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Trials and Temptation 

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

 Bob Bradley

_________________________ 

James 1:1-16

 

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3 Knowing this , that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

 

What do you think about trails and troubles? 

 

What is the difference between a trial and a temptation?

 

James is writing to the twelve tribes, which are scattered abroad. He is writing to people that have been born again.  They are going through persecutions, problems, trials and testing.  These things are going on and James said, “…that you need to count it all joy.”  James said that you are spiritually prosperous or happy when you are enduring temptation.  He is saying all these things and sometimes we hear that preached and taught.  Sometimes we wonder how can we have joy when we are going through such a time of pressure, trials, or hardships.  As we mature as Christians, we understand a little more than we did when we first got saved.  Not everything that is bad, that comes our way, is from the devil.

 

A great example of that was Paul and all the problems that he had; especially the thorn in the flesh that he had.  God allowed satan to buffet him so that Paul would not get exalted in himself.  That made Paul a better person.  If Paul had not had this thorn in the flesh, and had the Lord not allowed satan to bring that, then there is a possibility that Paul would have become exalted in himself.  Paul saw many things.  Paul had visions and what God showed Paul along with all the things that Paul accomplished for the Lord; had not the thorn of the flesh been there, then Paul would have been exalted. 

 

Therefore, not every trial is something bad even though it may cause us pain.  Trials and testing comes in our life.  Trails and testing, when they come, they have to do with our flesh.  However, when temptations come, they have to do with the inside.  Trials have to do with the outside of things.  Temptations have to do with our inner being, or inner person.  Sometimes, we make temptations out of trials.  How could we take a trial or testing, become a temptation? 

 

If I need correction in my life, if God speaks and I do not listen, then God allows something to come my way to correct me.  How could that trial become a temptation?  It is the way that we handle it. 

 

The way that we handle the trial or testing is going to determine how severe or how long the trial is going to be.  Secondly, it is going to determine if we are going to see what God wants us to do, or if we are going to do a lot of complaining.  Complaining can make it a temptation for us instead of being something good for us. 

 

Do you know how we do that?  It is very simple. 

 

We all get sick.  Some more sick than others.  Some have cancer and some have heart disease.  We have all kinds of problems in life.  When they come, we can either say, “Lord, I need your help.  Lord, I know that you understand.”  We can take these things to God in prayer, knowing that God is listening, and knowing that God answers.  We can do things that way and ask God to help us, strengthen us, and encourage us and ask God to give us the strength that we need to carry on His work and do His will; OR we can complain about it.  When we start complaining about it, then we start turning a trial into a temptation.  When we do that, we create for ourselves many problems. 

 

Look ahead as we look at this year and as we think about temptations.  I want us to think about how that we need to handle them.  Temptations, trials and testing will come to all of us.  Trials and testing will be on the outside.  When temptations come, they will be on the inside. 

 

We need to remember it is how we handle things that is important. 

 

If I would ask you what temptation meant, what would you say?  How would you explain the word temptation?

 

• Ungodly
• to make the wrong decision
• things that God don't like
• self-control
• the devil does tempt us

 

Temptation - an opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a bad way 

 

When I was in school and on the job, I had to take tests to be able to do the jobs that we were doing.  I wanted to be able to pass the test.  Passing the test was a good thing.  When you were in school and a teacher gave you a test, then it would be a good thing if you passed it.  However, if you cheated to pass it, if you copied from your neighbor, or you cheated to pass it; even though you may have passed the test, you accomplished it in a wrong way.  We sin when we do that. 

 

There are many examples that we could look at. 

 

Everybody likes to eat.  If we do not eat, we die.  If I go down and steal my neighbor's food to eat, then I accomplish a good thing in a bad way.  That is what the definition of the word temptation is: to accomplish a good thing in a bad way, or out of the will of God. 

 

In every temptation that comes your way, before we give in to temptation, look ahead and see the end-result.  If I give in to temptation today, then what is next?  If I give in to temptation today, what happens?  What is the next move? 

 

Sure, nobody may be watching and nobody may know, but God is watching.  God does know and God does see.  When I fall into temptation, when I give in to temptation then we know what it is going to do.  Before we ever do that, I would hope that we would stop long enough to understand that when I give in to temptation what the end-result is.  What is the next move?  If we would be honest and sincere about things, and if we would sit down and weigh out all the consequences about the temptations that come our way, if we are saved and been born again, we would never do some of things that we do.  Because we would understand that sin brings death.  It will make sense in a minute.

 

In verse 13:

 

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

 

The word tempted here means, put to the test. 

 

God does not tempt you to sin.  He does try us and there are trials that come our way, but God will never tempt you to accomplish a good thing in a bad way.  If you are trying to justify what you are doing, and you think that this is going to accomplish a good end, but you are doing something bad to get there; that does not come from God.  God does not do that.  That comes from satan.

