Faithful in Temptation

I do wish we could chat longer, but… I’m having an old friend for dinner. Bye.”— Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs.” Hannibal Lecter is a cannibal and therefore when he says he’s “having” a friend for dinner it means he’s actually eating someone rather than the other meaning of “inviting over.

He said, “I do wish we could chat longer, but… I’m having an old friend for dinner. Bye.”

When he said he was having an old friend for dinner he didn’t mean he had plans to sit down and eat with a friend.

He meant he was literally having his old friend for dinner.

When Hannibal Lector says he’s having an old friend for dinner, you don’t want to be that old friend.

But then if I’m having an old friend over for dinner, its different.

You don’t have to worry if you are the main course or not.

Sometimes a word can be used in one setting and it works fine, and in another it setting it means something completely different.

In the first 12 verses of James, James is describing trials.

Things that you and I go through in life.

But then in verse 13, the subject changes to temptations.

Here’s where it gets fun, James is using the same word.

In verses 2-12, James describes the trials that God brings into your life.

The word is peirasmos.

It means trials, and they are seen as a good thing.

Something that God uses for your benefit.

Then in verse 13, the subject changes to temptation.

Again its the same word.

Periasmos.

Only now it means temptation.

Something that God doesn’t do.

If I say I’m having an old friend for dinner, nothing to fear.

If Hannibal Lector says he’s having an old friend for dinner, you better hope you’re not the friend.

Verses 2-12, periasmos, trials are a good thing.

Verses 13-15, periasmos is a bad thing, it’s temptation.

Same word. Different meanings.

So what’s the difference?

When is a trial a trial and when is a trial a temptation?

Godly Trials are Blessings.

Verse 12, really wraps up all of verses 1-11.

It brings that whole section to a conclusion.

“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.”

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.

James summarizes everything that we have heard, and he says that trials are intended to be a blessing.

And if you are going through the trial it’s actually a blessing, you are blessed.

That mirrors verse 2.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”

Which is something we need to hear.

Because when you are going through a trial, it’s often not seen as a blessing.

It’s a struggle.

You just want it to be over.

So in reviewing where we’ve been and coming into verse 12, there are 4 reasons godly trials are a blessing.

Four reasons godly trials are a blessing

These are 4 reasons why you should count it all joy.

4 reasons why you can even rejoice when you encounter trials.

They show authentic faith

Verse 3 says, “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

And I emphasize the testing of your faith.

It’s not testing if you have faith.

It’s testing the quality of your faith.

When you go through a trial, everything that you have known is put to the test.

I think most of you in here have a smartphone.

An iPhone or some kind of Android phone.

You’ve invested a lot of money in that phone.

How many of you have put one of those glass screen protectors on your phone?

You put that there just in case something happens.

Then comes the day, you get out of the car, and your phone falls flat on the pavement.

You think, “Oh no, it’s dead.”

You pick up the phone, look at its screen.

And you see a little scratch, but it’s on that screen protector.

And you think, “Phew, it held up.”

That screen protector was put to the test, and it did its job.

And you celebrate it.

When you go through trials, what you believe is put to the test.

And when you get to the other side, you celebrate, because you see the quality of your faith.

Trials test the quality of your faith.

CS Lewis was the writer of the Chronicles of Narnia.

He’s not my favorite Christian author, he believed some pretty weird stuff.

So if you’re a CS Lewis fan be cautious reading him.

But his life tells makes this point well.

CS Lewis, was a famous author and Christian speaker.

He would write books and speak about his faith and what he believed.

And like many of us, he had his Christianese.

Christianese is the language that Christians use when we are around each other.

We have this language that rolls of our tongue so easily, but it’s often untested.

CS Lewis married an American woman, named Joy Davidson.

Joy Davidson had moved to the UK but was in danger of being sent back to the US.

CS Lewis married her so she could stay in the UK, but their relationship wasn’t romantic or a typical husband/wife relationship.

It was purely for immigration reasons.

In 1959 she was diagnosed with cancer.

At that point, CS Lewis developed husbandly feelings for her, and began to care for her and love her.

Sadly, in 1960 she died.

CS Lewis’ faith was put to the test.

In his diary, that was later published, he described our Christianese and the expectations of a Christian.

He said this, “We were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, 'Blessed are they that mourn,' and I accept it. I've got nothing that I hadn't bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not imagination.”

It’s one thing to say, “Blessed are those that mourn”, quoting the sermon on the mount, especially when you are talking to someone else.

