Beacon Sunday Service: April 7th 2024

Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome to the beacon. Let's get to see the limbs back in the house. Fortunately, the the brothers uh and sister that visited last week are not here today. Um, but Pastor Madison wanted to just uh share some of the photos that he took last Easter Sunday. So here they are.

And if we can just uh thank the Lord for that Sunday. Um it really was a blessed time uh where we can just gather uh even with new faces and and worship God. Um at this time, let's just uh stand and uh greet one another uh in the Lord uh with uh grace and peace and then we'll get started.

Our uh call to worship comes from Hebrews chapter four, uh, verse sixteen. It reads, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. What a blessing we have as children of God to be able to come every Lord's day uh to his house uh to receive uh this grace, a grace that we so desperately need each and every day, each and every week. Um we come with heavy hearts, um, having fallen um into sin over and over again uh only to find that his grace is available to us. So can we do that uh today this morning together as a church? Um sing of his grace uh that is forever uh available to us and recognize that our salvation is solely by God's grace and grace alone.

Let's all stand together.

Father, we thank you for um uh bringing your children uh to your house once again to worship you, Father. That is our desire uh to worship you and spirit in truth to be able to lift our voices to you, recognizing that we are utterly incapable of saving ourselves and it and that it is only through uh the sacrifice of your son uh and that imputed righteousness that we can find forgiveness and reconciliation to you uh God and I pray that we would lift our voices and that you would listen and and be pleased with our worship. Would you receive all the honor and glory and pray all this in Jesus' name?

I was an orphan. I was an orphan lost at the fall running away when that hear you called Father, you work your will. I had no righteousness of my own. I had no right to draw near your throat. Father, you love me still, and in love, and in love before you laid the world's foundation, you predestined to adopt me as your robe.

So high above my station. I'm a child of God by grace and grace alone. You left your home to seek out the lost.

You knew the great and terrible cost, but Jesus, your face was said, I worked my fingers down to the bone, but nothing I did ever atone, but Jesus, you paid my death by your blood. I have redemption and salvation, Lord. You died that I might reap what you have sow, and you rose that I might be a new creation. I am born again by grace, and grace alone.

I never knew the day from the night, but Spirit you made me see amen.

But Spirit you moved in me, and your touch my sleeping spirit was awaken on my darkened heart, the light of Christ has shown called into a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Heaven citizen by grace and grace alone, so I'll stand so I'll stand in faith by grace and grace alone. I will run, I will run the race by grace and grace alone. I'll slay, I will slay my sin by grace and grace alone. I will reach thee, and by grace and grace alone, Amen, Amen.

Truly, just a humbling song of confession to our Father, that it really is all of grace, all of Jesus' work in us how I love the glorified of Jesus on the cross of Calvary, He declares His work is finished, He has spoken this hope to me, though the sun had sees it shining, though the war appeared as lost, Christ had triumphed over evil, it was finished upon that cross.

Now the curse. Now the curse it has been broken. Jesus paid the price for me. Full the pardon he has offered great that I receive. Boldly I approach my father clothing Jesus righteousness. There is no more guilt to carry.

Death was once my great abonne. Fear once had a hold on me, but the son who died to save us rose that we would be free indeed. Free from every plan of darkness, free to live and free to love. Death is dead, and Christ is risen. It was finished upon that cross.

It was finished upon that cross.

Amen.

Together, sin is any lack of conformity unto or transgression of any law of God given as a rule to the reasonable creature. What misery did the fall bring upon mankind and together? The fall brought upon mankind, the loss of communion with God, his displeasure and curse, so that we are by nature children of wrath, bond slaves to Satan, and justly liable to all punishments in this world and that which is to come.

But what I need your word has said is every Jesus. I've tried in vain. I've tried in vain a thousand ways. My fears to quell my hopes to raise, but what I need your word has said is every Jesus.

And deeds, this weary heart finds all it needs, in Jesus. I want to know you. I want to know you Jesus my Lord King of the King of my soul. I treat my treasure and all my rewards Jesus to know you then know you more, though some should curse me for your name.

I have no fear, I have no shame.

For all my days, my Jesus.

I must show you more. See that again lying wave after wave on the ocean, lying all of sand on the shore. Your beauty and glory. Won't Jesus, I must know you more. I want to know you. Jesus my Lord.

King of the heavens. The king of my soul. I treat my knowledge. Jesus to know you. Then know your more Jesus to know you. Jesus to know you know you more. Amen. I want to invite you guys to uh continue standing as we as a church this morning uh confess our sin together as with one voice. So if you guys could just turn your attention to the screen, we want to just remind ourselves that this confession of sin is unto the Lord. But I pray that we would also just be blessed as we hear the voices of our brothers and sisters also confess the sins that we have committed throughout this week, and as we just plead to the Lord for his forgiveness.

