Today I want to talk about man’s oldest problem – temptation; it goes back all the way to Adam.
• We all face it. Even when you know what is right to do, it is difficult to say “No.”
• Oscar Wilde once said, “I can withstand anything except temptation.”
• People say the only way to get rid of temptation is to give in to it. God’s way is different.
Let’s look at James 1:12-18
The Bible talks about two different kinds of testing. One is called trial. The other is called temptation.
• Trials are situations designed by God in order to help us grow. Temptations are designed by the devil to cause us to sin.
The Bible says “blessed is the man who perseveres (stand firm) under trial….” (1:12)
• It’s amazing. You can turn the table around and make a trial in your life into something of a blessing to you! And there is a prize, a reward for enduring through a trial. “…he will receive the crown of life that God has promised.”
• This may not mean a literal crown that you can wear on your head. It means the BEST of life. If you endure trials, you are able to experience the abundant life that God has promised to those who love Him. God uses trials to help us grow.
But that is not the case with temptation.
• Its aim is to lead us to sin, to do anything that is against God’s will. It is not from God.
• James here gives us a few principles we can learn.
1. Be REALISTIC – Be Honest About It
He says, “When tempted” (v.13) and not “If tempted…” You cannot avoid them. They will come. You cannot be immune from it.
• If you hear a pious person says, "I thank God I have never been tempted in 10 years!" He is lying. Everyone is tempted. Every day you can be tempted. You never get too old or too spiritual for it.
• We have to be honest about it. We fight it every day. Acknowledge it and you will stand to win. Don’t fake it and wear a mask and pretend like, “How could anyone do something like that?”
• In order words, don’t act tough. Pride itself will be your downfall. We all are tempted, and we need God’s help.
1 Cor 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.”
• Circle “common to man” - that means we’re all in the same boat.
• Let support one another, since we all have the same struggles and fight the same battle.
• Even Jesus was tempted. Heb 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin.”
• The difference is He never gave in. That tells us something, it can be overcome!
• It is not a sin to be tempted. It is a sin to give in to temptation.
We cannot stop it from coming, but we can resist and not give in to it.
• Martin Luther said, “We cannot keep the birds from flying over us, but we can keep them from making a nest in our hair.” No one is immune from temptation.
• If the devil is living and alive, the more committed you are to God, chances are the more you will be tempted because you are making him very unhappy.
2. Be RESPONSIBLE – You Have the Power to Choose Right
Don’t blame the situation. Don’t blame people. Don’t blame God. James heard people saying, “God is tempting me.”
• When we blame others, we are not helping ourselves. We can only chance when we take responsibility for our choices.
• Recognise that the power to choose right is in our hands. Don’t repeat Adam and Eve mistakes. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent.
Author Will Rogers said you could summarize American history into two great movements - the passing of the buffalo and the passing of the buck. We are in a society of irresponsibility. Blame society, blame the government, blame the environment, blame heredity, blame your parents, blame your spouse, blame the devil, and even blame God. Some people say, “It must be God’s will or He wouldn’t have let it happen.” That’s called blaming God.
Don’t make your bad choices and then blame them on God.
• God does not tempt. He never contradicts His Word. God is not going to tell you one thing and have the Bible say something different.
• If the Bible says something and you say something different, you’re wrong.
• Blaming is a sign of immaturity. You are not learning, and you are not growing.
3. Be READY – Be On Your Guard
When temptation comes, be ready. Be prepared for it.
• The Bible has many verses on this. Peter says, “Be on your guard.” Jesus said, “Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation.” Paul said, “Put on the whole armour of God.”
• It’s like there is a virus going around and we are protecting ourselves.
James 1:14 “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.” And verse 16 “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.”
• Underline ‘deceived’. In order words, we are fooled into doing it. That’s why we need to be ON GUARD.
• Temptation does not warn you in advance. You don’t even know it’s there. It catches you by surprise. Usually when you come to know it, you’ve already fallen into it.
• Like an addiction. You are already into it before you realised that you are addicted.
So why are we not on our guard? Because we think that we are OK.
• 1 Cor 10:12 “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”
• A man went over the Niagara Falls in a barrel and came out unharmed. A couple of days later he slipped on an orange peel and broke his leg.
• It’s the little things in life that kill us. James is saying, “Be ready, don’t be deceived.”
How do you prepare for temptation? How do you get ready for it? By understanding how the devil operates.
• Paul says something about it in 2 Cor 2:10-11 about forgiveness, and then said “11in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”
• Paul says we don’t have to fall into his trap (causing division), we can learn to forgive.
• In order words, if we are careful and alert to his schemes, we can outsmart him. He cannot trick me. He may be consistent and experienced in this game of temptation, but in Christ, we can still outsmart him.
In these few verses, James outlines the steps that the devil uses to tempt you. Understanding them will help us guard against temptation.
(1) Verse 14a: “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire…”
It starts with our desire. Verse 15: “After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.”
• It’s an inside job. Most desires are OK. You couldn’t live without desires: a desire to eat, to have fun, for friendship, for sex, for accomplishments in life.
• God gives us these desires and they are good, if we express them in the way God intended.
• But desire can go out of control. When it does, it becomes destructive.
• What do I mean by ‘out of control’? When a desire consumes you and controls you, and not you controlling it, then it will surely drives us into sin.
Satan loves to take routine desires and turn them into runaway desires.