It’s easy.

When someone goes through a hard time, you put your arm around them and you say, “God does all things for a reason.”

But when it’s you, it’s much harder.

When you go through a trial, it shows what you believe.

When you go through a trial, you wonder, “Am I really blessed when I mourn?”

And this should encourage you.

Because when you make it to the other side of a trial, it shows that Spirit has really changed your heart.

Perhaps the old you would have:

Ran away.

Gotten drunk.

Lashed out in anger.

And you are seeing a change.

By the way when you see another Christian going through a trial, and you see them acting righteously, say something.

Because their heart is probably throbbing, and they need some encouragement.

The second thing that trials produce is they produce endurance.

That’s what is also said in verse 3, “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

Steadfastness is endurance.

It’s the ability to stand underneath a weight, and hold it up.

This is God’s way of working in you, of strengthening you.

I met a guy once who decided he was going to run in a marathon, but with no training whatsoever.

The night before the big race, he went to Big 5, bought himself some running shoes.

The next day he showed up at the race looking like a runner, but he certainly wasn’t a runner.

He ended up having shin splints so bad he had to go to the hospital.

The Lord uses trials to strengthen you and prepare you for His work.

And this take time.

Endurance is something that must be worked out in your life.

A marathon runner doesn’t start with a marathon, that shouldn’t be his first run.

The first time he runs, it’s very short.

He’s not even measuring the distance, it’s just go out there and stay on your feet for 10-15 minutes.

But slowly, he adds more time and more miles to the routine.

So know that God is preparing you for something, and you are to endure it.

But it takes time.

God uses trials to build up your endurance.

It may hurt along the way.

You may sweat.

But it’s His way of changing you.

This is God’s way of building endurance.

You can be glad, that God doesn’t crush you in the trial,

He doesn’t start you off with a marathon.

Instead, he uses trials to mature you.

He slowly uses trials to build your endurance.

The third thing that godly trials do is they produce maturity.

Trials also produce maturity.

Look at verse 4, “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

We aren’t talking about perfection, as in you become sinless while on earth.

This is maturity.

This is gaining wisdom and handling things as a man or woman of God.

The Christian life is to be moving, or progressing

Just like the physical life that grows and matures.

You start off as an infant.

Not knowing a whole lot.

Not able to do a whole lot.

And slowly, you gain weight, gain control of your limbs, and grow up.

The Spiritual life mirrors that.

says, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

And trials will do this.

Many times God will prepare you for a future ministry opportunity, by using a trial in your life now.

This is precisely why God’s plan is to have more mature Christians shepherding and counseling younger Christians.

instructs older women to teacher younger women, and for older men to disciple younger men.

Why?

Because you’ve gone through these trials, you’ve gone through these same things.

And as we work through what godly trials are like, there’s a final product, a final purpose.

They result in a crown of life.

Verse 12, sums all of this up, “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.”

This isn’t a kingly crown.

This isn’t like what Queen Elizabeth wears in England.

This is a leafy crown, given to the person who wins a race.

Think of a gold medal that gets hung around an Olympic athletes neck.

That’s what this is like.

This is the reward for enduring.

God has eternity in mind.

God is preparing you for eternity.

Making you more and more Christlike.

And to those who endure to the end, there is a crown.

And this should motivate us.

Jesus told the church of Smyrna in , “… Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

This is salvation.

Eternal life.

A resurrection.

Coheirs with Christ.

James says that this crown of life is promised to those who stand the test and love God.

What does it mean to love God?

I’m sure you’ve met the person who says they love God, but there’s no evidence of that love.

They love the idea of a god, but they don’t actually love the real God.

They don’t know God.

I meet people who say they love God.

Then I ask them about this god.

And the god they love is nothing more than a big Santa Claus.

The god that most people love:

Doesn’t judge sin.

Thinks you’re perfect, just the way you are.

Gives you whatever you want.

Doesn’t desire change.

And has no wrath.

Really, what this means is the person has invented a god to suit their own imagination.

They’ve invented a god that isn’t Lord.

They’ve invented a god that has no true power.

They’ve invented an impotent god they can control.

This so called god, isn’t Lord.

The person is Lord, and God exists to make you think you’re good.

But none of that is true.

How do you know that you actually love God?

The process of trials and enduring trials that James is describing, is also describing the person who loves God.

The person who loves God has his faith tested, and after being tested, and enduring, he receives a crown.

This is real faith.

You see faith described in verses 2-11.

