Introduction
Turn please to the book of James. You will remember that we’re preaching through the book of James—a very practical book—we call it religion in shoe leather, that is the book of James, very practical religion. Hmm, or religion in street clothes.
And, today we want to talk about “The Anatomy of a Sin,” or “Look for the Hook.” And, I want to read, please, James chapter 1, beginning in verse 13. That’s where we left off with our preaching last. Verse 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:”— with evil, that’s implied, but certainly there—“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:13–15).
Now, you will remember that the book of James uses the word temptation in two senses, with two meanings. Some temptations are tests. They’re trials, they’re not an inducement to do evil, but simply the tests, and the trials, and the hardships of life that come to us. These are sent by God in order to make a stand, but there are other temptations that are inducements to do evil—solicitation to sin—which is sent by Satan to make us stumble, not to make us stand. They’re not sent to strengthen us, but to weaken us and to destroy us. And, it is that kind of a temptation that we’re dealing with this morning. The temptation to sin, the inducement to evil.
And, you’d better listen because the devil has already made plans to sabotage your life. The devil has already dug his pit that he wants you to fall in today. And, you’re going to be bombarded the rest of your life with unbelievable temptations in every area, and it is so important that you learn not to succumb, not to be taken by the devil. Three things I want us to notice this morning, point number one: a definite possibility. Point number two: a divine impossibility. And, point number three: a direct responsibility.
I. A Definite Possibility
All right, are you ready? First of all, let’s look at the definite possibility. Verse 13: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God…” (James 1:13)—just underscore the phrase “when he is tempted.” It doesn’t say if he is tempted. It says when he is tempted.
Dear friend, you’re going to be tempted. You say, “Not me, I’m a Christian.” Jesus was tempted in all points like as you are. And, you’re not immune to temptation because you’re a Christian. To the contrary, the temptations will increase, they will not diminish. Did you know that? Many people don’t know that. Many people think that if you are a Christian, and especially if you’re a good Christian, you’re not going to have any temptations. Jesus had temptations and so will you.
Sometimes people say, “Oh, I wish I didn’t have to work in an ol’ office. I wish I could be a preacher. I just wish that I could be a minister of the gospel so I wouldn’t know any temptations. Don’t you know that the devil aims his biggest guns at God’s preachers? Don’t you know that? Of course he does. So would you if you were the devil.
All of us suffer temptation. The minute you become a friend of God you become an enemy of Satan. And, when God opens the windows of Heaven to bless us, the devil opens the doors of Hell to blast us. That’s something that we need to learn. I tell these new Christians, when they come down here and give their heart to Jesus Christ, “If you’ve never met the devil, it’s because you and the devil have been going in the same direction. You turn around; you’ll meet him head on, if you’re a Christian.” Can you say amen to that? Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.
There was one man who was—he worked for this mean cruel boss. His mean cruel boss wasn’t a Christian. This man was. He’d recently been found, but he’d recently been found by the Lord, or had found Christ, and he was somewhat unlettered, but he loved the Lord fervently. But, he was always telling his boss that the devil was dogging his footsteps and that he was having difficulty with temptation. One day they were talking about it while they were out duck hunting and the boss said to him, “Sam,” he said, “you’re a strange preacher. You claim to be a Christian and yet you’re always talking about wrestling with temptation, the devil always being after you.” He said, “I’m not even a Christian; I make no pretense of being a Christian. The devil never bothers me, how do you explain that?” He said, “Well, Boss, suppose we shoot two ducks. One of them falls dead and the other is still flopping in the water. Which one are we going to go after first?” “Well,” he said, “the one that’s still flopping.” He said, “That’s right boss. The devil knows you are a dead duck.” And that’s true. The devil doesn’t have to worry about some of you. He’s already—you’re dead—and at least if the devil’s after you it’s a sign of life. It’s a sign of life.
