“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 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; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:13-15 NKJV
Playwright Oscar Wilde once jokingly remarked, “I can resist everything except temptation.”
We smile when we read those words because they speak an important truth about the human condition. Temptation pays a visit to each of us every day and most of us struggle to say no.
Temptation is not new in any sense. Temptation is the same for us as it was for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Satan tempts us today in the same way he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. From the very beginning a battle has raged for the souls of men and women, a battle that touches all of us sooner or later.
How can we fight and win the battle against the temptations we face every day? James 1:13-15 gives us God’s answer to that important question. From this passage we discover where temptation begins, how it grows, and where it ends.
1. Where It Begins
“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” James 1:13 NKJV
It’s always easy to blame God for our problems.
“Lord, you put me in this situation.”
“Lord, you gave me these desires.”
“Lord, you knew I was broke.”
“Lord, you knew I was weak in that area.”
God is never the source of your problems. Never. Don’t even go there.
He doesn't tempt people. He never puts you in a situation where you have to sin. Never.
God will never lead you to a place where you are forced to do evil. You may find yourself in a tough spot and under pressure you may choose to do evil, and in your mind you feel “forced” by the circumstances to do wrong, but even in those cases the choice is yours, not God’s. Said another way, God never sets us up to fail. To do that would contradict both his holiness and his love.
It helps to remember that the same Greek word in James 1 can be translated “trial” or “temptation.” That fact teaches us that any event in your life can be both a trial and a temptation.
God sends the trial and Satan turns it into a temptation. A trial becomes a temptation when we respond wrongly. What God means for good, Satan means for evil. Satan twists that which God gives us and whispers in our ear, “Go ahead. It’s okay. No one will ever know.”
2. How It Grows
“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; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:14-15 NKJV
Notice four things from this verse.
First, the certainty of temptation: “Each one is tempted.” No one escapes temptation in this life.
Second, the allure of temptation: “He is drawn away... and enticed.” James uses the image of a fisherman baiting a hook. Just as the fruit looked good to Eve, sin always looks good to us. Sin brings a certain degree of satisfaction. It must, or no one would ever sin.
There is such a thing as the “pleasures of sin for a season.” In the short run, we can always justify losing our temper, telling a lie, cheating a friend, taking a shortcut, or indulging our fantasies.
Third, the individuality of temptation: “His own desires.” It’s quite true that what tempts you might not bother me at all, and what troubles me might not seem alluring to you.
Fourth, the result of temptation. “After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.” Since James uses the metaphor of birth, let me apply the truth this way. If we do not use some “spiritual birth control” in our thought life, our desires will impregnate our actions and the result will be a whole bunch of little “sin babies” running around.
That’s a bizarre image, but it’s not stranger than the image James uses. We must not trifle with temptation. We can’t mess with it, play with it, or dabble in it, because temptation leads to desire that leads inevitably to sin in our lives.
3. Where It Ends
“When sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death” (James 1:15b).
Twice in this passage James uses the image of birth:
Evil desire gives birth to sin. Sin gives birth to death.
We prefer not to hear this. What could be happier than the birth of a baby? We decorate and plan and pray and save our money, we take pictures of the sonogram and post it on Facebook. We have baby showers and “gender reveal” parties and we send out elaborate birth announcements.
It’s hard to find anything more wonderful than the birth of a baby. But not all babies are beautiful.
James uses the happy image of childbirth to remind us of an awful reality. Our evil desires grow over time, they take on a life of their own, and one day those desires give birth to sin. And sin once conceived in the heart leads only to death.
Sin Kills!
That’s what James means when he says that sin gives birth to death.
Sin kills us.
Sin kills every human relationship.
Sin kills our relationship with God.
When sin is full-grown, it gives birth to the monster of death.
There is nothing beautiful about that.
We would all be better off if we stopped to consider the impact of our evil desires. What starts as a passing fancy becomes a settled desire becomes an overpowering impulse that leads us to foolish action that results in personal tragedy, shattered lives, hurting children, ruined careers, and broken marriages.
Worst of all, we end up separated from the God who made us. We are truly lost, and we have only ourselves to blame.
Temptation is the common experience of the people of God. We will never escape it as long as we live in a fallen world. But God has given us everything we need to win the battle every time.
Stand and fight, child of God. The Lord is on your side.
Sermon originally from Ray Pritchard
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