• People can be consumed by a desire (lust) for money, sex or power.
• Temptation is like steel in a magnet. There’s an inward and outward part. There’s an outward circumstance. But there’s an inward drive, desire.
• If it wasn’t for the inward desire you wouldn’t be tempted. It starts on the inside.
(2) Verse 14b: “He is dragged away and enticed…”
The second step is deception.
• James uses a hunter’s terminology – “dragged away” pictures an animal being trapped and dragged off, and “enticed” pictures the use of a bait to lure the animal.
• The devil uses bait. How can you catch fish with a bare hook? How to trap a rat without bait?
• Temptation always looks better than it really is. He will put something there for you. So what kind of a bait does Satan use on you?
• He knows your hot button. He knows your weakness. He knows what turns you on. He knows what you will fall for.
(3) Verse 15a: “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.”
This last step is disobedience.
• What begins in your mind eventually result in an action. The battle starts with your thoughts.
• The devil knows if he has the chance to get you to THINK about it, he will be able to get you to commit the action.
• So what you toy with in your mind is very important. This is the power of TV advertising. They try to get you to imagine something, to fantasy about something. And then the rest is history. You would probably go buy it. If that didn’t work nobody would advertise.
From DESIRE to DECEPTION to DISOBEDIENCE and finally it leads to DEATH.
(4) Verse 15b: “Sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
I like the play of words here by James. He is not referring to physical or eternal death, or else every one of us who falls into temptation would have died for good.
• He says earlier that if we persevere in trial we will receive a crown of life – that’s the best in life, the abundant life, a life under God’s blessing.
• Now, for those who fall into disobedience, he says we will experience death – the exact opposite of ‘the crown of life’ – cut off from the BEST of life, separated from God.
• That’s why you feel distant from God; you feel that something has come between you and God. You want to hide, like Adam and Eve. You don’t feel close to God as you used to.
What is broken? Your fellowship with God is broken.
• You are not experiencing life; you are in fact, experiencing death (separation from God). That’s the consequence of giving in.
• I have the freedom to choose how I want to live, but I do not have the freedom to choose the consequences of the choices. There is a price to pay when we sin.
So to fight temptation, I need to (1) be REALISTIC, acknowledge it is real; (2) be RESPONSIBLE, not to blame or make excuses; (3) be READY, understand how I am tempted, and then…?
All of a sudden in verse 17, James switches gears. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does no change like shifting shadows.”
• Earlier he said, “Don’t say God tempts you, because He doesn’t.” He talks about temptation and then all of a sudden he redirects our thoughts to the goodness of God.
• He draws our attention back to a God who cares enough about us, who wants to give us the best in life, the good and perfect gifts.
3. Be REFOCUSED – Think About the Goodness of God
We fall into temptation when we feel that God is not giving us the best, just like Adam and Eve. We doubt Him. God must be keeping something from us. This is good, why is He saying NO?
• God is not going to deprive you or short-change you, James says. Trust Him.
• If temptation begins with our inner thoughts then changing what we think about is the key to overcoming it. Someone calls this the principle of replacement. The key overcoming temptation is not to FIGHT it but by REFOCUSING our thoughts.
• Instead of looking at what you’re being tempted by – and feel that you are being robbed of a better something, a better pleasure, or a better life – refocus on the goodness of God.
I’ve learnt this long time ago. The more you fight a feeling the more it grabs you. Whatever gets your attention gets you. Whatever you resist persists. Stop fighting it. Ignore it and you weaken it.
• It’s like telling yourself, “Don’t think of the red apple.” It won’t go away that way. Start to think about the yellow bananas.
• Focus on what God really wants to give you. Don’t doubt Him. He wants us to have a good and happy life; He is eager to give you the good and perfect gifts.
• He gave us the entire garden of fruit trees and yet we want to think about the fruits from the ONE tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because the devil says so.
Don’t fall into his trap. Refocus your attention on God.
• It may mean you need to remove yourself from the situation that tempts you. Just like what Joseph did that in Potiphar’s house (Gen 39) – he ran and left his coat behind.
• He said, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9) God was in his mind.
• So walk out. If you have to leave your coat, leave your coat. God will make a way out for you. Very often God makes a way out but we are the ones who like to sit and remain where we are.
Let God have a say in the affairs of your life. You don’t have enough power in your own willpower to overcome temptation. You need His divine help. [If you have not received Christ into your life, you need to pray and invite Him in.]
• God will give you the power you need; to do what you know is right to do.
• You will not be able to say no to temptation until you first learn to say yes to God. You need His power in your life.
What is your most vulnerable area? What is your weak spot? God knows it. The devil knows it.
• Is it my temper? Greed? Lustful thoughts? Is it spending? Is it pride? What is it that you want in your life so badly that you’re willing to compromise in order to get it?
• What is the area that Satan knows is my hot button and he’s always baiting me in that area? Figure it out and then admit it to God. You’ve got to get Him into the picture.
I Cor 10:13 “God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it.”
• In order words, there is no such thing as a temptation overwhelming you. You fall because you did not depend on God. You got to trust Him. You have a choice.
• You cannot pray “Lord, lead us not into temptation” if, at the same time, you’re flirting with temptation. Satan is baiting you for a trap.
• Cooperate with God and you will surely win. Not only overcoming the temptation, but you will really receive the ‘crown of life’ – the blessed and happy life God has planned for you.
