In James chapter 1, reading from
verse 12, James has this to say, 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. Blessed is the man
that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive
the crown of life. which the Lord have promised
to them that love him. Christ has been comforting his
people, his church, through the words of James here in his epistle,
when they endure temptation and trial. And here in verse 12, They're comforted with the knowledge
that though they will endure temptation, though the believer
will face trial and difficulty in this world, he knows that this trial, these
trials, these difficulties, this tribulation comes upon him because
he is the Lord's. And he knows and is promised
that in the end he will receive a crown of life. The Lord has
promised to them that love him a crown of life. He's promised
salvation. He's promised everlasting life
to come. He's promised everlasting righteousness. No matter what we may suffer
in this world, whether we have all riches taken away from us,
whether we have nothing in this world, whether we have our health
taken away from us. Whether we have friends taken
away from us or family taken away from us, whether the world
hates us and rejects us, no matter what we may be brought to suffer,
ultimately, whatever the poverty, whatever the trial, whatever
the straits we are brought into, we are of all men most rich,
because in Christ, We have a crown of life. In Christ we have all
the riches of the Godhead, which in Him dwell bodily. In Christ
we have salvation, righteousness, everlasting life. Blessed is
the man which 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 no matter what the trial
that comes upon him, no matter how frail he is in himself, no
matter how weak, no matter how many times he stumbles, because
he's God's, because God has him in his hands, he cannot be plucked
out of Christ's hands, he cannot be cast aside, he will not be
destroyed. James goes on, 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. God won't allow us to
be plucked out of his hands. The trials may come. but God
will keep us. Every man is tempted when he
is drawn away of his own lust and enticed then when lust have
conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth
forth death. We so easily fall into temptation
but this is when God allows us to discover what we are. He takes his restraining hand
of grace aside and we fall and we stumble instantly because
we're tempted of ourselves, of our own lust. We so easily turn
to the left hand and the right, we're so easily turned aside
from Christ and we so often discover the desperate straits into which
we bring ourselves if our gaze is taken away from Christ our
Saviour. Whenever our faith diminished. Whenever we cease
to look upon Christ alone, whenever we turn to something of our own
strength or our own wisdom, then we fall down flat in an instant
and we abhor ourselves in dust and ashes. We discover again
what we are. We discover how dependent we
are upon our God and our Savior. We're drawn away of our own lust
and enticed and when that lust hath conceived it bringeth forth
sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. Sin kills. It slays. It destroys. It destroys our peace with God. It destroys our communion with
God. It destroys our walk with God.
It destroys our peace and our communion and our walk with our
brethren. It brings fire and temptation. It brings trouble wherever it
comes forth. It's destructive and its ultimate
end is death. But all those who are gods, in
the end, are delivered from all their sin. And though they see
it on a daily basis when they fall and they stumble and they
turn their gaze away from Christ, though they abhor themselves,
that sin is never allowed to lead them ultimately unto the
second death, which would destroy them forever. because the believer
has a saviour who has tasted death. for every believer, for
every man, for every one for whom he suffered, every child
of God he's already tasted death, he's already taken the judgment,
he's already taken that sin and paid the price for it, he's already
taken those temptations, he's already taken those lusts, he's
already suffered in the believer's place in order that they might
endure to the end through the trial and receive the crown of
life which he have promised to them that love him. He's promised
it. It's not conditional. It's not
conditional upon our performance. It's not, here's a crown, if
you will stand, if you will turn from this, if you will walk right,
if you will keep the law of God fully, if you will be diligent.
