This morning we are continuing our series in James, and I want to start off with a story about Jimmy Swaggart. Jimmy Swaggart grew up in Louisiana in the 1960’s, and at the age of 17 he got married, had children, and sensed a call to enter into the ministry.
His first sermon was in front of a grocery store and quickly he was ordained by the Assembly of God denomination where he eventually was given a radio broadcast for ministry and eventually a television broadcast for ministry.
By the 1980’s Jimmy Swaggart had built the largest television ministry across the United States with an annual revenue of $150 million, attracting 8 million viewers weekly. In comparison American Idol in 2021 was averaging 5 million viewers weekly.
In 1986 Swaggart called a meeting with another pastor named Marvin Gorman who also had his own television ministry, and the meeting was to confront Marvin about his adulterous relationship and that confrontation eventually moved Gorman out of ministry.
But it wasn’t long until Marvin Gorman receives a phone call about Jimmy visiting sex workers, so Marvin sets up his own sting operation with camera recordings and pictures to capture Jimmy Swaggart entering into a hotel room with a sex worker.
It gets better. Marvin then confronts Jimmy and Marvin says to Jimmy, “I will keep this a secret if you give me a large sum of money and go on the air about how my adultery was fabricated.”
A year later Jimmy doesn’t say anything and eventually Marvin goes public with the story, with the camera footage and this becomes one of the biggest scandals in the 1980’s.
Eventually Jimmy makes a tearful apology to his wife on his television broadcast, Jimmy confesses publically, exits the ministry, and three years later he is found again with another sex worker in a hotel room.
If you haven’t noticed the series we are teaching through is called “Confronting Hypocrisy” and these days hypocrisy is like a 4- letter word. Sometimes as people we will do horrible things to one another and then cap it off with, “At least I am not a hypocrite” because nobody wants to be a hypocrite. Just so we are on the same page:
Hypocrite: A “hypocrite” is the practice of criticizing a behavior or belief, and then engaging in that same behavior or belief.
The subject of hypocrisy is important for our church family in Austin because these days we are giving our critical opinions on everything; racism, sexuality, immigration, pandemic, politics, environment and because we are human there is going to be a point where our words aren’t going to match our behavior and beliefs, and we are going to find ourselves smack dab in the middle of hypocrisy.
Therefore, God’s Word is going to press in on our hearts this morning, and we are going to see God’s Word press in on temptations and how we respond to those temptations so that we will see three sub-points; 1. All Trials Are Temptations. 2. Our Responsibility To Temptations. 3. Goodness of God. Let’s look at our first sub-point; 1. All Trials Are Temptations.
- All Trials Are Temptations.
James 1:12, “12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
First, we see the word “blessed” and the word “blessed” is one of those words that we see on t-shirts and coffee mugs, but not really sure what it means. Simply put “blessed” means when we are in Christ we have undeserved favored from God. We are blessed!
Second, the word “trial” in the original language can mean “trial or temptation” based on the context of the passage so last Sunday we saw scripture drawing out a pattern in life where trials are going to come and verse 12 is teaching us that when trials show up in life we are going to become vulnerable to temptation so that trials and temptation go together. Does that make sense? Trials and temptations go together!
When we go through a challenge at work, we are tempted to drink a little more alcohol a little more often. When we break off a relationship we are tempted to start eating unhealthy foods. When I go through trials I am tempted to get more sarcastic.
I start looking for unhealthy ways to relieve the stress by making fun of the people around me. I start making jokes at the expense of those who are closest to me. You should probably go and hug my children when you see them.
It probably looks different for all of us, but each of us would do well to mindful that trials and temptations go together! Therefore, James writes in verse 12 “persevere.” The word persevere means to be steadfast or unmovable so that when trials and temptations show up we are ready. We are prepared. We are on guard against falling into their pit. Persevere!
Listen to me, that’s why we are here this morning as a church in Austin. We don’t show up on a Sunday morning because we don’t have anything else to do. We all have tons of things to do, but we know trials and temptations are going to come so we gather as the body of Christ to help us persevere.
