and prayer. Father God, we come before you, Lord, and we thank you, Lord, for this time. I pray, Lord, that you would just be with us as we go into your word. And, Lord, I pray, Lord, that you would help this weak man to preach your word today. Lord, I have nothing worth saying, but your word has everything worth listening to. Help us, Lord, to open our hearts and our minds to receive the message that you have for us today. Father God, I love you, and I give you all praise and all glory. In Jesus Christ's name I pray, and amen. You may be seated. Thank you, Brother Jesse, for leading us in worship. If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, or a Bible app on your device, please find the book of James, and we will be continuing our series as we look at James chapter 1. verses 13 through 18. So we're gonna be in James chapter one, verses 13 through 18. And I've entitled this message today, temptation and who's to blame for it. So while you're looking for your place over there, I wanna ask you a question. Have you ever blamed someone else or something else for your mistakes or your shortcomings? And I think if we're honest and we're honest with ourselves and honest with others, then our answer would have to be yes. But as we go through our culture today, it's this kind of attitude, it's, but it's not my fault that I'm like, this is running rampant, not just in our American culture today, but really around the world. It's something that we see in the world today where everyone is to blame for your problems, whether it be with drugs or alcohol or your shortcomings in education, employment or finances, and for mistakes that ultimately may lead to severe consequences. We have this attitude in our culture today of blame shifting and ultimately a lack of responsibility for one's own actions. But you know, this isn't something that is new to the world. This attitude of blame shifting and lack of responsibility isn't new to this generation or the generation before this one or the generation before that. This attitude of blaming others and pointing fingers goes all the way back to the fall of man. As we see in Genesis chapter three, verses 11 through 13. This is God, he then asked, who told you that you were naked? This is after they have taken of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He says, did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? Verse 12, the man replied, the woman you gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit from the tree and I ate. So the Lord asked the woman, what have you done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. We see here in Genesis three, that not only are they pointing the fingers at, the man is not just pointing the finger at Eve, and Eve is not just pointing the finger at the serpent or Satan, but we also see Adam kind of blaming God. So we see Adam is also blaming God for his sin because he says, the woman that you gave me, gave me the fruit and I did eat. This is the temptation, and I say all this to kind of set the groundwork to what we're gonna be looking at in verses 13 through 18. This is the temptation that James, in this passage is trying to help his readers and us avoid as we go through various trials and tribulations. Last week, we looked at trials and how we're supposed to have a correct mindset about them, right? We're supposed to trust in God in them, and ultimately, we're supposed to be, one, looking forward to the reward of enduring through those trials. But in the midst of those trials, there is a temptation, a temptation that James is warning his readers about. This temptation is this, blaming God for failing in the trials. This leads us to the big question we're gonna answer today. Who was responsible for us falling into temptation while in the midst of a trial or a tribulation? And if you've been in church long enough, and you know your Bible, you know the answer of who is to blame in this scenario. We know who is responsible for our sin. And of course, that is us. Just to put that out there, it's like, the question is, who is responsible for the temptations in our trial? Well, it's really us. And we know this. This is why when we sin, that sin that is placed upon us. But James here helpfully fleshes out the reasons why the blame is put squarely upon us. So in James 1, we'll read verses 13 through 15. James 1, verses 13 through 15 says, no one undergoing a trial should say, I am being tempted by God, since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn't tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when they're drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. James states right off the bat with this plain statement of how we should respond to the temptations within the trials, by not placing the blame of temptation upon God. Here in verse 13, he gives us two reasons why we cannot blame God for the temptations that we fall into. One is that God is not tempted by evil. It's against His very character to be enticed by sin and to be tainted by sin. And what sets apart the true and living God of the Bible from other deities, from pagan religions, is when we look at pagan religions, they are regularly tempted, right? You see the gods of, like, Greek mythology, Roman mythology, they are regularly tempted and succumb to evil desires and oftentimes fall into the same depravities that they kind of tempt people in mythology with, right? But our God, however, is perfectly sinless, untainted by evil, and he is ferociously holy. God cannot tempt us with evil, one, because God cannot be tempted by evil. It's against his nature to be tainted by sin. He is pure, he is sinless, he is untainted, he is ferociously holy. And the second reason James gives us here is that God himself doesn't tempt anyone. Just like how God can in no way be tempted by evil, God isn't responsible and he doesn't cause our temptations to do evil and to commit sin during trials. God is not the