When You Are Tried and Tempted!
James 1:12-15 (NKJV)
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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 love Him.
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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.
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But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
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Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings
forth death.
Introduction:
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You can’t escape temptation…
Temptation is a part of life, no matter where you live.
Temptation may differ from culture to culture or place to place…
Temptation may differ from one age to another…(high school, college, work,
etc…..
 We must learn how to endure Temptation:
James 1:12 (NKJV) 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 love Him.
1. Who To Blame For Temptation:
A. We can’t blame our neighbor, our family, our spouse, our circumstances…
B. We can’t Blame God:
James 1:13 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.
C. We can only Blame Ourselves:
James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires
and enticed.
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2. Temptation Is Not Sin!
A. Jesus, Himself, was tempted:
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
B. Temptation is the thought of doing wrong – a desire. It doesn’t become sin
until carried out or committed:
James 1:14 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when
it is full-grown, brings forth death.
C. Sometimes temptation becomes sin in our mind:
Matthew 5:27-28
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"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
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But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.
D. Pornography, Lying, Hate, etc. are sins of the mind that are brought on by
Temptation…
That’s Why We Dedicated an entire message in this series: The
Battleground of the Mind (Message # 4)
3. Temptation Is Common To man
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV)
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No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is
faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with
the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
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A. Spiritual people are “Tried, Tempted, and Tested”
 Not just the spiritually weak
 Not just new Christians
 Even ‘Godly’ people are “Tried, Tempted, and Tested”
Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil.
B. There will never come a time when you can live above or without
temptation.
4. Trials and Temptation Make Us Better Christians
A. The Apostle Paul was Tried and Tempted:
2 Corinthians 12:7-9(a)
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And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a
thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be
exalted above measure.
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Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from
me.
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And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made
perfect in weakness."…
 God allowed a spirit filled believer (Paul) to experience continual attack
and temptation….
 Paul said that this temptation made him humble:
2 Corinthians 12:9(b) …Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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B. Look at Joseph and Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39:
 Joseph had been made the caretaker of his master, Potiphar’s house and
God was blessing the house BUT:
Genesis 39:7-12 (NKJV)
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And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on
Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."
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But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not know
what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.
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There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me
but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin
against God?"
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So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with
her or to be with her.
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But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work,
and none of the men of the house was inside,
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that she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he left his garment
in her hand, and fled and ran outside.
 Joseph was tempted over and over…
 He would not have been caught up with by Potiphar…
 His refusal was not that he was not tempted or his ultimate concern for
Potiphar.
 His greatest concern was sinning against God:
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Vs. 9 – “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
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Conclusion:
Many think that temptation is keeping them from being what God wants
them to be. But the absence of temptation would make us weak, nonvictorious, shy, timid Christians always running from the Devil!
 God does not want us to set back and cry and whimper and moan and
groan over our Trials and Temptations…
 He expects us to “resist” the affect of the temptations hindering our walk
with God or our service to God.
 If we do not resist him, Satan will continually push us down and climb
over us for years…
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (NKJV)
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Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud,
all passed through the sea,
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all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
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all ate the same spiritual food,
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and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them,
and that Rock was Christ.
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But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the
wilderness.
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Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as
they also lusted.
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And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to
eat and drink, and rose up to play."
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Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three
thousand fell;
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nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents;
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nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
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Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our
admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
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Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
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No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also
make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.