Pastor Jon Burgess
September 8, 2019 - W1936

Tests or Temptations

A Life Worth Living

Pastor Jon Burgess

September 7 & 8, 2019

Aloha and Welcome New Hope and those online!

I just returned from being with my family in Bend, Oregon.  It never fails to surprise me that no matter how old I get, whenever I return home, I'm instantly just their kid again! It doesn’t matter that I am now an adult, that I have my own job, and my own kids—I'm an adult, an adult all the time—but as soon as I get home, I find myself doing stuff that I did when I was a kid! Has anyone found that to be true?  

Sure enough, Dad says, “Oh Jon, Jon, Jon, I’m so glad you’re here.  We have a little job.  I got some free sod so we’ll lay it down in your brother’s back yard.  It will take just a couple of minutes.”   I had to laugh because nothing ever takes a couple of minutes.  That’s how Dad sold everything to us growing up—it was always, oh, it will just take a couple of minutes! 

Not having been with my parents or my brother and his family for a while, I was more than happy to spend some time laying sod; but I didn't always feel that way.When I was growing up, I wanted to spend Saturdays doing what I wanted to do, but Dad would say, “Oh, no, no, no, we have jobs to do—some accounts that I need you to work on.”

It was a test of my heart every single time, whether it was Saturday mornings or summer vacation and all my friends were playing around, I’m pulling weeds! As I was leveling the ground and laying down the topsoil with my dad and brother, I realized what a gift my dad had given me.  It was a gift of work ethic: an understanding that nothing is free and that we must work together! Most of us don’t look at tests as a gift until after the test and we see that it was preparing us for something greater!

James 1:16-17 NIV says: “¹⁶ Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

We live in a world of shifting shadows, lots of deception, fake news, half truths, but we have the promise that if your Father is giving you something, it will be good even if it's not easy.  Instead of resisting the testing that God is bringing to us, we should see it as an opportunity and stand in a place of victory, rather than the defeat that the enemy would want to bring us into. 

It's important that we understand the difference between a test from God and a temptation from the devil. If we're not careful, we look at a temptation as if it's from God and a test as if it's from the devil, and miss out on what God is trying to teach us in the moment.  May I suggest to you that the testing you might be going through is actually a gift from your Father!

1. Temptations Play On Your Cravings With An Aim To Trap

The enemy's whole goal is to trap us in sin. When Jesus was sent into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days, there was a temptation to turn a rock into bread—all Jesus had to do was to obey the enemy!  Yet Jesus resisted every temptation with, “It is written.”  We also must know what’s written in God’s word in order to defeat the temptations in our lives.   God was not tempting Jesus; He was testing him.  The devil was tempting him.

James 1:13-15 NIV says: “¹³ When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; ¹⁴ but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

Temptation is not the same as sin.  Some walk around condemned because they are being tempted, but temptation happens the moment you and I step out the door!  The only thing we must repent of is if we have given into temptation, through the cravings of our flesh!

Going from temptation to cravings and to sin, ultimately leads to death; it starts with playing off things that we long for—the cravings of our heart and mind.  Advertisements draw us into cravings every single time. No one ever thought about pumpkin in their coffee until Starbucks introduced the pumpkin spice latte—now everybody is drinking it, and other companies have introduced their versions of pumpkin spiced products. 

You might not know it but the pumpkin spice latte has absolutely no pumpkin in it at all!  They use nutmeg, cinnamon, and all the spices that you normally find in a freshly baked pumpkin pie, except they use synthetic chemicals along with a lot of sugar to entice you—to play off your amygdala in the brain! We’re looking for some sort of comfort and warmth, something to remind us of the good ol' days when mom would bake fresh pumpkin pies!  

Hebrews 12:16-17 NIV says, “¹⁶ See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷ Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.”

Esau had been hunting all day and was hungry, and Jacob knew exactly how to get his brother's attention.  Jacob knew how mom made Esau’s favorite stew and told his brother, “I'll let you have as much stew as you want, but you must give me your birthright.”  Esau didn't make a logical decision; he made an emotional decision based on his hunger at the moment!

