James 1:12-18
How many of you have seen the movie trilogy called The Matrix? As a Christian, it may be worth your while to watch it because it is a story that deals with whether or not the world we perceive is really the real world. In it, a computer hacker named Neo discovers that all life on Earth is nothing more than an elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence. It looks like modern American culture. But it turns out everyone in that world is just dreaming about it. In reality, they are sleeping in a permanent induced coma in liquid filled cribs that keep the humans alive while their life essence is "farmed" to fuel the huge electronic computer called the Matrix. In the real world of the movie, people are just being used as batteries! But the world they are dreaming about keeps them happy and keeps them from knowing the truth.
For an even scarier thought, back in April, some serious scientists published an article in Scientific American discussing the probability that we are all right now living in a computer- generated simulation like the one described in the Matrix Movie. Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, put the odds at 50-50 that our entire existence is a program on someone else’s hard drive. “I think the likelihood may be very high,” he said.
There is something similar going on in Christianity. Many people don’t even believe in demons and angels because we cannot scientifically prove their existence. But the Bible says that they are real, that they are invisible and powerful and that they are conducting a war between good and evil. It is a war in which we are either victims taken captive by evil or victors participating in the advancement of God’s Kingdom and it all depends on what we believe about God’s revelation.
C.S. Lewis wrote about this many years ago, in his wonderful book called, “The Screwtape Letters.” The plot and characters are used to address Christian theological issues, primarily those to do with temptation and resistance to it. First published in February 1942, the story takes the form of a series of letters from a senior Demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood, a Junior Tempter. The uncle's mentorship pertains to the nephew's responsibility in securing the damnation of a man known only as "the Patient".
Wormwood is depicted, through Screwtape's letters, as anxious to tempt his patient into extravagantly wicked and deplorable sins, often recklessly, while Screwtape takes a more subtle stance. Accordingly, in Letter 12 Screwtape says: "... the safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts".
In Letter 8, Screwtape explains to his protégé the different purposes that God and the devils have for the human race: "We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons". With this end in mind, Screwtape urges Wormwood to promote passivity and irresponsibility in the Patient: "(God) wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them."[i]
And one of the chief strategies employed by the demons in the book is to keep the patient from becoming aware of their presence or influence. They really want him to believe all their temptations are his own thoughts so that he will be a lot less likely to resist them. Even in the very beginning of creation, the serpent in the garden who tempted Adam and Eve did not present himself as the enemy he was, seeking to destroy them. No, he showed up as a concerned counselor trying to give them good advice, pretending they would be blessed by eating the forbidden fruit and that God had lied to them when he warned them that they would die.
Not much has changed. We are in a very similar situation today. In order to endure the trials and temptations of our lives and overcome the evil one who is intent on stealing our souls away from God the Father, we need the “secret” knowledge that James is sharing with us in these verses we read today. What we have here is so much more than just your run of the mill common sense advice.
In fact, I googled “common sense advice” and I was amazed at how much the intro sounded like my intro to this message could have sounded: “Another day begins and here you are, lost in your own thoughts, caught between the fantasy world of your future and the cold, harsh reality of the present moment. A limbo state where nothing truly exists.”
Wow isn’t that what I was just talking about? Then it goes on to assure the reader that there are ways out of this problem. He gives you six tips. I’m just going to give you the list, without the explanations:
Results are only possible through actions
Focus on the important things
Accept everything you cannot change
Treat everyone equally and you’ll reap the benefits
If the reward is higher than the risk – go for it
Life’s too short – stop doing the things you hate [ii]
Sure, it’s all true. But it’s not enough. It does not include the crucial information that we only get when we believe what we read in the Bible. That “common sense” list above assumes that humans are not normally evil or inclined to selfish desires. But the Bible teaches that we are so twisted that we even deceive ourselves into thinking that we are basically okay. It also is too shortsighted. It is focused on worldly success in this life. It completely disregards any concern for the eternal life to come. That is where James can help us. This section of the book of James gives us three crucial bits of information that we need to believe in and work from in order to be able to do what James is saying we should do, such as “consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds.”
He says the first thing we need to know so that we can fulfill that command in verse 12. “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” This is actually the second time James has given is a reason for enduring. The first time he said because was in verse three when he said that you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance which will finish its work so that we are mature and not lacking anything. By endurance of trials with joy we become better Christians. But there is more to life than this life on earth.
