James: Authentic Faith - Week 3: The Truth about Temptation | James 1:13-18

Hi, it's Pastor Jonathan, and thanks for downloading the FBC El Dorado Sermon Podcast.

In today's sermon, as we continue our series through the book of James, we are going to learn the truth about temptation.

Many of my favorite childhood memories involve going fishing with my dad or with my grandpa.

Many afternoons during the spring and summer months, my dad, when he would get home from work, he would immediately uh pull out his flat bottom boat and load it into the uh the bed of his S10 pickup truck, and together we would drive to this little community outside of Benton called Toll.

Um it's a hole in the wall.

There's nothing there really except a gas station.

Um my dad's side of the family owned a piece of property out in Toll, and on that piece of property was a house and a pond, and we did all sorts of casting and catching fish out on that pond in my dad's flat bottom boat.

My grandpa, that's my uh mom's dad, he did his fishing out on Lake Washita.

So during the summer, I would go and spend three or four nights with him camping on the lake.

Uh, we'd get up early every morning and go run trot lines, and then after running the trot lines, we'd break out our rods and reels.

Now, fishing with my dad was different than fishing with my grandpa.

When I was with my dad, we fished for brim or bass.

And when was with my grandpa, we fished for catfish or crappie.

The fish we were looking for determined then the bait that we would use.

So if we were fishing for brim, we would put crickets on a hook.

If we were uh fishing for bass, we would uh have a topwater bait that we would throw out.

Now, if we were uh running trot lines looking for those big monster catfish in Lake Washita, we would uh put something called blood bait on the hooks.

The name says it all.

And then when we turned our attention to crappie, we put minnows on our hooks.

We would cast that bait out into the pond, out into the lake, and then we would wait.

We'd wait for that tap, tap, or we'd wait to see our fishing line to start dancing in the water.

That was the signal, the tap, the dance.

That was the signal that what?

The fish had taken the bait, and it was time to set the hook.

So men have been fishing uh all the way since the Bible times, right?

And you would think that um fish maybe would get a little bit smarter with each successive generation, that grandpa fish would tell grandson fish, you need to pay attention and notice the line, you need to look out for the hook.

But nope.

Every generation of fish is the same.

When they see the bait, they take the bait.

Or having seen all of their uh fishy friends magically levitate out of the water never to return again, maybe that fish would think maybe it's better to not eat that morsel that just magically fell in front of my face.

You know, we talk about how fish swim in schools, but maybe it's not a very good school.

They never learn.

They always, always take the bait.

And if we're being honest, you and I, we are a lot like those fish.

We almost always take the bait.

Think of it this way: each week, those credit card offers uh clutter your mailbox at home.

They promise things like 0% interest for 36 months and free balance transfers.

Uh, you see that envelope on this particular day and you think to yourself, wow, this would help me lower my monthly payment if I transfer the money to this credit card, um, and then I can pay off my debt quicker because I won't have interest on it, if I have to make new charges onto that credit card.

You think, oh, okay, yeah, maybe I should do this, and then this other thought uh creeps into your mind that if I'm saving all this money on interest every month, then maybe I should trade in my car.

So you actually end the day with more debt than you started the day.

Or maybe uh bait, it's the uh the coupon that arrives for that free appetizer at the new restaurant in town.

You actually had begun to kind of monitor the food that you eat.

You're like making this commitment, I'm gonna eat healthy foods from now on, I set some goals.

And you actually started all that like the day before the coupon arrived.

But everyone needs a cheat day, right?

Even if it's 48 hours later.

And you promise, you just say, I'm gonna indulge in an appetizer, but I'm gonna get a healthy entree, and I absolutely won't get dessert this time.

But once you get to the restaurant, like the thought of grilled fish and steamed vegetables just doesn't compare to the ribeye and the loaded baked potato.

Yeah, there we go, Bob, there we go.

It's just not the same, let's be honest.

And then you like see like desserts coming out of the back room, and you're like, I mean, it would be an insult to the chef if I didn't try the cheesecake or the creme brulee, and I don't want him to think like I don't appreciate good food.

And before you know it, like it's the appetizer, the entree, and the dessert, the the the all the things you had committed not to do a couple weeks ago, like you're doing them all in that moment, and well, you just have to start again another week.

Maybe you took the bait.

Or your bait is that text message thread that you share with your closest friends from high school or college.