 

"...for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:"

 

Those temptations that are on the inside of us that come our way are not coming from God.  Those temptations that are trying to lead us astray, or trying to get us to do some bad things are not coming from God. 

 

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

 

What do you think about the word "lust?"  Lust means "desire."  We want to look at that as being something sexual, but it implies that; however, we have many desires.  God placed within mankind all kinds of desires. 

 

There is a desire within us to eat.  If we did not have that desire, or lust to eat, and to drink then we would die.  If we never got tired, then we would never sleep.  We would just fall over after awhile.  There are emotions, desires, and lusts that we have.  We have a desire to drink because we get thirsty.  We have a natural desire or lust to eat because that is natural.  God placed that within us.  The sexual things are something that God placed within us. 

 

Hebrews 13:4

 

4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

 

This talks about marriage being honorable and the bed undefiled, but the whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.  We know that God placed desires within us and not all desire or lust is bad.  If we did not have some of these desires then the population would not go on.  Not all of these things are bad.  The problem is that when we try to satisfy these desires in the wrong way and in doing the wrong thing. 

 

We never see a temptation as being a temptation.  When a temptation comes that tries to get us to do something wrong, we never see it as a temptation.  There is a reason why that we do not.  The enemy is good disguiser.  Emotions are like eating, drinking, and sleeping; we have all kinds of emotions.  Look at what it says here. 

 

"...every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust..." 

 

What does drawn-away mean?  Many years ago, we talked about drawing away.  James was talking about a hunter would go out and bait his trap.  Why would a hunter bait his trap?  If you set a steel trap on the creek bank and there is no bait on it, you are not going to catch anything unless something stumbles on it by accident.  With no bait on it, you are not going to catch anything. 

 

What does the bait do? 

 

It is enticing.  It draws them in.  It tempts them.  It looks good. 

 

There is something about the bait that draws them away.  When a hunter would take the bait and put it on the trap then when the animal sees the bait, and it is something that he would desire to have.  However, there is something else that the animal does not ever see.  He does not see the trap.  The bait hides the fact that when the animal reaches out and takes the bait, he is going to be caught.  The animal does not see that.  If the animal saw that, then he would not do that. 

 

He uses the word "enticed" here.  The word "enticed," means the same thing as the word "drawn away" does, but in a different manner.  It brings out the idea of a fisherman taking a worm or some kind of bait and putting it on the hook.  He does that because he plans on catching something.  If you just throw a naked hook out there in the creek, you are not going to catch anything.  There is nothing on the hook that fish are going to bite.  However, when you put something on there that is attractive to fish then they will come up, grab it, and swallow it. 

 

The bait on the trap and the bait on the hook is attractive, it looks good and it smells good.  It is something that just eats away at us.  It does something to our emotions.  We think that we just have to have it. What it does not show us, even though it is there, is the trap that we are going to get into when we take the bait.

 

That is what temptation does.  Something may look good to me, may appeal to me, and may make me turn flip-flops on the inside when I see it.   The desire to have great power could be a temptation.  Stealing could be a temptation.  All kinds of things could be temptations for us, but when we reach out there and take the bait that the enemy has placed on the hook or the trap; we do not see that we are going to be caught.  We do not see that we are going to be trapped.  We do not see the pain that it is going to bring to us. 

 

A great example of that is Beersheba.  When David looked at Beersheba, he saw a beautiful woman.  That is fine.  However, David saw the bait, but he did not see the hook or trap.  David saw something that was very beautiful, something that was desirable, something that just made him turn flip-flops in the inside, but what he did not see when he reached out his hand and took, he did not see the hook or trap that was there. 

 

There are temptations many times to lie.  Many people lie.  Liars are not going to heaven.  Many times, we are tempted to lie to try to get out of a mess.  When we are caught in something, we will lie like a rug.  I have seen people lie like a rug before thinking that it is going to get them out of something.  However, lying gets you caught in a trap.  One lie leads to another, and that lie leads to another lie, then you do not ever quit lying. 

 

When the bait is on the trap and when the hook is baited with whatever it may be, the critters that are going to eat the bait do not see the danger that is there.

 

Had David took five minutes and just thought about what was going to take place after he did what he was going to do, David would have never done that.  David's knowledge about God was limited and we know more about God today than David ever did.  David knew enough about God to know that God was a holy God.  He knew that God would judge sin.  David had no idea that the little baby that was going to be born was going to die.  David had no idea that he was going to commit murder.  David had no idea that his daughter was going to be raped.  David had no idea that one of his sons was going to kill the other son.  David had no idea about that.  He saw the bait, but he did not see the trap. 

 

Many times, we see the bait but we do not see the trap.  We see the bait.  It excites us.  It looks good.  We think that we have to have it and that there is no danger in it.  We see the bait, but we do not see the trap. 

 

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

 

We see the bait, it looks good and it is exciting to us--just like Eve, a prime example in Genesis 3.  Look what satan/the serpent did to Eve. 

