Now, the thing to be noticed
in chapter 1 of James is, I believe, that he talks about two kinds
of temptation. We want to look at the second
one, but let's look first of all at the second verse. This
seems a strange admonition to the children of God. My brethren,
Count it all joy when you fall into divers, or different, or
many temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh
patience. Then look at 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. Now our text begins in earnest,
verse 13 through verse 15 for our text. Let no man say when
he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted
with evil, neither tempts He any man. Watch this. But every man is tempted when
he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath
conceived, it brings forth sin, and sin, when it is finished,
brings forth death. Now let me put one more verse
to that. Three times in the Gospel, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this
is recorded, particularly Luke 11 and verse 4, the Lord's Prayer
says, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Now, with those texts in our
mind, we take up a subject this morning with which all of us
are intimately acquainted and have personal experience in this
realm of life. There are none. especially among
the children of grace, who will say that they are free from the
presence and the power of temptation. It is the admission of all that
temptations assault us once and again, and that very frequently. so that any are liars who say
that they have no sin, so they are liars who say that they have
no temptation. Then again, concerning temptation,
there are some who tend to see nothing evil or nothing wrong
or nothing dangerous about the temptations that come upon us
and enter us. as their philosophy is this,
it is not a sin to be tempted, it is only a sin if we act out
the temptation. Well, think about it. It is only
a sin if we do it. Now, this begs the question,
however, how did a sinful thought, or a sinful desire, or a sinful
passion, or intent, or lust, or craving get into the mind
and the heart in the first place? By what means did such a temptation
get or enter into us? How did it take root in our heart,
mind, or soul? How come it that it is there? James will tell us in our text
this morning. Now to paraphrase the words of
John Bryan, an old-time writer that I admire, quote, temptation
is dangerous and at times is successful because we have in
us that which is fit matter for it to work upon, unquote. all sinful temptation, whether
they be satanic or whether they be of our own lust, literally
of our own evil desires and corrupt nature, all temptation are a
result. They all owe their success to
what we call original sin or corruption. Indwelling sin. in every child of God, which
means that all then are subject and capable of temptation, and
that we will never be free of temptation as long as we live
in this flesh and in this world. By means of this corrupt nature,
we are temptable. This is the avenue that temptation
travels to enter into us. At the same time, sometimes drawn
into sin by that temptation, even including the children of
God. We will expand upon this later
during the course of our study. But coming to James chapter 1,
let's launch our vessels out into this very deep ocean. John Gill said of the book or
the epistle of James that it was written after many hypocrites
and what he called bad livers had entered into the churches.
that many false teachers had come, many vain boasters had
entered in, had arisen even among the churches and the children
of God. Thomas Manton, who wrote one
of the better and longer commentaries on the book of James, thought
that one occasion for the writing of the epistle of James, quote,
was the great degeneration of faith and manners and the growth
of libertine doctrines, unquote. And James comes to resist them
and to repel them. Some of the subjects dealt with
in the book of James are as follows. how to bear affliction, how to
stand up under afflictions that we meet with in the world. He
advises us on how to hear the Word of God for our profit. He tells us how and that we ought
to bridle our tongue, that it is a great fire. He tells us
how to avoid what some call naked faith, that is, those who say,
I have faith in Christ, and yet they have not any evidence of
their grace. And he encourages those bearing
up under the trial, and in facing the temptation, he gives us good
counsel and advice on those matters. Now, James is regarded as one
of the general epistles, as they are called in the Scripture,
in that it is not addressed to a particular individual, nor
is it written to a particular church in a particular place. But in chapter 1, and verse 1,
to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. So James writes what
we call a general epistle. Now we see that one of the first
subjects that is taken up as we enter into the vestibule of
the book of James is the subject of temptation. The author calls
them temptation. And we're bound to admit with
John Gill, Thomas Matten, and others, that James speaks here
of two sorts of temptation in chapter one, one after the other. Now the first one he deals with
is in chapter 1 and from the second verse down through the
twelfth verse. And the second sort of temptation
in verse 13 through verse 15 as we read. Now, a close reading
and a close comparison will convince us, I think, that James does
indeed speak of two sorts of temptation. As in verse 2, my
brothers counted all joy. when you fall into divers, different
kinds of temptation, or different kinds of trials, which can have
a beneficial effect upon the Christian. These kinds of trials
can issue into benefit for the children of God. And in the twelfth
verse he made, a startling statement when he brings it to a conclusion
by saying, blessed is the man that endures. He stands up, he
resists them, he goes through them, he bears up under the trial,
for he shall receive the crown of everlasting life." Now surely,
James is not saying that the Christian is to rejoice when
he is seduced by sin and by temptation to commit a sin, or to fall into
some sin, or to be overcome and taken up in a sin, nor would
this tend to making them better or strengthening them or preparing
them for a crown of life. So in the second verse and verse
12, the temptation is of the nature, not of a solicitation
to sin, but it is of a nature of a trial. It tries, it proves
whatever one is. Persecutions and various afflictions. and sore troubles in this life,
including being persecuted for the faith of Christ or of the
Gospel. James calls in verse 3, notice,
the trial of your faith. Count it joy when you fall in
the trial knowing that the trial of your faith. For example, when
we read in Genesis 22, and verse 1, that it came to pass that
God did tempt Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son upon a mountain. The meaning is not that God sought
to induce Abraham into committing a sin or to draw him into some
sin. but that by it God did test and
try and prove Abraham that his faith was sound and upon a solid
foundation, that he feared God was learned by the trial that
Abraham endured. It also proved that Abraham was
obedient unto God. God said, Go offer your son.
