1) The document discusses the purpose of temptation from both God's and Satan's point of view. From God's view, temptation shows what is in our hearts, purifies us like gold in a furnace, and strengthens our patience.
2) From Satan's view, he wants Christians to fall into sin, but can only tempt within the limits God allows. He tempts through suffering, appealing to natural desires in the wrong way, and painting a false picture of God.
3) Our reaction to temptation determines if it works for good by strengthening our faith, or for harm by leading to sin. Remaining faithful when tested results in receiving the crown of life.
4. Verse to Learn: James 1:12
(NIV)
12 Blessed is the one who
perseveres under trial
because, having stood the
test, that person will receive
the crown of life that the Lord
has promised to those who
love him.
5. The Purpose Of Temptation:
From God’s Point Of View
God allows us to be
tempted because
He loves us. If we
react the right way
to temptation it
works for our good.
6. 1) God puts us in
situations which show
Him and us and others
what is in our hearts.
e.g. Abraham.
Read Genesis 22:1- 18.
7. Genesis 22:1- 18.
Abraham Tested
22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He
said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only
son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the
region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a
burnt offering on a mountain I will show
you.”
8. 3 Early the next morning Abraham got
up and loaded his donkey. He took
with him two of his servants and his
son Isaac. When he had cut enough
wood for the burnt offering, he set out
for the place God had told him about.
4 On the third day Abraham looked up
and saw the place in the distance.
5 He said to his servants, “Stay here
with the donkey while I and the boy
go over there. We will worship and
then we will come back to you.”
9. 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt
offering and placed it on his son
Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and
the knife. As the two of them went on
together,
7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father
Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said,
“but where is the lamb for the burnt
offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will
provide the lamb for the burnt offering,
my son.” And the two of them went on
together.
10. 9 When they reached the place God had
told him about, Abraham built an
altar there and arranged the wood on
it. He bound his son Isaac and laid
him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then he reached out his hand and
took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the angel of the LORD called out
to him from heaven, “Abraham!
Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
11. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he
said. “Do not do anything to him. Now
I know that you fear God, because
you have not withheld from me your
son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a
thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its
horns. He went over and took the ram
and sacrificed it as a burnt offering
instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called that place
The LORD Will Provide. And to this
day it is said, “On the mountain of
the LORD it will be provided.”
12. 15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham
from heaven a second time
16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares
the LORD, that because you have done
this and have not withheld your son, your
only son,
17 I will surely bless you and make your
descendants as numerous as the stars
in the sky and as the sand on the
seashore. Your descendants will take
possession of the cities of their
enemies,
18 and through your offspring[b] all nations
on earth will be blessed,[c] because you
have obeyed me.”
14. 2) By putting us to the test,
God purifies us just as silver
or gold is purified in a
refiner is crucible
Psalms 66:10-
For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
Isaiah 48:10-
See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
15. 1 Peter 1:6- 7
6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though
now for a little while you may have
had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
7 These have come so that the proven
genuineness of your faith—of greater
worth than gold, which perishes even
though refined by fire—may result in
praise, glory and honour when Jesus
Christ is revealed.
16. 3) Through Temptation, God
strengthens our patience
and make us mature.
James 1:2- 3
Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and
sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many
kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of
your faith produces perseverance.
James 1:12
12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under
trial because, having stood the test, that
person will receive the crown of life that the
Lord has promised to those who love him.
17. Temptation – From
Satan’s Point Of View
Satan is opposed to God’s people and
therefore wants Christians to fall into
sin.
Satan is only God’s instrument and can
do only what God allows him to.
e.g. (Job 1 and 2, Satan had to ask
God’s permission about the trials he
brought Job into).
18. 1) God sets the limits of
the trials Satan brings.
Why, as we mature in the Christian life,
do we sometimes face more difficult
temptations than we did at the
beginning?
(1 Cor 10:13).
13 No temptation[a] has overtaken you except
what is common to mankind. And God is
faithful; he will not let you be
tempted[b] beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted,[c] he will also provide a
way out so that you can endure it.
19. 2) Satan tempts us through
suffering.
In what way were some early Christians
(and some Christians today)
tempted?
Rev 2:10-
10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to
suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of
you in prison to test you, and you will suffer
persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to
the point of death, and I will give you life as
your victor’s crown.
20. 3) Satan test us to satisfy
our nature desires in the
wrong way.
Matt 4:1- 4.
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness to be
tempted[a] by the devil.2 After
fasting forty days and forty
nights, he was hungry.
21. 3 The tempter came to him and
said, “If you are the Son of
God, tell these stones to become
bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written:
‘Man shall not live on bread
alone, but on every word that
comes from the mouth of God.
What nature desire did Jesus
have? (v2)
23. 4) Satan tempts through
painting a false picture of
what God is like.
Genesis 3:1- 5
The Fall
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than
any of the wild animals the LORD God
had made. He said to the woman,
“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat
from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We
may eat fruit from the trees in the
garden,
24. 3 but God did say, ‘You must not
eat fruit from the tree that is in
the middle of the garden, and
you must not touch it, or you will
die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the
serpent said to the woman.
5 “For God knows that when you
eat from it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil.”
26. Our reaction to temptation
determines whether
temptation works for our
good or for our harm.
James 1:12
12 Blessed is the one who perseveres
under trial because, having stood the
test, that person will receive the
crown of life that the Lord has
promised to those who love him.