And, and there are going to be temptations. All people everywhere meet temptations. Whether you’re saved or whether you’re lost, but if you’re a child of God the strength of the temptation may increase, but the strength to overcome the temptation will increase also, and it makes it very glorious. But, don’t get proud. Don’t think that you come to the place where no longer you’re going to be tempted. That’s
absolutely ridiculous. The Bible says, “…let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). And, the proud man tempts the devil to tempt him. May I say that again? The proud man tempts the devil to tempt him. And, so there is a definite possibility when he is tempted.
II. A Divine Impossibility
Now, the second thing I want you to notice is a divine impossibility. Verse 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:” (James 1:13) with evil. Now the word “with evil” is supplied, but that of course is inferred. God does not tempt us with evil, because God cannot be tempted with evil. It is absolutely impossible to be—for God to do any tempting.
You see, man by nature wants to blame his sin on God. You didn’t know that did you? But, a lot of what we call the alibiing and the excuses for sin are really just blaming our sin on God. Now, most people don’t just come out and say, “God made me sin.” No, they’re more clever than that. They have sort of a disguised way of saying that, “God tempted me.”
Do you remember in the Garden of Eden? Well, of course you don’t remember, you weren’t there, not most of you. But, when Adam sinned and God came walking in the midst of the Garden—and God remonstrated with Adam about his sin. Do you remember Adam’s little neat alibi? Adam said, “The woman thou gavest me. She gave me to eat and I did sin” (Genesis 3:12). Now, really God, it wasn’t my fault. It was either her fault, or your fault. “The woman thou gavest me.” Now, that sounded pretty good. It really is not my fault. I’m not really guilty God. You did it to me, you placed me in this situation.
Someone said that God blamed Adam. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent and the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on. Well, let me tell you something, friend, Adam was the one who didn’t have a leg to stand on. Adam wanted to blame God. He just wanted to make it look like, well, it’s just circumstances, it’s just my environment.
Now, James is just going to pull the rug out from underneath you if you’re trying to blame God. He says, “Now, there are two things that are impossible. Number one: it’s impossible for God to be tempted with evil.” You can’t tempt God with evil. The devil can’t dangle any bait in front of God that God is going to go after. Why? Because God has it all. There’s nothing God needs, there’s nothing God wants. He is sufficient in Himself and God has no itch the devil can scratch, and God is completely whole.
But, not only is God completely whole, God is completely holy. He is the complete other of sin. He is the antithesis of sin. It is absolutely impossible that God could be tempted. Someone says, “Well, now wait a minute, wasn’t Jesus tempted, and wasn’t Jesus God?” Yes, Jesus was tempted, and Jesus was God, but Jesus was more than God. Jesus was also man. Jesus shared our humanity, and in his humanity Jesus was tempted, but in his deity, Jesus was without sin. Praise His holy name.
But, God in His essence, in His nature, in His divine nature as God, God cannot be tempted with evil. And, also God cannot tempt with evil. There’s something about sin that makes a person want to share it. Have you ever noticed how those who drink will try to get others to drink? Those who smoke try to get others to smoke. Those who commit immorality, they try to get others to do it. That is why Satan tried to induce Eve to sin, because he was a sinner. He has a product that he wants to export. Well, the product that God exports is godliness, and God does not tempt people to sin. And, so no one can say, “God tempted me.”
You see, if you could say God tempted you, then you would have a perfect alibi—a perfect alibi—because you can fight God. I mean, everything God does, He does well. And, so if God places you in a situation that is beyond your control—whatsoever—then you are able to blame God.
Now, we’re still doing this today. We don’t say, “The woman thou gavest me.” Here’s what we say today, “The ghetto I was raised in,” or, “The glands that I inherited,” you see? We somehow want to still blame God. You know, “The parents that raised me.”
“My mama warped my psyche because she wouldn’t let me push my mush off the high- chair.” And, “Something happened to me,” and that’s the psychology today. “That man is not evil, he’s just ill, man is not sinful, he’s just sick.” “It’s not really his fault. It’s something that just happened to him.”
