How To Win Over Temptation Series

A. The term “TEMPTATION” brings to mind different connotations for each of us.

ILLUSTRATION:

For some, the word CONJURES up a delicious HOT FUDGE SUNDAE with whipped cream

and nuts dripping off the sides. (SORRY! …I ZONED OUT FOR A MOMENT!)

For others, it’s the man or woman who has become the focus of secret FANTASIES at work.

For the BUSINESSMAN who works under RELENTING pressure, it may be the CORNER

BAR.

For the TRAVELING SALESMAN, temptation may mean the STRIP CLUB down the street from his HOTEL.

For the TEENAGER, the term TEMPTATION may bring to mind a can of BEER or a pack of

CIGARETTES or a member of the OPPOSITE SEX who has been declared OFF-LIMITS by parents.

Maybe TEMPTATION has something to do with certain WEBSITES that you VISIT when on the INTERNET.

1. When you hear the word “TEMPTATION,” what FLASHES into your mind? What PICTURES and

EMOTIONS are CONJURED up in your THINKING?

COMMENT:

We are TEMPTED by different things. Some are able to overcome TEMPTATION more easily than others. There are some TEMPTATIONS that were more INTENSE in years past than they are now. There are things that TEMPT us NOW that were no PROBLEM at all YEARS ago.

2. TEMPTATION is merely the means by which Satan tries to cause us to SIN- James 1:13-15 (READ and COMMENT)

B. TEMPTATION is mankind’s OLDEST PROBLEM. It goes all the way back to Adam and Eve when

they were TEMPTED by Satan in the Garden of Eden.

1. James talks about two different kinds of testing in this chapter. One he calls “TRIALS” (vv. 2, 12),

and the other “TEMPTATION” (vv. 13-14)—from the NIV.

a. Both are the same word in Greek, and the meaning can most often be determined by the context.

b. But sometimes it’s no so clear as in v 12, which may refer to either “trial” or “temptation.”

COMMENT:

The reality is, sometimes a situation can be both a TRIAL and a TEMPTATION. But to distinguish them, REMEMBER THIS: TRIALS are situations designed by GOD in order to help us GROW. TEMPTATIONS are designed by the DEVIL to cause us to SIN.

c. But one thing we know for certain, God does not leave us to face TRIALS and TEMPTATIONS alone. HE WILL PROVIDE ALL THAT WE NEED TO BE VICTORIOUS

2. Paul, in writing to the Corinthian church, warns all believers that “IGNORANCE of Satan’s schemes would allow the devil to take ADVANTAGE of them”- 2 Corinthians 2:11. WE NEED TO BE ON OUR CONSTANT GUARD!!!

C. The question is, “How? How do I WIN over TEMPTATION?” James, being the PRACTICAL TEACHER that he is, gives us FOUR PRINCIPLES.

MESSAGE:

I. BE REALISTIC- “When tempted…”- v. 13

A. You and I will be TEMPTED, no matter how SPIRITUALLY MATURE we think we are.

1. TEMPTATION is not confined only to the SPIRITUALLY WEAK.

a. Are you ever AMAZED to hear about someone whom you consider to be a SPIRITUAL

GIANT struggle with TEMPTATION and SIN?

ILLUSTRATION:

As a boy, I greatly admired our PREACHER—Roy Jackson—who PREACHED for the

Barnes Church of Christ just outside of Oklahoma City. I truly believed he could do no wrong.

Then one Sunday morning after extending the invitation, he called one of the elders to come up. They sat on the front PEW and TALKED for what seemed like an ETERNITY, but was really just a few minutes. Afterwards, the ELDER stood and said that Brother Roy Jackson had

CONFESSED sin and wanted the PRAYERS and FORGIVENESS of the congregation.

At first, I was STUNNED and DISAPPOINTED. I just couldn’t believe that he actually struggled with SIN—not the PREACHER! Now, I look back and deeply APPRECIATE his COURAGE for coming before the CONGREGATION confessing WRONG in his life. I ADMIRE him even more.

2. Somewhere we have gotten the ERRONEOUS idea that our ULTIMATE goal as Christians is to

come to a place in our lives where we are never TEMPTED.

COMMENT:

Ironically the very OPPOSITE is true. The more SPIRITUALLY MATURE we become, the more of a THREAT we are to Satan. Then he WORKS even HARDER to bring us down.

3. Do you think that Satan TEMPTED Jesus only three times in the wilderness and never tried again?

a. Luke 4:13- “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him (Jesus) until an

opportune time.”

b. Hebrew 4:15- “. . . Jesus was TEMPTED in every way just as we are, yet without sin.”

COMMENT:

BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER the WILDERNESS experience, Jesus was TEMPTED. You can’t get any more SPIRITUAL than Jesus. Yet, He couldn’t escape TEMPTATION.

B. TEMPTATION will always be a part of a BELIEVER’S LIFE, no matter who you are.

1. It is not a SIN to be TEMPTED, only to GIVE IN to the TEMPTATION.