And so together would we just pray this prayer. Oh Lord, you are the great and awesome God. You keep covenant and steadfast love with those who love and trust you. We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly, turning aside from the light of your word. To you, O Lord, belong mercy and forgiveness. For we have rebelled against you. For we do not present our pleas before you because of your righteousness, but because of your great mercy. Oh Lord, hear.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. And at this time, I just want to invite us to have a personal time of just silent confession unto the Lord.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. But the Lord Jesus has laid upon himself the iniquity of us all.

I want us to use this time of corporate prayer today for us to continue to pray for those that the Lord has placed in our lives that may not know Jesus, that may not have this personal relationship. And we've just sung this beautiful song of how we declare that we would trade all of our rewards and just all of the things that we possess so that we might know Jesus more. And we have such an opportunity as a church to preach and to share this treasure, this reward of getting this of getting to know Jesus. And so, brothers and sisters, my my my plea for us today is that that burden of just having those in our lives that may not have this personal relationship, Jesus, that that burden would be something that we could carry, that in turn that we might be able to pray, that we might be able to minister to and just encourage and share this gift of knowing Jesus Christ.

And so will we just spend a few moments this morning just to pray for those that the Lord has placed in our lives that don't know Jesus and that will we just be able to pray for them.

We thank you, Lord, that you you've given us opportunities, God, to interact with others that you've placed in our lives. Lord, whether it be our immediate family, whether it be co-workers, whether it be just friends that we've met along along the way. And Lord, it goes without saying that each of us on a daily basis that we interact with people who don't know you. And Father, what greater gift is there in this life than to know your son Jesus and to have a personal relationship with him. And so, Father, our prayer this morning as a church is really, Father, for us to be able to have the courage to share this good news that knowing Jesus Christ, Lord, of being able to simply confide in a Savior that is omnipotent, that is omniscient, that is just so loving that he would die for our sins.

And God, I pray that as we truly do come to know you more, that we would come to see that there is eternity, Lord, at that there is the eternity here that we're fighting for, Lord. And Father, as as the weight of our sin just continues to compel us, Father, I pray that in turn that we might be able to share and to be able to witness to those that are around us, God. Lord, we want to be a church that not only just is able to hear the word and to be able to truly declare that Jesus is Lord, but we want to be able to be a church that acts, to be a church that is able to walk this walk of life, knowing fully well, Lord, that there are hundreds and thousands, if not millions of people that have not heard the name of Jesus Christ.

And so, Father, I pray that in our own lives that you would give us the courage and the ability to find opportunities to share this good news of Jesus, Lord. And we thank you, God, for opportunities like last week, where we will where we as a church were able to open up our doors to those who simply don't know you, Father. And I pray that you would allow these types of opportunities to continue within our own church, God. And Lord, even outside of the beacon, Father, that you would allow us to enter into conversations where the gospel would be able to be shared, Lord. And Father, as we be, as we continue to minister, we pray for the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, that it would lead us and guide us and move us, Lord, to draw near to engage you.

Lord, that we would be able to lean into the working of your spirit and the leading of your spirit instead of trying to rely on our own strength and our own abilities, God. We just did so in in worship. We're doing so now in prayer. And as we just uh just are looking forward to receive your word, God, would you just renew our spirits, refresh our minds this morning? We pray all these things in your son Jesus' name. Amen. Uh at this time, we're gonna dismiss the children for Sunday school. And so, if children, you guys could follow uh teacher Kathy to the back, uh, I will be joining you guys here shortly. Uh, and again, we're just looking forward for another awesome time of children's ministry today.

Church, as far as announcements go, we're gonna keep it pretty short and brief. Um, as every Sunday, we want to encourage you guys to continue to give as the Lord has just placed on your heart. And again, we we we we ask that if you're visiting that you uh again um do not we we we we don't we don't ask you to give necessarily, but if you're visiting, just please feel free to give as the Lord uh leads you. But if not, again, we just want to continue to give with a cheerful heart. And with that, I want to go ahead and invite Pastor Madison for our for a word this morning. Thank you so much. It's good to it's good to have you back. Have fun with the children now. Hey, I want to talk about temptation this morning.

You ever been tempted? You know, when I think of temptation, here's what I think about. You ever had you ever been tempted? You get to the restaurant or you get someplace and somebody, I'm sure you've been out to eat sometime, and you've gone out to eat, and it's you're you're it's been a good meal, but the waiter or waitress comes by and says, Did you did you leave room for dessert? Can I tempt you with one of these? That's kind of what we usually think about when it comes to temptation. We use it in so many ways uh in our society. Oh, uh, you know what I was I was tempted to do this. Uh I was tempted to get involved in in that. And so temptation is a part of life. And so we're gonna be in James this morning in in chapter one, verses 12 to 18 on temptation.

May West used to say it this way. I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it. That's that's the world's perspective. I gently avoid it unless I I can't resist it. James, in the book of James, he's going to move from the external situations now to the internal situations. He started out early in the chapter where he says, When you face trials, where do trials come from? The outside, other people, your job situation, things that are going on in the world, and now he's gonna move into the inside of your life, and he's gonna move from that that from testing to temptation. Where does temptation come from? You know, the temptation in your heart, every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.

