It seems it's an instinct for us, isn't it, to blame others when things go wrong. Especially if you watch children or young people, they're playing a sport and something goes wrong, whether it's on the soccer field or on the hockey rink or wherever it may be. The other team scores a number of goals. Things are starting to fall apart with the team. And right away, the instinct is, isn't it, to point at everyone else. Well, he did this or she did that. And she's not doing this and he's not doing that. And the coach blames the players and the players. blame the coach, and everything falls apart. Isn't that our instinct in many areas of life? It's always first to point at others. The children fail to get something done in the home that they've been told to do, and one of the first excuses is somebody else did something, got in the way, caused something. You look at a marriage that's falling apart. And right away, the spouses, the first instinct seems to be, and I think every one of us has done this and has fallen in this, blame the other person for what's going wrong or blame the in-laws or even the community or some friends that have gotten in the way or whatever it may be, instead of looking at their own heart. There's something in us. That's so easily from the first moment it wants to deflect blame. You think right from the beginning actually. Genesis chapter three, Adam and Eve, they're caught in their sin and what do they do right off the start? Eve blames the serpent and Adam, he even blames ultimately first the woman, but he ultimately blames God. He says, God, he says, the woman that you gave to me, the woman that you gave to me, she tempted me, she caused me to sin. And that's really the ultimate temptation, isn't it? When it comes right down to it, we were tempted to blame God. And even in subtle ways and roundabout ways, we blame God for our own sin. And when we slip into it, we look at our circumstances and we say, well, my life is just so hard and God has piled so much on top of me. It's ultimately God's fault that I'm slipping into sin. And actually, the truth is, we believe in the sovereignty of God. We believe that God is in control of all things. And this is something of a special temptation for some people who believe in the sovereignty of God, that they slip into saying, well, it's the Lord's fault. He's in control of all things. And maybe they won't say that out loud, but they'll think it in their mind, they'll default. And James here is dealing with this. He's giving the right answers on who is to blame when we give in to temptation. It's not the popular answer. It's probably the least popular answer, because it comes and it hits us square in the forehead, really, and it says, you alone are to blame when you fall into sin. And that's actually the most helpful answer. We're going to look at this passage under the theme of dealing with temptation. First, we'll look at two different responses to temptation, then we'll look at the reality of temptation, and thirdly, at a right view of God. Well, first we begin with two different responses to temptation. First, the right one in verse 12, and then the wrong one in verse 13. Verse 12, it begins with a blessing. Blessed is the man who endures temptation. That's the right way to go, to endure temptation. That's what we're called to. And it actually begins with a sort of language that's the same as the Beatitudes, Matthew chapter 5. And if you think about it, it's kind of a summary of the Beatitudes. Blessed is the man who endures temptation. It's actually also the same language that's the beginning of many Psalms. Blessed is the man. And the theme that we've been looking at so far in the book of James is that he writes to these scattered and oppressed people, this church that's been spread around because of the persecution and the economic hard times were also there. And James wrote to remind them, for a Christian, trials, hardships, and even temptations, they're not what they seem to be. They're not negative for a Christian. But in verse 2, they're a source of joy, and we just also read that in 1 Peter. They're a source of joy. They're an opportunity for you as a Christian to grow in patience, to grow in faith. And riches and material things, the things that the world looks on as blessings, the things we're tempted to see as blessings, James has said they're worthless, they're fading, they're being destroyed. Like a flower, they will fade, we just read again. And so as Christians, we've been seeing through these first verses to look at the world in an upside down, a reversed way to what the average person might look at the world. The trials like poverty and sickness, they become our glory. They shape, they mold our faith. We learn to trust in God more and more through them. But wealth and possessions and an easy life, though God may give us those things, they also are a temptation, they're a trial, and they're actually more of a danger to James. Now, in this verse, though, there's a shift. The focus here goes from the external trials, the hardships, to temptations. Verse two to eight, we were looking at trials, at hardships like sickness and poverty and persecution, and now we shift to temptation, situations where we're tempted to rebel against God, to fall into sin, and they're related. A trial can often become a temptation, can it? A trial can become a temptation, but here we're shifting more to look at an actual temptation to sin. It's easy, isn't it, in a trial to become bitter. or angry, or cynical, or to go back to your old ways of living even, to fall into those sins of covetousness, or of lust, or of wanting things that you do not have. You might remember the parable of the sower in