...chapter number one in your Bibles, please, James chapter number one. We finished our series on the items of the Lord Jesus, and so we've been preaching on Wednesday nights on moving toward maturity out of the book of James, and I got through a couple messages there, and it seems like that it's just lending itself to truths that I wanted to preach to the larger congregation, and so maybe moving that to Sunday mornings and doing something a little bit different. on Sunday night. I do want to let you know that Andrea is okay and everything's fine. And so thank you for praying for her during that little situation there. And I appreciate our first responder team moving so quickly to be there to help her in that situation. James chapter number 1. Find your place, if you would, please, in verse number 13. I want to deal with a problem, an issue that we all face every day of our lives. It doesn't matter whether you're old or young, rich or poor. It doesn't matter whether you're a brand-new Christian who's been saved for years. It's a problem that has defiled more lives, broken more marriages, destroyed more families, and ended more ministries than anything else and everything else put together. You say, Preacher, what in the world could it be? It is the issue of temptation. Notice what the Bible says in James chapter 1 and verse number 13. The Bible says, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of His own will beget He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. I want to preach to you on handling temptation before temptation handles you. Let's pray and ask God to help us this morning. Father, as we bow before You, I know that even this morning I face temptation. I faced the temptation while I was trying to fumble with my collar and tie my tie to rush out the door and get to church to become angry. Lord, temptation comes in all sizes, shapes, and forms. It affects our lives, and Lord, through that, when we give in to temptation, it can disrupt our fellowship with you. Father, it can even defile and destroy our lives. I pray today that you would teach us from your Word about the origin of temptation, where it comes from. Help us to understand its operation in our lives, and then Lord, how we can overcome it. And Father, I thank you that you have given us the ability and the power and the ways to overcome temptation, that sin does not have to dominate and defile our lives. I pray, God, You'd teach us Your truths this morning. Lord, if there's someone here that doesn't know You in a saving way, I pray that before the service is out, they would come to know Christ. And, Father, we'll thank You and praise You for what You do for us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Sometimes we feel like the person who wrote this prayer. Dear Lord, so far today I'm doing alright. I haven't gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, selfish, or self-indulgent. I've not wanted, complained, cursed, or eaten any chocolate. I have charged nothing on my credit card, but in a minute I will be getting out of bed. And I think then I really need your help. How many of us could say amen to that right there? Boy, we do good, and the next thing we know, we're struggling. And this thing called temptation, as we look in James chapter 1, you find the most comprehensive passage found anywhere in the Bible dealing with the subject of temptation. And temptation is any enticement to sin or to do wrong. It is a mental suggestion to sin. You and I need to understand, before you and I can ever make a decision to do right or to do wrong, to succumb to temptation or overcome temptation, it first passes through the thought processes of our mind. There is a temptation, a mental enticement to sin, or a mental suggestion to sin. Now, here's what I want you to get. First of all, as it comes to this matter of temptation, we need to realize the certainty of temptation. Just like you and I, as we learned on Wednesday nights as we were talking about trials that come into our lives and testings as individuals, just as we're going to face trials. It's not a matter of if those trials are going to come, it is a matter of when those trials are going to come. Everybody's going to face trials and testing and hardship and difficulty in life. Well, can I tell you the same thing is true about this matter of temptation? Notice the Bible says in verse number 13, let no man say, When? James didn't say if you're tempted. It's a matter of when you are tempted. You and I are going to face temptation. Look at verse number 14. The Bible said, but every man is tempted. That involves everybody. There's no man, woman, teenager, child, preacher, Christian, no sinner, no saint that is without temptation. Not one of us are immune to sin's enticements. As a matter of fact, every one of us are susceptible to temptation and sin. Somebody said God had only one Son without sin, but no sons without temptation. Even the Lord Jesus Himself was tempted of the devil when He was on earth, yet without sin. By the way, Jesus is not a matter of whether or not He could sin. Frank, can I tell you, He wasn't able to sin because He's God Himself. Amen? It was sort of like