So it's something inside us, and Satan wants to try to reach inside you and tempt you to do wrong. God allows testing on the outside of you so that you mature and grow up in the Lord. Satan. We said this a couple of weeks ago, I believe. Satan tempts us to do what? Bring out the worst in us. However, God tests us. There's a difference. Satan tempts us with things out here, the things of the world. Love not the things of the world, you know, for the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, there are the world. So Satan tempts test tempts us with things outside here. God tests us, and let me put on the screen this way, to bring out the best in us. You hear the difference?

Satan does what? Tempts us to bring out the worst. God tests us uh to bring out the best in us. So here's the text today. James, starting uh verse 12, 11. A man who endures trials is blessed. Because when he passes the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those that love him. You know, there are, I'll just throw this out. There are several places. There are about five places in scripture that he talks about crowns. And we can have crowns for, and this is the crown of life that God has promised to those who what? Love him. This is a is possible for you to have this crown. And we talk about laying crowns at Jesus' feet in heaven. It's possible for you to have the crown of life for those who love him.

All you have to do is just love him. There's also a crown for those who love the Lord's appearing. I would say there isn't a week that goes by when my wife and I are praying that we don't pray, Lord Jesus, would you come back today? You know that we are loving. We're inviting him to return to straighten out this mess in this world. So he says here, I'll read it again. A man who endures trials is blessed, because when he passes the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. No one undergoing a trial should say, I'm being tempted by God. For God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn't tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires.

Then after evil desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin when it is fully grown, it gives birth to death. Don't be conceived, dearly loved brothers. Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above.

And when I shine a light on you, or I shine a flashlight in your face, there'll be a shadow behind you. With God, since God is light, there's never a shadow. No matter which way he turns, it says, coming down from the Father of lights, with him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. That's why if we walk in his presence, we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another. The text goes on. By his own choice, he gave us a new birth by the message of truth. I want you to catch that for a second. By his own choice, it was God's choice to give you new birth. It wasn't your idea that got you salvation.

Did you catch that? It's not me seeking him. It was him seeking me. And I responded to it. We love him because he first what? Loved us. And then when he says it this way, husbands love your wives like Christ loved the church. If I, if you are here married today, I would say to you, listen, your wife is going to respond to you. If you love her like Christ loved the church, we we love him because why? He first loved us. Do you know how you win a woman? By love. Not by your money, not by your your super knowledge. She's not going to go, wow, he's really smart. I want to marry him. What wins her is your love. What won us to God was his love. And we love him because he first loved us. So here's what I want to say today.

Sermon in a sentence. Scripture warns us that we can be tempted. We're going to be tempted to do sin. And here's the Greek word, parasmos. And the interesting thing about parasmos, let me uh put it up here on the screen. The same Greek word, because the New Testament was written in Greek. The same Greek word is used for testings, trials, and temptation and temptations. So you almost say, well, which is it? Is it a test? Is it a trial? Is it a temptation? And the answer is yes. It is all of these. So let me show you in the text. Here is a small print, but I wanted to get it all on the screen here. Verse 2, verse 12, verse 13, verse 14. All of them have paras. This Greek word that's used for trials and testing and temptation.

Let me highlight it on the screen here. Six times the same Greek root word is used. You see it there for trials and then trials and then trial and then tempted. Tempt, tempted. Now let me say it this way. Look at the screen. The first three times, it's a noun. Temptation. It's a noun. And then the next three times, it's a verb. You are being being tempted. It's happening to you. It's not just, oh, hey, that was temptation. You know, you're you're pointing a thing, a temptation. It's oh I'm being tempted. It's a verb. Six times it's used. The same Greek word. So which is it in verse 2? It's a trial. By the time you get down to verse 14, it's translated tempted. As a matter of fact, it's it's actually translated a seventh time up here when it says this, let no man say when he is tempted, you know, I'm tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil.

And you know what they do to the last time? They put just the letter A in front of the word. We put it in front of words as well. When somebody is a believes in God, he's a theist. When he doesn't believe in God, we use the word a theist. When we go to, I when you go to an amusement park. You you go when you muse about something. You ever seen that that uh that statue, the guy that's sitting there like this, and he's actually sitting down and he's he's he's just musing M-U-S-E-S-E, I and G rather, musing, he's thinking about something, musing about it. When you go to a park where you don't have to think, we put the A, the letter A in front of it. And what kind of a park is it?

An amusement park, because you don't think at those parks. Here he's saying, Parasmos, you're tempted, you're tempted, you're you're tested, but one time he throws the letter A in front of it and says, uh, you're you're not tempted of God. God cannot be tempted with evil. So six times he's gonna use this word paras. So scripture warns us that we can be tempted.

