James chapter 1, verse number 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. 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. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Father, we ask now that You would send Your Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our understanding and to cause us to behold Christ in all His glory. Lord, we would see Jesus. And we ask that You would reveal Him to us through Your most holy word by the power of Your Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name. Amen. Verse 13 of James chapter 1 begins with this statement, “Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God.” And what is quite interesting is that the word here used by James, tempted, is a similar word that is used in the previous verses that we've looked at, which has been translated as trials. And what appears to us as an unconnected section between trials and temptations actually is James's subtle way of segueing us into a new section, but yet leaving us with a connection to what has just passed. And so what appears in English as an entirely unrelated section of trials now moving to temptations, James wants us to understand that these words come from the same group of words, family of words, and therefore there is a connection in his mind that he wants us to understand. And knowing this connection actually helps us make sense of the very first statement of verse 13. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. You see, the key to understanding the connection between trials and temptations is to understand that every trial presents us with a unique and a fresh temptation. It's to understand that temptations are right around the corner from every trial and hardship and difficulty that you and I face. Let me give you some examples that help us think through that. Trial of sickness. Trial of death. Trial of disability. A trial of unanswered prayer. The temptation that that that comes immediately to us is questions in our minds about God's kindness, questions in our minds about God's goodness, self-pity, anger, bitterness, despair. A trial of a broken relationship or a difficult relationship could be the temptation that follows, new desires for intimacy outside of God's will. The marriage is hard, the relationship is bad, and so our eyes go elsewhere because of this sort of trial that we're experiencing in our lives. Or it could be the unhealthy, debilitating distrust that is formed by broken relationships that keep you from relationships which God wants you to have. Could be an aversion to friendship. It could be that a difficult relationship would cause you to begin to envy others and to look on other people that have other relationships that are healthy and and and start now being envious. It could cause gossip and slander as you have a bad relationship or going through a difficult relationship and you want to tear down other people's relationships. But you see the trial of a broken and difficult relationship leads to a whole plethora of temptation. It's the same with persecution. Persecution is a trial, it's a suffering, it's an affliction that the enemies of the cross have against those that preach the cross. But with that very temptation with that very trial lies the temptation to deny Jesus Christ and to ask the question, is God really worth it? Is Jesus really worth it? Think of financial loss and the the the trial of financial loss and the temptation that just lies right around the corner of difficult financial situations to be fraudulent or to to steal or to be greedy. And I hope you see the connection here that every trial provides new opportunities for the flesh. And this is not only the peculiar problem of trials, but also the problem of blessings. We just read it in Deuteronomy chapter 8. When you're blessed with all these things, don't forget the Lord your God who did all these things for you. Both rich and poor, verse 9 to 11, they all have their particular trial, don't they? Well, they all have their particular temptation, don't they? The trial of the poor leads to temptations of worthless thoughts of himself. Himself. And we see also that there's temptation for the rich to not trust in God and to love and depend upon Him. So now you can see why verse 13 starts with these words, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am being tempted of God.” Because it's so easy, isn't it? To go through a hardship in life, and all of a sudden, as you fall into sin and difficulty and fail to live up to the standard that God wants you to live up to, you then think to yourself, “Only if God did this or that or the situation was different.” Only if that trial never came. And so there is a close relationship between trials and temptations, but they are not the same. God through trials tests to prove and increase our faithfulness, verses 2 to 4. Remember that? Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the trying of your faith produces steadfastness, and you know, and let steadfastness have a perfect work that you may be complete and entire, lacking in nothing. And God's saying to us, “Trials, they come as a test and proving and increasing your faith.” And so God tests to prove and increase faith, yet never tempts to induce sinfulness. And this is the relationship between verses 2 to 4 and verses 13 to 18. What James is trying to tell us that we must take heed to is that we should never blame God for the temptations that come to us during our times of trial. “Let no one say,” is the words of James. “Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted of God.” Don't go on and blame God. God's intentions in trials are for our good. It is our reflexes to trials that are evil, we respond from a heart