Here in verse 12 James reconnects to the opening theme. And gives us an even better reason to endure trials with joy. This is James’ own positive way of saying what he has said so far. He has already stressed the importance of enduring faith and now he says that the person who has the kind of faith that perseveres, will truly be blessed! He says you will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. That crown of life refers to a reward in glory, it is more than just the eternal life guaranteed to us when we are saved through faith. It is an additional reward beyond mere salvation.
James is giving us a reason to work hard at living to serve the Lord that goes beyond merely believing enough to be saved. We have reasons to be good disciples and not just believers. This is something that the common sense advice we already looked at doesn’t even touch. That advice is merely concerned about success in this life. But Christianity acknowledges that this life is just a starting place for eternal life, an eternal life that can go very badly for unbelievers who will be condemned to hell for not believing the gospel. Eternal life will go very well for believers.
Like James talking about the crown of life, Jesus also had no problem with telling stories about additional rewards that come to those in glory of whom he says, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Does Jesus really say that to all believers? No! In Matthew 25 Jesus was telling a parable about his servants, and when he says, “Well done!” he is talking to those who have been faithful with a few things and then says he will put them in charge of many things. So, there are eternal consequences of good and glory for those who work hard at laying up treasures in Heaven. I pray that all of us will take this to heart and be determined to work hard to serve the lord. Otherwise, I picture in my mind Jesus saying something like, “Well, at least you’re here.”
So to recap, the first crucial bit of information you won’t get from common sense advice is this: “Our effort and endurance is not just for glory in this life. The best is yet to come.” The second crucial bit of information James believes we need is to have clear knowledge of why it is so hard for us to deal with trials. Every trial comes with the temptation to give up the fight. And one of the primary things we are tempted to do is to blame God for our problems, which is to lose sight of his purpose in allowing the trials.
Verses 13-15 reveals that the source of our temptation is not God and then lays out the process by which sin leads to death. Let’s read it again. “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
First of all, no one should blame God for the trials we are suffering. If you know the story of Job you know that God may allow trials to test our faith. But God himself never does us any harm. But you may still wonder, if God is love then why does he even allow us to be tempted? The answer to that is found in the creation story in Genesis where we learn that the world is a dangerous and messed up place because of Adam and Eve’s sin. All God did was give us a free will to choose to love him or not. It was not God’s fault that Adam and Eve chose the evil. Now we live in the fallen world as a consequence of human sin.
Why does James point out that God cannot be tempted? This is an expression that assures us that there is no way God could do any evil or mean to harm us. It is not in his character to ever want to do us harm. He only wants our good. And he has provided everything we need to succeed and do it with our own free will.
James has been teaching us that trials are blessings, but it all depends upon our response. Every trial is also a temptation! Depending on how you respond, each new difficulty is going to be either your undoing or a new opportunity. Stand the test or fall to temptation!
On the other hand, even blessings come with trials. Gifts always come with tests. The Israelites got the Promised Land AND the wilderness to get there. Joshua entered the Promised Land AND he had to conquer it by faithful warfare. Solomon got wisdom AND wealth. His wealth would eventually lead to suffering if he didn’t handle it wisely. We Christians receive salvation, eternal life, the power of the Holy Spirit AND the trials of our lives to test and strengthen us in the service of the Lord.
Similarly, every blessing is either your reward for faith or your new idol. For example, I am sure we all know or have heard of people who share the story of their salvation every time they are given an opportunity to speak of how God has worked in their life. I guess this was more common a few years back when Sunday evening services were times for people to share their personal testimony. John has a story of the man who always spoke of the day of his salvation in his twenties. Even when he was in his seventies he apparently had no more recent story of God at work in his life. His salvation story has become a sort of idol, a thing he cherished for its value in his salvation. But he apparently never grew from that point. That’s a tragedy!
We also tend to always love the music and the worship style that was playing during the time that God lead us into a saving relationship with him. So, I have heard of a man for whom there could not be a revival meeting or any saving work where people come to faith if there was not sawdust on the floor of the tent meeting! That is why human traditions and the “way we have always done it” are so hard for us to let go of. There were blessings there. But it is so easy for us to be tempted into idolizing the way we have always done it and not able to appreciate the new thing that God might want to do.