If you're alive this week. If you live through this week, you're gonna be tempted. Satan wants to pull you away, he wants to destroy you. And I'm gonna give it to you this way. There are four times, four Greek words that are used in this text to describe our temptation. Okay. First one looks like this. Ex elco. Exalcal. And it means to draw away. Let me show it to you in the text here. No one undergoing a trial should say, I'm being tempted by God. For God is not tempted by evil. And he himself doesn't tempt anyone. But wait a minute. What happened in Matthew chapter 4?

What I'm gonna, I think I can back up the text here. Yeah, here. I just said to you this one. James 1 13. How does it end? For God is not tempted by evil. Uh I'll give it to you again here. For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself doesn't tempt anybody. It says he doesn't tempt anybody. And he can't be tempted. Oh, but what happens in Matthew 4? Isn't he tempted? What's it say here? Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and was what? Tempted by the devil. So wait a minute. Scripture is always correct. So what we have to do is say, okay, why? What is he saying there? That scripture can't counterdict itself because God's word is perfect. So it's saying that he's not tempted, but he was tempted here.

How long was he in the wilderness? 40 days. He went without food. Right? If there's anything, a person who hasn't eaten for 40 days once is what? Give me some food. So what did Satan come and ask him to do? Turn these stones to what? To bread. You think he wants to eat? Seems like, yeah, I haven't eaten in 40 days. He would want to eat. But then he says, and every time that Jesus was tempted here in this way, he quoted scripture. It's a man, it's written, man shall not live by bread alone. Let's let's throw God's word at Satan. When Satan tries to tempt you this week, let's use God's word to remind him. And Satan said to Jesus, he took him on the mountain top uh on the hillside there and said, Hey, uh, get up on this roof and I'll cast yourself down and man, I'll give you the world.

And Jesus could have said to him, the world's already mine. I made it anyway. I don't need you why would I bow down and worship you? The world's already mine. You're gonna try to give me something that's already mine. So Jesus was uh tempted, but he didn't respond. So let me give you another verse here, Hebrews 4.15. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, because you could say, well, wait a minute, if he can't be tempted, uh how yeah, how does he know what we face in temptation? We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. He was tested. So what does it mean then that he can't be tested and he doesn't test us?

James 14, but each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires, he's drawn away. So before I get into this drawn away, let me talk about why Jesus couldn't be tested. Okay, there's nothing in Jesus. Let me let me say, if this were a magnet, a real strong magnet, and I put it down over nails, steel nails, what would those steel nails do? If it if the magnet comes near it, the steel nails go and draw they get drawn right up to that, right? If I put the same magnet over copper, do you know what the copper's going to do? It's just going to sit there. Because there's nothing in the copper that's attracted to that magnet.

Let me say it this way. Satan attempted to test Jesus to sin. But there was nothing in Jesus' nature. He did not have a sin nature. So when Satan came with this magnet, as it were, this temptation, Jesus wasn't even tempted. It didn't even impact him. Not so with us, because we're born with what kind of a nature? A sin nature. When somebody says, hey, look at this.

We're tempted by sin. Satan wants to do what? Draw us away. I gave you the Greek word for that. Exel. Drawn away. Okay? There it is on the screen again. Exelky. Now, let me divide this into two parts so that you can say, what does it mean? Satan's going to draw me away. Okay? The first part's a little prefix. X. X. We use it all the time in our society. Matter of fact, it's right on the back door of this church. And what does the ek come from?

Ek. Exit. Can I can I even do it another way? There. There are in the Old Testament, 39 books in the Old Testament. They were written in Hebrew. When they got translated for the first time, so that people could read it that didn't read Hebrew. They got it got translated into Greek. And that's when every one of the books of the Old Testament was given a name. The name Exodus comes from two Greek words. This one, this prefix, ek, out of, and Hadas, Hadas, O-D-O-S, with a rough breathing mark over it. So it's Hadas.

We use O D One. Look at the speedometer. Hadas means way. So what's the book of Exodus? The way out of. And we use Hadas, Hadas for speedometer or odometer. What is the odometer? How many miles are on my car? I don't know. Let me check the odometer. Because it tells me how many miles I went over the way. You get it? So on this, ek, ek, ek elkal means exit. And the second part of this word means to draw. So when you put these words together, I'll put it on this side. When you put these words together, it means to draw out. And what does Satan want to do to you? He wants to draw you out away from your Christian friends.

He wants to draw you out and away from the Lord. And he wants to draw you out and away from godly influences in your life and cause you to sin. It also means to drag away. Just so you know, this happens to be a hunting term. So I'm going to put a picture of this deer on the screen. Okay. In our country, in several countries of the world, you have you have deer. And what does a hunter want to do? If somebody's out, okay, let me say this. I'm going to be cautious here. Because there are about three things that people never want to talk about. Um politics, religion, and hunting. Because people are, you're killing Bambi. You you had this, you know, you're out there, and why you did what?

