But good to have the opportunity to be able to preach this morning. This morning we're going to continue in the book of James, James chapter 1 on the Christian and temptation. Now listen, we have all witnessed a brother or sister fall into sin and if we're honest we have all right been that person. Sometimes When we think about it, we fail to think about the fact that any sin, whatever it is, started with temptation. It was F.B. Meyer, I believe, who once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know. First, we do not know how hard he or she struggled not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that attacked him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances. Listen, as we begin our study this morning, I want all of us to admit to ourselves that we are capable of giving into the flesh. We are capable of allowing ourselves to be led into temptation by our lusts. And so starting out this morning, we're going to look at number one, just really quickly getting into it, the source of temptation. the source of temptation. First, James tells us what we must realize. He says, verse number 13, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. Verse 14, But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. I want you to look back at verse number 13, beginning of the verse, it says, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. Listen, sin is a serious business. It is universal. It is deadly. Now in this passage, when we read this passage, we realize that James records a common error. He says, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. Listen, it is very much our nature to say, it's not my fault. But listen, we cannot blame God for our bad behavior. We cannot blame God for our sin. Modern psychology has invented many ways for guilty people suffering mentally from the consequences of sin to shift the blame to their parents, to shift the blame to their spouses, to shift the blame to children or to anyone that has ever looked at them in a wrong way. But this is not a modern issue. This has been going on, shifting the blame has been going on from the beginning. Genesis chapter 3 verse number 12, we see Adam do it. And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. And I'm not gonna, it's not gonna be on the screens, but ladies, you're not up to hook either, because then you then blame the serpent. We see in verse 12 that Adam tried to shift his blame for his sin off of himself. And really, what does he do? God, the woman that you gave me, he blames God. But listen, God did not allow Adam to shift the blame, and God is not going to allow you to shift the blame. God will not allow you to blame others, and he will definitely not allow you to blame him. When we blame God for our sin and we blame God for what is going, the evil that is going on, listen, we are slandering the character of God when we blame Him for our sin. Listen, God is holy and God hates sin in all of its forms. Listen, temptation arises from many sources within. and without. But let me tell you this, and we need to realize this, sin never, ever, ever comes from God. We need to continually remind ourselves that we, you, individually are responsible for our own sin. Listen, if your life is not going well, if things aren't going well, take responsibility. If you're doing wrong things, take responsibility for your actions. Listen, if any, one in this auditorium would be able to say that, listen, I would have the ability to blame people. I would probably have the ability to blame people. I didn't grow up in a Christian home. I grew up where I was exposed to things that I really shouldn't have been exposed to. I could easily try to shift the blame. But listen, any decision that I've ever made, you know who made it? I did, not anyone else. Every sin that I've ever committed, guess who's responsible for it, and guess who will be responsible for it when I stand before God? Me. But praise the Lord that my sin is under the blood, amen? And God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? We must realize that, listen, God is not the source of our sin. We must recognize that we are. James 1.14, but every man is tempted when? When he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed. Listen, as the ruler of this world, you need to understand that Satan is going to do everything he can to trip you up. He's going to do everything he can to get your attention. Ephesians 2, 2, where in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to who? The prince of the power of the air. Going up, I went to public school through ninth grade and I rode the school bus every time and I was not the kindest person. You see, on the school bus, as people are getting on and off the bus, there is only one path for them to go. And so you very easily know the path that they are taking, and very easily, you can pay attention, and at the right time, you can just stick your foot out and trip them. And I may or may not have done that multiple times. Now, here's the thing. The only ones who tripped were the ones who were not ready. The ones who were ready for it, they're walking. Listen, they know what's ahead of them. They're looking down to make sure that no one trips them. The ones who were ready don't trip. It's the ones who weren't ready who tripped. And when we are not ready, Satan's gonna be right there with his foot out. Ready to trip us. He wants us to fall. Notice, though, that James still does not allow us to blame Satan. James 1.14 again, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of what? His own Lust, his own lust. Listen, we talked about ice cream a lot for some reason when Pastor was gone. And so let's continue it, all right? Just because someone puts a hot fudge sundae in front of me does not mean that they made me eat it. I could refrain. If someone did that, I will not refrain. Okay, I'm just saying, I love hot fudge sundaes. But just because someone put one in front of me doesn't mean they made me eat it. Just because Satan tries to trip you up does not mean that it's his fault. Now, listen, will he be judged for all his actions? 