I. The pathway to death – James 1:13-16 (handout)<\/p>\n
A. Desire<\/p>\n
1. Each of us is born with a normal, natural set of desires.<\/p>\n
2. Those desires are the consequences of the operation of our bodies.<\/p>\n
a. What is the purpose of thirst? Hunger?<\/p>\n
b. Does sexual desire have a purpose?<\/p>\n
B. Temptation<\/p>\n 1. Satan tries to place us in situations where it appears that the satisfaction of\na desire will require the breaking of a law of God.\n
C. Lust<\/p>\n
1. When a person strongly desires to do what is unlawful, we call that lust.<\/p>\n 2. It is more than temptation because we are actively entertaining the thought\nof carrying out the improper action.\n
D. Sin<\/p>\n 1. If we give into our lust and commit the act Satan has tempted us to do, we\ncall that sin.\n
2. I John 3:4 – Sin is breaking God’s law<\/p>\n
E. Lasciviousness or Licentiousness<\/p>\n 1. When a person continues to sin, they no longer feel guilty about it. After\ntime they no longer care what God or man thinks of their deeds.\n
2. Think of licentiousness as believing you have a license to sin.<\/p>\n 3. While not restricted to it, licentiousness is often associated with sexual sins.\nThe desire is so strong and it so quickly snares a person.\n
F. Death<\/p>\n
1. When sin has fully taken over our lives we die.<\/p>\n G. At what point in the pathway can we do something? When can we affect the\noutcome?\n 1. Desire is the wrong answer because to stop our desires we would have to\nbe dead.\n 2. Temptation is the wrong answer because we cannot stop the work of\nSatan.\n
II. Where lusts come from<\/p>\n
A. I Peter 2:11 – Fleshly<\/p>\n
1. From our own bodies<\/p>\n
B. II Timothy 2:22 – Youth<\/p>\n 1. Youth is the time we feel desires the strongest, but have the least\nexperience in keeping them under control.\n
III. The three types of lust – I John 2:15-16 (chart)<\/p>\n
A. Lust of the flesh – Normal bodily desires.<\/p>\n
B. Lust of the eyes – Things that look good<\/p>\n
C. Pride of life – The desire to be admired and respected by others<\/p>\n
D. (Examples from magazine ads)<\/p>\n
E. Genesis 3:6 – The temptation of Eve<\/p>\n
F. Matthew 4 – The temptations of Jesus<\/p>\n
IV. Why lust is wrong<\/p>\n
A. Matthew 5:27-28 – The desire for sin is equivalent to committing the sin<\/p>\n
B. Proverbs 23:7 – It is what is in the heart that defines who you truly are.<\/p>\n
C. Mark 7:18-23 – The thoughts of the heart bring about sinful actions.<\/p>\n
D. Matthew 6:22-23 – Where we focus our minds is the direction we will go.<\/p>\n
V. There is always a way out of temptation – I Corinthians 10:13<\/p>\n
A. The promises<\/p>\n 1. Satan is limited in what he can use for temptation. No one can say that a\nparticular temptation is unique to him or that no one has ever faced a\ntemptation like theirs.\n 2. Since others have faced similar temptations, we know that some overcame\nand some have given in. Because some overcame that means no one is\nforced to sin.\n 3. God limits Satan to never give you a temptation that God knows you can’t\nhandle. Every temptation is one that you could resist.\n 4. God limits Satan so that there is always a way out. It probably will not be a\ndesirable path, but a path will always exist. You will never face a situation\nwhere you could honestly say you had no choice but to sin.\n
B. The example of Joseph – Genesis 39:7-12<\/p>\n
1. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own family.<\/p>\n
2. He was in a foreign country were no one would know what he did.<\/p>\n
3. He was alone with a woman who was asking for sex.<\/p>\n 4. She won’t take “no” for an answer and being his master’s wife, she could\nmake his life miserable if he disobeyed.\n
5. She was in the process of removing his clothes.<\/p>\n
6. What would you do?<\/p>\n 7. Joseph ran off in his underwear. Would that be a desirable thing to do? Yet\nit was better than sinning.\n
VI. Resist sin<\/p>\n
A. Proverbs 1:10 – Do not consent to sin<\/p>\n
B. Realize that as Christians, God dwells in us – I Corinthians 3:16-17<\/p>\n
C. Keep from sin – Colossians 3:1-5<\/p>\n
D. You cannot hold hot coals and not be burnt – Proverbs 6:25-28<\/p>\n
1. Pornography<\/p>\n
a. Arouses a desire for sex with someone you cannot have.<\/p>\n
