Trials Present Temptations (James 1:13-15) [2025-9-28]

All right, good morning. Once again, church family, if

you would open your Bibles to the book of James.

This morning we are in James chapter 1 and we're just going

James 1 · chapter mention

to be in three verses. We we've been kind of going out

at a clique of of 3 or 4 verses because James is very dense with

application and theology. And so this morning we're just

going to be in James 113 to 15. The title of the sermon this

morning is this trials present Temptations.

So let's read the text openness in a word of prayer, and then

we'll jump into the sermon this morning.

James one beginning in verse 13. Here's what James writes to us.

Let no one say when he is tempted.

I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil,

and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when

he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

The desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin,

and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.

If you will pray with me, but I pray this morning as we look at

this passage and we consider trials and tests and

temptations. God, would you help us to see

that you are a God who never tempts his people?

That you may give us trials, you may give us tests, but you never

give them to tempt us to sin. Help us to see that the root

cause of our sin is our own desires, these desires that lure

us and and lead us away from you.

Pray God that you would help us to to see our need to put

temptation and our sinful desires to death.

That way it would not become fully grown and it would not

bring forth death in our life. I pray this in the name of

Jesus, Amen. John Bunyan wrote.

Temptations, when we meet them at first are as the lion that

roared upon Samson, but if we overcome them, the next time

that we see them, we shall find a nest of honey within them.

Trials can often feel like a lion that pounces upon us.

I can never beat this, I will always lose this battle.

But we must remember that Samson did not defeat the lion in his

own strength, but it was the Spirit of God that overpowered

him, that allowed him to overpower the lion.

Interesting enough, it was not the lion that defeated Samson,

it was the honey, this trial of a lion that came upon him.

It was not his fear. He was not tempted to fear.

He overpowered the lion. It was his desire for the honey

that defeated him, touching a dead carcass and then lying

about it to his parents. Turns out his desires were

stronger than the lion. That's often true for us.

And no matter how strong a trial, maybe often our desires

are even stronger. Trials present temptations.

That's what the sermon is about this morning.

So let's look at our text. I'm going to divide up the text

into 8 sections. We're going to start with the

next position where I explain it, and then I'm going to give

application at the end. So let's start looking at this

section by section. James 113 A James writes, Let no

one say when he is tempted. Let me stop there.

James begins our text this morning with an exhortation.

He gives us a command. Let no one say which can also be

mean. Let no one think to themselves,

right? Let no one think in their minds

when he is tempted. Well, before we move on, we got

to ask, what is that? What is temptation?

We've all heard this word before, but if you ever stop to

actually ask yourself, what is temptation, what is it?

The Greek word is pay razo. It's used 38 times in the New

Testament, 16 of the 38, it's actually translated as tested,

14 of 30 as tempted. Translators actually have to

decide when they see the word pay razo.

Are they going to translate as test or trial or tempt?

They have to decide this. The ESV has opted to translate

it as tempted, but we could translate it as test or trial.

This is how the CSB translates it.

The CSB reads, no one undergoing a trial should say and that's

that's a perfectly good translation.

But for now, let's stick with the ESV.

Temptation means this. It means to entice to sin.

It means to endeavor or attempt to cause someone else to sin.

That's what temptation is. It is the verb that's used for

Tempted is a present passive participle, which means this.

It is currently happening in the present.

It's an ongoing action, and someone is doing this to us, or

something is doing this to us. It's passive, so something

outside of us is something or someone is enticing us, is

luring us to sin. So when this happens, when we

are tempted, James says we should not say something.

What should we not say? Look at 13 B.

Let no one say when he is tempted.

I am being tempted by God. Now let me point out that the

word for tempted and 13A is the exact same Greek word for

tempted and 13B. They're both pay razo.

And this is important because as I just mentioned, translators

have to decide whether to translate this as test or tempt.

And in the first usage of the word in 13 A, we can translate

it as test or trial. That will work.

Let no one say when he is being tested or let no one say when

he's being undergoing a trial. But in the second usage of the

word, we have to translate it as tempt.

Why? Because James writes that we

shouldn't say I am being pay Razzo by God, but if we

translate this as test or trial, then James would be suggesting

that we shouldn't say I'm being tested by God.

I am being put through a trial by God.

But we know that God does test us.

We know that God puts us through a trial.

Genesis 22, one after these things.

