Sometimes you're tempted to wonder if it's worth it. Sometimes it seems so hard. Sometimes it's very confusing. The life that God has called you to isn't always easy. One of the things I love about the Bible is how honest it is, how honest it is about the struggles of faith. I love the fact that Scripture doesn't avoid the hard questions. Scripture doesn't avoid the harsh realities of living in a fallen world. There are weird-sort-of stories in Scripture. There are stories that are graphically honest about the kinds of things that happen in this broken world.
How Long, O Lord?
There are, in the Scriptures, those confusing cries of faith--"How long, Oh, Lord? How long" And one of the things I appreciate so much about James is, James really does believe in a sturdy Gospel. James believes that because of the grace of God, we don't have to deny; we don't have to avoid; we don't have to explain things away; we don't have to put a saccharine smile on our faces and act like it's okay. We can bring a real heart of real questions and real struggles before a God who's awesome in His grace, and awesome in His patience, and stunning in His wisdom.
You don't have to dress yourself up and make yourself acceptable to this God; you can bring yourself as you are; you can bring your questions to Him. I would ask you this evening: what questions afflict you? What wonderment enters your mind as you think about your faith? If you could stand before God and say, "This is one thing I don't get. This is one thing I don't understand," what would you ask Him? Well, I would like you to look with me at James 1, verse 12 again. And I want to quickly just read through this passage one more time: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (ESV) James really brings before us these three profound questions. Maybe they've been questions for you. Here's the first one, "Is it really worth it to obey?" Have you ever wondered? Is it worth it?
You're trying so hard to serve God, and it just seems like your reward is confusion, and trial, and suffering. I love the words of Psalm 73 as the Psalmist struggled with the same things. He says, "Surely for no reason have I kept myself pure." I've obeyed for this? And so listen to these words, "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive a crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." James is returning to this theme of trial and to that key character quality that God is seeking to produce in us--that quality of steadfastness.
Remember, we've talked about steadfastness being fixed direction and firmness of purpose. God is working to develop in us character. The principle we've talked about is, 'God will take us where we haven't intended to go in order to produce in us what we could not achieve on our own.' But James adds one more element to the discussion. Look at what he says here, "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."
You cannot understand God's call to you without factoring in eternity, and that's exactly what James does. It's worth it to obey because there's such a thing as eternity. Listen, if all there is the here and now, if there's no such thing as eternity, then what is the game? The game is--get everything you can get in this moment; enjoy everything you can enjoy, because you can't take it with you. And so, go after all the temporal, and material, and relational pleasures you can find; put yourself at the center of your universe; you only live a short time, and you might as well get everything you can get.
A Radical Worldview With Eternity
And James gives a very different view of life. It's a radical worldview, that there is such a thing as eternity, and God has made this amazing promise to His children: that as they live that steadfast, focused life, a godly life of Kingdom focus, there is at the end of that life - a crown of life. There is a glorious, eternal life of reward that will last forever. Do you believe that? And there will be a day when everything you've suffered, every trial, every difficulty, every sadness, will pale into nonexistence in comparison to the awesome eternity that you're living forever and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever.
Do you get it? This is but a flash of a moment. Now, brothers and sisters, it's hard for us to think that; this doesn't seem like a flash does it? Be honest. Last week as you struggled through that relational difficulty with somebody you love, it didn't seem like a flash of a moment! Be honest: you forgot eternity! You didn't say to yourself, "This is okay that I can't get along with my wife the way I would like to, and we struggle so much because we're sinners, because I have eternity." But that's exactly what you need to do, and say, "This is tough; this is hard; we weep; we break, but there's eternity; there's eternity; there's eternity; there's eternity.
And I'll get up tomorrow, and maybe I can't standup; I'll crawl on knees of faith. I'll press forward again even though I'm weak and confused because there is an eternity!" What a sweet pastoral thing for James to talk about with people who are suffering as these people are suffering. Hear me say this, If there's an eternity, your struggle is worth it. If there's an eternity, your investment of obedience is the best investment you'll make. There is a Forever for the people of God. And weep to your Lord.
He welcomes you to come to Him. But as you weep, remember, there will be a moment when you will weep no more. There will be a moment when your eyes will be dry, and you'll experience life as you've never experienced it, and you'll experience it forever. A crown of life, a crown of life - there is an eternity. Notice where James goes next, verse 13, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one." Maybe there's a second question; I don't know how else to phrase this, and I don't want for a moment to be irreverent, but the question comes into your mind, "Is God toying with me?
Is this sovereign God setting me up? Perhaps the very God who calls me to be holy, the very God who speaks so strongly about sin, perhaps He's putting me in situations of temptation." "After all, He's sovereign. He controls my circumstances. Is this God actually as good as He says He is?" Did you ever feel set up? Do you ever feel like you're just walking from trap to trap? Have you ever, in the midst of that for a moment, doubted maybe, the goodness of God? Notice what James does here; he makes a very critical distinction which needs to be in our thinking as well.
God will try you for the purpose of your development, your growth, your refinement because God knows that you will only ever experience true righteousness when you come to the end of yourself. For most of us, our problem isn't that we lack self-confidence; our problem is our selfconfidence is all too sturdy. You, in fact, think you're more righteous than you actually are. You can fall into thinking yourself as the fount of wisdom that you need. And so God pushes us beyond ourselves. You don't need to turn there now, but there's a wonderful quote at the end of your bulletin by J.