And Abraham took off to be obedient unto the Lord. He would not withhold
his own beloved son from God the Father. And God said, Now
I know that thou fearest Me. In Genesis chapter 22 and verse
12. Now again, we read in the Old Testament several times that
the Israelites did tempt God. You'll read that several times,
such as Psalm 78, verse 18, verse 41, and again in verse 56. They
tempted the Lord, their God. Now, did they try to seduce God
into some sin? No, they tried Him. They pushed
His patience as far as they would. They provoked the Holy One in
the wilderness. They murmured against the providence
of God. They opposed Moses again and
again. They asked meat for their lusts
in the desert, despising the manna that God had given them
every day, and such like. Not that they entice the Lord
God to commit some sin, for that is impossible. God cannot be
tempted with evil, our text has said. But then in James 1, And
verse 13, he speaks of another sort of temptation altogether. This does not consist in outward
trials, but consists in inward solicitation and what Calvin
called quote, foul desires, unquote. Now here are two things from
the text that we read in James. Number one, we learn here that
everyone is capable, is susceptible to being tempted and drawn into
sin. As it says in verse 14, every
man is tempted. There is in that everyone that
is subject to all manner of temptations that might enter into them. So we learn. Everyone is temptable. Everyone can and will be tempted. Now, the second thing we learn
here, very quickly, James cuts off any attempt for one to shift
the real source of the temptation in another direction, such as
Adam and Eve did in the garden. Eve said, or Adam said, The woman
that you gave me, she gave unto me, and I did eat. And Eve said,
the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Aaron blamed the people
for the making of the golden calf and dancing and worshiping
about it. One might lay their temptation
off on the bad behavior or example of a companion. Another might
plead, the devil made me do that. We heard a lot about that in
years gone by. Some might even lay it off upon
the Lord by claiming the Lord led me into circumstances that
put me in temptation's way, and then withheld the grace for me
to be able to resist or to escape. We do not dare deny that the
devil is a tempter. He is called the tempter. As in 1 Chronicles 7, verse 5,
where he finds occasion and circumstances to make a strong temptation against
those, in this case, those that are married. Now, however, we're
bound to acknowledge that James says nothing in our text about
any satanic temptation in this passage of the Scripture. And
it is not a truth. It is a truth, is it not, that
if Satan or the devil were to die this morning, were to be
destroyed, put out of existence this morning, and all of his
impish followers and demons cast down to the lowest hell, it would
not mean that we were then free of all temptation. It would not
mean that no longer were we subject unto temptation. Temptation would
still have a means. Temptation would still have an
avenue by which to get at even the most saintly of the children
of God. Now, first of all, looking at
that text, James says when temptations come, and they will come. When temptations come, and they
will, everyone is tempted in some way, from something, from
some circumstance. But when temptation comes, Let
no man say, I am tempted of the Lord or of God. For James said,
don't say God is tempting me. Let's be sure we understand in
what sense we are here to understand the word tempted used in verse
13. Here in James. This sort of temptation
is when one meets with whatever it might be that acts upon them
to seduce the heart and the mind out of the right way off of the
right path, to draw the mind away from what is right, and
then to fix it upon something that is unlawful or that is forbidden. Something is held up to the heart
or to the mind. that is alluring unto them. Temptation works to seduce one
away from that which is right and into that which is wrong
or some sin. And under such a temptation,
the person feels a strong desire or an attraction to something
that is contrary to a godly life. Let me say that again. Something
contrary to a godly life comes as a temptation. There is a pull,
like a magnet drawing, and it may go stronger and stronger
if the temptation is entertained. It will gain strength if it is
allowed to remain alive and feed off of our inward depravity. Then we understand why James
says to his readers, none are to assume, none are to say, these
raging temptations that I feel They are from God. And that upon
a double account, James would teach us. One, God cannot be
tempted with evil. The margin has that evil in the
plurals. If you might notice, evils in
the plural. God is immune from temptation,
from evil temptation. Being immutably and eternally
holy. He cannot be tempted with or
by evil. The reason? There is absolutely
nothing in the nature of God for sin to make an appeal to. There is nothing in Him by which
sin might make an appeal. Nothing in God, being holy as