If you stand, then you will receive this crown. But if you turn,
then you'll lose it. No, it's not conditional. He's
promised the crown. The crown will be given. The
crown is the believers. And God, though he allows the
believer to endure temptation in order to keep him dependent
upon his savior, in the end, God will keep his child. To the end, he will receive a
crown of life. We read from Revelation chapter
2, and in particular, the words written unto the church in Smyrna
which bring a remarkable picture of what James is writing here,
a remarkable similarity. John there records what Christ
spake unto him with a similar encouragement to the people of
God in that place. We read there that John was commanded
to write unto the angel of the church in Smyrna, These things
sayeth the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. I know thy works and tribulation
and poverty, but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of them
which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of
Satan. Fear none of those things which
thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast
some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall
have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that
overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Here's a
people like those to whom James wrote who knew tribulation, who
knew hearers that the brother of low
degree rejoice in that he's exalted they are reminded that though
they have poverty they are rich they are rich in Christ they
have all things in him and though they're brought into the greatest
of trials Though the synagogue of Satan may try them, though
the devil himself should cast some of them into prison, though
they should have tribulation ten days, in the end, Christ says unto Smyrna, fear
none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Be thou faithful unto death and
I will give thee a crown of life. Continue, look unto me, look
unto me and I will save, look unto me all the end of the earth
and I will save, look unto me, I am thy salvation. Death will not overcome you. The second death will not destroy
you. I am thy life. I am thy righteousness. I am thy salvation. Look unto
me. They too were promised the crown
of life because Christ is their life. Their crown is Christ. Their salvation is found in Him,
their righteousness is found in Him. He is their head. Be thou faithful unto death and
I will give thee a crown of life. How similar this passage is to
what James would have to say to his hearers. They know trials,
they know poverty, they have riches in Christ. Smyrna is reminded that he that
overcometh shall not be hurt at a second death. Death won't destroy you. Even
though you may be tried, even though you may be tempted, even
though you may be drawn away of your own lust, even though
that lust when it conceives might bring forth sin, and even though
that sin when it is finished may bring forth death, that death,
that sin, has been swallowed up in victory at the cross by
Christ your Saviour. The second death will not touch
you. A crown of life is yours, it's
promised, it's yours James writes, blessed is the
man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall
receive the crown of life. What is this enduring of temptation? Well it's not so much an enduring
as in a steadfast strong-willed vigilant
resistance. There are those in religion like
the Pharisees who think they stand, they endure, they endure
temptation, they resist temptation, they stand, they withstand it. Pharisee thinks he's wholly unspotted
by the world temptation won't lead me astray I know the path
I'm going on I'm steadfast every day I wake up and I pray and
I seek the Lord and I will walk this way every day I stand I
will make sure that I do not fall. There is a certain enduring or
overcoming which men think that they succeed in by their own
strength and you might feel that when
you read of enduring and overcoming to the end that you come far short you may
feel well I don't know whether I can endure to the end I don't
know whether I truly do endure temptation. Things come my way
and I crumble so easily. I'm tempted so easily. I find
myself and my flesh overcomes me. I find my temper overcomes
me. I can't control it. I find a
great lack of patience. find I can't wait and endure
for things I want things now I want to be delivered of trials
I'm impatient I find myself desiring things coveting things coveting
right things perhaps but still coveted I just can't control
myself I don't resist sin, sin overcomes me then will I ever
be considered the one who endures temptation or the one who overcomes
or the one who is faithful unto death. I don't think I'll make
it. And yet this cry, this lament
of the believer is common to every child of God. The believer
very, very often fails. Every day he fails. Drawn aside
by his own lust. He can't control himself. The
flesh is so powerful. The spirit is willing, but the
flesh overcomes. It's this failure, this weakness
during trial, however, which the believer endures. Blessed
is the man that endureth temptation for when he has tried he shall
receive the crown of life. It's this that we endure. Part of the endurance is suffering
the reality of our own weakness. It's suffering our own failure. The proud man stands. But the believer is humbled continually. We endure this humbling reality
that we cannot stand of ourselves. We are weak, we are frail, we
are wretched, we are lost by nature. It is only God who keeps
us. It is only Christ who lifts us
up and delivers us. All the deliverance, all the
salvation is of Him. And all the failure, all the
weakness is of us. It's this reality of our failure
which we endure. When temptation comes, we hate
it. The believer hates it. He hates
himself. He hates his flesh. He cries
out with Paul, oh the good that I would. I do not. And the evil that I would not,
that I do. Oh wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Oh Lord, deliver me. I want to resist I want to stand
and yet the good that I would I don't do and the evil that
I would not that's what I do daily how shall I ever receive
a crown of life how shall God ever save one such as me such
a wretched unthankful rebellious sinner as I and yet that's exactly what Paul
discovered, that God saves sinners, the worst of sinners, the weakest,
the most wretched, the lowliest, those in the greatest poverty,
those who in themselves are dead, he causes to live. Those who left to themselves