And you know you should silence that text message thread.

Because every time you engage in it, you end up gossiping about other people, or maybe you uh when you engage on that text message thread, you feel uh a sense of inadequacy or jealousy.

Every time you get involved in that discussion, wow, you feel worse about other people and you feel worse about yourself.

You took the bait.

You know, in those moments and in so many other uh moments in life, the bait that magically falls in front of your eyes, in front of my eyes, that bait is temptation.

Now, what tempts you and what tempts me, it may very well not be the same thing.

In a sense, we are all different species of fish.

There are different things that grab my attention than grab your attention.

So that bait, that temptation to you that has a high level of appeal to me has a low level of appeal.

But whatever the bait, whatever the temptation is, hear this.

The temptation aims to hurt you, to wound you, to take you captive.

Proverbs 29, 6 puts it this way.

To an evil person, sin is bait in a trap.

To an evil person, sin is bait in a trap.

Or maybe you just want to think of it this way temptation is sin's trap.

Temptation is sin's trap, the trap that sin wants to spring on you.

That's what God's word says to us and prepares us for daily life with that word of wisdom.

Yet we consistently walk into the trap.

We consistently, it seems, fall into the trap and we take the bait.

Maybe it's because we don't understand really how temptation works.

Here's how I would describe the process of temptation.

See if you agree.

Temptation lures me, hooks me, and pulls me.

Temptation lures me, hooks me, and pulls me.

Temptation lures me in.

It puts something in front of my eyes that piques my interest, catches my attention, but on closer inspection, I realize it goes against my deepest held values.

But so often the allure is too strong.

And that's when it hooks me.

Now, at first, the hook that it sets, you may not even notice the pain that it causes, but just give it some time.

Because it will bring pain to you and it will bring pain to those whom you love.

It causes so much pain that what do you want to do?

Just like that fish, when you set the hook on it in the lake, what's the fish want to do?

It wants to get away, but it can't.

Because the hook is set deep inside of us.

It's holding on to us.

And then what happens next?

That temptation pulls you away.

It pulls you away from the authentic, actionable faith, the mature faith that God desires you to possess.

Today we are continuing our series in the book of James.

That series we're calling authentic faith.

In weeks one and two, what did we do?

If you were here, we looked at the life cycle of authentic faith.

The seed, to have an encounter with the resurrected Jesus, to trust that Jesus is who he says he is, and to be a servant in the world.

Then there was the soil, that's the trials of life, that's the environment in which an authentic faith best grows.

It's in the midst of trials, hardship.

The roots, endurance, that ability to keep taking another step forward no matter the trials that we face.

And then finally the crown, that goal of maturity, of completion in Christ, that we uh look like Jesus, we live like Jesus, and we love like Jesus.

And then immediately after laying out that life cycle, what does James do?

He turns his attention to temptation.

James focuses on temptation because he knows that temptation is the primary hurdle, barrier, obstacle that a person must overcome if they want to progress through this life cycle.

If they want to achieve maturity in Christ, they have to figure out how to navigate temptations in this world.

James, I think he knows just how powerful temptation can be.

He knows how temptation works.

He knows that temptation lures me and it hooks me and it pulls me.

Remember, James is a leader in the Church of Jerusalem.

He's seen temptation in the work of people within that local church.

He's seen temptation at work in his own life.

And I think maybe James at this moment, maybe he's just grown tired of the people in his life, the people he cares deeply about.

James instead, he wants that church and he wants in his own personal life to be a victor over temptation.

Those two words, victim and victor, they describe the two possible relationships a person has with temptation.

You can either be a victim of temptation or a victor over temptation.

This morning, are you better described as a victim or a victor?

And if you're a victim consistently to temptation, of consistently taking the same piece of bait over and over and over again.

If you're tired of feeling that same sense of regret and remorse almost every single day, are you tired enough to stop being a victim of temptation and to find victory over temptation?

If so, then you need to listen carefully.

If you want to make that transition from victim to victor, then you need to know the truth about temptation.

The truth about temptation that helps you make that transformation, make that move from victim to victor.

Listen to what James says in James chapter 1, verses 13 through 15.

James 1:13–15

When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me.

For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone, but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown, gives birth to death.

So here's the the first truth that you need to know about temptation.

Truth number one: temptation is coming for me.

Temptation is coming for me.

Notice those first two words.

When tempted.

