Now if you have a Bible there, do you turn to James chapter 1.
The last couple of weeks I've had an experience that I'm sure many of us have had many times.
The phone rings, at a time you don't really want to answer the phone, you pick it up,
and you find a distant voice from the other side of the planet,
saying they want to speak to Mr Cashman.
I'm trying to deny my existence, but the ventures have come with curiosity,
and the voice announces they're calling from TalkTalk, my internet and phone supplier,
saying they notice that my internet service has slowed down.
And of course it's very plausible, isn't it?
Because my internet service is never fast as I think it should be,
as I think I pay them that money to make it.
And so on, it starts to get interested, they've latched into a genuine desire to make things work quickly.
But then part of me remembers the truth.
A, I don't really want to be speaking to this person, I've got other things I want to do,
and B, there are fraudsters out there.
The fact bolstered by the fact that TalkTalk have had all their data left in the last couple of weeks.
So I start to ask a few questions, and pretty soon the other person hangs up,
annoyed that I'm asking them questions.
The whole experience is a reminder, isn't it, of how easy it is to be deceived.
Someone calls promising something you want,
and you need to discern the truth, don't you?
What is real, what is not.
Well, James is writing because he doesn't want his readers deceived.
Look at verse 16, the middle of the section we're looking at.
So we're looking at verses 12 to 18, right in the middle there.
Verse 16, do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
Now it's easy to be deceived about with prank calls or hoax calls,
but that's actually not terribly dangerous.
What was the worst thing to happen?
I might lose a bit of money, I might get my computer hacked.
But these people, and we indeed as Christians, are in danger of much bigger deception.
Turn over to the end of the letter.
See, this is the whole reason James is writing.
Look at chapter 5, verses 19 to 20.
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth,
literally in the original language, is deceived.
It's the same word used back in chapter 1, verse 16.
If anyone is deceived and someone brings him back,
let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering,
from his deception,
will save his soul from death,
and will cover a multitude of signals.
See what's at stake in this deception?
What's at stake is more than a matter of life and death.
It's a matter of heaven and hell, James says.
And rather, he's writing to people who profess to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He calls them brothers.
Though the stakes are high, he does not want them to be deceived.
Now, what could deceive them?
Well, as you have heard from the whole section that Penny read to us,
many people were undergoing trials, having hard times.
And it's easy in hard times to be deceived, isn't it?
To be deceived that maybe God doesn't really love me.
To be deceived that maybe the gospel isn't really true.
To be deceived that maybe to give in to this temptation
would be an easier way out, an easier way to comfort.
Because that's why in verse 12, James reminds his readers of a greater truth.
There is a reason for enduring.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.
For when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life
that God has promised to those who love him.
See, what's the hope at the end?
What's the reward for those who endure who don't give in?
It's this crown of life.
I think we hear the word crown and we think of the crown jewels, don't we?
Think of a big golden crown that a monarch would wear.
For James' reader, the usual crown they would think of
was more likely a laurel crown, a crown, a wreath
that would be placed on the victor's head after an athletic competition.
But here James said this crown isn't made of laurel wreaths.
It's made of something better.
It's made of life.
It's the crown of life.
It's the crown of real life.
The crown of eternal life.
Life in heaven with God when we die.
Life in a new creation.
When Christ comes back.
Real life.
But these trials and difficulties of life bring us temptations.
They can make us think there isn't a crown of life to inherit.
They can make us think that there are more to life now.
It's when the trial of unemployment comes
that the temptation to fill the tax returns can come, isn't it?
You might never think about that normally.
But suddenly the trial of financial hardship arises.
The temptation to just get something a little cheap,
get something a little quick.
That suddenly arises, isn't it?
James knew.
His readers were thinking like that.
They were thinking,
or maybe they were thinking that God was to blame for their trials.
Look at verse 13.
Let no one say when he is tempted,
I am being tempted by God.
For God cannot be tempted by evil,
and he himself tempts no one.
Perhaps they were considering blaming God for their temptations
because they knew that God is sovereign.