a rowboat going up against a battleship. The devil didn't have a chance. And aren't you glad that He showed us that He has the victory and He can give us the victory? Now listen, it's inevitable. You're not going to escape it. I'm not going to escape it. As long as we're living in this world, temptation is going to knock on our door. It is going to come in all kinds of different ways. It may be just as simple as losing our temper, whether or not I'm going to come to church. It may be the temptation to use words that I shouldn't use, off-color joke. It may be to the point where a person is tempted to involve themselves in some type of immoral activity. or whether they are involving themselves in some type of sinful thing. It can be in any matter. It can be a small matter, a big matter. But can I tell you, temptation is real, and everybody's going to face it. It is a certainty in our lives. Now, here's what I want you to get. You need to recognize that when temptation comes your way and temptation comes my way, it does not come from God. Look what he says, verse 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. He goes on to say, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. Friend, listen, God is never going to tempt you and I to sin against Him. Now listen, He may allow us to be tempted. We may be in the situation where we're tempted. Hey, as long as we're in this side of planet earth, as long as we're in this body of flesh, we're going to face temptation. But God is not the author, the source, or the origin of that temptation, we can never blame our sin on God. God can never be faulted with our wrong. We can't blame Him. Now listen, it didn't come from God, but I want you to get this. It's very important. It doesn't necessarily come from the devil. Now I know in the Bible he's called the tempter. I recognize it. Every Christian has three foes. We have an external foe called the world, a world system that is totally opposed to God and the things of God that wants to lure us and steal our allegiance away from God I recognize that. We have a world that entices us and tempts us externally. We have an infernal foe that's called the devil. He's called the tempter. And listen, he may not be the source of every temptation, but I can tell you he's involved in those temptations to seek to bring us away from God, to defile and damage and devour and destroy our lives. But listen, he's not the primary source of temptation. You see, there's an external foe. There is an infernal foe. But I'm here to tell you, there is an internal foe called our flesh. Can I tell you, the Bible says, if you'll look in verse number 14, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. It is our own flesh. Now here's what I want you to get. God may test you to bring out your best. Satan, We'll use the testings and the temptations of life to seek to bring out our worst, but you and I need to understand that temptation is primarily an inside job. We have an enemy within us that seeks to succumb to and give in to this matter of temptation. I have a simple flesh, and the Bible says, Jesus said, from within, out of the heart of man proceeds evil thoughts and blasphemies and adulteries and murders. Listen, friend, listen. We don't need any help in this matter because we've got a flesh that will betray us. We need to recognize that. We need to recognize it. Now, there is a certainty about this matter of temptation. But then I want you to notice, secondly, that we need to analyze the strategy behind the temptation. We need to recognize, hey, I'm going to be tempted. I live in a world that's going to tempt me. The devil is going to work to tempt me. He's called the tempter. He tempted the Lord Jesus. He's going to tempt me. He's going to seek to defile me and damage my life. He wants to bring out the worst in me. But yet I have a sinful flesh. I have a sinful flesh that I don't even need any help in being tempted and giving in to sin. I have my own sinful desires, God says, that is a result of the flesh that I have. And so I need to recognize that. But then recognize also the strategy that's involved in it. There is a strategy in temptation. Look what he says in verse 14. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust. Now I want you to get several things here. Number one, sin is desirable. Sin is desirable. Listen, nowhere in the Bible does God tell us that sin is not desirable. It is desirable. It appeals to us. That's why we're tempted. Listen, I can just tell you, friend, if I'm going to go buy a chocolate shop, I'm going in. My flesh can't handle it. I don't even play the game, I'm not going to eat any chocolate. That's a waste of time. I love chocolate. If I go to the, listen, if I go to the ice cream place with my family, I'm looking for double chocolate fudge brownies with chocolate chips, with chocolate syrup on top of it, and I would get chocolate whipped cream if they had it. I love chocolate. So it's just a waste of time, because my flesh likes it. How many of you say amen right there? You understand what I'm saying? Hey, listen, we deal with those things, but it's desirable. Now, I'm just using a simple thing about chocolate, but