Temptation in the Christian Life pt. 2
James 1:13-15 · Bob Eckel · Feb 26, 2023
James, No. 07
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49261930242595

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

All right, well, Andrew and I have been online here a little this week. Actually, I missed part of that because of the email thing I sent you last night. Well, we left you off, Roger. I'm just teasing you, of course. I questioned because Andrew did such an outstanding job last week on this section. lessons on this, which I thought was well worth it, but I didn't actually make that real clear about the division of who did what. Well, Andrew and I really had a good time.

I'll let him say whether that's true or not, dialoguing about this text, and I think I'm going to take a little different twist here today, and it's not right or wrong, it's just a little bit different view of this section of Scripture, and we'll see how that shifts. So let's review what Andrew covered last week, and again, he did a great job, as usual, in presenting the Word of God.

So this was part one last week and today is Temptation of the Christian Life, which we all know, we're hearing it, or your niece's family, Carol, in terms of the temptations that exist before them. So number one, this Greek term, parazo, can be translated as being tempted or tested. And I think that relates to us today in terms of this whole aspect of the temptation of the Christian life. I'll come back to that.

And temptation to sin may be internal or external, and we're all aware of that. The flesh is pretty good at this, but also the things in the outside that impact us that ultimately result in falling short of God's glory. Remember, what's sin? It's falling short of God's glory. The third pointer is that temptation to sin can't come from God. He's perfectly holy, and he does not tempt us to sin. Finally, temptation to sin, which is internal in terms of the way we deal with all these issues that come up, issues lust, which is best defined as a craving for what is forbidden in terms of God's glory, which leads to sin, which leads to death. And what kind of death is that? Do we die physically? Of course not. But the sin dies because it has no merit.

And I think we think back of 1 Corinthians 3 where it's wood, hay, and stubble. These kinds of things that ultimately we fall short either by intentional or non-intentional falling short of God's glory. That doesn't cut it before God eternally. So we're going to come back to that too in terms of how sin may impact what occurs going forward. So let's return first of all to verse 13 that God cannot be tempted by evil. How should we then interpret the following? Luke, I'm going to read two passages here, one from Luke and one from Matthew, about the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Luke it says, then the devil, taking him up, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, all this authority I will give you and their glory. For this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours."

Okay, that's the Luke passage. And the Matthew passage differs a little bit, and I think it's not so different, but it's different enough that I think we can look at both passages. Matthew 5, 1 through 3, then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And when he had Fasted 40 days and 40 nights. Think about that a little bit. He fasted for 40 days. The body is pretty stressed metabolically after 40 days with no nutrients. Afterwards, he was hungry. It's kind of interesting because when you continue to fast, you develop what's called a ketosis, which tends to shut down appetite. That's a preservation of life. God has created us to have a backup fuel when we have no carbohydrate in our diet. that the brain still gets its metabolic needs met. That's a little bit of an aside, forgive me.

Now, when the tempter came to him, he said, if you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread. And that was an initial temptation that the Lord experienced based on his hunger. That's why scripture defines that aspect of his being in the wilderness. Now, do we believe herein that the Lord Jesus was tempted or tested? Remember the Greek verbs. Was he tempted like we're tempted? No, he was tested. He was tested. And how do we interpret him being tested? What was he tested in terms of the expected outcome? Wasn't he being tested to prove who he is? Exactly, Roger.

I mean, he's being tested to prove he's a son of God. Couldn't you also say that Couldn't you also say that the devil was trying to tempt him, although he couldn't be tempted? Right, but he has no capacity to respond as we would with the sin nature within us, right? So here, I think the best interpretation of it is he personally wasn't tempted as God to give in to Satan and all that Satan offered him. He was tested to prove who he really was.

