Atlanta Bible Baptist Church

Guest (Male): Good morning. Scripture reading will come from the book of James chapter 1 verses 2 through 4 and we'll skip down to 12 through 15. Will you please stand with me? That's James chapter 1, 2 through 4 and skip down 12 through 15.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 12 through 15. 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.

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. Amen. You may be seated.

Pastor Ray P. Smith: God didn't say He would love the world "if." You know from the way it reads in the Greek, John 3:16, the first word in that verse is the word "so." The emphasis of that verse is on how much God loved the world. God so loved the world that it literally reads "so loved He, God, the world that His only begotten Son He gave." He loves us with an everlasting love.

If you have your copy of the scriptures or a device that contains them, I invite you to take them and turn with me to James chapter 1. Last week, we looked at James chapter 1, verse 12. We covered one verse last week and we're going to do way better today. We're going to cover three verses. James chapter 1, and we're going to look at verses 13 through 15.

The verses read, "Let no one say when he is tempted, God did it. 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's drawn away by his own desires and enticed. And then, when desire has conceived, it has a sin baby. And when the sin baby grows up, it brings death."

Father, thank you so much again for all that we've been able to see and hear and say this day. Thank you for the grace to get up, get out, get in, and get our praise on. Thank you, Father, for your word. And as we sit at your feet, we are passionate about hearing from heaven. We want to know your will, not for trivia's sake, but so that we might do your will.

And Father, we ask that you would strengthen us in your grace to listen attentively to you as you impart your truths to us. And we also, Father, ask that you would still the tongue, the activities of the evil one, that he has no part in what is said or done in the next few minutes. Bind him up. And as always, as we hear from heaven, we'll be careful to give you the praise and the honor and the thanksgiving. We ask all of these things in Jesus's name and for His sake. Amen.

Many of you know the story. A man was late for an appointment, so he parked in a no-parking zone. To prevent getting a ticket, he left a note under his windshield wiper and the note read, "I've circled this block 10 times and I have to make this appointment or my boss will be upset with me." Then he added, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

When he returned, he found a ticket on his car with a note written by the police officer. The note read, "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, my boss will be upset with me." Then he added this verse, "Lead us not into temptation." Temptation is all around us and it touches all of what we do. And this morning, I want us to talk about that as we delve a little more deeply into the book of James.

Last week, we talked about finding triumph in our trials. And when we talked about it, we said I am blessed by my trials. I'm blessed because of three things as we looked at verse 12. Number one, because of the perseverance, because only those who are seriously committed to Christ will persevere. Because of the process, we understand why God takes us through trials: to grow us and make us strong. And because of the promise that He gives that we will be rewarded with the crown of life.

But we want to follow that up in verse 12 by looking at verses 13 through 15 and talk about temptation. You know, I was tempted to put the music on, but I knew better than that. So I didn't. But we're going to look at temptation and let's look at the truth about it. I found something that I thought was interesting, so of course, I put it in my notes. It says this: think how many temptations you and I face in an ordinary day.

Staying in bed late—the temptation to laziness. Growling at the breakfast table—the temptation to unkindness. Arguing over who should change the baby this time—the temptation to selfishness. Some of you already conquered that, right? You pretend that you were asleep so your spouse would get up. Starting work 10 minutes late—the temptation to slothfulness. Losing your temper when a coworker crashes your computer—the temptation to impatience.

Flirting with that good-looking woman or taking a second look at that good-looking man—the temptation to lust. My daughter, when she was single, had this t-shirt. It said, "Do you believe in love at first sight?" and on the back it said, "Or should I walk by you again?" Refusing to speak to a person who has hurt you—the temptation to malice. Repeating a juicy story of your neighbor's misfortune—the temptation to gossip.

Lying awake at night thinking sensual thoughts—the temptation to impurity. Taking your anger out on the children after a hard day—the temptation to cruelty. Going out to eat when you can't afford it—the temptation to indulgence. Having a second helping and then a third helping—the temptation to gluttony, unless it's chocolate, because chocolate's one of the six basic food groups.

Firing off a hasty letter to a friend who hurt you—the temptation to revenge. Temptation is all around us. Temptation happens all the time. And this morning, we want to talk about temptation and we want to look at the truth about temptation. In verse 13, we learn the very first thing. It says, "Let no one say when he's tempted, I am tempted by God." Because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

In order to triumph over my temptations, I have to understand some things. At least a number of things. I won't give the number, but there are three. Yes. Number one, what is temptation? Temptation is an internal solicitation. Trials tend to be outward and they come at us, but temptations are inward and they are designed to get our hearts to act in a certain way.

