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“Don’t Blame God…Honor Him”
“We honor God when we understand our nature and His.”
James 1:12-18
Sunday morning sermon
08.19.07
Intro: (Start with title and text)
We honor God with our actions. We honor God when we show love and demonstrate his love for those around us. We honor God when we teach and preach His desire for salvation. We honor God when we pray with the right heart. We honor God when we seek him with all our heart. We honor God when we speak the truth in love. We honor God when we worship without hesitation. We honor God when take communion after self-examination. We honor God when our giving – our time, our energy and our money actually costs us something. We honor God when we serve those around us, without expecting praise. We honor God when we follow through with what we say we are going to do. When honor God when we honestly offer encouragement to those who give their lives in service to the church, and ministry. We honor God when we take a stand for truth in our society. We honor God when we grow our families in loving homes centered on Jesus. We honor God when we love our spouse. We honor God when we honor our Dad and our Mom – obeying them and following their direction. We honor God when we use the power and authority we have in our jobs and homes in the right way.
A good question this morning is: are we honoring God? When given the chance, when given the opportunity by the lives that we live – do we honor God by doing what is good and right?
Discussion:
Just the opposite of honoring God, is blaming him. One of the commentaries said this: (Advance) “God is never so conspicuously present as when we are looking for a place to lay the blame.” Remember the Garden of Eden – God is walking in the garden, in the cool of the day – Adam and Eve hear him walking and they hid from him. God calls out to them, Adam answers – “God, I wasn’t dressed yet, so I hid from you.” God figures out that they ate from the tree he commanded them not to eat from: Here’s Adam’s response – (Advance)
Genesis 3:12 – The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
“The woman – it was her fault, she gave me some fruit, and I ate it.” If you want to take it a step further – “YOU put her here – I didn’t ask for her, yeah, I was lonely but look what you did!”
We aren’t much different. Like the preacher who made a new year’s resolution to stop eating donuts. He had to drive past the donut shop on the way to the church office. As he got closer and closer the stronger the temptation became to stop for fresh donuts. He started to pray. The church secretary was surprised when he walked in with donuts. She asked him about his resolution. “It’s God’s will – I prayed, ‘Lord, if you want me to have donuts make a parking space available right in front of the shot.’ Sure enough on the ninth time around the block, there was the parking space.”
This morning – I want us to not blame God for the problems and situations in our lives but honor him through those situations.
Turn with me to James 1:12-18 (Advance) (Read)
James gives us three ways to honor God.
(Advance)
I. Stand the Test (12)
I hate tests! I get nervous, I sweat, and my mind turns to mush. I’m taking a class at Mid-South and we have two tests this semester. The teacher told us that the final exam is just over the last part of the semester – I’m already working through the last part of the semester, trying to ease the pain of taking that test. I remember my driving test – the test giver takes me to a hill and tells me to park. I got next to the curb, set the wheels correctly, I even set the emergency brake but didn’t put it in park, he even asked me if I was finished, which should have been a perfect clue – How do you do all the right stuff and forget one of the most important things? I hate taking tests! I sat in the car waiting for him to grade it knowing that I failed. I passed it, I don’t know how, but I did.
a. God does not want you to fail
He doesn’t like it when his children (that’s you and me) when we fail, when we give up and walk off. He doesn’t give you a test so that you will fail. (Advance)
1 Corinthians 10:13 (The Message) No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
i. He knows what your limitations are
ii. He knows your breaking points
b. He gives the testing to make you stronger
The result of that strength is a blessed life. The result of that perseverance is being blessed by God and for his purpose. I think God wants us to look back and see the time of testing and trials in our lives and point to God – “I couldn’t have gotten through this time without God and his people.” He honors your thanksgiving with growth which prepares you to help those around you. He will always be there to help you come through it. Don’t ignore his help. I think most of the time he works through his people (that’s me and you).
