Posts
2. Facing Temptation (James 1:13-18)
Last week, we were reminded that being a Christian doesn’t exempt us from the trials of life that everyone experiences, but that if we persevere – showing a joyful attitude, an understanding mind, a submissive will and a faithful heart – we will receive from Jesus the crown of life, a gift so wonderful that all our current tribulations pale.
This week, we focus in on one of the things in life that we all face … temptation. It doesn’t matter whether we’re young or old, rich or poor, clergy or lay – whoever we are, we all experience temptation, probably on quite a regular basis.
Did you hear about the man who was desperately trying to lose weight, but one morning arrived at the office with two dozen doughnuts.
His colleagues asked him why he got the doughnuts if he was trying to diet, to which he replied, “Well, as I came to the corner where the bakery is, I told God that if He wanted me to buy some doughnuts He should have a parking space free right in front of the bakery. … And, behold, on the eighth time around the block, there it was!”
So, first of all this morning, let’s consider what – or indeed who – is
The source of temptation (vv. 13-14)
One of the most common things that happens when people do something wrong is that they try to blame somebody, or something else. I can remember many occasions when I was at junior school hearing some other child telling a teacher, “It wasn’t my fault – he made me do it.”
That was exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden story, when God discovered that the human beings had sinned. When God asks, “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?”, Adam replies, as quick as a flash: “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” And when God asks Eve to explain herself, she answers, again without hesitation, “The snake tricked me into eating it.” It’s always someone else’s fault, isn’t it? Eve blames the snake; Adam blames Eve … or is he actually blaming God? is he saying it’s the woman’s fault for giving him the fruit? Or, that it’s God’s fault for putting the woman there with him in the first place?
Let’s get one thing absolutely clear: the source of the temptations we face in our day-to-day lives is not God; and there is no way that, when we do wrong, when we sin, we can turn around and claim that God is responsible. In fact, I think James sounds quite stern when he writes this in verse 13:
Remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else either.
Throughout the Bible, God is described as holy – when Isaiah sees the Lord, it’s an awesome sight and seraphim were flying around the throne, calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy! The Lord Almighty is holy! His glory fills the world.”
The apostle John describes in Revelation chapter 4 how, in heaven, four living creatures never stop singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.”
And Jesus tells a man whom He meets, “No one is good except God alone.” God is holy and good – He is the epitome of holiness and goodness and there is no evil in Him, so it’s impossible that He would tempt human beings to do evil things – because the very act of tempting would be evil.
So, we can be clear that God is not the source of temptation, although He does allow people to be tested – just like Job and Jesus Himself were – because, as we heard last week, faith needs to be tested and testing is ultimately for our own benefit.
Of course, we know that it was Satan who tested Job to the limit, it was Satan who tempted Jesus in the wilderness, and it’s widely believed that it was Satan in the form of a serpent who deceived Eve. But James doesn’t accept that “the devil made me do it” is a valid excuse – after all, Job came through his testing with his faith battered but intact, and Jesus robustly resisted every temptation that was presented to Him. Ultimately, everybody has to take responsibility for their own actions, rather than seek to deflect the blame onto God, or anyone else for that matter.
In verse 14, James argues that “temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.” Temptation is an inner struggle that springs from our own sinful desires. Most of you will probably remember the adverts for cream cakes a few years ago, in which someone had a cream cake on a plate in front of them, they tried to resist the temptation to eat it, but then took a big bite out of it, saying, “It’s naughty, but nice!” Basically, the person ate the cream cake, because deep inside they really wanted it and couldn’t resist the temptation.
Now, if you had a cream cake on a plate in front of you, but you didn’t like cream, then there would be no temptation to take a bite out of it, would there? You see, the temptation comes from an inner yearning. Please don’t get the idea that I’m saying that eating cream cakes is sinful – if that were true, I myself would have to be counted the king of sinners! – but the same principle often applies to things that really are sinful. For instance, if we have a lust for money, we may be tempted to pocket someone else’s £20 note that we find lying around; or, if we crave power, we may be tempted to tread all over people to get it; or, if we have an unhealthy passion for food, we may well be tempted towards gluttony.
