"Hook, Line and Sinker"
James 1:12-18
OPEN: Every good fisherman worth his salt knows that you can't catch fish consistently by using only one kind of bait. Seasoned fishermen know that the difference between going home with fish and going home with a fish story lies in the bait. So if you're planning on having fish for dinner, you start out by planning which kind of bait you are going to need to get the little fishy out of the brook and onto the hook. - certain fish can be caught only with certain bait... a dry fly for trout, worms for bass, stink bait for catfish. What you are trying to do is to con the fish -- you're trying to swindle them into biting your bait. A good fisherman is a good con-man. He tricks fish into thinking they are going to get a tasty dinner, when in reality they are going to become dinner. Within a tempting moment there's a bite - a fight - and then a skinned fish fillet! So when you hear someone bragging about being a good fisherman -- you better watch them carefully -- because what they are really saying is they know how pull off a good con. A good fisherman can get the fish to fall for the bait hook line and sinker time after time.
So we are going to be talking about temptation and how to overcome it today. We all know too well what it's like to be lured by temptation. Something offers a promise, but in the end it doesn't pay. Temptation is that attractive lure hiding the deadly hook. And like the drama we just watched, we end up getting stuck in sin not knowing how to escape. But take heart, you don't have to take a bite.
It would be wonderful if we could live life without facing temptations, but the simple fact is that we cannot. Just as sure as hardships are an unfortunate reality of life that we all must face at one time or another, so too is temptation.
Context: James has been teaching us how to profit from our problems. Up to this point he has shown us that every problem we face -- every trial we encounter has a purpose. The Lord is trying to show us something about ourselves. Every difficult thing that comes into my life, either strengthens me because I obey God and stay confident in His care and trusting His power, and so I grow. Or I am tempted to doubt God, deny His Word, disobey, do what is expedient and thus I have fallen to the solicitation to do evil. Now it's very interesting that in Greek, the word for trials, peirasmos -- is the exact same word for temptation. The same word that means an enticement to evil is also used to speak of a trial. The difference is how you respond to it. If you respond to a trial with obedience, then you find it a means of spiritual growth. If you respond to a trial with disobedience it has turned into a temptation and you have fallen prey to it. Every trial has the potential to become a temptation, depending on our response. So, James makes this shift from trials, which lead to growth and blessing, to temptations which lead to sin and death. Every circumstance of life that we face then provides us with a decision. In fact, it requires a decision. Will I persevere? Will I move ahead in faith in God by obedience to His Word? Or will I listen to the voice that suggests the easy way out is disobedience and fall into sin?
Now the first issue he wants to deal with is the responsibility issue. If I fall into sin, whose fault is it? Is it God's fault who brings the trials or allows them? Is it the fault of my circumstances? Is it the fault of my being created by God the way I am and I can't help it? Whose fault is it? If God brings the trials, then is He responsible when they become temptations?
Understand the Nature of God
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)
IF you don't understand the nature of God there is no way you can get to a victory with temptation. James starts out by saying, "no one can say that they temptation they are experiencing -- something that is drawing them away for God - is God's fault. Now a lot of people will try to say that -- but it can't be true because God has nothing to do with evil. The Bible says God is light -- there is no darkness in Him at all -- He is completely separate from sin. When sin comes into your life don't blame it on God -- it has nothing to do with him. But we got to blame someone right?
Ill of Adam and Eve in the Garden -- "Have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?" Listen to the man, all he had to say was what? Yes, I did that. But he said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate." Whose fault was it? Well, he suggests the woman, I mean, after all, he went to sleep one night and never had seen a woman in his life. Woke up the next morning and was married to one. Didn't even know what a woman was. But the real issue here is he's not blaming Eve. This is the statement, "The woman whom...what?...You gave me." Whose fault was it? God"s fault. You could have picked any woman You want, why did You pick her? Why did You make a woman who would do that? By the way, Adam is not the only one who has spoken to God in those terms. "And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that you've done? And the woman said, "I did it." No, she said, "The serpent deceived me and I ate." I'm a victim just like my husband of something You created. I was in this wonderful garden and all of a sudden a snake showed up. I didn't make that snake. I didn't make that snake to talk. The blame is placed on God. And it's been so ever since. God made me, God made me with my sinfulness. God made me with my circumstances. God put me in the situation I'm in marriage. God gave me my surroundings. God's created the scene. It's not my fault.
