Temptation: Victim or Victor

    Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man;

   But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

   Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

   Do not err, my beloved brethren.

   Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

JAMES 1:13-17

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   Oscar Wilde, the well-known British writer, summed up the attitude of millions of people when he said, "I can resist anything except temptation."

   Unfortunately "resisting temptation" has gone out of style and "doing what comes naturally" has become the "in" thing.

   Once Jesus told His disciples to "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation" (Mt 26:41). What is temptation? Can a person really resist it?

   Ever since Eve's battle with Satan in the Garden of Eden, mankind has been tempted to submit to evil.

   Like the rain, temptation comes to the just and the unjust alike. Every day thousands of people are injured by what they had considered improbable if not impossible temptations. Someone has said, "They who think they cannot wander will be the first to lose their way."

   The convicted embezzler never dreamed that the temptation of greed would one day overcome him and lead him to the prison cell. The loving husband and father, that ideal wife and mother would have laughed in unbelief if told that they would yield to the lust that eventually destroyed their marriage and home.

   History tells us of the effects of temptation in the lives of some of the world's most powerful people. As a young student

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at the Lyons Academy, Napoleon wrote an essay on the dangers of ambition. In his later years, it was ambition and greed that ruined him. As he signed his first death warrant, the Roman emperor, Nero, lamented, "Would that this hand had never learned to write."

   Temptation confronts not only the worldly but the godly person as well! The Bible gives us many examples of people who took their eyes off Christ and submitted to temptation.

   David slew the Philistine giant and enjoyed God's blessing as he reigned over Israel in kingly splendor. But his later life was scarred with the guilt of adultery and murder. Solomon knelt on the hillside of Gibeon and asked God for wisdom. Yet later in his life he gave in to strange women and heathen deities.

   When Peter was told that he would betray Christ, he ardently protested that he would rather die than do such a terrible thing. And yet, just a short while later, he denied that he had ever known his Saviour and Lord.

   The Bible states in 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." My friend, temptation strikes us at our weakest moment. And yet every temptation is an opportunity for us to draw nearer to God.

MEETING THE TEST

   In the first chapter of James we find the word temptation is used in two different ways. In verse 12 the word temptation refers to a test, a trial, or sorrow.

   "Blessed is the man," says James, "that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him" (Ja 1:12).

   Here James is speaking of the trials of life which we all face—times of testing strengthen our faith and demonstrate our Christian maturity. As we saw in chapter 1, these trials

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serve a particular purpose. They are God's instruments in bringing about spiritual growth and maturity in the life of the believer.

   When the Bible says "God tempted Abraham" it means God "tested Abraham's faith" even as the goldsmith commits gold to intense fire to reveal its true character.

   When the Air Force introduces a new jet aircraft they test it, not to destroy it but to demonstrate it. They have every confidence that the airplane will endure the vigorous testing which they give it. This is exactly what James means when he writes: "Blessed is the man that endureth testings." God tests us to display our faith, not to destroy us. It is this trying and testing of our faith that develops patience, that makes us more comformable to the image of Jesus Christ.

   Our Lord knew what it was to be tempted. No one knew better the power of Satan in bringing temptations before us. Three times in the wilderness our Lord rebuked the devil and gained victory over temptation. The Scripture tells us that Jesus, "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb 4:15).

   Jesus Christ was tried and tempted. He experienced great sorrow and suffering, yet He never succumbed to the temptations. This is God's plan for each one of His children.

   James writes, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life" (Ja 1:12). The word tried is an important word. It is the Greek word which means "to be approved." The picture is of the refiner purifying metal. The impurities must be removed before the metal is "approved." When the refiner can see his own image reflected in the liquid gold, he knows the metal is pure.

   All of life is a test—sometimes we are tested by sickness, conflicts, even by death. One of the purposes of these trials of life is that we might be strengthened—that all of the waste

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of our lives might be removed—so that we might reflect the image of Jesus Christ. Paul the apostle states God's design for every believer. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to conform to the image of his Son" (Ro 8:29).

   Often these testings we read about in verse 12 are very difficult to bear. Sometimes it seems as if we will break under the heavy load. But James says, "Blessed is the person who endures. . . . for he shall receive the crown of life."

   This "crown of life" is not some reward that we create or produce of ourselves. James was not referring to a corruptible, earthly crown such as was given to the winner of an athletic contest. He was, rather, suggesting that the Christian who stands the test and remains true despite all circumstances, will receive the crown which is life. Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly" (Jn 10:10). This crown of life is for those who overcome and for those alone.

   Remember that pressure produces perseverance and ultimately a crown.

DO NOT BLAME GOD

   In James 1:13 we find the word tempted used in an entirely different way. As we have seen, the word temptation in verse 12 refers to a test or trial. Here in verse 13 the word tempted indicates the "solicitation to do evil."

   James says, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man" (Ja 1:13). Although Satan sought to tempt Jesus Christ with all his trickery, there was absolutely nothing in the nature of Christ that responded to evil.

   Speaking of Jehovah, the prophet Habakkuk declares, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not

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look on iniquity" (Hab 1:13). God cannot tempt us with evil, since evil is completely contrary to all that He is.