I think James wants us to take a look at what we are like within ourselves and I’m sure that, if we do, we will become aware of our own little weaknesses, those things through which we regularly face temptation. When we do recognise our weaknesses, then we need to stay alert to them and pray about them – Jesus said to His disciples:
“Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
The course of temptation (v.15)
If these weaknesses, these lusts, these desires, these out-of-hand passions go unchecked and unaddressed by prayer, the course of temptation is a sad and destructive one, as James points out in verse 15:
These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
We need to take a look at ourselves, we need to have a regular check-up, to be aware of anything within us which might cause problems. Just as a car goes in for a service to ensure that it’s running alright and that any minor problems which may develop into major ones are found and put right; so we, too, should regularly take a look at ourselves and deal with any minor issues early, before they cause us a whole lot of trouble in the future.
Many will prefer to do that privately with God in a devotional time; and some might want to enlist the help of a soul-friend, a spiritual director – someone with whom they can share their innermost thoughts and struggles. Richard Foster, an American Quaker and a well-known Christian writer, promotes the idea of Spiritual Formation Groups – small groups of Christians who meet regularly to share the struggles and joys of the Christian journey using a highly structured meeting format which includes a time of confession.
The most important thing is that we have the courage to examine ourselves, that we are honest with ourselves and with God concerning what we find, and that we are constantly prayerful, because if they are left unchecked, sinful desires will have eternal consequences. Instead of the crown of life awaiting us, there will be only death.
So, having written about the source of temptation and the course of temptation, James now briefly alludes to …
The deceit of temptation (v.16)
Verse 16 simply says, “So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.” In the Garden of Eden, the snake undermines the instructions of God and convinces Eve that God is just a killjoy who has told her a lie. Eve believes him, rather than God, because she really wants to taste that fruit.
Eve, because of her burning inner desire, was deceived into believing that God could behave in a less than perfect manner. But James tells us, “Don’t be deceived! Don’t be misled! God is good, so take responsibility for your own actions.” It’s as simple: God is good, so don’t blame Him for your own shortcomings; God is good, so don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.
What, then, is …
The answer to temptation (vv.17-18)?
Verses 17 and 18 tell us that we can trust in God because He provides us with everything that is good and perfect; and the fact that He is the creator, the maker of the Sun, the Moon and the stars is testament to that. God never changes – He isn’t loving and giving one day, and then hating and tempting the next – He is constantly good, forever reliable and always true.
And, more than that, God is our Father and we are special to Him – as verse 18 says: “… we, out of all creation, became His prized possession.” There’s another Scripture which is very pertinent here – in Matthew 7:9-11, Jesus says:
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or, if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”
When we are tempted, we must look to our heavenly Father and seek to do His will rather than seek our own gratification, because, ultimately, we can trust Him to do whatever is best for us. But in order to seek His will and to strengthen our trust in Him, there are some practical things we can do.
A Christian magazine once surveyed its readers about temptation and got the following, very interesting results:
· well over ¾ of respondents said that temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God;
· over ½ said temptations were more potent when they were physically tired.
So, we need to ensure that we make time to be quiet with God and we need to get enough sleep – so make sure you go to bed at a reasonable time!
Over ¾ of those taking part in the survey said prayer is essential, in order to resist temptation; and, again, over ¾ said that you should do whatever you can to avoid compromising situations in the first place.
Many others said that Bible study was helpful, and over half thought that being accountable to someone else was a good thing – which reinforces what I was saying earlier.
But, you know, the best way to deal with temptation is to deal with it early. Temptation starts with a thought: an inappropriate thought, yes, but also an appealing thought. It may sometimes start with the words “What if …”, or “Maybe I could …”, or “I wish …”. This is the time to quash any thought that is inappropriate – immediately! If you allow yourself to ponder on that thought, if you give it the attention it doesn’t deserve, then it grows in power – and, while it grows in power, your own power to resist is often diminished.
I want to share with you a helpful tip that I have picked up from the monastic tradition this:
as soon as an inappropriate thought comes to mind, imagine that it is a chunk of slate, which you then raise above your head and dash against rocks so that it is smashed to smithereens – then turn your back on it.
Make no mistake: you must destroy that tempting thought as soon as it arises – before it has a chance to destroy you!
So, it seems then that, in order to triumph over temptation, we need to take a good look at ourselves and immediately address the weaknesses we find; we should take a good look at God our heavenly Father and recognise that He is the source of all good things; and we must take a look at the Lord Jesus Christ, who triumphed over temptation for all our sakes, and give Him our lives.