He is, that would respond in a negative way to anything sin,
just as was the case with our Lord Jesus Christ. There was
nothing in the Lord for sin to make an appeal unto. Nothing
in Him to which sin would become attractive. We read in Habakkuk
1 and 13 that God is of two pure eyes. than to look upon iniquity. And by the way, I want to repeat
again, we hold that Christ the Son, even as incarnate and even
in the flesh, possesses the same impeccability as does the Father. In Him is no sin, 1 John 3 and
5. who did no sin, 1 Peter 2 and
22. Who knew no sin, 2 Corinthians
5 and verse 21. The one who could ask, as he
did in John 8 and verse 46, which of you convinces me of sin? The Lord said to a crowd one
day, in John 14 and verse 30, The Lord said, the prince of
this world comes and has nothing in me. Secondly, in James 1 and
verse 13, neither tempts he any man, that is, with evil or with
sin. God is untemptable with evil
and does not tempt men to commit evil, does not solicit them to
commit sin. Now, having said that, we're
not ashamed to say that God ordains in His sovereignty and in His
purpose things to be done that are indeed sin by those that
do them, that such to those that do them, such as the crucifixion
and the crucifiers of our Lord's Christ. God ordained that. It was not sin on His part, but
it was sin on the part of those who carried it out by their own
wicked and evil hand. And God is yet free of any blame
or any guilt in the death and crucifixion of His Son. And in such things, if God, if
God, but lay the reins up on the neck, they will rush into
great evil of all manner and all kind, just like lay the reins
on the neck of a wild horse and let it run where it will, and
it will run and run. So the question is, whence then
have we these temptations? That we're tempted, we cannot
deny. Why do they come? How do they
take root? What gives them such force as
they come within us? Whence do they receive their
strength? Let's read James 1 and 14 again. Every man is tempted when he
is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Now, verse 13 and
14 concern the source or the origin of temptation. Not from
God, in verse 13, but from the corruption of our desires, our
longings, and our pleasure. From Thomas Manton, in that long
commentary on the epistle of James, comes a couple of very
pithy observations as to the manner of temptation leading
unto sin. Quote, alas, if there were no
Satan to tempt, we should tempt ourselves. Unquote. Think about that. If there were
no Satan to tempt, we would tempt ourselves. Again, Manton said,
quote, the true procreating cause of sin is in every man's soul. It is his lust. He carries that, which is the
food and the fuel, in his own bosom." Now, let's understand
something here. We look at the word lust as it
appears here in the King James. and we might think of it in too
restricted of a manner, because it is not to be restricted here,
only to the sensuous realm as some are inclined to think. It is pretty common. When hearing
the word lust, To think of it only in the sense of Matthew
5 and verse 28, of one looking upon another with lust. But the meaning is broader. This word has a broader meaning. It means to covet. It means to
long after. It means to desire. It means
to set the heart upon. It means to yearn after something. It means to crave something that
is set before us for consideration. And actually, the word is used
in the New Testament in both a good and a bad sense. There is a good coveting, There
is a sinful coveting. In the good sense, we notice
and remember that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself uses the word
in Luke 22 and verse 15 when He said to His disciple, with
desire I have desired to eat this Passover. That's the word
that we have in James 1, 13 and 14. Peter even takes this word
and applies it to the very holy angels of God in 1 Peter 1 and
verse 12 when he says, which things the angel desire to look
into. They have a strong desire, a
craving. to look into those holy things. Paul uses it in Philippians 1
and verse 23 when he said, having a desire to depart and be with
Christ. That's the same word that we
have in our passage in James. But it can also and does also
mean an unlawful and an unclean craving or desire. And the word
is translated, in King James at least, is not rendered in
any uniform sense of the word. The translators did not render
it the same way everywhere it appeared in the Greek text. so that the same word appears
in the New Testament as the word lust, lust plural, concupiscence,
desire, coveted, and covet. All of those translation of this
one and same word. Before proceeding, let's pause
and consider what all is involved in these words. such as lust
and desire, and the influence which such have upon the life
of all." I would dare say a person is influenced, is motivated,
is guided by their desires more than anything else that affects
them. Since human nature has corrupted
and sinned in Adam, then it is also as the Puritan expressed,
quote, man rather consults with his desires more than anything
else, unquote. What do you want? What do I want?