I was speaking one time. I was speaking in Kenya. And uh, so I flew over and I spoke 15 times in five days. And one of the times I was I I alluded to this, and I was talking about how Satan wants to trap us, wants to draw us out. And I said, you know, uh have you ever been hunting? I said this is a whole, it's a pastor's conference, so that the place is packed with pastors from Uganda and Kenya, and I said, You ever been hunting? I I guess I should have looked in advance, because in Kenya, you're not allowed to hunt anything. And so I'm trying to tell them about something on how hunters draw animals out, and they're going, huh? You know what I mean? What are you talking about? You know, they they know they have refuges and areas where the deer and other animals are kept, but you can't kill them.

But in our country, take this deer, or let me even show you another one. Okay, these deer, they can sense, just like you can. Do you want to know whether you're saved or not? I'll tell you whether you're saved or not. Okay. When you sin, does the Holy Spirit speak to your heart and say, what are you doing? There's a sense of conviction. If you have the Holy Spirit in your life, if you're a believer, if you've trusted Jesus, if you have Jesus in your life, the Holy Spirit has come into your life, and that Holy Spirit's job is to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. If there's no sense of sin, when you're sinning and there's no conviction, no sense that man, I need to get right with God, then you ought to say, Wow, the Lord, probably not in my life.

So here's what happens when a deer's out, when a hunter's out. Did you know that in our country there are many areas where hunters can't go into? It's a refuge. It's a hunting refuge where the deer can't be touched. So, where do you think hunters hunt when they go hunting? They go hunting right around the fence of the refuge. Just waiting for the deer to be what? Drawn out. And when those deer cross the fence into that area, what's going to happen to them? They're going to be killed. God says, the Lord is my refuge and strength.

A present help in time of need. We're in his refuge. Do you catch that? Do you understand what's going on there? He said, Look, stay within this refuge. You'll be absolutely safe. Get drawn out. Get pulled away. Get dragged away. And what's going to happen? No hunter is even allowed to go in the refuge. Hunters will hunt around the edge. When they shoot the animal, the animal doesn't just go, a deer will run fifty to a hundred yards. Once it's hit, once it is shot, whether with a bow or with a gun. And you know where they usually run? Right back into the refuge. And then you have to go get a game warden to come out and go into the refuge and pull it out.

Look, God says you're going to be tempted this week. And what does Satan want to do? Satan wants to draw you out. He's over here with the signs. Think of what they do in Vegas. The flashing lights, you know, and uh everything from A to Z in terms of sin there. Can I even say it this way? You know, the strip joints here, the the places they're gonna try to draw men away you know to sin. Listen, let me say it to you again. Scripture warns us that we're gonna be tempted. And in this passage of James, he gives four words. I'm gonna give you four Greek words, and I'm gonna give you the English translation that's in our text. But I want you to see what the English the Greek words are based on here.

The first one is ex alcohol. It means to be drawn away. Let me say it this way. Drawn. I don't mean I got a I got a notepad in my hand, and I'm gonna draw a picture of you. I mean he's saying, Come on, come on over here. Let me just tempt you. You can have this. The second word that's used in this text is this word, deliazzo. Deliazzo, and it means enticed. You ever been enticed to do something wrong? You don't hear it often in our society, but if somebody had a lot of dollar bills, they reach in their pocket, and they got a fistful of money, hundred dollar bills. What would it take? And he starts to peel one and then two and then three, hundred, four hundred, five.

What would it take to entice you to lie about this? They want to entice you. Here, here I'm gonna, I'm gonna pay you off. I'm gonna entice you to do it. The text says it this way, verse 13. No one undergoing a trial should say, I'm being tempted by God. By the way, when I gave you that that those six times that that Greek word used for trials and testing and tested, said a context determines how it's gonna be translated. And so he says, No one going undergoing a trial should say, I am being tempted by God, for God is not tempted by evil. There's nothing that even tempts him. Let me say it this way. I don't I don't drink alcohol. And I'm gonna I'm probably waiting in here where I I shouldn't, but God's word never says, never says, Thou shalt not drink.

God's word does say don't get drunk. What's a sin? Drunkenness is a sin. People in uh in Europe drink alcohol all the time. They didn't have, they didn't have really good water. So they could drink something and they would drink, you know, one glass or something. My kid, my family doesn't drink, but they have the freedom. But they don't use, I I could drink, but I don't use that that liberty that I have to cause somebody else to sin. Because if they say, Oh, Pastor Madison, it's it's okay. He's drinking, he drinks, I can drink. Now I don't ever want to be an excuse for them to end up becoming an alcoholic. God's word warns us that strong drink is like a snake. You never know when it's gonna bite you.