It's when.

When it comes to temptation, guys, it's only a matter of time.

You don't ever reach a place spiritually where you get an exemption from temptation, where you are immune to temptation.

All of us are tempted.

And we begin to step on some very dangerous ground if we're naive enough or self-confident enough to believe that I got this.

I'm doing fine.

Temptation has no sway, no hold on me.

I can handle it on my own.

Now listen, temptation comes for you.

Often in those spaces and places where you are already experiencing stress and anxiety in life.

Maybe it's because in those spaces and places where there's stress and anxiety, you have begun to feel sorry for yourself.

And when you feel sorry for yourself, do you know what our natural next step is?

We begin to make excuses for the behavior that we exhibit.

We begin to say, it's okay to fall to temptation because of X, Y, and Z in my life.

Or if you had experienced this, or if you had had my sort of day, or if you had my kids at home, you would fall to that temptation, and it'll be okay.

Or it's because in those moments of stress, here's what we do.

We also convince ourselves that that uh bump of dopamine that we so often get when we fall to temptation, that that hit that goes on in our brains, it's good enough.

It gives us enough satisfaction in the moment, enough pleasure in the moment, that we think it's not all that big of a deal.

But even if you live in a stress-free, anxiety-free world, and it and by the way, if you say that your life is stress-free and anxiety-free, I'd like to meet after church.

Like, come find me.

I need to learn from you.

We need to learn from you.

But no matter who we are, no matter the level of stress, the level of anxiety in our life, temptation is coming.

Temptation comes for all of us.

Because it came for Jesus, didn't it?

Mark chapter 1, verse 13, that Jesus was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan.

Mark 1:13

Temptation came for the only Son of God, Jesus Christ.

So it will come now for the sons and daughters of God.

So here's how this truth begins to transform you from a victim to a victor.

It's just good preparation for everyday life.

It puts you on alert when you wake up in the morning.

It makes you aware of your surroundings.

It lets you know that temptation is always present, always lurking, always ready, always gonna be just dropped right in front of your eyes.

I've seen this prayer published numerous places online, and I think this prayer puts uh this into great perspective.

Listen to what it says.

See if you can identify.

Dear God, so far today I've done alright.

I haven't gossiped and I haven't lost my temper.

I haven't been grumpy, nasty, or selfish, and I'm really glad of that.

But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed.

And from then on, I'm probably going to need a lot of help.

Thank you.

Amen.

Amen and amen.

Temptation's coming for you, and it comes the moment you get out of bed, the moment you wake up in the morning.

So that's our first truth.

Temptation is coming for me.

Now, before stating the second truth about temptation, James, what he does is he clears up a common misconception about temptation.

He wants to clear up a lie that we commonly believe about temptation.

God isn't in the business of tempting his children.

Here's the reason why.

God never works against his ultimate purpose in your life.

God doesn't want to put anything in your life.

God's not the one who is going to try to do what?

Lure you and hook you and pull you away from what he wants to accomplish.

So when you face a temptation, don't blame God.

Instead, you got to blame yourself.

And that's our second truth.

Temptation knows me.

Pay attention to this phrase in verse 14 that each person is tempted by their own evil desire.

Like it's inside of you.

Like temptation knows what's inside of you at this very hour.

A couple weeks ago, uh, Jason Reed and I were standing right there in front of that front pew, about 10 minutes before service, and he began to tell me about something that I think many of the fishermen in the room are well aware of, about this new piece of technology called a live scope.

And so I think some of you have a live scope, but here's base the basic premise is this is that you turn on your live scope and you're able to see like the fish underneath your boat, have this sonar imaging of the fish underneath your boat, and you're able to see kind of the terrain underneath the water, so the habitat they're living in, and you're able to know like the kind of bait you probably should use and where you should drop that bait so that the bait falls directly in front of the fish.

Because what do we know about fish when they see the bait?

They take the bait.

You know, it's recent technology for a fisherman, but it's ancient technology for the evil one.

Satan and his demons, listen, they know right where you are, and they know exactly the right bait to drop in front of your eyes.

Temptation knows me.

For some of us, the bait that's dropped is just to spend too much time surfing around on social media or to spend more money than we have.

That's the look and the lure and the hook and the and the pull away from maturity in Christ.

But for others of us, listen, that isn't a temptation at all, right?

But there's a temptation for you.

