We will read James 1, the verses 1 through 18 together. The text is verses 12 through 18. So we'll especially focus on that this morning. James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with not doubting. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass. Its flower falls and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. Now we come to our text. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, boys and girls, do you like playing with Lego? Probably most of you do. Maybe even your parents do. Have you ever bought your own Lego? Maybe you spent a lot of time doing chores for dad and mom, or maybe you saved up all of your birthday money because there was a particular set that you wanted. And you thought about that set for a long time, maybe even dreamt about it, and then finally the day came and you could buy your Lego. Maybe now that you're older, you don't want Lego so badly anymore, but maybe there are other things that you want. And unlike Lego, some of those other things that we want are not good. Often we know that already. Often we feel guilty about it. And sometimes we want the right thing, but we're not motivated to follow through on it. Our sinful desires can be very strong, but God's desire is even stronger. This morning we're celebrating the Lord's Supper. And the Lord's Supper is really a sacrament which reveals the power of desire. And it does that in three ways. It reveals the children's desire, that's us, young and old, children of God. It reveals the children's desire. It reveals the son's desire. And it reveals the father's desire. So where do sinful desires come from? They don't come from outside of us. Sometimes we speak and act as if they do. Sometimes we blame other people for making us act the way that we do. You see this often when people argue. Someone might say, I'm sorry that I reacted the way that I did, but it really was your fault. You provoked me, you made me act in that way. That kind of response comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of how sin actually works. Sin doesn't come from outside of us. Our passage says, each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. So how does that actually work? Well, last week when we looked at the first part of this chapter together, we noticed that the word that is translated as trial in verse two is the same word that is translated as temptation in the rest of the chapter. And one of the things that we discovered was that a trial is really any situation which challenges us. And it presents us with this question, how are we going to respond? If we respond with wisdom, that is, in a way that is consistent with what God calls us to be, then we've withstood the trial. And so verse 12 says, blessed is the man who endures temptation, or like it says in the ESV, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. But if we respond sinfully to the trial that we undergo, then it becomes a temptation. And some of us might be inclined to think, well, that's not fair. If God brings the trial into our life, then it's his fault if we fail. But doesn't that kind of reasoning simply prove the point that we blame other people for our trial? If we cannot blame someone who's close to us, then we blame God. James has anticipated that, so in verse 13 he says, let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone, but each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. So the problem lies with us, it lies with our own misplaced desires. James uses a series of grotesque images to get his point across. He says, such a person is drawn away by his desires. And when you look at our text, you get the impression of initial reluctance. But finally, the person who's being tempted gives in to persuasion. It's almost like a seduction. That's reflected further in verse 15. When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. Just like a baby was hidden in the womb before it became visible, so hidden desire gives birth to sin. And just like a child, desire or sin grows up. It moves into the world and it starts to take on a life of its own and that's what our sin does, doesn't it? It often ends up outside of our control. It takes on a life of its own and then, says James, it brings forth death. So what does a death actually look like? Well, the Lord's Supper imagery shows us The bread is broken and the wine is poured out to represent the death that Jesus underwent on behalf of sinners. The death that Jesus died was a punishment for sin and it culminated in being separated from God. We call that hell. And those are the consequences of sin, separation, eternal separation from God and pain. And that's represented by the bread and the wine, the breaking and the pouring out. So the Lord's Supper portrays the consequences of our sinful desires if they're left unchecked. That's what we're looking at this morning. How very different these things are from the Son's desire. When you look at how subtle the process of sin and the ensuing death is, it's clear that we're not able to deal with these things ourselves. Sin is conceived and comes to life in each one of us. And that makes us think about the Lord Jesus. Did Jesus ever have a sinful desire? And if he did, did he just ignore them? How did he cope with that? If Jesus was a true human being like us, how could he not be tempted? Now it is true that Jesus was a true man, and he was also tested like us. That's why Hebrews 4 verse 15 says that we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, but without sin. And you have to understand the word tempted here as tested. Jesus was certainly tested with all of the things that other people were tested with. And in that sense, he was exactly the same as us. But he was not tempted in the sense that he wanted to do wrong. And so his desires did not give birth to death. He had only one overriding desire, as he says in Psalm 40 verse eight, I delight to do your will, O God. Do you realize that, that your Jesus never once desired to do something wrong? He never once desired to do anything other than the will of God. Meditate on that. His whole life was one great trial culminating in the greatest trial a man could ever undergo, which is to be condemned when completely innocent and to face the wrath of an angry God. Even in Gethsemane, when he struggled with the knowledge of what was coming, he submitted himself to God's will and he said, my father, if it be your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Jesus alone fully desired to be obedient and that's why his desires did not give birth to death. Jesus desired to be obedient, and his pure desires were a part of his obedience. By his perfect obedience, he obtained life for us, and that is also represented in the imagery of the Lord's Supper. These elements don't just point to the punishment for our misplaced desires, they also point to the perfection of Christ's desires. They point to what Christ obtained for us, He obtained the Father's favor for us, and so now the Father desires to give us life. That's our third point. When we deal with sinful desires, they can be overwhelming. They can feel so strong, but they're no match for the desires of God. God is a God who desires to give life to his children. What's life? Well, life in the Bible is fellowship. It is communion with him. God is a God who gives, a God who gives from moment to moment, a God who gives you every breath, every heartbeat. We deserve eternal death, and yet God gives. He gives us life and strength and the ability to do our work. He gives us music and recreation. He gives us supper and speech. He gives everything. God is a God who gives. It's in his nature. Look at verse 17. It says, every good gift, every good thing that you have ever received in your life has been given to you by the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Imagine the heavenly lights, the stars. We cannot imagine anything bigger than the billions of stars in a universe that is vast beyond comprehension. And then think of the words of Psalm 147, that he knows the stars by name, that he numbers each one of them. God brought it all into being. He is the father of lights and he is consistent because you know what? Even stars can be extinguished. Even planets change their position in the night sky, but God is the father of lights, the one who created it all, and with him there is no variation, no shadow of turning. The God who brought forth the stars brought us forth as well. He didn't just give us physical life, he gave us spiritual life. What do we bring forth by nature? We bring forth sin and wickedness. What did God bring forth? He brought us forth by the word of truth, the truth of the gospel. The gospel that we hear, the gospel that transforms us from the inside out. The same gospel that we see depicted this morning in these Lord's Supper elements. And since he has brought us forth by the word of truth, he also wants to strengthen us this morning through the Lord's Supper. It's through the Lord's Supper that we are reassured of his hearty love towards us. It's through the Lord's Supper that we are spiritually fed. And it is even through the Lord's Supper that we experience and recognize the power of desire. We recognize the deadly power of our desire to sin. We recognize the marvelous power of Jesus' desire to save. And we also recognize the power of the Father to bring us forth by the word of truth, to give us faith. And having done that, He also desires us to continue. God, in fact, desires to renew all of His creation. And we are merely the firstfruits. That's what it says in verse 18. The firstfruits are the first part of the harvest, the best part. But they're not the only part. They promise that there is more to come. We're joined to Christ by faith. He is the firstfruits of the new humanity and in Him we are the firstfruits of His redeeming work. So we're renewed this morning for His service and that renewal includes our desires. Our renewed desire is to serve the Lord with integrity. We can be strengthened in that desire as we go to the Lord's Supper table this morning. We all come to the table with sin. In that sense, the Lord's Supper reveals to everyone the power of our sinful desires, but it also reveals the Son's desire to save us, and it reveals the Father's desire to maintain us in the new life. May His desire become ours, then we will never be drawn away.