FREE COMMERICAL – one of the things that frustrates me more than anything in ministry. People who are hurting, for whatever reasons – problems they caused, maybe some they didn’t – they step away from fellowship until it gets better. I know the church has gotten good at putting on the smiley face, we’ve gotten good at dressing up the problems and hiding our sin – after all it’s only an hour on Sunday morning. If you have problems, if you have struggles, frustrations that are beyond your control – this is the place you need to be.
c. Allow God to be God – he is your source of strength
Remember the words of the Shepherd – “even through I walk through the valley of the shadow of death; I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
God is always with you. He will protect you and he will use his people (that’s me and you) to help and bless those around us.
d. Crown of life waits
i. Don’t forget – the cross comes before the crown.
In the last part of verse 12 – “He will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”
1. The crown is a reward for the Christian
I didn’t think Elders went to heaven – but apparently some do – it says that if they are faithful in leading – as Shepherds – they will receive a crown -- (Advance)
1 Peter 5:4 (NIV) – And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Listen, church, don’t forget about the crown that waits for you. He promised a crown for those who love him – for those who remain faithful. James is telling the church and us this morning – remain faithful. Honor God through the struggle, because when you have stood the test – and your life is done – He will honor you. We honor God when we stand the test. He will see you through, with a crown.
He is responsible for your trials – for your testing. The results of those trials will depend on your desire, and the depth of your love.
God loves you and tests your faith – the testing of your faith helps you grow, as you move forward in your relationship with Him. Those are not hard facts to understand. I believe the fellowship that James was writing to had a good understanding of trials and testing. They were however blaming God for their temptation.
Here’s point number two: We honor God when we: (Advance)
II. Deal with Temptation (13-15)
(Advance)
Romans 3:23 (NIV) – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Who in here besides me, has not sinned? ‘Cause, I’m the preacher….
a. ALL OF US HAVE SINNED
i. Sin separates us from God
ii. Sin earns us Death (Advance)
Romans 6:23 (New Century Version) – The payment for sin is death. But God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.
b. Sin starts as temptation
i. But it does not have God as the beginning
God has no connection with evil and therefore can not be tempted by evil or tempt anyone with evil. James uses a strong term – only used once in the NT. It means that God is incapable of being tempted. In other words, God is “untemptable”. God is not the source of your temptation.
c. Who is the source of our temptation?
Finish this line: (Advance) The devil made me ….Do it. When we are tempted and give in, it’s part of our nature to place blame. Eve – Gen. 3:13 “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” “Hey, God it wasn’t my fault, it was a trick – I was tricked.” We blame EVERYONE for our sin, but ourselves. When we sin, we are to blame. You can’t honestly blame, or point the finger to those around you. It is not their fault it is yours. Sin is always a choice, and therefore the person making the choice is responsible. James gives us:
d. The pathway of sin
i. Starts with evil desires – I know it’s bad
ii. Dragged away and enticed – But it looks Good
iii. After desire has conceived – It doesn’t feel bad
iv. It gives birth to sin – It was meant for me to have it
v. and sin when it is full-grown – gives birth to death – I am justified in this.
Your mind is and will be full of something – things of this world or the things of God. The music you listen to should be uplifting – and respectful of women. The books you read should be good material – because you are filling your mind and planting seeds for later. I was reading email and the advertisement at the top said – Download long legs while drinking long necks (scroll over for a better view) it was a beer ad. Listen – it’s a seed for something else. If you start with James’ formula – it only takes a glance to conceive desire. It only takes a moment to do something that does not honor God, my wife or our ministry. Sin always destroys – it always breaks down – it always devours.
e. What’s a good reaction to sin?
i. RUN. Resist the devil and he will FLEE.
ii. Understand yourself – know your weakness.
