In the first part of the chapter, James has been dealing with trials and testings and hardships of all kinds. He talked about helping us find the calm center of Christ’s presence. Last week we learned about the anchors which can give us stability in the midst of the storm…
Now in the next part of the chapter, James addresses the whole area of temptation He moves from the concept of trials that come from the outside and try to defeat us…to the concept of temptations that come from the inside and also try to defeat us…
Part 4 “The Truth About Temptation”
James 1:13-18
Intro – welcome back to our series in the book of James… …please open your Bibles to chapter 1…
Temptations are as real “world” as it gets, right folks? In today’s passage we are going to get a taste of how open and honest the book of James is and how profoundly practical James can be in helping his readers live a life that really honors God…
None of us are strangers to temptation…it takes many forms but it is universal in its process and intent…and it is something over which we can find victory through learning and applying the truths we find in today’s passage…
-we need not be defeated by any evil temptation… …Christ can make us overcomers and conquerors over anything that would seek to distract us from Himself and lead us into sin…
“The magazine “Discipleship Journal” asked its readers to rank their areas of greatest temptation. Keep in mind this is a predominantly North American Christian survey group, but probably not dissimilar to us here today.
Top 5 Temptations (Discipleship Journal)
1. Materialism
2. Pride
3. Self-centeredness
4. Laziness
5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness…and Sexual Lust
I’m absolutely certain each of us here can relate to one or more of these top 5 temptations…unless you’re like the guy who joked, “I have no struggle with temptation: I just give in every time!” Guess that’s one way to deal with it.
The respondents in the survey also noted that temptations were stronger when they neglected their time with God (81%) and when they were physically tired (57%).
So with this in mind, let’s read the passage and discover God’s overcoming truth about temptation…
Prayer…read James 1:13-18…
This is some of the most practical teaching you’re going to find anywhere in the Bible about temptation and sin…we are given such a clear description of the process of sin and how it works…
Four-fold process of Sin:
1. Deception v.16
2. Desire v.14
3. Decision (disobedience) v.15
4. Death v.15
For today, I simply want to focus on the first step in the sin process:
Deception v.16
-I believe that James’ warning in v. 16 “Don’t be deceived…” is the heart of the passage and the most important factor in determining the outcome of temptation in our life…
-I am convinced this is where temptation is either overcome by us or it overcomes us…this is where we either win or lose…
-I believe it all starts in our minds with the truths we chose to believe and act on…or the deception we chose to believe and act on…
The Path of Deception
-if we choose the path of deception, this is what it would look like:
1. find someone to blame for our choices v.13
a. God -we can blame God, like James says in v.13…”He made me this way…with these needs and desires…He certainly must understand when I choose to get those needs and desires met…
b. other people and circumstances -we can blame other people and circumstances…”if you knew what I’ve been through, you would understand why I just can’t help myself…why I can’t resist that temptation…”
-now there certainly are horrible things that have happened to people that contribute to our brokenness and propensity to poor choices…and God’s heart of compassion is reaching out to you for help and healing…but those things, those people and circumstances don’t have to keep us in a perpetual state of brokenness and a sinful cycle…
Choosing not to take personal responsibility for our sinful choices is the first step of deception that gives temptation control over us…that causes us to be victims rather than victors…
eg. goes right back to the Garden of Eden in Gen. 3… where Eve blamed the serpent for her sinful choice to eat the forbidden fruit…and Adam blamed Eve for his sinful choice to eat the fruit (“the woman You gave me”)…but actually Adam did something far worse, He blamed God for his sinful choice…”the woman You gave me” Gen. 3:12
-so actually, God, You’re responsible for this mess because You set it all up…
God’s Truth vs. Deception
Let me offer God’s truth here in order to break the power of deception.
