Sermon Tone Analysis

ENDURING THE ENTICEMENTS AND TEMPTATIONS

WE LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS FULL OF VARIOUS AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEMPTATIONS.

TEMPTATIONS CAN COME KNOCKING AT OUR DOOR AT ANY MOMENT AND ANY TIME AND CAN STARE US IN THE FACE WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT IT.

WE ARE EXPOSED TO TEMPTATION FROM THE MOVIES WE WATCH….MAGAZINES WE READ….. AT THE GROCERY STORE….BILLBOARDS…..PEOPLE WALKING DOWN THE STREET…..AND FROM OUR TELEVISIONS.

YES …TEMPTATION IS ALL AROUND US.

TEMPTATION IS DEFINED AS AN ALLUREMENT, ENTICEMENT, OR AN INVITATIONS TO ENGAGE IN A IMMORAL ACT……IN A SINFUL ACT…… THAT IS AGAINST THE WILL OF GOD FOR YOUR LIFE.

AND IT DOES NOT MATTER WHO YOU ARE, HOW YOUNG OR HOW OLD YOU ARE;

IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU ARE A MALE OR FEMALE, NOR DOES IT MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE,

ALL OF US FACE SOME SORT OF TEMPTATIONS IN OUR LIVES.

IT DOES NOT EVEN MATTER IF YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED FOR 1 YEAR OR 30 YEARS, ALL OF US FACE VARIOUS AND DIFFERENT TYPES TEMPTATIONS IN THIS WORLD…..THE WORD OF GOD SAYS IN JAMES:1:14 THAT "EACH ONE IS TEMPTED" …..THE KJV SAYS IT THIS WAY…..”EVERY MAN IS TEMPTED”….BUT SCRIPTURE ALSO TELLS US IN I CORINTHIANS 10:13 THAT “NO TEMPTATION HAS OVERTAKEN YOU EXCEPT SUCH AS IS COMMON TO MAN; BUT GOD [IS] FAITHFUL, WHO WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO BE TEMPTED BEYOND WHAT YOU ARE ABLE, BUT WITH THE TEMPTATION WILL ALSO MAKE THE WAY OF ESCAPE, THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO BEAR [IT]..“

THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEMPTATIONS THAT WE FACE IN THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN……..

WE FACE SEX TEMPTATIONS….. DRUG/ALCOHOL TEMPTATIONS…… GAMBLING/MONEY TEMPTATIONS….. LYING AND CHEATING TEMPTATIONS……….STEALING TEMPTATIONS, OVEREATING TEMPTATIONS………EMOTIONAL OUTBURST TEMPTATIONS……CAN I GET A WITNESS?

YES, ALL OF US ARE FACED WITH VARIOUS TYPES OF TEMPTATIONS ……

BECAUSE OF THE ONE WHO IS KNOWN AS THE “TEMPTER”, AND THE “TEMPTER” NAMES IS SATAN, THE DEVIL.....ALSO KNOWN AS LUCIFER OR THE ENEMY.

AND JUST AS HE TEMPTED JESUS CHRIST IN THE WILDERNESS…….SATAN WILL CERTAINLY TEMPT YOU BECAUSE SATAN IS KNOWN AS THE “TEMPTER”.

BUT YET IT MUST BE UNDERSTOOD THAT EVEN THOUGH SATAN IS KNOWN AS THE “TEMPTER”, THAT DOES NOT MEAN…….

HE WILL MAKE YOU DO SOMETHING WRONG.

LISTEN HERE…… SOME PEOPLE ARE QUICK TO SAY WHEN THEY MESS UP ….MISS THE MARK…..OR GET THEMSELVES IN TROUBLE….. THEY WANT TO SAY, “THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT.”

LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR……

THE DEVIL DIDN’T MAKE YOU DO ANYTHING.

YOU DID WRONG BECAUSE YOU MADE THE CHOICE TO DO WRONG.