would die, he lifts up and puts upon their head a crown of life
those who would go the other way at every opportunity he turns
around like a good shepherd that leads his sheep he fetches them,
he finds them, he brings them back into the right way those whose heart complains and
grumbles and resists He forgives with His loving kindness. He melts them. He brings them
back under Him. Those who by nature hate, He
loves with an everlasting love. He brings them by His grace. to endure, to walk through every
trial, every temptation, every failure, and to discover through
each the long-suffering grace of their God and Savior who lifts
them up and says, you are mine, you overcome in me, you have
a crown of life from me. God allows us to endure these
temptations to keep us forever low and forever dependent on
Him and His grace alone. We see on a daily basis our poverty. Like the church in Smyrna we
know we have poverty, we have tribulation, we have failure. But God says unto us, Thou art
rich in my Son. who is thy life, thy righteousness,
thy crown. As Paul knew this, the good that
I would, that I do not, and the evil that I would not, that I
do, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Christ my Saviour has. He has. And henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me
only, but unto all them also that love his appearing, not
just to me, But to all my brethren, all you who like me suffer the
same things that I suffer, all you who know that you are wretched
sinners like I am, all you who know that you are nothing outside
of Christ, He's given you and I a crown of righteousness. Peter also writes in his epistle,
when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown
of glory that fade if not away. You'll never be lost because
you're mine. You'll never be lost because
Christ has set his love upon you. He will not lose you. He will not let any pluck you
from his hands. Why not? because he paid a price to deliver
his people from their sins. He paid an unimaginable price
to deliver his people from their sins. Who brings us this life? Who gives us this righteousness? Who gives us this victory over
the second death? Who gives us this crown of life,
this crown of righteousness, this crown of glory? Who gives
us these crowns? The One, the Man, the God who
bore as a man his own crown as he suffered unto death because
of our rebellion, our sin, our failure, our temptation. He bore a crown, a crown of thorns, a crown of death, one unbecoming
to who he was. He was the King of kings and
the Lord of lords. But when he was delivered up
into the hands of wretched sinners, they took him and they mocked
him. They jeered at him. They sneered
at him. They howled at him. They raged
at him. They nailed him to a cross. They dressed him up as a king
in mockery. They arrayed him. with a robe
and they put on his head a crown of thorns. The reality is he
was the king that they sneered at. He was their king. He is their king. Though they
mocked, though they hailed him as king of the Jews, he is the
king of the Jews. Though we mocked him, in our
hearts, though we pierced him with our sins, though we, as
it were, took that crown of thorns and put it upon his head, and
snared and rejected him, he is the king unto whom we should
bow. And this king, who once bore
a crown of glory, a crown of righteousness, a crown of life,
was brought down from the greatest of heights to the greatest of
depths into the hands of wicked sinners like you and I to be
arrayed in mockery as a king who was crowned with a crown
of thorns. His blood was shed. His visage
was marred, he was beaten, he was bruised, he was cast out. He bore a crown of death. That people, that sinners who
rejected him should live. Who brings us this crown of life? the one who died that we might
live. The one who came in the place
of sinners and died in their place that they in him might
live. Matthew, along with the other
Gospels, records, when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they
put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed
the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the
Jews! What they did, we did. what they did you and I have
done in our hearts our response to Christ and his gospel when
we turn aside when we dismiss him when we ignore him when we
say he's not relevant to me when we say I will not worship this
man we in our hearts take a crown
of thorns and we place it upon his head. We put a reed in his
right hand. We bow the knee before him and
mock him saying, Hail King of the Jews, in mockery. Because our hearts say, he's
not my God. He's not my King. I will not
bow. Oh, what he suffered. What he
bore. in His crown, in His death, in
the darkness, in order that sinners like you and I should be delivered
of our sin, delivered of what we are, that we in Him should
live. What he bore. John records it
like this. John 19, Then Pilate therefore
took Jesus and scourged Him, And the soldiers plaited a crown
of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple
robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him
with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again
and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that
ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate saith
unto them, behold the man. And when the chief priests, therefore,
and officers saw him, they cried out saying, crucify him, crucify
him. Pilate saith unto them, take
ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. Oh, how we have treated. this
king, this savior. Like them, our hearts are cried
out, crucify him, crucify him. The one, the God. The Son of God who spake and
created this world. The Son of God who brought this
world and all that is in it into being. The Son of God who sustains
this world. The Son of God who by the Word
of His power keeps this world spinning. This day He keeps life
existing upon the earth. The God that keeps you and I
alive. The God that gives us breath
and power and strength to speak and to walk. The God that gives
us the ability to cry out, crucify him, crucify him, is the very
one who they took, who we took and pierced and mocked and crucified. Behold the man, Pilate says. Have you beheld him? Have you
seen him? Have you merely beheld him in
the flesh? You've read the passage, you
know the historical account, you've heard perhaps the gospel
preached but it's all words and Jesus is but a name to you. Is
that all you've seen? Is that all you have seen of
the man? Or has God opened your eyes?
