Tackling Temptation

Tackling Temptation

“Tackling Temptation”
(James 1:13-18)
Series: Living the Faith (James)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

•I invite you to take your Bibles and join me this morning in the Book of James, chapter 1 (page 812; YouVersion).

We are preaching our way consecutively through the Book of James, going through it verse-by-verse and we left off at verse 12 last time and in a moment, then, will pick up at verse 13.

We have been learning about the necessity of our going through various trials and hardships. James teaches Christians to “Count it all joy” when they fall into various trials. And then he tells us why. He says, “For the testing of your faith produces perseverance,” an ability to stand during times of adversity. He adds, “And when perseverance has its perfect work, you may be perfect,” that is, “complete, mature” and more like Christ.

So while trials and hardships are inevitable, they are also beneficial. They build godly character within us and the going through them is what makes us more like Christ. And many of us who are Christians can relate. We understand how the going through trials has brought us to a greater depth of maturity in our Christian walk.

And so it is not so much that we have to go through difficulties and hardships as it is that we must learn from the difficulties through which we have gone. We believe that no trial is wasted. God allows us to fall into various times of testing so that we more greatly conform to Christlikeness—and that is why we can count it all joy.

Now in a moment we will begin reading at verse 13 and you will note there that James says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God.’” We have noted before that in the original language, in Koine Greek, the word that is translated “tempted” there in verse 13 is the same word that is translated as “trial” in the previous verses.

The same Greek word can have different meanings. The same is true in English. Words in English can have multiple meanings. Just consider the English words “run” or “set” and you will discover many meanings for those two words. The meaning of a word is found in how we use it, what is the context of our statement or writing.

So thus far we have understood this Greek Word as “trial” because the context determines that meaning. When God tests our faith and makes us more like Christ by allowing various trials and hardships, we understand this word in a good sense. But when the hardship or difficulty we are facing is such that we are being enticed to do evil, then the word is translated as “tempt” or “temptation.”

So the meaning is determined by who is doing the action. God tests to bring about a good result. Satan tempts to bring about a bad result. Of course one significant aspect of this passage is that we don’t even read of Satan here in the text. It’s as if James is saying that when Christians sin they have only themselves to blame. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s read the passage.

•Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

•Pray.

Introduction:

Last Sunday evening I entered my office to get some things together for the evening worship service. And on my desk someone had left me a very kind gift. There was a note on top of the gift that read, “Thanks for your leadership at our church. We love you!” That was a nice card, and nicer still was the gift underneath: a flat box of 12 different kinds of donuts from Krispy Kreme. There were chocolate and strawberry iced and caked and creme-filled. And they were good! I don’t know who gave them. It was an anonymous gift, but I am very grateful.

I’m pretty sure most of them were gone before we went to bed that evening. We gave at least one away earlier, but the rest we ate. And when I say, “We” I mean mostly “Me.” Oh I didn’t eat all of them myself, but I ate far more than I should have. Now, I could say, “Well, you know, I deserved those donuts. After all, they were given to me and the person who gave them intended that I enjoy them.”

Yes, but they probably did not intend that I enjoy them all at once. Truth is, I allowed my desire for something good be an occasion for temptation. James says, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” My eating too many donuts was not the anonymous giver’s fault. Eating too many donuts was nobody’s fault but my own.

Now maybe you say that’s a fairly light and seemingly harmless illustration of temptation. I mean it’s a bit like J. Vernon McGee’s telling of the little boy playing around in the kitchen. He had gotten down the cookie jar and his mother called out to him and said, “Willie, what are you doing in the pantry?!” And the little boy said, “I’m fighting temptation!”

We may feel that if the temptation to eat too many donuts or the temptation to sneak into the cookie jar are the greatest of our challenges, then we may be “tempted” to think we’re okay. But the truth is, whatever form temptation takes, the pattern is the same: “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”

So James begins by teaching us the cause of temptation. That’s the first main point here:

I. Know the Cause of Temptation (13-14)

Verse 13:

13 Let no one say when (just like trials, not “if” but “when!”) he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

In other words, don’t blame God. God is not the cause of temptation. When you are battling temptation whether it is a temptation to overeat, to drink alcohol, to use drugs, to look lustfully at a person of the opposite sex, to hit someone, to hurt someone by your words—when you are battling temptation, don’t blame God. He is not the cause of temptation.

Verse 13, “for God cannot be tempted by evil.” That makes sense if you know your theology. Remember your doctrine, the doctrine of God. God is all-sufficient. There’s nothing He needs, nothing He desires, nothing He craves. So God cannot be tempted by evil. He is completely satisfied in Himself and is all-sufficient.

“Nor,” last part of verse 13, “Nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” Why? Because God does not delight in sin. He’s not going to tempt anyone to do evil. He hates evil. God is not the cause of your temptation.

