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Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
Facing of Temptation ( Part 2 )
So, let's go on with the next point. Not only the force of temptation, but the facing of temptation.
Notice in verse 3: "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience"(James 1:3).
And so, when temptation comes, it's just like taking a test. It is the testing of your faith.
B. It is not a sin to be tempted.
Now, get that in your heart. It is not a sin to be tempted.
- You say, "I had a temptation to steal something. I must have been a sinner." No, you weren't.
- You say, "I had a temptation to tell somebody off. I must be awful." Not necessarily.
- You say, "I had a temptation to commit adultery. Wasn't that a sin?" It was not a sin.
Temptation to sin is not a sin.
If it is a sin, then Jesus is a sinner. For the Bible says Jesus was tempted "in all points like as we are, yet without sin." Do you want the scripture for that?
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin". Hebrews 4:15
Jesus felt what you feel; Jesus was human. He was just as much a man as though He were not God at all. He had humanness about Him. Jesus felt what you feel; Jesus was human. He was just as much a man as though He were not God at all. He had humanness about Him.
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
B. Testing is not Because of Your Sin and, secondly, I want to say to you, friend, that testings, and trials, and tribulations are not necessarily because of your sin.
Sometimes something bad will happen to you and you say, "Oh my, what did I do-what did I do? I must have done something terrible. I wouldn't have lost my job; I wouldn't have had to go to the hospital. Or, what did I do? Why these trials?" And then, we go through what we call morbid introspection!
We take ourselves apart by little pieces, and we examine ourselves, and we put ourselves back together, trying to figure out what we did. It may be that you have done absolutely nothing wrong, but God is just simply testing your faith.
C. How to Face Temptation
1 Corinthians chapter 10:13 -look at it.
"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; butwill with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" 1 Corinthians 10:13
Now, we're still talking about the facing of your temptation. Now, I want you to notice, you take your pen, if you'd like, and circle the word but. But-it's used three times in that verse; three times God uses the word but. And, it's almost as though we're arguing with the teacher.
We come to the teacher, and the teacher has given us a hard test. And, we begin to argue with the teacher. And, we begin to tell the teacher, "It wasn't my fault that I didn't pass the test." And, we tend to blame the teacher as though, if you had given better questions, or if you had taught me a little more, or if you had only told what was expected on this test, maybe I would have passed this test rather than failing it.
If you notice that, generally in school, when we argue with the teacher that way, we don't win. You know, it's just they don't change the grades anymore. The referees seem to change the calls.
Well, I want to tell you, when you argue with the Lord, and say, "Now, Lord, it's your fault I didn't pass this test," the Lord's going to give you three buts-three arguments, three rebuttals.
1. My Temptation is Unique
And, these three rebuttals are going to come because of your three arguments. The first argument you're going to bring to the Lord is you're going to say, "Well, my temptation was unique.
Nobody else ever went through what I'm going through; nobody else has ever felt what I feel. But, I want you to notice what God says in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man" (2 Corinthians 10:13)-"but such as is common to man." And, there's the first but:
"No temptation, but such as is common to man." You are not unique, and your temptation is no different from what other people feel.
2. My Temptation is Strong
All right, first argument goes down the drain. You say, "Yes, teacher, but there's another reason I flunk the test. The temptation, though it was common, was too strong. Other people may have felt the same thing, but not with the same intensity. Oh, I couldn't fight it; it was bigger than both of us.
And, it just came in and it just overwhelmed me. And, I just was not able to do anything about it." And, the teacher says, "Well, you should have passed the test. And, he uses the second but: "But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able."
You see, it is God who controls the temptation. And, God is not going to allow more to come to you than you're able to bear. Now, listen to me. Nothing comes to you, but what it comes through God. God allows it, even if the devil sends it.
God allows it, and the Bible says, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14).
A manufacturer manufactures a truck. And, he knows the frame of that truck, the chassis of that truck, and so he says, "This is a one-ton truck, or a ton-and-a-half truck, or a two-ton truck." That means, "I manufacture the truck. I know the frame of the truck. I know the load the truck can carry."
God knows your frame, and He knows the load that you can carry. And, "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able." And, even what Satan does, he can only do as God allows it. And so, don't you say that you're temptation was so strong that you could not overcome it.
3. Temptation is not impossible
You come up with a third argument. You say, "Yes, teacher, but the reason I flunked my test is there was no way to pass it. It was just an impossible test." And, the Lord gives the third but: "but will with the temptation make a way to escape."
There is a way.
Here is a way. You'd better find it. It will be God's way. It will not be in your strength. It is God who makes a way. No wonder you fail, if you try to do it by yourself.
But, I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that God's plan for you is to face the trials of life. God's plan for me is to face the temptations of life-not to make excuses, for God is faithful, and God is there. And so, we are to face the temptation.
D. The Fruits of Temptation
Now, the last thing I want you to notice, the fruits of temptation. Why does God allow it?
You see, if God could stop it, why doesn't He? Well, I'll tell you, God is trying to do something. God is working something in our lives.
Look in verse 3: "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing"(James 1:3-4).
You see, everything that God does, and everything that God allows, is for a reason.
It is for your good and for His glory. And, here the Lord mentions the four fruits of your temptations.
1. Enjoyment
You want to say, "Why am I going through this? And, why do I face this? And, why has this calamity come to me?