They knew the truth of Psalm 135 verse 6,
that the Lord does whatever he pleases.
Maybe they thought,
well, God is making us suffer,
so this is his way of tempting us.
Or maybe they were remembering the Old Testament.
Remember how the Lord tested Abraham,
or tested Hezekiah,
2 Chronicles chapter 32 verse 31.
They thought the Lord is testing,
tempting us.
It's the same word in the original language.
So how could they stand firm
under these temptations and trials?
Well, James wants them to know the truth.
Whatever they're thinking,
they're in danger of being deceived.
And he wants them to receive the crown of life.
So how can they stand firm?
Well, he wants them to make sure they're not deceived,
but they know the truth.
Two aspects of the truth in particular.
He wants them to know the truth about themselves,
and the truth about God.
Let's look at the truth about themselves,
the truth about ourselves, first of all.
So we can stand firm in our trials and temptations.
Verses 13 and 14.
And the truth about ourselves is not a popular truth, is it?
If you were to ask your neighbours,
or boys and girls,
if you were to ask someone at school,
are you a good person?
How would they normally reply?
I suspect they say,
I'm not perfect,
but I'm basically a good person.
I do my best.
I try to be nice to people.
I'm a good person.
And when they do make mistakes,
they look for excuses, don't they?
We live in a culture where everyone wants someone to blame,
don't they?
But James' point here is,
we don't really have something to blame.
Look at what he says in verse 13.
When we give in to temptation,
it's never God's fault,
it's always our fault.
We are not the good people we think we are.
We're slaves to our desires.
Look at verse 13.
Let no one say when he's tempted,
I'm being tempted by God,
for God cannot be tempted with evil,
and he himself tempts no one.
But each person is tempted
when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Then desire,
when it is conceived,
gives birth to sin,
and sin,
when it is fully grown,
brings forth to death.
See,
James' readers
were blaming God for their temptation.
That was a symptom
of an underlying problem with them.
Back in verse 8 of chapter 1,
James had said that,
had warned them not to be a double-minded person,
who's unstable in all their ways.
Over in chapter 4,
verse 4,
verse 8 as well,
he talks about people being double-minded.
In chapter 1,
verse 18,
double-minded is about
not really believing God.
It's about praying,
but not believing he will answer.
In chapter 4,
verse 8,
it's about
claiming to want to follow God,
but really desiring wealth
and prestige
on your own way
in this world.
See,
here's what we,
what double-mindedness is.
It's kind of saying one thing,
pretending,
claiming to believe one thing,
but actually living in another way.
And that's what we see going on here
in chapter 1,
verse 13.
This is probably a double-mindedness.
It's kind of,
it's God who's tempting me,
not grasping the truth
about God
in their own minds.
So James is showing them
the problem is not with God,
the problem is with them.
And we can be double-minded too,
can't we?
Maybe we don't go as far
as explicitly blaming God
for tempting us.
But how often do I find myself
saying something like,
I'm sorry I got cross with you,
but I'm very tired.
Or do you say,
I'm sorry I did this,
I'm sorry I reacted in this way,
but I'm under a lot of pressure
at work at the moment.
I'm sorry I did that,
but you provoked me.
I'm sorry,
but I wouldn't have done it
if such and such.
I'd fairly, quite easily,
blame our sin,
blame our failings,
blame doing something wrong,
not on ourselves,
but on something
in our circumstances.
Essentially,
that's like blaming God,
isn't it?
So it's not about me,
it's about something out there.
I'm really God's in charge
of all that.
If it hadn't been like this,
I wouldn't have behaved
in this way.
It's actually a bit of
double-mindedness,
isn't it?
And that's why James says
we need to know the truth
about ourselves.
The truth is not popular,
it's not comfortable,
but it's what we need to know.
That when we are tempted,
it is because,
verse 14,
we are enticed
by our own desires.
We're tempted
by our own desires
lure us or entice us
and drag us away.