   In James 1:17 we read that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. God is all goodness. He is all perfection. James continues by saying that every good gift, "is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." God is good, God is perfect, and God is unchangeable!

   My friend, are you blaming God for your failures and sins? Blaming God is not new. Even Adam blamed God for his disobedience, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat" (Gen. 3:12, italics added). Adam may have been the first, but he certainly wasn't the last man to hide behind the skirts of a woman. Adam blamed both the woman and God. He really said God gave me this woman so ultimately God is responsible for my sin. May God deliver us from excuses!

   We see in Genesis 3:13 that Eve was not one bit better. When the Lord questioned her as to what she had done she answered, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." She blamed the serpent for her sin.

   My friend, are you blaming someone else today for the sin in your life?"

   A man once told me, "I can't help it that I'm so weak; my environment is bad. My parents were careless—I inherited my passions." It's always easy to blame our environment or heredity. But in a sense this is blaming God for our failure.

   Several days after the senseless and tragic assassination of President Kennedy I was in a barber shop having my hair cut. In the course of our conversation about the tragedy the barber carelessly said, "Why did God do it?" I quickly answered, "God didn't do it. Lee Harvey Oswald did it." This man was blaming God for the horrible crime of a confused, desperate, godless man.

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   Make no mistake! God never tempts any man with evil! James said, "Let no man say . . . I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man" (Ja 1:13).

   Just because God allows us to experience trials and testings does not mean that He also tempts us to do evil. God by His very nature, says James, "cannot be tempted with evil" (v. 13). God hates sin. He cannot stand to look upon it, and He is incapable of influencing us to become involved in it.

   It is true that while the Bible says that God sometimes blinds men's hearts and gives them up to a reprobate mind, it is also true, as the apostle Paul declares, that God's action is the result of "the lusts of their own hearts" (Ro 1:24b). God is not in the business of tempting men to do evil.

   "But," James continues, "every man is tempted [or enticed], when he is drawn away of his own lust" (Ja 1:14). When he is "drawn away." The picture here is of a fisherman beguiling a fish from under the rocks. The hungry fish takes the bait and is caught on the hook. So it is with us. We are drawn out, tempted, and enticed by our own lust and desires. In reality we are snared by our own bait.

   Desires are not evil in and of themselves. Even as the fish's hunger for food is natural, we have natural and normal desires. But many things which in themselves may be harmless become deadly when joined with another ingredient. Carbon, for instance, is needful and good. So is oxygen. But carbon and oxygen together form carbon monoxide—a deadly gas.

   Temptation is the invitation to do wrong! Sin is the voluntary action of doing wrong! It is not sinful to be tempted, but it is sinful to yield to evil temptation.

THERE IS A WAY OUT

   Is there a way out? Are we destined to be victims of our

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sinful natures, or can we be victors? What a thrill it is to know that victory is absolutely possible! It is available to all.

   To be victorious you must first submit your life to Jesus Christ and receive Him as Saviour. Someone has said, "If you would master temptation, you must first let Christ master you."

   Mankind is like a clock whose mainspring is broken. He needs to be totally renewed on the inside, but the repairs must be supplied from without. He cannot save himself. Even so, men and women today need someone to remake them. That someone is Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of man's soul and nature. He loves you. He died for you, and He wants you to turn to Him in repentance and faith.

   Salvation is the first step to victory over temptation.

   Second, to the believer—the child of God—is given the privilege of prayer in overcoming temptation. James says, "If any [man] lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men [generously]" (Ja 1:5).

   Do you need help in overcoming your weakness? Ask God! Do you need deliverance from the power and temptation of sin? Ask God! He alone is able to deliver you. Often I have cried out, "Lord help me," and God's deliverance was given.

   God's Word proclaims that "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Cor 10:13).

   D.L. Moody once said, "When Christians find themselves exposed to temptation they should pray to God to uphold them, and when they are tempted they should not be discouraged. It is not a sin to be tempted; the sin is to fall into temptation."

   Third, apply the Word of God. Jesus put Satan to flight

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by quoting Scripture. Jesus said, "It is written," and so must we fortify ourselves with the Word of God.

   Fourth, submit to the indwelling Holy Spirit. When a drop of water falls on a hot stove, the water never really touches the stove. It rests on a thin cushion of very hot air. Heat overcomes gravity and holds the water away until it evaporates. To the child of God, who is directed by the Holy Spirit, temptation may come but it will not be able to destroy us. For God has promised, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 Jn 4:4).

   In your hour of trial, remember God is faithful. He knows your capacity. He will give you all the strength you need to overcome temptation, or He will make a way of deliverance for you.

* "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man" (Ja 1:13).

* God tests us to display our faith, not to destroy us.

* May God deliver us from excuses!

* It is not sinful to be tempted, but it is sinful to yield to evil temptation.

* "If you would master temptation, you must first let Jesus Christ master you."

* Jesus answered Satan, "It is written," and so must we fortify ourselves with the Word of God.

* We must submit ourselves to the indwelling Holy Spirit because "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 Jn 4:4).

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