To Him be all the glory. Amen.
Last week, we were reminded that being a Christian doesn’t exempt us from the trials of life that everyone experiences, but that if we persevere – showing a joyful attitude, an understanding mind, a submissive will and a faithful heart – we will receive from Jesus the crown of life, a gift so wonderful that all our current tribulations pale.
This week, we focus in on one of the things in life that we all face … temptation. It doesn’t matter whether we’re young or old, rich or poor, clergy or lay – whoever we are, we all experience temptation, probably on quite a regular basis.
Did you hear about the man who was desperately trying to lose weight, but one morning arrived at the office with two dozen doughnuts.
His colleagues asked him why he got the doughnuts if he was trying to diet, to which he replied, “Well, as I came to the corner where the bakery is, I told God that if He wanted me to buy some doughnuts He should have a parking space free right in front of the bakery. … And, behold, on the eighth time around the block, there it was!”
So, first of all this morning, let’s consider what – or indeed who – is
The source of temptation (vv. 13-14)
One of the most common things that happens when people do something wrong is that they try to blame somebody, or something else. I can remember many occasions when I was at junior school hearing some other child telling a teacher, “It wasn’t my fault – he made me do it.”
That was exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden story, when God discovered that the human beings had sinned. When God asks, “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?”, Adam replies, as quick as a flash: “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” And when God asks Eve to explain herself, she answers, again without hesitation, “The snake tricked me into eating it.” It’s always someone else’s fault, isn’t it? Eve blames the snake; Adam blames Eve … or is he actually blaming God? is he saying it’s the woman’s fault for giving him the fruit? Or, that it’s God’s fault for putting the woman there with him in the first place?
Let’s get one thing absolutely clear: the source of the temptations we face in our day-to-day lives is not God; and there is no way that, when we do wrong, when we sin, we can turn around and claim that God is responsible. In fact, I think James sounds quite stern when he writes this in verse 13:
Remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else either.
Throughout the Bible, God is described as holy – when Isaiah sees the Lord, it’s an awesome sight and seraphim were flying around the throne, calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy! The Lord Almighty is holy! His glory fills the world.”
The apostle John describes in Revelation chapter 4 how, in heaven, four living creatures never stop singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.”
And Jesus tells a man whom He meets, “No one is good except God alone.” God is holy and good – He is the epitome of holiness and goodness and there is no evil in Him, so it’s impossible that He would tempt human beings to do evil things – because the very act of tempting would be evil.
So, we can be clear that God is not the source of temptation, although He does allow people to be tested – just like Job and Jesus Himself were – because, as we heard last week, faith needs to be tested and testing is ultimately for our own benefit.
Of course, we know that it was Satan who tested Job to the limit, it was Satan who tempted Jesus in the wilderness, and it’s widely believed that it was Satan in the form of a serpent who deceived Eve. But James doesn’t accept that “the devil made me do it” is a valid excuse – after all, Job came through his testing with his faith battered but intact, and Jesus robustly resisted every temptation that was presented to Him. Ultimately, everybody has to take responsibility for their own actions, rather than seek to deflect the blame onto God, or anyone else for that matter.
In verse 14, James argues that “temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.” Temptation is an inner struggle that springs from our own sinful desires. Most of you will probably remember the adverts for cream cakes a few years ago, in which someone had a cream cake on a plate in front of them, they tried to resist the temptation to eat it, but then took a big bite out of it, saying, “It’s naughty, but nice!” Basically, the person ate the cream cake, because deep inside they really wanted it and couldn’t resist the temptation.
Now, if you had a cream cake on a plate in front of you, but you didn’t like cream, then there would be no temptation to take a bite out of it, would there? You see, the temptation comes from an inner yearning. Please don’t get the idea that I’m saying that eating cream cakes is sinful – if that were true, I myself would have to be counted the king of sinners! – but the same principle often applies to things that really are sinful. For instance, if we have a lust for money, we may be tempted to pocket someone else’s £20 note that we find lying around; or, if we crave power, we may be tempted to tread all over people to get it; or, if we have an unhealthy passion for food, we may well be tempted towards gluttony.