We're tempted,
we fall into temptation
when we let our feelings
run the show,
rather than our truth,
the truth,
God's truth,
dominate,
so that we think straight.
The language James uses here
is like the language
of catching a fish.
You know what it's like,
I don't have a go fishing,
I've never had any appeal to me,
but you know how it works,
don't you?
You get a bit of bait,
a fly,
or a worm,
or something,
put it on a hook,
cast your rod,
cast your line
into the river or the sea,
and the fish comes along,
and the fish is a fish.
So it sees the worm
or the fly there
and thinks,
oh,
that looks nice,
I want it.
And in its desires,
it bites on to the bait
and is hooked.
That's the language
James uses here.
We're enticed,
we see the bait,
and we act on those desires
rather than submitting
to God's truth.
So for example,
boys and girls at school,
you know how this works out,
don't you?
Well,
how does it work out for you?
Think about it for a moment.
You desire to fit in
with your friends,
you desire to be popular.
And so,
someone suggests that you
stop talking to that girl
over there
because she's a bit nasty,
or whatever it is.
And so rather than letting
God's truth dictate,
it says you should love
your enemies
and pray for those
who persecute you,
you say,
you know what,
I'm going to go along with that.
So you give in
your desire,
and so you're being mean
and bullying along
with everyone else.
And we all know how
that works in our own lives,
don't we?
We all face choices daily,
whether we act on our own desires
or in line with God's truth.
So we desire
financial security.
So we hold on
to all the money we have
rather than giving
to gospel work.
Or we desire
for control.
And so we get angry,
or we manipulate
and dominate.
We desire for an easy life.
So we don't correct
a brother or sister
who's falling into sin.
So this is how
sin starts.
It begins with our desires.
It begins with how
we act on our feelings.
That's stage one.
Then look at stage two,
verse 15.
Then desire,
when it is conceived,
gives birth to sin.
In other words,
when we let our desires
control our will,
rather than God's truth
controlling our will,
then we give in
to that action,
it gives birth to sin.
We're guided by our feelings
rather than remembering
the truth.
Now,
a sin doesn't seem
that important to us,
does it?
Sin these days
is used as a kind of,
it's a marketing tool,
isn't it?
Magnum ice creams
had the seven deadly sins
flavours a few years ago.
Sin is often viewed as
eating too much sugar
or too much fat
or whatever is bad
at the moment.
James says,
don't be deceived
about that.
Sin is serious.
So stage one
is desire,
stage two
is acting on that desire
which leads to sin.
Look where that leads to,
verse 15,
the third stage.
Sin,
when it is fully grown,
brings forth death.
See,
sin is serious,
says James.
It's significant.
If this is the pattern
of our life,
that we constantly
follow our desires
and fall into sin,
and sin and sin
without ever letting
God's truth correct it.
And what's the result
when it's fully grown?
Death.
And what James says here
is mirrored by
the very first sin
in human history.
It's mirrored by
what happened
in the Garden of Eden
when Adam and Eve
fell.
It began
with forgetting
God's truth
or God's truth
being distorted
and then just acting
on their desires,
didn't it?
Remember,
God had told them,
do not eat
the fruit
from the tree
of the knowledge
of good and evil.
For in the day
you eat of it
you will surely die.
And Satan,
disguised as a snake,
creeps into the garden
and starts to
get them to doubt
God's truth,
to distort God's word.
He says,
you're not sure
they die.
And then he distorts
God's character.
He says,
hey,
God doesn't want
what's best for you,
does he?
God's trying to limit you.
He knows if you eat
that fruit
you'll be like him.
That's what,
God doesn't have
your best interest
in heart.
And Eve looks
at the fruit.
Genesis 3 verse 6
says,
when a woman saw
the tree was good
for food
and that it was
a delight to the eyes
and that the tree
was to be desired
to make one wise,
she took its fruit
and ate
and gave some
to her husband.
Do you see?
God's truth
ignored,
the truth of God's
character denied,
desires acted upon.
That's how sin begins.