the reality of it is, friend, that this world and our flesh and Satan makes sin desirable. That leads people to give in to it. Notice the Bible says in verse 14, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust. Those two words, drawn away, means to draw out or lure. There's something within us to which sin appeals. And notice this word lust. That does not always refer to some kind of sexual desire. It can be any kind of desire, whether good or bad, even a God-given desire, that we would fulfill in a sinful way in disobedience to God. Friend, listen, it is a longing or desire for that which is usually forbidden. And Satan knows that like metal is drawn to a magnet, the sinfulness of our hearts is drawn to temptation. And friend, listen, God says this, you can't blame Him with our sin. Listen, He neither condemns it nor commends it. Neither can we blame the devil. He may coerce me, but he cannot force me to sin. For he can tell you, when it comes to this matter of sin, it is my choice. I made the choice to give in to the temptation. He said, of his own. That's an interesting word. That word, on, means we get our English word idiosyncrasies from that. We call it a tick. You know what I'm saying? Everybody's got their own little ticks, their own little idiosyncrasies. Do you realize that what may tempt me may not tempt you? Do you realize that what may tempt you may not tempt me? Do you realize that you can set a six-pack of Bud Light in front of me, it'll never tempt me? I've never tasted alcohol in my life, to God be the glory. I'm not bragging. I'm just thankful. I had a grandfather that preached the fire out of alcohol and whiskey and all that stuff, and I knew if I ever touched it, God'd kill me, and so I just never have. I don't know what it tastes like. I couldn't even get past the smell of it. But you know what? You can set that on my table, in my kitchen. You can ice it up. You can make it look as attractive as you want to. I'll never be tempted to drink it. I have no desire for it. It does not affect me one iota. But you take that same six-pack to somebody that battled alcohol or battled that addiction or battled that in their earlier life, and you set that on the table, and you know what? They'll gnaw their tongue out to keep from having to drink it because it appeals to them. That means, you know what? You may be tempted, with something I'm not tempted with. I may be tempted with something you're not tempted with. You know what? The devil knows your idiosyncrasies. He knows what works on you. Because he's a student. Now, understand something, all right? Probably none of us have, when I say the devil, I'm talking about his demons that he would use to tempt us, okay? And then we know we have our own flesh that tempts us, but notice of his own. James is going to put the blame exactly where it belongs on us. And you and I will never overcome temptation until we first accept the responsibility for our actions and for the fact that we're the ones who make the choice. The problem is not that we have a tempter without. We have a traitor within called our flesh. And sin is desirable. And friend, listen. The world knows our number. The devil knows our number. The flesh knows my number. Does that make sense? But I'm the one who makes the choice of whether I say yes or no to the temptation. Number one, you need to understand sin is desirable. The Bible said there's pleasure in sin for a season. for a season. But then I want you to notice something else. Not only is it desirable, secondly, it is deceptive. It's deceptive. Look what he says in verse 14. He said, Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, what's peculiar to him, and enticed. That drawn away is an interesting idea. It has the idea of setting a trap. It's the idea of a fishing term. It speaks of baiting a hook. or setting a trap. The bait will appeal to the natural desires of the fish or the animal that's drawn away by that which entices it, which makes it want what it is. Now listen, you know what? Satan puts the kind of bait on the hook of temptation that appeals to our desires to entice us or draw us away from what is right and pleasing it to God to do what is wrong and sinful before God. Listen, I do that whenever I go bass fishing. You take that little lure, and you throw it out there, and there's the bass underneath the log, and boy, you want to make that thing look as natural and appealing, and that bass is just unsuspecting, and you throw it out there, and then you wiggle it a little bit, and you wiggle it, and suddenly, boy, he hits that thing, and you set the hook, and you got him. You know what? All day long, that bass will lay there until something entices it to hit. Does that make sense? It was drawn away. And friend, can I tell you, as you and I go out our doors and we walk in this world, we live in a world around us that is filled with bait to entice us and draw us away from the safety of obedience to God and the will of God to do that that displeases God and defiles our life that leads to disobedience and broken fellowship with the God of heaven. And we need to recognize that. It is deceptive. It will deceive us. Listen, I'm