What would I like to do? What would I like to have? He
would please himself. He would fulfill the desires
of the flesh and of the mind until they are cut off by the
grace of God. The first pursuits of an unregenerate
person is to fulfill their desire. prior to regeneration. Their
desires are selfish and self-serving in the soul of all of us. Consider, for example, how many
times we read in the New Testament of the actings of a desire. Put that in our mind for a moment,
such as the word epithumia, which means a strong desire. And the examples are many, that
word, and here are some. Romans 1.24, through the lust of their own heart." Same word.
Galatians 5.16, 2 Peter 2 and verse 18, Ephesians 2 and verse
3, the lust or the desire or the craving of the flesh. Ephesians
4 and verse 22, speaks of deceitful lust or desires or cravings. 1 Timothy 6 and verse 9, foolish
and hurtful lust, Paul warns about, desires, craving. 2 Timothy 2 and 22, we read of
youthful lust, those desires that are predominant in the young. Titus 2 and 12, we read of worldly
lust or desires that we meet with. 1 Peter 2 and 11, fleshly
lusts which war against the soul. James, or rather Jude, verse
16, their own ungodly lusts they walk after. And then 2 Peter
2 and 10, the lusts or desires of uncleanliness. so that these
all describe these cravings or desires or intent. So what James is saying in verse
13 and verse 14 is that temptations to do evil proceed not from God,
but they come by our own evil desire that arise within us. You remember Achan, I assume,
Achan over in the Old Testament, Joshua chapter 7 and verse 21,
when they went out to battle against Ai, and Achan saw there
in a tent, the garments of Babylon, the wedges of gold, and the silver
shekels. Saying in his confession later,
quote, I coveted them and I took them, unquote, which is called
an accursed thing that he did. And the effect of his desire
was dreadful. Israel was soundly defeated because
of Achan's sin, And Achan and all of his family were put to
death and were burned. See how James describes this
awful work of an unbridled desire. James 1.14, look at the words,
he is drawn away and enticed. We might think it inverted, enticed
and drawn away. In fact, we notice here that
James uses three words to describe the process, each one of them
being related to his own lust or desire of the individual. And the words are these, one,
two, three. One, tempted. Two, drawn away,
that is, being drawn out, the NIV has it dragged away. And three, enticed or allured. Each of these three things are
fed by the desires, the lust, the craving of the heart. The avenue of temptation again
is the corrupt desire. Evil desires are the matches
that light the fires of sin. Temptation has a plentiful supply
of tender in each and every one of us whereby to kindle a raging
fire through our illicit desires and temptation. We always want
to blame it on the devil. Nor did James have to say, God
is tempting me to evil. Nor can we blame it. And listen
now, this gets a little thicker. We cannot blame it on the world. While some will say, oh, it is
the times in which we live. It is our society. They say there's so many temptations
facing the young people today. I agree. True, it certainly is. Yet let us remember, it is corrupt,
unbridled desire that make the age and the society what it is
or what it has become. What they do is what they desire
to be done. But coming to verse 15, what
a verse is this for us to consider. Before we look at this verse,
let us hear how it is variously rendered, because I think that
is important. For example, the NIV has it this
way, and I do this so we might get a better understanding or
picture of it. Then, after desire has conceived,
it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, gives
birth to death. Then I went to Berry's Interlinear,
and it has it this way, quote, Then lust, having conceived,
gives birth to sin, but sin, having been completed, brings
forth death. Then Marshall's interlinear has
it this way, quote, Then lust, having conceived, bears sin,
and sin, having been fully formed, brings forth death. John Owen wrote on James 1 and
verse 15, the Holy Ghost discovers the fountain of all sin and pursues
it in the streams of it into the dead sea wherein it falls,
unquote. Manton wrote, lust is the mother
of sin. Evil desires are the mother of
sin. Now in a minute we will bring
Psalm 7 and verse 14 into our consideration, which in a degree
has much in common with James chapter 1 And verse 15, but James
1.15 speaks of a conception, get that, a conception which
gives life or being to sin that occurs and elicit, and may I
call it, a whorish intimacy between the object of temptation and
the desire of the heart or of the mind. And may I also say,
a bastard child, sin is conceived, and if not miscarried, will carry
to full term, will be brought to birth, resulting in sin, which