Four reasons.
The first one is a wonderful one: for your enjoyment. You say,
"You mean I'm supposed to enjoy this?" Well, let's go back into the Word.
Look in verse 2: "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations" (James 1:2).
Now, I didn't say that. James said it through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." Now, we sometimes get very stoical, and we say, "Well, what can't be cured must be endured." But, God says, "What can't be cured can be enjoyed." You begin to praise the Lord because you know God is getting ready to send you a blessing.
2. Endurance
I want to tell you what temptations rightly used are, and what testings' and trials rightly used are: They are but the prelude to a great big blessing.
Now, understand that. They're just a harbinger of a blessing. God is getting ready to bless you in a wonderful, wonderful way. And, so you're going through trouble today.
Say, "Hot dog; wonderful." "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations."
"Well," you say, "it doesn't make sense to me." Well, let's go and see why God says, "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." But remember, the first fruit is enjoyment. The second fruit of this temptation is endurance-endurance.
You see, the Lord wants to teach you how to endure, and so, we read here in verse
3: "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:3). Now, this word patience is hupomone, and it means, "to bear up under," or "to endure," or "to be steadfast."
It doesn't mean the kind of patience we sometimes mean, when we say, "Lord, help me to have patience with my children, or with my husband. I want to wipe his feet off, when he comes in out of the garden.
Give me the patience to thread this needle." That's not what He's talking about. It's a much stronger word than that. And, it does not just mean being calm in a jittery situation. But, it means the ability to bear up under the testing.
And, the trying of your faith worketh steadfastness; it worketh endurance. Say, have you ever- look at me-have you ever said, "Ha, boy, I just don't pray like I ought to pray-on again and off again"? Have you ever said, "You know, I just don't witness like I ought to; I make a good start, and then I fail"? Have you ever said, "Boy, I wish I were more consistent; I wish I were more steadfast"?
Okay, God's going to send you to school-and, do you know what He's going to do? He's going to give you some tests, some trials, some temptations. And, the reason that those things will come will be to make you endure, to keep you from being on again, off again-on again, off again.
Endurance-endurance.
The first fruit, enjoyment; the second fruit, endurance. You see, it's that constant pressure that keeps us close to God. A man had a grandfather clock, and he felt sorry for the grandfather clock because it had a weight on it. And, that weight there in the box was always pulling. The man said, "Oh, Clock, you've held this weight so long, I'm going to remove it and let you rest." And, he took it off, and the grandfather clock said, "Don't take that weight from me. That's what keeps me going."
Now, I want to tell you, dear friend, the trials and the tests of life are there for your endurance-to keep you going, to keep you trusting, to keep you praying, to keep you reading upon God.
You know, one of the big problems with the astronauts in outer space is weightlessness- weightlessness. God doesn't want you to be raised in a vacuum of weightlessness.
3. Enlargement
And so, the first fruit is enjoyment. The second fruit is endurance. The third fruit is enlargement. I want you to notice as He goes on to say, "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect" (James 1:3-4).
Now, the Greek word here is teleios. And it doesn't mean "sinless." There's a difference between perfection and sinless. Now, we look at one of these roses over here and they're beautiful. We don't say, "That's a sinless rose."
We say, "That's a perfect rose-a perfect rose." And, you see, the word perfect doesn't mean "sinless." God is not working to make you sinless. You won't be sinless until you get to Heaven. But, God is sending testings and trials into your life to make you mature, to make you perfect.
Let me give you another illustration of perfection. Have you ever said, "That's a perfect baby"?
You don't mean that's a sinless baby, or like this. Jesus, the captain of our salvation, was made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 2:10).
That's what the Scripture says. Do you think it means that Jesus was made sinless through suffering? Friend, He has always been sinless. There was never a time when He wasn't sinless.
No, you see, He's not talking here about sinlessness, but he's talking about enlargement; he's talking about growth; he's talking about maturity. That's what the word teleios means.
For example, an oak tree is the teleios of an acorn. It is the perfection of an acorn. You see, a mighty oak and a little acorn. So, when you're feeling discouraged and feeling a little blue, take a look at a mighty oak and see what a nut can do.
See, that's what we're talking about. Just coming to the maturity that God wants you to come to.
And so, you see God's plan. God says to, "Enjoy it, because I have a plan." Listen to it. Trials and tribulations lead to endurance, and endurance leads to maturity. You see, that's what makes you strong. You grow, when you work against pressure.
A man watched a butterfly one time trying to emerge from a cocoon. And, he saw this beautiful butterfly trying to emerge, and he saw the cocoon as the transformation was taking place and the emergence. And, this man, thinking that he would help, took his razor-sharp penknife and he slit the side of that silk cocoon, and the butterfly just sort of flopped out. And, when it did, it lay there for a while, and feebly beat its wings a couple of times, and then fell to the ground, collapsed, and died. Because, you see, God had a plan for that butterfly in that cocoon. And, it was meant to swell against that cocoon, and to swell against it, and to push, and to push, and to push, until those muscles were developed so it could fly.
Closing
So many times, we're saying, "O God, let me out of this thing," when God wants to keep you right in that thing until you grow, until you mature, until you're strong. God doesn't want you to live weakly and to die feebly, but He wants you to grow and He wants you to be mature. He wants you to be teleios, perfect.
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