Luke 8, where the church is seen as like a field, where seeds of God's Word, they're scattered, they're sown, and they begin to grow as the Word grows in their hearts. And there are some in Luke chapter 8, They're warned that they're like seeds sown on the rock. They believe for a while, and then in a time of temptation, they fall away. You see, some people, they hear the gospel, they hear the good news about Jesus, and for a time, their life seems to change. Same things seem to get better, but then they slip away. They believe for a while. And they're not ultimately a Christian, though. In a time of temptation, they fall away. And that's what we're looking at today. James is saying, blessed are those that endure, that stand strong, that stand firm. They're tempted to fall into sin, but they don't slip. It's a reminder. You will face trials as a Christian. You will face temptations. That's what James chapter 1 has been all about. They will be a test of your faith. The devil is working to even pull you away. James chapter 4 verse 7. He has a role in this. He's trying to tempt us. And we're reminded here that blessing comes in standing, in enduring temptations. And James comes with an encouragement. You're being tempted, you stand, you endure, reminded you've been approved. When they've been approved, that means when their life is finished, it shows they've walked and they live by faith to the glory of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they've stood against temptation, and that proves that their faith was not superficial, that it was not false, it was not temporary. But it's a tried and a true faith. And you see the reality is, if when you're tempted you fall into sins like adultery or hatred or rage or lust again and again, that means your life is a downward spiral into bondage. It's evidence that your faith in the end is a temporary illusion. But the encouragement comes for those that are fighting. against sin, their resisting temptation, they'll receive the crown of life. They'll reign with Christ in the new heavens and the new earth. We read the parallel in 1 Peter 1 verse 7, that your faith is being tested, that it may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You see, those that love God, Those that love Jesus, they turn their backs on temptations, they're fighting against them constantly. That doesn't mean that we're perfect. It doesn't mean we never slip. But it does mean here that a Christian is enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit to resist the temptations that the world would fall under again and again. And so it's time, as we've gone through James chapter 1, to soberly look at your life. Over the years, since you became a Christian, are you growing? Are you putting away sins, resisting temptations that would once knock you down, perhaps in your younger or less mature years? Does your love for the Lord Jesus cause you to hate sin and want to please Him? If so, rejoice, be encouraged, though your progress may seem small to you. People look at their lives, perhaps, and The small, seemingly small sins that come back again and again, and they may be encouraged, but we should be encouraged. The crown of life awaits those who are fighting against temptation, that crown. It refers probably to those wreaths of branches. You've probably seen those, maybe on a picture of the head of Julius Caesar or an ancient athlete in the Greek games. They would have this wreath of branches that was placed on their head. And that was a symbol of victory in that culture. That was worn by the general when he came back from war, or the athlete at the end of the race when he won. And the reassurance here is, Christian, you're going through a life of trials, of hardships, of temptations. But when you stand under those, and when you finish that race, and you've been fighting against sin and the devil your whole life, there's a crown waiting for you, there's a wreath, there's a reward for every Christian, not just the great ones and the notable ones and the ones who will be remembered by history, but there's a crown for each one. And that's what we ought to be looking forward to, to pleasing God, to living for Him. But then we turn to verse 13, James 1 verse 13, where we're warned about the wrong responses to temptations. And here comes the wrong response that many people slip into. Let no one say when he's tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. This kind of response, it's the kind of response that's a contrast to the last section. You see, this is the kind of person who, when they fall into sin, they turn around and they say, it's not my fault I fell into sin, or I've become bitter. It's not my fault my marriage fell apart, or I'm abusing substances. They would say, my life is just too hard. Too many things have gone wrong. And if God was more perfect and loving, if God would just arrange things a little better, they say, if He wouldn't allow all of these things to happen to me, I wouldn't have fallen into sin. That's the wrong response to temptation. That was Adam's response in Genesis chapter 3. It was to blame God. But James is saying, no. God is in control. Christians and believers, they've known this. God is in control. But just because He controls all things, does not make him the author of sin, the one who starts sin in our lives. No, sin is rebellion against God. It's not rooted in his work. After all, James says, God cannot even be tempted by evil. He cannot go against himself and his own righteous character, who he is. Our sin is rebellion against him. We could think of God as the king. Think of a king. A leader who gives all kinds of good things to his subjects. He gives gifts. A king might lay