deceiving that bastard. Hey, there's a hook in that thing. It's not food. I want to catch it. And I'm going to tell you something, the devil's going to deceive you. And your flesh is going to deceive you. And the world's going to seek to deceive you. And what you and I have to do is determine that we're going to recognize and realize the strategy of temptation, and that we're not going to fall prey to the desirable, deceptive matter of sin. Let me tell you, Satan's a master fisherman. He knows how to vary his approach. You know what I'm going to do? If I'm out bass fishing, and Brother Dan, you know this, we're going to use what's working. Isn't that right? And I'm going to keep using it. How many of you ladies understand what I'm talking about? I'm not just assuming all men here like to fish. There's ladies here who like to fish, too. I'm going to use whatever they're biting, and I'm going to keep using it until they stop biting. Let me just tell you something. Do you know why you and I keep falling prey to the same sin over and over and over and over again? It works. And the devil's going to keep throwing the same thing, and the world's going to keep throwing the same thing in front of you until you and I stop biting. Yes. But I can promise you this. He's not going to stop fishing. When they stop biting this color lure, you know what I do? I find another color lure. And I keep throwing something out there until I find what they're biting. And that's exactly what happens with the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is a deceptive matter. And He knows how to adapt His plans to each individual person. Listen, He knows our number, and what we need to do is quit answering the phone when He rings it. Amen? But not only will it entice you, I want you to notice this, it'll entrap you. Notice, when He talks about this word enticed, it also has the idea of camouflage. It's not just a fishing hook, it's a fatal hook. The bait not only appeals to the fish, it also hides the hook from the unsuspecting fish. So first you entice that fish, and then you entrap that fish. You set the hook. And you know what? There's times, now watch this, we know we've been enticed. We know it. We even suspect there's a hook in it. And yet we keep playing around with it, and nibbling on it, and nibbling on it, and nibbling on it, until finally we get caught. Isn't that right, young person? Isn't that right, adult? Let me just tell you something. Hey, you play around with flirtation in the office long enough, And the devil set the hook on you. You play around on Facebook a little bit too much, talking to people you shouldn't, or maybe FaceTime and this, however you do it. I don't know how to do all that stuff, so I may not even be saying it right. But you get the gist of it. And you nibble around and play around and play around and play around, and somewhere down the line, you're going to get caught. The devil's going to set the hook in your life. Sure will. I'm going to tell you, I was getting ready to say I'm not against all social media, but I probably should be. You understand what I mean by that. There's good stuff in that. I realize that people are separated by distance and missionaries, and there's some positive things to social media and all of that. But I'm going to tell you what, church, I'm just here to tell you there's some dangerous things involved in social media. There used to be a time where you had to physically meet somebody to mess up. Now all you've got to do is play on social media long enough and you mess up. And they even designed these apps to where they can try to help you not get caught. But young man and young lady and adult, just remind yourself, be sure and know our sin will find us out. It will come to the surface. Because sin is not only desirable, and sin is not only deceptive, but I'm here to tell you, it is deadly. Look, if you would, verse number 15. then when lust hath conceived." He moves away from a picture of fishing to that of a husband and wife giving birth to a baby. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And so when temptation meets our will and we give in to the temptation, a sin is born in our lives. Friend, listen, it is not wrong to be tempted. It's wrong to give in to the temptation. Hey, everybody's going to be tempted. I'm going to be tempted. You're going to be tempted. Listen, it's not a sin to be tempted. It's a sin we give in to the temptation. But it's deadly. Can I tell you that death follows sin just as assuredly as night follows day? At human conception, a process is set in motion that will result in the birth of a child months later. And friend, I'm here to tell you people don't just fall into sin. They don't just slip into sin. It is conceived in the heart and the mind long before the act is committed. And the conception of sin and the discovery of the sin may be months apart, but be sure and know it will come out. Somehow, someway, somewhere it comes out. It always takes two. Someone said to make a successful temptation, and you're one of the two. Or I'm one of the two. We make a decision. We make a decision. It's desirable. It's deceptive. And it's deadly. Temptation always