that happen under
the sovereign hand of God? God is not the author of sin as God is not the author of temptation the origin of sin is to us a
great mystery And yet we know now that sin
is in us. David acknowledges that. Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity, he says, and in sin did my mother
conceive me. We saw that lovely little baby,
Oscar, this morning, so innocent. Wonderful, really, to behold
a baby, isn't it? The wonder of it. And yet, we're
all conceived in sin, shaping it illiquid. The apostle says, I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. There's
nothing any good in us by nature. Sin is in us, and yet, where
does that sin come from? What's the origin of sin? We
don't know. We know no sin entered into this creation. It was through
the serpents, the instrument of Satan, coming and tempting
the woman there in the garden, but how was it that angels fell? Where did their sin come from?
We can't explain these things. We have to acknowledge that there's a mystery. And yet, we see that God is good. God
is good. in spite of sin. And I think,
I often think of this verse here. It's such a solemn verse, verse
15. Sin is in us, you see. Every man is tempted when he
is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And verse 15 says,
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin
when it is finished bringeth forth death. In that one verse,
that short verse we see, what sin is from its conception to
its bitter end. He brings forth death. When last
hath conceived he bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished
bringeth forth death. There's the history of sin in
a single verse of Holy Scripture and yet in spite of that oh God,
God is good God is good and we see it here you see because we
read of a man a man who is tempted and tried
and tested but God declares him to be a blessed man, a happy
man and God gives the promise to this man Blessed is the man
that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive
the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that
love him." Well, here is a promise. God gives gracious words of promise
to the sinful sons of men. That's the amazing thing, isn't
it? And those promises, all the promises of God, in the Lord
Jesus Christ, they're all they're all Yay and Amen. The promise
isn't Yay, Nay, it's Yay, Amen. It's sure, it's certain. Why? It's sealed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here is the promise, the
crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love
Him. All we walk We walk by faith,
not by sight. And so, let us not trouble ourselves
over the origin of sin. There's a mystery there, it's
perplexing to us. But we live by the promises of
God. And remember what we're told
in Hebrews chapter 11 concerning those of the Old Testament, those
Old Testament believers. how they saw those promises,
but they saw them far off, it says. There in chapter 11 and verse
13 of Hebrews, these all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off and was persuaded
of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. nor they were afar off those
promises. There's a similarity, isn't there,
with what we have here in the text tonight. The man who is
tempted, the man who is tried, he shall receive the crown of
life. Well, that seems to be afar off, maybe. It's what God
has promised to them that love Him. We have to walk by faith,
we have to eye the promises of God. And of course, we know that
the promise all begins with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
promised seed of the woman when we go back to the beginning,
when we go back to Genesis chapter 3. And the solemn account of
the entrance of sin into creation, this creation into this world
that God had made and pronounced to be very good. and then the
tempting of the woman, the four she partakes of that forbidden
fruit and she gives to her husband and he also partakes and they
are estranged from God but in that very chapter we have the
first promise spoken to the woman who was first in the transgression spoken even to the serpents,
who was the instrument of the introduction of sin. It's spoken
concerning the woman. Though it's spoken to the serpent,
I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy
seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and
thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3.15. Now, who is the
seed of the woman? Well, the seed of the woman is
also that one subsequently spoken of as the seed of Abraham. Now,
to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. That's the
same seed, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham. To Abraham
and his seed were the promises made. He saith not unto seeds
as of many but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. Christ is that seed, the seed
of Abraham, your father. Abraham rejoiced to see my day
and he saw it and was glad. All we have to recognize, you
see, we're those who must live by faith and we must live by
that same faith that we see in Abraham. Abraham's faith, the father.
Oh, he's so much the father of all them that believe. Paul brings
it out, doesn't he, there in Romans 4. What's in the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward, not reckoned of grace. but of debts, but him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness." That's the faith of Abraham that's
counted for righteousness. What does his faith have to do
with? Oh, it has to do with that promise, that seed, as we see
later. Verse 20, "...he staggered not
at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith."
giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he
had promised he was able also to perform. And therefore it
was imputed to him for righteousness. What was imputed? The promise. What was the promise? What was
the promise? Well, we're told again previously,
verse 19, being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body
near dead when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet
the deadness of Sarah's womb. For the promise is the Son, the
seed that is going to be born to Sarah. But Isaac, Isaac a type of Christ,
thy seed which is Christ. And it all centers there in the
Lord Jesus Christ, the promised blessing that will come to those You have faith and those who
have faith will know the trial of faith. The trial cannot be
separated from the faith where there is that true faith. How
God tries the faith of his people. But he has given them a promise
you see. Without those who are going to
endure they'll endure to the end. It's interesting the language
that we have here. in verse 12, Blessed is the man
that endureth, it says. Now, if we go back to the beginning
of the chapter there at verse 3, we read, Knowing this, that
the trying of your faith worketh patience. And the words patience
there, and the words endureth here in verse 12, they're really
from the same root, it's the same word. And so the enduring is the patience. We have to be patient, we have
to wait upon the Lord in the midst of trials, in the midst
of troubles. We have to rest in the Lord,
rest in His promises, what He has said concerning those things
that are laid up for his people I hath not seen nor hear heard
neither hath entered into the heart of men the things that
God hath promised to them that love him heaven heaven that holy
happy place where sin no more defiles where God unveils his
blissful face and looks and loves and smiles you see God in all
the testings of his people has that gracious end in view. He
has a gracious end in view, the purpose to fulfill. Doesn't James
go on later to speak of the faith or the endurance of Job? In chapter 5 and verse 11, Behold,
we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience
of Job and have seen the end of the Lord's that the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercy. Or we see it so strikingly in
the last chapter of the book of Job. The Lord's blessed the
latter end of Job more than his beginning. Read that last chapter. And we see that when we come
to the end of the book he has twice as much as all that he
had at the beginning of the book. And so there's profits in the
experience that the Lord brings him into and brings him through.
O Job, though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end shall
greatly increase. God knows. He says to Israel,
doesn't He? before ever they go into captivity. Jeremiah speaks quite clearly
of that period. They're going to spend 70 years
languishing in Babylon. The Babylonians are going to
overrun Judah. They're going to destroy the
temple there in Jerusalem. The people are going to be taken
and moved away into exile. And yet what Does Jeremiah say,
as the Lord's mouth speaks, I know the thoughts that I think towards
you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected
end. There is a blessed end, you see.
This is why the man is a blessed man. He endures. He endures. He that shall endure to the end,
the same shall be said. Oh, there is a doctrine of the
perseverance of the saints, isn't there? God preserves his people,
yes. All those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ, none of them shall ever be lost. God preserves them,
but they have to persevere. They have to persevere. They
have to persevere in the midst of all the perplexing, strange
dealings of God with their souls. even when God chastens them.
If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.
What son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? Well, the Lord
sees the need to discipline His children, to correct them. He has a good hand in view. No
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, Paul says, but
grievous. nevertheless afterward it yielded
the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who exercised thereby
there's an afterward there's an afterward, there's an end
that God has in view the peaceable fruit of righteousness oh but
there's exercise you see there's exercise in the midst of all
their trials and all their troubles Job says you know it's the way
that I tell when he has tried me I shall come forth as gold."
Or they are taught then in the midst of all these experiences
to look to look to the Lord Jesus Christ
to rest in Him. He was tempted. In all points
it says tempted like as we are yet without sin. Interesting isn't it? It says
here every man is tempted when he
is drawn away of his own lust and enticed by the Lord Jesus
could never be drawn away of his own lust he could never be
enticed by the devil he says himself doesn't he the
prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me there was
nothing of sin in the Lord Jesus Christ nothing that the devil could
take advantage of He finds that in us that he can take advantage
of. But I think like this, you know, the Lord in some ways must
have been tempted worse than anyone else was ever tempted. All his foul arsenal the great
adversary of souls would take and he would throw all at the
Lord Jesus Christ. And yet all to no avail. because there was no lust in
him. He wasn't going to be enticed. He resisted the devil. He vanquished
Satan. He overcame that great adversary.
Oh friends, that's the one we have to look to then, when the
Lord in His strange dealings with us may permit that the temptation
comes. or the temptation comes but we
want to know the blessing of God in the midst of all that
temptation the blessing that's spoken of here in the text to
be that man who is a happy man because he's the Lord's for blessed
is a man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall
receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them
that love him let no man sigh when he is tempted I am tempted
of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He
any man. For the Lord will support us,
and strengthen us, and sustain us. And the Lord is the one who
will bring us through, and He will perfect His work in us.
And we are to be those who would bow to His sovereignty in all
these things. And we are to rest ourselves
in His gracious promises. those promises which center in
Christ the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham that one
who is the mediator of the new covenant
and seal that covenant with precious blood and all those promises
that God has given in him we find them to be Yah and Amen
and all to the glory of God, and that's by us. May the Lord
be pleased to bless His word to us tonight. We're going to
sing as our concluding praise today the hymn 315. The tune
is 0 and 590. Righteous are the works of God.
All His ways are holy. Just His judgments fit His rod
to correct our folly. All His dealings, wise and good,
uniform though various, though they seem by reason viewed cross
or quite contrarious. The Hymn 315, Matthew 590.