 

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 

You know that God said, "Adam and Eve, you can eat of every tree that is in the garden but there is one tree in the midst of the garden that you cannot eat of and the day that ye eat thereof you will die."  However, the serpent comes along and says, “Eve, let me tell you something.  Look at this tree.  It is good for fruit.  It is a good-looking tree.  Has God said that you cannot eat of it?”  The devil says, “It is no big deal.  God knows that the day that you eat of it you will know good and evil and you are going to become wise.  It going to be great and God knows that.  That is why He does not want you to eat it.”

 

He lied to them.  It was good to look at.  The Bible says it was.  There is nothing wrong with having knowledge.  She had a desire, or lust to have this. 

 

That is what happens to us many times.  We see something and we have desire.  We see the bait, we look at it, we analyze it, but we do not see the trap.  We see it, we want it and in our minds we have a desire for this.  Here is what happens when our minds see these things.  Our emotions and our desires for these things, then something else happens.  He says here "...when lust hath conceived..."

 

Do you know what we have to do before we ever fall into temptation? 

 

We may see the bait.  There is nothing wrong with seeing the bait, the problem is when we get our hand out and grab hold of the bait.  When temptations come, instead of drawing neigh to God so He can draw neigh unto us, we will sit around in our wills--and will is something that we all have--we can either do it or not do it.  If I say that I am going to do it, if the bait looks good to me, if it is something that is just turning me inside and out, whatever it may be, when I see the bait and I desire to have the bait, then I will figure out some way to make it right.  My Will approves what my emotions already said that they want.  When that happens, we reach our hand and we fall in to temptation.  No matter what it is, whether it is lying, cheating, stealing or whatever the temptation may be, when I reach my hand out and takes hold of the bait then I'm caught.  My Will figures out a way to try to do this and we try to justify this all the time.  When lust is conceived, when my emotions say that I want it, and when my will says that it is okay, when "lust is conceived" then it is conceived--the baby has been born.  It is starting to grow. 

 

The Bible says here, "...and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."  When my emotions and desires say that I want this and my will says that it is okay and we finagle around and lie to ourselves and say that it is okay, then it brings forth sin.  It brings disobedience towards God.  It brings about a good thing in a bad way.  When it all comes and the settling is done; sin brings forth death. 

 

We are all going to be tempted.  Every one of us is going to be tempted with different things.  Some of the things that you are tempted with would not bother me at all.  Some of things that I am tempted with probably would not bother you at all, but we are going to be tempted and tested.  We are going to have trials in life.  When the time of temptation comes, if something looks too good to be true, then it probably is.  Before we reach out and take hold of the bait, take a few minutes and ask your-self, “…if I do this now then what is the next move.” 

 

If we would do that in the church world today, then we would not be having near as many divorces today as we are having.  If men and women would stop today...they see the bait and it looks good, it is exciting, it is something they desire, their will says that it is okay and before they ever do whatever the temptation is...if we would just stop and consider: 

 

What is my next move? 

Where do I go from here?

What happens if I do this?

What are the consequences if I do this?

 

Then I do not think that we would be falling into near as much temptation as we are.   Sin brings forth death.  Death is Spiritual separation from God

 

I do not want to be there.  Do you?  I do not want to be separated from God.  I want God's presence in my life.  I want Him to lead me and guide me. 

 

I know that there are many problems in America and in our church world.  I know that there are many things that make families go their separate ways.  As we look in my family, and in your family, and see how that we give in to temptation, we see the bait, but we do not see the trap.  We see the bait but we do not see the judgment.  We see the bait, but we do not see the sorrow.  When my desire says I want it, my will says it is okay, and I carry it out then that is sin.  Sin, at the end of the road, brings death.  I do not want to see any of us there. 

 

Stop and consider what you are doing.

 

Stop and consider your actions.

 

Sometimes, people are tempted to do many different things like steal, lie and cheat.  Before you do anything, ask yourself what are the consequences. 

 

Sometimes we are tempted to gossip.  What are the consequences of that?  What is the next move?  What is going to happen to me then if I do that?  If we will do that, it will change the way that we deal with temptations when they come. 

 

God is going to judge us.  God is going to judge sin.  Since that is the case, then it would be better for us not to give in to temptation, and live a godly life than to give in to temptation and get yourself in a mess. 

 

God loves us.

 

The great thing is that God is a loving God.  God knew that man was going to sin.  He knew that we were going to fall into sin.  He knew that there would be times when we would cave in and give in to temptation. 

 

The great thing about God is that if we ask God to forgive us, He will forgive us. 

 

I am not telling you to go out here and sin everyday, then come in of the night and ask God to forgive you.  I am not talking about that.  There are times in our life when we get tripped up.  There are times in our life that we see the bait but we do not see the hook.  There are times in our life that we mess up.  I am glad that when we do, if we will just simply ask God to forgive us, to cleanse us, to help us, and to move us forward then God will do that.

 

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