So it could be that uh your temptation is the moment you walk into the office, it's to immediately become angry the moment something uh goes crossways in your life.

Or the moment something goes crossways, it's your temptation to always look for an angle to cheat or to lie your way out of that situation.

But for others of us, that's not a big temptation at all.

That's not a bait.

But guess what?

Satan knows you, right?

He knows the temptation inside of you, and so the bait he drops before you, um, maybe it's illegal drugs, it's abusing alcohol, it's engaging in inappropriate relationships, or for some of us, it's the temptation to tell jokes that tear people down, or to gossip about people we supposedly believe are our friends.

See, whoever you are and wherever you are, Satan's got his live scope on you, and he knows just where to drop the bait so you see it.

Sometimes he drops it in those places where you are most vulnerable in life.

Other times he drops it in those places where God is trying to actively grow your faith.

But whatever he does, he drops that bait for that one purpose to what?

Prevent you from progressing towards maturity in Jesus Christ.

He drops the bait in front of your eyes, whatever that bait might be.

He drops it in front of your eyes because he wants to destroy you.

He wants to destroy you, and that's truth number three about temptation.

Temptation seeks to destroy me.

Verses 14 and 15 lay out this natural progression.

Temptation leads to desire, leads to sin, leads to death.

Hear it again.

Temptation leads to desire, leads to sin, leads to death.

Too often in life we toy with temptation.

We flirt with temptation.

Often we tell our children from a very early age, what do we tell them?

Never play with fire.

Don't toy with fire.

Maybe we should teach our children and remind ourselves a very similar lesson about temptation.

Let's not toy with it, let's not play with it.

It's why uh Paul instructs young Timothy to flee from the worldly temptations he is confronted with on a daily basis.

So when you're tempted in that moment, the truth is you need to get away from it.

You gotta move your eyes, you gotta move your body, you have to reposition your soul in that moment to get out of that situation.

Just like Joseph when Potiphar's wife tries to tempt him, what does he do?

He runs and he doesn't look back.

It cost him a lot, but he didn't take the bait.

He ran, he fled because it's dangerous and destructive.

Let's move now to our next truth about temptation.

Verses 16 through 18, listen to what they say.

Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.

So here's our fourth truth about temptation you need to know.

Temptation deceives me.

Temptation deceives me.

Temptation deceives us by calling what is bad good.

Temptation calls what is bad part of God's will and part of God's plan.

Temptation calls what is bad and wicked.

It says it's not that bad, it's not that wicked.

And that sort of uh deception is devastating.

Because only God, James says, is the one who gives good gifts.

The evil one doesn't give good gifts, temptation doesn't give good gifts, God gives good gifts, and we fall to temptation when we believe that the gifts of this world that are tempting us, that are right before our eyes, that have a hook lingering beneath the surface, that those gifts can satisfy us in the same way.

That the good and perfect gifts of God can only satisfy.

We fall for the deception and lie when we believe that one more purchase or one more glance on the internet or one more drink or one more cutting joke, it's not that big a deal.

I'm gonna feel better at the end of it.

I'm gonna be okay.

When we think that that satisfaction compares to the satisfaction that only God can bring.

Here's the thing: temptation is going to deceive you, but you don't have to let it fool you.

Alright?

Temptation is gonna try to deceive you, try to trick you, but you don't have to play the fool in that moment.

You can call it for what it is a trap, a hook, a piece of bait, and you can swim the other way.

You can walk away, you can flee.

Because listen, only the God who speaks, as James says, the word of truth can give us the satisfaction in the life that we so desperately crave.

It's only when we stop and we see God for who he truly is that he is the giver of good and perfect gifts, that he is our heavenly father who never changes, that we can move past, swim past, turn the other way from the bait that falls in front of our eyes.

And stop being a victim of temptation and become that victor over temptation.

And you can be, listen, you and I, our church, we can be a community of people who are victors over temptation because Jesus first won that victory.

He first was victorious over temptation, he overcame temptation.

Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15 says, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin.

Hebrews 4:15

Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15 tells us that um temptation ran its entire playbook on Jesus.

Hebrews 4:15

Temptation came after Jesus.

Temptation sought to destroy Jesus and to deceive Jesus.

It knew Jesus.

But Jesus would not be fooled, he would not be its victim, he would be the victor because he triumphed over it.

And that's our fifth and maybe most important truth this morning.

