This is Connect with Skip Heitzk. Thanks for joining us for today's program. At Connect with Skip, we're all about helping you connect with God's Word in a deeper way. That's why we make messages like Todays available to you and others across the globe. And right now, when you sign up for Skip's weekly devotional emails, you'll receive a free download of Chapter 1 from Skip's book, The Biography of God.
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Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
So one guy was talking to his friend. He said, hey, last week I was by the church and I found a wallet on the ground and it was packed full of money. And his friend said, really, you found that?
Well, did you give it back? You said, well, not yet. He said, I'm still trying to figure out if it's a temptation from the devil or an answer to prayer.
Now that brings up an interesting thought. And that thought is this: how can you tell the difference between a test? and a temptation. And the answer is you can't. You can't easily Do that.
Necessarily, because every Testing every trial can become. A place where you get tempted. It might start out as just a simple testing. It could be from the Lord, even. But the way you handle it and deal with it, it can actually become a temptation.
So maybe it's best to think of it this way. Trials come from God. to develop us. Temptations come from the devil. to destroy us But God can use both.
To Maturas.
So that's why I frequently say, don't really get hung up on where is this struggle coming from. Is this from God? Is this from the devil? What's more important is how you handle that situation.
Now we have discovered already in the book of James that Everybody goes through trials. Verse 2, counted all joy when you, not if, when you fall into various trials.
So that is a common experience. And now we discover that So is temptation. Temptation is also a common experience. We read in verse 13, Let no one say when He is tempted not if But when So Temptation is not optional. Temptation is inevitable.
There is absolutely no Place on God's green earth that you can go. where your flesh will not in some way be aroused, or incited to do evil. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, At every fork in the road The devil is dangling a carrot down the wrong path.
So it's It's a common experience to us all.
However, Temptation is not sin, and you need to know that. Because if you're thinking, man, I get tempted all the time, I must be a rotten person. No, it just proves you are a human being. That's all. Every single person, believer and non-believer, gets tempted.
And I think that's important because. I was reading on one website this interesting little question. Obviously from a newer believer. He writes, When I gave my life to Jesus, I got the impression that I would no longer be tempted to do anything wrong. But it's not true.
I am tempted all the time. Why do I still face temptation? Maybe I'm not a real Christian. Actually, it proves you are a real Christian. Because before you were a real Christian, You just fell to the temptation.
You didn't battle it. You didn't fight it. The fact that you struggle. shows the authenticity that is yours as well.
Now, today we're going to look at temptation in these verses, and we're going to look at three basic things. The source. of temptation. The of temptation and the resource that we have in temptation. We want to know where it comes from, that's the source, we want to know how it works.
The course that it takes. But then finally the resource that we have.
Now, I think you understand this as well: that not every person who endures temptation handles it very well. Like I mentioned, most people just cave to it. They just sort of fall to it. It's like, I'm tempted.
So the way I'm going to deal with my temptation is just commit the sin.
Now I'm not tempted any longer.
So they just fall to it. Other people battle temptation in, I would just say, weird ways. And they might think that these are good and noble ways, but. It doesn't really help the situation. I'll give you an example.
Back in the third and fourth century, one of the early church fathers was named Origen. Origin of Alexandria. Very famous guy.
Well, he was so convicted by Jesus' words. In the Sermon on the Mount, the words Where Jesus said, if your hand offends you, cut it off. If your eye offends you, pluck it out. He was so convicted by reading that he Had himself castrated. to deal with sexual temptation.
That's not a good choice.
Well, there were others. One by the name of Benedict, you might know him as Saint Benedict of. Nursia, a little town in Italy, And he would do all sorts of things like wearing uncomfortable clothing. Shirts made out of hair that would be really itchy and uncomfortable, living in a cave for three years. This is a whole movement called the mortification of the flesh.
And that's the idea of finding holiness through negative reinforcement. It was quite common back then. And what he became famous for, though, Is also dealing with sexual temptation from a woman. He would throw himself into a thorn bush. Whenever he encountered that.
And that actually became a practice in the Benedictine monasteries, where monks, when they were faced with temptation, would just find a thornbush, throw themselves in it.
So they now are distracted. I never thought that was a good course to take because when you get back to the monastery, all the brothers know what you've been thinking. I mean, this is like taking a cold shower to the next level. On a serious note, Peter said this. This is 1 Peter chapter 5.
Be sober. Be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he. May devour. How's that for an announcement?
Can you imagine going to the zoo and hearing this announcement? Ladies and gentlemen, we'd just like you to know the lion has escaped from his enclosure. He has not eaten yet today.
So please be cautious. Are you kidding me? That would change your whole visit to the zoo. Like you get out of town quick.
So, in looking at James chapter 1, how do we avoid becoming lion lunch?
Well There's three things you need to know. You need to know the source. of temptation. You need to know the course. That temptation takes, and you need to understand the resource.
So let's begin with the source, verse 13. Let no one say when he is tempted. I'm tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil. Nor does he himself tempt Anyone was.
But each one is tempted. when he is drawn away by his own. desires and enticed.
