God’s purpose in a trial is maturity

DIGGING DEEP NO. 947 – August 9th, 2022 HOW TO HANDLE TEMPTATION (PART 1) Jam.1: 13 – 18.

The mature person is patient in trials. Sometimes the trials are tests on the outside, and sometimes they are temptations on the inside. What is the relationship between testing without and temptations within?  If we are not careful, the testing on the outside may become temptations on the inside. When our circumstances are difficult, we may find ourselves complaining against God, questioning His love, and resisting His will. At this point, Satan provides us with an opportunity to escape the difficulty. This opportunity is a temptation. There are many illustrations of this found in the Bible. Abraham arrived in Canaan and discovered a famine there. He was not able to care for his flocks and herds. This trial was an opportunity to prove God, but Abraham turned it into temptation and went down to Egypt. God had to chasten Abraham to bring him back to the place of obedience and blessing.

While Israel was wandering in the wilderness, the nation often turned testings into temptations. No sooner had they been delivered from Egypt than their water supply vanished and they had to march for three days without water. When they did find water, it was so bitter they could not drink it. Immediately they began to murmur and blame God. They turned their tests into temptation and they failed. Certainly, God does not want us to yield to temptation, yet neither can He spare us the experience of temptation. We must face tests and temptations.

There are three facts that we must consider if we are to overcome temptation.

1. Consider God’s judgment – Jam.1: 13- 16. This is a negative approach, but it is an important one. James said you need to look ahead and see where sin ends – death. Do not blame God for temptation. He is too holy to be tempted, and He is too loving to tempt others. God does test us, as He did Abraham (Gen.22); but He does not and cannot tempt us. It is we who turn occasions of testing into temptations. A temptation is an opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a bad way, out of the will of God. Is it wrong to want to pass an examination? Of course not, but if you cheat to pass it, then you have sinned. The temptation to cheat is an opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a bad way. It is not wrong to eat, but if you consider stealing the food, you are tempting yourself. We think of sin as a single act, but God sees it as a process. Adam committed one act of sin, and yet that one act brought sin, death, and judgment on the whole human race. James described this process of sin in four stages.

Desire – Jam.1: 14. The word lust means any kind of desire and not necessarily sexual passions. The normal desires of life were given to us by God, and of themselves, are not sinful. Without these desires, we could not function. Unless we felt hunger and thirst, we would never eat and drink, and we would die. Without fatigue, the body would never rest and would eventually wear out. It is when we satisfy these desires in ways outside God’s will that we get into trouble. Eating is normal; gluttony is sin. Sleep is normal; laziness is sin. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge Heb.13: 4

Deception – Jam.1: 14. No temptation appears as a temptation; it always seems more attractive than it really is. The word “drawn away” carries with it the idea of the baiting of a trap. Temptation always carries with it some bait that appeals to our natural desires. The bait not only attracts us, but it also hides the fact that yielding to the desire will eventually bring sorrow and punishment. Lot would never have moved towards Sodom had he not seen the “well-watered plains of Jordan”. When David looked at his neighbor’s wife, he would never have committed adultery had he seen the tragic consequences; the death of a baby (Bathsheba’s son), the murder of a brave soldier (Uriah), the violation of a daughter (Tamar). The bait keeps us from seeing the consequences of sin.

Disobedience – Jam.1: 15. We have moved from the emotions (desire) and the intellect (deception) to the will. Christian living is a matter of the will not feel. I often hear believers say, “I don’t feel like reading the Bible.” Or “I don’t feel like attending a prayer meeting.” Children operate on the basis of feeling, but adults operate on the basis of will. They act because it is right, no matter how they feel. This explains why immature Christians easily fall into temptations; they let their feelings make the decisions. The more you exercise your will in saying a decisive no to temptation, the more God will take control of your life Phil.2: 13.

Death – Jam.1: 15. Disobedience gives birth to death, not life. It may take years for the sin to mature, but when it does, the result will be death. If we only believe God’s Word and see this final tragedy, it will encourage us not to yield to temptation.

These four stages in temptation and sin are perfectly depicted in the first sin recorded in the Bible in Genesis 3. The serpent used to desire to interest Eve Gen.3: 5- 6. Eve disobeyed God by taking the fruit of the tree and eating it. Then she shared it with her husband, and he disobeyed God. Both Adam and Eve experienced immediate spiritual death (separation from God) and ultimately physical death.

In Conclusion – Whenever you are faced with temptation, get your eyes off the bait and look ahead to see the consequences of sin.