Have you heard that line of reasoning echoing in our culture? "I can't help what I am doing -- I didn't choose to be like this -- it's just the way I've been made to be." This generation didn't come up with that excuse. People have been trying to peddle that one since the dawn of time. "Hey I don't really want to drink,
smoke, steal, .... I've prayed and God hasn't answered. I do this because I have to cope -- If God would only get His act together, then I wouldn't be involved in these activities."
So in verse 13 James says -- When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." This is actually an imperative -- it's a command - don't you dare say that you giving into temptation is God's fault. Any one who tries to sell that one really doesn't understand the nature of God. He's not like that. Don't you dare say "It's God's fault." If you say that you don't really understand the nature of God.
I want to show you a passage in the book of Jeremiah that shows us God's true nature. The word of the LORD came to me: "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them," declares the LORD. (Jer. 2:1-3)
This is God speaking -- and he's sharing his feeling with us. When he speaks to Isr. he says, "I remember when we first started out -- Do you remember those days -- when you were so in love with me? You'd do anything for me and I'd do anything for you. Any try to hurt you - like a good husband I was your protector -- I defended you. Do you remember those days? When we first started our love journey together?" But then he goes on and says:
Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. This is what the LORD says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves." (Jer. 2:4-5) Tell me "what did you find in me that was so bad that you wanted to walk away and start following after these other idols? What happened?" Doesn't that sound like so many of us? -- We start out with this wonderful relationship where we are thrilled with God and find our meaning and purpose and joy and future and hope and then we wonder away chasing after other worthless things. And God is just left there saying, "What happened? What did I do? I thought I was everything to you. I thought we are in love. What fault did you find in me that you would go after these worthless things?
On down in this passage, in verse 11 he says: Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. "Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror," declares the LORD. "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." Jer. 2:11-13) He says, Why would you trade me away? I am the spring of everlasting refreshing fresh water -- and you exchange it for what? You dig your own hole and by the way it's a hole that's full of cracks and flaws and doesn't hold anything -- and you exchange Me for that?" Instead of fresh, refreshing, flowing water -- you are going to fill with the foul stagnant water you can collect? Why would you ever drink from that when you can come to the well, to the fountain of life Himself? The angels are appalled -- we are turning our back on God for what -- for some temptation that your think will bring you pleasure or security or peace or joy? You are going to exchange the glory of walking with God everyday for a brief few moments with something that is guaranteed not to deliver? Really? God is saying, "What did I do wrong? What did I not provide for you?
In chapter three: I myself said, "How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation. I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from following me. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel," declares the LORD. (Jer. 3: 19-20) This God speaking from His perspective -- "I thought that if I gave you every thing you needed -- I provided for you -- I delivered you -- I care for you -- I heal you -- I walk with you and I love you -- I give you an inheritance that no one can touch - --I thought that you would call me Father and follow me." But you are like a woman who is unfaithful towards her husband. I give you everything and then you chose to go somewhere else -- I would have given you everything -- but you walked away. What did I do wrong? God just wants us to be in love with us -- and we chase after the empty box and substitute it for his love. You see the issue isn't just that we chose sin -- but also that we chose sin over him. That's what breaks His heart. Listen to me there has never been a person in the history of the planet that has made this kind of exchange and been thankful for it.