Now, right here, it's important to compare what we just read with The Lord's Prayer. Remember the Lord's Prayer, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name? You know that prayer. Everybody does.
Well, there's a line in that prayer that says, Lead us. not into temptation. And we might wonder, why would Jesus tell us to pray that? Does that imply? By praying, lead us not into temptation?
Does that imply that God does indeed tempt us? James would say, absolutely not. It is totally against God's character and nature to do so, because God Himself is untemptable. And if God by His nature is untemptable, He would not put you, His child, in a place where you would purposely be incited to sin.
So then we wonder back to the Lord's prayer: why should we ask God to do something He would never do anyway because it's contrary to His character? And I think the answer to that is: Jesus is simply saying, when you pray, Your heart should be this. Father, don't let this trial become a temptation that I can't handle. And that's always a good prayer. Lord, don't give me more than I can handle.
And doesn't the Bible promise that God won't give you more than you can handle? Doesn't it say there's no temptation taking you, but as is common to man, but God is faithful? Who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, and with the temptation, also provide a way of escape.
So, for us, it's all about where's the escape route? How do I get out of this temptation?
Now, back to verse 13, where he says he begins the sentence, let no one say. When he is tempted, I am tempted by God. Why do you think James feels the need to begin his sentence? By saying Don't blame God when you get tempted. That's because People did blame God.
Or the gods. It was very common for people to do that. You see, these Jewish scattered believers that James is writing to are peppered throughout the Roman Empire and different pagan cities. And the belief that the gods were responsible for human condition, was prevalent. I don't know if you've read many of the Greek myths, but the gods of the Greeks and the Romans were.
No better, in fact usually worse than people. They were weak, vengeful, capricious. They were wicked. The stories of the Greek. Gods and goddesses reads like A soap opera.
They not only committed lewd acts, but they then tried to persuade mortals to commit those lewd acts as well.
So people felt. They're being tempted, and they blamed all of that on the gods. They blame Shifted. It's not my fault. This is human nature, by the way.
It is not my fault. It must be the fault of somebody else. And in this case, it is the fault of the gods for my condition. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to today's message, what does real spiritual maturity actually look like?
And how can you achieve it? In his new series, Adulting, A Study Through the Book of James, Pastor Skip gives straight talk from scripture on how to grow up in your faith through trials, temptations, and daily life. This eye-opening 21 message series is our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help reach more people with God's Word through Connect with Skip. Request your CD package or digital download of adulting when you give at connectwithskip.com/slash offer or call 800-922-1888.
Now, let's get back to today's teaching from Pastor Skip.
Now blame shifting is popular in our culture. Unbelievers never want to take responsibility for their sin. It's not my fault, it's their fault, it's your fault, it's everybody else's fault. It's really only the born-again Christian that realizes his or her own sinful nature and owns up to it. But blame shifting is quite common.
It's my parents, it's society, it's my teacher. I have a friend who uh Has sung here many times. He's a musician, Paul Clark. And Paul wrote a song about this, and the lyrics. I was amused by some of them this week.
He writes, underneath the covers of some clinical name lies another blanket to disguise all my shame. Just admit I've got it so I can shift all the blame so it's not my fault. No, it's never, never, ever my fault. It's human nature.
Okay. Want to know where it all started? It started when we started. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Remember when Adam and Eve sinned, and God comes to them in the cool of the day and calls for Adam?
Adam, where are you? And Adam says, Well, I found out that I was naked, so I hid myself. God said, Who told you you were naked? I'd never bothered you before. And so, did you eat of the tree I told you not to eat of?
Remember first words out of his mouth? It's the woman. Thank you. It's Mother's Day today. It's the woman.
You gave me. It's the woman you gave me to be with me. I didn't ask for a wife. I mean, he went to bed one night, not even knowing what a wife is. He wakes up the next day, married to one.
You did this. You thought I needed her. You could have made a lot of different ones. Why her?
So he blames her, but then he blames God for her. Blame shifting on God. This is God's fault. Eve really wasn't much better. She said, well, it was the serpent, but God made the serpent and she knew it.
So both of them are effectively blaming God. God.
Now, maybe since this is Mother's Day, a great gift. Men that you can give to your wives is to make them the promise of not blaming them this year. That is my gift to you. That's part of honoring.
Now, back to this: let no one say that I'm tempted by God or it's God's fault.
Some people do rationalize Their behavior like this. They might think or say, well, since God is sovereign and God ordains everything, maybe God has ordained that I sin. Or It's God's fault for placing me in a situation I can't handle. Or they might say, God gave me such strong passions and appetites, it's not my fault. It is therefore God's fault.
James would say it can't be God's fault. Not only is God untemptable Himself, but He operates in a totally different realm. One in which he hates evil because he is absolutely, what's the word? Holy Holding. You recall in Isaiah chapter 6, when Isaiah had a vision of God high and lifted up, seated on the throne, and the cherubim were calling out to one another, the trihagion, the Thrice holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
And then Habakkuk, the prophet, said to God, your eyes are too pure to look on evil.