When we encourage one another to get into God’s Word every day. We aren’t trying to check off some religious duty. We aren’t trying to improve literacy. God’s Word is like a shield that strengthens our faith to help us defend against attacks. God’s Word is like a double-edged sword (Hebrews 4) to be prepared.
We’re not in community group because we need friends. No, we need people in our life who will sharpen us, encourage us, and say, “Michael, don’t fall for that easy temptation!” Let’s look at our second sub-point; 2. Responsibility.
- Our Responsibility To Temptations.
It is so hard for us to take responsibility in life. It goes all the way back to Adam and Eve when they hear the sound of the Lord walking in the cool of the garden and the Lord calls out to them, “Where are you?”
In that moment the Lord is looking for Adam and Eve to respond with confession, repentance, and responsibility. Yet Adam says, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, so I hid myself.” Look at verses 13-15:
James 1:13-15, “13 No one is to say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.”
First, we need to be clear verses 13-15 are talking about sin, and sin is any time we try to live life apart from God’s intended purpose in life, and this happens all the time.
We fall short in our thoughts. We fall short in our emotions. We fall short in our behaviors. We fall short in our words. We are created to be perfect, and we all fall short. It’s called sin.
Listen to me, our culture will not echo these truths. Our culture will tell us that government plans can repair the brokenness of humanity. Our culture tell us that education can repair the brokenness of humanity. Our culture will tell us we just need to improve systems of society and we can make the world a better place.
And yes, we should try to improve those areas of life, but until a man or woman acknowledges their personal brokenness of sin and takes responsibility for their sin then it will never happen.
It’s why James writes in verse 13, “No one is to say I am being tempted by God.” And then verse 14, “But each one is tempted when he or she is carried away and enticed by his or her own lust.”
Maybe this sounds obvious for some of us, but verse 13 is making clear that we can’t blame our flaws and failures on God. That’s what Adam does in Genesis 2, “It’s the woman you gave me!”
We can’t say things like, “Well I was born this way, it’s not my fault.” We can’t say, “I am just doing what feels right.” We can’t say things like, “It’s not my fault, it’s the family I grew up in. It’s not my fault I had a bad boss, bad teacher or bad coach. It’s not my fault I was hungry or tired. They are all poor attempts at avoiding responsibility.
Listen to me, don’t get distracted. Yes, our family background matters. Yes people in our life have influence. And it is good to take account of those patterns, but what matters most is that we take responsibility when we are “carried away and enticed by our own lust.” You with me?
The word “lust” in verse 14 in the original language is really the word “desire” and verse 15 is teaching us that temptations aren’t the problem, having desires aren’t the problem, but once that desire takes root it gives birth to sin, and sin brings forth death.
Listen to me, this isn’t just spiritual / religious language on a Sunday. Give yourself over to lying, gossip and slander and watch it kills your friendships. Give yourself over to adultery and watch it rip your marriage apart. Give yourself over to pride and arrogance and watch people flee from your presence. It’s because sin steals, kills, and destroys. You with me? Do you see the sequence in verses 13-15:
- Trials bring temptation. (vs. 12)
- Temptations come from desires. (vs. 14)
- Desires conceived become sin. (vs. 15)
- Sin brings forth death (vs. 15)
Do you think when young Jimmy Swaggart was preaching the name of Jesus at the grocery store in the very beginning he was thinking, “One day I want to end up with a sex worker in a hotel?” No way!
Not many of us are going to wake up tomorrow and make decisions that wreck our lives, careers or family, and that come completely out of nowhere. No, what we see on the surface is the result of desires that have been marinating in our hearts and minds for weeks, months and sometimes years. Therefore, God’s Word says take responsibility!
I know this is complicated to think about on a Sunday morning, but these verses also make me think about fishing. When you go fishing you take time to bait the hook, so the hook is concealed in the bait. No fish just eats a hook, and most of the time a fish doesn’t just take the bait the first time they see the bait.