Begins with desire,
leads to sin,
ends in death.
And remember,
just as James'
readers are evidently
blaming God,
it's essentially
what Adam and Eve did.
It's a pattern
for humanity.
We always want
to make excuses,
don't we?
So when God
walked in the garden
in the cool of the evening
and said to Adam,
Adam,
what have you done?
What did Adam do?
He said,
it wasn't me,
it was this woman
you gave me.
Basically,
God,
it's your fault,
you made her.
What does Eve do?
That wasn't my fault,
it was this serpent
that you made in the garden.
It was your fault,
really God?
As the old gag has it,
Adam blamed the woman,
the woman blamed the snake
and the snake
didn't have a leg to stand on.
It's an old joke
and it's actually not true
because none of them
have a leg to stand on.
It was a sinful desire
all the way,
wasn't it?
Ignoring God's truth,
acting on our own desires,
it leads to death.
See,
James says there's no excuse
when you're tempted.
We need to know
the truth about ourselves
if we're to remain
steadfast under trial.
We need to keep
that truth about ourselves
in mind.
Our desires,
our feelings
are not reliable.
It's not that they're
unimportant,
it's that they're unreliable.
And left unrestrained,
they lead to sin
and death.
So we need to realise
how weak we are.
That's the first truth
James wants us
to get our head around.
We are weak.
That's why the Lord Jesus
teaches us to pray,
lead us not into temptation.
Not that God tempts us,
but that our desires
and the world around us,
our own natures,
can so easily entice us
and trap us.
So we need God's help
to remember his truth
and act in accordance to it
and not cave in
to our own desires.
So that's the first thing
James wants us to be clear about,
the truth about ourselves.
Our desires will lead us
to trouble.
But secondly,
if we're to stand firm
under trials
and we can resist temptation,
we need to know
the truth about God.
We need to avoid
the deception
that Adam and Eve fell into.
And there are five facts,
I'll go through them quickly,
don't worry,
there are five facts
that James wants them to know,
wants us to know
about God's truth.
The first we've already seen
in verse 13,
he does not tempt anyone
because he is pure.
God is pure
so he doesn't tempt anyone
and is not tempted.
Evil and sin in the world
is not God's fault.
He tempts no one.
But secondly,
positively,
he is the source
of all that is good.
Look at verse 17.
Every good gift
and every perfect gift
is from above,
coming down
from the Father of lights.
That means
every good gift.
What good gifts
do you have in your life?
Family,
friends,
the beauty of the autumn colours
yesterday,
stable government
to allow us to meet like this,
the enjoyment of sport
and art,
of science,
of technology.
These are all good gifts.
They all come from
one good giver.
Every good gift
comes from him.
And even,
in the context
that James is writing in,
even trials
and hard times,
even they come
from God
to make us
perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing,
as James says
back in verse 4.
Every good gift
comes from him.
So he's pure,
it doesn't tempt everyone,
he is the source
of every good thing,
and thirdly,
he's the creator
of everything.
Verse 17
is the father
of the light,
of the heavenly lights.
The father of lights.
In other words,
he's the God
who created
the stars
and the sun
and the moon.
He created this
whole universe.
He is that powerful.
And maybe James
particularly
calls him
the father of lights,
because perhaps
some people
were kind of
resorting to
blaming the stars
for their behaviour.
Oh, it wasn't my fault,
but I'm a Leo
or a Capricorn
or whatever they all are.
That's why I behave
like this.
And that's a
contemporary problem,
isn't it?
I'm sure you have friends,
I have friends,
who check their horoscopes
and seem to know
what their star sign is,
as if that excuses
anything they do
or constrains
anything they do.
James says,
no,
the stars
come and go,
the moon waxes
and wanes.
Those things shift
and change
in their orbits
around the world.
Our father does not.
Which is the fourth thing.
He does not change.
The father of lights
with whom there is
no variation
or shadow
due to change.
These people
were double-minded.
We're often
double-minded,
aren't we?