Faith is:

Counting it all joy.

It’s endurance.

It’s asking for wisdom.

Boasting in your exaltation.

Knowing Who you are in Christ.

It’s boasting in your weakness and humility.

Knowing you are nothing without Christ.

And after having your faith tested, you endure to the end, you find joy in it, your love of God is made known.

Your love of God is made known.

This is the godly trial.

This is a blessing.

This is a blessing because:

Your faith is confirmed.

You gain endurance.

You mature.

You receive a crown of life.

This is a blessing because God is working for your good.

And it’s confirmed.

You can see it happening in your life.

I’m sure you know , “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

That’s the blessing.

Remember, we have 1 word, but it’s used two different ways.

Hannibal Lector says, “I’m having an old friend for dinner.”

Run away.

Trials are sent from God.

That’s one way to use the word peirasmos, a trial.

Hannibal Lector says, “I’m having an old friend over for dinner.”

That means something different.

So now we flip the coin over and see the other way to use that word.

The other use of the word peirasmos is temptation.

And you experience temptation.

Temptation is deadly, there a Deadly Nature of Temptations

Who’s responsible for temptation?

The normal response of temptation is to blame others.

You encounter a hard time, and your first instinct is to say, “It’s not my fault.”

Rarely, is our first response to respond the way James tells us to.

Rarely do we pursue joy.

Rarely do we rest in God.

Rarely do we ask for wisdom.

Rarely do we see trials as an opportunity to boast in humiliation.

Which is why James has to tell us to do these things.

If we already knew it and did it he wouldn’t have to tell us.

But “Counting it all joy” when facing a trial is a revolutionary thought, because it’s not what comes naturally to us.

Joy isn’t the first thing we think of.

And when we face temptation, there are some things we naturally do.

W we blame others first.

We blame our situation.

Who wouldn’t

We blame our poverty.

If I had more money, I wouldn’t have had to steal, or lie on my taxes.

We blame our parents.

They raised me this way.

I learned that yelling is the only way to communicate.

We blame our past.

I’ve gone through some things that made me who I am.

We blame others for making us angry.

He annoys me, that’s why I hate him.

Sometimes we blame Satan.

“Satan made me do it.”

Maybe you even blame God.

“God made me this way.”

“God made me to be angry.”

“God made me to be lustful.”

Some say, “God made me gay.”

Isn’t this what Adam said in the Garden.

God warned Adam, “Don’t eat from the tree.”

Adam ate from the tree.

God confronted Adam, and do you remember what Adam said?

Do you remember what Adam said when God confronted him with his sin.

“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

“It’s not my fault God.”

“It’s your fault God.”

“You gave me that woman.”

And in our understanding of God, we, Southwest Christian Church, can fall into this trap of blaming God as well.

We believe God is sovereign.

We believe that God does all that He pleases.

We believe that nothing happens without His decree or consent.

And then we look at temptation, and think, well if God is sovereign, He must be tempting.

And that’s where this is different.

Remember, 1 word can have 2 meaning.

We believe in the sovereignty of God

When Hannibal Lector says he’s having a friend for dinner, the friend is the meal.

When you have a friend for dinner, its fellowship.

When trials are spoken of with God, it’s a blessing.

When peirasmos means temptation, it’s not from God.

Anticipating people blaming God for temptation, in verse 13, James says, “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.”

Three reasons temptations are not from God are because:

God is good.

The nature of God is that He is good.

Goodness means there is no sin, no evil in God at all.

In fact there is no one as good as God.

When the Rich Young Ruler came to Jesus, he started by saying, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Before Jesus even answered the question, he commented on how the young man addressed Jesus, “Good teacher.”

Jesus said, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God.”

God alone is good.

And if Jesus is good, what does that make Him?

God.

None of us are good.

makes this clear.

“There is no one who does good, not even one.”

Goodness is moral perfection.

This is never sinning.

This is obeying God absolutely perfectly.

And you say, “Well, no one is good.”

And I say you’re right.

For all have sinned ...

If you have ever sinned, you are not good.

You are now a sinner.

The very nature of God is good.

There isn’t an ounce of sin in Him.

There isn’t a speck of evil hidden in a corner of His thoughts.

You take the cleanest glass of drinking water, and it’s got impurities in it.

Do you know that the EPA has set limits to how much human and animal fecal waste can be in drinking water?

They’ve also said how much bacteria can be in the water that you drink.

It looks clean.

You can drink it and it won’t make you sick.

But it’s still contaminated.