An internal solicitation to do or have that which is wrong in the sight of God. That which is evil. And we decide that we want to have it anyway. Sometimes we say, "I have my mind made up, don't confuse me with the facts. I want what I want." Not only do I need to understand what temptation is, but secondly, I need to understand the reasons for temptation.

Why is temptation such a problem? Well, the first thing is because of my physical makeup. I have to understand that when I came into the world, I had a disease. That disease was sin. Everyone except for Jesus Christ has come into the world—well since Adam and Eve blew it after they sinned against the Lord—everyone born of Adam has come into this world with a disease of sin. Has come into this world selfish and self-indulgent and wanting to cling to their own kind of stuff.

And because we have that makeup, then our enemy understands that if you're going to be selfish, I'll just put some reasons out here for you to be selfish. I'll put some opportunities out here for you to explore the selfishness. If we didn't have the sin nature, we would not be addicted to sin. But we're born addicted, just as much as a crack baby is born addicted to the substance because of what the mother has done.

Our physical makeup has rendered us helpless in the sight of sin. Secondly, the reason for temptation is because of my mental processes. It's the way I think. And because I think in a certain way and the enemy knows that I think in a certain way, then he tries to game me up so that what I'm doing are the things that lead me astray. James says it like this in verse 14: "Each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires."

You can't say—remember Flip Wilson back in the day? Some of you don't know who Flip Wilson is. But he used to dress up in a dress as Geraldine and she had that saying, "The devil made me do it." That's a lie. People are still lying like that, though. But James says each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and he's enticed. And then, when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.

In those verses, he gives some stages. There are five stages to temptation. Number one, there is that desire, right? And if you have a King James, it says the word "lust." Lust is a strong desire, a craving for something that you want. A preoccupation with having that thing. We're drawn away by our own lust, our own cravings. And then we're enticed. Satan games us up. He says, "Well, you know, that looks pretty good. That sounds really good. That feels pretty good."

On and on, he uses our five senses to make us think this is okay. When I was a young man, they used to have this saying that if God didn't want me to do it, He wouldn't have given me the organs. Stupid argument, but people say it's God's fault. But Paul counters. He says, "Meats for the belly and the belly for meats." The thing that gives purpose to my stomach is food. The thing that gives purpose to food is my stomach. They just kind of go together.

He says, "But the body is not for fornication. The body is for the Lord." The thing that gives the highest purpose to my body is the will of God. He gave me a body so that I might do the things that please Him. That's why I have the body. And Satan says, "Well, rather than serve God, then why don't you do a little something that you know you like and you crave?" And I have to say no to the cravings in order to give glory to God.

But if I listen to him long enough, I'll give in. I get deceived and then, in verse 15, he goes on and he says when desire or lust has conceived. Once it's germinated in my mind, I've deceived myself into thinking that it's okay. You know, there is this classic example of that. There is this guy Samson, the strongest man on the earth. He walks about, he can do all kinds of fantastic things. But you know the story. Samson got gamed up.

I remember when I was in seminary, we were going through Judges and we were talking about Samson and how he was enamored with a Philistine woman. God was going to use that as an occasion to defeat the Philistines. But Samson got this appetite for this Philistine woman and says to his parents, "Get her for me because she pleases me." They didn't know that God was in it, but then as he broke his vows—two of them, he had one vow to go—eventually, he ran into Delilah.

She toyed with him. She says, "Tell me the secret of your strength." In the first place, if you have half a brain, say, "Well, why do you want to know that?" And then she ties you up not once, not twice. And one of the guys in seminary, he says, "What is Samson's IQ, like a five?" How in the world could you not see that the woman's trying to bring you down? Oh, but he was deluded. He would say, "I'm in love."

Love makes you stupid sometimes. Well, I can't say that. I fell in love and then I married the woman of my dreams. I described her to some of you the other day. We won't go there. But then it says when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. The next thing you know, you act on the thing that you're thinking and desiring and figuring out how to get. You're like Amnon who was in lust with his stepsister.