author of evil. God is not responsible for our sin and the temptations that we have. If he did that, then he would not be a good God, right? He'd be violating his very character if he was tempting people with evil. He is aware of evil temptations. and he will allow them to come upon a believer, but he doesn't cause it, and he's not the author of it. In fact, God himself provides a way out of the temptation, the temptation that we naturally find ourselves as people with a sin nature. We will naturally be confronted with temptation as we endure trials, but we can see here in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13, that God himself, he doesn't cause the temptation. He allows it to come in, but he's not the author of evil, but God in fact provides a way out of temptation in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13. No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity, but God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way out so that you may bear be able to bear it. Now, some people use this verse to say that God will never give you more than what you can handle. Well, if you've lived long enough as a Christian, you know that for sure God does give you more than you can handle. Why? Because it makes us grow closer to him and rely on him rather than our own wisdom. But we also see here what this really means is that God always provides a way out of temptation. Christian, if you're tempted by sin and evil desire, know that God has always provided you a way out of it. we can always go to God. We can always flee from our temptation and flee to God. He's provided us a way out. So he's given us two reasons why God cannot be responsible for our temptation. No one undergoing a trial should say, I am being tempted by God, since God is not tempted by evil and he himself doesn't tempt anyone. After reminding them of why God can't be responsible for the temptations in the trial, He can't be tempted by evil. He is a good, and he's a good God that doesn't tempt with evil. James goes in to reveal the source of our temptation, our own sinful desires, our own evil desires. In verse 14, he says, but each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. James reveals that the temptation are sourced. Our temptations are sourced from our own hearts. Certainly, just like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden or the gospel account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, Satan is involved in the temptations, stoking the fires of our desires. But make no mistake, Christian, any fires that the devil stokes in our hearts was already there to begin with. You can't say, I've fallen into temptation because the devil made you do it. No, it was in your heart already. Satan just uses that. James says this, it says, this is true of every person. And when we are drawn in by our evil desires and when our desires are conceived, then it gives birth to sin. Temptation, let me say this, temptation appeals to our desires. The temptations that we have in our hearts is what the devil stokes. He tempts us with it. Temptations appeals to our desire. It attracts us. And this attraction blinds us to the fact that our evil desires that we have in our heart. And if we're honest, even as Christians, you and me have desires in our hearts that are ungodly. We are sinners saved by grace, but we're still going through this process of becoming more and more like Jesus. It's this attraction that draws Christians to pornography. It's this attraction that draws Christians to shack up with their boyfriends or girlfriends before marriage. It's this attraction that draws Christians to be selfish, that draws Christians to gossip and slander each other, that draws Christians into ungodly lifestyles. Listen, our battle with sin and ungodly desires starts with the battle of the mind. There's a casting crown songs that I love, it's called Slow Fade. And there's a verse in that song that says, the journey from your mind to your hands is shorter than you're thinking. Can I just say, it's a slippery slope when we entertain the evil desires in our hearts. When you entertain the fantasies in your mind, it's a short trip from fantasy to reality. When sin becomes fully grown, it brings death. end game of what happens when sin is fully grown. When desire is conceived as what James says, it gives birth to sin. And sin grows, it gives birth to sin. And so sin grows and it brings forth death. That's a terrifying image that James uses, but that's the harsh reality of sin. Sin leads to death. We know that every person on earth has broken God's law, and we have sinned against God. And for the non-Christian, we know that sin leads not just to physical death, but also to a spiritual death that turns into an eternal death, which ends in them being thrown into the lake of fire along with Hades in the last days. And in Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 through 15, he says, then I saw a great white throne and seated on it. And one seated on it rather, heaven and earth fled from his presence and no place was found for them. I also saw the dead, the great and the small standing before the throne. The books were open. Another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the death that were in them. Each one was judged according to their works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. We know for non-Christians, this is what sin leads to, of physical death, a spiritual death, and an eternal death. But remember, James is writing to a scattered church and primarily to Jewish Christians. So why does he give them this warning? After all, they are saved and secured in Christ as true believers. Well, whether you're a Christian or not, sin should never be treated as some sort of cute lapdog to be cuddled. As a Christian, are you cuddling your sin? Are you holding onto your sin? Are you treating it like it's some sort of lap dog that you can take off and take