out a feast for his people at some times. A feast with wine and all kinds of food. But is it the king's fault if those people become drunkards and gluttons? It's not the king's fault. He's given them good things. He's given them good gifts. A king might raise taxes. Even think of this being a reasonable king. He's put a tax that's necessary. It's his right as a king, but it's the people's fault if they rebel. They are the ones who are treasonous. And so the Lord God, when he gives us times of plenty of feasting, and if we turn into gluttons, so to speak, and drunkards more in a In a sense, that's our own fault. If the Lord puts us through a hard time and we rebel against him and we're bitter, that's our own fault. Our calling as Christians is to submit to God's will. And the way he arranges things in our world, that's not where the root of sin is. It's in our own hearts. We are the rebels. Who do you tend to blame when you fall into sin? Do you blame yourself? Do you blame the others that God has put into your life? Do you blame the situations? We need to be careful. Now, some people will ask, but what about those communities, or those families, or those certain neighborhoods and cities where It just seems there's such a history of sin that it's passed from father to son and there's poverty and there's a way of life that people just can't be expected to get themselves out of. And others may say, they may say, well, it's simply in my biological makeup. I have a struggle with depression or anxiety or mental illness and so I can't avoid sin. It's not my fault. People are tempted to say, but that's not. what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches your condition, your situation. It might be a great trial. It may make situations very, very hard for you. There may be sins that other people don't even think about, doesn't even cross their path in a lifetime, and every day it's a struggle for you. It's a grave. It's an awful trial. It may mean you carry heavy burdens and no one understands some of you. It may mean you need a lot of help. But James does not allow us to take away our personal responsibility for sin, no matter what the situation. Yes, it should make us more understanding of each other as Christians. When somebody struggles with a certain situation or background, it should make us more patient, should make us more caring with one another. more helpful with one another as fellow believers. It should make us more aware of that person's needs and trying to build them up and strengthen them and not add to their temptation. But we can't use any situation, any trial as an excuse and end up blaming God for our sin. It's one of the great lies that the devil uses. And he's especially using it in our day. He's trying to disintegrate all sense of personal responsibility and he's saying, you're just born that way. Or this is just the way you grew up and don't try and change it. But the word of God comes and it says, verse 14, each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and enticed. And then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin, when it's full grown, brings forth death. James uses the illustration here actually of fishing or of trapping animals. But you see in his picture, the lure or the bait that we grab onto, it's not the sin or it's not the temptation itself. It's not certainly set by God. Actually, the lure in James's picture, it's in our own flesh. It's our own desires. It's those seemingly pleasurable and good feelings that try to draw us into a certain sin, that cause us to react wrongly, to be angry or impatient or to give in to a lust. And you see, God actually gives us what's best for us, James is saying. And we become like small children. You know, a small child, you can give them the right food. The food that they need. But if they don't want it on their plate, they'll fight and they'll rebel and they'll scream. And it's not the parent's fault when they do that. That's the child's. The parent is giving them what's good. They're giving what they need. Even a toddler begins to rebel, don't they? They have this selfish sinfulness in them. These impulses, these urges, they draw them into sin. And so we need to understand it's not the food with that picture of the toddler that's the problem. It's the lure in their own heart. As Jesus says in Matthew 15 verse 19, out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murderers, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man. The problem is in our heart. And the result in verse 15 is very sad. That desire that's in us, it's a picture of it giving birth. It conceives, it gives birth to sin and sin when it's full grown. brings forth death. That's very sad, verse 15. And we've seen this, we see this in the world around us, don't we? Somebody's addicted to a certain sin, they live in a certain sin, and it actually literally leads to this point of death. But what we need to see is that anyone, anyone who's living in sin, it actually leads towards, and it leads to death. And that death is all around us. We can look at our culture, our society, and we see it's following its lusts. And so often we ourselves slip into that. We look at our society, we're eating ourselves to death, drinking ourselves. We're taught to follow our own desires because that's supposed to be what makes you happy. But following your own desires and not the word of God, that's death. And in the end, It's hell, and it's interesting. Our world makes it into a joke, doesn't it? You listen to the average comedian, or you see the average show on TV, or what the media is putting out there. They love to make a joke of so many sins, whether it's adultery or drunkenness. It's entertainment. Even