singing. I enjoyed that. Turn
back to James 1 while you're turning there. Dave Parker had
a heart attack yesterday. Now he's okay, but it's not something
that they could operate on because he said it was in the lower part
of his heart and he's going to have to take medicine, but I
think he got out of the hospital today, but I saw him last night
in St. Joe's and he was in good spirits. I was the one encouraged
being around him. I've entitled this message Do not err, my beloved brethren. Do not err. Now the word err
is found in the New Testament 39 times. 24 times it's translated,
do not be deceived. Five times it's translated, do
not go astray. Twice it's translated, do not
be seduced. Once do not go wandering, and
once don't go out of the way. Do not be deceived. Do not stray. Do not err. Now in this verse of scripture,
on either side, we have the two places where men generally will
go astray. One, with regard to human responsibility,
and the other with regard to God's sovereignty in salvation. Now this message is a very important
message. May God bless us in considering
what's being said. 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. Now the last several times
when we dealt with temptations, we were talking about trials
and troubles. Here he's talking about the temptation
to sin. Do you know anything about the
temptation to sin? Sure you do. It's a very powerful
thing. Now let no man say when he's
tempted of God, let no man say when he's tempted to sin, I'm
tempted of God. Let no man say God is tempting
me. As soon as you do that, or as
soon as I do that, we deny human responsibility and we join up
with Adam, the woman you gave me. She gave me of the fruit,
and I did eat." Now, we can be ingenious in trying to shift
the blame. I've done it. I've done it. Listen
to these statements. God is sovereign. He could have
kept me from that sin, and he didn't. He kept Abimelech from
sin, but he didn't keep me. He did not enable me to do the
right thing. He could have, and he didn't.
God is sovereign. I can't hear to my prophet because
he's not enabling me. He's not giving me hearing ears.
He's not enabled me to stop this sin. If he would have enabled
me, I would have stopped it. But he hasn't. He has not enabled
me to come and hear the gospel. If He enabled me, I would do
it. Now, let me tell you what that type of thinking is. I want
to say this as plainly as I can. Evil. Purely evil. It's a failure to take responsibility
for my sin, casting an evil light on the Holy One of Israel, That
kind of thinking comes only from a corrupt and evil heart. And I dare say every one of us
to some extent has flirted with that kind of thinking. I know I have. And every time
I've done it, I've known it's wrong. Well, God didn't enable
me. God didn't enable me. God doesn't tempt and he cannot
be tempted. Let no man say when he's tempted
to sin, God's tempting me to sin. God never tempts anyone
to sin, nor can he be tempted to sin. He is incapable of sinning. Now here's the anatomy of sin,
verse 14, but every man is tempted. And everybody in here knows what
it is to be tempted to sin and how powerful that temptation
can be. Every man is tempted when he's
drawn away of his own lust and enticed. If I'm tempted,
where does it begin? My own lust. That which comes from my fallen
wicked heart. It's called in the scripture
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life,
the desire, the lust for pleasure, the lust of the flesh, the desire
for popularity, the lust of the eyes, caring about what other
people see and about what other people think rather than what
God thinks, the pride of life, the lust for power and position,
Now, when a man is tempted to sin, that sin comes from the
lust of his own wicked, depraved heart. Can you say amen to that? It's so, isn't it? Every time
you've tempted to sin, can't blame God. It's because of what
you are. It's because of what I am. God does not tempt to sin. The lust comes from a depraved
heart and evil and a fallen nature. Now look what he says. But every
man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Drawn, lured by his own lust
like the seduction of a harlot and enticed, beguiled, allured,
deceived. The sin makes promises that it
never can deliver. And then he says in verse 15,
then when lust hath conceived, here's what it bears, it bringeth
forth sin. This is the baby lust conceives. And then sin, when it's finished,
when it's reached its final course, bringeth forth death. And that's not merely a reference
to physical death, that's talking about eternal death. If God doesn't
do something for me, I'll end up in hell. The reason a man
goes to hell is because of his sin. If I go to hell, it's not
because I wasn't elect. If I go to hell, it's not because
Christ didn't die for me. If I go to hell, it is because
of my personal sin. That's where sin leads to death. Now that's scary. I don't know
what else to say about it. That's scary. Now he says, don't
err my beloved brethren. Don't even remotely blame your
sin on God or your circumstances or your upbringing or your DNA. Don't blame God. It's only when we, now listen
to this real carefully, It's only when we take full responsibility
for our sin that we cry for mercy. It won't happen until you take
full responsibility. It won't happen until I take
full responsibility for my sin. It's all my fault. And when it's all my fault, you
know what I need? I need mercy. I need grace. Now if it's not
my fault, I can blame God, I can blame my circumstances, I can
blame my upbringing, but if it's all my fault, there's only one
thing that'll do me any good. The free and sovereign grace
of God. That's how important this thing
is of taking full responsibility for my sin. If I don't take full