And, man is still saying to God, “God the woman thou gavest me,” the background thou gavest me, the parents thou gavest me, the body thou gavest me, the environment thou gavest me, and God won’t buy it friend. God’s not buying it. There’s one thing that God will never accept for sin and that is an alibi. “…God tempteth no man with evil, neither can he be tempted with evil” (James 1:13). But, oh what good alibiers we are. You ask a man, “Say, why do you drink?” He says, “Why do I drink? Man, I drink because my wife nags me all the time. It’s the only escape. Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag, that’s why I drink.” Say to her, “Why do you nag him all the time?” “Nag him, why wouldn’t I? Drink, drink, drink, drink, drink. That’s all he ever does, drink.” Everybody can give you a reason for why they do everything, rather than say, “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me. O God, standing in the need of prayer.” There is a definite possibility that you’re going to be tempted. There is a divine impossibility that God can be tempted with evil or that God will tempt you with evil. You cannot be tempted. God cannot be tempted with evil.
III. A Direct Responsibility
Now, the third thing, and the most important thing that I want us to say this morning, is the direct responsibility therefore. Here James, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, puts the responsibility for sin right directly where it belongs. Look, if you will, in verse 14: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren” (James 1:14–16).
Somewhere I hear a little baby crying, and if that mama doesn’t know it we have a nursery that’d be happy to take care of that precious baby. Sometimes people don’t know that we do have a nursery.
All right, now look, I want you to notice this direct responsibility. I want you to notice that sin is an inside job. Do you have that? Sin is an inside job. It’s not something that happens from without. It is something that happens primarily—primarily—within. Sin is an inside job. Here James doesn’t even say that the devil made you do it. You can’t say, “The devil made me do it.” You’re going to have to say, “I did it all by myself with just a little help from my friends.”
Now, let me give you the illustration. James illustrates it by an immoral woman seducing a man, or by an immoral man seducing a woman. Now, of course, if he or she is seduced, it’s a sign that both are immoral. It’s a thin pancake that doesn’t have two sides, but I want you to notice that is the figure of speech that he’s talking about.
Now, he’s not just merely talking about sexual sin. He’s not merely talking about the sin of adultery, and fornication and immorality. But, he is using that kind of a sin as an illustration of all kinds of sin. There’s a certain seductiveness to sin. And, so I want you to notice what James says about the anatomy of a sin, and you’ll understand why I called it, “Look for the Hook.”
Now, he says in verse 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: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (James 1:13–14).
Now, this word “drawn away” is a word that is a fisherman’s word. That’s literally what the word means, in the original language. It is a term that would describe a fisherman who catches a fish by using a special bait or a lure. And, here’s the fisherman, he knows that Mr. Bass is out there somewhere, and he’s trying to out think Mr. Bass, and so he says, “I just believe Mr. Bass is hungry for this particular fly.” And, he takes it off his hat and puts it on there. Or, Mr. Bass is hungry for this particular worm, or Mr. Bass would like this particular spinner.
Now, he’s trying to out think Mr. Bass. And, then that fisherman takes that rod, and that reel, and he throws it out there just right. Well, Mr. Bass is up under that log, and he knows there’s a lily pad there, and it lands in the water, makes a little ripple, and then Mr. Fisherman waits for a moment and he twitches it once. Reels it a little, and lets it sit there, then he twitches it again. And, ol’ Mr. Bass is watching it, and watching it and
there’s something in Mr. Bass that says, “I want that.” And, so suddenly Mr. Bass can stand it no longer, and he just explores, and gobbles it up and he finds out it’s got a hook in it and the fight is on.
Now, that’s the word that James is using. Every man is drawn away of his own lust. First of all, it’s like a courtship. Do you know how some of these woman get a man? Just like a fisherman gets a fish. Do you know why they call them hookers? Boy, I’ll tell you—thank you sir for that testimonial. You think about it, think about it. What do they call a prostitute? A hooker, a hooker. Uh huh, see, look for the hook. Forget the bait, look for the hook. There’s a hook there. The devil always has a hook. Oh, the bait looks good.
