Class Lesson September 8, 2013

Hey Gang,



Last week we began a series called "Pressure Points." The entire series is from the Book of James. James wrote to Christians who, like us, faced the pressures of temptation. He outlined the truth about temptation and showed how to handle it. In last week’s lesson we studied about trials, but temptations are different. 






Here are our six lessons in this series:

1. The Pressure of Trials - James 1:1-4
2. The Pressure of Temptation - James 1:13-18
3. The Pressure of Partiality - James 2:1-13
4. The Pressure of Words - James 3:1-18
5. The Pressure of Conflict - James 4:1-10
6. The Pressure of Retaliation - James 5:1-11

What food tempts you to say yes to just one more bite?



__________________________________________



__________________________________________

God doesn’t tempt us. Instead He provides a way for us to resist temptation and escape its harm. So what’s it going to be? One more bite, or will you put the fork down? James 1:13-18 has the plan of action for resisting temptation and living in a way that pleases Christ.

The Point

God won’t tempt me, but He will provide a way to resist temptation. 

Temptation is a Slow Fade
Click Here to Watch

Don't Give in to Temptation

I. TEMPTATION IS INEVITABLE – JAMES 1:13

13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself doesn’t tempt anyone.



James wrote to Christians who, like us, faced the pressures of temptation. He outlined the truth about temptation and showed how to handle it. In last week’s lesson we studied about trials, but temptations are different.



Do you know what the difference is between a trial and a temptation?



Key Words

Trial/Tempt – These words come from the same Greek word. Context determines whether the word is used for trials (referring to difficulties and hardships as in verse 2) or enticements to sin.

• Trials are not appealing – they bring the pressure of hardship or difficulty. There is nothing necessarily good or pleasurable about a trial. Job lost everything (Job 1-2). Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac (Gen. 22). There was no appeal in those circumstances.
• Temptations are appealing and the pressure comes through its appeal.

What makes a temptation appealing?

• Promises of gain – the gain may be fun, money, pleasure, adventure, position, or an appeased palate. The grass of temptation will always appear green.
• Promises you won’t get hurt – you can get away with it. Nobody will know. It’s not even that wrong. You won’t get burned like others. You are different. You can handle it.

Is it a sin to be tempted?

• Being tempted isn’t wrong, but giving in is. Temptation promises that you will be better off after you indulge, but you won’t.
• Temptation is inevitable but not irresistible. It’s not a matter of if you are tempted, but when you are tempted. Temptation comes to all of us. It even came to Jesus (Matt.4:1-11). Temptation comes to a pastor as surely as it comes to any member of his church.
• Temptation never comes from God. We know this because of what God has revealed in His Word. We know this because of God’s nature. He is untemptable. He lacks nothing and needs nothing. No evil offer appeals to God. He does not tempt us because He is good, loving, and righteous. He cannot and will not pressure us to do anything contrary to His character.

If temptations promise good but never deliver, why do we so often say yes to them?



In our last session we focused on various trials believers experience (Jas. 1:2). Trials are hardships. They can range from persecution to unjust criticism; from sickness to poverty. Trials may even come as wealth or flattery. A trial can have a strengthening purpose as an occasion for demonstrating wise, resolute, and loyal faith. A trial may also be an occasion for temptation. James turned attention to this reality when he wrote that no one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God.” What could have been a useful trial may be experienced by believers as a temptation. For example, the trial of conflict presents opportunity for patient trust, but can present temptation to gossip or complain. Poverty presents opportunity for contentment, but may give temptation to covet. Riches present opportunity for generosity, but may tempt toward indulgence.



James’s first instruction regarding temptation was to guard against misplacing the blame for it. No one should say the temptation comes from God. Have you ever said to others or to yourself something like: “God made me this way, so I can’t help that I have these desires?” Or, “Why did God allow this situation?” When our talk takes this turn, we’ve gone down an old, wrong path. It’s not only wrong; it doesn’t help at all. Adam first cut the path after he broke God’s command in the garden. He blamed Eve, whom God had created and given him, for giving him some fruit from the tree (Gen. 3:12). The woman gave the fruit! God Himself gave the woman! What was Adam to do? In truth, the responsibility was his. God had communicated the expectations to Adam. He could not shift responsibility to Eve or to God. Neither can we lay on God responsibility for our temptations, or for giving in to them.



The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where the Devil tempted Him (Matt. 4:1). The Spirit’s and Devil’s roles were distinct. The Spirit led. The Devil tempted. The Devil was the one attempting to distract and draw Jesus away from obedience to God the Father and into sin. If we blame God in part or in full for temptation or sin, we can be assured of this – we are wrong! We have misplaced the blame.






II. TEMPTATION IS PREDICTABLE – JAMES 1:14-15

 
14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.



If God is not to blame for temptation, who is?

• Each person is tempted when lured away and enticed by his or her own desires. Temptation works to create a heart condition in which we respond wrongly to a trial. James echoed Jesus at this point. Jesus taught that evil comes from within and defiles a person (Mark 7:23). Evil attitudes, thoughts, words, and deeds are from the inside out (vv. 14-23).
• Evil also exist on the outside. The Devil, “the tempter” (Matt. 4:3; 1Thess. 3:5), works against us (Jas.4:7). Evil ideas arise. Evil people want to include us or use us in evil purposes. The Devil, evil ideas, and evil people work with a person’s fundamental, evil desires. Drawn away and enticed pictures a baited trap or hook. Satan’s bait may be a critic, an attractive man or woman, or the “out” a lie would give.