YES, THE DEVIL MAY TEMPT YOU TO DO SOMETHING, BUT HE DON’T MAKE YOU DO ANYTHING.

SATAN DIDN’T MAKE YOU PUT THAT BOTTLE TO YOUR LIPS……

SATAN DIDN’T MAKE YOU UNDRESS THAT MAN OR WOMAN…..THAT’S NOT YOUR HUSBAND OR WIFE

SATAN DIDN’T MAKE YOU TURN IT TO THAT CHANNEL OR GO TO THAT WEBSITE…..

SATAN DIDN’T MAKE YOU SPEND YOUR RENT MONEY ON THAT POWERBALL TICKET….

THE DEVIL DIDN’T MAKE YOU CUSS OUT THAT PERSON THAT DID YOU WRONG......

NOT ONLY DO YOU HAVE SOME PEOPLE BLAMING SATAN FOR MAKING THEM TO DO SOMETHING BAD……

BUT YET YOU EVEN HAVE SOME PEOPLE WHO CLAIM THAT GOD MADE THEM SIN.

BUT THE BIBLE SAYS, IN JAMES 1:13 “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.”

YOU SEE, GOD DOES NOT TEMPT US TO DO EVIL, BUT IT IS SATAN THAT TEMPTS US TO DO EVIL.

BUT NOTICE HOW HE TEMPTS US.

HE DOES NOT TEMPT US WITH UGLY STUFF.

HE DOESN’T TEMPT US WITH STUFF THAT IS NOT ATTRACTIVE TO US.

BUT RATHER HE TEMPTS US WITH THINGS AND SITUATIONS THAT LOOKS GOOD, FEEL GOOD, SOUNDS GOOD, OR EVEN SMELL GOOD.

CAN I GET A WITNESS?

HE WILL ALSO TEMPT YOU INTO DOING THINGS THAT YOU THINK YOU WONT GET IN TROUBLE FOR.

WHEN SATAN TEMPTS US, USUALLY HE TEMPTS US INDIRECTLY, IN THAT, HE WILL TEMPT US IN DISGUISE SO YOU WON’T BE ABLE RECOGNIZE WHO HE IS.

BUT MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS…..YOU MUST UNDERSTAND WHENEVER SATAN TEMPTS YOU WITH THINGS AND SITUATIONS THAT LOOKS GOOD,

FEEL GOOD, SOUNDS GOOD, OR SMELL GOOD,

THE END RESULTS WILL BE NOTHING BUT SORROW, PAIN, HEART BREAKS, AND DEATH BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT HE TEMPTS US WITH IS AGAINST THE WILL OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES.

NOW ONE MUST UNDERSTAND…… TO BE TEMPTED IS NOT A SIN.

IT IS WHEN YOU YIELD TO OR GIVE IN TO TEMPTATION THAT IS A SIN. JAMES 1:14-15 SAYS, “BUT EACH ONE IS TEMPTED WHEN HE IS DRAWN AWAY BY HIS OWN DESIRES AND ENTICED.

15 THEN, WHEN DESIRE HAS CONCEIVED, IT GIVES BIRTH TO SIN; AND SIN, WHEN IT IS FULL-GROWN, BRINGS FORTH DEATH.

THE KJV SAYS…..IN VERSE 15…… THEN WHEN LUST HATH CONCEIVED, IT BRINGETH FORTH SIN: AND SIN, WHEN IT IS FINISHED, BRINGETH FORTH DEATH.

USUALLY LUST IS CONCEIVED IN YOU MIND, THAT IS, IT IS CONCEIVED WHEN YOU START TO GIVE SOME THOUGHT TO THE TEMPTATION THAT IS PLACED BEFORE YOU.

SOMETIMES WHEN WE START TO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING….THAT’S WHEN WE GO WRONG….

IT’S THAT STINKIN’ THINKING……THAT GETS US IN TROUBLE.