And that's why the Lord allowed that to happen. It was specifically to show the devil that he was not going to, you know, be tempted at all by that. Did Satan know that, do you think? Why is this in scripture? Why do we even have a record of this? To show us that he couldn't sin. Bonnie, I'm sorry? To show us that the Son of God couldn't sin. Absolutely. He has no capability. Now, he's hungry. He has all the earthly aspects of a 40-day fast. But despite the hunger, he's not going to give in to the enemy.

Well, Bobby, you know, this particular verse, both Ron and I have come across people that... Are you Ron Rogers? Yes, I am. ...that actually don't understand that our Savior is sinless. They say, well, to be a true God man, he's got to be able to... They see this as a... They see it for the wrong reason. They say, well, he should be able to sin. And they miss the whole point of these passages. If you go the other direction. To be a true temptation. To be a true temptation, they say.

I was in a church at one point in time where the teacher who was a man of God, unequivocally a man of God, believed Christ could have sinned. I mean, I think scripture, and I'm not going to take a lot of time here to defend that position, but God is perfectly holy. He has no human nature that we call the flesh or sin nature. So this is a pivotal point for many. It really is a very important point. Okay, second point here. How do we apply this to the exchange life we believers have? Think out loud a little bit.

When temptations come our way, you know, we have a whole process by which, and I mentioned that in the first slide, where temptation leads to lust and lust leads to sin and sin leads to death, right? Do we intellectually say, gee, that's something that really I'd like to do, but I'm not going to. And I'm going to come back to Andrew's use of a diagram at the end of today's lesson, which was absolutely wonderful, thanks to Hal. But all that aside, I'm going to suggest to us that if we look at the temptations as being tested to prove who we really are, there's a victory connected to that mindset, rather than giving in with lust for whatever that temptation might be. I'm just suggesting that.

Yes, we're tempted because we're different than, ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ was. Why is this different for us than for our Heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit? And by the way, last week, ultimately, Andrew pointed out a series of verses which, in fact, either the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted or tested, our Heavenly Father was tempted or tested, and the Holy Spirit was tempted or tested.

We're not going to review all those verses today. I'm trying to make a point. But why is this different for us? Absolutely. We're not the Lord Jesus Christ. We are positionally, and I'm going to return to that, but we're not conditionally. We have a sin nature and that sin nature never changes.

And I think as we grow in grace and truth in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ, that light of our Savior makes us reveal more about ourselves that's not very pleasant. As you grow in grace, the light becomes brighter, and our darkness in our human flesh becomes more evident for what it is. Thoughts about that? My thought is that the Lord Jesus is our life. We're identified with Him, and that's the encouraging part of Him overcoming temptation or trial. He's our life. That's how we respond to difficulties.

Okay, good, Jimmy. Good. So to continue that thought, will our sin nature ever change, or does it continue to exist? It does. And again, as I just said, as the light gets brighter, the darkness gets more revealed for what it really is. Until we're with Him. And that's the time when we no longer have our sin nature. Alright, so in terms of application then, how should terrazzo be interpreted for us? If we're going to think of this as not being tempted, which in fact is the way we look at it almost always, If we're being tested to prove who we really are, let's look at Scripture.

Romans 6.11, Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Reckoning is not taking away the sin nature. It's looking positionally that we're one in Christ Jesus at the right hand of God. So we reckon that to be true. Are we dead to sin? Did Christ die for our sin nature? Absolutely. That's what this church here is all about. It's identification and positional emphasis for what we teach and how we respond to that.

Next verse, 1 John 2.27. But the anointing which you have received from him abides in you. And you do not need that anyone teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true. And this is not a lie. And just as it has been taught to you, you abide in Him. So that's a testing. It's a testing to prove that we have a new nature that ultimately is capable of responding to this. We dealt with this in Bible study last night at our home.

One of the greatest verses in the Bible, for me to live as Christ. And that living as Christ is to look at these as testings to prove who we really are and not a temptation. And by the way, That's not something we intellectualize. How many times do you say, gee, I'm positionally above, I'm living in Christ, oh, by the way, that temptation's kind of, it's a temptation, it's not a testing.