of unbelief, we're misaligned in our intentions to God's purposes. James says, “Don't collapse them together. Don't charge God foolishly. Temptation originates in your heart, not in the heart of God.” That's why he says every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own desire. And it is important for us to realize that distinction. And what I want to do this morning is just go through some of the reasons why God is not to be blamed, which James presents to us in this text. And next time we get together in just a couple of weeks, I want us to go through the mechanics of temptation and the how of temptation which deals with how our own desires leads us to sin. There are four reasons in this text as to why God is not to be blamed for temptation that James gives to us that leaves us with no excuse to point the finger at God for things for our sin or for the struggles that we are facing in our lives. Firstly, he says in verse number 13, God is holy. Look at what he says in 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.” God cannot be tempted with evil. God is holy. God is holy in His nature. Evil has no appeal to God. Sin has no, sounds no chord in God's heart. God is holy in all His ways. Iniquity has not the appeal that it has to us. Sin has not the allurement that it has to us to God, because God is utterly holy. In every way, shape and form. Holy, holy, holy, the angels cry. The holy angels cry is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory. And the holy angels cover their face and cover their feet and they cover themselves as they behold the holiness of God because God is so much more holier than the holy angels. He's so separate from us in His distinct holiness that you and I know nothing of it in all its beauty and splendor. Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible, hid from our eyes. Oh, glorious God. He's so bright in His glory and bright in His holiness, there is no sin in Him, and so He says to us, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted tempted of God,” because God cannot be tempted with evil. Because to tempt someone is an act of evil, you see? And God is not tempted with evil, God is not in any way, shape or form desirous to cause His children to stumble, to cause man to sin. He's holy. Not only holy in His nature, but holy in His action, and as I said to you, that's why God will not tempt people with evil. This is what He says here. He says in this verse, “Let no one say he's tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.” And that's the connection. To tempt someone is evil. God is holy. He is not in His nature to tempt people. He cannot be tempted, and therefore He won't tempt people, because He is holy. And He calls us to be holy. And this is really important because sometimes we think of the things that God can do and we should, to derive certain comfort about who our God is. But to properly understand who God is, we must also think of the things that God cannot do. I think as many Christians we forget this important reality, don't we? God cannot lie, the Bible says. It's not that He is only just a God of truth, but He is the God of truth, perfect truth in such a way that He cannot lie. His nature forbids Him to lie. Doesn't even have a desire to lie. He is holy in all His ways. God is holy. God cannot lie. He cannot change. He says, “I am the Lord, I change not.” He says, “I cannot deny my word.” And it's important for us as God's people as we journey through life and as we fight sin and as we lead lives of holiness in the world and journey on towards heaven, we must remember not only what God can do for us, but what God cannot do so that we don't charge God foolishly when things go wrong in our lives. He cannot be tempted with evil. And He cannot and will not tempt any man. It's intrinsic to His nature as a holy God. Secondly, James says not only is God holy, but God is good. In verse number 17, He reminds us of this blessed truth that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. God is not only holy, but God is good. Every good and every perfect gift comes from above, above where God lives, above from heaven, above from the hand of God. Heaven is God's throne, and from His good throne and His holy rule come all good things to the children of men. He's the fount of every blessing, the streams of mercy that are never ceasing that call for our songs of loudest praise. They all come from God. Those streams of mercy, those good gifts. He is good and does good and gives good things. Every moral good comes from God, every material good comes from God, every eternal good comes from God. Everything you have that is good comes from God. He is gracious, causing the the the rain to fall on the just and on the unjust. He is good and kind not only to those that obey Him, but even those that disobey Him, God shows acts of kindness towards them. Do you have breath in your lungs? God is good. That's a gift from God. Do you have a family? That is a good gift from God. Do you have a job? Do you have an income? That is a good gift from God. What do you have in your possession or in your life or any moral good in your heart that you can testify and say, “Wow, that is a good thing that I have.” All of that just understand comes and flows down from the God of heaven and earth, the God from whom all blessings flow. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” because God is holy, because God is good. And thirdly, God is sovereign and He is unchanging. Verse 17 reminds us that the good gifts and perfect gifts that come from God come down from someone who is referred to in this passage as the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. God's holiness, His goodness, and His good gifts are secure. It's one thing to say God is good, it's one thing to say God is holy, but if God is changing, if He isn't fixed, if He isn't the eternal God that changes not, if He vacillates between things and one day feels like doing good and the other day, then what good is that to us? But the Bible reminds us and teaches us that God is sovereign and ruling over all as the good and holy God who is an unchanging God. What comfort is that for us? He is called in this passage the Father of lights. And the lights refer to the heavens, the stars and the moon and the sun. Look up to the stars. Look at the sun. Look at the moon. The God of heaven and earth is sovereign. He rules over all those things. He made them. When He created the earth, He said, “Let there be light.” He also put the the stars and the sun and the earth all in its orbit, the entire solar system, the planets, all of that is orchestrated by God, the biggest, most glorious, most things that our minds can never fully comprehend, they are created by the God who not only made them but He sustains them and He is over them all. He's sovereign. He fathered and authored them all, the Father of lights. You know, when Job was having his questions about God, when he was struggling in the latter chapters of the book of Job, remember what God pointed him to. He said this to Job, He said, “Can you bind the chains of or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the in their season or can you guide the bear with its children? Do you know the ordinances of heaven? Can you establish their rule on earth?” You know what He is saying? Look at the stars, look at the constellations of the heavens, they're so amazing. We we travel up to space and we can't work it all out and people don't know, “Oh, this is just one little galaxy of all these galaxies.” And God says to Job when he's struggling and tempted in his trial because he has lost everything and he has questions for God, God says to Job, “Come and have a look at the Father of lights. Look up, Job. Look up. See those stars that look like little dots to you that are that that are more glorious than the earth in which you live? Which are innumerable? I made them, Job.” Abraham, you don't think I can give you a child? You don't think my promises can come to pass in your life? Abraham, Abraham, look at the stars and question the greatness of God. He is sovereign over all. The great God. And what is amazing about this is that James wants us to see that even the most powerful of all God's creation and the most glorious and mysterious of all God's creation, the stars and the suns, sun and the things that we look at very mysteriously, even James says those lights change, but God never changes. What he means by the implication of verse number 17, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change, he wants us to realize that you see the moon that casts its shadows? As big and as glorious and as steadfast as the moon is, it still casts its shadows. You see the sun that shines in its glory and looks like this fixed ball that is unchanging, that is all-powerful? Oh, it still changes. I mean, from James's standpoint, the sun sets and the sun rises, right? From a more scientific point of view, the the the poles of the sun every 11 years change. If you actually look at it, there's a lot of changing that happens up there in space that looks to us like this fixed, unmovable, unshakable reality. And God says, “They still move.” The moon waxes and wanes, the sun changes and is set in motion. It rises and it sets, the stars fly through the orbit and sky and they burst and some appear some nights and others do not appear on other nights. But what He's trying to say, but with me, with God, with the Father of lights, the one who created all those things, there is no variation, not even an iota of variation, no shadow due to change. God is steadfast. That's why the hymn writer says, “Great is Thy faithfulness, oh God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be. Great is Thy faithfulness. Great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All that I have needed, Your hand has provided. Great is Your faithfulness, Lord, unto me.” He is the sovereign, unchanging, holy, good God who is always only good. Unchanging. And lastly, James says that God is the Father and the author of life. Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted of God,” because God is good, and because God is holy, and because God is sovereign, and because God is unchanging. So your seasons may be changing, your life may be changing, but God's never changing, meaning that God is not at any point tempting you to do evil. He is always working for your good and for His glory, you who believe in Jesus Christ, and you can be sure of that. But he goes on to say God is also the Father and the author of life. Verse number 18 of this text says this. Of His own will, so it lets us into the will of God, into the desires of God, into the determinations of God. Of His own will, He, God, the Father of lights, brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Here in this text we see lastly that God is the Father and author of life. He sovereignly and graciously gives life to the dead, making us His creatures. This is the work of God. The great work of redemption to which James wants us to focus on. God's great purpose is to give life to sinners and to gather people to Himself so that they might taste and see that the Lord is good and might be those that are numbered among the redeemed. And God does this of His own will. It is of His own will that He brings us forth by the word of truth. He uses now an analogy not of the skies as the Father of lights, but as the Father of