Most of the time the fish swim around the bait. Their little fish brains are probably saying, “Don’t eat that bait. The bait doesn’t look right.” But they keep swimming around the bait over and over and over and that whole time that desire is marinating on thoughts like, “What’s that taste like? Where did that come from? How did that get there?” Over and over until they do what? They nibble.
They typically don’t go in for the strike. At first, they start off with a nibble. Of course, I am not going to eat this crazy bait. It’s just a nibble. Who’s going to know?
For those of us who fish you know you can’t do anything when they start to nibble. You just get still, and you let the fish nibble because eventually the fish nibbles again, and again and again and again, and then about that 3-4th nibble you crank that rod back as hard as you can, and you set the hook.
It is similar with temptation as we marinate on those desires over and over until one day sin cranks that rod, sets the hook and brings forth certain death. Therefore, God’s Word calls out to our souls, “Stop making excuses, stop blaming and take responsibility by turning to Jesus.” And that brings us to our last sub-point; 3. Goodness of God.
- Goodness of God.
James 1:16-18, “16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”
In verses 16-18 we see James conclude his challenge on temptation by pointing us to the glory we have been given in Jesus. Do you see it? Every good thing in life is from our Heavenly Father and every good gift we receive is exactly what we need.
It’s possible that we might be overwhelmed by the trials and temptations of life in Austin so we might not see God’s goodness right now. It’s possible that we might think we are defeated by the desires of our heart, but God’s Word reminds us of his unending, eternal goodness in our lives. Don’t miss this truth this morning.
There may be desires and temptations that are getting the better of us right now, but we need to remember that we are alive! That’s His goodness. There is air in our lungs. His goodness. There are sunrises that catches our breath. His gift. There are moments when the wind hits our face, and the fog of life seems to lift out of nowhere. His gift.
There are moments of laughter with friends in Austin. There are times we share a meal with our family. There are gifts and talents He has poured out on us, and those are all tangible gifts of His grace in our life. We can’t miss this! He is so good!
In addition, in verse 18 we not only see the gift of His creation in our lives, but we see the gift of new life we are given in Jesus. Do you see that in verse 18? Sometimes James is so concise with his words, but in verse 18 James is reminding us of the gospel.
When James writes “gave us birth by the word of truth” James is pointing us to Jesus, and the new birth that is made available by grace through faith in Jesus. Yes, we are all born into a world of brokenness, sin and death, but Jesus has come so that we might be born again and find new life in Him. This is the gospel!
Sometimes we get confused, and we think when we are in Christ we shouldn’t have temptations, we shouldn’t have desires, we shouldn’t have sin, but being in Christ doesn’t mean we are free from sin but that we are free to fight sin. Does that make sense?
Outside of Christ we are in darkness. Outside of Christ we are going through life in shackles. Outside of Christ we are in the boxing ring of life, wrapped in chains and surrounded in death (Ephesians 2).
But, in Christ the darkness has been lifted. In Christ the light has been turned on. In Christ the chains have been broken. In Christ we are still in the boxing ring of life, but now the enemy has been dethroned and defeated so that we have been set free to fight and persevere! That’s the hope everyone needs to hear!
This year as a church family in Austin we are committing the year to “Lifting our eyes up to look around” and we want to “look around” for others because we are surrounded by people that need the hope that Jesus has to offer.
There’s nothing like Jesus in our world today. If you don’t know Jesus you are going through life wrapped in chains, and the only thing that can set you free in life is Jesus, therefore, you need to trust in Him today.
I want to be clear here because we are in the south, bible language, hodge-podge beliefs and you might think being a Christian means you follow the golden rule, attend a worship service, turn the other cheek, serve the poor, or have some mystical / spiritual experience, but none of that is true.
The only way we become followers of Jesus is to begin a relationship with Jesus by confessing with our mouth that He is Lord. We believe in our heart that Jesus crushed our sin at the cross and Jesus conquered our sin at the resurrection, so that we have been set free from the power of sin. But we must start with Jesus.
We will have people to pray with you and for you. Please take advantage.