Jesus triumphed over temptation.

That word, that note, that that statement gives us hope for every single day.

Jesus triumphed over temptation when he stood in front of Satan in the wilderness.

He triumphed over temptation in the garden when he accepted the will of his father.

Jesus triumphed over a temptation to not ride off the disciples every time they failed him, every time they uh didn't want to follow him, every time they fell asleep on him.

Like Jesus didn't take the bait.

He stayed faithful to the very end.

And here's what that means for you and I is that because Jesus triumphed, every time we face the temptation, every time that bait falls with that hook underneath the surface, every time that's before our eyes, we've got someone to run to, we've got someone to go see, we've got someone who understands, we've got someone with us in the moment, and we are not alone.

You see, temptation has this way about it, where it wants to convince you you're the only one.

You're the only one with that desire.

You're the only one who would ever take the pain.

And Jesus says, You're not the only one.

I faced every temptation that you could face, and I came, overcame it, and now you can come to me.

And also there's this hope that on those moments and days when I'm not my best, on those moments and days when um I'm not the person God created me to be, and I take the bait, the hook gets in my lip and it pulls me away.

That there's a a Jesus who forgives people like me.

You see, the truth about temptation, that it's coming for me, that it knows me, that it seeks to destroy and dis deceive me.

Each of those truths about what temptation is and how it operates in the world and the game plan it wants to run on your life, each of those points, it it really should just drive each of us to take another step toward Jesus, another step toward Jesus, another step towards Jesus, another step towards Jesus, because we cannot defeat and overcome temptation on our own.

Only Jesus triumphed over temptation.

Only Jesus lived a perfect life.

And I don't know about you, but while it's good for me to know truths about temptation, I need to know the one truth about the one who was always victorious over temptation, who always triumphed over it.

I need to be driven to the place where I am more and more dependent upon Jesus, where I realize I can't beat it on my own.

I am too much like a fish.

When I see the bait, I want to take the bait.

I just do.

Am I the only one?

And so I need a Jesus who I can run to, and he says, I'm with you.

I need a Jesus who, when I fail, I can run to, and he says, I forgive you.

You see the truth about temptation?

It has power over us.

It's powerful.

It's at work in the world.

But the power and the grace and the mercy and the love of Jesus Christ, it has a far greater power.

So the next time you're faced with temptation, the next time that perfectly placed piece of bait falls before your eyes, don't think, how in my strength am I going to walk away?

How can I do this on my own?

Maybe just the first thing is to say, Jesus, where are you?

Lead me out of this.

Lead me out of this.

Take me somewhere else right now, in this moment, at this hour.

Help me keep taking another step so I can have that mature, complete, authentic faith that you desire for me to have.

What I want us to do now, we've heard from God's word this morning, just to have a time of prayer.

Um our first moment in this time of prayer, there's going to be three slides that kind of play on the screen.

Um, and each of the slides has four areas of life.

Um, according to Barna, these are the top 12 areas where people suffer from temptation.

And if you see one of those areas that just pops up to you, that's your bait.

That's the thing that like you can't take your eye off of.

I just want you to stop and name that temptation to Jesus.

Name it.

Sometimes the reason it has power over us is because we don't want to admit the power it has.

Name it, or maybe you already know what it is, name it.

Just tell Jesus about it.

Let's play.

Now ask Jesus the next time that faith comes, and it'll come, that he would lead the way out.

First Corinthians 10.

When you are tempted, God, Jesus, he will provide a way out so that you can endure it.

King Jesus, we need you.

The truth about temptation is that it knows us, it's got our number.

Temptation knows where I'll be, when I'll be there, where I'm vulnerable.

He knows just how to deceive me.

And it just wants to destroy me.

Jesus, we need you.

So we take a step towards you this morning, Jesus.

Forgive us from those moments, those decisions when we swallowed the bait, got hooked, and pulled away.

Forgive us, Jesus.

And God, in the power that only you have through the Holy Spirit, cut the line that's pulling us away from King Jesus, that's preventing us and pulling us away from Christ-likeness.

And Holy Spirit, give us the strength to stand the strength and the obedience.

The next time that bait falls before our eyes, we will follow Jesus through the valley to the mountaintop.

We will follow him.

He won't just lead the way, we'll we'll let him follow him out.

He's gonna open the door, but we gotta walk through it.

Holy Spirit, give us that strength.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.