in turn has power of death. Some object. some object or act or pleasure,
some temptation comes calling upon our desire, acting the part
of a seductress, alluring, saying in effect, come, come away and
lie with me, promising pleasure, showing an alluring bait, but
hiding the hook all of the while. Now, consider that verse in Psalm
7 and verse 14. I wonder if you remember reading
it before. It goes like this, Behold, he
travails with iniquity, and has conceived mischief, and has brought
forth falsehood. We can see that the metaphor
is that of a woman and the process of giving birth. Except it refers
to the plot of a wicked person in reality. And yet the psalmist
uses terms here that attend unto a birth. Three of them. Conceive,
travail, and bring forth. And three words that express
the fruit of the heart's womb that is given birth to are mischief,
iniquity, and falsehood. It is not a proper child, but
a lie that has been brought forth. A falsehood, a deception has
been conceived and warmed and cherished in the heart and brought
forth. A graphic description of the
enemies of righteousness is this in Psalm 7 and verse 14. And thus we read again in the
scripture of entering into temptation. We read of being tempted, then
we read of entering into temptation. going beyond being tempted. It's when the desire meets an
especially strong and provoking object. Paul speaks of falling
into temptation to Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse
9. That there are some who fall
into temptation. The picture is of one fallen
in or snared in a net or one that has fallen into a pit and
they cannot get out or deliver themselves. This is falling into
the snare and temptation. Now, let's finish up with some
practical lessons and applications concerning temptation applicable
to the life of people, particularly to the children of God. Once
again, we remind, first of all, that everyone is temptable. None are exempt. Even after conversion, everyone
has the fuel in them for temptation's fire to be lighted. Secondly,
let us remember, it does not follow, however, that each and
everyone is tempted either in the same degree or by the exact
same thing as others. It may be true that what is hardly
or barely a temptation to one is a raging fire unto someone
else. Number three, there are those
temptations that are suitable to any and every station in life
and every stage of life. Every social condition, as Manton
said, from personal disposition, from gender, age, custom, calling,
company, and course of affairs, each condition provides some
special temptation. So you don't rise above it. if
you change social classes or whatever it might be. It is adaptable
to any situation that we find ourselves in in this life. Then
number four, it may well be that the strongest And yet the most
besetting temptation are those of the sensuous nature, the most
depraved. And then fifthly, could it be
that our former sins, those things we did before the Lord called
us away from that old way of life. It could be that our former
sins may now provide the strongest temptation after conversion. And also that may be true of
our former friends and companions. And all of them need to be avoided
once we are called and converted to the faith of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. You know, usually you'll find
a dope addict, and if he comes to Christ, first thing he'll
do is start working with dope addicts again and get right back
in that same atmosphere that once threaten to damage soul,
it may be that they are the strongest after and need avoiding. Sixthly,
could it be that we wonder, are others tempted in the way that
we are? Are others experiencing these
same kind of temptations as powerfully as I am? We may wonder with each
other. We may look upon one another
and wonder, is it so with them as it is with me? Have they the
problem with temptation? Remember a verse in the Proverbs
Solomon said, as in water, Face answereth to face, so the heart
of man to man." In other words, there's your reflection in the
water. One man's heart is generally a reflection of the heart of
another. And seventh and lastly, the greatest
lesson to take from this is, We can only be tempted because
our desires run in the channel of depravity. And each temptation
has the capacity to bring forth sin in our life. as temptation
is the mother of many sins. Therefore, said our Lord, resist
temptation. On another occasion He said,
pray that you enter not into temptation. On another occasion
He said, watch. So watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. Because they are real, they have
power, and they can have awful consequences. Yes, the same things
are accomplished in your brethren which are in the world. There
has no temptation taken you, but such is common to man, said
Paul, but God is faithful and will provide a way of escape
from temptation. Thank God for His grace in the
hour of temptation, the grace of God.