We can say one thing
on Sunday
and just live differently
at various points
of the week.
James says,
God is not like that.
He is unchanging.
He doesn't shift
and change
like the shadows.
He is single-minded
and single
in his purpose.
In fact,
earlier on,
back in chapter 1
verse 5,
James had said
that if anyone
if he lacks wisdom,
let him ask God
he gives generously
without reproach.
Now,
wisdom is another
of God's good gifts.
But that word
generously there,
the original language,
has the idea
of simply,
single-mindedly.
This is the way
God is.
He doesn't change.
There's no variation.
No alterations
with him.
He is unchangeable.
Utterly reliable.
So here are the
first four things
that he is pure.
He does not tempt anyone.
He is the source of good,
of every good thing.
He is the creator
who is in control
and he does not change.
And if God's character
never changes,
then his purposes
and intentions
for people
never change either.
And that takes us
on to the fourth truth
about God
that James wants us to know.
Look at the end
of verse 18.
Look at verse 18.
Of his own will
he brought us forth
by the word of truth
that we should be
a kind of firstfruits
of his creatures.
Here's the fifth thing.
God is gracious
and makes us
into new people.
He is gracious
and makes us
into new people.
There's a lot in this
verse 18.
We'll speed through it
very quickly.
What does James say
God has done?
He has brought us forth.
Do you notice
that's the same language
he used back in verse 15.
There he says
sin, when it is fully grown
it brings forth death.
Our desires ultimately
bring forth death.
What does God's will,
God's desire do?
Ultimately it brings forth life.
Makes us new people.
That's what he's done.
He's brought us forth.
It's new birth
to use the language
Jesus has given
in John 3.
We are born again
James says.
That's why God
makes believers
into new people.
That's what he's done.
Why has he done it?
What's the purpose?
Look at the end of the verse.
That we should be
a kind of firstfruits
of his creatures.
In the Old Testament
the firstfruits
were the part of the harvest
that were given to God
that were devoted to God
but they also
were kind of representative
of what was going to come.
The guarantee,
the down payment
of what was to come.
So James is saying
God has made us
the firstfruits.
He's given us new life.
He's made us Christians
in Christ.
New people.
And that means
we belong to him
firstly
but secondly
we're the beginning
we're the guarantee
the deposit
of what is going to come next.
But ultimately
God is going to make
the whole creation new.
That starts with us.
That starts with us
in Christ
that one day
everything will be made new.
Now how has he done that?
Verse 18.
He brought us forth
by the word of truth.
The word of truth.
The gospel.
That's what Paul calls it
in Colossians 1.
The gospel.
The word of truth.
This good news message
about what Jesus has done.
And do you know
just look down to verse 21
for a second.
It's not just a message
that's out there somewhere.
It's not a truth
we've had access out there.
Rather
verse 21
it is
the implanted word
James goes on to say.
It is this truth
God has planted
deep in us
to use the language
of the hymn we just sang.
As this gospel
is planted into us
as you plant a seed
into the ground
you hope it will grow
and bear fruit
and change.
So it is
as God has planted
his word
of truth in us
so it bears fruit
and changes us
from the inside out.
This word of truth
is the announcement
of what God
has done in Christ.
James calls it
the word of truth
specifically
because it's to answer
the deception
that they are otherwise
likely to believe.
That deception
is really the great lie
that Satan whispered
right back in the
garden of Eden.
The lie that God
is not good.
The lie that God
doesn't really love us.
The lie that God
doesn't really want
the best thing for us.
And that's the lie
that always trumps us up
doesn't it?
Whereas what does
the word of truth
tell us?
Oh yes it tells us
God is incredibly holy.
But it tells us
God is incredibly
compassionate.
That having seen
Adam and Eve
reject him
and walk away
God didn't then
walk away from the creation.
Didn't walk away
from us as human beings.
Rather he set
a new start.
He sent his own son
the Lord Jesus Christ
to be a new beginning
a new humanity.
When Jesus came
he didn't give in
to his own desires.