complete responsibility for my sins. It's all my fault. It came
out of my evil heart. If I don't take full responsibility
for my sin, I'm never going to ask God for mercy. It's only
that one whose sin is all their fault. They need mercy. Lord, have mercy on me. I need your grace. Any other view will prevent you
from asking for mercy. Turn with me for a moment to
Romans chapter 9. Paul expresses this so clearly
in Romans chapter 9. Verse 18. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
does he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
If he has decided to harden my heart, I can't resist it. How
can he hold me responsible for my sin if he's the one who hardened
my heart? That doesn't seem right. Who
can resist His will? If He decided to harden me, I'm
hardened. There's nothing I can do about
it. Now how can I be punished for something He did to me? Look
at Paul's answer. Verse 20. Nay, but O man, who
are you to reply against God? Who in the world do you think
you are that you can sit in judgment on God? and say, I don't agree
with that. Since when do you have the moral
fiber to sit in judgment on God and say, this is wrong? Who are you to contend with the
Almighty? Who are you to reply against
God? I love that, don't you? No man
has the right to call into question anything God Almighty does. I
know this. If my heart's hardened, He hardened
it, and it's all my fault. You know, all He's got to do,
listen to me, all God's got to do, His heart to harden my heart
is nothing. Just leave me alone. Find out
what happens. If God leaves you alone, what's
going to happen to you? You're going to become as hard
as hard can be. And you know that, don't you?
You know that about yourself. Oh, my. Let no man say when he's
tempted, God's tempting me. No, he's not. That temptation
came out of your own wicked heart. Amen? Amen. Whatever God does is right. But here's the deal. Whenever
you're in that shape, everything's your fault. You're ready to hear the gospel.
Not until then, but if everything is your fault, you are ready
to hear the gospel. Verse 17, back to our text in
James chapter 1. Now, the first side of error
is a mistake regarding responsibility. My sin, oh may God burn this
in my heart, may He burn it in your heart. My sin is all my
fault. And whenever somebody takes their
place as a sinner before God, rope around their neck, it's
all my fault, that's when they ask for mercy. That's when they
appreciate the righteousness of Christ being their only personal
righteousness before God. Now let's go on reading James
chapter 1 verse 17. Every good gift, until now, my
beloved brethren, don't be wrong on this. Don't be wrong on this
thing of blaming God for your sin, but don't be wrong here.
Verse 17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. It didn't come from you. It didn't
come from your fallen nature. It didn't come from anything
you did. Now, if you're guilty, this is what you need. This good
and perfect gift, and I think it's interesting the way he calls
it every good and every perfect gift, every good gift. If it
comes from God, it's good. And this idea of perfect, why
does he say good and perfect? Perfect is complete. It means
there's nothing you can do to mess it up. It means there's
nothing you can do to invalidate it. It's already complete. It's
already all you need. And it comes from above. Now,
if it's all your fault, this is what you want. Every good
gift and every perfect gift that comes from above. You're not
going to find it in the recesses of your own heart. You're not
going to be able to stir up anything. This must come from above. And it comes down from the Father
of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Now
when I was looking over my notes about this part of the message,
I had to start chuckling at myself. I thought, here you go again.
You're going to be saying things that are glorious and true. And
how much do you understand? Not much. Not much. A little
bit. A little bit. These gifts come
down. They're from above. Christ said,
I am from above. You are from beneath. They come
down. They're from above. And they're
given by the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning. Now, if we can get a hold of
this, we can understand how he can give these good gifts. The
reason he can give these good gifts to somebody like me or
you is because he is immutable. In him, there's absolutely no
variations, no variable-ness, no different variables. Neither
is there even a shadow of turning. Malachi chapter 3, verse 6, God
makes this statement, I'm the Lord. I changed not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. If he could change at all, you
know what happened to me or you? We'd be consumed. But because
he's already determined this mercy, I am the Lord. I've changed
not in any way. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob,
sons of election, Jacob have I loved. Jacob a heel. Jacob a deceitful man. I identify
with Jacob as much as anybody in scripture. I love Jacob. Ye
sons of Jacob, because I change not, ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8, Jesus
Christ the same. yesterday, today, and forever. He's always the same. He never
changes. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 12 says
thou art the same and thy years shall not fail. I love that hymn
we sing change and decay and all around I see. O thou who
changes not abide with me. Now I'm going to try to say some
things that, like I said, I feel like an idiot even trying to
talk about these things. But God doesn't change in his
essence. Well, what's his essence? I have
no idea. No idea. He's a spirit. What's that mean?
I don't even know what that means. That means he doesn't have a
body. I know that. He didn't change in His essence.