So can you drink? Yeah, you can drink. Can you get drunk? No, that's a sin. So he says, no one undergoing a trial should say, I'm being tempted by God, for God is not tempted by evil. I, since I don't drink, if somebody sets uh uh a can of cold beer in front of me, and it's a hot day, I don't go, oh man, that's tempting. There's nothing about that alcohol that tempts me. Did you catch that? And what you have in you is the Lord Jesus, and there's no sin that even is tempting to him. So don't drag him into some place where you're sitting, and he himself doesn't tempt anyone, but each person is tempted when he is drawn away. Remember, that's the first Greek word that's used there, ex alcohol, when he is drawn away, and secondly, enticed by his own evil desires, enticed by his own evil desires.

Do you get that? The first Greek word was a hunting word. You're trying to draw these animals out of their safe area. By the way, deer can pick up on your scent like that. And when they do, well deer are often in groups of oh, four or five, six deer together. Their eyes are, you know, one's looking this way, one's looking that way. Any movement, they're boom, they see you, but they smell you before they see you. And when they smell you, you know what they do? All of sudden you hear, look at me, all of a sudden you hear, they're they're sucking in that smell and snorting it out, and that sound says to all the other deer in the area, get out of here now.

What do we do when we go fishing? We take what are these called? Lures, and it's the Lord, did you know that a fish, everything a fish needs to eat is in the in the lake or in the ocean? Everything they need, right? They don't, but you go fishing, and you give them this lure that looks like a fish, and you know, you cast it out there and you kind of jerk it around, and the fish goes, oh, and it, and it goes after this lure. It's not getting any food, right? This is fake. And it's not getting any food, but it's getting what? The hooks. And how is it gonna end?

It's gonna be dead. If it goes after this fake thing, it's gonna end up dead. We have a guy in our church up in uh Palmdale. He's 95 now. His name is George Vilios, and George is a wonderful godly man, and he's from he's from Greece. As I preach once in a while, he'll say, the pastor, if if I have found favor, the Greek word should be pronounced. And so I'll say, Oh, George, thank you. Now what I hadn't said to him was uh the Greek that that we use in the New Testament days was the Erasmus in Greek, which is pronounced different than the contemporary Greek, but I just appreciated him loving me enough to say, here's how it should be said. George said to me, how would you really if I have found favor?

Would you like to go fishing with me? So I'm thinking, I'm not much of a fisherman, George, but uh yeah, I'll go with you. Where are we gonna go? He said, how about if we go to the aqueduct? You know what the aqueduct is? I don't know if you talk about it much down here, but the aqueduct runs right through the Annal Valley. It runs miles coming out of Northern California with thousands and thousands of gallons of water, and it's the aqueduct that flows all the way down here so that you have water in LA. So he's gonna go fishing in the aqueduct. I said, George, what's in the aqueduct? The aqueduct is about oh uh probably 70 feet across from side to side and drops down and more than 20 feet deep, runs at about eight or ten miles an hour, just and just tons of tons of catfish in there.

So he said, let's go and catch some catfish. I go out with George to the aqueduct. It's five o'clock in the morning. George gives me a pole. I said, George, what are we gonna use for bait? What do you think he uses for bait? He's gonna catch catfish. He opens up a plastic container like this, and he has chicken liver in there. And I'm thinking, let's see, most people don't like liver to begin with. No, I I like I can I can like liver. Okay, I'm I'm sorry, but I you know, some people don't have any taste, and I guess that's I'm one of them. I can I can eat liver. So he has chicken liver, and I'm thinking, if these fish eat liver, and I'm gonna eat them, most people aren't gonna like the way that fish you are what you what?

You are what you eat. So here I am, he's gonna give me chicken liver, but he has something else he's gonna use. What's the Greek word that's used for sin here?

It means to entice. And what does Satan want to do to you? He wants to say, come on, let me draw you away, let me entice you to go after this. You know what George puts on his chicken liver? By the way, what he put on his chicken liver, this goes back a few years now, but when George put puts on his chicken liver, it's against the law to put on chicken liver to go fishing today. What do you think he put on chicken liver? Any idea? Any of you fishermen? He gets he gets a can out, and I look at it and I said, What? What are you doing, George? And so here's the chicken liver, and he sprays it down with, listen to me. He sprays it down with W D 40.

W D40. I'm going, what are you doing? WD40 is uh lubricant that, you know, it's supposed to make stuff work, you know, more smoothly and and stuff. It's against the law to use in the state of California now. Uh, with fishing, because there is some petroleum in it, and a little bit of petroleum can impact water. By the way, WD40, you know how they got that name? They did. It was the 40th experiment to displace water. So the W stood for water, the D stood for displacement, and it was the 40th effort time they had done it, and it worked that 40th time, and from that point on, it was WD 40. He used that though. Why did it work with fish? Because it had a strong scent.

And the fish, but get it. That day, I was with George. And that day I caught a nice catfish about this long. And what happened to the catfish? It ended up what? Dead. What happens to us when we're enticed by sin? Sin when it is finished, bringeth forth what? Death. James 1.15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death. What have I said to you? Satan wants to draw you away. Satan wants to entice you. By the way, I I fixed that catfish. God's word says a matter of fact that I never hunt anything or fish anything that I don't eat. God's word says the slothful man does not roast or cook what he gets in hunting.