I think James wants us to take a look at what we are like within ourselves and I’m sure that, if we do, we will become aware of our own little weaknesses, those things through which we regularly face temptation. When we do recognise our weaknesses, then we need to stay alert to them and pray about them – Jesus said to His disciples:
“Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
The course of temptation (v.15)
If these weaknesses, these lusts, these desires, these out-of-hand passions go unchecked and unaddressed by prayer, the course of temptation is a sad and destructive one, as James points out in verse 15:
These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
We need to take a look at ourselves, we need to have a regular check-up, to be aware of anything within us which might cause problems. Just as a car goes in for a service to ensure that it’s running alright and that any minor problems which may develop into major ones are found and put right; so we, too, should regularly take a look at ourselves and deal with any minor issues early, before they cause us a whole lot of trouble in the future.
Many will prefer to do that privately with God in a devotional time; and some might want to enlist the help of a soul-friend, a spiritual director – someone with whom they can share their innermost thoughts and struggles. Richard Foster, an American Quaker and a well-known Christian writer, promotes the idea of Spiritual Formation Groups – small groups of Christians who meet regularly to share the struggles and joys of the Christian journey using a highly structured meeting format which includes a time of confession.
The most important thing is that we have the courage to examine ourselves, that we are honest with ourselves and with God concerning what we find, and that we are constantly prayerful, because if they are left unchecked, sinful desires will have eternal consequences. Instead of the crown of life awaiting us, there will be only death.
So, having written about the source of temptation and the course of temptation, James now briefly alludes to …
The deceit of temptation (v.16)
Verse 16 simply says, “So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.” In the Garden of Eden, the snake undermines the instructions of God and convinces Eve that God is just a killjoy who has told her a lie. Eve believes him, rather than God, because she really wants to taste that fruit.
Eve, because of her burning inner desire, was deceived into believing that God could behave in a less than perfect manner. But James tells us, “Don’t be deceived! Don’t be misled! God is good, so take responsibility for your own actions.” It’s as simple: God is good, so don’t blame Him for your own shortcomings; God is good, so don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.
What, then, is …
The answer to temptation (vv.17-18)?
Verses 17 and 18 tell us that we can trust in God because He provides us with everything that is good and perfect; and the fact that He is the creator, the maker of the Sun, the Moon and the stars is testament to that. God never changes – He isn’t loving and giving one day, and then hating and tempting the next – He is constantly good, forever reliable and always true.
And, more than that, God is our Father and we are special to Him – as verse 18 says: “… we, out of all creation, became His prized possession.” There’s another Scripture which is very pertinent here – in Matthew 7:9-11, Jesus says:
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or, if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”
When we are tempted, we must look to our heavenly Father and seek to do His will rather than seek our own gratification, because, ultimately, we can trust Him to do whatever is best for us. But in order to seek His will and to strengthen our trust in Him, there are some practical things we can do.
A Christian magazine once surveyed its readers about temptation and got the following, very interesting results:
· well over ¾ of respondents said that temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God;
· over ½ said temptations were more potent when they were physically tired.
So, we need to ensure that we make time to be quiet with God and we need to get enough sleep – so make sure you go to bed at a reasonable time!
Over ¾ of those taking part in the survey said prayer is essential, in order to resist temptation; and, again, over ¾ said that you should do whatever you can to avoid compromising situations in the first place.
Many others said that Bible study was helpful, and over half thought that being accountable to someone else was a good thing – which reinforces what I was saying earlier.
But, you know, the best way to deal with temptation is to deal with it early. Temptation starts with a thought: an inappropriate thought, yes, but also an appealing thought. It may sometimes start with the words “What if …”, or “Maybe I could …”, or “I wish …”. This is the time to quash any thought that is inappropriate – immediately! If you allow yourself to ponder on that thought, if you give it the attention it doesn’t deserve, then it grows in power – and, while it grows in power, your own power to resist is often diminished.
I want to share with you a helpful tip that I have picked up from the monastic tradition this:
as soon as an inappropriate thought comes to mind, imagine that it is a chunk of slate, which you then raise above your head and dash against rocks so that it is smashed to smithereens – then turn your back on it.
Make no mistake: you must destroy that tempting thought as soon as it arises – before it has a chance to destroy you!
So, it seems then that, in order to triumph over temptation, we need to take a good look at ourselves and immediately address the weaknesses we find; we should take a good look at God our heavenly Father and recognise that He is the source of all good things; and we must take a look at the Lord Jesus Christ, who triumphed over temptation for all our sakes, and give Him our lives.
To Him be all the glory. Amen.