God tested Abraham multiple times in the Israelite

wilderness. The God tested the Israelites,

Exodus 15/16/20, Deuteronomy 8, Deuteronomy 13.

So let me let me bring this on with James is saying that

whether we are going through a test or trial or tempting them,

no one should say that the reason this is happening is

because God is tempting me. Whether you're going through a

test or trial or you're being tempted, no one should say the

reason this is happening is because God is tempting me.

We are to never accuse God of tempting us.

James gives 2 reasons why. Look at 13 C The first reason

for God cannot be tempted with evil.

Now 2 questions come to my mind when I read when I read this

number one, what does that mean? God can't be tempted with evil

and #2 does this mean that Jesus was not truly tempted?

Let's look at the first question.

The phrase cannot be tempted is actually one word in the Greek.

It's only one word in the Greek. This is the only time it's used

in the New Testament. It literally means not temptable

or unable to be tempted. That's what it literally means.

And of course, this raises the question, why is this true?

Why can God not be tempted? Why is God unable to be tempted?

Let me give an incomplete analogy.

It's it's incomplete, But let me give an incomplete analogy.

Suppose after church service today I took your lunch.

I asked you, can I have your lunch?

And you gave me your lunch. I don't know why you would do

that, but let's say you gave it to me.

I took your lunch. I went outside and I rubbed it

all over the sidewalk, and we all know what's on the sidewalk

out there. Then I went and I rubbed it all

in the grass, and we all know what's in the grass out there.

You saw me do all this. Then I came and presented your

lunch to you and I tried to tempt you to eat it.

Are you tempted? All the girls were like, The

guys were like. This food is so filthy, so so

contemplated, that it no longer presents any temptation to you.

That's how all sin is with God, all of it.

Second question, does this mean that Jesus was not truly

tempted? In other words, if you're taking

a logic class right, how do we reconcile the fact that A Jesus

is fully God, B God cannot be tempted by evil, C The Bible

says Jesus was tempted. How do we reconcile that?

Jesus is fully God? God cannot be tempted by evil.

The Bible says Jesus was tempted.

How do we reconcile that? He was 415 says that we do not

have a high priest who's unable to sympathize with our

weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we

are. The Bible says that Jesus was

tempted. Is that just an illusion?

Is that just an idea? How do we reconcile this?

Well, we must remember that Jesus is fully God, but he was

also fully human. He's also fully human, and his

humanity is fully tempted. In other words, his hunger in

the wilderness was tempted to turn the stones into bread.

Not his divinity, but his humanity was fully tempted, just

as you and I are. He was tempted as humanity to

turn the stones into bread. 13D last point, the second reason he

gives why we should not say God is tempting us is He himself

tempts no one. He himself tempts no one.

Now when we say that God himself tempts no one, I want to be

clear that God ordaining that temptation happen is different

than God doing the tempting himself.

Let me say that again, God ordaining that temptation happen

is different than God actually doing the tempting himself.

Let me give you 3 examples of this.

Number one, God ordained that Adam and Eve would be tempted in

the garden. He could have stopped it, could

he have not? He could have told the serpent,

you are not allowed to come into this garden.

You may not tempt them. He is God, He has that

privilege. He could have stopped it, but

God ordained it to happen. But God did not tempt them

himself. Second example, Jesus ordained

that Peter be tempted. Remember what Satan said to him.

Satan came to Jesus and said, I demand to sit like wheat.

And Jesus could have said, no, no, you may not, I do not give

you permission to do that. But he didn't say that Jesus

ordained that it would happen, but he did not tempt Peter

himself. I'll give you one more example.

God Dang that Dave incited to take a census.

Do you remember in Second Samuel 24 one again the anger of the

Lord was kindled against Israel and he meaning God incited David

against them. That's interesting because the

first Chronicles 21 one, it says then Satan stood against Israel

and incited David against the number Israel.

How do we reconcile those two? Just like this God ordained that

Satan would tempt David, but he himself did not tempt David. 14A

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed.

Each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed.

The tempted here is the same Greek word, perazzo.

Each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed.

What? What?

What are those two terms mean to lure and entice?

This is the only time this word for lure is used in the New

Testament. It's a present passive

participle. This is something happening in

the present. It's being done to the person

and it's ongoing. It means to drag away with the

connotation of initial reluctance.

It can also be translated to be carried away.