100%. But so will you. The word lust in this passage, it means a desire for what is forbidden. A desire for what is forbidden. You think about that, you think of 1 John 2.16 says, for all that is in what the world, the lust, the desire for what is forbidden of the flesh, the desire for what is forbidden of the eyes, the desire for what is forbidden of the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And this passage is just so full of so much meat. Let's continue looking again at verse 14 of James chapter one. It says, and enticed. And enticed. That word enticed there, it means to be caught by bait. And have you ever been fishing? I know some people have, right? I should have asked Luke for a fishing pole, right? If you're gonna catch fish, what do you need on the end of that line? You need bait. You just put a metal, a piece of metal, you know, a sharp piece of metal that maybe eventually sometime you'll snag something, maybe, but you put some bait on there that's attractive, that fish sees it and he's drawn to it. Listen, Satan knows how to make death and destruction look good. Satan knows how to make sin look pleasurable and look good and look like something to be desired. But when we are drawn away of, listen, our own lust, and we swerve away from the good things of God, We are enticed. We are caught by bait. And that's where we see number two, we see the sentence of temptation. the sentence of temptation. We're caught by bait, and it continues in the next verse, then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Listen, listen, when you give in to sin, you become a prisoner of lust. You become a prisoner of lust. That word conceived there literally means to take as a prisoner. You get drawn away of your own lust, you get caught by the bait, and then the lust has you as its prisoner. In the Australian bush country, there grows a little plant called a sundew. It has a slender stern and tiny round leaves fringed with hairs that glisten in the bright drops of liquid as delicate as fine dew. It's a very beautiful looking flower, a very interesting looking flower too. It has attractive red clusters, clusters of red, white, and pink blossoms that are harmless. But it has leaves that are deadly. The shiny moisture of each leaf is sticky and will imprison any bug that touches it. Once the insect touches it, it is stuck. And this beautiful, innocent-looking plant feeds on that bug. And sin is the same way. It looks fine. It looks good. But once you touch it, It doesn't want to let you go, and it destroys you. It feeds on you. It destroys who you are. Listen, Romans 6, 16 says, Whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness, the word servant there The Greek word doulos literally means slave. You're a slave, you're in bondage. You're in bondage. When Christian, when you sin, you are yielding yourself to sin and putting yourself back into the chains that Jesus took off of you. Listen, Satan desires that all children of God yield themselves to sin and be in bondage. He wants you to be slaves to sin. He wants you there. The sinful Christian, listen, is Satan's greatest weapon. Romans 6, 13 says, neither yield yourselves members as instruments or weapons of unrighteousness unto sin. He says, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Listen, when you give into lust, you become a prisoner of lust, and a Christian who is a prisoner of lust is a prisoner that is on death row. The progression to death is an inevitable result that Satan tries to hide from us. He makes us think, he wants us to think that we're just, we'll be just fine, we can handle it. But James 1.15 makes it clear, then, when lust hath conceived, when it takes you prisoner, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. The word bringeth there, bringeth, bringeth forth sin means to birth. means to give birth. So lust, when it takes you prisoner, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is finished, sin, when it is fully grown, bringeth, produces death. When lust takes you prisoner, it births sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings death. Listen, sin is like cancer. When it is found in you, you must eliminate it from your life immediately or it will just keep spreading and spreading and spreading. When sin is fully grown, it puts its hand on mortality and kills it. It puts its hand upon your character and kills it. It puts its hand upon your health and kills it. Sin is the great destroyer of the human rights. Now, let me just say this, let me be clear, that a Christian who sins cannot pluck themselves out of the hand of God. I'm not talking about a sin that separates you from God and condemns you to hell. No, I'm talking, when a Christian sins, you are sinning and you are jeopardizing your life. You're jeopardizing your bodily life. That bringeth forth death is physical. Listen, there's a sin unto