But you know, he just couldn't figure out she's a sibling. And he says, "I'm in love with her and I want her and I can't have her." And then he had a friend. The friend said, "Let me tell you how to get your way." And he gave him a plot and he acted on the plot and he raped his sister. And then the scripture says when he raped his sister, he hated her. In fact, it said the hatred that he had for her was stronger than the lust that he had before and he kicked her out.

And it cost him his life. It cost her biological brother his life as well. Sin brings forth death. There's disgrace that comes from following sin. Temptation's like that. It starts off small and it ends up big. Now, this is repeat, even though we know the three types of temptations we see in 1 John chapter 2 verses 15 through 17. It says this: "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

Let me read that again. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That probably needs some explanation, but when we go through 1 John, I'll explain it. "For all that is in the world"—notice those three things: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, it is from the world. The world is temporary. The world is passing away and also its lusts. The things that you crave, the things that you have to have, they're all temporary. They're not lasting.

The only thing that lasts is doing the will of God. That's eternal. But see, Satan wants me to zero in, focus my attention right now on what's in front of me, not thinking about what's down the road. In fact, I'll say every time you are tempted, it's to do something right now without thinking about the long-term consequences. But there are always consequences for sin. Always. And so you see those three, recognizing the three types: lust of the flesh, the physical appetites; lust of the eyes, coveting what we see; the pride of life, pursuing self-importance, self-prominence, that which is going to make me look good.

Those are the things that Satan waves in front of me so that I am oblivious to what God wants and what God says. I only see and want what I see in front of me. And that's exactly the game. It all began back in Genesis chapter 3. You know the story of the serpent talking to Eve. The serpent said to the woman when she said, "God says don't eat the fruit, don't touch the fruit or you'll die," he said, "You surely will not die. God knows in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God. He's holding out on you."

He's trying to game you up. He's trying to keep you on lockdown. He knows that if you eat this fruit, you're going to be like him. You won't need him anymore. And it says in verse 6, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food—lust of the flesh—and that it was a delight to the eyes—pleasant to the eyes—and that the tree was desirable to make one wise—the pride of life. Those three things, those are the only three things that Satan ever uses.

But they work most of the time. In fact, there's only one time that it didn't work. That was in the wilderness. Jesus said—excuse me, in the wilderness. And so when she saw all of that, she took the fruit and she ate it. It doesn't say that she thought about what God said because what God said and what God wanted was not in the forefront of her mind. She was preoccupied with the thing that she saw.

And that's the way temptation works. But when he ate the fruit after she had eaten the fruit, then both their eyes were opened. Then they knew, but what they knew wasn't what they thought they would know and they were ashamed. Satan has tried this on and on. We look at Matthew chapter 4, you see—I mention this because here's how to defeat the devil. You know the story. After His baptism, Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness. Why? To be tempted by the devil.

Why would He be tempted by the devil? Because we face temptation and we fall. Christ took on the same temptations. The scripture says He was tempted in every point just like we are, yet without sin. So He went out to be tempted by the devil. The devil brought his strongest three lies and Christ whipped him raggedy. And that's what we needed. We needed righteousness but we could never attain the righteousness, but Christ, He got it for us.

And then He credits it to our account if we put our trust in Him. So the serpent—I guess I could skip this because I already summarized it. Verse 2 says He became hungry. Verse 3 says after He became hungry, that's when the devil showed up with the temptation. "If you're the Son of God, command these stones to become bread." But He answered, "It is written." What did He fight the devil with? The word of God.

You know, I know people who name the name of Christ who don't read the word of God. They name the name of Christ, they don't memorize the word of God. They don't read it, they don't hear it, they don't study it, they don't memorize it, they don't meditate on it. And then they wonder why they're weak in the face of temptation. Christ quoted scripture: "Man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

So then Satan says, "Okay, is that how we're going to do this?" Verse 5, the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. And he said to Him, "If you're the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written." Satan quotes scripture too. He takes it out of context. He abuses it. How many people do you know stand up in pulpits and say, "God wants to bless you, but you gotta plant some seed money then he'll give you some money"?

And they all have the same story. They say, "I had this hoopty that I was driving and then I gave away my hoopty and God gave me a nice car. And then I gave away my nice car, He gave me a better car." They all share the same story. Now, what book did you all read to get that story from? Because they all share the same story. And they all talk about how rich and prosperous God wants you to be and it all starts with what you give money to them.