You don't kill something just to kill it. Unless it's something dangerous and you have to kill it to protect your life. But I cooked that catfish. I wrapped it up. I put it in foil, and I put it in the in the in the oven and it cooked. I took it back out. It was the nastiest thing I'd ever eaten. I never never could never caught another one, never went after it again. People say in our country, we used to have carp. You know what carp are? You know, and carp, they say, you know, then there are people that eat carp, go after carp, and they use this to get it. They cook the carp. You know what they say? Yeah, you put it on the board, you cook the carp, you take it out after it's cooked, you throw away the carp, and you eat the board.

Because the board tastes better than the carp would. Listen to me. Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there is no bait for it? No. What does the bait do? Entices. What do you know that it's it's against the law to even bait deer? You can't throw out corn, you can't throw out you know, food. You can throw it out all year long, and you have to stop 30 days before hunting season. Because it's against the law to bait, to draw out, to entice. You know, listen. Satan wants to draw you out, he wants to bait you, and and there are people that say, well, listen, didn't didn't God make sex? So shouldn't I get involved with that? Yeah, you can get involved with that in marriage.

But otherwise, you're going after what God made, which was good. Only you get it with the hooks. You get it with the hooks in it. They get the venereal diseases, you get the whatever. You get HIV. You get sin. Look. If there's no bait, they don't go after it. Does a trap spring from the ground when it has caught nothing? No. I'm going to put this verse back on the screen again. James 14. Every man is enticed by his own evil desires. Do you see that in the text? Now, let me tell you something. I want you to know there are no, there are no errors or mistakes in God's word. But when translators sometimes translate it, sometimes they say, Oh, let me help them understand this.

So look at the screen. I'm going to cross out the word evil. Because the word evil in that verse does not occur. So why did they put it there? They put it there because beforehand, there's no man, let no man say when he's tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil. That's the verse before there. God cannot be tempted with evil. So I put it in its context, and what's he talking about there? Evil. But it's not in this verse. Because the word desire here in Greek can be good or bad. Desire, you know, if I desire to meet daily with God in his word, that's a good thing, right? But if I desire a woman that's not my wife, that's a bad thing.

And both are the same word, desire. And desire in the Greek word is used both in the positive sense and in the negative sense in Scripture. Epithemia is the Greek word that's used in Scripture. And so let me show you a couple of places. Luke 22, 15. Then Jesus said to them, I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. It's a good thing, isn't it? It's not evil there. Or how about this text? Philippians 1 23. I am pressured by both. I have the desire to depart and be with Christ. Isn't that a good thing? If you desire to die and go be with the Lord, wow, you know, is that a bad thing? Oh, it's a good thing. Or how about this one? 1 Thessalonians 2, 17. But as for us, brothers, after we were forced to leave you for a short time in person, not in heart.

We greatly desire, desired, and made every effort to return and see you face to face. I just want to be with you. It was my desire to have fellowship with you. It's not a bad word. So you have to know the context to know what's going on. 1 Timothy 3 1. This is a trustworthy saying. If anyone aspires to an overseer, he what desires a noble work. I just I desire to be an elder. Not so that I can have authority, but so I can teach people God's word and share. So, 1 Timothy 6 9. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmless. There it's negative now, isn't it? Same desire, the word desire. But now it's a bad thing. Or how about this one? John 8 44. You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father's what?

Desires. Anything that Satan wants is bad. So what we want to do is put it in its context. We want to understand. Scripture teaches us we can be tempted. Yes, we can. And what are the words? Exelko. Ah, Satan wants to draw you out. Let me get you away from people that are going to stand and hold you accountable and love on you and pray for you. Let me draw you away from them, drag you away. How about Deliazzo enticed? The third Greek word that he uses to talk about our sin is sulum busa. It means to conceive. See, the first one is a hunting term. I draw that deer out. The second one is kind of a fishing term. I bait, I entice the fish, and I get it, but I kill it because I get it with hooks.

They get hooks. The third one is a marriage picture. Conceived. Okay? So let me put it on the screen this way. No one undergoing a trial should say, I am being tempted by God. For God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn't tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has what? Conceived. We're adults here. We understand what conception is. How conception takes place. And so here's what he's saying. Let me drop it in here. I'm going to tell you three things about this, okay? Apart from being raped. The idea of conception has three things. It's seen as voluntary.

When you and your mate were to conceive, it's voluntary. You don't force somebody to do it. Okay. Secondly, it's seen as what the woman desires. Apart from rape. It's what the woman desires. She wants to be a mom. She wants to have children. Thirdly, it is something to be nurtured. How long does that child take to be formed within her? Nine months. And I put on the screen, in the same way, sin is nurtured in our hearts before it is birthed in our lives. Do you catch that? That's why he said, don't let sin get conceived in your heart. Don't linger on it.