Expression is carried away or drawn away.

That's the idea. And enticed another present

passive participle. It means browse someone's

interest in something by clever measures.

If you've ever been fishing before, often use allure.

It's, you know, objects using plastic to be metal, objects

that are shaped and colored like minnows or frogs or insects or

worms or whatever fish bite on. So James says here that God

doesn't tempt anyone, which means God doesn't lure anyone,

doesn't entice anyone. So what does he do or what does

happen? Where does that come from?

Look at 14B. Each person is tempted when he

is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Now 2 questions that get raised here.

Number one, what is desire? Right?

We all know what that word is, but what is the Greek word?

The Greek word is epithemia. It means a great desire for

something, longing, craving, a desire for something that's

forbidden, or simply inordinate craving or lust.

Now, this word that's used here can be used in a positive sense.

There are positive desires, but the overwhelming majority of

this is negative. It's a -1 How does this work?

Second question, how does our own desires lure us?

How do they entice us? How does that work?

Think of it like this. Imagine if you placed chicken

feet right in front of me. Doesn't matter how much color

you get on them. Doesn't matter how much sauce

you coat them in, how well they glisten in the light.

I am not lured. I am not enticed.

Why? Because I have 0 desire for

them. Sorry.

I know many of you love them, but if you put a steak in front

of me, if you put lobster, if you put scallops, if you put

Priscilla's cookies, I am lured. I am enticed.

Why? Because I have desire for it.

James writes that the source of temptation is not God, but our

own desires. We saw this in the garden, did

we not? So when the woman saw that the

tree was good for food desire, and that it was a delight to the

eyes desire and that the tree was to be desire to make one

wise, she took it and ate it. Look at 15 a then desire when it

is conceived gives birth to sin. Now James here is personifying

desire and said he's giving it like human qualities.

He's personifying it. He says that desire when it has

conceived, literally when it's become pregnant, when desire has

become pregnant. How does desire become pregnant?

The same way a woman becomes pregnant by fooling around.

Same way, once desire has conceived, becomes pregnant, it

gives birth, it produces something what it gives birth to

sin. In other words, here's what

James is saying. In the same way that if a woman

has a baby inside her and she feeds that baby, she will give

birth to a baby. And if we have sinful desire

inside of us and we feed that sinful desire, we will give

birth to sin. That's how it works.

Look at 15-B and sin, when it is fully grown brings forth death,

sin when it's fully grown. James wants to make it clear

that we don't get to put sin up for an adoption.

In other words, we take it home with us, it becomes a part of

us, and if it is not dealt with, it will continue to grow.

Just as children grow, so does sin grow.

And James says that when sin is fully grown, literally to bring

an activity to an end, to finish, to complete, once sin is

fully grown, it brings forth, you know, the word brings forth

means literally, it gives birth. It gives birth.

Sin gives birth to death. So I want you to see the

progression here. Here's what James is saying.

Here's the the whole argument that he's making here.

We all have desire inside of us. Everybody is born with desires.

Desires. I have desires.

We all have desires. We have desires inside of us.

Temptation gets introduced to this desire, and what it does is

it lures that desire into its bed, and when it comes into bed

with it, it becomes pregnant. And once it becomes pregnant, it

gives birth. And it gives birth to sin.

And if sin is allowed to grow and continue to grow, it will

eventually give birth to death. That's the argument that James

is making here. Stop there with the exposition.

What do we do with this text? I have 9 points of application

this morning. If you're busy with us, this is

regular. Just want to warn you, I

normally have like 7 to 10. I'm not a three pointer kind of

guy. I have 9 points this morning #1

All trials present temptations. All trials present temptations.

Every trial in our life presents 2 opportunities.

Every single trial presents 2 opportunities.

A, They are an opportunity for God to test us, and B, they are

an opportunity for Satan to tempt us.

Every trial presents those two opportunities.

They are an opportunity for God to test us, and they are an

opportunity for Satan to tempt us.

Let's think of a few common trials.

Let's physical trials, right? Some of us may have physical

trials right now. Something that's hurting in your

body, maybe you're sick. When we are in physical pain,

that's a trial. Are we not tempted to complain?

Are we not tempted to be angry? Are we not tempted to grow

discouraged? Or let's think of relational

trials whenever we go through a breakup.