I. Packer that talks about God's plan of pushing us way beyond ourselves in order that we would seek the help that we would only find in Him and know the grace of growth. God will take you where you haven't intended to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own. But here's the distinction. God cannot, God will not, ever tempt you to sin. He won't woo you. He won't seduce you. He won't attract you to sin. That would be a violation of His very character as James says, "...God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one."
God Never Tempts You to Sin
That would be a horrible violation of His character and His plan. God would never do that. Now, maybe you're sitting here thinking, "Well, I've never accused God of tempting me to sin." Well, maybe you have. You see, when you say, "If I had a little more understanding husband, I wouldn't be so irritable. If my children were just a bit more compliant - I start out the day happy, but there's so much contention in my family. If my neighbors weren't so hard to get along with; that loud music at 3 o'clock in the morning just brings out the worst in me.
If my pastors were a little bit more understanding. If my boss wasn't so unrelentingly demanding." You see, if you look outside of yourself, if you point to those kinds of circumstances, are you not indicting the God who has brought those things into your life? In a subtle way, you're saying, "God, if You had given me a better mate, if You had given me better children, if You'd given me a better boss, then I would be the person You've called for me to be." I think in many ways we blame God for our sin.
I'm going to tell you my experience in twenty-five years of counseling. It was something I wasn't prepared for, that again and again, as I began to work with people and get down to the layers of their struggle, again and again, there was anger with God, over, and over, and over again. Are there ways, even subtle ways, where you're pointing the finger at God, and you're saying, "I struggle because of what You have brought into my life." Is God toying with you? No! He would never do that. This is a holy God.
He would never do that. This is a loving, gracious God, faithful to His promises. He would never do that. It's a violation of everything in His character and everything He reveals of His plan. So that leads us to this third question. Look, if you would, at first 14: But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (ESV) Third question, "Then, why do I sin? I'm a believer.
I have the Holy Spirit inside of me. I attend church. I go to my small group. What's going on here?" Well, look where James goes. He says, "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." Now, James is helping us to understand something that is very humbling. Allow yourself to be humbled this evening. This is spiritually good for you to do. Open your hearts right now. James says this: it's only, ever, the evil inside of you that hooks you to the evil outside of you. Hard, hard to accept because we want to believe that we're righteous; and we want to believe that somehow, some way, the biggest problem of our struggle of obedience exists outside of us.
And so James says something very, very important. He says, "You're lured away by your own desire." Now, what James is doing is just consistent with the teaching of Scripture. The Bible develops this very extensive theology of the heart. The heart is discussed in Scripture and over 900 passages of Scripture. It's one of the most amazingly developed themes in all of the Bible. And what Scripture says is that the heart is the control center of the human being. It's the causal core of your personhood.
And what that means is this...very important spiritual principle, 'what rules your heart will control your words and your actions.' And so sin is always a heart problem; it's not just a behavioral problem. It starts with the heart. Now notice what he says, "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." You can see the fishing metaphor that's there. The enticement is the attraction of the bait. My dad sold sporting goods. He was as close as you can get, in those days, to a professional fisherman.
A Lure Too Attractive to Resist
And he knew how to make a lure so attractive to a fish that they couldn't resist it. And he would hook this metal looking thing to his line, and I would think, "There can't be a fish that dumb that would want to bite this thing." And dad would cast that, and he would say, "Watch!" And he'd start wiggling his rod, and all of a sudden, this silver thing would take life, and you could watch the action when that fish just could not resist and grabbed it. And then he was dragged away. Listen, the lure is inside of you.
You're actually lured away, enticed by your own desire. Receive that. And that means every time I say something that I should not say, every time I do something that I should not do, every act of impatience, or lust, or greed, or vengeance, or anger, all of those reveal not just the struggle of life in a fallen world, but reveal, once again, the condition of my heart. Why do I still sin? ...Because, there's still something deeply amiss within me. I want things in a way that I shouldn't want them.
I crave what I should not crave. I would rather win an argument than have unity and peace. I'd rather indulge my appetites than live in a healthy, godly way. I would rather fill my life with way more material possessions than I actually need than to live my life in pursuit of the work of God's Kingdom. My problem is me! And that means, as I've said to you before, the thing that you and I need to be rescued from is 'us.' Notice the warning. Notice the chain here--"...desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when fully grown brings forth death."
Sin never gives life. Sin is destructive from beginning to end. Is it worth it to obey? You bet, because there is an eternity! Is God toying with you? He would never do that. This is a holy and trustworthy God. He would never do that. Why do you still sin? Because there are still within you desires that are out of accord with God's will, and His way, and His plan. Where does all of this lead us? It leads us to our knees to say once more, "Father, we are a people in desperate need of help. We so easily lose sight of what's important.
We so quickly blame You. We so often fall into the delusion of our own righteousness." Won't you once more give us the grace to say, 'I need Your grace as much today as I needed it when I first believed'? Help us in our struggle, oh, Lord, not to run away from You, but to run to You to find the help that we can only ever find in You." Let's pray: Lord, thank you for the honesty of James. Thank you for how he, with a pastoral heart, anticipates the struggles of people who are suffering in this fallen world.
And, thank you how that teaches us not to be afraid of bringing our confusion to You. You are a patient God, and Your grace is greater than anything we would face. Help us to have this kind of honest relationship with You, and help us never to blame You for what starts with the desires of our own hearts. Forgive us, by Your grace, for questioning whether it's worth it to obey. Forgive us for pointing the finger at You. Forgive us for our self-righteousness, and draw us ever more closely to You. In Jesus's name, Amen.