Whatever His essence was, it still is and it always will be.
That's the God who never changes. What's His substance? What's
His being? I don't know. But whatever it
is, He never changes. I know this. He has eternal existence. He never began to be. He never
had a starting point. And whatever He always has been,
He is right now. And where He is right now, He
always will be. He never changes. He never changes
in His attributes. I love His attributes. He's always
been sovereign. Talking about eternity past,
that's a contradiction in terms to even talk about eternity past,
because there's not a past in eternity. But He's sovereign.
He's holy. He's just. He's merciful. He's all-wise. He's all-powerful. He's everywhere at once. He can't
be contained by space or time. He's always been. He never changes. He doesn't change his purposes.
Whatever he purposed before time began is what his purpose is
right now. And what his purpose is right now, it always will
be. He didn't change his purpose.
He said, I have purposed it. I also will do it. I'll bring
it to pass. That's the God of glory. He doesn't
ever change in his purposes. I love this. Romans chapter 9,
verse 11, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works. Isn't that good? None of it works.
That's God's purpose. None of it works. Lest any man
should boast. Second, Timothy 1.9 says, He
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And I love what
that one woman said to Charles Spurgeon. She said, I know He
loved me before time began, because if He would have waited until
now, it wouldn't have happened. And so you know that yourself.
All the glorious purpose of God. He doesn't change His promises.
All the promises of God in Him are yay and amen. By grace, you're
saved. And that's not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. We're His workmanship. created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Listen to this promise. In Him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are
right now, present tense, complete in Him. Absolutely nothing lacking. Can't get any more loved, can't
get any more accepted, can't get any more holy, can't get
any more justified than you are right now. Well, you can only
believe that by faith. I realize that. You can't see
that by sight. You can only lay hold upon that
by faith. But it's so. He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. God is unchanging in the objects
of his affection. Jeremiah 31.3 says, Behold, I
have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. For whom he did foreknow, them
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also, listen, glorified. Submits already taking place.
But what can we say to these things? If God be for us, who
can be against us? That is the God who never changes. Now if he could change, it would
be for the better or it would be for the worse. But the Father
of lights is infinite and And once again, I'm using terms I
don't know what they mean. I got some kind of vague idea. They
sound good. I like hearing them. And I know
God's like this, but how can a finite being understand the
infinite? God is infinite, absolute, self-existent, with no needs,
independent, exalted above all the causes of and even the possibility
of change. What a glorious God. the father of lights, in whom
is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." He cannot increase,
he cannot decrease, he cannot evolve. This is the one from
whom every good and perfect gift from above comes down. to every single believer. They're good. They're essentially
good. They're perfect or complete. And there's no danger of any
of these gifts being incompleted by some failure on our part.
They're already complete. Now, if you're like me, the description
of the origin of our sin was scary. Just scary. I'm scared of myself. I am. But this every good gift and
perfect gift that comes down from above is given to save us
from our sins. Matthew chapter 7 verse 11, I
love the way the Lord says this to his people, his disciples. He says, if you then, what? Being evil. Now, if I came up to you and
said, you are evil, you bristle a little bit, you bristle. If you came up to me and said,
you're evil, I'd bristle. I'm good as you are. But when he says it, yeah. If you then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
shall your heavenly Father give good gifts to them that ask him? The wages of sin is death. But
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Lord said to that woman at
the well, I love this. She was in her ignorance. He
said, if you knew the gift, the absolute free gift of God, no
strings attached, nothing you got to do to pay. If you knew
the gift of God, and who it was that saith to thee, give me to
drink, thou would have asked of him, and he would have given
thee living water. If you knew, you'd ask, and if
you'd ask, you'd give. Now we read of the gift of grace. Aren't you thankful grace is
a gift? We read where he giveth more
grace. He's always giving more grace.
We read that righteousness is a gift. There's not something
that you do to become righteousness. It's a gift. bestowed upon you. And the thing of it is, if God
gave it to you, you received it. If you never received it,
He never gave it. But if He gave it, you received it, and you
have this gift of righteousness. And when He gives something to
you, it's yours. It's yours. That righteousness
that He gave you is yours. It's a gift. But it's yours. That's your personal righteousness
before God. To her was granted fine linen,
clean and white. This is the righteousness of
the saints. What a gift. You know, faith
and repentance are gifts. Not something you work up. By
grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. God exalted His right hand to
be a Prince and Savior for to give repentance to Israel, even
the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins is a
gift. There's not something you do that the process ends up with
the forgiveness of sins. It's that He just forgives you.
