Dead or Alive
James 1:13-18
CHCC: October 10, 2010
INTRODUCTION:
Illustration:
One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. So he called one of His best angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time. When he returned he told God, “Yes it is bad on Earth, 95% give into temptation and only 5% resist temptation.”
God decided, Maybe I had better send down another angel to get a second opinion. God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time.
When that angel returned he went to God and told him that the Earth was definitely in decline: 95% bad and only 5% good.
God decided to take action. He decided to E-mail the 5% that were good. He wanted to encourage the good ones to keep resisting temptation.
Do you know what that E-mail said????
So … you didn't get one either, did you?
Well, God didn’t really send an e-mail, but He gave us a message about temptation in James chapter 1. Verse 13 says, When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. James 1:13
1. The Source of Sin
Notice, James didn’t say, “IF you are tempted…” He said “WHEN you are tempted…” It’s a sure thing. Everyone WILL be tempted. And the first thing most of us do after we give in to temptation is look around to see who we can blame.
That’s why James makes it clear who is NOT to blame for our temptations.
Chuck Swindoll says the literal translation of this verse would be, “Don’t even remotely suggest that God has anything to do with your temptation.”
Temptation always starts with your own desires. If temptation is like a magnet, that magnetic pull toward certain sins is located in you. Think about the temptations you’ve had lately. Chances are none of you were strongly tempted to rob a bank this week. Going home from work every day, I drive by Chase Bank … but I’ve never once been tempted to pull in and rob the bank. Going TO work every day, I drive by Crispy Cream Donuts … now THERE is a daily temptation. You see temptation ALWAYS involves our own personal desires.
James describes temptation as a process, and he gives the SEQUENCE of events in verses 14-15: Each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and enticed by them. Then, when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:14-15
2. The Sequence of Sin
Step 1 – LUST The word translated drawn away is the same word a hunter would use for “baiting a trap.” Enticed is a fisherman term for “baiting a hook.” That’s a pretty good picture of how temptation works, isn’t it?
In verse 16, James warns, Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. In other words, learn to look past the bait to the hook!
When a trout sees those bright feathers and that squiggly wormy-looking thing, the only thing he thinks about is, “hey, that’s GOT to taste good” Of course once he takes the bait, he’s hooked. That’s the next step …
Step 2 - SIN - This is the inevitable result when we decide to dwell on our lusts … instead of turning away, we focus on our desire … and if we do that, we eventually ACT on our thoughts. Sin is very seldom a one-time thing. We soon discover it’s far easier to never sin once, than having done so, to never sin again the second time. Sin is addictive. And the Sin Sequence always ends the same way:
Step 3 – DEATH- This 3-step-process should be easy to remember: LSD Lust Sin Death. There are times when one act of sin leads to literal physical death. But more often it brings all the things associated with spiritual death. The death of joy and peace, the death of relationships, the death of hope.
It reminds me of an old saying: Sow a thought, reap a deed … Sow a deed, reap a habit … Sow a habit, reap a destiny.
In verse 17, it seems like James changes the subject. But actually, James hasn’t changed the subject at all. These verses lay out the Solution to Sin.
3. The Solution to Sin
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17-18
When you’re tempted, it helps to remind yourself that only God can really fulfill your deepest desires. Warren Wiersby puts it this way, “The goodness of God is a barrier to protect us from temptation.” (Be Mature p.50)
God’s good and perfect gifts are so much better than that feathery, wormy thing Satan is dangling on a hook. The deep, lasting love in a marriage is so much better than the temporary thrill of illicit sex. Keeping your job is so much smarter than the temporary release of telling off your boss. The enjoyment of physical health is far superior to the fleeting taste of that doughnut.
In verse 18 James says that God chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created.
If you’re struggling with temptations in your life, this is a good time to wake up and start listening, because this next part could be called “overcoming temptation 101.” You can’t win over temptation unless you understand that Jesus has given you new birth.
II Corinthians 5:17 says it this way: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Understanding who you are in Christ is the secret to overcoming temptation in your life. So, let’s take time to examine it.
In Romans chapter 6 Paul explains that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried with Christ and rise to live a new life. Later, Paul says our old self was actually crucified with Christ. (vs.3-6)
Then, in Romans 6:11, Paul tells us to consider ourselves dead to sin.
Which reminds me, did you hear the one about the man who went to a Psychiatrist because he believed he was dead. The psychiatrist decided to cure him by using the simple truth that “dead men do not bleed.”