Does this truth keep us from blaming God? No, the “blame game” was played first in the Garden of Eden. Our first parents both played the blame game. Adam and Eve both succumbed to the temptation to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Life. So God comes first to Adam and Adam blames both God and Eve. Remember what Adam said? “The woman…You gave me! She made me do it!” Then God turns to Eve and Eve blames the serpent.

Will Rogers used to say there were two eras in history: the passing of the buffalo and the passing of the buck. The blame is passed around. This is inherent to our nature. We are Adam’s children.

So James teaches that the cause of temptation does not originate with God, but with us—or better still, within us. Verse 14:

14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

Sin is always an inside job. Sin begins in the heart. Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Temptation begins in a sort of neutral way. There is only the possibility of sin at the first and then, we are “drawn away by our own desires and enticed.” So yielding to temptation is our own fault. We must own our actions.

It’s like that construction worker I’ve told you about. He opens up his lunch box and says, “Oh, no! Baloney sandwich again! 4 out 5 days this week, baloney sandwiches. If I see another baloney sandwich, I’m gonna be sick.” His construction worker buddy says, “Well, why don’t you ask your wife to pack you something else?” And he said, “Oh, I’m not married. I pack it myself.”

He owned his actions! The cause of temptation is an inside job. We must realize that we have within us the ability to be drawn away by our own desires and enticed.

That doesn’t mean that we have no choice. We do have a choice. We can choose to yield to the temptation or turn from the temptation.

Martin Luther is supposed to have said, “You can’t keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”

We can choose to yield to the temptation or turn from the temptation. But understand what is happening. We are “drawn away by our own desires and enticed.” The words translated “drawn away” and “enticed,” both words convey ideas of fishing or hunting. They are the same words used to describe the “baiting” of something, like baiting a trap or baiting a fish. To be “drawn away” is to be “lured” as by a fishing lure.

Fish are not very bright creatures, but most of them won’t bite a hook if there’s nothing on it. So if you’re wanting to catch a fish you cover up the hook with some kind of bait. The bait hides the hook. So the fish comes along and sees the bait. He doesn’t see the hook. So he comes up to the bait and the bait is attractive. The bait “draws him away.” The fish is “drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” The fish has taken the bait. And what does the fish now discover? Underneath that bait is the snare of the hook. And so he is finished.

Now this leads us naturally to the consequence of temptation. We saw first the cause of temptation. It’s not God’s fault. It is our fault. Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Secondly:

II. Know the Consequence of Temptation (15-16)

Look at this pattern and progression of sin in verse 15. After each one is tempted, drawn away by his own desires and enticed, what happens next? Verse 15:

15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Wow. This all takes place within each person. Sin is an inside job. So here is King David, for example. We read in 2 Samuel 12 that he stays home when kings are supposed to be at war. And one evening he walks out on his rooftop, not an unusual thing to do in ancient Israel. And from this vantage point he happens to see a young woman bathing herself. Now, had he just turned away and gone back inside that would have been the end of it. But he didn’t.

It’s not Bathsheba’s fault. It’s David’s fault. He was tempted to look longer at her. And the more he looked, the more he thought, and the more he felt. Desire was forming from within. The longer he looks at this woman, the more greatly he allows himself to be “drawn away by his own desire and enticed.” Then, “when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.”

And David calls for this woman Bathsheba and she is brought to the king’s palace and in they go the king’s chambers and David sins. Many today would call it a fling, an affair, a one-night stand. The Bible calls it a sin, namely adultery. The sin was relatively short compared to the consequences that followed.

James says in verse 15, “When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James is speaking metaphorically here and yet in David’s case this literally happened. The child conceived by Bathsheba dies as a consequence of David’s sin, punishment by God. And the death of the child was certainly a painful consequence for both David and Bathsheba—and yet a fate worse than physical death was the death of David’s vigor and spirit for the rest of his days. He is clearly a broken man after his adultery. He doesn’t strike us as the same man of God he once was. He is broken. Broken by sin and temptation. He failed to consider the hook that had been hidden by the bait.

Small wonder James cautions in the next verse, verse 16:

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

Do not be deceived. Don’t think that you can do this just once and all will be well. Don’t toy with temptation. Don’t flirt with the opposite sex. Don’t go anywhere near the porn site. Don’t look at the picture. Don’t watch the video. Don’t joke about sin.

Kent Hughes said, “Satan knows that if he can get us to laugh at things we believe we would never do, our defenses will fall.”

In the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

And remember there is always a way out:

1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.” Know the Cause of Temptation. Know the Consequence of Temptation. Thirdly:

III. Know the Correction for Temptation [17-18]

It’s not enough to say, “No” to temptation. That certainly is necessary, but that alone is incomplete. We must say, “No” to temptation and “Yes” to Christ. We must avoid wickedness and delight in God’s goodness. That’s verse 17. The correction for temptation is two-fold. First, we must:

A) Delight in God’s Goodness (17)

Verse 17 gives us more theology, more of the wonderful doctrine of God. Look again at verse 17. James says:

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

James is talking about God. He describes God as the, “Father of lights.” God is the “Father of lights, with whom is no variation or shadow of turning.”