P.T. Barnum said there's a sucker born every minute. And sometimes we prove it that we give into that stuff. For those of you that are much older, you remember Reverend Ike saying, "You can't lose with the stuff I use." That mess, lying to people. Well, Satan, he lies. He twists scripture. And then the Psalms, it says He'll command His angels concerning you and on your hand they'll bear you up so that you will not strike your foot against the stone on their hands.

But Jesus said on the other hand, the scripture also says—you gotta compare scripture with scripture so you aren't deceived—you don't put the Lord your God to the test. So the three-trick pony has already tried two tricks that didn't work. He's got one trick left. And so in verses 8 through 11, the devil took Him on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory. And he says, "All these I'll give you if you fall down and worship me."

Then Jesus said to him, "Go"—get lost, beat it, Satan—"for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only." Then the devil left. He said, "Alright, I tried my three tricks, ain't nothing working. I'm out." And then angels came to minister to Him. You know, I'm going to read you something that I found this past week. It says there is almost nothing like it in the world to see the eyes and expression on a little boy's face the very first time he experiences it.

Little boys dream about it. Old men still tell about it with great excitement and enthusiasm. Nothing else compares to the thrill of fishing or fighting to bring in your very first giant rainbow trout. Now, I know nothing about that and ain't interested in learning. But I know some of you are fishermen and you live for fishing. But the experienced and wise fisherman knows that to catch the really big ones, it takes more than a worm and a hook. It takes cunning, forethought, and imagination.

The great anglers know that temptation is the name of the game. The process begins by a serious study of their prey. What does the fish like? His habits, his environment. The angler then tries to fabricate a bait that will grab his attention, arouse desire, and lure the fish into biting the illusion. The bait is made of hair or feathers. It's constructed in such a way that when the fish sees it, he'll think, "That's the most unusual fly I've ever seen. It looks big and fat and juicy. I bet it tastes great. If I don't grab it now, I'll never know just how good and satisfying it is. Oh, I can't resist." And then, pow!

Through the enticement of a lie, the fish finds not satisfaction but death. The devil is a great and skillful angler. His bait has never changed, just three things, but he's using it and he's fishing for you. How do you beat him at his game? Let me end by giving you four strategies for turning down temptation. Number one, I can fight. That's what Jesus did, right? Matthew 4 verses 1 actually through 11, Jesus, He quoted scripture and the devil high-tailed it.

I can fight the evil one. I can draw close to God and then He'll draw close to me. I can resist the devil and then the devil will flee. I can fight him. 1 Corinthians 10:13, I was so tempted to put it down but I'm like, oh wait, I don't need to put that verse down because half the congregation is taken 2-7 and you already know 1 Corinthians 10:13. Gene is shaking his head. That's a shame.

He's probably shaking his head not because he doesn't know the verse. In fact, I know if I would say, "Gene, stand up and quote that verse," he could stand up and quote the verse. But I'm not going to do that to him. You all don't want to hear Gene quote the verse, right? Nobody wants to hear you quote the verse, Gene. I won't do him like that. I like Gene. Albert raised his hand. He's like, "I'll take his place." But that's okay. You didn't say that. Okay.

Alright, let's say it together. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above that which you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. Well, I know NIV ladies have a different spin on it, but it's the same verse. But you get the point, right?

It's not something new. God provides the way of escape. You don't have to stay there and fall into sin. I can fight because God strengthens me. Secondly, I can flee. I can get my hat. I can do a Joseph, right? When Mrs. Potiphar came after Joseph, he said, "No, no, no, not you, you're his wife." One day he was in the house, she grabbed him by his coat. He left the coat and he was running out in his Fruit of the Looms. He was getting away.

Sometimes you say, "Well, I can stay and say no, stop." You better get your hat and get away from the temptation. I can flee. In fact, I put those two verses down for you so you won't think I made that up. Number one, 2 Timothy 2:22: "Flee from youthful lusts." You say "I'm old now," you still got youthful lusts. They're in your heart, you just can't do nothing about them. You still need to flee so you don't say something stupid.

Flee youthful lusts and pursue—the flip side of that coin. You don't just run away from sin, you gotta pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. You gotta surround yourself with people who love God and who will strengthen you and hold you accountable to keep your commitment to God. Satan loves to isolate you because by yourself you're not that strong.

