Why Trials and Temptations? Part Two

Introduction

We’ve begun a series going through the book of James.

It’s a small book written by the half-brother of Jesus who became a believer after the resurrection of Jesus.

He was one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem.

He wrote this letter in the mid 40s some 10 or so years after Jesus ascended into Heaven.

Last week we began a look at James 1:2-18, but were able to get through verses 2-12

We saw that James focused on calamities and sufferings which believers can suddenly face.

James called these trials and encouraged us to be joyful going through them knowing that God is using them to grow us into mature Christians.

As we go through the trials, we must seek wisdom from God so we can endure afflictions and difficulties which threaten to overcome us.

Those trial were those that are attacking us from the outside, today we’ll look at the inner temptations we face.

Outward trials frequently provide an occasion for the development of sinful attitudes within us.

When you don’t understand the trials your facing, it is easy to rebel against God.

Who is responsible for these trials?

Do we blame God?

The Bible teaches that God sends trials.

However, we must not blame him for the evil effects of the trials.

God does not call us to disobedience by enticing us to evil.

He is the source of everything good.

He allows trials to produce holiness and stamina in his people.

We hold the blame for any evil effects of trials in our lives.

James 1:13–18 CSB

13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

We Are Responsible In Our Temptations Vs. 13-15

Last week, I pointed out that God is sovereign in our trials, thus our trials can be a joy.

James now moves into the second truth of this passage.

God, in His sovereignty, will test the faith of His people.

He will do for our good.

We can find this truth all over Scripture.

But we must be careful not to take the step in our minds to assume God tempts us to turn from Him.

That is a very slippery slope to go down.

Every trial brings temptation with it.

It’s easy for us in the midst of a trial to be tempted to distrust God’s provision.

When we lose someone dear, we are tempted to question God’s love.

When we see injustice, we are tempted to question God’s justice.

God may test us, but in verse 13, James tells us that God cannot and will not tempt us.

We are responsible for our temptations.

To understand temptation, we need to understand the origin of sin.

Origin Of Sin

First of all, God is not tempting you.

Everything about God is that He is perfectly sinless.

He resists sin

Evil is inherently foreign to Him.

He is aware of it, but He is not tainted by it.

So, in now way can we say, “God is tempting me.”

Who is responsible for sin then?

In verse 14 James gives us the answer.

We are. God is perfectly sinless, but we are not.

We are sinners, fallen, sinful by nature.

It is interesting that James does not say that Satan drags us away and entices us.

This doesn’t mean Satan isn’t involved in the temptations of this world.

He will deal with this in chapter 4.

He’s not focus on Satan’s part, he’s focusing on our part.

The responsibility for temptation and sin lies squarely with us.

It is our sinful desires that lead us into temptation.

We are to blame for it.

Openness to temptation from the weaknesses of our heart.

As a fisherman, I like the phrase “dragged away and enticed”

That phrase is a fishing term.

It describes the act of luring a fish from their hiding places.

Evil desire is like a hook with a big, juicy worm on it that lures us into temptation.

We cannot avoid the our responsibility.

We have no one to blame.

In this age of passing the buck, we want to put our faults on others.

Our friends, family, government, our environment, or anything else we can think of.

Those factors may affect us, the James tells, along with Paul, that the fault for sin lies with us.

Sin is our core problem with who we are.

The Anatomy Of Sin

James uses the language of childbirth to show the development evil desire.

Conception occurs when a person surrenders their will to lust.

We don’t believe that God has our best in mind when He says something is best for us.

That’s where sin starts, in the heart.

That conception produces a child named sin.

When full grown Sin becomes death.

Practically speaking, sin occurs when our mind approves the performance of a sinful act.

As we repeatedly approves the same sin, the result is death.

This death is not immediate loss of life, being zapped by a lighting bolt.

It is a total disintegration of the personality, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

It is a separation from God lasting for eternity.

It all begins when we yield our will to evil.

No one can blame God for this.

We do it to myself.

The act of temptation itself is not sinful.

Sin develops only when we say to ourselves that a deed is good or desirable.

Our sinful, evil nature leads to our disobedience.

Our will then finds an easy path along which temptation can stroll down.

Sin develops only when we invite temptation to leave the path and visit with us personally.

Let me warn you, whatever sin you are flirting with, whatever deception you are buying into, or desire you are fulfilling run away from them.

They will kill you.

And this nature is in us, so be very careful.

God Is Faithful For Our Salvation Vs. 16-18

Even James gives us a warning in verse 16 - don’t be deceived.

James is warning us from excusing our actions or responsibility for sin.

I also think, he is warning us from having a wrong view of God’s character.

Either way we are warned.

God can supply both the grace to endure the trial and the strength to resist the temptation.

It’s that endurance and resistance that gives us spiritual maturity and growth in holiness and stamina.

As we go through these trials and temptations, we must keep our eyes on God.

He is faithful for our salvation.

He is not responsible for sin, but He is the source of all that is good.

In verse 17 we see that every good has its ultimate source in God.

Gifts are perfect because they fully meet the needs of the recipients.

These gifts not only are God’s spiritual blessings, but also the many benefits which provide for our physical and emotional needs.

We find three statements about God.

First, as the Father of lights God is the Creator of the universe including all the stars and other heavenly bodies.

Second, God does not change.

This term from astronomy frequently refers to the change in light intensity from sun and moon.

The sun gives full light at midday, dim light at dusk, and no light at all in the night.

In stark contrast to the sun, God’s character does not change.

The light of his truth and holiness remains constant.

Third, God is not like shifting shadows.

This term also comes from astronomy, describing moving heavenly bodies that produce constantly changing shadows on the earth.

God’s purposes do not have such a variation or shifting.

The movements of the sun, moon, and clouds regularly cause changes in light and shadows throughout the day.

God’s character is always constant, true, unchanging, reliable, good, and faithful.

In verse 18 we find that God chose to give us new birth.

We receive this new birth through the word of truth, which is the gospel or the good news about Jesus Christ.

The result of this new birth is that we become a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

The firstfruits represented that initial portion of the harvest offered to God before the rest of the crop was harvested.

These first-century Christians were a pledge of a vast harvest of saved people in the centuries to come like you and me.

OK, so ....

When I was in the eighth grade, I was bullied quite a bit by a couple of guys.

I feared to retaliate knowing it would turn into a fight and I’d get in trouble with the principle.

So I put up with it all.

One day, my father asked it I knew how to fight.

Yeah

He said stand up for yourself and I’ll handle the principle.

That day, one of the guys started slapping me on the head.

I came up out of chair and start slapping back.

He quickly backed down and I never had anymore problems.

The thing that helped me get through that trial was knowing my father had my back.

James encourages us to take a leap of faith in trusting God to lead us to endure through trials and to provide strength for temptations.

We can trust Him.

He is faithful.

His intentions are goo.

And we have no excuse for falling away.

Let’s Pray!