I'm just thinking, put on a new view of temptations. I wish I could do this more regularly, actually. I mean, we all do. But yet, I think scripturally, this, you know, ultimately definition of this verb could apply either way. And I would say most of the commentators are not going to go in this direction. And it's not that I'm smarter, but I really like the idea, positionally, we can be lifted up and victorious more of our temptations when we think about being tested. Carolyn? I kind of think of it like a muscle. You know, that the more you exercise it, the stronger it'll get, kind of thing. I don't know if that's scriptural enough.

But there are times that I find myself getting bogged down in something as I'm thinking about it or whatever. And then I think, well, wait a minute. Let's look at the bigger picture here that this is not my home. And then it's like I'm able to see things differently. You know, I don't think that way as much as I would like to, but I think the more you do it, the more you do it, you know, kind of thing. You know, as I was working out again this morning, I was thinking about this toning of my muscles. It's occurring less frequently and less sufficiently than it once did. Anyway, maybe that's showing my spiritual nature too. I hope not, but anyway.

Okay, so like I just indicated, to consider the power of His resurrection in us, the view of temptation, must be founded in position of truth, if we're going to take this view. This isn't just convincing ourselves in the flesh of the sin nature that we need to do better here. It's really looking at these temptations with a new pair of eyes.

2 Corinthians 5.21, one of my favorite verses, He hath made him who knew no sin. He made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Here's your verse that you can, you know, our Savior is, you know, He has no sin, basically. So here's a verse that declares that. No sin, no sins, or no sin nature. Positionally, God sees us as righteous.

I mean, isn't that kind of the beginning of addressing these temptations? Seeing our positional truth as being declared righteous? And when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ as being tempted in the wilderness, if we could put on at least a small part of that, looking at these temptations as testings. And I think we, I don't know, I'll speak personally, we fail all the time at this because the sin nature never changes. We are not the Lord Jesus Christ conditionally because we carry this sin nature within us.

Colossians 3.1, if you were raised with him, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God, and set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth like these temptations or testings, for you died and their life is hidden with Christ in God.

So anyway, we could go on with positional verses left and right here in terms of looking at who we are positionally. So I think ultimately this does give us a potential different view of these temptations when we look at them as testings to prove who we really are. All right, let's go to verse 14 then.

But each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own lust. So I'm going to ask the class here, each of us need to individualize this. Is this drawing away or tempting or testing mostly from Satan, the world system or cosmos around us? Or is it internal, our own sin nature? What are your thoughts about that? Well, the sin nature is a portal, if you will, for this. In a sense, I mean. Let's think about certain classes of so-called Christians who go into isolation, right?

So the world system has no impact on it. They can't look at billboards. They can't look at commercials on television. They can't go to movies. They're isolated. So the world system is gone, theoretically. I mean, they might be hungry. They're not getting enough food.

But is Satan still alive and well? He is, is he not? Is their sin nature any different because they isolate themselves? Well, how about Martin Luther's testimony about that? He testified about being tempted by Satan when he was struggling with the... I forgot what it was in his life. I don't know. Somewhere in his life, his 99 theses, he talked about being tempted by... He was by himself, I gather. And he threw the inkwell? When you isolate...

All of that, they're still selling. Oh, really? That was my point about the priests and the nuns, you know, who go away and isolate themselves. They take the world system out of there. I mean, that's in nature. It doesn't get bumped up there. We've thought about that. All right, let's continue here. What are we drawn away from? Righteousness. What's that? Righteousness. Okay, good.

And by the way, this term in the Greek really means like bait fishing. I mean, we're drawn away like the baits out there. We have his picture, right? Yeah, I'm going to show that last slide because that's what Andrew showed last week. So it's being drawn away from the truth and the virtue which are wrapped up in the new creations we are all in Christ Jesus. Okay, so we're drawn away from this new nature we have with the power to really resist sin and not be tempted by it. 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Now, what things are we talking about there? Are we talking about that sin nature has passed away? What's passed away? Well, our relationship to our sin nature, I think that's... Okay, well, I think what's passed away is the ability positionally now, which often is not conditional, the impact of Satan in our lives, also the world system on our lives. The sin nature doesn't change. But all things are passed away in terms of the ability to respond differently than we did as unbelievers.