AND BECAUSE LUST STARTS IN THE MIND, IT IS SO VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU LEARN TO GUARD YOUR THOUGHT LIFE,

BY GUARDING WHAT YOU SEE, AND BY GUARDING WHAT YOU HEAR, BECAUSE THAT IS HOW LUST IS CONCEIVED;

IT IS CONCEIVED BY WHAT YOU SEE AND BY WHAT YOU HEAR.

AND WHAT YOU SEE AND WHAT YOU HEAR WILL GET INTO YOUR MIND.

AND THAT IS WHY 2ND CORINTHIANS 10:5 SAYS, TO CAST DOWN IMAGINATIONS AND EVERY HIGH THING THAT EXALTS ITSELF AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, AND BRING INTO CAPTIVITY EVERY THOUGHT TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST.

THAT MEANS, WHEN YOU START HAVING LUSTFUL THOUGHTS IN YOUR MIND, YOU NEED TO CUT IT OFF RIGHT THEN AND THERE SO YOU WON’T ACT OUT ON THEM.

I ONCE HEARD THE SAYING …… YOU CAN’T KEEP BIRDS FROM FLYING OVER YOUR HEAD, BUT YOU CAN KEEP THEM FROM BUILDING A NEST ON TOP OF YOUR HEAD.

AND JUST LIKE YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER WHAT YOU ALLOW YOUR MIND TO GET ENGAGED IN….

WHEN YOU ARE EXPOSED TO DIFFERENT TYPES OF LUSTFUL THOUGHTS THAT WILL COME TO YOUR MIND BY THE THINGS THAT YOU SEE AND HEAR,

YOU CAN KEEP THOSE SAME LUSTFUL THOUGHTS FROM BECOMING A STRONGHOLD IN YOUR MIND BY CUTTING OFF THE THOUGHTS IN YOUR MIND RIGHT THERE AND THEN ON THE SPOT.

NOT ONLY THAT, YOU ALSO MUST BE CAUTIOUS OF THE PLACES THAT YOU GO…… BECAUSE SOME OF THE PLACES THAT YOU GO CAN HAVE SOME SERIOUS TEMPTATIONS EFFECT ON YOUR LIFE…..SUCH AS THE CLUB….OR A BAR.

PROVERBS 4:14-15 SAYS, “ENTER NOT INTO THE PATH OF THE WICKED, AND GO NOT IN THE WAY OF EVIL MEN.

AVOID IT, PASS NOT BY IT, TURN FROM IT, AND PASS AWAY.”

BUT ALSO YOU MUST BE CAUTIOUS OF THE TYPE OF PEOPLE YOU HANG OUT WITH ,AND WHO YOU ALLOW TO INFLUENCE YOU……

THEY MAY SMILE IN YOUR FACE, HUG YOU, AND KISS YOU, BUT THEY REALLY ARE TRYING TO BRING YOU DOWN.

YOU HAVE SOME PEOPLE WHO KNOW YOUR WEAKNESS, AND WILL USE IT AGAINST YOU.

I CORINTHIANS 15:33 SAYS, “BAD COMPANY CORRUPT GOOD MORALS.”

THE SCRIPTURES SAYS IN James 1:14-15

YOU SEE, AS LONG AS YOU DON’T YIELD TO TEMPTATION, YOU HAVE NOT SINNED, BUT THE MOMENT YOU YIELD OR GIVE INTO THE TEMPTATION, THAT IS WHEN YOU HAVE MESSED UP, AND THE SIN BRINGS DEATH BECAUSE THE “WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH.”(ROMANS

6:23).

JAMES 1 verse 16 says.....

THAT’S ONE OF THE ENEMIES TOOLS TO TRICK YOU.....AND THAT IS TO DECEIVE YOU.....

JAMES COMMANDS, “DO NOT BE DECEIVED.”

DO NOT ERR.

DO NOT BE MISLED.

THIS GREEK VERB MEANS TO STRAY OR WANDER AWAY FROM TRUTH, SAFETY, OR VIRTUE.

