Bona Fide
A study of James
Genuine Christian living
Part 4
“The Temptation within”
Today as we continue our study of James
We will continue to connect the dots
That James lays out
For Bona Fide
Christian living
We began this series with the pressure test
If you will remember we looked at trials and troubles as pressure in our lives
And we saw how God uses the pressure to bend us
Not break us
He does this
In order to give us the tools for true spiritual growth and the ability to overcome anything that Satan or the world throw at us
Last week we took a quick look at wisdom
And discussed the difference between the worlds wisdom and God’s wisdom
And we saw how surrendering to the worlds wisdom and not accepting and following the wisdom of God in our lives
Often causes us to waver
To be blown by the winds of this world
And we end up like Jake spoon
Sitting on a horse with a rope around our necks
Today I am going to skip ahead just a little to verses 12-15 of James
The verses I am passing by are very important
But
Like wisdom
I plan to cover the topic in those more in depth later in this series
But for today
I want to look at the cause of pressure
The cause of those winds in our lives
The root cause of sin
And I want to discuss some misconceptions about temptation
And then “get real”
Get Bona Fide
On this subject
Please open up your bibles to
James Chapter 1
Let me start out with verse 12
12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. “
This is a recap from week one
We saw how when we overcome the pressure
When we pass the test
We receive the blessing that God has for us
He uses
Listen
Uses
Key on the word uses here
Trials
Troubles and pressure in our lives to produce endurance
Perseverance
In order to strengthen us
Grow us
Give us the tools to get it done
But
But
Remember I told you just a moment ago to key on the word uses
God uses trials to grow us
But he does not send the temptations that cause the trials
He tests us
But he does not tempt us
Let’s read verse 13
13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong,[a] and he never tempts anyone else.
Many people want to blame God for tempting them when the wheels fall off of their lives
But James
Jesus’ brother James
Shows us in scripture that this just ain’t true
He says
That God never tempts anyone to do evil
There is no evil in God
None
And he will not and cannot use evil to tempt anyone
So that excuse won’t hold water
So we tend to move on to other excuses for our temptations and our surrender to them
“It’s not my fault”
“I couldn’t help it”
“It was just a mistake”
“Everyone else is doing it”
“Nobody’s perfect”
“I didn’t know it was wrong”
“I was pressured into it”
Or one of the most common excuse
“The Devil made me do it”
But in order to get Bona Fide
In order to deal with temptation
In order to overcome temptation
We must first admit where it comes from
It does not come from God
He will use the trouble in our lives to grow us
But
He never tempts us to do evil
The devil made me do it many claim
Yes
I agree
The devil uses many tricks to lure us into sin
But once again
Notice I said uses
Why would I say uses?
Because
James says our temptation come from inside of us
Verses 14-15
14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
Temptation comes from inside of us
God uses the trials that surrendering to temptation bring
And Satan uses our own temptations as lures to pull us away
But
At the end of the day
He can only use what we already struggle with
In the women’s round pen a couple of weeks back
Patti used the example of a can of snuff and a piece of cake
Few if any of the women would be tempted by the tobacco
But
The cake was another thing altogether
In our men’s study we discussed fishing lures and how in order to catch a specific species of fish or even a specific fish
The fisherman must figure out what it is that temps that fish
He does not create the temptation
He just preys on it
So
Understanding that temptation comes for our own hearts is a big key to defending against temptation
We can’t blame God
We can’t blame Old slick
We can’t blame others
We must take responsibility
------ Pause----
You all know the story of Samson
The strongest man who ever lived
Most have heard the story of him and Delilah
But today
I want to back up just a little in his story
And use his life as a picture of temptation
Judges chapters 13-16 tell the story of Samson
I encourage you to read it
But today I want to focus on a time where he surrendered to temptation
Let me give you a bit of back story
Samson was chosen by God to serve as Judge
He began this duty at the age of 20 years old
He fought hard for and protected his people
But he had a weakness
I know most of you are thinking hair
God told his parents to never cut his hair
And that he would lose his power if he did
But the weakness Samson suffered from was women
He had always been tempted by bad girls
In this story from today
20 years had passed since he became the Judge of Israel
And he
Listen
This is a key
He decided to go to Gaza to be with a prostitute
Judges 16:1
“One day Samson went to the Philistine town of Gaza and spent the night with a prostitute.”
