Resisting Resistance Makes You Strong
Many of us here today have made the decision to follow Jesus. That decision involves living as He taught us and showed us. Some of you are here because you are considering that decision. And there are some here today that aren’t considering that decision at all today and you are here for other reasons – perhaps because you know it pleases your spouse, or perhaps because you like the music, or other reasons – and that’s ok. Today’s message is important to all no matter where you are at because it applies to every person.
James speaks about temptation and how it is used by God and Satan to accomplish totally different ends. Let me clarify. We choose to live uprightly before God and man and Satan resists that decision through his use of temptation. God uses the same temptation to help us get stronger and to resist the resistance to following the ways of Jesus.
Still not clear? I’m not surprised. It is a bit confusing and James says it much better than I. Let’s explore the wisdom of James together today.
Don’t blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn’t use evil to tempt others. - Jam 1:13 CEV
The Blame Game
“There is an interesting mentality in the world of street gangs—one that I know is not uncommon to the rest of the world. But in the world of criminal street gangs, this mentality carries with it an almost perverse exaggeration. It’s the idea of blame shifting."
"...among criminal street gangs, …a code of ethics dictates that if you stare at me, I have to punch you. And if you punch me, I have to hit you with a bat. And if you hit me with a bat, I have to stab you with a knife. And if you stab me with a knife, I have to shoot you, or your car, or your house, or someone in your family. But we see the same kind of logic among other, less threatening, members of society.”
Source: Tony Miano, Pastor in Santa Clara CA and former police officer
Have you ever played a game on your computer where there were levels? You know when you get good at one level you move to the next level until you reach the top level. Sometimes these games have hundreds of levels.
Well, when we come to the blame game we blame TV; Poverty; Dysfunctional families; our spouse; our parents; our kids, and the levels go on and on. The top level in the blame game is God…
James said very clearly, "Don’t blame God when you are tempted!"
The Source of Temptation… Is not God
Have you ever blamed God for an evil world or maybe for unfortunate circumstances in your life. A job is lost, a family member gets sick or someone you know is killed tragically in a horrible accident. Maybe you wonder at a God who would allow 6,000,000 Jews to die in concentration camps or how he can let children die of starvation.
There are lot’s of people who getting mad at God for their troubles and it is not a new thing. It started in the Garden of Eden and it continues to this day!
Gen 3:12 CEV "It was the woman you put here with me," the man said. "She gave me some of the fruit, and I ate it."
The blame game has been going on for as long as human kind has been around.
But God doesn’t use evil…
James has a pointed answer for those who would think God is the source of temptation. Don’t blame God!
John MacArthur said it this way: “[God] is in no way and to no degree responsible, directly or indirectly, for our being tempted”
God doesn’t use evil and isn’t the cause of our temptation but God does use temptation to accomplish his goal. His goal to test and develop our faith.
The source of temptation is not God and it is not the Devil.
You’ve heard the phrase "the devil made me do it."
Well, the devil didn’t make you do it. You made you do it. Now Satan does use evil and Satan does use Temptation to accomplish his goal. And his goal is the breaking of our relationship with God. He wants to destroy us.
Jam 1:14 CEV We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us.
God is not the source. Satan is not the source. “I” am the source of Temptation.
James’ use of the words “each one” shows that it is an individual matter. The present tense signifies that each and every person is continually being tempted. And the source of those temptations, the source for every person, is his or her own desires. Each of us is the source of our own temptation.
Fishing usually involves bait. The fish get’s hooked by desire and then drug away.
When I was a kid my dad and I went fishing with a friend at night. We took a lantern and a can of corn. The lantern was hung over the side of the boat and corn was dumped into the water. Then we put kernals of corn on the hook and tossed them overboard. It wasn’t long until we were hauling in fish as fast as we could crank the reel.
Consider the shock of the fish from a meal to being drug through the water, a barbed hook in your lip
Here is the kicker the desire that got the fish hooked was not in itself wrong. What the fish used to satisfy the hunger is what got him into trouble.