- Look at what James says in verse 16
-- I know I'm kind of working backward here but we'll come back and pick up these other verses in a second. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
He says don't bite when that temptation comes your way -- don't make the exchange -- don't trade what I have to offer you for something that will not deliver. What God wants to give to you is good and perfect. The nature of God is that he only wants to deliver to you things that are good and perfect. It would be foolish to be lured away by some baited hook or baited trap when all the goodness of God is available by His grace. Notice the words good and perfect in this verse -- it's His best. Every good, every perfect thing is going to be His joy to give to us. They come down from Him. Notice He's called the Father of Lights, that is a great statement. That was an ancient Jewish way of referring to God as creator. The lights they have in mind are the sun, moon and the stars. He is the Father of the lights, the celestial bodies. He is the one who created all the lights in the sky. He created all of them. -- I don't know anything about all the silly speculations over extraterrestrial life somewhere out in space. Do you want to know why God created so many stars in the sky? Just so that you can go out at night and say, "Wow -- that's something else." It was simply his good pleasure to give you something beautiful to look at in the night sky. And he doesn't change -- the flow of good things from God never varies, never stops. So the first step in overcoming temptation is to understand the nature of God.
Second we have to Understand Our Own Nature and Accept Personal Responsibility:
"But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed..." Notice the words "each one" & "own." Question: Where does temptation come from? We might expect James to say from the devil... but he doesn't. James says that the source of temptation is our own evil desire. James places the responsibility for temptation squarely on the individual. The source of temptation comes from within. There's something inside of you and me that longs for things outside of God. Why is it that we spend so much time trying to blame others for our bad behaviors? We'll blame anybody to avoid taking personal responsibility. "She made me so angry." "The kids just act like children -- I have to shout at them." "Do you understand what he did -- he's the one that seduced me." We just keep blaming and blaming -- "I'm just going through such a hard time -- I have to have some kind of relief. It's not my fault -- it's my circumstances." "It's not my fault that I'm prone to addiction -- it's in my genes -- I'm prone to it. It's not my fault that I've got a third cousin whose aunt had a father whose uncle on the mothers' side was a raging alcoholic. I didn't pick my family line. What do you want me to do?" "I know I haven't been to church in 2 months but do you know that during that entire time the pastor never came to see me even one time?" What are we looking for? We want someone to come to us and say, "OK, it's not your fault -- you're off the hook -- I can see how someone else it to blame. Don't you worry about it now." You can say anything you want -- but read the Bible -- it's not your kids fault, your spouses, fault, your boss's fault, your friends fault - it's your fault. You've got this evil desire inside of you and you've chosen not to live a disciplined grown up holy life -- it's your choice. So don't go around blaming anyone else.
And remember we have to bring this back and remember it in its context -- James is writing to people who have faced real trials -- run off from their homes -- scattered around the nations -- going through real persecution because of their faith -- and James says to them -- don't use your circumstances as an excuse to blame God. "If you're tempted to sin -- don't blame it on God -- it's coming out of you -- not from him."
Now James uses a couple of terms from the sports world. The word "dragged away" is a hunter's term, which literally means "snared in a trap" "Enticed" is a fisherman's term, which means "lured by bait." The secret of great fishing is in the bait. The right kind of bait for the right kind of fish. How many fish will you catch with a bare hook? You've got to put bait on it. And the right kind of bait for the right kind of fish.
Ill of bait on a fishing pole- Use different kinds of bait.
Gummy worms - $20. - Barbie Doll -- beer can
Now one of the things we can learn from this is not every kind of bait is going to be appealing to you. That is why one person can stand next to another person, and one can be unavoidably attracted to something while the other yawns through it all. But there is some kind of bait that is particularly attractive to you. There is some thing that appeals to you. And it will generally fall into one of these three categories: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
The three categories:
* cravings of sinful man = "lust of the flesh" (KJV) -- physical desires
* lust of his eyes = that which is physically desirable. Ill of Dell commercials selling computers based on color.
* boasting of what he has and does = pride of life(KJV)temptation to have others admire us.