He forgives you. It's a gift. And all His gifts
are free gifts. Gifts of grace. Coming to Christ is a gift. Listen
to this scripture. No man can come except it were
given to him from above. John 6, 65. No man can come to me except
it were given to him from above. He said, My peace I give you. Now you think of the peace of
Christ. He has the peace of knowing he's the Son of God. He's got the peace of knowing
that He's in control of everything. He's got the peace of knowing
that He is without sin. He's got the peace of knowing
He's altogether lovely to His Father. My peace I give unto
you. Not as the world give I unto
you. He said the glory that thou gavest
me I have given thee. And that's true of every believer.
He's given you the very glory that he possesses. I love that
passage of scripture where it says, then shall the children
of God shine as the sun in the kingdom of their father. The
sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be unto God that giveth us. giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. He's given us an everlasting
consolation and a good hope through grace. You know, Paul even said
this. He said, there was given me a
thorn in the flesh. Who gave it to him? God did. Why? To keep him from being exalted
above measure, but God gave it to him. He said that there was
given me a thorn in the flesh. Now, it is the Father of lights,
in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, that gives
us these good and these perfect gifts. Now look at verse 18. This is a strong statement regarding
the sovereignty of God's grace, as you'll find anywhere in the
Bible, of His own will. Beget he us with the word of
truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures, of his own will. And this is what's called sovereign
grace, of his own will. What does sovereignty mean? What
does God's sovereignty mean? Well, it means he has a will.
God's a person. God's got a purpose. God's got
a will. It means he has the power to make sure his will comes to
pass. It means he has the right to
make sure his will comes to pass. And it means He always does,
without exception, make His will come to pass. Never a time when
it doesn't come to pass. His will's never thwarted, it's
never frustrated. Everything that happens is His
will being done. Boy, it's wonderful to live in
a world like that, isn't it? I hate to think of the alternative,
but of His own will begat He us. He birthed us. He gave us life. And nothing prompted it but His
own will. The reason He did this is because
He willed to. Nothing else. No reason in you.
Nothing else prompted Him but His own free and glorious and
sovereign will. You know, I love that scripture
where the Lord said, I thank Thee, O Father. Lord of heaven
and earth, because you've hid these things from the wise and
prudent and revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so
it seemed good in my sight. Is that enough for you? Is that
enough to satisfy you that it's good in God's sight? You know,
if it's good in God's sight, it's good in my sight too. I
don't need anything else. Of His own will begat He us. birthed us, gave us life when
we were dead in sins. John 1, 12 and 13 says, As many
as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons
of God, even to them which believe on his name, which were born,
not of blood, not of the will of man, not because a bunch of
men got together and prayed for you, not of the will of the flesh,
not because of an act of your own free will. He was neither
born, but of God. of his own will begat he us."
How? What's it say? Through the word
of truth. The gospel. The word of God. The doctrine of the cross. God
the Holy Spirit never acts apart from the Word of Truth. He just doesn't do it. Somebody
may ask the question, could God save without the Word of Truth?
A better question is, does God save without the Word of Truth?
The answer to that is no. God always uses the Word of Truth. There is no salvation apart from
the Word of Truth. Our Lord said in John 4, God
is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit
and in Truth. There's no salvation apart from
the Word of Truth. Can God use error? Why would
he? Really, why would he? Is he unable
to get somebody to tell the truth? Of course not. He only uses the
word of truth. He only uses the gospel. And
there's no life, there's no begetting of life, no one is saved apart
from the truth of the gospel, of his own will. beget he us
through the word of truth. It always troubles me when people
want to maintain they were saved when they didn't believe the
gospel of God's grace. At your limb is the scripture on support.
Salvation only comes through the word of truth. He says, that
we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. What an amazing
blessing. We're the firstfruits of his
creation. A believer, that's above an angel. We're the firstfruits of his
creation, having actually the fruit of the Holy Spirit. No
angel has the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Oh, they're Mighty beings,
but they don't have the fruit of the Spirit. What a blessed
thing to be the firstfruits of His creation. So, what an important
verse of Scripture. Don't err, my beloved brethren. Don't err. Don't be led astray.
Don't be deceived. Don't be seduced. Don't say when you're tempted,
well, God's tempting me. No, you're tempted of your own
lust. All your sin is your own fault. All my sin is my own fault. Don't err, and don't err from
this. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above. It didn't come from you, it didn't
come from any man. It comes from above and comes
down from the Father of lights and who is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning, of his own will. Not your will, of his own
will. Begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. How we thank you for your gospel. Lord, we ask that you
would deliver us from ever saying when we're tempted, I'm tempted
of God. Lord, apart from your grace,
that's the direction we go. And we realize that. We'll justify
and vindicate ourself any chance we get if you don't prevent it.
But Lord, cause us to own our sin before you and look to you
who Bring down every good and perfect gift that we can't mess
up all the gifts of your salvation. Lord, bless this word for your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.