Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

W.W.W. (not “world wide web”) Warren Wendel Wiersbe is a popular name for many reasons and for good reason!

First, he’s a godly pastor that holds to conservative evangelicalism — the true faith!

Second, he’s a well studied man who is a seminary graduate who authored over 150 books with over 10,000 books in his personal library!

He pastored Chicago’s Moody Church for seven years, and he worked at the Back to the Bible radio broadcast as general director for ten years.

Warren Wiersbe’s 50 book commentary set, the BE Series Commentaries, is probably what gave him the most fame in the public eye.

His commentary on James in that Be series is called “BE Mature” Well, in preparing this sermon, I saw the passage we find ourselves in today for our look through the book of James that James, himself, has a sort-of miniature Don’t BE series!

lets turn to Chapter 1 starting at verse 13

James 1:13-164

Last week we saw a reward of passing God’s tests— the crown of Life, this week we see a glimpse of failing.

Persecution, in of itself, caused many problems for these early Christians.

One of those problems may be somewhat surprising or even shocking to us: Persecution caused for many believers a temptation to sin!

I know this because James is addressing this, but in what way were they sinning, or at least, tempted?

First, many Christians were strongly tempted to reply in like kind to their persecutors: “If they hurt me, I will hurt them back!”

We could call this today the ‘don’t get mad; get even’ temptation.

I’m sure none of us here today struggle with this type of thinking.

But temptation came from persecution in at least, one other way, namely, the temptation to use persecution as a justification for their sin.

In other words, some of those who were suffering for their Christianity were reasoning something along these lines: ‘My life is so difficult that I am entitled to do whatever I can to make it more bearable or even pleasurable.’

People have often allowed their difficulties to give them a sense of entitlement.

Some of them have even allowed themselves to conclude that God is the source of their temptations.

They may very well have reasoned along these lines:

But temptation came from persecution in at least, one other way, namely, the temptation to use persecution as a justification for their sin.

In other words, some of those who were suffering for their Christianity were reasoning something along these lines: ‘My life is so difficult that I am entitled to do whatever I can to make it more berable or even pleasurable.’

God has sent the trial.

James 1:13-15

James 1:

The trial has caused me to be tempted.

Therefore, God has tempted me to sin.

Do you reason like this? if so, keep listening.

First off don’t lose all hope

This kind of wrong thinking has been going on since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden.

From the beginning it has been a natural human response to make excuses and blame others for sin.

Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent.

But notice that, in blaming Eve, Adam stressed that it was God who had given her to him [[]].

The whole sin problem was God’s fault in Adam’s eyes!

Someone once said, ‘To err is human; to blame it on the divine is even more human.’

This type of thing led Will Rogers to say that there are two eras in American history—the passing of the buffalo and the passing of the buck!

So in these verses from our passage in James, he moves from trials to temptations.

In doing so, he clears God of wrongdoing in verse 13 and exposes the true culprit by the next verse.

But first in the Don’t BE series, James essentially says:

Don’t be presuming

1:13 “Let no one say” This is a PRESENT ACTIVE IMPERATIVE with the NEGATIVE PARTICLE which could translate to a more forceful: “stop saying.”

The implication is that some believers were saying this.

This reflects the literary technique called diatribe or a condemnation on the believer who does say this sort of thing.

Since some early believers knew that God allowed trials, He then must also be the source of their temptation.

We must have a correct view of God in order to persevere during times of trial.

Specifically, we need to understand God’s view of our temptations.

Trials and temptations always present us with choices.

God wills for us to make good choices, not evil ones.

As we’ve already seen, hardships can produce spiritual maturity and lead to eternal benefits if we’ve endured in faith.

But tests can also be failed.

We can give in to temptation.

And when we fail, we often use all kinds of excuses and reasons for our actions.

The most dangerous of these is to say, “God is tempting me.”

It is crucial for us to remember that God tests people for good; he does not tempt people for evil.

Even during temptation we can see God’s sovereignty in permitting Satan to tempt us in order to refine our faith and help us grow in our dependence on Christ.

Instead of persevering (1:12), we may give in or give up in the face of trial.

We might even make excuses and rationalize that God is at fault for sending such a trying experience, and thus blame God for our failure.

A person who makes excuses is trying to shift blame to something or someone else--as we just from Adam & Eve.

A Christian, on the other hand, accepts responsibility for his or her wrongs, confesses them, and asks God for forgiveness.

Because YHWH is never tempted to do wrong, he cannot be the author of temptation.

James is likely also arguing against the pagan view of the gods where good and evil coexisted and are both necessary for the universe.

God does not wish evil on people; he does not cause evil; he does not try to trip people up—he never tempts anyone.

At this point, the question may be rightly asked: “If God really loves us, why doesn’t he protect us from temptation?”

A God who kept us from temptation would be a God unwilling to allow us to grow.

In order for a test to be an effective tool for growth, it must be capable of being failed.

God actually proves his love by protecting us in temptation instead of protecting us from temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

“for God cannot be tempted by evil” This means either:

not temptable or

“untrained in evil”

either way, though, it means that God has no connection or experience with evil.

This thought reminds me of the quip, “Is there anything humans can do that God cannot?” and the answer is, of course, “yes, humans can, and do, sin” God cannot tempt anyone to sin because he cannot!

His very nature is so opposed to sin that he cannot possibly tempt anyone in that direction.

D. Edmond Hiebert writes, ‘God is unsusceptible to evil; evil has never had any appeal for Him.

It is repugnant and abhorrent to Him.’

At this point, you could be asking the question: “If God really loves us, why doesn’t he protect us from temptation?”

A God who would keep us from every temptation would be a God unwilling to allow us to grow.

In order for a test to be an effective tool for growth, it has to be capable of being failed.

God can and does prove his love by protecting us through the temptation instead of just protecting us from the temptation altogether.

At this point, you could be asking the question: “If God really loves us, why doesn’t he protect us from temptation?”

A God who would keep us from every temptation would be a God unwilling to allow us to grow.

In order for a test to be an effective tool for growth, it has to be capable of being failed.

God can and does prove his love by protecting us through the temptation instead of just protecting us from the temptation altogether.

God cannot tempt anyone to sin because he cannot!

His very nature is so opposed to sin that he cannot possibly tempt anyone in that direction.

D. Edmond Hiebert writes, ‘God is unsusceptible to evil; evil has never had any appeal for Him.

It is repugnant and abhorrent to Him.’

But if God does not tempt anyone to do evil, why did Jesus teach us to pray, ‘do not lead us into temptation’ (; )?

This is the big question I had when I studied this passage!

So in these verses, James moves from trials to temptations.

In doing so, he clears God of wrong-doing and indicts the true culprit.

The answer, of course, is not clear in our English translations.

Here the word ‘temptation’ (peirasmos) does not mean temptation to sin as it does in James (peirazō).

Jesus’ prayer rather refers to tests and trials.

It is a fact that the Lord does regularly send trials to his people so they may know their own spiritual condition.

Asking God not to lead us into temptation in these two prayers means, then, that we ask him not to test us because we are already aware of how very weak we are.

“He Himself does not tempt anyone” However, the Bible records several of God’s tests: Abraham, ; Israel, Deut, 8:2; Jesus, ; and even believers.

This statement seems to be caught up in the differing connotations between the terms “tempt” (peirazō, cf.

1:13), and “test” (dokimazō, cf.

1:3, 12).

God does not tempt so as to destroy, but He does test so as to strengthen.