"Walk the Line (Temptations)"

The book of James will teach us over and over that we cannot, by any ability of our own, stand against the face of adversity. We might be able to battle, but we alone will not last.

Part of the reason that we will not be able to do this on our own is because we don’t have the ability to see beyond our trials, or as we see this week, our temptations.

Last week we looked at the idea of keeping a mindset of joy, even during trial. What we found is that even if all we get is more of Jesus during that trial, that is worth the trial because He walks through it with us.

Let’s not forget Paul and all he endured was able to say this, 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison... (2 Corinthians 4:17)

In this book we will see it is our faith that keeps us humble and out of the grips of pride. It allows us to bless others and not curse them. It allows us to withdraw our judgements and pour mercy out instead.

The goal of this book is to bring us to a place that we fully invest in our relationship and walk with God that will carry clear into eternity. So, why is this so hard? Simple answer, we have an enemy.

You know what I find interesting about us as human beings? It is quite peculiar how close we allow the enemy into our lives. Illus:

How many of you would volunteer or desire to have a deadly animal as a pet? Look, I know that for some it is not a big deal, but all it takes is inviting in the opportunity to allow for something deadly to take place.

Some years back Jonah began this program on Netflix called world’s most dangerous animals in which one episode was about the world’s most deadliest snakes.

The most familiar ones: the rattlesnake, the viper, and finally the black mamba. The feared Black Mamba is found throughout many parts of the African continent.

They are known to be extremely aggressive, and strike with deadly precision. They are also the fastest land snake in the world, capable of reaching speeds of up to 12 mph.

These fearsome snakes can strike up to 12 times in a row and a single bite can kill anywhere from 10-25 adults. The venom is a fast-acting neurotoxin.

When struck the victim experiences a tingling sensation in the mouth and extremities, double vision, tunnel vision, severe confusion, fever, and foaming at the mouth and nose.

Now if that is not enough, depending on the nature of the bite, death can result at any time between 15 minutes and 3 hours. Talk about a bad day.

The most intriguing part is they are so small. People who die from their bites are not expecting to die from their bites. People go into areas they’re not supposed to, and unknowingly, BAM! They get bitten.

It’s ironic how something so small can be so deadly. In our passage today, James, the brother of Jesus, warns us about something very small that can be very deadly, our own desires.

Last week we learned that trials are a path to maturity, right? When we are going through them, we are actively aware of our need for God. It may not feel like it, but that’s a gift.

Today we will lean into that same thought, but this week we are looking at it from the angle of temptation. Let me tell you this truth, trial and temptation walk hand in hand.

We probably don’t think about our desires very often, but it is our desires that feed into our temptations. So, when you add the fuel of desires to trials, you will find sin lurking near.

Our desires are the source for temptations, and if nothing is done about them, there are deadly consequences. It starts with temptation and then moves to sin.

Paul says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death”. Now the premise I rested on last week was that our trials can be something that God can use to deepen our faith. We will use that same premise today.

Like last week, we will get a better understanding of how we can mature in our faith when we battle through our temptations and how it will allow us to live with a full authentic faith.

With trials come temptations. When is that not the case? Think about it for a moment. What is one of the first things that happens amid trials? We are tempted to lean on self, right?

It’s not that we don’t involve God, but we can be tempted to not trust in His provision. We might be tempted to think He does not care.

When we are suffering sickness or see someone close to us die, especially untimely, we might be tempted to question if God will heal or even of His love for us. We might be tempted to think that God is out to get us.

What about when we see a child that is hurt and abused. If that happened to Jonah, I am reactionary. If your hurt my son or my wife I would naturally be tempted to return the pain and suffering.

You see, every trial in this life brings temptation with it. Understand this though, even though we go through temptation, God can use it to strengthen our faith.

But just as important to know and we will see today is that God does not and will not tempt us. That is what the enemy does, and he will do all he can to twist the truth to make us think otherwise.