on anytime you want? Or do you treat sin for what it is, a rabid junkyard dog that should be avoided and put to death? I've been in a third world country where you don't know if that street dog has rabies or not. And a lot of times you don't find out until they're foaming at the mouth. Can I tell you what they do with those dogs? Is they put them to death. They catch them and they put them to death. Sin is just like that. Sin will kill you. Sin will destroy your life. Sin will destroy your testimony. Sin will hinder your relationship with God. So sin should be treated like a rabid junkyard dog and be put to death. Christian, are you putting to death your sin? Are you denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus? The Bible tells us that even as believers, there is such a thing as sin that leads to death. In 1 John 5, verses 16-17, if anyone sees a a follower, a fellow believer committing a sin that doesn't lead to death, he should ask God, and God will forgive, will give life to him, to those who commit sin that doesn't lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that doesn't lead to death. Now this isn't saying that we're gonna lose our salvation and be cast into Hades, but what this is telling us and what James is driving at here is that believers still have consequences for sin. Sometimes as believers, we think that we can go, when we commit sin and we're in habitual sin, as long as we keep going to God and saying, I'm sorry, please forgive me, that that makes everything okay. No, there is a sin that does lead to death. There is a, There is a story that I know where someone was in gross, habitual sin, and the person who was being affected by it prayed that God would deliver her from any kind of abuse that she would have from that person. And that person, by all means, was a Christian involved in church. And what happened was, a couple months later after that victim prayed that prayer, that brother or that Christian was taken home. There is a sin that leads to death. We see it in Acts chapter five with Ananias and Sapphira. God does this to preserve the testimony of Christ in this fallen world. Lest the world think our God tolerates and is fine with ungodliness. There is a sin that leads to that. That's why even as believers, you and me need to fight against our sin. We have eternal security in heaven, right? Once you're saved, you're held by the hand of God, you're held in his hand, and there's nothing that can separate you from the love of God. But that is not licensed to sin. And mark my words, there is consequences to sin. Christian, whatever sin you're flirting with, Whatever deception you're buying into and whatever ungodly desires you are fulfilling, run away from them, flee to the Lord, repent and follow the Lord faithfully. That's what we need to do as believers. Because again, context is king. We know that James is talking to a scattered church of believers. He's saying in the midst of these trials, don't blame God for it because any desires you're falling into were there to begin with. You can't blame the devil because he's just stoking the fires and was already there. So James has set the record straight in who is responsible for us falling into temptation during a trial. It's not God's fault. It's not Satan's fault, although he uses what's already in our hearts to deceive us. But the one who is responsible is you and me. So James shows us how utterly sinful that we are. by how perfectly sinless God is. But he also doesn't stop there. James goes to remind us of how God is actually a good giver of perfect gifts. He says in 16 through 18, don't be deceived my brothers and sisters, every good and perfect gift is from above coming from the father of lights who does not change like the shifting shadows. By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. He says, don't be deceived Don't be deceived is what James is telling his readers. Don't be deceived by the beautiful appearance of sin. Don't be deceived by Satan's lies that promises fulfillment in those desires. And don't be deceived in thinking that God is to blame for the temptations that we're in and that God is somehow holding us back from something better. Isn't that sometimes a root of why we do what we do? We think that God is holding me from something better. God, I'm watching pornography because you've given me a wife that's not fulfilling my needs. Or God, I'm going to shack up with my boyfriend and girlfriend because you're not providing me a spouse. Or God, I am not giving to the church because God, you've not provided enough. Or God this, or God that. That's us being deceived. James is saying don't be deceived by that line of thinking. Do not be deceived. God is not responsible for the temptation and he's not holding us back from something better. God knows exactly what he's doing. At the right time and the right place, God works. He says, so God can't tempt us with sin or be tempted by sin because it's against his perfect, holy, and righteous character. But because of his perfect, holy, and righteous nature or character, we can be sure that Every good and perfect gift is from God above, or the Father of lights, which is a call back to when God created the stars, moon, and the sun. But unlike these created lights that go through cycles and changes, our God never changes. Our God is a good gift giver then, and he's a good gift giver now. He creates things that are only good, and he creates things that are only good now. What did he say when he created the heavens and the earth and everything in it, including mankind, when he created everything in Genesis? He said, it was good. It was only through the rebellion of Adam and Eve, when the fall of man came and sin entered in, that creation enter into this groaning, because sin is corrupting the very foundations of creation. So let's not forget that God as a good gift giver, gave us the greatest gift above all other gifts, salvation