We were slaves before. Right. Bodies, Roy Perfect, yes. Slaves before, Now we're in fact designated as sons and daughters. And we're slaves to the Holy Spirit now. Absolutely. We're part of a brand new creation. Okay. So we're new creations of Christ Jesus positionally made righteous.

And so that righteousness has an ability to respond to temptation that's different than the old nature trying to be better in terms of their like and response. Yes. There's also an awareness of what sin is, because when you're in the old nature, when you're an unbeliever, you might think this is just normal. This isn't even wrong, you know. Yeah, I think, you know, if you think about what Roger taught last week in Romans chapter 2, this idea of the conscience ultimately being a law unto itself, that conscience could be very influenced by cultural issues around us. The extreme often cited is cannibalism. The idea is culture can influence the legal system, the self-righteousness and how it responds to it. You're right. It's okay to eat your brother. Let's just leave that one on the shelf.

So let's not ignore the fact that Satan is clearly the god of this age and the world system takes its toll also. How does the world system take its toll in terms of us being tempted? It's always there. Well, give me some examples. How does the world system impact our ability to lust? Now remember, as John described, the three great sins that John described as the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and what's the third? The pride of life. And by the way, Andrew, I looked at that list, all the sins last week. You know, you can relate to many of those. I didn't see pride or vanity on that list, but clearly John identifies it as that. So I'm not being critical. I'm just saying, you know, John said that's one of the three biggest.

And if you wrap all three of those together, you've got about all the sin we're capable of. So how does the world system impact us? I say the world system takes its toll, too, in terms of temptation or testing. It promotes all three. Yeah, it does. It promotes all three of those things.

You can watch television for two minutes and you don't see that happening. And think about TV. I mean, we have Channel 5, which is Me Too TV. And occasionally, if we're not ready to go to sleep, I'll put on Perry Mason at 1030 at night and watch it until 1130. But, you know, all the kind of more innocent television shows of 60 years ago, right? I mean, it's amazing how TV and movies has changed.

Right now, the world system seems to be trying to force itself onto people and make them accept a whole lot of stuff. That's just very distressing. It really is, and I think I'm going to show a couple of verses that really relate to Satan and the world system, so let's look at those, but you're absolutely correct. 2 Corinthians 4, 3, 4, But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, to shine upon them. I mean, the God of this age, and by the way, the God of this age is mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament, as Satan being the God of this age. And just one other verse that looks at the world system.

For we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Satan is the god of this age and the world system through principalities and every other aspect of our governmental system and beyond provides a source of temptation.

Hey Bob? Yes Roy. Just some thoughts here. Specifically the verse you've got there in front of you. Okay. Principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age. There's going to be an age where that will be different. and yet man will still fall even though satan is bound for a thousand years. Yep, the millennium, right? Isn't that something? That no more satanic god of this age ruling, but our sin natures rule. Isn't that amazing too, when God's going to write his truth in the hearts of the Jewish nation, but yet still people will fall short? Yeah.

Still we are. able to say the devil made us do it, right? Well, you could say all three made us do it, right? That's the point. The source of temptation or testing, again, we've got to look at both ways of interpreting this. The sin nature is tempted to sin, but when we're tested, we live above that. And I know that's hard. This isn't something you intellectualize. It's knowing the Lord Jesus Christ and the positional truth we have in Him. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

That's right, the hungry heart this morning emphasizes it. The foundation of all of this is the crucifixion with Christ so that we are now ascended with him and that is his life now. Isn't that something? For me to live is Christ, right? Right, right.