Are temptations the same for all people?

• Temptation is unique for every person. Temptation comes when each of us is carried off by our own desires. The Greek word for “own” is idios. The word idiosyncrasy comes from it. It’s unique to you. Therefore, what may tempt me may not tempt you. Some are easily tempted to react in anger to a situation; others seldom get angry. Some are tempted by sexual opportunities; others stay away. Some are tempted to engage in gluttony or other excess; others walk away from another helping. You face some temptations that others around you don’t, but they face temptations you don’t face.

In what ways are we tempted to satisfy a God-given desire in a sinful way?

• Temptation follows a predictable process. The process in James 1:14-15 can be illustrated with fishing. An angler throws bait to an unsuspecting bass. When a worm dangles before him, his desire wakens. He swims away from his log and swallows the bait. The fish is no longer in control. He is pulled against his will toward the angler’s boat, net, cooler, and maybe the taxidermist. What bait is used on us? James says we are tempted when we get carried away and enticed. We have desires – maybe even God-given desires – for food, sex, approval, shelter, love, or power. These aren’t bad in themselves, but fulfilling them in wrong ways is deadly (Mark 4:19, Col. 3:5, 1 Tim. 6:9). When we leave the safety and shelter of God’s provision we take Satan’s bait. Sin conceives in us. Sin entangles. We suffer.

“God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13

The word picture shifts from hunting and fishing to conception and birth. The conception takes place when we yield to and embrace an evil desire, rather than resist and renounce it. The birth of the sinful thought, word, or deed follows. When sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. Sin naturally grows and matures until it is a muscle-bound habit of self-indulgent disobedience against God.

All Christians sin (1 John 1:8-2:2). When we do we hurt ourselves and other people. Actions to take following sin are to stop, confess our sin and receive forgiveness, and then choose a God-guided path to good action instead. In Proverbs 5-9 we find fuller and repeated descriptions of the process James 1:14-15 sets forth succinctly. In Proverbs 5-9 the adulteress who promises pleasure actually leads her victim toward the grave. Indulged lust can be lethal. First, the man has the desire. Then, the desire has the man locked in its death grip.


What kind of death did James have in view? Did he refer only to physical death or was he warning of spiritual, eternal death?

• Physical death is an enemy that gains its strength from sin, and Jesus will finally defeat physical death (1Cor. 15:50-57). But God may also discipline sinning believers with premature physical death (11:30). In James 1:15, however, death appears to be more than physical. In James 1:14-15, we have the second of two contrasting paths and their contrasting destinations. We look back to James 1:12 to see the first path. There, the path of faithful endurance through trials leads to “the crown of life.” The crown of life is most certainly eternal (see also Rev. 2:10). It begins in the here and now. In James 1:14-15 we see that the path of acting sinfully on temptation leads to death. It seems clear that this death is also eternal. A believer in Christ will not sin his or her way out of grace and into eternal death in hell. All believers experience temptation. But if evil desire proves greater than holy desire and sin tragically dominates a life, eternal death will forever tell the story that his or her faith was false.

There is another choice for satisfying our desires: God’s generous and perfect gifts. Just as it is out of character for God to tempt us, it is within His character to give us only good gifts. God provides good gifts that help us resist temptation.

III. TEMPTATION IS AVOIDABLE – JAMES 1:16-18

16 Don’t be deceived, my dearly loved brothers. 17 Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. 18 By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth so that we would be the firstfruits of His creatures.



So how do we deal with the pressure of temptation?

• We draw upon the good and perfect gifts God gives to us.

Let’s look at three practical temptation-beating gifts God supplies:

1. A relationship with Christ – Too many of us think we are helpless to resist temptation. But as a child of God, the power of Christ in you gives you victory over sin. As a Christian – a saint – you are called to be holy and blameless. Because you are a child of God, you can successfully resist temptation. Jesus Christ takes up residence in your life and empowers you by His Holy Spirit. So repent, and call on God’s power to live like a Christ follower.
2. God’s Word – When Jesus was tempted, He used Scripture to respond to the pressure of temptation (Matt. 4:4). Since Jesus, who is God, used Scripture to resist temptation, how much more should we? What better way to overcome the pressure of temptation we face. God the creator and sustainer of the universe, the One who knows everything and everyone, promises to provide us with the ability to resist the pressure of temptation. God’s escape route may be a telephone ringing, a whisper in your conscience, or a friend keeping you accountable. But God does not stop us without our participation.
3. A way of escape – 1 Cor. 10:13 so we can bear temptation without committing sin. God will give us the right way to take. Trust Him to show it to you; and then take that way.

Yes, we need to call out to the Spirit of Christ inside of us for help. Yet we also need to not walk past God’s opportunity to bail out. We can also escape by avoiding those things that lead us toward temptation and by doing those things that make us stronger, more like God. The pressure of temptation is great – but God is greater and He has provided us with all that we need to resist that pressure.



What are some other gifts God has provided that could help you resist temptation?


How would you handle these tempting circumstances?

How can you support and encourage someone struggling with temptation?


Sin may offer temporary pleasure, but we will experience consequences when we give in to temptation.

Prayer of Commitment

Lord, I ask You to help me overcome the temptation to do evil. Continue to give me Your blessed gifts to resist temptation. Then use me to bring glory to Your Name. Amen.

In His Love,

David & Susan