life. Not only does God is the creator as the Father of lights, but He is the Father of life. He creates life in us. It's of His own will that He brings us forth by the word of truth. You know what that simply means? The parent decides to have a child, not the child deciding to have a parent. It is in the good will of God to give us everlasting life and to raise us from the dead. It is God's determination. It is God's kindness. Birth is a decision of the parent, not the child. And then He causes us to be His creatures. The creation never decides to be created. And so when God makes us a new, He makes us a new by the word of His voice that gives life to the dead and causes things to come into existence that weren't formerly in existence. The creature is made by the will and design of the creator, not itself. And God uses the instrumentation of His word that is the word of truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to give life to the dead. And just as God as the Father of lights spoke and said, “Let there be stars in the firmament,” and as He said, “Let there be the moon,” and “Let there be the sun,” and “Let there be light.” As God speaks like that, God speaks and says, “Let there be life in that sinner who does not know Me,” and that sinner awakens to everlasting life and believes the blessed word of truth. That is God's good kindness. It is God's good work, for God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What Paul wants us to understand is that our salvation is very much like creation because salvation is nothing more than the new creation, the redemption of the old creation. And so what he says in this text of scripture is when God said, “Let there be light,” light appeared. And when God says, “Live,” sinners live. And when God says, “Awake,” sinners awake. And when God says, “Here is everlasting life,” sinners receive everlasting life. It is of his own will. But to all who did receive Him, John says, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Amazing argument, isn't it? James is simply saying that God of His own will brings us forth by the word of truth. Do you really think you can say God is tempting me? He is not the father of death. As we will look at in in the in the coming weeks, it says here that sin leads to death. Your own desires, you know, goes after lust and is enticed, and then you have what you have and sin gives birth to death. This is what the text says in verse 14 and 15. But what James is telling us is God doesn't give doesn't give birth to death. God gives birth to life. Contrasted with the way of our own desires in the determinations and desires of God, sinners come to life. This is His good will. This is His good plan. And we therefore are the firstfruits of His creatures, verse number 18, which means we are the first of God's creatures. You say, what do you mean? God created the whole earth. Yes, the whole earth has been plunged into sin. We are the firstfruits of God's new creation. He has redeemed us by His love and therefore we are His firstfruits of His creatures, set free first from the bondage of sin, and the whole creation awaits the glory that will be revealed in us. The whole creation that groans and can't wait for the redemption is looking, as it were, at the children of light who have been redeemed by the will of a gracious Father, of a good God, and they long for that goodness to be revealed in them as God recreates this whole world in holiness and righteousness, as 2 Peter says. Now you can see the whole argument with these four reasons, can't you? Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted of God.” Why? Because God is holy. Why? Because God is good. Why? Because God is not only sovereign but in his sovereignty is unchangeable. And not only that, God is the giver of life and not the giver of death. We have no excuse to blame our sin on God. We are the ones who must take responsibility for our sin. That's why verse 16 says this, “Be not deceived, my beloved brothers.” And that is applied to all these verses in different ways. Be not deceived, my beloved brothers, about the motions of sin and how sin works, verse 14 to 15. But also be not deceived, my beloved brothers, to think that the source of your temptations come from God. This is satanic strategy. I don't think we understand how much discouragement leads to sin. Look at the times in which you sin, and even the perpetual patterns of your of your sin, and you will find a close link to the fact that you are discouraged in your relationship and walk with God. There's a sort of wedge that comes in. The glory of that relationship sort of fades. The pleasures that are there in Christ Jesus are not seen the same. And we get on this very difficult path of of of of of wrong thoughts about God and and and we're thinking so earthly and troubled by the things that are around us. And whether we say it or not, our discouragement is one way us saying to God, “God, I'm not happy with what's in my life. The circumstances, the trouble.” You know, it's so true, isn't it? How often do we—and we'll talk about this more in two weeks' time—how often do we, when we sin, think about all the reasons for our sin: the circumstances. Oh, the people in my life. Oh, if it was only like this and like that, everything would have been different and I wouldn't have sinned. You know and and and what God is saying to us, “Hey, let no man say when he's tempted, I'm tempted of God.” Because by complaining about all your circumstances, which God is the orchestrator of, you are indirectly saying, “God, you've tempted me.” And what God is saying to us is that temptation arises in your own heart. And the orchestrations of God in trials and testings are only a catalyst