b. Repeated exposure wears down your resistance to sin<\/p>\n
c. What happens if you are placed in a sexual situation?<\/p>\n 2. Songs, television shows, and movies that show unmarried couples jumping\ninto bed.\n
a. How long before you start thinking that this is normal behavior?<\/p>\n
b. How long before fondling is thought of as expected behavior?<\/p>\n
c. These repeated exposures wear down our resistence to sin.<\/p>\n
VII. Dating<\/p>\n A. Most people eventually date, but we must acknowledge the dangers present in\ndating.\n
1. Not everyone has the same standards towards sin that we try to uphold.<\/p>\n
2. The number of Christians is generally few. Many find dates among non-Christians.<\/p>\n 3. Psalms 1:1 – Don’t associate with sinners. Pick people who will encourage\nyou to be a better person, not worse.\n
4. I Corinthians 15:33 – Bad companions will corrupt good morals.<\/p>\n
B. Temptation for girls to date older men<\/p>\n
1. Boys develop in a different order and a different rate than girls. <\/p>\n
a. Their growth starts two years after the typical girl.<\/p>\n b. Their growth takes longer than the typical girl (generally four years\nlonger).\n 2. Hence, there is a period of time where girls look and act more mature than\nboys of their own age.\n
3. It is flattering to have a handsome, older man take notice of you<\/p>\n
a. Easy to mistake the notice for a complement on your maturity.<\/p>\n b. Too often the attention is because the man believes a young,\ninexperienced girl is easier to manipulate.\n
C. Minimizing temptation on a date<\/p>\n
1. Especially in younger years, date in groups.<\/p>\n
a. Less pressure to be the entertainment<\/p>\n
b. Able to become acquainted with several people at a time<\/p>\n c. Less likely to be pressured into doing something wrong (if the\ngroup is good in general).\n
2. Pick activities in public, well-lighted places<\/p>\n
a. Picnic, volleyball, canoe, bowl<\/p>\n
b. Go for pizza or ice cream<\/p>\n 3. Inform your parents in advance where you plan to go and when you plan to\nreturn.\n a. If you are uncomfortable telling you folks, then there may be a\nproblem with your plans.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I. The pathway to death – James 1:13-16 (handout) A. Desire 1. Each of us is born with a normal, natural set of desires. 2. Those desires are the consequences of the operation of our bodies. a. What is the purpose of thirst? Hunger? b. Does sexual desire have a purpose? B. Temptation 1. Satan tries to place us in situations where it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[156,179,185],"class_list":["post-4835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-lust","tag-sin","tag-temptation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25992,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-temptation-and-lust\/","url_meta":{"origin":4835,"position":0},"title":"What is the difference between temptation and lust?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi I was reading some of the questions that many have posted and one of them caught my attention. In it, you said that being tempted is not a sin. Many of the things we do that are wrong start in the mind, right? So when do the thoughts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1334,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-adultery-start\/","url_meta":{"origin":4835,"position":1},"title":"How does adultery start?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How does adultery start? 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Proponents of various sins like to play word games in order to disguise their intentions. \"Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2218,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-gay-people-going-to-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":4835,"position":5},"title":"Are gay people going to hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it true that gay people go to hell? I'm not gay, but a lot of people are, and it's not out of choice. They are just born attracted to men. So if it's not an option, why should they get punished for it? 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