commences with sin's enticements and our endorsements. And it always concludes with sin's entrapment and our enslavement. Notice what he says, verse 15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, it run its course, ends in death. It could be the death of a marriage. It could be the death of a family. It could be the death of a testimony. It could be the death of a ministry. But it always ends in death. It brings about destruction and harm in our lives. Young people, listen to me just a moment. The devil will never turn the billboard around for you. He'll always show you the high life. He'll always show you the good times. He'll always show you that sin is a wonderful thing, and a fun thing, an exciting thing, and God's holding out on you, and mom and dad don't understand it, and you need to do this, and if you'll do this, it'll just make you happy. That's what it is. But you know what? He never turns that billboard around and shows that mom and daddy following that casket to a graveyard where that teenager wrapped a car around the tree because they were out at a party drinking. They shouldn't have been there. He never shows that. Never shows the broken lives. Never shows the empty cupboards. Never shows the battered family. Never shows you that part. Never shows you the empty broken lives. Never does. You see, because He wants you to think it's all a big time, and God's saying, listen, I'm not holding out on you, I'm protecting you. That's what God says. You know what? It's not just young people I'm preaching to. It's you and me I'm preaching to. Because you don't have to be 15 or 16 or 18. You can be 50 and 60 and 70. David, when he sinned with Bathsheba, was 50 years old, we believe. 49 or 50. When he committed murder and sinned with Bathsheba. He was at the zenith of his power. He had reached the point where his enemies were defeated. He didn't feel like he needed to go to battle anymore. And he just sort of hung out there on the rooftop of his palace, leisurely taking it easy. He thought he would rest and let the rest of the armies go out and fight. Little did he know that Satan had already laid the trap for his flesh. Little did he know when he took that little trip around the top of his palace that night, maybe he didn't know, that he would look off there and he would see Bathsheba washing herself and his desire would foster in his heart and he would say, who is that? I want you to go get her for me, the king. And somebody said, is that not the wife of Uriah the Hittite? The Holy Spirit was already throwing up the red flags. David, don't do this. David, David, this is a married woman. David, you don't want to do this. And it went unheeded and committed adultery with Bathsheba, murdered her husband Uriah the Hittite, and what the sword never left his family. The consequences of those actions never left David's family. God forgave the sin. And church, let me tell you something. God always forgives sin. But He doesn't alleviate the consequences of our sin and our choices. There's times that we have to face that. When it's finished. When it's finished. You see, we need to realize the certainty of it. Some of it's just small stuff. But you know what? If we give in to our temper long enough, and long enough, and long enough. And it may start off small, but we give in to it until we become an angry person. That anger can destroy relationships in my life. On and on and on the list goes. So we come to the last thing that we want to look at. What is the steps to overcoming temptation? Well, I'm going to give you some, and they're not going to come up on the screen, so you'll just have to write them down. Okay? Number one, salvation in Jesus Christ. Friend, you will never win the war of temptation until you know Jesus Christ as your Savior. Do you realize that I was a slave of sin before I got saved? I did sin's bidding. Matter of fact, I didn't loathe sin. I loved it. I didn't mind temptation. Now, as we go along, we don't like what comes from it, so we try to stay away. But you realize that, listen, it's desirable, it's deceptive, and without the power of Christ in my life and knowing Him and having a relationship with Him, I do not have the power to overcome it on my own. I'm going to falter and I'm going to fail. And friend, let me tell you something, the first step to overcoming temptation is knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior. Look at verse number 18. He said, "...if His own will beget us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures, Friend, can I tell you, the moment a person trusts Jesus Christ as Savior, you get the victory. And you can live in victory. And I don't have to be and do what I used to do. I am dead sin and I don't have to live in its power. I don't have to live in its pollution. I don't have to be and do what I used to be and do because I am in Him. The Bible said, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. And friend, listen, hey, the good news is today if you're saved, you've got the victory. So number one, salvation in Jesus Christ. Know you're saved. Number two, submit yourself to God. Look over at James chapter 4 and verse number 7. Look what he says, James chapter 4 verse 7. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The first step to say no to sin is saying yes to God. It is. Friend, listen, a lot of times what we're working at is saying no, no, no. And what I need to be saying is yes, yes, yes. Do you realize my saying yes to God automatically helps me to say no to temptation? So the Bible says the first step is salvation. The second step is being submitted to God. It's saying yes to Him. It's staying close to Him. Do you know that dog trainers will lay a piece of meat on the ground near the dog and they'll say to that dog, no, no, no to that dog. The dog knows he's not to touch it. Do you realize the dog will usually take its eyes off of the meat? Because by looking at the meat, the temptation to disobey would be too great and will instead fix its eyes on the Master. And friend, in times of temptation, we need to take our eyes off of the sin and put our eyes on the Savior. Let me remind you of a young man by the name of Joseph that was sold into Egypt. And he was sold into a family where he was the steward and he was over all the house. And it was Potiphar's house, and Potiphar had a wife that had a problem. Okay? She had a problem. Say, preacher, what was it? She liked other men. And she would, day in and day out, she would vex Joseph and she would tempt him and seek to use her seductive ways to try to draw him into sinning with her. And you know what Joseph finally said? He said, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? It wasn't that he was saying, no, no, no. He first was saying, yes, yes, yes. And when you and I will say yes to God, and we'll stay close to Him, and put our eyes on Him, friend, can I tell you, it's then that we'll see the deceptiveness of sin, and we'll turn away from it and say no. It is. So number one, salvation in Jesus Christ. Number two, submission to God. Resist the devil. That is an active resisting that he flees from us. But then there's some things that we need to flee from. That's where the word separation comes in. Separate yourself from the temptation. Separate yourself from the temptation. Let me give you some verses, okay? I want you to jot these down. 2 Timothy 2.22, flee also youthful lusts. Ephesians 4.27, jot that one down. Neither give place to the devil. Don't give him a foothold. Don't give him opportunity to tempt you. Romans 13.14. But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Don't put yourself in a place to be tempted. God said there's times that I need to fight, but there's other times I need to run. God said, don't fight it. Listen, God never tells us to fight youthful, sensual lust. You know what He says to do? Run from it. Get out of town. That's what Joseph did. When Potiphar's wife grabbed hold of him, the Bible said he got him out. He ran out the door. His coat was in her hands. Say, preacher, he lost his coat and got put in jail. Yeah, I know, but he kept his character, and God elevated him to the prime ministership of Egypt. And sometimes we have to lose some things to keep our character. Isn't that true? We need to separate ourselves. I never remember a man by the name of Claude. I grew up, my daddy was a softball player, and I jerked bats. That means I was the bat boy. We'd go to tournaments all over the place, and I'd jerk the bats, and, you know, I'd keep the bats wherever, you know, after the guys hit and stuff like that, and have softballs and things like that. Claude was a very crude, vulgar, sinful, wicked man. Years went by I hadn't seen Claude and I ran into him at a convenience store in Lenore right near a church where I pastored. Never forget meeting Claude. He was different. I could tell immediately when he got out of the car, when he got out of the truck, he was different. He was a construction worker. Very rough guy. He smiled at me real big and I said, Claude, man, I ain't seen you. He said, yeah, I know it. He said, you know, I'm attending such and such church up the road here. He said, Kevin, I just want you to know God saved me. I said, praise God, Claude. Man drank like a fish. Loved it. I'd seen him so drunk, it's unbelievable. Here's what he told me. He said, you know, he said the day I rode by that beer store and my hands didn't turn into the steering wheel, I knew it was real. And turn in. But he said, I'm going to tell you something else too. He said, just to keep the temptation down, I drive home from work a different way so I don't pass the beer store I always stopped at before I got saved. You know what? There's some times that you just need to flee the places and the things that can lead to the temptation that Satan can use to bring you down. You know, if you have a problem with your eyes, don't go near the magazine stand. Don't go where you're going to be tempted to. A friend in Illinois got saved. I'll never forget this. He loved to play golf. I don't know why. I love it until I play. Then I hate it while I'm playing it and wonder why I'm doing it. Anybody like it? You understand what I'm saying? So anyway, he loved to play golf. He came to me one time, and here's what he said. He said, Pastor, he said, you know, he said, I quit playing golf. I