and forgiveness of our sins through his one and only son, Jesus Christ. If you want to look at how great, how good of a gift giver God is, look at the cross. Look at the cross. We who are saved and born again are called as first fruits of creation. And what does this mean? It means that we are now, as Christians, enjoying the foretaste of what is to come. God, through his goodness, has given us a taste of a day where there'll be no more trials, no more temptations. Through Jesus, we have the greatest hope of eternal life with him. As Christians, do you realize we are enjoying a foretaste of what is to come? We are. Through Jesus, we have the greatest hope of all, eternal life with him. Verse 18 goes on to tell us that God chose to give us new birth through the word of truth. Do you realize God could have wiped us from the face of the earth as soon as Adam and Eve took of that forbidden fruit, and it would have been perfectly in his right to do so. But God, rich in mercy, spared them. He even clothed them because they were naked. I don't know if you know this, but leaves don't make good clothes. So what did he do? He skinned an animal, killed it, skinned it, and gave him clothes and sent him off. In fact, he was still with them even after that. We also see God's goodness in the flood. He could have wiped the entire world and started over with the flood. What did he do? He preserved Noah and his family. So God, so rich in mercy instead, chose to provide a way to pay for our sins and to give us reconciliation back to him. Isn't that a beautiful thing? Although mankind has failed and failed and failed him time and time again, God says, I have made a way for you. So if you want proof that God is a good gift giver, look to the cross and the son that's nailed to it. We know that from verse 13 to 15, that you and I are responsible for our sin. Make no mistake, there is a penalty rightly placed on every person who has sinned against God, which is everyone. The Bible tells us in Romans 3, verses 10 through 12, as it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one. There is one who understands. There is no one who seeks God. All alike have become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one. He tells us that the wages of our sin, what we rightly deserve for our rebellion and sin is death. Romans 6, verse 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Even though it was perfectly in God's sovereign right as creator of everything to leave mankind in their sin and impose on us the wrath that was rightly due us, God chose to be merciful. God chose to show grace. God chose to show his great love. Do you know that through Jesus, God proved that he loved you and me? Through Jesus, he proved that he loved you. Romans chapter five, verse eight, but God proved his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God didn't wait for you to get your act together to send his son. There's a lot of people out there that say, I have to clean myself up before I can come to the cross. Can I just say that you need to go to the cross before you get cleaned up? You really do. God doesn't say, get your life together before you call upon me. No, he says, call upon the name of the Lord and you'll be saved. Christ, Jesus, the second person in the Trinity, God in the flesh came down to earth and took the form of man. A second person in the God, a part of our God, he's trying three persons in one. He left behind glory, he left behind majesty, he left behind due reverence that was rightly due to him for us to the form of man. Jesus lived a perfect life and fulfilled the law of God to be the spotless land that would save the world from their sin. Jesus was beaten, abandoned, mocked, stripped of all dignity. But you know what the worst part of the cross was? It's when He bore the sins of mankind and He took on the wrath of God. We learned about that in Sunday school, right? The cup He took was the wrath of God rightly due to you and to me. Can you imagine that? I want you to think of some Old Testament examples of God's wrath. Sodom and Gomorrah, the flood, the judgments He places upon Israel and Judah through the kingdom of Babylon. And that kind of gives us a glimpse, a glimpse of what the wrath of God is. That's what Jesus took on the cross for you and me. He took on the wrath of God for us. But the story, of course, doesn't end there because the grave couldn't hold him. He rose from the grave three days later, proving that he was who he said he was, and that he had conquered sin and death. And in Romans 6, verse 23, that we just read, it says that while we deserve death, eternal separation from God in a real place called hell. And can I just say this? Hell is a place where you are very conscious. We saw that in Luke 16. The rich man knew where he was. He knew the torment. But here's another thing. He knew why he was there. He said to Abraham, send Lazarus back to my brothers so they can believe. Do you realize that if you die without Christ, you're going to spend eternity there knowing exactly why you are there? And there is no turning back at that point. So eternal death, eternal separation from God is what we deserve, our wages, but God provided a gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. How do we receive this free gift? How do I get reconciled to God and receive forgiveness of sin through Jesus? Repent, turn away from your sins and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins. This is what the word of God tells us. Romans 10, eight through 12. On the contrary, the message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart resulting in righteousness and the other one confesses with the mouth resulting in salvation. For the scriptures say, everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, since there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call upon him. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. We are gonna have a time of invitation when we close up here. And I beg you, if you're here today and you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, please come up here and give your life to Christ. Hear me now, you're not promised tomorrow. You and me are not promised that we're gonna be alive tomorrow. How many people do you know that have died at an age where no one should be dying? Everyone. How many people have lost people because of accidents or simple, just addictions? You and me are not promised tomorrow, but here's one thing you are promised. Eternity in one of two places, heaven or hell, paradise or eternal torment, separated from God for eternity. You're not gonna be reincarnated. You're not. This is it. And when you stand before God without the righteousness of Christ, it's going to be too late. So James here in our passage shows us the goodness of God, the sinlessness of God and the holiness of God. We can't blame him for our temptations because he can't be tempted. We can't blame him for evil's desires because he doesn't tempt people with evil. Our desires come from us. The devil stokes that fire. but make no mistake, those desires were already in your hearts to be stoked. So that leaves us with no excuse and no one to accuse for our sins because it comes from our own hearts. James shows us that as God is perfectly sinless, you and me are utterly sinful. James then shows us the greatest and most perfect gift of all, salvation in Christ. Because in verse 18, he tells us by his choice, he gave us new birth by the word of God, by the word of truth, so that we can be the first kind of fruits of his creation. Praise God that he chose to save us from our sins. That's what the Word of God says, and that's what it means. But how do we apply this to our lives today? First application we can get is don't blame God for our sins. or falling into the temptations of sin. God has nothing to do with it, and he didn't set you up to fail in a trial. People who fall into various sins often point to what God gave them in the trials. I'm addicted to pornography because my wife's not good enough. I'm cheating on my husband because he's not the man that I thought that he was. You can go on and on and on, replace any sin with that. People will find a way to blame God for it. Sometimes we convince ourselves of this lie that I fall into sin because God wasn't doing his job right. Let me tell you, again, God is not responsible for our sins and our temptations. So don't blame God when you fall into temptations and sin. but also seek God in those times, repent of them, turn away from them, and continue to follow God faithfully. The word of God also tells us that if we come with our confessions, He is faithful to forgive. Again, thank God that we serve such a wonderful, merciful God. Our second application is this, trust God and know that He is good. Blaming God for our sin or thinking that He set us up to fail is rooted in a mindset that's ultimately distrustful of God's goodness and purpose of the trials, which we covered last week. We know that the purpose of the trial is to make us more and more like Christ, right? To make us perfect, to build our endurance. The temptations during a trial are not there to stumble us into sin, but to help us to build our endurance in the faith and to grow more like Christ and to grow in our trust in the goodness of God. Trust that God is good and that he will never lead you astray. Our last two applications are these, guard your heart and regularly confess and fight against thoughts that are not God honoring. Guard your heart, your mind, your eyes. Regularly confess and fight and struggle against your sin. Put your sin to death. And remember that God is a good gift giver. God is not gonna give you a sinful, evil gift. God is a good gift giver, always has been, always will be. And we can remember this by remembering and meditating on the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no greater, more perfect gift that he ever gave sinful humanity than salvation through Christ. So I'm gonna pray, and then we will have a time of invitation, and you come and let's do business with the Lord. Lord, I love you so much. Stay put after the closing prayer and invitation. There is a video that I would like you guys to watch. If you've noticed, there is a prayer cards in the classrooms for Regenesis. There's a short video explaining what we're supposed to do with those cards, and I would appreciate it if you could take a look. Hang back for a little bit, watch that short video. It's not even like a minute long or anything like that. But we're gonna have our time of invitation. Let's come and do business with the Lord. Whatever you need, come to the altar. Let us pray. Father, God, we come before you, Lord, and we thank you, Lord, for this time. We thank you, Lord, for your word. We thank you, Lord, that you, even though we are utterly sinful, Lord, falling into the temptations of our own ungodly desires, Lord, you, Lord, are merciful. You, Lord, are good. You, Lord, have provided us a way for salvation through your Son, and you, Lord, have been so merciful to us, Lord, as Christians, even when we mess up or stumble. Lord, you have been so good to us. The mercy that you show us as your children, Lord, I cannot fathom. We mess up daily and yet you are there for us. Yet you forgive us. Yet you are merciful to us. You show us grace that we do not deserve. Lord, thank you for showing us in this passage, Lord, how desperately sinful we are. in our desperate need of you, but also, Lord, how good, how good you are. Father God, we love you. And I pray, Lord, if there's somebody here does not know you as Savior, Lord, I pray, Lord, that they would come and put their faith and trust in you. Lord, I pray, Lord, that if there's someone who has a burden on their heart, that they would come for prayer. Lord, we ask, Lord, for you to do your will. In your name I pray, Lord, and amen.