IT IS THE PICTURE OF ONE WHO IS ON A JOURNEY THAT IS LED ASTRAY, SO THAT HE DOES NOT REACH HIS DESTINATION.

IT IS THE PICTURE OF A SHEEP THAT WANDERS OFF FROM THE SHEPHERD AND THE FLOCK AND BECOMES LOST.

IT IS THE PICTURE OF A SHIP THAT DRIFTS OFF COURSE AND BECOMES LOST AT SEA.

JAMES USES IT HERE TO ADMONISH HIS READERS WHO HOLD TO WRONG VIEWS ABOUT GOD’S CHARACTER, PURPOSE, AND WAYS.

HIS CONCERN IS MORE THAN A SIMPLE FAILURE OF JUDGMENT.

IT IS A DEVIATION FROM THE TRUTH.

SO JAMES COMMANDS, “DO NOT BE DECEIVED.”

THIS COMMAND IS IN A GRAMMATICAL EMPHASIS ....... FORBIDS SOMETHING THAT IS ALREADY IN PROGRESS.

LITERALLY, JAMES SAYS, “STOP BEING DECEIVED.”

GENESIS 3:13 RECORDS GOD’S CONFRONTATION OF EVE AFTER HER AND ADAM SINNED: “THEN THE LORD GOD SAID TO THE WOMAN, ‘WHAT IS THIS THAT YOU HAVE DONE?’

THE WOMAN SAID, ‘THE SERPENT DECEIVED ME, AND I ATE.”

THIS IS THE ONGOING WORK OF THE ENEMY OF OUR SOULS.

HE SEEKS TO DECEIVE US.

BUT IN JOHN 8:31-32, JESUS SAYS, “IF YOU ABIDE IN MY WORD, YOU ARE TRULY MY DISCIPLES, AND YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE.”

AND AS WE LOOK IN THE WORD OF GOD, WE WILL NOTICED THAT ALL OF US HAVE YIELDED OR GAVE IN TO TEMPTATION ONE WAY OR THE OTHER BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS IN ROMANS 3:23, “FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.”

BUT YET THE BIBLE SAYS IN JAMES 1:12, “BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT ENDURETH TEMPTATION”,

THAT IS ……BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO STANDS UP AGAINST TEMPTATION; BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO DO NOT YIELD TO TEMPTATION; FOR WHEN HE IS TRIED, HE WILL RECEIVE A CROWN OF LIFE, WHICH THE LORD HATH PROMISED TO THEM THAT LOVE HIM.”

NOW THERE IS A SCRIPTURE THAT SAYS IN

HOW DOES SOMEONE ENDURE TEMPTATION, HOW DO WE STANDS UP AGAINST TEMPTATION, HOW DOES SOMEONE KEEP THEMSEVES FROM YIELDING TO TEMPTATION?

HOW DOES GOD HELP US TO BEAR THE TEMPTATION?

WELL THE BIBLE SAYS, IN MATTHEW 26:41 TO "WATCH AND PRAY THAT YOU ENTER INTO NO INTO TEMPTATION, THE SPIRIT IS WILLING, BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK.

YOU SEE, YOU CANNOT FIGHT THE DEVIL’S TEMPTATION WITH YOU OWN STRENGTH, BUT RATHER YOU NEED THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE ABLE TO ENDURE THE TEMPTATIONS OF THIS WORLD.

HE IS OUR STRENGTH WHEN WE ARE TEMPTED…..

YOU SEE, WHEN YOU WATCH AND PRAY, GOD WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO ENDURE THE TEMPTATIONS THAT YOU FACE ON A DAILY BASIS.

WHEN YOU WATCH AND PRAY, GOD WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU(JAMES 4:7)

WHEN YOU WATCH AND PRAY, GOD WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT SO YOU WONT FULFILL THE LUST OF THE FLESH(GALATIANS 5:16)

WHEN YOU WATCH AND PRAY, GOD WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO YIELD YOUR BODIES AS INSTRUMENTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND NOT TO SIN(ROMANS 6:13)