death. Let me just say this, life would be very easy if it were not for sin. Life would be very easy if it were not for sin. And you look at people. You see people and you see people who are godly people. You see people who make godly decisions. You see people who follow God's word. And it's interesting because no matter what comes, the temptation, the trial, the tribulation, they have joy somehow and they have peace and they're patient and they can endure those things. But then you see the person who... who continually makes wrong decisions, continues to allow themselves to be led away by their own lust, continues to allow themselves to be taken as a prisoner of lust. And you see that what happens when trial and tribulation comes, what happens when different things, they fall apart. I mean, to be honest, even at the smallest thing, it's just, God, it's too big for them to handle. They just can't handle it. and their life just does not work the way it's supposed to. Christian, we are supposed to have the fruit of the Spirit in our life. We're supposed to have love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, longsuffering. We're supposed to have those things. But when we give in to sin, it destroys those things. It destroys those things. Listen, you look at your life and you think, my life is just so messed up. Why? Listen, you can, in your mind, try to blame everyone else and say, my life is so messed up because of A, B, C, D, E, F, G, but what you need to know is your life is messed up because of, and point your finger back at yourself and say, me. I have known people, I have known Christians who have gone through just unimaginable things, but they were fine, but they weren't just fine, they somehow thrived through it, and they stayed the course, and they were faithful. Your circumstances, don't have to dictate your destination. Again, listen, I didn't grow up in a Christian home. My parents, I love my parents, I'm glad my dad's here right now, but they didn't prioritize going to church. They didn't prioritize the things of the Lord. When we went to church a lot, we went to church, we would be like, oh, look at me, I'm blessed. And we'd go home and we'd live like the heathen. If I let my circumstances dictate my destination, listen, I wouldn't be standing back here right now. I made choices, listen, with the help of the Lord Jesus Christ. Plain and simple, if it was not for God, if it was not for the blood of Christ, if it was not for the leading of the Holy Spirit, I would not be standing here. I would not be a preacher of the gospel. I would not be the assistant pastor at Harvest Baptist Temple. It's because of God and God alone. I can trust Him. I can lean on Him. I can follow Him. And He leads me through the shadow of death. And I don't have to fear any evil because He's with me. He prepares a table before me, the presence of my enemies. His goodness and His mercy follow me, not because of who I am. Listen, God is not a respecter of person. God doesn't, it doesn't matter. Like, oh, you know, he's the assistant pastor. We need to give him a break. Yeah, he fell into sin this time, but just keep giving him goodness. Just keep giving him that mercy and that blessing. And just put it, ah, it doesn't matter that he sinned. Listen, it doesn't matter who you are. You follow the Lord, you can receive His blessings. But when we allow ourselves to be led away of our own lust and entice, listen, we are going to lead ourselves to our own downfall. Listen, you can act the part, and you can act the part, and you can act the part, and you can make yourself look all good and godly for so long, but sooner or later, listen, a house of cards falls down. And you just can't, you're not gonna be able to bear it at some point. Can I just give you one admonition? Be real. If you're struggling, find someone to confide and be like, I need help. Is that what the church is for? Are we supposed to bear one another burdens? Listen, when someone comes to you and they say, listen, I'm struggling with this sin and I need help. I shared this with my Sunday school class. I had someone I met, I worked with him at Southland Christian Camp in Ringgold, Louisiana. To be honest, in my opinion, I barely got to know him. I really only worked with him closely for one week and that was the week of cleanup. Other times he was the tech guy and I was a counselor. But I remember going back to college and one day I got a call from him and he said, Charles, I just need some help. I fell into sin. I had physical relations with my girlfriend. and I know I shouldn't have, I went to my pastor who was my father and I told him and he disowned me. I went to this person, I told them and they disowned me. Everyone who I looked up to has rejected me because I fell into sin, but I don't want, I hate it, I want help. I just told him what the Bible says, you can have help. God offers forgiveness. God offers mercy. You can have help. You can have victory. I ended up being the best man at his wedding. Christian, when we see a brother who has fallen, we're supposed to lift him up. I'm way off what I have in my notes right now, but that's OK. We'll get back there in a second. But we're supposed to help him back up. We're supposed to encourage and edify. We're supposed to build each other up in the goodness and the mercy and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, not tear one another down. Oh, did you see Pastor Belcher the other day? He fell asleep in church, I tell you