God Never Tempts
James 1:12-18
May 28, 2023
Have you heard the folk story of Jose Rivera? Jose Rivera was a bandit in southern Texas in the late 1800's. He stole money and jewelry, and the people hired a Texas ranger to track him down, arrest him and return what he stole.
Rivera fled to Mexico where the ranger finally found him at a small cantina.
After learning where he was, the ranger tapped Rivera on his shoulder and asked -- “Are you Jose Rivera?” Rivera mumbled, “No hablo ingles!”
So the ranger found someone who could translate for him. Through the interpreter, the ranger warned Rivera that he had 2 choices; tell him where he hid the money; and he could walk away a free man . . . or if he doesn’t tell him, he won’t walk out of the cantina. The young man translated the ultimatum.
Rivera pulled himself together and said to the interpreter, “Tell him to go out of the bar, turn right at the 2nd street, walk 600 paces and you will find a rock formation. The money is hidden under the rocks. You will find all the jewelry and most of the money I have taken.”
The young man translating, turned to the ranger, swallowed ... paused . . . swallowed again - - - and finally said, “Jose Rivera says . . . Jose Rivera says . . . ‘Go ahead and shoot!’” Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God.
I don’t know if this is a true story. But it’s rather true of life. Temptation has a way of grabbing hold of us, even when we’re not looking for it. And maybe, especially when we’re not looking for it and think we’ve got that area in our lives beat. That’s part of our focus this morning as we continue looking at practical wisdom from James.
Last week we began looking at the first verses from James. After greeting God’s people, he focused on the trials we all go through in life, which can be painful, disconcerting, frustrating and produce an overall angst in life. Yet James exhorts us to persevere, because when we do, we will grow and be more complete, as we mature into the person God has called us to be.
Again, nobody goes through trials excited about them, but we can still experience the joy and power of the Lord because of who He is in our lives. That’s where we started and verse 12 is really a continuation, and an ending to this first section as James wrote - - - -
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him. - James 1:12
Remember that word steadfast means someone who is constant, never wavering, just as God isn’t wavering and fickle in His love for us, the person who is steadfast throughout their trials, will receive the crown of life . . . and get this and this is cool from God . . . .
God has promised this to you. Those who receive the crown of life are those who love God. That’s the requirement! It’s not by your works, it’s by the love you have for God. And by the way, God does not break His promises!
Now, James moves on, still talking about trials, but he has another point for us to grasp. He tells us - - - -
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
WOW! That’s so powerful and so true. Let’s break this apart . . .
Firstly, the word used for temptation in the Greek is a negative word in this sense. It’s not like we saw last week where God tests us and the goal is for you to pass the test. Temptation does not come from God and it’s goal is to lead you to evil. The Greek word for evil can be defined as a morally rotten character.
That’s the purpose of the temptation and that’s never, never, never the goal or plan from God. God’s goal is to build you up! To see you succeed as you pass His testing. Failure is not an option in God’s kingdom.
Notice that James tells us what we don’t want to hear. And it’s so true. Sometimes you ever wonder how they got this wisdom 2000 years ago? We walk into temptation because we’re lured and enticed by WHO? By our own desire!
The use of these words by James is really intentional. To be lured is only used in this 1 passage and it comes from a hunting motif. The goal of the hunter is to lure the animal from it’s safety in order to catch it, and in this sense, we’re lured from our self restraint not to sin.
And to entice also comes from hunting. Just as we would go hunting or fishing and bait a hook or set a trap with bait; we too are baited into a moral trap, designed to snare us through our selfish impulses.
And isn’t that what satan is doing, tempting us, luring us, baiting us to say YES - - - and just as the fisherman sets the hook, satan does the same, catching us in our own desires.
And when we’ve embraced that desire and play it out, it becomes sin. You may think - - - wow, I’d love to have that item . . . and satan entices you with ways to get it in an immoral way, that’s the temptation, but being tempted is not sin. Please understand we are all tempted . . .
Jesus was tempted immediately after His baptism, when He was in the wilderness for 40 days. He was tempted by satan in various ways, but Jesus always said no. And satan is slick, he tempted Jesus with felt needs. Hey, you’re hungry, I can do this for you. Oh, you won’t have to suffer, because I’ll give you the kingdoms of this world. That’s how he often goes about tempting us.
And if we’re not careful, we can easily get sucked into sin and that sin leads to death. And the death James is talking about can be a physical or spiritual death. He’s referring to being separated from God.
