"Are Any Being Tempted?"

Scripture text: James 1:2-18

This week, we begin a series that is focused on the Christian life. Now before you think that it’s all about the glory that we will experience as followers of Jesus, I have to ask you if that is all that anyone has seen so far in your walk? And if anyone can say that their Christian Walk has brought them nothing but happiness and a pleasant life, I think we need to have a chat.
Our life in Christ is not about receiving glory in this realm – it’s about preparing for glory that comes in the next!

God Himself had anything but an easy life when He walked among us. The world didn’t want to hear what He had to say then, and they still don’t want to hear what He has to say today. To be a follower of Jesus Christ means that we are to go where He would go, to do what He would do, to love and care for those who He loves and cares for, and to teach God’s Word to all who will stand still long enough to hear!

In these next 5 weeks, we will look at some of the difficulties that Christians have always come up against, and continue to do so, even today. This week we look at “Temptation”.
Temptation is one of the primary weapons in Satan’s arsenal to lure us away from God. Remember Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness. (Matthew 4, Luke 4) The devil tried to use hunger to confuse Christ; he tried to use human pride to pervert Christ’s heart; and he offered earthly power and authority to Christ, if He would only worship the Source of all Evil.

Temptation is Satan’s means to pervert the truth of scripture by making subtle changes to the message – changes that bring about a whole different meaning and an entirely different direction for our lives. Temptations are the lies that Satan offers as an alternative to God’s truth.
Trials and suffering and pain are forms of temptation – Satan wants us to believe that if God really cared for us, that He would never allow us to suffer. And if He cares so little for us, why should we follow Him?

Read James 1:2-8

The truth is that God cares immensely for us, and James tells us that we should approach our trials in joy! In Romans 5:3b-5, Paul offers a similar thought: “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”
And in Matthew 5:11-12, Jesus tells us “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

We are loved so completely and intensely that God has poured out Himself into our hearts! And through our persevering, our growing in trust and patience for God, we discover that there is, truly, nothing – not anything - that we need that is lacking. Now there’s a reason for rejoicing! There may be things that we want, or even things that we think we need but don’t have, but that’s our problem, not God’s!
And James warns us that when we ask, we also must believe that God will give. If we doubt that He will, or especially when we doubt that He can, why should we expect the Lord to respond? He says that those who doubt, or who just aren’t sure, are “double minded and unstable”. We think that He might give, but probably won’t! Christ wants us to be “single minded”, with our focus being completely on Him and His grace and his Promise.

Read James 1:9-12

“The one who is in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position, but the one who is rich should take pride in his low position.” James’ entire approach in this passage seems to be paradoxical – it’s an apparent contradiction. Our trials should make us happy; if we are poor, we have an exalted position; if we are rich, we rejoice in our low position.
The contradiction, of course, comes from the world’s understanding of what is good and right, compared to what is bad and wrong. God’s standards, though, are totally different. Trials are the proof that we are Christ’s and that Satan is against us. Wealth is the opportunity to become a greater servant. Poverty is the evidence of Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
This is explained even further when James talks about the effect of the rising sun, with its scorching heat having a destructive effect on plant life. And in this He is offering an analogy of the effect of Christ’s presence on the beautiful things of earth. The world’s beauty is fleeting, it can not last, and on that day when Christ reappears, the riches of this world, the beauty of creation, the things that the world values so highly, will all be taken away. The only beauty that will ever be lasting is that which is in God.

Read James 1:13-16

Those who stand firm in their commitment to Christ, and never yield to the temptations of worldly desires, will know the blessing of eternity. But there will still be those who claim that in God’s self-centeredness, He is the One who is testing our faith with these fleeting and worthless desires, and because of His lack of true compassion for us, we have no reason to give our allegiance to Him.
We are reminded, though, that God can never be tempted, and that He will never tempt us. He knows how difficult it is to be His disciple, and He would never make it even more difficult. It is the evil in the world that tries to lure us away from the Divine through “desire”. “after desire has been conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.” God hates sin and he hates death, and would never do anything that would cause us to move further away from Him.
Just as in the wilderness, Satan is always the Tempter, and those of Christ will always be the tempted.

Read James 1:17-18

Desire for the “things” of the world can only lead to death, but the goodness of God can only carry us into glorious life. From God comes rebirth, and only through Him can we receive eternal life. Earthly plants, earthly beauty, earthly life, and even earthly trials – none of these can withstand the goodness and glory of the LORD. The final thought in our passage for today tells us that the newness, the rebirth that comes from faith in Jesus Christ comes in the truth of God, so that we might be the best offering (James calls it the “firstfruits”) of all that was created.

Temptation will always be directed at the people of Christ – after all, there is no reason to tempt those who have already turned away from the Lord. And our strength to resist those temptations and trials come from Christ and the Spirit that He sends to all who will believe. But if we try to withstand Satan’s onslaught all by ourselves, we will fail miserably, but in Christ, all things are possible.
Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Do you really expect to be treated better than Christ was treated? If we are walking in His path, if we are following His example, if we are rejecting the hollowness of the world, then we will be treated exactly as Christ was treated. Some will listen, some will respond, but most will not. And instead of honoring those who carry His message of salvation, the servants of Christ will be hounded, and tormented, and tempted in all kinds of ways to desert the only true friend we will ever be able to count on!
But it’s a choice that we all have to make – will you claim a fairly easy, but temporary and severely limited life in this world, or persecution for that same limited time but glory for eternity? Make your choice today, make your decision while there is still time.