Introduction
I. Temptation
A. It doesn’t matter how much your pray.
B. It doesn’t matter how “good” you think you are.
C. Your family history doesn’t matter, your family present doesn’t matter.
D. It doesn’t even matter how committed to God and to living for Christ you are.
E. Nothing can keep you and I from being tempted.
II. We may not all be tempted by the same things.
A. In fact, that is one reason that I seriously make every attempt to not pass to harsh a judgement on what people might fall prey to.
B. The simple fact is that although I may not be tempted by the same thing as you, I am certainly have my own temptations to deal with.
C. For instance.
III. I had a doctors appointment this past Tuesday.
A. I have to see a cardiologist every 6 months, since my stroke.
B. One of the things that Dr. Grenna has really tried to impress on me is that I must lose somewhere between 50 and 100 pounds, and even at that, I would still be over weight.
1. On my previous visit, I had actually lost about 15 pounds.
2. I thought I had been doing fairly well at not over eating, but
3. On this visit, I discovered that I had found every pound I had lost, plus a couple more for good measure.
IV. I knew I wasn’t perfect, but I seriously did not realize that I had done so poorly.
V. Somewhere over the past year, I have obviously succumbed to temptation, and I didn’t even recognize it.
A. I hope I pay close attention to this message this morning.
B. Temptation is all around us
1. Temptation is not sin
2. Giving in to temptation, now that is another matter.
3. Giving in to temptation IS sin.
4. Just because we are tempted, is no excuse to give in.
VI. So what can we do?
A. Our desire it to move closer to the perfection of God.
B. Moving closer to that perfection means I need to recognize and deal with the sin in my life.
C. Dealing with sin, means recognizing and dealing with temptation.
D. In James, chapter 1, verses 13-18, we are going to find some practical advice for recognizing and overcoming temptation.
What Temptation Is Not
13 Let no one 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.
I. Is there anything that God cannot do?
A. The quick answer is
1. “NO; of course not.
2. God is God.
3. God is omnipotent, that is all-powerful.
4. God can do anything.
B. The more reasoned answer, and the one James gives here is
1. There are some things that God is not able to do, for instance
2. God is not able to be tempted to sin.
II. This is important, especially based on the next couple of verses.
A. God is not able to do anything that is outside of his nature to do.
B. God is not able to sin, therefore God is not able to tempt man to sin.
III. But I thought scripture states that Christ was tempted, like us.
A. If Christ is God, and
B. If Christ was tempted,
C. Then what does this it mean that God cannot be tempted by evil?
IV. The answer comes to motivation
A. Temptation could potentially be laid before God, just as it was laid before Christ.
B. The difference is that there is no desire to sin, therefore no potential to complete the action.
V. God’s desire is for us to move towards Him in faith.
A. Our standing firmly committed to God in the fact of temptation and trials is one methodology of that movement.
B. But, God does not use temptation as a means of our growth.
C. Testing yes, but not temptation
VI. In fact James states that there is really only one source of temptation,
A. Temptation does not come from God.
B. In a one sense, temptation does not even come from the enemy of God, Satan.
C. The source of temptation lies completely with us.
VII. Satan may well know our personal areas of weakness.
A. In the case of Job, God allowed Satan to test Job.
B. You remember that story.
1. Job 1:1 states of Job, “...that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, AND TURNING FROM EVIL.”
2. Again in verse 8, God said of Job, “...there is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and TURNING FROM EVIL.”
3. God then gave Satan permission to attack Job, and Satan set about
a. Taking his wealth,
b. Taking his family,
c. Taking his health,
d. And yet Job stated, “naked I came from the womb, and naked I shall return, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
4. Job stood up to the test.
C. I believe Job was able to stand the test for one primary reason; those words, “turned from evil.”
D. Satan tempted Job to curse God, but Job stood the test and for the most part was not even tempted, why, because he turned from evil.
VIII. Temptation does not come from God, and in a sense does not even come from Satan.
IX. Temptation come from within us, and what we must do is take personal responsibility for our own failures.
Take Personal Responsibility
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
I. What does temptation look like; it looks a bit like fishing.
II. The words of verse 14, “carried away and enticed” are fishing terms.
III. Attempting to catch fish, is a bit like tricking the fish into biting something that isn’t even real
A. I sometimes fish the little lake in Levittown.
1. That lake is extremely clear most of the time, and you can actually see the fish swimming close to shore.
2. I will often throw a plastic worm at bass.
a. The object is to get the bass to believe that the worm, which has a very sharp hook in it is real, and even good for the fish to eat.
b. Sometimes, I throw the worm to a fish, and watch as the bass approaches.
c. They swim around the worm, and I wiggle it a bit.
d. The will seem to smell the worm, and I wiggle it a bit more.
e. And in my mind, I’m telling the fish, “It looks good doesn’t it.”
f. If I get lucky, which is not all that often, but if I get lucky, I will trick the fish into picking the worm up, and then, as quickly as possible, I jerk the rod back and set the hook.
g. If I get real lucky, the fish is hooked, and I get to have a little fight.
B. Why did that bass get hooked?
1. Was it because I am such a good fisherman?
a. Hardly.
b. If I were good, I’d be a professional fisherman.
2. Was it because the worm was actually good for the fish?
a. No.
b. How good can a piece of plastic really be?
