James 1.1-18b

INTRO

Last week Trials

I do not think Trial ever comes that does not bring with it Temptation as well…

Every trial brings temptation with it. When we face financial difficulty, we are tempted to distrust God’s provision. When someone dear to us dies, we are tempted to question God’s love. When we experience unjust suffering, we are tempted to impugn God’s justice. But know this: God may test us, but according to verse 13, He does not and cannot and will not tempt us. We are responsible in temptations.

Trial for our benefit… Temptation leads to destruction !!

How do we avoid this trap?

How do we have victory in temptation?

What does a pig, a pear, and a patriarch living from 350-430AD have to do with todays message??

PRAYER

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MESSAGE

Temptation in the Christian Life

Accept the source of temptation.

James 1:13–14 ESV

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.

God is NOT tempting you

Romans 7:7–8 “7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.”

Our hearts are wicked

Jeremiah 17:9 “9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

God may allow temptation

Job 1:8 “8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?””

Satan is our adversary

1 Peter 5:8 “8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””

Stop blaming God !! Stop blaming Satan !! Take responsibility for your sin !!!

Understand the subtlety of temptation.

James 1:14–16 ESV

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. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

Terminology used of hunting or fishing...

Deception...

Desire...

Disobedience...

Death…

Exploring the Epistle of James: An Expository Commentary b. What We Must Recognize (1:14–15)

James points out three phases of the temptation-sin-death process. He begins with the mother of sin: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin” (1:14–15a). The father of sin is the devil; the mother of sin is lust. Before a baby can be born, impregnation must take place. It is the same with sin. Once let lust be impregnated, and there will be a birth. Moreover, once that sin is brought to birth, it will have a vigorous life of its own.

our temptation comes in a sliding scale and in various forms

No sooner was Eve a sinner than she became a seducer.

Repentance is the only way to stop this progression !!

Have you ever heard of the Confessions of St. Augustine??

within this work is the story of the pear tree...

As is well known, St. Augustine ran with a sketchy crowd as a teen, their name was something like “The Destructors.” One night, after the gang had finished playing sports in the streets of their neighborhood, their attention turned to a pear tree that was heavy with ripe fruit. The tree did not belong to any of their families, but it grew on a plot adjacent to that of Augustine’s family. The boys did not find the pears tempting in their color or flavor.

Nevertheless, they wanted to steal them. They went to the base of the tree and shook down the ripe pears. Augustine relates:

We carried off a huge load of pears, not to eat ourselves, but to dump out to the hogs, after barely tasting some of them ourselves. Doing this pleased us all the more because it was forbidden. Such was my heart, O God, such was my heart–which thou didst pity even in that bottomless pit. Behold, now let my heart confess to thee what it was seeking there, when I was being gratuitously wanton, having no inducement to evil but the evil itself. - Saint Augustine

Writing in his mid-40s, Augustine looked back on this theft and was stuck by the fact that he did not even want the pears. The natural law that he should not steal the property of others--was the very thing which pushed him to steal the pears. He took a pear merely to throw it to the pigs, not for the pigs’ sake, but for the sake of his own desire to disobey.

He explains the act this way:

It was foul, and I loved it. I loved my own undoing. I loved my error–not that for which I erred but the error itself. A depraved soul, falling away from security in thee to destruction in itself, seeking nothing from the shameful deed but shame itself.

James 1.15 = DEATH

Exploring the Epistle of James: An Expository Commentary (b. What We Must Recognize (1:14–15))

He tells us about the maturity of sin: “for sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (1:15c). It puts its hand upon morality and kills it. It puts its hand upon character and kills it. It puts its hand upon health and kills it. It is the great destroyer of the human race. Every hospital, every prison, every battlefield, and every graveyard cries out that sin is deadly. It kills.

James (B. The Consequences of Yielding to Temptation (v. 15))

The basic meaning of “death” (thanatos) is separation. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body; spiritual death is the separation of the spirit of man from God because of sin; eternal death is the separation of the self-conscious personality from God forever. Eternal death is not cessation of existence but rather the loss of that life of fellowship with God that alone is worthy of the name. Death in all its forms is traceable to sin.

do NOT be deceived !

James C. The Warning against Being Deceived (v. 16)

To harbor the false concept that God tempts people is to cast grave suspicion on His character. It is a grievous doctrinal error that must have dangerous consequences for daily conduct

Temptation is so subtle that it poisons our minds to think even falsely of God Himself!

Cling to His steadfastness through temptation.

James 1:17–18 ESV

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.

Psalm 19:1 ESV

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 19:3 ESV

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.

The Nature of The Gifts

His gifts are good and perfect

His gifts are given freely

His gifts are for our glory

The Nature of The Giver

His goodness is unchanging

His goodness is undeserved

His goodness is unending

God is good

God Gives good things !!

Matthew 7:9–11 ESV

9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

God does not change

not even the slightest hint of change !!

We are victorious in Christ

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

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.

God chose to give us birth !!… Would He who died to redeem you now cause you to be lost as well !?

Exalting Jesus In James God Is Faithful for Our Salvation (1:16–18)

take heart, Christian. He has saved us from our sin. And if He has saved us from our sin, then we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that He will see us through our sorrow. Contemplate the truth of this gospel, of a God who conquers sin and suffering through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ so that today you and I can consider trials pure joy and face temptations with steadfast confidence.

Outlines for Growing Christians 13. Patience and Overcoming (James 1:1–16)

It is not a sin to be tempted, but when you yield to temptation, then it is sin. Each temptation you overcome strengthens you. Each time you give in to temptation you become weak. There is no need to be overcome by temptation. Neither sin nor temptation has power to defeat you, if you determine to resist.

James 4:7 “7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

CLOSE

Just as diamonds are formed under intense pressure and strain, and then they are retrieved with great cost, and polished with great care, so you oh beloved of God will suffer trials and temptations in this life yet Rejoice for our God is a good God and a master craftsman who is working on you for your glory and His!!

We can experience victory in the face of temptation when we cling to the cross of Christ and we can receive forgiveness and reconciliation when we fail in temptation by that same means!

PRAYER

Father God in Heaven we know your word is true and therefore we confess that our hearts are wicked and loathsome. We desire every kind of evil and are so very easily tempted by the enemy because of our heart sickness. But because your word is true we also confess our hope in you, our joy in you, our peace in you, our reliance on you to bind up the broken, renew and regenerate our hearts after your son. By his wounds we are healed and by his Blood we are washed clean. There fore Father by the same word that condemns it is also that which offer salvation and assures us of salvation by the name of Jesus our Christ!! Give us your spirit that we might find victory in the face of temptation and if and when we experience failure bring us by that same spirit quickly into repentance and reconciliation by the blood of the Lamb.

Group Questions

How do unbelievers you know attempt to make it through painful circumstances? How have you persevered through such times in your life?

What qualifies as a trial? What about a temptation? How do trials test the genuineness of your faith?

If true faith endures to the end, how is this not a way of earning your salvation?

How should the need to persevere in faith affect the way we counsel those who have just recently professed Christ?

Explain how believing in God’s sovereignty through our trials is crucial to persevering faith.

List some ways painful circumstances and unanswered questions can actually strengthen your faith.

Since God is sovereign, does this mean we are not at fault when we give in to sin? Explain your answer.

How does Scripture counsel us to overcome sin’s attractions?

If someone no longer has an interest in being a Christian due to a trial, what should we conclude about that person’s faith? How would you counsel that person?

What role does knowing our final reward play in enduring trials?