The word “variation” there is an astronomical term. Unlike the changing light as light moves across the earth rotating on its axis, the sun rays, and moon beams, creating shifting shadows—unlike the variation of light from observing the sun and the moon, the Heavenly Father of lights, the God who created the lights, He never changes.

He never changes, which means you can count on Him to be there always and to be faithful always. Great is His faithfulness. God is there and He never changes. He always acts the same, always doing good things and providing good things for His children.

James says in verse 17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.”

God always gives good gifts. He always gives perfect gifts. So why do you think James says this right here? Given the context, why does James say, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights?”

Look: the correction for temptation is theological. Know your doctrine. Know the doctrine of God. Verse 17 reminds us of the character and nature of God. He is consistently good. He is not temptation’s cause; He is temptation’s cure. He is the correction for temptation.

So rather than settling for some cheap gift, the gift that comes in the form of a baited hook, delight in the goodness of God. Say no to sin. That’s half of it. Now the other half. Say yes to God. Reject the broken cistern of murky water—that’s your temptation to sin—and then drink from the well that never shall run dry. Turn to God.

You can’t just say no. We all know that part. Say no to temptation. Yes, but that is not enough. We must then say yes to the Lord.

Drink of the right water, the pure water, the living water. Joy in the right thing. Delight in God’s goodness. He gives good gifts like satisfaction, joy, peace, love. And the greatest gift of all? The new birth, regeneration, salvation. That’s verse 18:

18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Verse 18 is an example of verse 17. Every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights—and the greatest most perfect gift from above is the gift of salvation. So delight in God’s goodness and:

B) Delight in the Gospel (18)

Verse 18 describes the gospel, the good news of salvation.

18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Of His own will He “brought us forth by the word of truth.” That is, He “caused us to be born again.” We were “brought forth by the word of truth,” by the gospel.

Paul says in Ephesians 1:13, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.”

The word of truth is the gospel. Christians are born again, having been birthed again by the gospel and James adds at the end of verse 18, “that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” That is, that we might be the first of many more to come, the promise of more children with new natures to come, more persons who are born again, more persons “brought forth by the word of truth,” by the gospel.

So one of the most important actions in tackling temptation is often the most neglected. Most of us know we are to “Say no” to temptation. But that’s only half of it. Tackling temptation is not just saying no. That would breed legalism. That would suggest that our faith is nothing more than a list of don’ts. But Christianity is also do. “Just say no” is an incomplete response. We must say no to temptation and, at the same time, say yes to the Lord.

Delight in God’s goodness and delight in the Gospel.

Joy in your salvation!

Concluding Illustration:

Earlier we reflected on King David’s sin with Bathsheba. Most of us know the story quite well. After David had sinned, he was confronted by Nathan the prophet. And, David responds by confessing his sins of adultery and plotting of murder and David repents.

We have Psalm 51 as one of his greatest psalms of confession and repentance. Psalm 51 was written after David had been confronted by Nathan the prophet. And one of the most stirring parts of the psalm is where David writes in Psalm 51 and verse 12, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.”

But have you ever wondered precisely when David lost his joy? For years as I read that psalm I just assumed that David lost his joy after his sin with Bathsheba. But a more reflective pondering upon David’s temptation that evening suggests he had lost the joy long before ever he looked lustfully upon Bathsheba.

Listen to the way one writer, Timothy Paul Jones, puts it in a devotion I’ve been blessed to read. He asks:

When…did David lose this joy of his salvation, and why? Was it after his sin? Or could it have been at some point before? I would suggest that David’s loss of joy was not the result of his sin but part of the cause. David’s sinful actions were the fruit of his failure to recall that the lasting joy of God’s salvation far outstripped the passing pleasure of Bathsheba’s flesh. David had already lost sight of the joy of God’s salvation before he saw the young woman bathing on the roof and chose to call her into his chambers. It was, at least in part, due to David’s misplaced joy that he sacrificed his integrity for a false and fleeting joy that could never satisfy his soul. Now, the penitent king begged God to restore his lost joy.

Then he adds: “Purity flows from a heart that recognizes the joy of God’s salvation as a gift more satisfying than any competing pleasure the world can provide.”

There it is. Christians, we must say no to temptation. True. And we must also say yes to the Lord. If we are walking with the Lord, daily finding our soul’s satisfaction in Christ, delighting in God’s goodness and God’s gospel, we’re ready for temptation. We battle from a position of strength.

We see temptation for what it is: “a misplaced joy,” a “fleeting joy” that can never satisfy our soul. “Purity flows from a heart that recognizes the joy of God’s salvation as a gift more satisfying than any competing pleasure the world can provide.”

•Stand for prayer.

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