that. Ever since he retired, he's just not doing as he should, I tell you. We shouldn't do that. I figure I could pick on Pastor Belcher that way. Pastor Belcher's a good man. I appreciate Pastor Belcher. But there's no good in talking bad about someone. There's no good. It just tears people down. It causes contention. It causes division. Don't do it. Stop it. Listen, when you do that, you're being drawn away of your own lust and enticed. And you continue in that, and you allow the sin to be fully grown, it's going to lead to death. Repent. Repent. Listen, don't think yourself smarter than Satan. Don't think that you are smarter than Satan. He is subtle, and he will subtly tempt you. That's where you get to number three, the subtlety of temptation. James simply says, do not err, my beloved brethren. The word air there means to be deceived. Don't be deceived. It's possible to fall into temptation because you allow yourself to be deceived, because you want something. It's kind of like, You know that you have other things you need the money for, but that double quarter pounder with cheese from McDonald's looks really good. And so since you have $20 in your bank account, I have the money. And so you go and do that, but what happens? Then you don't have the money for what you actually need. My friend works for a company that gave mortgages out, and he would call people up and say, hey, you're way behind on your mortgage. You need to make payments. And he's like, I can't. I need to make the payment on my car. He's like, well, how much is the payment on your car? $650. You have a $650 payment on your car? Your house payment is $400. Why don't you just get a different car? Basically, what the person said is, because people don't see my house, they see my car. And so I need the BMW. You deceive yourself. You deceive yourself. That person deceived themselves into thinking that he needed a car more than he needed a house. And it's not even a car you can live in. Not at all. But listen, when we get led away of our own lusts, we deceive ourself into thinking that we're okay. Satan wants to deceive you. He's done it before. Again, Genesis chapter three, verse one. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. Unto the woman. He said, unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. We know how that went. He was successful in deceiving Eve. He was successful, he's subtle. Satan wants you to believe the lie that your sin only affects yourself. Listen, your sin, no matter how big or small you think it is, affects everyone around you. He wants you to believe also that God doesn't care really about it. Oh, you did it once, eh, nothing happened. The sky didn't fall apart. God's fine with it. He wants you to believe that you'll be okay. But Christian, you won't be. Listen, an alcoholic starts with just one drink. A drug addict starts by trying it just once. Listen, a habitual liar starts with one lie. But one lie leads to the next. One puff leads to another. One drink all continues and continues. Listen, no one intends to be any of those, but they were deceived into thinking, I'll be okay. Christian, when you dabble in sin, dabbling leads to death. Dabbling in sin leads to death. If you are not careful, you will deceive yourself. Do you realize that the nature that Satan had that caused him to desire to deceive Eve was a sin nature? He got that when he fell. By nature, Satan sins. Do you know who else sins by nature? We do. Because of the fall by nature, we have a sin nature. And if we allow it, you can be drawn away of your own lust, your own desire for what is forbidden. The Bible says, watch and pray, Matthew 26, 41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing. But church, admit it for yourself, the flesh, your flesh is weak. We get into our mind that if we do certain things, then automatically our lives will be over. But then, when we do them, we do them once, and again, lightning doesn't strike, everything's not destroyed. You think, oh, I'm okay. And so the next time temptation comes, we think, I was okay last time, I'll be okay this time. But the problem is, is you continue saying that every time. And before you know it, you have gone so much further into sin than you ever intended. Because listen, that desire, that worldly desire is never quenched. The only thing that fully satisfies Christian, we know this, is God. Listen, if you're not married, let me just tell you this. You think that one kiss will be enough, but one kiss leads to two. and you're fine. You say, oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. But what happens? You end up going further and further and further. You know you are going past the boundaries of your parents that they set up, but everything is really fine, and you really like the person. I went to Bible college at Crown College in Knoxville, Tennessee, Powell, Tennessee, and I can think of five young men who studied for the ministry, who were studying to be pastors, studying to be missionaries, studying to be youth pastors. I can think of five right now who thought the same thing. And they ended up having children out of wedlock. And what they thought they were gonna be able to do for the Lord, they were never able to do it. because the sin that they thought was okay, that they could handle, listen, it led them down a path that in the end, they couldn't handle it. Christian, be careful. Be careful. Be vigilant. Your adversary, the devil, is like a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour. James 