But when you're surrounded by others, a threefold cord is not easily broken, Solomon says in Ecclesiastes. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says, "Flee immorality." Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body. The immoral man sins against his own body. You hurt yourself when you do that. And Satan says, "Well, it'll be fun. Two minutes of fun and a lifetime of misery." I know several brothers who are married, they're raising families, but you know, they got kids that they gotta support. They gotta take care of because they sowed some oats and those oats harvested and now they gotta pay. Don't sin against your own body.

Number three, I can feed. Psalm 119 verse 11, I love the verse and you should memorize the verse if you haven't memorized it already. How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word. With my all my heart I've sought you. Do not let me wander from your commandments. A sheep wanders because a sheep grazes with his head down and he doesn't look up. Sometimes he'll graze right into a bramble bush and get stuck because he's not looking where he's going.

He's got his head down. Or he'll be grazing and the shepherd is going that way. He's not paying attention and he looks up and he's lost. He doesn't know where he is and he doesn't know how to find his way back. That's why when the shepherd counts the sheep, he has 100 but now there're only 99. There's one out there. He's gotta go get that sheep because sheep are absolutely defenseless and he's not going to survive the night. He's going to be mutton for a predator.

He says, "Don't let me wander from your commandments. Your word I've treasured in my heart." That's why I like this translation. "I treasure it in my heart that I might not sin, I may not sin against you." You know, I have all the old copies of Discipleship Journal before they quit publishing it. And I found this back in 1992. January 12th of 1992, they did a survey and they had their readers rank the greatest spiritual challenge to them.

The top eight: number one, materialism; number two, pride; number three, self-centeredness; number four, laziness; number five, there was a tie between anger and bitterness and sexual lust; number six, envy; number seven, gluttony; number eight, lying. But then the thing that caught my attention and the reason I put it in my notes, it says survey respondents noted that temptations were more potent when, one, they had neglected their time with God—81 percent.

And when they were physically tired—57 percent. Fatigue makes cowards of us all. That's why Elijah ran when Jezebel threatened him. He was tired. Resisting temptation was accomplished by these things: number one, prayer—84 percent. Number two, avoiding compromising situations. Sometimes you don't need to be there. And if you weren't there, you wouldn't be in trouble. The writer of Proverbs says, "Turn your foot away from evil."

Some places you don't need to be. You say all my friends want to go. Well, you let your friends go, but you don't need to be there. There's nothing good for you there. I realized there's nothing good on TV after 11 o'clock. Anyway, I won't go there either. Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer, avoiding compromising situations, third by Bible study, and fourth by being accountable to someone. Those things kept them from falling into temptation and it'll keep you.

You have to delight yourself in what God says. I put Psalm 119 down again from The Message. It says how can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your word. God in His word, He maps out a strategy for success in life. And if you follow the road map, if you follow the guidelines, if you follow the steps, you'll be okay. But when you say I don't need that, I think I can make it up by myself, then that's when you fall.

He says, "I'm single-minded in pursuit of you. Don't let me miss the road signs you post." And then he says, "I banked your promises in the vault of my heart." I love that. Because if I bank it, that means it's precious, it's important. I want it. I want to safeguard it. I want to keep it. I treasure God's word so I won't send myself bankrupt. I don't want to mess up my life because I was stupid. God gives me the wisdom in His word to not be stupid.

The last thing, the fourth strategy: I can be filled. The scripture says that if you walk in the spirit, you walk by the spirit, you won't fulfill the desires of the flesh. The lusts of the flesh, they won't overcome you, overtake you if you're filled with God's spirit. Galatians 5:16 through 21 says it like this: "But I say walk by the spirit, you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh."

The cravings in your body that Satan has designed the whole world system to cause you to pursue, they fight against the very thing God wants you to do, the very call of God in your life. And what the spirit calls you to do and to be is the opposite of what the world treasures. The two don't go together. These are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the spirit, you let Him call the shots.

You're not under the law. Notice He says the deeds of the flesh are evident. How could you know if you're following the dictates of your flesh? Well, you look at the fruit, look at the results. He says the deeds are evident: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing and things like this of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you.

Those who practice those things will not inherit the kingdom of God. There are people that say, "Well, I prayed to receive Christ, but you know, I don't always do the thing He wants." Where'd you get that from? That's not in scripture. There are people who say they're Christians, say they've been saved, they receive Christ as savior and Lord, and then they're pursuing a lifestyle that's just the opposite of what Christ says He wants. There's a dead monkey on the vine somewhere. I didn't make that up. Tony Evans said that.