There’s still some human and animal fecal waste in it.

The thought grosses me out.

God is not like your drinking water.

says of God, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong,”

He’s completely pure.

There isn’t an ounce of sin in Him.

There isn’t a speck of evil hidden in a corner of His thoughts.

He’s not like our drinking water, that looks good, but has hidden impurities.

He is all good.

He alone is good.

The second reason why temptations aren’t from God are because God hates sin.

God will not tempt you to sin, because He hates sin.

He is opposed.

Sin is repulsive to Him.

says, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”

God doesn’t find pleasure in sin.

We do.

We chuckle at sin.

We find humor in sin.

God does not delight in it at all.

In fact, God hates all evildoers.

Anytime I hear God saying He hates something, that should make my ears perk up.

speaks of God’s great love for us, but if he were tempting us to sin, that would actually go opposite to who He is.

It would make Him hate us more.

If God hates sin, like He says in , and yet if He loves us, and if He is tempting us to sin, then He is actually trying to hate us.

How much does God hate sin?

He hates it enough that the person who sins earns himself Hell.

An eternity in Hell.

Separated from fellowship with Him.

Never to experience the kindness and goodness of knowing God.

God does not take sin lightly.

That’s why we are called to repent.

Think about the cost of sin.

God is forgiving yes, but God doesn’t simply ignore sin.

He deals with it.

The penalty of sin is death, and Jesus paid that penalty with His life’s blood.

If God didn’t hate sin, it wouldn’t have taken the life of Christ to pay for it.

And the third reason why temptations are not from God is because God will not provoke you to sin.

All this to say that God will not ever provoke you to sin or encourage you to sin.

Verse 13 says, “for God cannot be tempted with evil”.

A better reading is God cannot be tempted to do evil.

And He certainly will not tempt you to sin.

The payment was too high.

He knows the cost of sin, because Jesus took it on.

says of Jesus, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

Next time you’re considering sin, think of Jesus.

It’s as if your sin, zooms back in time, and gets placed on Jesus.

says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Don’t accuse God of wanting you to sin.

He desires your success.

says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

That’s a tremendous promise.

He is not seeking your doom.

He is seeking your sanctification.

Your maturity.

Your Christlikeness.

God is not the problem when it comes to your temptation.

So don’t blame him.

What’s the problem?

Your desires are the problem.

It’s not your friends.

It’s not your situation.

It’s not God.

It’s you.

, Jesus said, “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

Disney movies are wrong, the magic isn’t inside of you.

And your heart isn’t good.

says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

The Process of Temptation

There is a process and James works it out for us.

Look at verses 14-15, “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.”

Starts with a desire.

There is some kind of need in your life.

It could be:

Hunger.

Money.

A Friendship.

You want companionship.

It starts with some area in your life where you think you are lacking.

And who’s desire is this?

It’s yours.

It’s no one else’s.

The desire becomes evil.

Somehow that desire becomes evil.

James says that the desire lures and entices you.

These are hunting terms.

You bait a hook, trying to catch that big fish.

You lure and entice the big fish, hiding in shade of jetty.

You put a big fat worm on the hook, so that the fish will fill his apptetite and eat.

He approaches the worm, bites it.

You hook him, and now you got him.

And you reel him in.

He’s yours.

He’s dinner.

These are hunting terms, but they aren’t describing a person hunting animals.

They’re more like the adulterous woman of .

She stands on the street corner, in her fancy dress, and smelling of perfume.

She’s hunting men.

Trying to seduce men.

Trying to lead men into sin.

The temptation takes something that is good, and corrupts it.

Friendship, companionship, marriage, and makes it evil.

Think of Samson.

He desired companionship, and pursued Delilah.

Ended in his death.

David took something lovely like marriage.

And he destroyed it and the life of his friend, and pursued Bathsheba.

At some point, a desire, a need, a want - becomes seductive leading you away from what is good.

Leading you away from Christ.

It becomes your fixation.

It becomes your god.

Sin begins with just a desire.

And that desire becomes evil.

Remember, He was lead into the wilderness, and tempted by Satan.

Sometimes people say you can look but not touch.

Satan took those needs.

Maybe you’ve heard that before.

Jesus’ hunger.

As if to say, you can think whatever you want, just don’t act on that thought.

Jesus’ authority as the Son of God.

God cares what you think.

God cares what your desires are.

And Jesus’ authority over all the earth.

In , during the Sermon on the Mount Jesus talked about our thoughts.