1, 15 through 16, and when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, it bringeth forth death. It says, do not err, do not be deceived. And as I was studying this passage, I had initially planned to end right here. In fact, I purposely just had them read through verse 16, but as I was working on it, as I was studying, I realized, man, this is discouraging. This is, and I'm just thinking, I really want something to end the message in an encouraging note. But luckily, the Bible does just that. Let's look at verse number 17. It says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. And cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Listen, sin looks good. but God is good. Sin looks good, but God is good. And I love what it says here. Every good gift. Every good gift. There's no room there. Satan, the world, offers nothing good. Only God. You may think that you are missing out on the world if you follow God. You might think you are missing out on fun because you're following God. But listen, you're only missing out on your own funeral. You're only missing out on your own death. Follow the Lord. You will be fulfilled. You will have peace. You will have joy. And listen, can I just say this? The Christian life can also be fun. But it's actually good fun. God is the giver of all that is good. Anything that is truly good comes from God who is good. Matthew 7, 9-10, Or what man is there of you, of whom if the son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much what? More. Shall your father which is in heaven give what? Good things to them that ask him. Listen, far from being the source of temptation to do evil, God is the source of all that is good. God is the only source of good because God is good. It's not just that he is, he does things. No, he is. It is who he is. He is goodness. Every good gift, every perfect gift. Listen, how many have enjoyed a good sunrise? It's like, no, I enjoy my pillow, right? How many of you enjoy a good rain? Nah. Maybe not. But how many of you enjoyed the effects of a good rain? Food? Sustenance? Even that's from God. Matthew 5 45, that ye may be the children of your father, which is in heaven. For he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good, and he sendeth the rain on the just and on the unjust. Even that good is from God. Everything good comes from God. And can we say this with the utmost confidence, the goodness of God has never and will never change. The end of verse 17 says, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Have you ever known someone who for a very long time, known them from, I've known them from when they were this big. And then you have a conversation with them one day and you think, They are just completely different people. And to be honest, you have that probably. I've had that with my own kids. Growing up, and they go from one day just crawling around the floor going, da-da, da-da. And the next day, they're just having regular conversations with you, like, what happened? But people change. People change sometimes for the good. They change sometimes for the worse. But we can praise the Lord that no matter how much time passes, no matter what things occur, that God will never change. God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good. And the goodness of God, he does not keep it to himself. It's available. Psalm 33 5 says, he loveth the righteous, he loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is what? Full of the goodness of the Lord. Whew, that's good. Psalm 107 8-9, oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness. Can we praise the Lord for his goodness this morning? For his and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he satisfyeth the longing soul, he filleth the hungry soul with what? His goodness. There's no need to allow ourselves to be drawn away by the world. Everything we need, we can find it in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what we need to do, Psalm 31, 19. Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up. Listen, here's the condition. has laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that, what, trust in thee. When things happen, the temptation is to turn and rely on other things other than the Lord. But what I'm telling you, even though sometimes it seems like the hardest path, God says, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Go forward in the spirit. And even though it seems like the hardest path, it will lead to the greatest reward. And in the end, it will be the one that leads to the best outcome. And to be honest, it's actually the easiest path. We can know that there has 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, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape. It's kind of like this. You're going through a rainforest. You need to get out of the rainforest. You have no way to escape yourself, but God is in front of you with machete, knocking down everything in your path. And as long as you follow him, you'll escape. You don't have to be bound by the chains of sin. You don't have to give in to the desires of the flesh. This I say then, Galatians 5 16, walk in the spirit. Can I put it another way? Trust the Lord. Trust him. And he shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Before you give in to the pleasures of this world, Please know that the treasures of God are of a much greater lasting value. Christian, don't give in to temptation. Give yourself over to trusting the Lord.