Now, some of you, you say, “Well, that’s—I’m not tempted that way.” Well, the devil knows what kind of bait to get you with. Remember, James is only using an illustration. You see, he threw out three separate baits to Jesus. First of all, turn these stones to bread. He baited his hook with bread. Jesus said, “I’m not going to take that bait.” And, then he said, “Cast yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple” (Luke 4:9) and he baited the bread with pride, and Jesus wouldn’t go for that bait. And, then he took the bait of materialism and threw it out. You see, the devil was fishing, fishing, fishing. But, Jesus refused to take the bait. He refused, but the devil is a fisherman.
A. The Courtship
And, so the first thing I want you to see is the courtship, the courtship. There’s—the devil comes along, and he sort of courts you, he sort of tantalizes you with a sin. He dangles it in from of you. It may be lust, it may be pride, it may be envy, it may be dishonesty, it may be revenge, it may be any one of a myriad number of sins. That’s the courtship.
B. The Consent
Then secondly, there is the consent, the consent. The courtship is the word drawn away, but the consent is the word enticed. It literally means trapped. You see, there’s no sin yet when the bait is dangled, there’s no sin. It’s not a sin for Satan to cast a lure out in front of you. But, while you can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, you can keep them from making a nest in your hair. And, while you can’t keep the devil from casting temptations in front of you, there comes a time when you consent to that temptation, and then when you do the hook is set. When you say, “I will.” You see, an unholy marriage takes place. Down the aisle comes a desire, an unholy desire and coming from the other side comes the will and the Satan and the devil presides over that ceremony. When the will and the lust agree, when the will says I do to the lust, then a marriage, an unholy marriage takes place.
C. The Conception
First of all there’s the courtship. Then there is the consent. Then there is the “I do,” and when that happens, the hook is set and the battle is on. The next step is the conception because out of this marriage, there comes a child. I want you to look at it— look at it. Every man is tempted, when he’s drawn away—that’s the courtship—of his own lust and entice—that’s the consent—and when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin—that is the conception.
Now, he’s talking about an unholy marriage here that produces an unholy child. And, the child of lust, and the will is sin. And, “lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin” (James 1:15).
Now, at first it doesn’t seem bad at all, no siree. I mean, after all when a baby is born, that’s pretty happy time, most of the time. And, most people are pretty proud of their sin. They say, “Oh, what a beautiful baby. This is wonderful.” And, they have a good time. Do you know the mistake that some preachers make? They try to tell young people that there’s no fun in sin. That’s ridiculous. Or, they try to say there’s no pleasure in sin. That’s ridiculous. Man, there are folks out there living in sin having the time of their life. Don’t you know that?
And, sometimes preachers meaning—meaning awfully, and but silly—will go to a high school auditorium and tell the kids, “Now kids you can’t go out here and get drunk, and have any fun. And, you can’t run around and commit fornication, and have any fun. Man, come down to the church, that’s where the fun is.” That makes me sick to hear that kind of stuff. Man, the kids are too smart. They’re having the time of their lives. They’re having barrels full of fun. There is pleasure in sin. The Bible speaks of the pleasures of sin. And, when the lust and the will consent, and there’s a conception and a baby is born—and that sin is fun. They say, “Wow, this is great, what a beautiful baby.” The pleasures of sin. But, the Bible says, “The pleasures of sin are but for season” (Hebrews 11:25). See, don’t forget that: but for season.
You see, the devil is too smart to go fishing without any bait on his hook. A man was walking down the road one time and he had a basket on his arm. And, in that basket he had some pods of beans, and he was dropping them out on the ground, and there was a herd of swine following along gobbling up those beans. And, someone said, “Mister, that’s a strange way to feed your pigs.” “Oh,” he said, “I’m not feeding them. This is the way I take them to the slaughterhouse.” Amen.
You see, the devil has a basket on his arm, and in it are the pleasures of sin. There first all is the courtship. He just dangles it in front of you. Then, after the courtship there’s the consent, when the will says I do. And, after the consent, there is the conception, an unholy union of the will and the lust, and a child is born. And, the name
of that child is sin. Listen to it. And, lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth—or giveth birth to, that’s what it means—sin.