Key in on that word that I used
Decided
God did not tempt him
And
Satan only used what was already inside of Samson
Samson made a choice to go
I did a little bit of research on this subject
Gaza was 25 miles from the place Samson lived in a town named Zorah
25 miles
Remember in those days the most common form of transportation was walking
And 25 miles is quite a hike
I looked up the math on this
The average man’s step is 2-2.5 feet wich means there are approximately 2000 steps in a mile
Over 25 miles that equals 50,000 steps
Samson put one foot in front of the other 50,000 times surrendering to his temptation- his desire
Which means he had 50,000 chances to turn around and not sin
Not surrender to temptation
But he chose to take each step
He had an out
He could have turned back anytime
But he did not
The rest of the story of Samson is another sermon for another day
But I will tell you
This surrender to temptation
Caused his life to quickly unravel
The wheels fell off
And his life fell apart
His choice affected the rest of his life
It did not have to
But it did
Due to his surrender to the temptations that existed inside of him
Flip over to 1st Corinthians chapter 10 with me
Verses 12-13
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
This is where the commonly misused
Misquoted
God won’t put more on you than you can handle saying comes from
Notice it says
That we will all be tempted
But
He will not allow you to be tempted more than you can stand or withstand
And that he will show you a way out
Samson had 50,000 chances to turn around
If you will get real
If you will get Bona Fide
And look at your surrender to temptation at the sin in your own life
God gave you a chance to turn around
You chose to surrender
So
Knowing that temptation does not come from God
Knowing that Satan simply uses the temptation within us
Understanding that we all make mistakes
But that choosing sin is a conscious effort not a mistake
Admitting that our friends our running buddies
Can’t make us surrender
Is a good start to learning how to deal with temptation?
Admitting that the things that do tempt us come from inside of us
Is an even better start
Listen Temptation is not a sin
But surrender always is
We are all tempted
Jesus himself was tempted
But he did not surrender
To that temptation
Let me read for you Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.
3 During that time the devil[a] came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[c]”
7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’[d]”
8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the LORD your God
and serve only him.’[e]”
11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
There are several things we can learn form our Lord about dealing with temptation here
First I want you to notice that the temptation came when Jesus was
Tired and Hungry
This is when we are the most prone to be tempted and surrender to that temptation
When we are at a weak point
Notice Old slick first uses food
Jesus was hungry
He had been fasting for 40 days
Slick says
Just say the word
And these rocks can become bread and you can eat
Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy here- the Old Testament for those of you who don’t think all of God’s word is relevant in our lives
‘Man does not live by bread alone
But by every word from the mouth of God”
He uses God’ sword
Our only offensive part of the armor to defend against temptation
This shows us the importance of God’s word in our own struggles against the temptations within us
Next old Slick tries to get Jesus to test God
Jump he says and make God show you his power
In cowboy terms guys
Satan is telling Jesus to make God give him a sign he even uses scripture out of context to increase the temptation
Jesus replies
Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.
Next Satan offers him power
We know that Jesus is the King and he will one day reign
But the bible says that Satan is the ruler of this world for now
He is offering Jesus Power now
No waiting
Just worship me he says
Jesus replies
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the LORD your God
and serve only him.
So we see that temptation come in many forms
But as James says
They start within our own hearts
God uses our pasts and our hurts but he never tempts us to do wrong
Satan only uses the ammo we give him
So how do we overcome the temptations that lure us away?
As we have discussed many times
Focus on Christ
Trust in God
Take responsibility for your own actions
Your own choices
Your owns faults
Use the pressure to develop endurance
Use it to grow stronger
Seek God’s wisdom
Put good stuff in
You can’t pour in filth and expect to pour out righteousness
Quit trying to let the world or your own desires fix your problems
Ask God for his wisdom and then accept and use it
When you find yourself about to surrender
Turn around
Go back
Stop
Look for the exit
God has provided one/often times more than one
Ask Yourself
Will this bring glory to God?
Ask what would Jesus think about your choice?
What would he say?
Would you do what you are about to do
It front of your Momma
In front of an audience
In front of the Lord?
Be on constant guard
The attacks will come when you are at your weakest
Use the sword of God’s word to fight off the temptations
Pray
Read and memorize scripture
Trust in God
And wait patiently for God’s timing
Let me leave you with these words from James
James 1:16-18
“So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.[a] He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.[b] 18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.”
Close from the heart
Pray