I want to thank Andrew for giving me pages and pages of Chafer's view of this whole subject and I'm going to It has sometimes been held that the claim of possession of the earth was a lie, and this being asserted on the ground that Satan is exposed to scripture as a liar. Such a conclusion is impossible for at least two reasons. It would have been no temptation had he not possessed the kingdoms he offered, and any such false claim would have been immediately braided as alive by the Son of God. He is still further revealed as the recognized head of the world system in two additional passages.

One from 1 John 4, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And I should have capitalized the he, I thought I did. And the second verse in 1 John 5, 19, and we know that we are God and the whole world, whole world system. lieth in the wicked one.

So the world system and Satan are very connected because that's his vehicle to reach us in the form of temptation. Or if we put on Christ and being tested for who we are. Well Bobby, the question that was asked online there, it seems like today we see more of his working than we did maybe when we grew up. When we grew up it seemed like he was more Satan's act were more veiled because we lived in a more Christian nation and people's mores were more in line with Christianity. But now time has moved on and people can say and do whatever they want and they're proud of it. They're proud of their sin. We've moved on from a time. So we just see more of what he's always been doing.

But you know, I remember my grandmother saying when I was a little girl, Yeah, that Satan was taking over the world. I mean, back in the 50s and 60s. And from her perspective, she saw this very same thing we are saying now back then. So it's interesting how, you know... But you have to admit, it seems like we've reached a new high. A new level.

Can it get worse? And I think it can get worse. It will get worse. Some of it, too, I think is that, you know, just because of like the Internet and TV and phones, it's constantly in front of us. It's constantly in front of our face. And so I think, you know, we're more aware just because we're seeing it a lot more.

I mean, you know, often some clip will come up. You're just looking at the Internet for some specific. Some clip comes up of some woman barely clothed. So what do you do with that? I mean, it happens frequently, you know, it's just innocent searching for a topic or something and then something pops up like that.

But in light of all of that, in light of that vision that we have in the world system, remember we are alive in Christ now. His life is alive. So when we see that, we recognize it for what it really is. It's a lie. You're tested, Roy, to prove who you really are. That's the way we need to look at this. I've got a question for the class.

Do you think that God has given Satan the same permission to affect our lives as he showed in Job? And hear that text if you want to read it when you get home today, Job 1, 6, 24. I hope not. He gave the devil free reign, didn't he? Basically. And if you read Job, you really get down, don't you?

I mean, how did this guy go through all this stuff? According to scripture, he didn't go so well for a while. He had all these friends who were advising him. Jim, don't tell me how I should... I'm just teasing you. Yes. The Lord knows us better than we know himself, and he knows when to hold back, you know, some of this stuff that might impact us. I think it's 1 Corinthians 3, we won't be tempted beyond which we can talk or something like that. I'm paraphrasing. So I guess my answer to the question would be no. You know, it just depends on the person, you know.

He dealt with Job as Job, right? And actually Job was a particular person in time that the Lord chose to demonstrate who he was and what he's about. And he uses us in similar ways, not as spectacularly. We don't make this page of the scripture, but our lives are, you know, Keep in mind, Job was probably written very early, chronologically.

It's probably back around Genesis time, right? That's where it's thought to be placed. And so that was a point God was making, a principle of God. Satan is the rule of this world and he was then too. I mean, think of the garden house. Satan subsequently has taken over because he tempted Eve and Adam and ultimately was successful. And we've carried that with us ever since. But does he take people's relatives and cattle and land and everything like he took from Job.

He allows a lot to occur, but God doesn't purposely act with us like he did with Job. We'll see it later on. He's a purposeful God, and he has purposeful trials. He doesn't do it just for, you know. Just as a reminder, we've touched on this before, but I'll touch on it again.

But in ourselves, the sin nature never ceases, does it? and continues to operate day in and day out. And Macaulay, just a couple of sentences here, this verse tells us where temptation originates. The term, his own lust, points to the source. Everyone has an innate response to sin. Paul often calls it the flesh, and sometimes we refer to it as the sin nature.

