Sermon on James 1:12-18, for the 1st Sunday in Lent, "Born By God's Will"
Sermon Outline:
1.
Two outcomes set before us: death and
life. James charts the path to both. First the role of temptation/testing.
Different in origin and purpose. Testing: from God—to strengthen faith, create
reliance on Him. Temptation: from the devil (or our own desire)—to make us
fall, weaken faith, death. God will work through tests and trials in life to
accomplish His purpose in us, and to teach us that His grace is sufficient—His
power made perfect in weakness.
2.
Devil ultimately wants us on the path to
death, but James reminds us that we’re quite determined/capable on our own of
choosing that path. Starts with our own sinful desire. Desire is tempted—put
your hope for satisfaction in sinful pleasures. But when we seek to satisfy in
sinful ways—greed, lust, anger, selfishness—the satisfaction is short-lived and
empty. Driven to pursue it more, with less satisfaction. Law of diminishing
returns. Racing down a slippery slope, chasing the carrot temptation dangles
before us. Desire conceives and gives birth to sin. Sin matures and grows and
gives birth to death. Earlier stages sin’s impact may be less; more contained.
A thought that embitters our mind, or stirs up jealousy. But we have not yet
unleashed it on someone else.
3.
But once conceived and given birth to
sin, poison is set loose. Ugly how sin can pour out its harm as it matures and
grows. Effects and consequences grow worse the further we pursue sin. Not that
sin is any less deadly as a thought—therein lies the potential for evil, in
every heart. But far better to root out the weed in our heart now, than let it grow
deep roots. David pleads to God in Ps. 141, knowing the danger of sin even at
its earliest stages. Implores God to guard his lips and heart: “Set a guard, O
Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! Do not let my heart
incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who
work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!” Cut off sin at its
source. Don’t let evil words escape your mouth. Pray to God to keep your heart
even from the inclination, the temptation toward evil. Keep from the company of
those who would corrupt you, remembering that “bad company ruins good morals.”
4.
Ps. 7 (cf. James) warns of the
cumulative effect of evil: “Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is
pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made” (Ps. 7:14-15). Evil matured from the
heart to actions and lies is like digging a pit into which you will fall. The
trouble we sow will return upon us. Not something we wish on anyone, but we’ve
seen how it works. Death—spiritual death is the final consequence. This is the
path our sin sets us on. This is what is conceived in us by sinful desires that
give in to temptation. No little harmless sins that we can safely nurture in
our heart. Sin will seize the opportunity if given the chance, and grow into
something ugly and unmanageable, giving birth to death. So we pray “Deliver us
from evil” because only God can deliver us, help us overcome these attacks and
give us the victory.
5.
v. 12 “Blessed is the man who remains
steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown
of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.”
6.
But we must admit we face a daunting
task. Impossible task for us. Temptation conceives and bears sin in us. The
wages of sin is death. We are dead in trespasses and sins. At whatever stage
sin has grown and matured in our lives, how can we be saved? No simple matter
of patching our behavior up or 20 steps toward a better you. Can’t be fixed
from the outside. Problem is born on the inside, in the heart. Then how to
remain steadfast under trial, and resist temptation? Who can deliver us from
this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who gives
us the victory! We cannot rescue ourselves, or face temptation on our own
strength. What sin conceived in us is intertwined with our will and desires so
that there is no one righteous, not one. No remedy in ourselves.
7.
But God has sent His good and perfect
gift down to us in Jesus Christ. God, by His will gives us a new birth! v. 18
contrasts a second birth, a heavenly birth from above, that God wills in us, by
His Word of Truth. The answer to our lost estate is to be born from above! God
conceived us by His will and has given birth to His children, so that we might
have life instead of death! Just as temptation conceives and gives birth to sin
and death, God’s solution is that His Word and will conceives and gives birth
to righteousness and life in us. You are in Christ a new creation. Your life is
now “hidden with Christ in God!”
8.
What does that mean for you and your
struggle against temptation? Not alone; not even just “powered up” by Jesus’
help. It means that your life is encapsulated, is hidden together inside of
Christ’s life, so that His victory becomes your victory! Consider the first
verse again: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he
has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to
those who love Him.” Christ is the man
who remained steadfast under trial. He defeated the devil’s temptations at
every turn, He remained faithful to God in all hardships and difficulties. With
unwavering faithfulness, He sought God’s will only—and all the way to the
cross. And since Jesus is victorious, His victory becomes ours as well—joined
by faith. In Him you can find strength—God is faithful to show the way of
escape in temptation. Not beyond what we can bear. Jesus sympathizes with our
weaknesses, tempted as we are. We can hang through trusting Him.
9.
Jesus’ steadfastness rewarded with the
crown of life—His resurrection, and He now promises to grant us the same crown
of life—victory over sin and death, to all who love Him. In Him and through Him
we can be steadfast through trial. The seed of God’s Word has already been
planted and has conceived and born new life in you. It will blossom forth and
give fruit as the Spirit works in you to give glory to God. This is entirely by
God’s willing and grace, not by our own will or power, as John reaffirms (ch. 1):
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the
flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” By God’s will you are alive in
Christ, you are born for life—so rejoice in His will for you and hold fast to
Christ in every temptation and trial. He has worked life in us, where before
there was only sin and death. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Amen.
Sermon
Talking Points
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past sermons at:
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- In what way is Jesus both the man who remained steadfast under trial, and also
the one who gives us the crown of life? Luke 4:1-13; Hebrews 2:18; 4:15;
John 11:25-26. What is the crown of life? 2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 2:10
- Why is it impossible that God would be the One
who tempts us, or that God would ever do evil? Ps. 5:4-6; Matt. 19:17.
- What in us gives temptation and sin its first
foothold according to James 1:14? Cf. Gen. 4:7. How should we resist
temptation? See Jesus’ example in Luke 4; Ps. 141:3-4; 1 Cor. 10:13
- How does James’ imagery of the maturation of
sin help us to understand its accumulative and deadly influence? Ps.
7:14-15
- How does God’s constancy bring us comfort? Jam.
1:17; Mal. 3:6. What is the second kind of “conception and birth” that God
works in us, instead of sin? Jam. 1:18; John 1:12-13; 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:3. How
is this our hope and confidence in the face of evil and temptation? How
does this reassure us that only God can deliver us from evil?
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