D. The Completion
Oh, but it’s not finished yet. I want you to see, not only the courtship, and the consent and the conception. I want you to see the completion—the completion. You see, that’s where we fail to understand. Look at the completion, if you will, here in this verse of scripture. And, it says and, “when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15). The completion. You see, you need to see the finished product of the devil’s army.
The reason that some people don’t fear sin is they don’t look far enough ahead. They don’t see sin when it is finished. Now, we Christians—who sometimes are not up on our sanctification—we excuse ourselves by saying to someone, “Don’t be too hard on me, the devil’s not finished with me yet.” Well, that’s pretty good, excuse me, the Lord’s not finished with me yet.” Don’t be too hard on me, the Lord’s not finished with me yet.”
Well, I want to say to you, if you are not a Christian, and you’re feeling that you’re doing pretty good right now, don’t be too easy on you, the devil’s not finished with you yet. The devil, you see, sin when it is finished. There are a lot of people who are being pretty easy on themselves because they have not seen the finished product, the finished product of the devil’s art. The child of lust is sin, and the child of sin is death. That’s the devil’s LSD—lust, sin, death—there is the progression. Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. That’s the completion of the whole thing.
You see, you need to see the total product. Dr. Robert G. Lee used to say, “You can eat the devil’s corn if you want to, but he’ll choke you on the cob.” Amen. You see, “The bread of deceit is sweet, but afterward, a man’s mouth shall be filled with gravel” (Proverbs 20:17).
Let’s just look at some scriptures. We’re talking about the finished product of the devil’s art. Turn to Proverbs chapter 23 for a moment. If we have enough time—you’ve been listening real fast—all right, Proverbs chapter 23 and look in verse 32, or let’s begin in verse 31: “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright” (Proverbs 23:31). Did you know there are few things on earth more beautiful than a glass of wine—ruby red, sparkling—the bubbly they call it, right? “It moveth itself aright.”
Say, I want to ask you a question. Have you ever noticed that the most tantalizing and beautiful advertisements are generally the liquor and cigarette advertisements? Have you ever noticed that? I mean, have you ever seen that Four Roses advertisement, and those roses frozen there in that cake of ice or something? God makes the beautiful rose and they use that to advertise booze with. Have you ever seen that? Or, the cigarette ads where they show you a beautiful mountain scene, and the clear running creek or, you know, all of this. They make it look so beautiful, and it’s just so tantalizing. Man, you just almost want to lick your chops when you see it. And, the little beads of frost on the outside the glass. And oh, they spent thousands and thousands of dollars making their bait, ’cause you are the poor fish they want. And, oh, I’m telling you, they know the bait. Listen, these fellows are in the tackle business, and they know how just to do it.
But, you see, you need to look for the hook. I want you to see now, continue to read here in The Word of God, here in verse 32, look at what he says—in verse 31, it’s described so beautifully here. Proverbs 23, verse 32: “At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder” (Proverbs 23:32). Not at the beginning, at the last—sin when it is finished.
When I was down in Florida, I had an artist to paint for me a sign that I put on our parking lot. And, he showed a picture of a man in an alley with a beer bottle in his hand by a garbage can, with a big ol’ rat, about that long, running past. And, this man was passed out, holding that beer bottle in his hand, and underneath I put these words: “The finished product of the brewer’s art.” At that time there was a particular brand of beer that had for their byline: “The finest product of the brewer’s art.” I just changed it a little bit and said, “The finished product of the brewer’s art.” Well, one day I got a telephone call from Mr. Brewer himself and he said, “Mr. Rogers, I need to see you.” I said, “I’ll meet you in my office in five minutes.” And, I knew what he wanted to talk about, but I acted like I didn’t. I said, “What do you want to talk about?” “Well,” he said, “it’s that sign of yours out there.” I said, “What about it?” He said, “I believe it discriminates on my product.” I said, “Mister, I want you to know that your product is brewed with tears, thickened with blood, and flavored with death. And, if I were you I’d get on my knees right now and ask God to have mercy on me.” Well, he wasn’t expecting that. I think he wanted an apology.