To have a better understanding of our role in temptation we must have a better understanding of ourselves and of God. Before we get too much further look at our passage. Read: James 1:13-15

James 1:13–15 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. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

If we are going to have a healthy understanding of temptations, they we probably need to have a healthy understanding of our nature and the nature of God.

People blame all sorts of things for their temptation and sins. They blame their upbringing, their environment, their spouse, their education, their friends, some even blame God.

This morning, I want to show you three truths that we need to understand about temptations that are very clear in our passage from James. The first truth that we learn is ...

1. God remains good during temptation

James had just finished talking about enduring trials and starts to transition to a new thought that is centered around temptation and sin. He starts off in verse 13 ... Read: James 1:13

James 1:13 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.

Now it is important for us to see that James does not focus on temptation so much in this first verse, but more about the nature of God during temptation. Don’t forget Who God is.

James takes our natural thought process and flips it. “If you are ready to blame God, then look elsewhere. It is impossible for God to be tempted and He tempts no one.

What’s the saying we know or have heard? God is good (All the time). And all the time (God is good). Don’t look to blame Him for temptations but do look to lean into Him during them.

James is very direct and using emphatic language because he is defending the character of God. If God is the tempter then He would cease to be perfect and holy.

So, let me be direct as James is here. There has not been a time in your life that you have been tempted and that the temptation came from God.

Not now and not ever will we find that God has tempted any person to sin. That would not feel like a god of love would it? That would not sound like a god of grace.

So, what do the scriptures say? What is the character of God? The scriptures testify that God will not tempt because He is a holy God and He wants us to be Holy as well.

Read: Leviticus 11:45

Leviticus 11:45 ESV

45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

Read: Revelation 4:8

Revelation 4:8 ESV

8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Read: 1 Peter 1:14-16

1 Peter 1:14–16 ESV

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Now I would hope that you would, at this point in your walk, realize that God really is a good good Father. I mean we sing songs about Him that way. We serve Him.

We give money and resources to His Kingdom. So why Does James take the time here to remind us of God’s goodness and that we cannot blame Him for our temptations?

First, I believe that he is beginning to spell out who is responsible for our temptations, and he begins doing that by eliminating the possibilities of who it could be.

Look at who is not written in the passage though. James does not list Satan, and now he is removing God from the possibility. That leaves only us, and we will get to that in a moment.

I also believe the other reason that James reminds us of God’s goodness is so that we turn to Him because He will help us through them, not fall into them. It’s been that way since the beginning.

Adam wanted to blame God. “It’s because of this woman you gave me.” Eve says, “It’s because of the snake.”

Look here’s the deal. Since the beginning of time, we have not liked taking responsibility for our sin. But here is the deal, if you have been doubting God or blaming God, stop and think.

God is for you, not against you. He wants to provide a way out. He cannot be tempted and it’s not even in His character. Why would you not lean into Him to get through them?

When we trust in ourselves and our character during temptation, we are setting ourselves up for disaster. This leads us into the next truth that we need to understand about temptation and that is.

2. The source of temptation is found in us.

Now this will not be a popular thought among many of us, but we must look at this passage carefully and see that temptation does lie within us. Read James 1:14

James 1:14 ESV

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

The cause of temptation is not so much a person or a being, and then we ask, “Why do we keep sinning?” James says, “It’s in us.” That source is found in us and it is our own desires.

Desire is the culprit. God says, “It’s not God, it’s us.” Desire is the root and the source of our temptations. It is deep within us. it’s in the areas that we think that God does not know about.

Notice that James says each person is tempted. James seems to allude to a fishing metaphor to describe what happens during a time that a person is being tempted.

Fish don’t bite empty hooks, do they? The hook leads to death, but hooks appeal to fish when they are hidden in the lure so to appeal to their desire.

Temptation appeals to our desires, attracts us, but hides the fact that it will kill us. This kind of desire drives men to pornography, women into another man’s arms, employees to dishonesty, and people to a number of other sins.

Sin starts with disordered thought, which leads to disordered desire, and we begin to want that which will destroy us. When we are enticed and when desire like that is conceived, it gives birth to sin. (Platt)

Now I try not to talk about the original language often, but this is one of those times you want to see what is being talked about here. The Greek word for lured is exelko and its literal meaning is, “dragged away”.