Three different kinds of bait. And you'll fall for one of them. You'll bite on one of them. There is some kind of bait that looks particularly enticing to you. Others around you might not know what kind of bait you'll pick up -- but I'd bet that right now this very moment you know what it is. You know what has lured you and enticed you in the past, right?
Now what's really crazy about this whole thing is you also know what happens when you pick it up. Look at what James says: Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. So we have this series of "D" words that show the process of temptation.
Desire > Deception > Disobedience > Death
Each step taking you lower and lower and further and further away from God. But what we really need to see here there is a kind of picture of what should be the most marvelous moment in life. It starts with conception -- the sperm and the egg and then there is growth and then comes the moment when that child is being born -- but it is a still born child. Instead of celebration there is grief and mourning. Instead of a spring of living water -- there is death.
And that's what sin actually produces in your life. What you are left with mostly are feelings of guilt and conviction. You get down on yourself because you've caved in again. You begin thinking you are different than other people you see around you. They seem to be able to control themselves in this area but you don't seem to be able to. You start feeling discouraged, and defeated which eventually leads to depression. You're outlook on life gets dimmer and dimmer. You find yourself getting angry all the time. You become critical of other people. You start blaming all your problems on your circumstances or the people around you. And you find yourself thinking -- "You know there just isn't very much joy in my life." Let me ask you a question; what happened to that wonderful payoff you imagined before you started giving into that temptation? It evaporated. It turned out to be what you suspected it to be all along, a mirage. There was no payoff. James is saying, "You've got to recognize that the positive payoff of giving into a temptation is an optical illusion."
And for what? Do you see what James is trying to get us to understand? I left the spring of living water and traded it for -- death? I left my inheritance and my love relationship and the promises of God to swallow the bait and what did I get in exchange? Don't be deceived -- don't take the bait -- you have these desires that want to pull you away -- Don't go for it because it ends in death. It will only result in a separation between you and the lover of your soul.
Some of you are being sucked in -- you're nibbling at something that will end in your destruction. Instead of swimming away -- you're swallowing it hook and sinker. Don't be fooled. Don't be deceived.
Don't turn your back on the One who loves you.
Claim The Promise Of God For An Escape Route
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And 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 that you can stand up under it." (1 Cor. 10:12-13)
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. When you hear yourself saying things like, "No one knows what my situation is like. I've had it worse than everybody I know." Not true! In all the temptations you face -- you are not the first nor will you be the last. The verse reminds us that God is faithful. (Understand His nature) He will assist you. He will help you. He will make a way of escape for you. There is divine control over the things you are facing in your life. Ill. - While we were in Maryland Missy and I were walking along a dock and there were a few people who were fishing for Maryland Blue crab. We stopped and watched for a few moments because I'd never seen how you fish for blue crab. What you do is get some kind of small piece of meat -- and you tie a piece of string around it. And you drop it into the water. That's it. No hook or lure -- just a string tied around a piece of meat. How do you catch the crab? Once they get a hold of their prize they won't let go. You just lift them out of the water. They are selfish to the point of their own destruction. They hang on to their temptation all the way to their doom. The truth is in many situations is the reason we suffer defeat when facing temptation is we want to hand on to the bait. Let it go. Get away from it.
Rather Than Respond to Temptation,
I Choose To Reflect the Character of Jesus My Lord and Savior
Fix Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Heb. 12:2-3)
Why does Scripture tell us to fix our eyes upon Jesus? So that we will reflect His character in our daily lives. I challenge you to take the bottom of your sermon outline and cut it off and tape in a visible place at your point of weakness. If it's food -- tape it to your refrigerator, computer, television, but no matter what area of weakness you have - stand on the promise of victory!
CLOSE: There is one reason that stands above every other reason why you should not respond to that temptation you are struggling with:
God is Better!
No matter how tempting that sinful behavior is it won't deliver what it promises. Don't take the bait -- swim away. Ask God to help you to do that.