Our response is so important. James lays out a process, “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Tempted and tested are both words that come from the same Greek word James used. He could have said, “each person is tested.” Indeed, a test become a temptation when we fail the test!
Our failure of a test has nothing to do with the difficulty of the test. James says it’s all about our own evil desire getting the upper hand. And he doesn’t even have to mention the devil’s influence because we might blame him. The evil desire is ours. It lives in us. We are personally responsible. And never mind about the obvious gross sins that immediately come to mind when we think of evil desires.
I ask you to consider what is so evil about desiring the same kind of music that blessed us as we grew up in the faith? Such a desire becomes evil when it is imposed upon the body of believers with whom you worship so that you stand in the way of progress unless they play your kind of music. That desire, so pursued, does harm to the body of Christ and that is a sin. If that kind of thing persists in a congregation, they could easily lose their ministry outreach because they are no longer speaking the language of the people they are trying to reach. That congregation would have no living ministry. It is dead.
The truth is, we live for what we love. Whatever you love is your primary motivation for everything you do. If you are motivated by love for God you will succeed. But if what you love is just the circumstances that blessed you, or the things of this world, or anything you might want besides God, if you are motivated by anything less than love for God, it will wear you out.
So, second piece of “secret” knowledge; don’t blame God for trials. He is the giver of Good gifts. We are the ones who take those good gifts from God’s gracious hand and so easily turn them into idols that impede further progress. This why we are told in Mark 14:38, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
So, let’s finish up with James’ third crucial piece of “secret” information. Verses 16-18, “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”
In this part of the teaching James is basically saying don’t blame God! God is the one who gives good things! God never tempts! God rewards strength and endurance against temptation. God is at work in all of this, giving wisdom, encouraging goodness, rewarding effort. And the reward is more than just maturation of character. There is eternal reward too!
But it all begins with the new birth that God gives us through the word of truth. None of what we have said makes any difference if you are not born again through faith in Jesus Christ. This new birth is by God’s choice! He chose you!
I have already said, if you are motivated by anything less than love for God, it will wear you out. So, we need to understand where this love for God comes from. Love for God is our response to his love for us. That’s it. If you really believe God loves you enough to die for you, you will love him back! Here is a really crucial piece of information that has the power to transform your heart from one that is dead to God like a stone to one that is alive to God and dead to sin. Jesus died on the cross for your sins! This is knowledge that has the power to give you a new and enduring life! Anything else is just common sense that can’t lead to eternal life.
You know, in the Matrix movie, the hero of the story was told about the real world but he didn’t really see it until he made a deliberate choice of his own free will. He was told something like, here are two pills. If you swallow the red one, you will forget all about this conversation and everything you have been told. You will go back to living as a computer programmer in the world that you think exists. But if you swallow the blue pill, then tomorrow you will wake up to the world as it really is and join us in the fight against the evil that has everyone else captivated by a delusion that comforts them so that they do not resist.
In the same way, the devil keeps many of the children of this world asleep on the battle field with common sense thoughts that they are in charge of their own lives, when really they are his slaves. God honors your free will. Your perception of the real world will not change just by hearing enough sermons. It doesn’t seep in against your will like that. And this isn’t really “secret” knowledge. It is clearly revealed in Scripture. But many people fail to believe it and end up acting like they don’t know anything about it, as if it were a great big secret. You have to make a deliberate choice. If you choose to believe the gospel, you will wake up to the real world and stop living in your comfortable delusion of the world the way you think it is. Then you will begin to know what it means to take up your cross to serve the Lord, the King, the God who loves you with all his heart!
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Then you can rejoice in and endure any trials, knowing that God is using them to give you opportunity to earn a crown of righteousness and bless you both now and in the life to come!
Let us pray. Lord I can’t read human hearts the way you can. I see a room full of good people. But you know their hearts and whether or not they love you, or have loved you, and whether or not they are right now struggling to overcome some trial or temptation that has its grip on them. You know whether everybody here is truly saved by your grace through faith in Jesus or if anyone here is just going to church in a religious delusion or for some other reason like, “they think it’s good to do” or even if they’re only here to please or appease a friend or spouse. But I pray that today Lord, by the power of your Holy Spirit you would show each one how much you love them and that you choose to give them life by your grace through faith in Jesus Christ so that they choose to receive you and discover the power given by the Holy Spirit to live for you, and all of us rejoice in a truly spiritual fellowship of believers who are disciples of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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