3. The bass was hooked, because it’s desire it’s internal desire was to taste that worm.
4. He was tempted by something that wasn’t even that good.
IV. That is what temptation looks like.
A. Bass normally prefer to live under a boat dock, or by a tree branch.
B. You throw you bait in the area where they normally live, and sometimes your bait entices them to bite.
C. Temptation triggers a strike.
V. But
A. If they are full, they seldom strike.
B. If you throw in a place where they don’t live, you won’t get a strike.
C. If you throw something they don’t like, you won’t be pulling any fish from the river.
VI. Man is somewhat like that fish.
A. I cannot be tempted to bite on sin, by what doesn’t appeal to my own lusts.
B. If I, like job will turn from evil, rather than standing there watching it, I won’t bite at sin.
C. If I fill myself up on the goodness of God, then my own lustful desires will have no effect.
VII. But if I falter; if I bite, if I am even tempted to sin, I have no one to blame but myself.
A. The devil can place the bait, but I am responsible for biting.
1. If I go on the internet to do some work, and allow myself to wonder to areas I shouldn’t go, that’s my fault, not the internet’s.
a. What would I be doing, looking to find something that I think is missing.
b. That is my failure
2. If my wife and I have a fight, and I say something I shouldn’t, it’s not her fault; it’s mine.
a. My spouse cannot cause me to be angry.
b. I control my emotions.
3. If I am having a conversation with someone and we end up gossiping about someone else, that’s me.
a. No one forces me into the conversation.
b. Does that really make me feel superior to someone else.
4. Do I really need that chocolate chip cookie dough water ice, which is one of my favorites at Rita’s, by the way.
VIII. How do I overcome temptation in my life?
A. First, understand that God is not bringing temptation into you life, you are.
B. Second, I have to take personal responsibility for the temptations in my life.
1. I no longer blame my actions on the actions of others.
2. I no longer look for excuses for my sin, but actively seek the power of God that is in me to overcome temptation.
IX. We cannot stop temptation from coming into our lives; but we can only stop giving in.
X. One way to stop is to realize the ultimate results of falling to sin. Understand The Consequences
15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
I. I want to go back to my doctors visit for just a few moments.
II. Dr. Grenna is a very nice guy, and I hope a very good cardiologist.
A. As he looked over my chart, and attempted to impress on me the importance of my giving in to the temptation of food, he reminded me of a bad heart valve that I have.
1. I don’t fully understand it, but evidently I have a deteriorating bicuspid valve.
2. He said that typically, someone with a bad bicuspid valve will need open heart surgery at about 55 to 60 years of age.
a. Open heart surgery is always a bit risky.
b. For someone as overweight as I am, it becomes even more so.
3. If you don’t loose at least 50 to 100 pounds, over the next 5 or so years, your surgery will be “high risk”
4. If you lose the 50 to 100 pounds, potentially you will not even need the surgery.
5. You have to decide.
III. James’ statement in verse 14 and 15
A. Temptation is the result of lust in our lives.
1. Lust is a longing or craving
2. Lust is the desire for what is forbidden, or what is bad for you.
B. The lust in our lives, the desire for what is forbidden, leads to sin
C. Sin ultimately leads to death.
IV. In the case of some sins, that death is physical.
A. From a medical perspective, if I don’t get my eating under control, it will cause me die earlier than I should.
B. The word that James uses here for death is “Thanatos”
1. Thanatos is related specifically to the physical body and life of man.
2. James assertion is this
a. The lust in our lives causes us to be tempted.
b. When we fulfill the lust in our lives, it leads to sin
c. Sin will ultimately lead to an early, physical death.
C. But pastor, how can gossip lead to death?
1. How about death of a relationship with the person gossiped about.
2. How about death of a full relationship, with the person gossiped about, and even the person you are gossiping with.
3. How about death of the trust of others, that say, “If he talks about Joe, I wonder what he says about me?”
4. Is that not death?
D. But pastor, I only have a couple of drinks now and then.
1. And what does that say to your children, that now believe drinking is OK.
2. How do you say to your child, you shouldn’t drink three beers, when you drink two.
3. Is that not death.
E. I only yell at my wife, I never really hit her.
F. Maybe I don’t show respect for my husband, but you don’t know my husband.
V. You name the sin, I guarantee I can demonstrate death as a result.
VI. And giving into temptation, which is ultimately sin, always keeps us at least somewhat separated from God, and that is the greatest death of all.
A. Followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to move towards the perfection of God.
B. That means understanding those areas of our lives, that allow for temptation to lead us to sin, and turning from the evil.
VII. How do I overcome temptation in my life.
A. Understand that the source of all temptation is not God, but rather me.
B. Take personal responsibility for my own sin.
1. Understand where I am easily tempted, and
2. Stay away for those areas of life.
C. And finally, understand that the ultimate end of all sin is death, sometimes even physical death.
Conclusion
I. The good news in all this is that even our sin, which leads to physical death does not have to leave us eternally separated from God.
II. There is only one sin, one short coming in life that will keep us from seeing God and living with Him eternally, and that is not believing that His son Jesus Christ paid the ultimate penalty for sin.
III. Of course the greatest death of all is being eternally separated from God.
IV. To overcome temptation and sin our physical lives, we must recognize our need to change, and then make the change.
V. To overcome the sin which keeps us separated from God, we must recognize our need for someone greater than ourselves to make life with God possible.
A. That someone is Jesus Christ.
B. Christ died so that we might live.
C. In order to live, all we need do is believe.
VI. Have you believed yet?
