Conception By Deception - James 1:13-15 Series

James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Introduction: The Problem of Temptation

Last week I saw a new product on TV that I thought was a great idea. It is a kitchen canister with a locking top on a timer, and it’s for controlling temptation. The idea is, you make a batch of cookies, you have one or two, then you put the rest in this canister and set the timer, and it locks until the prescribed time. There is no override, so there is no way to get to those cookies until the time you set. I think it’s a great idea. Instead of buying ice cream and then throwing half of it out because you don’t want that temptation in the house, you just put it in that thing and make it so it won’t unlock at 10:30 at night when your craving hits. I think if my family saw that thing they would want to get one – not so much for their temptation problem, but for mine. Then they could bring some leftovers home from a restaurant and lock them up so Dad wouldn’t end up eating them for lunch the next day.

The reason there is a market for a product like that is because the problem of temptation is universal. It is one thing all human beings have in common. Christians and non-Christians, secularists, atheists – no matter what people believe, every human being finds himself or herself doing things they wish they wouldn’t do. People reject religion because they don’t want to be bound by rules; they invent some other standard that allows a lot more freedom, and yet no matter how lenient or relaxed that standard is, they find themselves saying, “I don’t want to do this anymore because it causes problems,” and yet they keep on doing it. The whole human race is plagued with temptation.

Someone once said, “I can resist anything but temptation.” That’s a humorous statement, but it brings up a profound question. What gives temptation so much power? We have free will, right? Why are there situations where someone says, “This thing is ruining my life. It’s ruining my marriage. It’s destroying my body. It’s taking all my time and money. I hate it! I don’t ever want to do it again!” And they are sincere – if they could buy a canister that would lock them out of that particular temptation, they would gladly do it. And yet, when temptation hits, all that resolve is out the window and they cave like a house of cards. What gives temptation so much power?

It is one of the most powerful forces known to man. Temptation has brought down the mightiest warriors and the most disciplined people. Proverbs 7:26 says her slain are a mighty throng. If you look over the battlefield of human history, temptation stands there with blood dripping from her sword, as it were, looking over the corpses of millions of the strongest men and women ever born, and she boasts: “I defeated them all.” Kings and presidents have been willing to risk all their power and position and reputation all for a moment of pleasure promised by temptation. Men and women have sacrificed their children, their marriages, placed every dime to their name plus thousands more they borrowed on a poker table – all because temptation gave the order. Where does temptation get that kind of power over people? And why is it that I can easily say no to 100 desirable things, but not to this one thing? Some of you can say no to the TV, but not to the refrigerator – others can say no to the refrigerator but not to TV. You enjoy them both, but one seems to have power over you, and the other one you have power over it. Why? Where does the power come from?

The Ally Above

Normally whenever we ask the question, “Where does the power for something come from?” the answer is really easy: God. But in this case, that would be the wrong answer. Temptation has incredible power, but the power behind temptation is not from God.

Temptation Is Not from God

James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.”

Rule #1 when it comes to temptation – don’t try to blame God. That is actually the only command in this whole paragraph – Don’t say that your temptation is from God. If your answer to all those questions about where temptation comes from is any version of, “God is tempting me” then you are way off.