Trials and Temptation
Notes
Transcript
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
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.
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
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.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
What is a Trial?
What is a Trial?
We all go through difficult times. Should Christians go through difficult times?
All through the Bible, the writers talk about how it seems that the wicked people prosper while the righteous people suffer.
For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
This last one is Jesus himself saying that you will suffer if you choose to follow him. He isn’t saying “Blessed are you if others persecute you on my account.” He’s saying “When others persecute you.” It’s a given.
Are Trials the Same as Temptations?
Are Trials the Same as Temptations?
Is there a difference?
A trial is a situation where you have to make a choice. The temptation is the desire to make the wrong choice.
God does not send evil our way. Evil comes because every person on earth has the choice to do things God’s way or their own way. Many choose their own selfish way, even if it hurts others.
What does this passage say about how temptation gets us?
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Satan doesn’t tempt you with things you would never do. He starts small. In the Garden of Eden, he didn’t just show up and tell Eve, “Hey, here’s fruit God told you not to eat. Eat it anyway!”
What did he do?
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’?”
He started with a question, intentionally misquoting what God said. His questions got Eve to start doubting that God had her best interests. And then he got her thinking that God was intentionally holding her back.
For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
That’s what Satan does. He tries to convince us that what he is showing us is better than what God has for us. He tells us that the stuff we read in the Bible or hear at Church is just old-fashioned thinking.
You hear songs like Pink Pony Club, where a girl is justifying dancing at a strip club. She’s telling her mom, “I’m just having fun”, and everybody is loving it!