Now we have a whole new picture being painted. This is not a simple, “Should I, or shouldn’t I?” No this is a picture of an animal that is being dragged away after taking the bait once again.

This animal thinks it needs this bait and once again is dragged away. The original meaning for the word for ‘enticed’ in our passage means, to set a trap.

So, here are these powerful Greek words describing the power of temptation and its trap of leading us into the enticing arms of sin. It looks like something we need to satisfy us.

Sin rarely appears to be dangerous; you ever notice that? Temptation never says, “Don’t do this. This will disgrace the name of God and hurt your witness.

This will damage your relationship with God.” No, it sounds more like, “This will be fun! This won’t hurt.” or, “This is worth the pain! No one will ever know. Just do it.”

So, what is so important to knowing this information? If you don’t know what the problem is, how do you propose to do anything about it?

We can’t do anything about temptations if we don’t know that the real problem lies within us, our desires. The final truth that we need to know about temptations in this passage is ...

3. Leaning on desire bends us towards death.

Okay so now we know that God is good and does not tempt us, and we just discovered that the source of temptations is our own desire in us.

James finishes quite strongly in this section by letting us know what happens when our desires get away from us and we lean on them instead of the source of life. Read James 1:15

James 1:15 ESV

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

You still wandering the risk? If we continue to lean on desire, we run the risk of destruction and death James says. He paints pictures of childbirth here. This is what it looks like.

We continually and actively lean towards our sinful desires and we conceive inside of us. I love that James uses childbirth as another metaphor to help us reel this thought in.

It takes effort to conceive a child. No one ever says, “Ooops, how did that happen?” After conception comes birth.

James does not say that desires give birth to satisfaction, not to pleasure, not to power, no it gives birth to sin. After birth comes growth and then comes death.

You want to fight against this? Do you want to know how to battle out of this kind of mess? Know who you are. Avoid the things that tempt you. Ask people to point out your blindsides. Illus: To see the things that you cannot see.

Get your satisfactions from God. David said, “Oh, Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8). He gives us proper desires of our hearts.

When we don’t deal with this head on, once sin has fully matured it brings about death. Look you can be enticed, and it can be enchanting, but in this case enchanting can kill.

For years, workers and visitors flocked to the sight of silvery dust flakes that floated to the floor in a mill where steel strips rolled over pads in a tall cooling tower.

There was a steelworker, Joe Gutierrez who wrote about it. He says that “the snow danced in August.” It was beautiful and enchanting, but it was soon discovered that it was asbestos floating in the air.

“Everybody breathed it,” Joe writes. He now suffers from the slow, choking grip of asbestosis, as do many plant workers. “Can’t walk too far now. I get tired real fast, and it hurts when I breathe.

And to think we used to fight over that job,” he says. Sin is enchanting, sin is pretty and attractive, but it can be a killer.

Are you taking the steps necessary to overcoming these desires? Are you avoiding tempting situations? Maybe you keep leaning in on you and your ways because you have a hard time trusting God and His.

Here is where I want to close us out this morning. There is nothing flashy in this. This is not bible theology at some high level. This is what I want you to lean into.

I know this may not feel comfortable for some of us, but I want you to really hear this, so I am going to ask you to close your eyes and really listen in. Let God really speak to you in this. You ready?

"If God is for us, who could be against us? If God is for us, justice will come. If God is for us, this will be okay. If God is for us, we'll make it through. If God is for us, we will endure.

If God is for us, our desires can be tamed. If God is for us, we can prevail our desires. If God is for us, He can change our desires. If God is for us, temptation can be endured.

If God is for us, we can have life to the full. If God is for us, we are His and can be set free. Anyone here in bondage to sin, sin in which you gave birth to? My answer is, “If God is for us.”

God, thank you for meeting us right where we are. Thanks for giving us an escape from our desires. Thank you for these people who were willing to raise their hands and admit their battle.