“Well,” he said, “if you want to talk that way about it,” he said, “I believe that discriminates against my product and is grounds for a lawsuit.” I said, “Wonderful, sue. I’d like to see this picture on the front page of the newspaper.” I said, “You know, you’ve got a lot of nerve. You’re constantly bombarding our young people, constantly. You’re painting the most beautiful scenes that the artist can imagine, and you’re coming by means of radio, by means of television, by means of newspaper, by means of billboards and everything else telling these kids to drink that stuff. And, you only show half the picture, and I put one measly sign on a parking lot of a church and you got your hackles up.” I said, “I’ll make a deal, you take your signs down, I’ll take my down.” Amen.
They don’t want to show the finished product. They don’t want to show the drunkard in the gutter, covered with his own vomit and flies. They don’t want to show the broken homes. They don’t want to show the wrecked automobiles. They don’t want to show the wills that have been snapped, and the marriages that have been broken. They don’t want to show that. They don’t want to show the serpents bite. All they want to show, all they want to show is the glass that sparkles aright, you see.
You better be wise friend, you better look for the hook. Sin when it is finished—the finished product of the devil’s art. Let me give you another illustration. Look please in Proverbs 5 for a moment. Here we’re going to talk a little bit about not only the sin of drinking, but the sin of immorality. Proverbs chapter 5, beginning in verse 3: “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil” (Proverbs 5:3). Now, he’s talking about the immoral woman, the loose woman, the playgirl. And, oh, she’s so tantalizing. And, the devil’s worked hard on this bait. The lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb— honey lips. Her mouth is smoother than oil. Oh, brother, does she have a line. She knows all of the philosophies of why and how this is not wrong. Everybody does it, it’s all right. And, who could refuse that, if that’s as far as they look. But, I want you to see the finished product of the devil’s art here. I want you to go on and read the next verse, verse 4: “But her end”—or the end of that way— “is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell” (Proverbs 5:4–5). You’d better see the finished product, sin when it is finished, when it is finished. You must have been a beautiful baby, but baby look at you now. You see, this is in The Word of God, young people, so that you might learn. Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished.
Now, you know, I’ve got some self-righteous materialists who are listening to me right now, and you wouldn’t think of getting drunk, and you wouldn’t think of committing immorality, and so you’re feeling pretty good. Let me give you another verse. Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 11. We’re talking about the finished product now. This talks about the sin of materialism: “As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool” (Jeremiah 17:11).
Now, you see, when a man gets riches and not by right. That is when he gets tainted money—’tain’t his—but he gets it and he seems to be enjoying it, he looks fine. But, the Bible says, “look past it, look past it, go on down to the end. He’s going to die in the midst of his days. He’s going to leave it and at its end, he’ll be a fool.” Not now, but then. See, the finished product.
You say, “Well, I don’t steal. I’m just a good businessman.” Well, what you do sir— some of you—you’re so shrewd that what you do is not unlawful, it’s just immoral. You take advantage of people. Or, some of you don’t even do that, but you’re just workaholics. You know, sometimes we tell our young people, “Make all the money you can, just so you make it honestly.” That’s not good advice. That’s hellish advice. Nobody has a right to make all the money he can, because if he makes all the money he can he’ll be making money when he ought to be doing something else. He’ll be making money when he ought to be praying. He’ll be making money when he ought to be soul winning. He’ll be making money when he ought to be in the house of God. He makes money his God when he makes all the money he can. There’s nothing wrong with making money. It’s “the Lord thy God that giveth the power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18). We talked about this last week, but I’m telling you sir, that if you are a materialist, you had better see the finished product, you’d better look for the hook. He will leave them “in the midst of his days and at his end, he’ll be a fool.”
You see, the Bible tells us this over and over again, in Proverbs chapter, verse 12: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:35). “The end thereof, friend, don’t look at a thing for what it is, look at it for where it is headed. There is a definite possibility, and that is you’ll be tempted, even today. There is a divine impossibility that God could be doing the tempting. There is a direct responsibility, “every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” and “…lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14–15).