death itself has become entertainment in our culture. People, they're entertained by horror films and by violence. And a whole industry is being built around this. It's the exact reverse of teaching us James 1 verse 15. There's nothing entertaining, there's nothing funny about this sin that leads to death. It's horrible. It's sad. And we see people all around us falling and slipping into it. We should mourn for them. And if we ourselves are beginning to slip, we should fear for ourselves. There's nothing entertaining about this sin. It leads to death. And the call today is repent. Turn from that sin. Do you hate your sin? The answer is come to Jesus. He is the answer, trust in Him, and then you will be made new, shaped and molded into a new creation. A Christian that has a right view of God, that's able to face temptations as they've begun with Jesus Christ, they trust in Him. And we'll look at that in verses 16 through 18 for a moment. Facing temptation with a right view of God. Christian, you need to understand that every single thing that happens to you in this life, every trial, every hardship that crosses your path, that it's good for you, ultimately. No matter how hard it is, no matter how dark it seems, do not be deceived, Christian. God is working all things together for good for you. Life is not a series of random chances. A string of unfortunate events. Verse 16, do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Now this verse, it's not just talking about our human idea of goodness. Some people might look at this and they might think, well, God gives good things like nice houses and nice cars and good health and good food. Yes, he may give those things. But to James, what's included under good? What we've looked at so far in this chapter, what's included under good is trials. He said, count it all joy when you face various trials. Even trials are good gifts from God. And so James is saying, whatever God gives you, count it as good. Don't be deceived. Remember, we've been talking about looking at this world in an upside down way. Don't look at this world, he's saying, like the average man. Don't look at providence and be deceived and think that the good in the worldly sense is good and the bad is the bad. No. Look at this thing and understand, look at this world, that God is perfect in His character. That God is your unchanging, helping, creating ally. He's on your side. He's working everything for your good. Even the hard things. Even the trials. God does not work things in a bad way sometimes. When he says there's no variation or shadow or turning with God, James is saying God does not trick you. He's not a God of trickery or of unkindness. He doesn't give some good and then some bad and come and go as we are inclined to do when we treat other people. No, everything God lays out for us in our lives is actually good for us. He's shaping us. He's molding us. He's not hurting you. He's purifying you for his glory. And to reinforce God's goodness, James reminds his audience of the truth of the gospel, verse 18, of his own will. He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. God's goodness towards us is obvious. And that though we were rebels and sinners, He chose us, verse 18, that we'd hear the gospel, the word of truth, that we'd hear the good news of Jesus who died for sinners and He brought us forth. Literally, He made us to be born again as Christians. Not just passively something that happened to us. But verse 18, God, by the Holy Spirit, gave birth to us. It's the exact contrast if you look back at verse 15. Desire gives birth there to sin, which leads to death. That's the pattern so many people go through in this world. They fall into sin and further and further, their life is a downward spiral and it gives birth to death. But here in verse 18, God gives birth to us by the word of truth. And so the question is today, your life might be painful, might be filled with weaknesses and trials and hardships, but those that believe, take heart. As you're hearing the word of God, as you're reading it and listening to it, take hope. You're being made new. You've been born again, but in one sense, you're continuing to go through that process to be made right, to be made perfect in the end for that new heavens and the new earth, he says, so you can be a kind of first fruit. of His creatures. He's forming you. God's remaking you into the highest and the best of all creation, a first fruit. That's an Old Testament picture where they would come to a feast and they would bring the best of their fruits, the best of their flocks. And they would even dedicate their firstborn sons to God, the first and the best of everything in the land. Every year it was to be brought to Jerusalem and it was to be brought to God. And the Lord is saying, That as we go through trials and temptations, we looked at that picture of fading. As we go through trials and temptations, we're like a plant that's being nourished and brought through dry times, and through times of floods and hardships, and we're being shaped and nourished, though it may be hard. so that we'd be a first fruit, the best and the greatest, through every good trial and test, not so that we'd fall and be in darkness or sin, but that so that one day we would live to His glory forever. Christian, you will reign with Christ to the glory of His name, thanking Him for all things. And so let us begin today to be reminded to thank Him, even for the trials, and to understand that the temptations, they're our own responsibility, but also to turn to Him again, to the Lord Jesus Christ, to plead for forgiveness and to ask that He'd continue to shape us and mold us by His Word and Spirit. Amen.