He put his patient to work reading medical texts, observing autopsies, and so on. After weeks of effort the patient finally said, “All right, all right! You’ve convinced me. Dead men do not bleed.” At that point, the psychiatrist pricked the man’s finger with a needle … and blood began to flow. The man looked down at his bleeding finger in shock and exclaimed, “Well, look at that! Dead men DO bleed after all!”
That’s how Christians feel sometimes. The Bible says that I am dead to sin. But then I find myself sinning! So I have to wonder, do dead men still sin after all? Am I really a new creation in Christ, or am I really just the same old dirty-rotten-scoundrel I was before?
In other words, Who is me? (That may not be grammatically proper … but it’s an important question.)
Paul talked about the same frustration in Romans 7 where he admitted, “In my inmost self, I WANT to do the right thing. But over and over I do the things I don’t want to do, and I don’t do the things I want to do.”
Paul’s conclusion: Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Romans 7:20
That’s the answer to the question: “Who is me?” According to Paul, ME is the one who WANTS to do right. ME is the person who doesn’t WANT to sin. But Sin still lives in me. The Sin is NOT me, but lives in me. This can be confusing, so let me draw you a chart:
Sin
Despicable Me
Without Christ, “me” is Independent Me (I’m going to call it Despicable Me)… I’m completely dominated by Sin. I can fight temptation on my own, but I can’t win. In the end, Sin always takes control of Despicable Me.
But everything changed the day I put faith in Jesus.
Holy Spirit Sin
NEW Me
In Christ I was given new birth as the NEW Me. The Holy Spirit now lives IN the New Me, and wants to live THROUGH the New Me. Sins’ power was broken because Despicable Me (the me that was Independent of Christ) … that OLD ME was put to death.
I read a biography of a Chinese Christian named Watchman Nee. He struggled to understand what the Bible meant when it said the old self is dead and the new self is alive in Christ. Finally one day it all came together for him. He finally saw this as an accomplished fact rather than something he needed to struggle to attain. He was so excited about this spiritual reality that he ran throughout his house shouting, “I’m dead! I’m dead! Don’t you see? I’m actually dead!”
So, according to the Gospel, the OLD ME is dead and Jesus has made me NEW … so, why don’t I feel like I’m living “happily ever after”? Why does it seem like there’s a never-ending battle going on inside me? It feels like we’re in a constant struggle because every Christian faces an ongoing spiritual battle.
Romans 6:12-14 tells us how to win that spiritual battle: Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. Romans 6:12-14
The NEW Me has a new choice. I no longer have to let SIN live through me.
I have a NEW option. I can offer myself to God and let Jesus live through me. When I face temptation, I’m not on my own any more. I have the resurrection power of Jesus any time I choose to give myself to him.
Meanwhile, even though power of Sin is broken, SIN is still there. Sin can still exert power over me IF I LET IT. I’ll call it “zombie power” because in Christ we are dead to sin but alive to God.
Holy Spirit Sin
Resurrection Power=NEW Me Zombie Power
In any given moment, you can offer yourself to Sin, OR you can offer yourself to God. You can choose to let Sin control your body or you can choose to let the Holy Spirit control your body.
Is there an area of temptation in your life that keeps messing you up? Do you find yourself like Paul, saying I do what I don’t want to do? Try this: every morning this week ask yourself, “Who is me?” Then remind yourself what God says about your NEW identity in Christ. Despicable You is dead and gone. God has declared that you are entirely NEW in Christ.
The way you see yourself makes a big difference.
If I take my grandkids to the park … and they play in the sand box and run around and get all dirty and sweaty … and then I come home and it starts raining and they want to go in the back yard and play in the mud (quite likely because there’s not much grass in our back yard!) … I’ll probably say, “Sure, go ahead! Who cares if you get muddy. You’re already dirty anyway.”
But if it’s Sunday morning and we finally got them all cleaned up and dressed in their best … and THEN they want to go out in the back yard, I’ll say, “No way! We just got you all cleaned up, and you’re not going anywhere near the mud.”
You see, if you think you are still “despicable me” – a dirty rotten sinner – then what difference does it make if you sin one more time. You’re already dirty anyway.
But if you see yourself the way GOD sees you, then you have a very different attitude. You know that because of Jesus, you’re all cleaned up – spotless and perfect before Him – and you have every motivation to stay as far away from the “mud” as you can!
Conclusion:
Don’t try to fight temptation on your own. If you’re relying on the will-power of old despicable me, you’ll lose over temptation every time!
Instead, use your will-power to stay close to God. Every minute that you let Jesus live through you is a minute you won’t be sinning.
You can choose to let SIN live through you or to let JESUS live through you. It’s as simple as that.
The resurrection power of Jesus will win over temptation every time.