You know when you're tempted.

You know what? You know what God's word is saying there. Don't let sin conceive in you. There's a fourth one. Exelko, drawn away. Deliadzo enticed. Sulabua Busa, conceived. The fourth Greek word that's used there is planao. Plenao. And he says, Oh, you can be deceived. How many times have you heard people say, oh, you know, I just had peace about it. Listen, God will never give you peace about sin. If you have peace about sin, you're probably not a believer. So let's see what the text says. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

Don't be deceived, my dearly loved brothers.

Satan wants to deceive you. He'll make you think that it's okay. Listen to me. It's never okay for a believer to marry an unbeliever. I'll just give you some simple example like that. Don't be deceived. Well, but I love her. God brought her to my life. Does she know the Lord? If she doesn't know the Lord, it is never okay. You are being deceived. If she is an unbeliever, and you're a believer, and you think that God's okay with it. Oh, I want to win her to Christ. There's no such thing as missionary dating. There is missionary, you know, sharing the gospel. But you're probably not going to win her. So don't be deceived. Galatians 6 7 says it this way: don't be deceived.

God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, he will also reap. What do we say? People go, they live in sin all week long, they sow their wild what do we call it? We sow their, they sow their wild what. You ever heard that term? I'm looking at any anybody heard that term? They sow their wild oats. And then what happens when they go to church on Sunday? They pray for crop failure. You know, on the wild oats that they sowed. What's he say? Yeah. What a man sows, he will also reap. Or how about this one? James 1, he says, each person is tempted. And here are the four words. He's drawn away, which is actually two words, but it's only one word in the Greek. He's drawn away, he's enticed, it conceives in him, and then he's deceived.

Listen to me, let's say it this way. God has promised in his word.

No temptation has taken you, has overtaken you, except what is common to humanity. God is faithful.

But will with the temptation, he will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.

And really the question that I have for you today is this. You're going to be tempted this week. But the question is, when you are tempted, will you accept his escape plan? Or are you going to just yield? Just going to yield and say, there was a TV program years ago. Guy by the name of Flip Wilson. And he was flippant with his use of what went on. And every time he did something wrong, he used this term. The devil made me do it. The devil can't make you do anything. Who's in your life if you're a believer? Jesus. And what is God's word say? Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Satan cannot make you do any sin. Will you accept his escape plan?

Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we're asking right now that you'll work in our hearts. If we're tempted, Lord Jesus, set us free from sin. Give us that freedom that we have in you. You said we'll know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. We want to be free from sin pulling us down, from sin enticing us or drawing us away, for sin being conceived in us, even this week. Or by being deceived in any way. While your heads are bowed, while your eyes are closed. Can you say, Lord, I'm gonna be tempted this week. I know Satan wants to tempt me, and I'm praying now that you'll give me victory over this sin for your glory, for it's in Jesus' name.

We pray, Amen. Thank you, Pastor Madison, for that timely message this week when Satan tempts us when our own evil desires tempt us to go astray. I pray that you would go to Jesus, that place of refuge, that sanctuary you can find rest and fight off that temptation. So if you can stand with me and sing the song.

Tender shebardy save you, rest in him. See how sure his compassion for us, how sure his compassion for us, oh how deep is his love. So come to Jesus and rest in him. Are you hopeless? Are you guilty? Caught in shame for all your sin. He pursues you to forgive you, rest in him, amen.

Ever sea flow in endless streams come and fall alone. Freedom calls you rest in him. How sure is his compassion? How sure is compassion for us. Oh, how deep is love. So come to Jesus in him. Are you waiting? Your sorrows for this broken world to him. He is calming soon. Return me, rest in him.

We will see him. We will know him. Oh, what heights of grace revealed. From his kindness. Every promise that fulfill. Trust in Jesus. Trust in Jesus. He will keep us to the end. How sure. How sure? His compassion for us. Oh, how deep is love. So come. Come to Jesus and sure. His compassion for us.

Oh, how deep is love. So come. Come to Jesus and rest in him. What I what I really love is when the kids are in the service here, and you hear them or you see them getting ready to get on the platform. You know what that tells me is this church has a future. Because you have kids. You know, some people they get upset when kids are crying or making noise. I go, Oh, thank God. There are kids crying. That's good. So never worry about any of that going on, parents. We're just glad the kids are here. Suffer the little children. Let the little children come into me and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven. And what we've just sung, come to him and find rest. Come into me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

So let's enter into God's rest this week. So let him fight the battle. It's his battle against that temptation that you face. Let's just close our prayer, shall we? Heavenly Father. Thank you that you are Lord of Lords. You're King of Kings. And so we worship you. And we're praying now that you'll take us from this worship time to serve you this week. As we leave these doors, may we understand that we are entering our mission field. So use us this week for your glory. We invite you to return in Jesus' name. Amen. Have a great week.