said, why? He said, there's nothing wrong with playing golf. It's not a sinful thing as long as you're not laying out of church and going out and doing stuff like that. He said, you don't understand. He said, I loved it so much. He said, we gambled on Ever Hall. He said, when God saved me, convicted me that was wrong. He said, preacher, I can't go on the golf course and play and not gamble, so I just choose not to go. You see, it's called separate yourself from the temptation. It may be separating yourself from a group of people. Proverbs 13, 20 said, He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. You know what? We'll be eventually like the company we keep. If we hang around the wrong crowd long enough, we're going to become like that crowd. So there comes a point where we have to say no, maybe to a friendship or to a group we used to run with. Somebody said, when you flee temptation, don't leave a forwarding address. Isn't that good? Let me give you the last thing. Strengthen yourself spiritually. Strengthen yourself spiritually. I want you to look back at James chapter number 1. Would you do that? God said, now don't be deceived, verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and coming down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variable to see the shadow of turning. God's not going to tempt you. God's going to give you the good gift and the perfect gift that comes down from Him. Verse 18, He saves us, but look at verse number 22. Would you look there? But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Friend, can I tell you, your strength to say no to temptation will be equal to the spiritual strength and the time and the fellowship that you have with God. We need to continually strengthen ourselves spiritually. Whenever I'm in the Bible, somebody said this book will keep me from sin or sin will keep me from this book. Sin, when it gets into our lives, affects us spiritually to where we quit doing spiritual exercise. We don't get out of church what we used to get out of it. It doesn't affect us because we know that there's things not right, and we're being tempted, and we have duplicity of heart and mind. We're doubling it. Part of us is out here wanting sin, and part of us is in here wanting God. And you know what? The longer I spend time playing with this, it cools my affection over here for the things of God. And just going to church isn't the same. My Bible's not the same. Whenever we start giving in to temptation and sin, the Bible becomes a book that we really don't want to spend a lot of time with. Why is that? Because it's convicting me. That's why. And so we don't talk to God because the fellowship is being broken. And you know what? It weakens us spiritually. And every time that we say yes to temptation, it weakens our ability to say no. And that's why you and I need to be continually in the Word of God. And when temptation comes, that's not a time to back off spiritually. That's a time to ramp it up spiritually. That's a time to get more serious about my walk with God. You say, Bridget, I don't feel like reading my Bible. That's when we need to read it. I don't feel like praying. That's when we need to pray. I don't feel like going to church. That's when we need to be in church. We need to be strengthening ourselves spiritually. Because every time I say yes to God and no to sin, and every time I say yes to Him, it gets easier and easier and easier for me to say no to that which will defile me, or that which would destroy me, or that that would bring devastation in my life. Friend, listen. God wants you and I to know that we can have the power and the overcoming of temptation. Hey, salvation in Jesus Christ. to recognize that I have Him living in me, and greater is He that's in me than he that's in the world. I am dead to sin, I'm alive to God, and I can say no. Amen? I can. But not only that, I need to strengthen myself spiritually so that I stay close to Him. My eyes are on Him so that I don't look at that that would entice me, and the desirableness of it that would see me and cause me to succumb to it. I need to keep my eyes on the Savior and stay close to Him. I need to separate myself from those things and those places and those people that would lead me into doing that that's wrong and sinful, because I will be like the company I keep. And friend, if I keep the right kind of company, if I keep the company of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and God's people, and doing that that's right, and keeping myself in the things of God, hey, you know what that's going to do? That's going to keep me from the places and the people and the situations that would draw me into sin. I need to separate it. And hey, you know what? There may be some today you just need to run from some day. Amen? Just need to run from it. And say yes to God, and He'll help us to say no to sin. Friend, you can overcome temptation. We can have the victory. Friend, there is a way to stay true and stay strong in the Savior. And I can be what God wants me to be, and I don't have to be what sin wants me to be. Isn't that good? You see, we can handle temptation before temptation. handles us.