IV. Jesus Christ is the Answer to Temptation
Now, what is the answer to it all? The answer of course is Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ and Him alone. Only through Jesus can you live as you ought to live. Why? You see, a man falls into temptation, a woman falls into temptation, because they’re trying to satisfy something within them. I want to tell you that God made you. God so made you that you can never be satisfied, unless you’re satisfied with Jesus Christ. Are you listening?
A. Because He Satisfies
God made a fish to swim in the sea. God made a bird to soar through the air. And, God made you to know Him, and to love Him, and to serve Him. God did something for you that He didn’t do for any of the other creation. God put within you a spirit. God made you in His image, and you are restless, and you will be restless until you rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Until you know Jesus Christ you’ll be like a fish in a tree. You’ll be like a bird in the sea. You’ll be a misfit. You’ll be like a round peg in a square hole. You will not find rest and satisfaction until you find it in Jesus.
And, the devil goes along, and the devil sees that desire that you have. A legitimate, God-given desire, and he tries to get you to satisfy a legitimate desire in a illegitimate way, and that my friend is sin. But, in and through Jesus your desires can be satisfied the right way. You see, that’s the way to overcome temptation, is to receive Christ and to love Christ.
Friends all around me are trying to find,
What the heart yearns for by sin undermined; I have the secret,
I know where ’tis found. Only true pleasures In Jesus abound.
Jesus is all this world needs today.
Blindly they strive, for sin darkens their way.
Oh to pull back the grim curtains of night,
One look at Jesus, and all will be light. (Harry D. Loes)
B. Because He Strengthens
But, not only is Jesus the answer to temptation because He satisfies, but Jesus is the answer to temptation because He strengthens. You see, Christ who comes in you gives you power to overcome the devil. And, the Holy Spirit says, “That’s just a lure, look for the hook.” The Holy Spirit says, “You don’t need that.” The Holy Spirit says, “I’ll give you strength.”
Conclusion
You see, when you get saved, God makes you a new man. St. Augustine, one of the great Christians of yesteryear, was as a young man a profligate. He lived in immorality and sin. He wasted his time with harlots, strumpets, wicked, lascivious, loose woman. But, then Jesus Christ called him, and saved him, and he was born again. Still a young man, still feeling the fires and passion of youth, but he was saved now. Jesus Christ was in his heart.
St. Augustine, ’course they didn’t call him St. Augustine then, they just called him Augustine, was walking down the street after he’d been saved, and one of his old girlfriends—one of these hookers, one of these prostitutes—saw him, and she called to him. He pretended he didn’t see her. He just turned his head and walked the other way, looking away you know. And, he crossed over across the street so he wouldn’t have to meet her. And, she saw him, and she called again, and she said, “Augustine, it is I.” And, he said, “Yes, but it is no longer I,” and he kept on going. Amen.
You see, that’s what Jesus does for you. It is no longer “I, but Christ that liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). And, then dear friend, let me say that Jesus not only is He the source of satisfaction, and not only is He the source of strength, but Jesus, O, Jesus, will bring you one day to be with Him in Heaven.
I want you to know Jesus. The only way to live is the Christian way. The only life to live is the Christian life. I want you to be saved, and you can be saved today. The Bible says, “…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” (Acts 16:31).
That doesn’t mean just to believe there is a Jesus. The devil believes that. But, when the Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” the Bible uses a word which means trust. Are you willing to trust Jesus today? Are you willing to say in your heart, like a little child, “O, Lord Jesus, I need to be saved, I want to be saved and right now, with all of my heart. I trust you, and you alone to save me.” Pray a prayer like that, and mean it, and I’ll guarantee you on the Authority of this book that Jesus Christ will save you. For the Bible says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
And, the same God that saved some of those this morning in the eight o’clock service, is the God who will save you right now if you call upon Him. I promise. But, what is more important, He promises, He will save you. He died in agony and blood to save you. And, when He saves you, He will satisfy you, and when He satisfies you, He will strengthen you, and when He strengthens you, He will secure you. It’s all through Jesus, it’s all through Jesus.