and a trigger that reveals where our appetites really lie. And Satan wants us to be discouraged because discouragement leads more to sin. And as soon as we introduce that sort of thought patterns about God as if He's the one that is making our life difficult and making it hard for us to live for Him and making it hard for us to go on for His glory, what ends up happening is we put a wedge between us and God. And the distance grows and grows and grows as our heart and our mind becomes more negative about who this God is. And this sort of view, this sort of negative view of God robs us of faith. It makes us believe that God is against us and not for us. And we start entertaining thoughts like, “If God only if only God kept them alive, or if only God had given me custody of my children, or if only God had preserved my marriage or withheld this or restrained that, or if only God had kept me from this, I would have been dot dot dot you fill in the blank.” Or “I wouldn't have sinned,” or you know, and what you're doing by doing that is you're putting yourself at odds with God, because you're indirectly and subtly complaining about all the things that are outside of your heart that contributed to your sin when ultimately your sin is an expression of your own desire. And this sort of bitterness of soul robs us of the power that we need to actually overcome sin and live for the glory of God. And James saying to you, “Really think God is to blame? Think about it. This is who He is. He is this good and unchanging, holy, sovereign God who cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts any man. He is the God who gives life to the dead. Do you really think that this God can be blamed for your sin?” Should we accuse God of evil when God created the world and behold it was very good? Should we accuse God of evil when this world that was good in which he was created was corrupted by our own sin? Should we accuse God of evil when even though we were in that condition, the Bible teaches us that God still loved the world in this way that He sent His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life? For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but the world through Him might be saved. Can we really blame God when we were dead and blind in sin and He graciously, single-handedly, not according to our own good works, nor according to our own will, which only desired evil and and and hated God and turned from God. Can we really blame God when He gave us life from the dead and we have been born again by His gracious Spirit, freely through His grace? Can we really blame God for evil when all that He has done not only in our lives and all that He has done in the giving of His Son, and all that He has done in the beauty of the creation, He has done as a God who is very good? Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted of God.” Rather, let us say, “God, God, the Father of lights, the creator of the heavens and earth, the one who loves us with an everlasting love, the one from whom all good things flow. God, You are God. You are not the one who tempts me. The God, yes, who may send trials but for my good and to help me be more like Christ. God, You are not tempting me.” Let us say, “God, help me. God, save me. God, sustain me. God, keep me from falling and present me faultless before your presence with exceeding joy, God Almighty, have mercy on me.” That should be our prayer, shouldn't it? Not when we're going through hardships and temptation, we look at our lives as a big failure and misery and we're like, “Oh, if God did this and God did that.” Rather saying, “It's me, it's me, it's me, oh God, standing in the need of prayer. Not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, oh Lord.” We sing it as an old Sunday school song, standing in the need of prayer. It's me. And when I look at you, God, all I can see is the good things you've done for me. I can just see Your kindness and I can see Your love and I can see this creation as beautiful as you have made it. I can see that you have saved me. I can see that you are kind to me. I can see that you are good to me. And though evil befalls me and hardship comes, I don't want to listen to the voice of Job's wife that says, “why don't you curse God and die?” Rather, I want to be like Job who says, “Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord and not calamity? Not difficulty, not hardship?” Let us see the beauties of Jesus Christ and the perfections of God, and there behold the Savior who died on Calvary's hill to redeem us from our sins. Let us lay hold this morning of the God who gives us every good gift and every perfect gift, who gave us His Son to die for our sins, who gave us everlasting life. And let us say, “I want to draw near to that God. I want to know that Christ. I want to behold Him and fellowship with Him and worship Him and know Him because He is worthy, He is worth it all. And when I sin, He doesn't change. He's still good. And when I fall and falter, I can come to Him because He is faithful. And when I feel like all in my life is death because of the choices that I have made, I know there is a God in heaven whose disposition towards me is good and gracious, the Father of life.” And if you're really struggling to think this about God, I encourage you to go out on a starry night one day and sit up and look at the Father of lights. Look at the creation. And say, “Yeah. You, God, are only, always good.” And praise Him for His wonderful works to the children of men. Do you know this God? Do you know Him as James has described Him to us? If not, my encouragement to you is to come and know Him this morning through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us pray.