-you are responsible for your choices, good or bad…there is no excuse that will successfully allow you to shift the blame and responsibility for your life somewhere else…scripture is clear: the fault of my sin lies with me…there is a problem at the core of who you and I are…in the words of Romans 7:18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
-we each have a sinful nature that we can allow to be in control of our lives if we nurture it…
Now if you feel condemned by those words, that’s because Satan is trying to deceive you…”See, I told you you were no good…a loser, failure, not good enough…never good enough…” -but those are all lies…
eg. can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to over the years who have been programmed in their thinking to believe they are worthless and unlovable and a failure, disappointment…that sin has ruined them…that nobody loves them…not people, not even God…
-and then, wonderfully, miraculously, when these people get sick and tired of living in this bondage, and they become open to being prayed for…having their minds renewed by God’s truth…and are able to receive prayer ministry and receive God’s truth in their lives about who they are in Christ…we begin to see deliverance and healing…and freedom and joy…and a deep sense of how loved they are by God…
Listen, you alone are responsible for your choices, but you are not alone in finding help and support to start making God-honoring choices…
-you have a sinful nature and you’re responsible for it…but you’re a loved child of God who doesn’t have to live a defeated life and give in to temptation…
Tim Keller: “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
There is another step along the path of deception
2. believe that God is not good v.17
Now I know that most people listening to this message sincerely believe that God is good, but here’s what happens: we question whether or not He will come through for us and provide our needs or fulfill our desires…or if He’s even aware of what we need and perhaps not interested in helping us…
eg again this goes back to the Garden of Eden and Satan’s lie to Eve in Gen. 3:
“Did God really say? (v.1) For God knows that when you eat…your eyes will be opened and you will be like God” (v.5)
-so because we doubt God’s goodness…doubt His willingness or ability…we take matters into our own hands to ensure that our needs and desires get met…and this is what Satan loves to capitalize on…one of Satan’s best strategies is to tempt us to meet our God-given desires in a self-administered, sinful way…
For example:
• value, worth…if we don’t find that through God, then we engage in self-promotion, attention-seeking, pride…
• provide for family…greed, materialism…
• sexual fulfillment…gratification outside the bonds of marriage…
• help, serve others…control, criticism, bitterness, rejection…
• hunger…gluttony • sleep…laziness…
And the reason Satan is so successful with this strategy is because we do not believe, at a gut level, that God is good and will actually take care of each of these needs and desires in His own way and in His own time…or that His ways will actually work…so we take the bait that Satan offers, a quicker result, immediate payoff, by taking matters into our own hands…
God’s Truth vs. Deception
Let me again offer God’s truth here to break the power of deception.
“God is good, all the time…all the time, God is good”
1. He cannot be tempted by evil v.13
– He is holy, pure, perfect…
2. He does not tempt anyone or cause us to sin v.13
-He intends blessing not harm…
3. He gives good gifts v.17
Ps. 103:5 “…who satisfies your desires with good things”
Ps. 84:11 “no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”
4. He doesn’t change v.17
-in other words, His moods, love, response to you don’t change… He is the same yesterday, today and forever…
And here’s one more evidence of God’s goodness, that is our last point today: 5. He made you His child v.18
Probably the greatest evidence of God’s goodness and great love is that He chose you…chose me…to become His children through spiritual birth…to set His love upon us individually and save us from our sins and bring us into a living relationship with Him through Jesus Christ…
I Jn 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
-a love and salvation we don’t deserve and cannot earn…but a love that is real and permanent and secure because it is offered as a free gift of God’s grace through the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross…
The path of deception that leads to temptation says that you do not matter to God…that He is not pleased with you…that you are insignificant to Him compared to all those other great Christians…
And as long as we believe that, we are heading in a path of self-destructive sinful behavior…we are living far below our high position as beloved children of God…
Conclusion
At the beginning of the message I said we need not be defeated by any evil temptation…Christ can make us over-comers and conquerors over anything that would seek to distract us from Himself and lead us into sin…
He certainly can and will…do you want that? need that? today?
Remember the survey taken by “Discipleship Journal” that asked its readers to give their top 5 temptations? The readers stated that they had found that the Greatest factors in overcoming temptation: to be “prayer (84%), avoiding compromising situations (76%), Bible study (66%), and being accountable to someone else (52%).”
Those are good things and they work. But based on today’s teaching from James, I would say the most important factor in overcoming temptation is what we believe in our mind about:
1. Personal responsibility - I’m responsible for my choices
2. Who God is - God is good
3. Who I am - His beloved child
Prayer…Worship…