Sermon Tone Analysis

James 1:16-18: The Life Cycle of New Life

 

Dear Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This morning we look at part two of James’ teaching on accounting for God’s actions in our lives.

Last week in verses 13-15 we saw the life cycle of sin and we saw that the word of God teaches us that the source of this sin cycle does not come from God.  Scripture says when you are tempted don’t say “God is tempting me” for God is not tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone.

The sin cycle of sin begins with our own hearts.

Scripture says /each one is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed.

Then when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is matured produces death./

This is the life cycle of sin – truly it is not life at all – but death.

In each one of our hearts we need to ask ourselves “what are we doing with this sin cycle that would rise up in our hearts?”

How do you and I handle sin in our lives?

Very often we are blind to depths of the sin in our lives.

It is a spiritual blindness.

This spiritual blindness can and often blinds us to understanding who we are, and who God is.

James is working on both of these levels here.

My blindness towards myself, and my blindness of who God is.

For such blindness he gives the warning we have in v. 16.

 

*The warning v.16*

 

Spiritual blindness is a kind of deception.

This is where the word of God leads us to in verse 16 where it gives us the warning /Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren./

Spiritual blindness is so different than physical blindness.

We notice that we are physically blind and we notice people who are physically blind.

But spiritual blindness is another matter.

Very often we don’t realize our own spiritual blindness.

Very often we can be convinced in our minds that we really are seeing things in the right way when in reality our spiritual vision is clouded or non existent.

Such persons with spiritual blindness can be very hard to teach or counsel due to the fact that they think that they are fine, or they think that the problems they have are because of others – this is where the blame game fits in.

Every sinner, and that means every one of us has these spiritual blindness to one degree or another.

Sin in its nature blinds us giving us a distorted view of ourselves and a distorted view of God.  Paul would write to the Romans about this saying that though they claimed to be wise they were fools.

These people are deceived.

James is going to deal more with this idea later in verse 23 where he talks about those who look in the mirror and forget who they are.

They have a distorted view of themselves.

Getting back to verse 16 we have the warning: /Don’t be deceived *my beloved brethren*/*.*

Here is a warning rooted in family love beloved brethren he calls us.

James here warns us against deception but in a very wonderful way.

He calls us his loved brethren.

In Christ, we are the people of God and we are those upon whom God has set his love.

What are wonderful place for you and I to be.

Such a reminder of who we are aids us in hearing this warning.

It is a warning that comes from our Father.

A Father who loves us and cares for us.

The scripture wants you and I to be spiritual awake to this reality of temptation, to this reality of deception, to the reality of the life cycle of sin and that the source of it is our hearts not God’s heart.

Our hearts are easily deceived on this point.

We are easily deceived into passing the buck and playing the blame game with others and with God.

How do we apply this warning?

In many ways.

James says in verse 19 /We must all be very quick to listen and slow to speak, and slow to wrath./

Are we living in a way in which we are deceiving ourselves.

Perhaps people have spoken to us time and time again about issues in our lives, but we just brush them off and we are quick to throw words back at them.

Blind to our selfishness.

Blind to the idols of our hearts, blaming others when the needs and desires of our idols aren’t met.

Let us examine our hearts, praying that that Holy Spirit would remove the deception and blindness that may be there.

Let us stop the blame game and acknowledge our own sin before God and the people around us.

Let us walk in a humble way before God and one another – God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

With the warning comes a beautiful reminder of who our God is and what he has done.

That he is the source not of the sin cycle, but of the life cycle in Christ.

He is the source of life and strength in the midst of trial and temptation.

*The source of the New Life Cycle*

* *

This Giver is the Father of lights.

He is the one who made the stars and planets in their motions.

Here we see the absolute stability of God.

He doesn't change like shifting shadows like we experience with the rising and falling of the sun, or when we see a lunar eclipse - God doesn't change like these.

He is the Father of these things.

God is light,” said John; “in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

There is only goodness in God and no evil at all.

God is the one who gives the true life cycle in Jesus Christ.

He is the one who makes us alive and equips us for life in this world.

*God is the one who does not change*.

What a wonderful love.

A love that is there – justified in Christ!

Unchanging!

Firm! Eternal!

There is no temptation by God to change his mind about having us as his children – he doesn’t kick his adopted children out on the street to fend for themselves.

What a love to rest in.

What a comfort for you and me.

 

1 Cor.

10:13 – “/God is faithful/.”

God is our Refuge and strength so that we are not refugees.

*God is counselling us here in this passage*.

We might wonder – how does the doctrine of God counsel me?  Look at our God – with true faith and by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit we know and we rest in this God, in this sacrificial and stable love.

In his love there is life.

Notice how the word of God counsels us at this point.

Perhaps if we have come to look upon God in a hard way - a way in which we doubt his goodness.

James here shows that God is the source of goodness not evil.

Do you look at God this way?

Don’t be deceived loved ones.

We can often be unthankful and childish ways of thinking – which can take us away from a healthy spiritual life.

It takes us away from desiring to worship God, from serving him.

It really is quite impossible to walk with God if we doubt his goodness.

To doubt his goodness is do doubt the sufficiency of his grace, the sufficiency of Christ and then God becomes our oppressor and we are fighting against him.

Perhaps some of the believers James was writing to were going through this kinds of times and experiences.

They had fled for their lives from Jerusalem; fleeing form the religious fanatics who wanted to kill them - and yet despite all this they experienced ongoing persecution.

The temptation was to doubt the goodness of God.

One of the enemy’s tricks is to convince us that our Father is holding out on us, that He does not really love us and care for us.

When Satan approached Eve, he suggested that if God really loved her, He would permit her to eat of the forbidden tree.

When Satan tempted Jesus, he raised the question of hunger.

“If Your Father loves You, why are You hungry?”

Our hearts are idol making factories – and those idols that we find in our hearts are there to deceive us.

They call us to worship them.

Whether that Idol is yourself, your idol may be being a man pleaser, living for the acceptance of others, it may be your self image, it may be lusts of various kinds – demand fulfillment.

Idols promise goodness, but they always rip you off.

I will be happy if I have __________.