So, how do we combat this? There’s a few ways I want to mention. The first comes from the words of Solomon in Provers 4:23, one of my favorite verses - - - -
23 Above all else, guard your hearts, for all of life flows through your hearts. - Proverbs 4:23
That’s so vital for us. Guard your heart. What are you allowing to flow into your hearts and minds? What are you allowing to filter in for your kids? Guard your hearts . . . that’s your job. It’s not a once and done deal. It’s an everyday matter. Guard! Guard! Guard your hearts!
Along with guarding your hearts is knowing God’s word. If you know His word, then when you’re tempted you can either use God’s word to defeat the temptation or you know that what you’re being asked to do is wrong.
Going along with that is what Paul says in Ephesians 6. Paul tells us - - - -
13 Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
We are called to put on God’s armor - - -
the belt of truth
the breastplate of righteousness
the shoes of the gospel of peace
to take up the shield of faith
put on the helmet of salvation and grab
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
That should be a daily occurrence as well. As you get dressed every day, put on God’s protection so that you would not be overwhelmed and beaten down by satan, as he entices and lures us into temptation and sin.
Another way is to recognize what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10 - - -
12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
This is such great wisdom. Don’t think you’re immune to temptation. We’re all tempted. Somedays are worse than others, but it often happens. So don’t think you’re above it and that you can’t fall, we all can. If we give in to our desires.
But listen to what Paul says next - - -
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability,
but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
Do you see that? Temptation is common to all people. Don’t think what you’re going through is any different than what others have gone through. It may be a once in a lifetime experience, but others have also experienced it.
But along with that temptation understand that your God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability to withstand temptation. So, if you think it’s too much, God doesn’t think so. Which means God sees a power and strength in you, you might not believe you have.
Finally, trust that God has also provided a way of escape, so that you can endure the temptation. And you know what that usually is? It’s 2 letters - - - -
N - O!
Most of the time when I preach, you don’t get the opportunity to participate. So, I’m going to need you to help me out for the next couple of minutes.
Everyone put your hand out. Imagine with me that you have a lemon in your hand. Feel how cold it is since you just took it out of the refrigerator. Feel the two knobs on the ends? Ok, now take a knife and cut the lemon in half. Careful! Don’t cut yourself. Oh, look at the juice run down over the sides.
Now, put one half down and just hold the other half of the lemon. Now, look at the inside of the cut lemon and smell it. Ok, now squeeze the lemon. See the juice ooze up and cover the surface of the cut lemon? Now - lick the lemon. That’s right! Lick the lemon.
Who feels like you have puckered up and have more saliva than you did a minute a go? How can that be? It was only pretend! The reason is because your body reacts to that which your mind thinks about. When we contemplate the bait, our body also goes into motion. (From Mark Hiehle)
OK, let’s look at the final section. As it really is a continuation of what James has already been telling us - - - -
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
18 Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
Finally, James says that sin will deceive you, but God never will. Sin will make you think that it is the best choice. That’s the way satan works. It’s not the best. TO receive those good gifts from God, sometimes we have to wait. And we don’t like waiting, so we take matters into our hands, which is exactly what satan wants. He’s going to give us a cheap substitute and you miss out on God’s blessings.
In the end, we settle for something less than. We’ve given into the temptation set before us, and now we suffer from it. But James wants us to know, to trust and to believe He is dependable. God is not like the shifting shadows, that are constantly moving and unpredictable.
We see change, variation, and inconsistency in the lights of the sky. You can’t depend on the weather. Not so with God. He is steadfast / consistent. He’s not good some of the time and evil at other times. He is not loving at some times and hateful at others. He’s not honest on some occasions and deceptive at others. He’s not powerful some times and weak at other times. He is ALWAYS loving, ALWAYS giving, ALWAYS truthful, and ALWAYS ALL-powerful.
The gift will come in God's time. It will come according to God's Word. It will come in God's way. But it will come from God. The wonderful thing about God is when God blesses you there are no strings attached.
And finally, God brought us forth by the word of truth. Through His word we find life, we find a renewal, a new birth, a new hope. We become the firstfruits of all creation. We become the new believers, the new church and Paul tells us - - - -
17 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17
Trust that you are a new creation. He has made you new and offered you only the best of the best. He’s offered Jesus to you. And there’s no better gift than Jesus!