Those who live like that won't inherit the kingdom of God. Well, my time's gone. Let me end. What does God want me to know? What does He want me to feel? What does He want me to do? Let me give you these four points. Number one, the Right Guard keeps your heart. You know, Right Guard, the antiperspirant keeps you from sweating, but the real Right Guard is the one that guards your heart.

I put Green because Steve Green used to have this song way back in the 90s. He says "Guard your heart, don't trade it for treasure, don't give it away. Guard your heart as a payment for pleasure, it's a high price to pay." And I love that song. Guard your heart and the spirit will strengthen you, He will guide you to guard your heart. Number two, neither God nor the devil made you do it. God doesn't tempt anyone and the devil won't make you do anything, he'll just nudge you and give you reasons why you can.

I read this: in March 2009, there was a 62-year-old woman who was charged with stealing more than 73,000 dollars from her church in the state of Washington. When the detectives interrogated her, she told them Satan had a big part in that theft. Really? The devil made you do it? No, he didn't. You're just roguish. Don't blame the devil for your decision to bite, to nibble, to be reeled in by sin. He doesn't make you.

He lays land mines but you can go around them. You know what God says in His word, you don't have to walk into that stuff. And if you do, don't blame anybody else because it's your fault. You own all the choices. Number three, the Game of Thrones is immoral. Now, I've never seen the series Game of Thrones. A lot of people liked it. But then when I was reading about it and they said there isn't a single episode where there isn't a sex scene. I'm like, okay, I don't need to see that.

So I never watched that. I say Game of Thrones, it's immoral. But what I put that up there because who sits on the throne? Who makes the decisions in your life? An immoral decision says I'm my own boss. I want to make my own decisions, I want to call the shots. No, Christ has already earned the right to call the shots. He died for you. He died to cover your sin, to take away sin.

And the scripture says in Him is no sin. So the one who keeps on sinning doesn't know Him. If He sits on the throne of your life, you won't walk in sin. I'm not saying you won't ever fall into sin. But I'm saying you won't practice habit patterns of sin because He'll deliver you from that. And He'll give you new desires. He'll sit on the throne. You need to surrender your heart to Christ.

And then finally, to defeat temptation, I say stick a fork in it. And what do I mean by that? Well, every fork that I've ever seen has four prongs. So four things: how do I deal with temptation? I can fight, I can flee, I can feed, and I can be filled. Stick a fork in it and then you won't fall into temptation. People are watching you and people know exactly how Christians are supposed to live.

A number of years ago, the Douglas Aircraft Company was competing with Boeing to sell Eastern Airlines its first big jets. The head of Eastern Airlines was a war hero named Eddie Rickenbacker. And he told Donald Douglas that the specifications and claims made by Douglas's company for his DC-8 were close to Boeing on everything except noise suppression. So Rickenbacker gave Douglas one last chance to out-promise Boeing for this feature.

After consulting with his engineers, Douglas reported that he didn't feel that he could make that promise. He said, "I know what you want me to do, but I can't in all honesty do that." Rickenbacker said this to him: "I know you can't. I just wanted to see if you were still honest." People are watching me. And people, they know that the scriptures call for the Christian to walk in truth, to walk in holiness, to walk in righteousness, to walk in purity. They know how you should live. And they know when you're not living as you should.

God is calling you to defeat temptation, to walk away from temptation, to walk in His victory. And everybody benefits when you walk with the Lord. Father, thank you so much again for this day and thank you for your word. The truth about temptation is that Satan designs it to cause us to fall. But you allow difficulties, you allow trials to make us strong. You strengthen us by your grace so that we're stronger and we don't fall.

And I thank you for that. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your strength. Thank you for your Spirit who strengthens us. And Father, I pray now if there's anyone here or perhaps under the sound of my voice as it goes out through social media, I pray that your Spirit might get a hold of their hearts. If they've never received Jesus Christ in the pardoning of their sins, they're still on lockdown. They're still spiritually under your judgment. They're still dead in trespasses and sins.

But they don't have to stay that way. Father, Christ died to set them free, to give them life, to redeem them. And I pray that you might open their eyes and give them the grace to bow the knee of their hearts and receive Christ as Savior and Lord. I pray for those of us who've received Christ that for Christ's sake, for His honor, for His glory, for the benefit of those around us, we'll add value by walking in your truth. We'll be smart enough to avoid temptation or we'll resist it so that you might be glorified. We ask these things in Jesus's name and for His sake. Amen.