Epithumia : “The word both as verb and as substantive has a good and a bad meaning. It probably meant at first a strong desire, a craving, abnormal appetite, not only for physical but for spiritual satisfaction. It has come, however, to be confined in its use almost entirely to the bad sense.”
William Edward Raffety, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
The desire for pleasure, good feelings, satisfaction, contentment, is not bad but what we use to satisfy the desire is what leads to the testing of our faith or the death of our souls
Jam 1:15 CEV Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead.
Jam 1:15 BBE Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death.
The image of a birth is used by James.
First the desire gives birth to sin and sin gives birth to death. What we see is death by degree’s – not all at once.
This is dangerous! Sin is a process that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is innocent, the middle is when we think we are getting away with it, and the end is when we die.
Jam 1:16 CEV Don’t be fooled, my dear friends.
Pro 19:3 “We are ruined by our own stupidity, though we blame the LORD.”
Jam 1:17 CEV Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing.
God is good and God never changes
God is good and God gives us everything that is good and perfect including all the good ways to satisfy our desires.
Can I be blunt here today? Do you mind if I talk a turkey here? Let’s get it out on the table so it is perfectly clear.
When we speak of our desires we speak of things like the desire a man or woman might have for intimacy and closeness in a relationship. When we speak of desires we might be speaking of the desire for physical satisfaction sexually.
There are two different and absolutely separate ways of satisfying those desires that come from inside of us. One way is suggested by Satan and is leads to sin and then to death. This way is the way of pornography, adultery, and fornication (sexual contact outside of the bonds of a covenant which protects the participants).
The other way is the way that God intended us to satisfy those desires for intimacy and closeness and to satisfy the physical needs as well. Hebrews 12:4 says, “the marriage bed is undefiled”
When we resist the ways of Satan and follow God’s way not only do we find the answers that God intended for us to find but we also grow stronger in our faith.
He created all the lights in the heavens. There is much variation but not with God. You can count on him.
Jam 1:18 CEV He wanted us to be his own special people, and so he sent the true message to give us new birth.
I can’t stop here without giving you some strategic and tactical actions to take when you are tempted by Satan to do evil. Strategic decisions are made before the battle. Tactical decisions are made in the middle of the battle.
Strategic Action #1
Eph 6:11 CEV “Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks.”
You know the armor of God. The breast plate of righteousness, the shield of faith, belt of truth, the sword of word, the helmet of salvation, the shoes of the gospel of Christ. God wants you to be ready to do battle BEFORE you get into the fight. A good soldier doesn’t wait until the battle to put on the armor.
Strategic Action #2
2Co 6:14 CEV “Stay away from people who are not followers of the Lord! Can someone who is good get along with someone who is evil? Are light and darkness the same?”
Jesus said that we are to be in the world but not of the world. What the Bible is saying here is that we are not to be partners with sin. There needs to be separation between you and the sin. Christians should be influencers not influenced.
It’s important to not be "unequally yoked". Especially true in marriages. If you are in an unequally yoked situation then 1Corinthians 7 has a word for you. I don’t have time this morning to go into it. For now I’ll just say that your life can be a blessing to your whole family even if you are the only Christian.
Tactical Action #1
1Pe 5:9 CEV But you must resist the devil and stay strong in your faith. You know that all over the world the Lord’s followers are suffering just as you are.
When it comes to evil - stand your ground. Resist the resister of God. That will make you strong and Satan will run from you. Hold fast and don’t give in.
Tactical Action #2
1Co 6:18 ISV Keep on running away from sexual immorality. Any other sin that a person commits is outside his body, but the person who sins sexually sins against his own body.
When it comes to sexual sin there is one safe response - RUN! FLEE! GET OUT OF THERE! This is not the time to stand. This is the time to flee.
Remember, that God Wants to Give You a New Birth
One birth, the birth of sin, brings death. The second birth, the new birth through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, brings life.
When it comes to temptation you will stumble and fall but if you are born into new life you will always be lifted up by the cross of Jesus.