If getting drunk is something you struggle with – don’t buy it. If stealing is something you struggle with – stay away from those places. If your bad friends are not uplifting – change friends. If you have a junky attitude about how bad your life is – do some missions work. I don’t mean to dumb this down – so many times we look for complicated answers to our sin problem, maybe the best answer would be STOP! If you get invited to a party – you know there will be all kinds of things going on – DON’T GO. Understand your weakness.
iii. Fill yourself with God’s word
When Jesus was tempted – he was able to quote the word of God back to Satan. Jesus spent time in the word of God – when temptation came, and struggles came and weakness came – he was able to speak back the foundation of his life. (Advance)
Luke 6:45 (New Century Version) Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts. Filling yourself with God’s word – both your heart and your mind allows you to see the temptation for what it is – Destruction.
f. Sin
i. Is always hurtful – regardless of how private it is
ii. It always creates a need instead of fulfilling one.
iii. It always leads to a need for forgiveness
1. Regardless of how small or how justified you think it is.
We honor God when we acknowledge our sin. We honor God when we ask for and seek his forgiveness. We honor God when we speak the good things out of our heart, because we’ve taken the time to put His word and other good things in there.
Here’s the third way we honor God:
(Advance)
III. Know who he is (16-18)
a. If he is not the source of bad or evil – he has to be the source of something – right? James narrows it down for us a bit.
i. ALL GOOD THINGS. (Advance) “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”
Instead of placing the blame on God for all the bad stuff in our lives – let’s honor God with thanksgiving. If you have something good, God is the source.
b. Sin’s “Goodness” is temporary
Sin looks good – it looks inviting – but it’s not a permanent goodness because it’s not good at all. It changes. The first view of sin – is often very different than the guilt and shame that come attached.
c. God’s goodness is permanent
i. It’s ever lasting – it doesn’t change
ii. What you see at first with God is what you get in the end
(Advance)
Revelation 22:13 (New American Standard Bible) – "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
If you want something unchanging in your life – something permanent, something that will not leave you wanting more, or feeling empty – Come to Jesus. Give all that you are, and all that you have to him. Church, his goodness endures forever – and that goodness is aimed at his people (that’s me and you). Because his goodness is permanent and it’s aimed at us – He did something else.
d. He Chose us
It is his desire that you are in salvation – coming to a knowledge of the truth. He doesn’t leave our destiny to chance. He intentionally planned to give us new birth. He knew that we would be dead in our sins without the sacrifice of Jesus. The Bible says that while you were in the depth of your sin, is when Christ died for you – it wasn’t after you cleaned up, went to church a bunch and changed some habits. He paid the price for your salvation, before it was an issue. The Bible says that it was God’s demonstration of his love, that caused him to send his son.
i. He gave us birth
If you want a contrast this is a contrast to the sin giving birth to death. He gave us birth into life – but not just life – he includes freedom, and joy, and growth, and his wisdom. If something is new – it’s without blemish. He creates in you a heart that is without blemish – he does that so he can place in your heart the things you should desire. (Advance)
Psalm 37:4 (NIV) – Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
I used to think that verse meant that he would give me the car I wanted and the job I wanted and all those other desires in my heart. He wipes the slate clean so he can place in your life – the things that are suppose to be there – and he gives you a desire for them.
We honor God when we know who He is
Conclusion:
One of the blessings of ordained ministry is the ability to do weddings. It doesn’t surprise me – you take a couple from Piggott, Arkansas who are in love and want to get married – and they share the same problems and concerns as a couple from Apache, Oklahoma. The stresses right before the wedding are the same – the in-laws act the same – the mother of the bride, has her opinion, the father of the bride often just stays out of it.
When time comes to get married, and walk down the isle – I’m usually standing up front with the groom – the doors open – in walks a beautiful pure spotless bride. The last wedding I did here the bride wore a vale (doesn’t happen too often) – If I had leaned over to the groom and said, “good thing she’s wearing a vale, because she is U.G.L.Y. ugly.” He would have hit me – and rightfully so.
The Bible paints the church (that’s you and me) as the bride of Christ. But here’s the thing – when we live in our unconfessed sin, when we justify things that are absolutely against his word, when we embrace the temporary over the permanence that he provides – we do something to the bride of Christ. We blemish her. We make her less than beautiful, lower than spotless, and we certainly don’t honor the groom – Jesus Christ.
This morning I encourage you to honor God with your life – honor God with every breath that you have – listen – because he honored you. He honored you when he gave his one and only son, so that you could have life. Accept his gift of life this morning.
Let’s pray