He didn't make bread
when Satan said
you're hungry
make some bread
for yourself.
You're powerful enough
to do that.
Jesus didn't do that.
Rather he lived
by his Father's word.
He brought his Father's
truth to mind.
In the garden of Gethsemane
before the night
he was betrayed
how did he pray?
Father take this cup
from me
but not my will
but your will
be done.
He resisted
his natural
human desire
to preserve his life.
He said
remember his
Father's truth
followed his
Father's way.
He died
the death
we deserve to die.
He was raised
to life again.
As a beginning
of the new creation.
So that in him
we too
can be new people.
We too
through faith
in Christ
are raised
to new life.
See when God
when Jesus
walked out that tomb
that first Easter Sunday
it wasn't just
guaranteeing
heaven one day
or the new creation
one day
as gloriously true
as those things are.
God is guaranteeing
new life for us now.
Guaranteeing
that we can
be born again.
We can be
brought forth
to new life
by the word of truth.
See naturally
as we're born
as human beings
it is impossible
for us
not to sin.
Naturally
we just cave in
to our desires
the way we are.
But when we are
born again
we no longer
need to sin.
Of course
we're not yet
perfect.
That's why
Sunday by Sunday
we confess
our sins together.
We know that.
Sunday by Sunday
the Lord forgives
in accordance
with his promises.
We do still
give in to our
wrong desires.
Yet the Holy Spirit
is working
new desires in us.
So what has God
done?
How do we see
God's goodness?
He's caused us
to be born again
to be made
into new people.
Why has he done it?
So we can be
first fruits.
Part of his
new creation.
How has he done it?
Through the word
of truth.
The gospel
of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
And finally
why did he do it?
Why did he go
to those lengths?
Why did he bother?
What does verse 18
tell us?
Of his own will.
It wasn't because
we asked him.
It wasn't because
he saw potentially
we would be good
one day.
It was of his own will.
There was one
translation puts it
by his sovereign
plan he gave us
God.
That's the truth
James wants his
readers and wants
us to be clear
on.
The truth about
God.
He is good.
So how do we
remain steadfast in
trials?
How do we remain
steadfast under
temptation?
Now we need to
know the truth
about ourselves.
On the left
of ourselves we
will not remain
steadfast.
We will cave in.
We will act on
our desires.
Our desires will
give birth to sin
and sin to death.
That's the truth
about ourselves.
We are worse
than we ever
imagined.
We are not the
nice people that
society tells us
we are.
The truth about
us is worse
than we ever
imagined.
The truth about
God is better
than we could
ever dream.
He has chosen
to make us new
people.
He has chosen
to redeem.
Chosen to rescue.
He is unchanging,
perfect in all his
ways.
He has done
everything possible
for us through
the Lord Jesus
Christ.
That should
reassure us.
I hope it
reassures you.
It reassures me.
If it is of
God's own will
to bring me
forth to make
us new people
then that gives
me courage to
face up to the
desires of my
heart.
It gives me
confidence that
God will not
let me go no
matter how I
stray.
It means that
no matter what
the trials are
he will hold us
and keep us
nothing in the
world, nothing
the world can
offer can be
as good as
that crown of
life that he
holds out to
those whom he
loves, who he
keeps.
So because the
unchanging creator
God has brought
us forth, brought
us to life by the
word of truth,
those who are
Christians will
single-mindedly
believe and
practice the truth
about ourselves
and about God.
John Newton, the
former slave
trader, as he
was dying in
December 1807
was visited by
a friend,
William J.
And he was a
very old man by
this day.
And J.
wrote these
words in his
diary about the
visit.
I saw Mr.
Newton near the
closing scene.
He was hardly
able to talk and
all I find I had
noted down upon
my leaving him
was this.
And he quotes
what Newton
had said.
My memory is
nearly gone, but
I remember two
things, that I am
a great sinner, and
that Christ is a
great saviour.
Those are the two
truths about
ourselves and about
God that James
wants us to know
too.
Let's pray.