And tried to take advantage of those.

He said that if you called someone a fool, within your own head, that is considered murder in the heart.

Jesus was really hungry.

Or even just looking at someone with lust, that this is considered adultery.

But he was never enticed or seduced by those needs.

God cares what you think.

God cares what your desires are.

Desires can be deadly.

This is why we need to go to war with our thoughts.

calls for us to be at war with our desires.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”

When temptation enters your mind.

When desire enters your mind - don’t play with the idea, don’t romanticize it, don’t fixate on it.

Kill it.

You Windows users, when a program doesn’t work.

It hangs up.

Slows down the machine.

What do you do?

Control - Alt - Delete.

You force quit the program.

You kill.

That’s what we do with evil desires.

You kill them.

says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”

calls for us, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,”

Let’s think this through.

God cares what you think.

metimes people say you can look but not touch.

Sometimes people say you can look but not touch.

Maybe you’ve heard that before.

As if to say, you can think whatever you want, just don’t act on that thought.

God cares what you think.

He cares what your desires are.

God isn’t calling for homosexual to just be abstinate, or to refrain from the act of homosexuality.

He’s calling for right thinking.

- “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind … .”

God isn’t calling for the angry person to just control his words and stop screaming at others, but to love from the heart.

As we minister to each other, we are not trying to just change outward behavior.

Conversion is something that takes place even in the heart.

When you are converted you receive a new heart, and God’s law is written upon your heart.

That means conversion and regeneration are not just outward, but inward as well.

Putting off the old man, repentance means also taking off the old way of thinking.

Because that old way of thinking is actually evil.

Then desire gives birth to sin.

The language here is of conception.

Desire is the seductive, adulterous woman.

She seduces you.

And becomes pregnant with sin.

You cannot tolerate sinful thoughts, and not expect sin to work its way out.

There’s the old saying, “Garbage in - Garbage Out”

Sin gives birth to death.

And what happens when sin grows up?

This is like a family tree.

You are seduced by desire.

Desire gives birth to sin.

Sin grows up and has her own child.

Sin’s child is death.

I can hear Paul’s words from ringing in my ears, “For the wages of sin is death”.

The consequence to sin is death.

The consequence to every sin is death.

There is no such thing as an innocent sin, or a little sin.

The wages of a single sin is death.

That’s Hell.

Where there is sin, I promise you there will be death.

Either you will face this death.

Either you will face Hell.

Or, if you are a Christian, Christ has taken it for you.

Our faith, our hope, is that Christ took on your death.

We have one word, with two meanings.

Peirasmos.

God gives us trials.

And they are for your benefit.

They are a blessing.

If godly trials were a road, what is there destination?

According to verse 12, the crown of life.

But what is the destination of temptation?

Death.

One brings you joy..

One brings weeping and gnashing of teeth.

All this talk of temptation, I want to give you something to take home.

How to Defend Against Temptation.

Know Scripture.

says, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Memorizing Scripture is one of your best defenses against temptation.

Knowing Scripture will help you recognize desire when it starts seducing you.

For example, when you start getting angry at someone and you start thinking about how you’re really going to let that person have it.

You’re going to give it to that person and fix him.

Then you think of Scripture.

In just a few verses James will say this, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

Is your anger going to fix the problem?

No, it’ll probably make it worse.

When I put those memory verses in the bulletin, and we stand up and say it, it’s not just to take up space in the bulletin, or time in the service.

It’s for you to meditate on.

To help you.

Pray in your weakness.

The seduction of desire begins with some kind of weakness in your life.

You know what your weaknesses are.

Could be physical.

Could be mental.

It’s a weakness.

It’s a need.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”.

I say pray in your weakness because you are stating where you are lacking, and your need for God to protect you.

Really, prayer is saying to God, “I cannot do this on my own.”

So you go to the Lord and you say take this from me.

Psalms describes God as a fortress to run to.

If you didn’t need help, you wouldn’t run to the fortress.

But He is a fortress, a mighty fortress, so run to God in your weakness.

Finally, endure in love.

Really this whole little book is about faith.

You say you have faith, well what does that look like?

Verse 12 says that there is a crown promised to those who love God.

Those who love God, those who endure, are those who have faith.

They are those who endure.

So we cling to God through everything.

In trials - we joyfully trust that they are for our good.

And in temptations - we trust what we know about God, and cling to Him.

You will face trials and temptations in this life.

How you face them says something about your view of God.

Pray

Related Media

Related Sermons