Temptation Serie3

Temptation Series

Part 3

“The Purpose of Temptation”

James 1:2-4; 13

In the first twelve verses James is focused on the trials and testings Christians of his day were experiencing.

He informs them that God allows trials to occur in order to test our faith for our own good. So he says,

“Count it all joy when you experience various testings and trials, knowing that the trying of your faith produces perseverance…”

But in verse 13, James switches from talking about “trials” to talking about “temptation.”

And remember, we saw last week that God is not behind temptations, nor is He capable of being tempted.

Temptation comes from evil desires inside of us, says James, not from God.

All sin begins with an evil thought that becomes sin when we dwell on the thought and allow it to become an action.

So there is a difference between a "trial" and a "temptation."

A TRIAL is "a test of our faith, patience, and strength through suffering or temptation."

A TEMPTATION is "an enticement to do something wrong by promise of pleasure or gain." It is "the ACT of tempting someone to do evil."

So, we can either be tested by difficult circumstances in a way tries our faith, or we can be tempted to do a wrong thing, resulting in sin.

God, says James, uses trials and testings for our benefit.

And the Bible is clear as to what God wants Testings to accomplish:

The Bible describes the time period called the Wilderness when the Children of Israel were passing from Egypt headed to the Promised Land.

During this 40 year period, they were repeatedly tested by God. Let’s read about it in:

Deut. 8:2-5 “Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.”

3 major, positive purposes for God’s “testing” them are mentioned here. They are:

To humble them

To prove them

To know what was in their heart

So according to the Bible, the specific purpose of the wilderness was to serve as a 'proving ground'.

Moses continues, “Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors.”

Why did God do it?

Moses writes, “He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

The purpose of God’s testing was to teach them to feed on His Word and to die to their old ways of thinking and doing.

Instead of learning this simple lesson, they murmured and complained, never changed, and died in the wilderness. (1 Cor. 10:10)

NOTICE: Even though they were SAVED from the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, never to return to bondage to them again, they still died without obtaining the Promised Land.

Only Caleb and Joshua along with the next generation were ever able to cross over and possess the land.

LESSON: You can be SAVED, but not experience what God has promised if you don’t learn the Wilderness lessons of trusting God and learning new ways of thinking and doing!!

Now, let’s look again at what testing is intended to accomplish:

God’s testing:

Humbles us

“He humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors.”

NOTICE: The testings of God are often humbling experiences—He “let them go hungry.”

It is humbling when the things we are used to having—the material security, the nod of approval from men, the creature comforts—are temporarily stripped away.

God does this so that we will learn to look for our comfort in Him and not in things.

The Bible says that God allowed them to go hungry so that they would learn to trust Him, and to be content with what He provided.

So every day He provided food that was basically tasteless and unattractive to the eye.

It was called Manna.

The word “manna” in Hebrew means “what is it?”

In the O.T., manna was that unknown substance that appeared on the ground at the break of every new day for the Children of Israel to gather and eat.

This was not the leeks, and melons, and fine Egyptian food they were used to.

This was a humbling experience—Picking up “what is it” every morning!

There were no surprises coming out of mama’s kitchen in the Wilderness days!

Over time they had baked what is it.

Fried what is it.

Boiled what is it.

Raw what is it.

Sautéed what is it.

What is it left-overs.

Honey, what’s for dinner?? Ohhh….never mind.

Why did God do this?

He wanted their appetites to change—from the natural to the spiritual.

“He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

When God wants us to become focused on Him and His Word, He will allow the things of this world to lose their appeal.

As the old song says, “And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

When there’s not a whole lot out there to appeal to your flesh, you begin to turn to the Word of God.

God’s intent is that our focus and appetites would change in our Wilderness times.

And then, God’s testing came to:

Prove them

“God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to prove you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”

Now, God didn’t need to know what was in their heart. He already knew.

He wanted them to see what was in their heart.

Every time they saw their rebellion, lack of trust, disobedience and hard-heartedness, they had a chance to change.

But they never did.

He tested them over and again.

He tried them in difficult circumstances.

He proved them in the hour of need.

And each time their true character was revealed.

God’s testing of them was a CHARACTER RENEWAL PROJECT.

He wanted to get their character to the place where they could handle the blessing He wanted to give them!

Just because you want something doesn’t mean you’re ready for it.

What God often must do is get our character to the place that we can handle what He wants to give us!

James ends this teaching by giving us the ultimate goal of testing:

“…the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

Perseverance: Patiently and joyfully keeping on keeping on in times of trial.

Why do we need perseverance?

“Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”—vs. 4

You will never be complete or fully mature without the steel that testing adds to your faith!

And there is a reward for learning perseverance:

“Blessed is the man who keeps on going under trials. After he has come through them, he will receive a crown. The crown is life itself. God has promised it to those who love him.”—vs. 12

Testing:

Humbles us

Changes our focus and appetites toward the things of God

Works perseverance into our character

That we might receive the best things God has for our lives

NEXT TIME: The Escape From Temptation