Some of you may have gone through a breakup before, or you

may have had conflict in a friendship or conflict in the

church. Whenever that happens, are we

not tempted to gossip? Are we not tempted to be bitter?

Are we not tempted to even possibly drink away our pain or

think about work trials? When we're facing difficulty at

work and we're going through a work trial, are we not tempted

to idolize our work? I've got to work 60 hours, 70

hours, 80 hours a week, whatever it takes.

Are we not tempted to be envious of others?

It's so nice to be at Google. Are we not tempted to grow

anxious? As I've mentioned before, I find

it interesting that there's only one Greek word for trial, test,

and temptation. That there's only one.

I think this is telling. Why?

Because it means this all trials are a test, and all trials

present temptations. You will not go through a trial

without being tempted. You will always be tempted to

sin with a trial. That's why it's called a trial.

Sometimes trials can be so difficult, right?

They're so taxing on the emotions.

They're taxing on our mental state.

Sometimes the trial can be so difficult that we feel like we

have no choice but to sin. I know I shouldn't be doing

this, but you, you don't understand.

You don't understand what I'm thinking and what I'm feeling.

And honestly, I don't see any other way out.

I don't see, I don't see any other course of action here.

Sometimes we can begin to believe the lie that we have no

choice to sin, which trials can make us feel like God has

cornered us into sinning. Trial can make us feel like God

has cornered us into sinning. James writes a very interesting

statement in 13 verse 13. He says in verse 13, let no one

say when he's tempted. I am being tempted by God.

Now why would somebody ever say that?

Why would somebody ever even think that?

Here's why. Because one of the ways that we

are tempted when we are tested is to accuse God of tempting us.

In other words, we might begin to subconsciously or consciously

believe the lie that God has set up this trial for us to fail.

Let me give some worldly examples of this.

Sometimes managers will have an assessment of an employee,

perhaps a so-called test that is impossible.

The manager knows it's impossible and the point of the

test is for the employee to fail.

Why? So they can deny promotions or

terminate employment. It's a real thing.

Sometimes in academic and educational situations, teachers

will purposely give trick questions that almost everybody

will get wrong. If not everybody gets wrong.

Sometimes in the military, the instructor will give a test,

whether it be physical or mental, that is impossible to

pass. Why?

The point is for the soldiers to fail.

They want to see how they respond to failure.

And the question is this, does God do this?

Does God do this? Does God give us trials so that

we would fail, so that we would succumb to temptation?

Does he do this? And the answer is no, no, never,

never. God always desires us to pass

Always. God is never tempting us to sin.

He is never giving us a trial for the purpose of tempting us,

no matter how much we may feel like God.

You cornered me into this and now I have no other option.

No, God is never tempting us to sin. 3 Not only is God always

good, but he is not tempted for one second to be evil.

Not only is God always good, but he is not even tempted for one

second to be evil. One of the hardest pieces to

accept about James 113 is who we are genetically.

You read this text and sometimes one of the hardest pieces to

accept this is who we are genetically.

Many of us, if not all of us, have some form of a trial with

who we are genetically. In other words, we all have

proclivities or maybe disabilities or weaknesses that

are hard wired by God. You're Born This Way.

You're born with this proclivity.

You're born with this weakness. You're born with this

disability. You're born with this disorder,

this maybe. Maybe you're prone to

depression, maybe you're prone to lust.

Maybe you're prone to drinking. Maybe you're prone to

overeating. Maybe you're prone to anxiety.

And because of these proclivities, because of these

disabilities, because of these weaknesses, we might begin to

think, if God knows that I am prone to depression, why would

he get me unemployment? Why would he do that?

If God knows that I am prone to lust, why would he give me

singleness? Why would he do that?

If God knows that I am prone to drinking, why would he take my

friends away? If God knows that I am prone to

anxiety, why is he making school so hard?

I know that God is good, but it doesn't feel like He's good

right now. Pastor, how do you know that

God's not tempting me? Because God cannot be tempted

with evil. God knows who you are.

He knows your proclivities. He knows your weaknesses.

And he didn't give you this trial because he is evil.

He gave it to you because he is good.

Four. God may ordain that temptation

happen, but he also ordains a way of escape.