We would say, “That’s ridiculous—we would never trade away our birthright for our appetite!” Yet, we do it all the time in different ways:  We give in to our cravings and are led by our bellies (longings and emotions) and make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion!

What was in that stew?  I don't know what Jacob put in his stew, but I want to propose to you what the devil is putting our sin stew, because before temptation ever becomes a sin, it starts as a tasty temptation.  Heard of the seven deadly sins?  

1. Pride: Craving to be seen better and above others: “Look how awesome I am!”

2. Envy: Craving something that belongs to someone else.  We’re never satisfied with what we have—always comparing what you have with what someone else has.

3. Gluttony: Craving to consume more than your body needs, never satisfied.

4. Lust: Seeing and wanting something shallow, always leaves you empty—it’s temporary.  We must cork back lust, or we could lose the very relationships that we have! 

5. Anger: Craving to control others and self. Even though anger promises power, we're burning our relationships!

6. Greed: Always about getting more.  Have I been longing to take advantage of people instead of being generous, holding back what God has given me?

7. Sloth:  Sheer laziness, a craving to escape through avoidance of work and responsibility. When it comes to time with God, would we rather sit in front of a TV and watch Netflix? 

Which one of these are you struggling with? God wants us to be honest; some are trading your birthright for your appetite. The enemy understands that temptation is all about presentation, and he offers temptation that threatens to steal your marriages, jobs, self-respect, integrity, and character—all for a bowl of soup!

2. Tests Prepare You For Your Calling With An Aim To Train

Hebrews 6:11-15 NIV says: “¹¹ We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. ¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. ¹³ When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵ And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.”

Abraham received what was promised after waiting patiently.  Patience is the opposite of craving.  Craving wants it instantly, right now—but patience is willing to wait because God has something better for us! 

Abraham's final test was to take his son of promise, Isaac, and sacrifice him on the mountain. If God had started Abraham with that test, he would have failed. But God knew what He was leading Abraham to and helped him to overcome all these things by testing his faith in small ways first—so that he would be able to pass the final test of laying down his son before the Lord!

Which test is the Father using in your life?

1. Familiar test.  When God told Abraham go to a land that He would show him, He didn't tell him where. He just said go. Leave everything that's familiar, including your family, and go.   Abraham surrendered everything that was familiar and stepped out by faith. Abraham passed! 

2. Food test.  Abraham steps out by faith and shows up to the promise land in Canaan and faces famine; he leaves and runs to Egypt.  Some of us are in the food test right now where you have stepped out in faith but things are not going easy, and you're worried and fearful about your provision. I want to encourage you to embrace that test.  Don't miss the lesson that God is bringing you in that test. Abraham failed it, but you don't have to!

3. Flock test.  Lot and Abraham were having problems because their flocks were growing. Abraham conquered greed and envy and offered the very best land to his nephew Lot, and God blessed him immensely and he received way more than Lot ever did because he was able to pass the flock test!

4. Fortune test.   The king of Sodom offered to make Abraham rich, but he refused to take a single gold piece from the king of Sodom; his response was, “I don't want anyone to be able to say that my provision came from any other source but God alone!” Are you being tempted to compromise your integrity, maybe make under?the?table business transactions?  The tests are opportunities to either give in to temptation or to put your trust in God, as Abraham did.

5. Final test. When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, who is 20 years old and helping to carry the very wood up the mountain that he will be sacrificed on!  By faith Abraham offered Isaac because he believed that God would bring Isaac back from the dead!

Where are you being tested right now?  Where is God calling your faith to grow?  May I suggest that we start with the end in mind, that choices aren't just about you—they're about your family, the future generations.  If you and I can get honest and start naming these sins for what they are, we won't have to pass it on to the next generation.  It ends now!

James 4:7-10 NIV says: “⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Let’s put into practice what we just heard: Humble ourselves before the Lord, and submit to Him, and understand that as we come near to Him, He would come near to us!

Study Questions: 

1.     What are some of the sins you are facing?
2.     How can you overcome them?
3.     Who can you encourage to pass the tests of temptations that are around you?
4.     Why are some of the temptations appealing to you?
5.     Who can we partner with for accountability?