Has God opened your eyes to see just which man this is? The Son
of God. The Son of Man. What He endured that we should
be spared. What He suffered that we should
be made righteous. What a death he died that we,
that sinners, should live forever. Behold the man. Has God opened
your eyes to see, to see more than a man, but to see the King
of kings, the Lord of lords, God as a man come from the heights
of glory, putting aside his crown of glory, his crown of life,
replaced with a crown of thorns in order to suffer death for
sinners, in order to bring them into everlasting life. Have you
seen him? Can you, like the writer to the
Hebrews, come in and say, but we see Jesus? who was made a
little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste
death for every man. Is that who you look unto? By nature we see nothing, nothing
but a man. nothing but a failure nothing
but one hung upon a tree but when God takes you and breaks
you and brings you to know your poverty brings you to know your
wretchedness, brings you to know the wretchedness of sin within,
brings you down like those to whom James wrote, like James
himself, those who knew they were nothing, those who knew
they had nothing, but those who knew they had all in Christ,
those who suffered temptation, those who fell constantly, but
those who endured it and looked beyond it, to He who was crucified
with them, Has God brought you to that place to see in this
man, Jesus, made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death, crowned with glory and honor? If he does, then he
will bring you to that point of not only receiving a crown
of life, but coming to that day And that hour, when we come before
Him in the end, and when we shall throw down our crowns before
Him, when we shall bow the knee before Him and fall down at His
feet, when we shall worship Him forever, the one who loved us
when we hated him, the one who wrapped his arms around us when
we pushed him aside, the one who sought us when we ran away,
the one who found us when we were lost, the one who died that
we should live. Oh to have a crown to throw at
Jesus feet. the one who deserves to be crowned
we deserve nothing we deserve no crown nothing from his hand
but though we deserve nothing he's given us all but when we
come before him on that day when we come before him when we enter
into eternity and our temptations are at an end our trials are
done we've endured to the end and he brings us into his presence
and welcomes us and welcomes us as those he's chosen and kept
and saved with an everlasting salvation those whom he loved
from the beginning and loved to the end when he welcomes us
in and we behold his glory then we will cast our crowns before
him Revelation chapter 4 we read this view of the Savior. After
this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven and the
first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking
with me which said come up hither and I will show thee things which
must be hereafter and immediately I was in the spirit and behold
a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne And he
that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. And there was a rainbow round
about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about
the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats I saw
four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment. And
they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne
proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. And there were seven
lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven
spirits of God. And before the throne there was
a sea of glass like under crystal. And in the midst of the throne
and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before
and behind. And the first beast was like
a lion. and the second beast like a calf
and the third beast had a face as a man and the fourth beast
was like a flying eagle and the four beasts had each of them
six wings about him and they were full of eyes within and
they rest not day and night saying holy holy holy lord god almighty
which was and is and is to come And when those beasts give glory
and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth
forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before
him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever
and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power, for
Thou hast created all things. and for thy pleasure they are
and were created. Oh that God should bring us to
that day that we should know that we were created by this
man upon the throne and that he made us anew and created us
anew in him He gave us a living spirit, He gave us His righteousness,
He gave us everlasting life though we deserved it not. We rewarded
Him with sin and unbelief and rebellion and hatred and yet
He loved us, He gave Himself for us, He died in our place,
He washed us in His blood and He made us to live forever and
He gave us in the end a crown of life. O that we should be
brought before Him on that day, like these four and twenty elders,
cast in our crowns before Him, crying out unto Him, Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power, for Thou
hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and
were created. Amen.