Jam. i. 13 — 15. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man : but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his oivn lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bring eth forth sin : and sin, when it is finished, bring eth forth death.
THERE arc temptations necessarily connected with the Christian life, and which often, through the weakness of our nature, become the occasions of sin : and there are other temptations which are the direct and immediate cause of sin. The former are external; the latter are within a man's own bosom. The former may be referred to God as their author, and be considered as a ground of joy : the latter must be traced to our own wicked hearts ; and are proper grounds of the deepest humiliation. This distinction is made in the passage before us. In the foregoing verses the former are spoken ofa; in the text, the latter.
In the words of our text, we notice the origin, the growth, and the issue of sin. We notice,
I. Its origin —
Many are ready to trace their sin to God him- self—
[This is done when we say, " I could not help it:" for then we reflect on our Maker, as not enduing us with strength suflicient for our necessities. It is done also, though not quite so directly, when we ascribe our fall to those who were in some respect accessary to it: for then we blame the providence of God, as before we did his creative power. It was thus that Adam acted, when he imputed his transgression to the influ- ence of his wife, and ultimately to God who gave her to liimb.]
But God neither is, nor can be, the Author of sin —
[He may, and does, try men, in order to exercise their graces, and to shew what he has done for their souls. Thus he tempted Abraham, and Job, and Joseph, and many others. But these very instances prove that he did not necessitate, or in any respect influence, them to sin ; for they shone the brighter in proportion as they were tried. But he never did, nor ever will, lead any man into sin. And though he is said to have " hardened Pharaoh's heart," and to have " moved David to number the people," he did not either of these things in any other way than by leaving them to themselves0.]
a ver. 2, 12. b Gen. iii. 12.
c Exod. iv. 21. and 2 Sam. xxiv. 1. with 2 Chron. xxxii. 31.