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| James 1:13-15 |
You and I live in a dark world. It is not popular to obey God. It is popular to disobey God. As we live in this dark world our eyes get used to the darkness and after a while it doesn't seem very dark any more. What was black or white now seems gray. What was bad or good now seems not bad or not good but in the middle. As Christians we should say, 'No' to sin but now our eyes have changed and we are doing things we should never do.
Today we begin talking about the subject of temptation. What is temptation? How does it work? It is a proven scientific experiment that if you put a live frog in a pan of boiling water, he will jump out immediately. But if you put him in a pan of cool water and gradually add heat until it boils, he will stay in the pan to his death. We are like that frog. If someone asked you to take a knife and kill someone, of course you would say know. But no one suddenly becomes a killer. It happens gradually, little by little people chnage until they become more and more evil.
Let's look at James 1:13-15. It says,
 James 1:13-15 |
"Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death." |
Now I want you to see that there are three main characters in this passage. First, there is a temptee; the one who is being tempted. Verse 14 says that "each one" is tempted. There is no one in this room who is not tempted. Each one of us is tempted. I am tempted. You are tempted. And you and I have desires inside of us. The word "lust" literally means desire. If your desires are the same as God's desires then that is good. But if you're desires are different than God's desires then that is wrong.
The second character I want you to see is the tempter. 1 Thessalonians 3:5 calls Satan, "the tempter." Satan tempts us and He is dangerous. 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
The third character is the temptation. Verse 14 says that the temptee is tempted" or "enticed." Something entices or tempts each one of us. You see Satan knows you and he knows what is your weak area. He knows your temptation. So there is a temptee - each one of us. There is a temptor - Satan. And there is a temptation-something that entices us.
Temptation is very similar to fishing. In fishing you have a temptee - each of the fish. And you have a temptor - the fisherman who is trying to catch the fish. And you have a temptation or bait - some food; maybe a worm or something that the fish likes. A good fisherman knows what kind of bait or food each of the different kind of fish like. And he knows where each of the fish like to be.
Now when a fisherman throws out his line does he just have a bare hook? No, a fish will not bite or eat a bare hook. So he puts a worm on the hook. And he hides the hook. But remember under the beautiful bait there is a hook. Satan is a master fisherman. He knows you. He knows what you like. He knows your temptation. And he makes sin look beautiful but when he tempts you remember - there is always a hook.
Now is it wrong to be tempted? No - we are all tempted. So what is wrong. It is wrong to bite or eat the bait of temptation - to sin against God. You see inside of each fish is a desire. It is when desire (or lust) bites the bait that sin is born. Look at verse 15. It says, "Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death." Did you see the word "conceived" When a man and woman come together something happens inside the woman's body. The seeds come together and conception takes place. That is what conceived means. It is the beginning of a baby.
And when your desire joins together with the bait of temptation sin is born. In this passage there is a grandmother - a mother and a daughter. The grandmother is "desire" and it gives birth to "sin." And "sin" gives birth to what? Death. You see if you keep giving in to temptation over and over and over again you are living the lifestyle of an unbeliever and your fellowship with God is broken.
It is not a sin to be tempted. But when you are tempted it is very important how you respond to the temptation. Some people say, "I will not bite the bait but it is just so pretty that I want to stay close to it. I just want to watch it and see what happens." But temptation is like a magnet. You cannot stay at the same distance from the temptation. Either you will turn away and leave the temptation. Or you will little by little get closer and closer until without realizing it you are trapped by the temptation.
It is not a sin to be tempted. But when you take that second look you are starting to open your mouth to bite the temptation. That's why James 4:7 says, "Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." You see the closer you are to temptation the farther you are from God. And the closer you are to God the farther you will be from temptation.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on top of the mountain is a huge statue of Jesus. When you are driving from the country to the big city it looks very very small on top of the high mountain. But the closer you get to the statue the bigger it becomes. And do you know what? When you are far away from God - when you are far away from Jesus He seems very small and unimportant. And the things that are close to you seem big and more important than Him. But the closer you get to Him the bigger He becomes and the smaller the other things - the things in your past seem to you. James 4:8 says, "Draw near (or close) to God and He will draw near (or close) to you." What is your temptation? Do you stay close to it? Would you like to really get victory over it? During this week we will tell you how.
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by Steve Nicholes
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