James the Just Part 5
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The Crown of Life
The Crown of Life
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
*Open Prayer*
The main principle of the entire first chapter is the proper understanding of wisdom.
Proper wisdom shows us a life that puts faith and action together.
Putting the promises of God ahead of the cares of even our own lives.
All things can be endured because we have wisdom from God.
The thing about testing is that it goes on until the test is complete.
It doesn’t make sense to stop right in the middle of a test, does it?
This can be a long, uncomfortable process, but verse 12 reveals something interesting...
Look how it starts out.
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Blessed is the word I want to look at.
Does it seem strange to say your blessed for going through temptation?
James goes on to tell us why this is a blessing, because it brings a reward of the crown of life.
It is interesting how our lives are molded and shaped through trials and testing.
They say difficult times create strong men
strong men create easy times
easy times create weak men.
It really is good for us to go through tough times, even though we don’t often like it.
Notice it does not say blessed is the man that is “never tempted”, or that “finds it easy to overcome temptation”...
It says Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.
There are no crown wearers in heaven, who were not cross bearers on earth.
Charles Spurgeon
Tough trials reveal the strength of our faith.
Notice how verse 12 ends… to them that love him...
that is our motivation to go through trials, because we love God!
Many choose to resist temptation for other reasons… namely a fear of man.
They fear getting caught or found out by others....
like a thief when near a police officer
or when other sin is glorified...
like when you give up drugs because your greedy with money...
But the best motive for resisting temptation is because we love God...
It should break every Christians heart when we fail God.
When we sin against Him, who loves us so...
Lets look at these other verses again in James.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
James knew most people like to blame God when they do fall into temptation.
What James is talking about flies directly in the face of modern Calvinism.
According to that belief, man is just wet robots, we do what ever God pre-planned us to do.
James sets that idea straight.
I think the issue is people confuse “God knowing what people will choose” with “God making the decision the people choose”.
If Calvinism was true, everyone on judgement day could point to God and blame him by saying “you made me do it”.... But that is not the case.
God gives us the ability to endure through temptation.
God does not tempt man… Man puts himself in the position of temptation.
If he endures, he will be blessed.
As Charles Spurgeon said… “Satan tempts, God tries”
Temptation comes when we are drawn away by fleshly desires.
Look at Job for an easy example.
In Job chapter 1 we see Job lost nearly everything.
Even his children....
The temptation there that Satan wanted to lure him into was loving the temporal things of the world more than loving God.
It didn’t work.
Job had wisdom to know God gave him everything, and God can choose to take it away.
The things in this life are temporal, loving and relying on God is forever.
*Video* - Check out what Frank Turrek has to say about Calvinism
The only reason Satan has power when he tempts us is because we give it to him.
Sin corrupts our wisdom to rely on God...
In short, God is not responsible for man’s sin.
Each man has to take an account for his own actions.
No man will ever be able to blame God for their sin.
Sin is a choice, and when we endure over sin, we are blessed.
To keep things in perspective, lets look at John chapter 10
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The thief here, being Satan himself.
Sin may look appealing… it may even offer temporary pleasure...
but it only serves one real purpose, to steal, kill, and destroy.
That is exactly what sin does.
So in the words of James...
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
*Closing prayer*
