Temptations, even though a bad thing, can really be a good thing. When you are tempted, it exposes the weaknesses still within you. And, boy, are there a lot of areas of temptations – hatred, anger, disappointment, unkind acts, jealousy, selfishness, etc., as well as the old stand-by, sensual lust. News flash though – the temptation is not the sin, giving in to the temptation is the sin. In our sermon, we will discuss the reasons why God uses temptations:
To further our understanding of temptations, we will also discuss the stages of temptation:
(Hmm—those look mighty familiar, don’t they?) But God never reveals something that He does not show a way of escape. There are steps out of temptation:
Thank You, Lord, for saving our souls. Jesus is truly the only way out of this mess…take it! (Listen to entire sermon below.) If you have never put your complete faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, why not believe what God's word says and call on Jesus Christ to save you right now? Click here and let us show you how you can KNOW JESUS.
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We continue with James 1:13 – here James tells us the sources of temptations. His main message is this: Don’t blame anyone but yourself! “Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” (James 1:14) We don’t want to admit it, but we have to face the fact that our Adam nature leans towards sin and the only way out of that is to have the nature of God inside of you. You don’t automatically have that, it’s a gift, you have to humble yourself and ask God to forgive you of your sins and invite Him inside. That’s usually the stopping point for many people…they just don’t see that what they are doing is wrong – hmm…isn’t that the problem with being in the dark – you can’t see! James 2 then gives us the good news that faith removes discrimination. Sweet! God will take you, rich or poor, no matter what color or ethnic group, no matter what belief system you have had jammed down your throat. He will forgive you and take you as His own. You may not stay rich or poor but, for sure, your “belief system” will change to His system. The truth will surely set you free. Not free to sin, but to serve God and each other in holiness. That holiness coming from God will set you up for happiness. It doesn’t work the other way around. You can seek this whole world for happiness and it will never get you holiness…only Jesus Christ can do that. (Listen to entire sermon below.) If you have never put your complete faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, why not believe what God's word says and call on Jesus Christ to save you right now? Click here and let us show you how you can KNOW JESUS. Great title to hold! He owns the air…no substance…fake…false! The old devil is slick, so you better watch out! That slickness is disguised in Satan’s deceit. He is the father of lies, the prince of dung and is out to rob, kill and destroy you…and we need to get that into the front of our heads! There is the world, the flesh and the devil, but the devil is the one who misuses the other two and takes advantage of their inherent weaknesses to make you weaker. Our example is Jesus, who resisted every attempt of Satan to tempt Him. Sadly, far too many followers of Christ have given in to the temptations of having power and control. They give in and end up in false doctrines and sin. So let Satan grasp at “air” – you stick to the solid, immovable, pure and glorious power of God to combat the world, the flesh and the devil. (Scripture reference: Ephesians 2:2) [Sermon Originally Recorded: 02/15/12] Image Referenced in SermonIf you have never put your complete faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, why not believe what God's word says and call on Jesus Christ to save you right now? Click here and let us show you how you can KNOW JESUS. Temptation is an enticement to evil ... period! It is too easy to just cruise through life on auto-pilot and thusly end up being slammed over and over again with temptation and succumbing to it. We need a plan to break that cycle!
God has a plan. He allows various trials to come our way, and in these trials are many temptations. He uses these temptations to reveal our weaknesses to us, but He always makes a way of escape and shows us how to defeat the wily ways of evil. FIGHT the devil; FOLLOW Jesus; FLEE from sin; FEED the soul. With prayer, consistent Bible study and fellowship with strong Christians, we can go forth and with great power can say, "Get thee behind me Satan". (James 4:7-8; 1 Peter 5:8-9; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 2 Timothy 2:22; Romans 13:14) |
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