So God is not the source of temptation. If you want to find the source of temptation, you don't really need to blame the devil or blame the media or blame that politician or blame your parents or blame your teachers. Just got to take a good look inside. Because he says in verse 14: each one is tempted when he is drawn away. by his own desires.
First, notice the little phrase, each One. Tempted. That means every human being is tempted without exception. And if you're still hung up on saying, yeah, but I'm a Christian, even Christians get tempted. Especially Christians get tempted.
Especially Christians get tempted. And I want to show you why. Um look at verse 12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who are. That's why you're tempted because you love him.
If you didn't love him, you wouldn't be as assaulted. When you decided to love him, You decided to follow him. You effectively defected from the camp of the enemy. He said, I'm not following you and your line and your way of thinking, devil. I am quitting.
The rule under you, and I am pledging my allegiance to God. As soon as you made that decision, You put a Target on your back. And now you love God. And because you love God, He wants to. work on that and lessen that.
So you and I get tempted.
So that is the source of temptation. Let's consider now the course. Look at verse 14. But each one is tempted when. He is drawn away.
By his own desires, and enticed Then When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. When sin is full grown, it brings forth. Dead.
Now, why is this important? It's important because it shows us that sin is not an act. Sin is a process. It's a process. It's a process During which there are times when you can pull back and go the other direction.
You can decide. to escape. He gives us an escape route. You can look for the escape and not indulge. It is a process.
See, nobody wakes up in the morning and decides to get tempted. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, I'm going to be unfaithful to my spouse today. Nobody wakes up and says, I'm going to become addicted today. That's my goal for the day. It is a process, and there are no other verses in scripture where the process of temptation is so.
Simply And lucidly explained as these two verses.
So, what I'm going to do, with verse 14 and 15, this course of temptation. is give you Step By step How temptation in your life works. And I'm going to give you a set of words. All of them begin with the letter D, the first. Word is desire.
This is where it all begins: desire. Verse 14: Each one is tempted. When he is drawn away by his own desires, and enticed. Yeah. We all have desires.
Good desires. You have a desire to be happy, you have a desire to be peaceful, you have a desire to experience joy. You have a desire to be loved. You have a desire to be accepted. You have a desire to be significant and valued.
All of those are good desires, and even more basic than that, you have the desire for food, water, and shelter. Without those desires, You die. Unless you get hungry, you would never eat. Unless you got tired, you would never sleep. These are God-given desires.
But that's where the problem begins. And I say that's where the problem begins because though they are God-given desires, they then also must be God-governed desires. If God given desires are not God governed desires, you will seek to get your desire fulfilled in a way that is not only displeasing to God, but is detrimental to you.
So, for example, we have a desire for love and acceptance. But that can lead to sexual immorality. We have a desire for significance. But that can lead to jealousy, gossip, and lying. We have a desire for happiness, but that can lead to selfishness or theft.
or pride.
So, like Spurgeon said, Satan dangles the carrot. down the wrong path. And basically says, Look, I know you have this desire. I know you want something. I'll give it to you.
You don't have to wait on God. You don't have to go God's way. I'll give it to you right now.
So, here's another set of examples. You go to school, you're taking an examination. Is it wrong for you to pass the test? No. Is it wrong for you to cheat in order to pass the test?
Yes. Yeah. Okay, you're hungry. Is it wrong for you to eat? No.
Is it wrong for you to steal in order to eat? Yeah. So we have desires, they're legit. Nothing wrong with them. But when you seek to get them fulfilled or you offer the lure that you can get it fulfilled a different way, they can become wrong.
So that's the first stage, desire. The second stage, also a D word, is deception. After desire, in temptation, comes deception. Look at verse. 14 again.
Each one is tempted. When he is Drawn away, notice those two words: drawn away by his own desires and. Enticed. Drawn away. Enticed.
Those are terms that come from the great outdoors. Drawn away is a hunting term, enticed is a fisherman's term. Drawn away means to set a trap. to capture an animal. Enticed.
Is a word that means to bait a hook, to cover up the hook. with a piece of bait.
So, if you're a hunter or a fisherman, or anybody here like to hunt and fish, raise your hand.
Okay, do you know that you're deceivers? Let me explain that. Yeah. The hunter and the fisherman embark on a mission of deception. That's what it is.
They are appealing to the natural desires of the animal or the fish, which is to eat food. And you Are disguising the trap that you have laid for them. That's what it is. So when you wake up in the morning, First thing that Satan says to all his demons is, boys, let's go fishing. And he Takes the hook.
Puts bait on it, and he knows you. He has studied human nature for thousands of years. Satan knows people better than people know people. He's been at it a long time and he knows you individually. And he knows exactly what it will take to distract you.
and to bait the hook.
So he will camouflage his intention as he appeals to your desires. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's featured resource, Adulting, a study through the book of James, Pastor Skip's 21 Message Series that gives you straight talk from Scripture about how to grow in spiritual maturity and live out your faith in the real world. Adulting is our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help share God's word with more people. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer.
And while you're there, sign up for Skip's weekly devotional emails and get a free download of a chapter of Skip's The Biography of God. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection! Make a connection, let the food. Of the crossing castle burden.
Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