God may ordain that temptation happen, but he also ordains a

way of escape. As I mentioned in the

exposition, one of the challenges of this verse is

reconciling the fact that God is sovereign, which means he

controls all things. He doesn't tempt anyone, and yet

temptation still exists. And as a position, God ordaining

that temptation happened is different than God doing the

tempting himself. Temptation, just like sin, is a

tool in the hand of God. It's a tool that he uses for his

purposes. Now we might think, well, why

not just ordain that temptation never happened, right?

Why don't I just do that? I got it.

Why don't you just ordain that temptation never happened?

That there's an answer to that question that is beyond the

scope of the sermon. But let me point this out.

Let me say this, Did you ever notice that in the Lord's Prayer

Jesus didn't say, let us not be tempted.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy

Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, let

us not be tempted. Did you ever notice it didn't

say that? Instead Jesus said pray, lead us

not into now. Why would Jesus tell us to pray

that instead of praying let us not tempted?

Because temptation, just like sin, is a tool in the hand of

God that he uses for his purposes.

Of course this raises the question, what did Jesus mean

when he said lead us not to temptation?

What did he mean when he said that?

I think he means this, Keep our temptation from becoming sin.

Keep our temptation from becoming sin.

God is going to ordain that temptation happen in your life,

but we pray God keep it from becoming sin.

God's will is not to keep us from being tempted.

His will is to keep our temptation from becoming sin.

And often the way that God does this is First Corinthians 10/13.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted

beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will

also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure

it. Brother, sisters, God may ordain

that temptation happen, but He also ordains a way of escape.

No matter how much your kids are driving you crazy, you don't

have to get angry. You don't have to.

No matter how lonely you are, you don't have to look at

pornography. You don't have to.

No matter how sorrowful you are, you don't have to keep eating.

You don't have to. God has given you a way of

escape. Five, like all bait, temptation

is an appealing trap. Like all bait, temptation is an

appealing trap. You ever seen an angler fish?

All right, it was in Finding Nemo.

Have you seen that movie? Has that long spine that extends

out in front of it, and at the end of it, it's got a light.

It's like bioluminescent bacteria that causes the light

up. It attracts other fish and then

when it gets close it snaps it. Ever heard of a bolus spider?

It's actually able to secrete a chemical that mimics moth

pheromones. Moth are drawn to it and then it

You ever seen a green Heron? Green Heron will catch an

insect. It'll sit on the water, it'll

drop the insect on the water and wait for a little minnow to come

up and eat the insect and then it snatches the minnow.

It actually fishes with its own bait.

James writes that each person is tempted when he is lured and

touched. So let me ask you a question

that fishermen will often ask. What are you biting on?

What are you biting on? There's a reason that Jesus says

that what chokes out the word is the deceitfulness of riches.

Not just riches, the deceitfulness of riches.

Paul writes Those who desire to be rich fall into a temptation.

Into a what? A snare.

What's a snare? It's a trap.

Riches are an appealing trap. Four different times the father

warns his son in the book of Proverbs that the forbidden

woman's house is the way to seal.

He tells his son he said son, the lips of the forbidden woman

man, they drip honey. Her speech is smoother than oil,

but in the end she's as bitter as Wormwood, sharp as A2 edged

sword. Sex and lust is an appealing

trap. The same could be said for

success. Comfort food, drink,

entertainment. Brother, sister, Sin always

looks appealing, but it's a trap.

It's always a trap. Six.

It is no sin to be tempted, or even frequently tempted, or even

grossly tempted. It is no sin to be tempted, or

even frequently tempted or even grossly tempted.

I want you to notice that James says that when does sin happen?

He says that sin happens when desire has conceived, but at the

temptation level, no sin has occurred.

Here's why this is so important, because many Christians will

wonder, why am I so tempted to sin?

Why am I so easily tempted? Even after being a Christian for

25 years? Why am I still so easily tempted

by this sin? Shouldn't I be past it?

But this is if we are waiting to reach a point where we are no

longer tempted by our desires, then we will have to wait until

heaven. Because even Jesus, who was

perfect, was tempted. He was tempted in every way that

we are. Christian maturity is not how

often a person is tempted, but how often they succumb to that

temptation. Sometimes mature Christians are

the ones who are tempted the most.

Satan tried his hardest to tempt Job to curse God. 7 No matter

how much other factors may contribute, our sin comes from

our desire. No matter how much other factors

may contribute, our sin comes from our desire.

You know, whenever we fall into temptation, it's very common to

blame something outside of us, isn't it?

We're tempted. We fall into sin.

It's very common to blame something outside of us.

We might blame Satan, we might blame other people, we might

blame our genetics, we might blame our family upbringing.

We might blame circumstances. We might blame the government.

We might blame even God. But James writes that we are

lured and enticed by what? By our own desires.

So things outside of us may provide the bait, but what draws

us to the bait? Our own desires.

No matter how much Eve may blame the serpent, no matter how much

Adam may blame Eve and even blame God, the woman you gave to

me, they both sit because of their desires.

David cannot blame Bathsheba for taking a bath or for being

beautiful. He sinned because of his

desires. Peter cannot blame the servant

girl. He sinned because of his

desires. Moses cannot blame the people

for striking the rock. He sinned because of his

desires. Aaron cannot blame the people

for making a golden calf send because of his desires.

And brother, sister, you and I, we cannot blame our spouses or

our children or our bosses or our church or our government or

our teachers or our friends or our weaknesses or our

disabilities or our proclivities or our circumstances, and

certainly not our God. Each person is lured and enticed

by his own desires. Period 8 Desires are like

strings of the heart that will either be plucked by the spirit

or the flesh. Desires are like strings of the

heart that will either be plucked by the spirit or the

flesh. I want to make the point that

James is not saying the way to solve this problem is to get rid

of our desires. I should just get rid of my

desires. That's what the early Church

fathers used to do. They castrated themselves, some

of them thinking it would get rid of it.

You know what? It didn't solve anything, didn't

solve the problem. The answer is not to get rid of

our desires. Here's what I like to think of

this Desires are like strings of the heart, and somebody is going

to pluck those strings. Somebody's going to pluck them,

either the spirit or the flesh. The more our flesh plucks these

strings, the more dominant our sinful desires become.

They get stronger and the more the Spirit plucks these strings,

the more dominant our righteous desires become.

Paul writes walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the

desires of the flesh. Consider what James is saying

here. James writes that when desire

has conceived, it gives birth to sin.

Desire, when it's conceived, gives birth to sin.

Now think of it like this. What is the easiest way to not

have a child? I do this when I whenever I go

through premarital counselling with couples, I tell them you

need to know there is no birth control that's 100% except one.

There is only one form of birth control that is 100%.

It has 100% success rate for all of time it's been 100%.

It's got a perfect track record. You know what that is?

Abstinence. It's the only one that's 100

percent. What is the easiest?

To not give in to our sinful desires.

To starve them of flesh and to feed them fruit.

Starve them of flesh and feed them fruit.

If you don't feed your desires with flesh, but instead feed

them with the fruit of the Spirit, you won't give birth to

sin, you'll give birth to the Spirit.

Nine last point 9 is a short quote by John Owen.

Really good one though. John Owen writes be killing sin

or sin will be killing you. Be killing sin or sin will be

killing you. James writes that when sin is

fully grown, it brings forth death.

In other words, there are 5 stages here.

Stage 1 is desire. Stage 2 is temptation.

Stage 3 is sin. Stage 4 is growth.

Stage 5 is death. James is saying that you have

these desires. They're in your heart.

We all have them. Stage 2 is when temptation gets

introduced to that desire. Stage 3 is when it becomes

conceived and it gives birth to sin.

Stage 4 is growth, that if you let that sin continue to grow,

it will grow. And stage 5, if it continues to

grow, it will bring forth death. Now ideally we stop this process

at stage one, at the desire stage.

That would be ideal, but we're all going to find ourselves at

stage 3. Nobody stops every desire.

Stage one, it's for Jesus Christ.

So we're all going to find herself at stage 3, at the stage

where we have fallen into sin. We're all going to sin.

But here's the question. Do we let that sin grow?

Do we let sin continue to feed on our desires?

Or do we put it to death? You all know that how with

cancer, if you catch early enough, you often can operate on

it. The same is true with our sin.

If you let sin continue to grow, it will continue to feed off of

your desires. And as it feeds, it will only

get stronger. It'll get stubborn.

It'll dig in. We all know this to be true.

The more you get accustomed to sin in your life, the more you

make allowance for it, the more you get used to having this in

your life. It just gets stubborn.

It becomes a part of you and when someone challenges you,

it's like it's well dug in and if it grows enough it can be

difficult if not impossible to remove.

Brother and sister be killing sin or sin will be killing you.

Let's pray.