And Macaulay rightfully says it cannot be abolished, nor improved, nor refined. All right, and just a couple of verses that represent that. Let me turn my own page here, make sure I remember how many verses I have here. Okay, Romans 7, 11, I skipped the 13. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Dot, dot, dot. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not, but sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good. so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.

What's Paul saying here in Romans 7? Where's Paul living here? Remember in Romans 6, I've been crucified with him, buried with him, and baptized with him to death, and risen with him in newness of life, but now the struggles of Romans 7. What's Paul doing?

He's under a legal system. He's now applying the law as written to the Jewish nation to his own life, and he's falling short left and right. So what was the law given to us? What's Galatians say about the law? What was its purpose in our lives? It was a schoolmaster to show us our sin nature. Paul has fallen back under this legal system, and sin became a reality for what it really was.

Just echoing what you said there, that we cannot keep it. So it was given to show us how we have a need for him. Absolutely. And another text here, Ephesians 4. I love this because when I was in this one church, ultimately the teacher was relating to the lack of performance of the Ephesian church. And I love this, because here's what Paul used as an explanation.

But you have not so learned Christ. If indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according as to deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. So why were they falling short of returning to old ways that the sinful nature was being manifested? Because they had not learned Christ. Think of our many brothers and sisters who fail to recognize this important truth. Learning Christ, our position, and ultimately how that impacts our condition is this best way to deal with temptation.

Isn't that where service and ministry come into play? Because actually, Romans 7 isn't the worst thing to happen to a guy. It's actually the best thing. Yeah. And many people interpret that as before Paul was saved. Absolutely not. It cannot be so interpreted.

It relates to the Christian life, how we can be intellectually informed about being co-crucified and risen. But ultimately, if the Holy Spirit is not activating the new conceptions or creations we are in Christ Jesus, it's worthless. Romans 7 is a non-issue for the unbeliever. They don't even concern themselves with righteousness. Let's finish up here. No, go ahead. I'm sorry, Jimmy, did you want to say something?

No. And that's not just learning about Christ, that's learning Him personally. That's a relationship. That's non-judgmental. Yeah, you know, last night we were dealing with Philippians 3, 20 and 21, where it says our relationship is in that we eagerly await the coming of the Savior. So it's the personal Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Christianity is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let's close. Yeah, go ahead. One of the strong things in this verse that needs to be pointed out is this is not a command to put off. This is not a command to put on. That's not what we learned here. What we learned from him is that what he has taught us is you have put off, you are being renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you have put on the new man. Absolutely. Good point, Roy. You've not so learned this. That's why you're failing. You've not learned this. Amen, brother. Thanks, Mike. Good to hear from you in Arizona. Okay. Again, we want to finish up here in the next few minutes.

Verse 15, then, when desire, I put lust, has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, which is passive, by the way, it's a passive process by which this occurs, death follows. Constable says lust, in this context, is the desire to do, to have, or to be something apart from the will of God. Lust is covert, but sometimes it manifests itself overtly. So it can be both within and without, in terms of its manifestation.

How should death be interpreted here? Is it just unworthy or separated? Well, I think in context, I think a good metaphor here is pregnancy. Conception occurs, but abortions, and I'm not saying what's so-called therapeutic abortions, which is absolute murder, but spontaneous abortions.

My late wife, Sharon, was pregnant with our sixth child. That's when breast cancer was diagnosed during her first trimester, and she spontaneously aborted that pregnancy. That wasn't a therapeutic abortion. It was a spontaneous abortion. Then we went to get her cancer evaluated. I thought she had mastitis, an infection of the breast, but in fact it was a big tumor that was unfortunately probably delayed to be diagnosed by six weeks because we knew she was pregnant. I'm only saying that because that's what death really implies here. It's a conception that now, unfortunately, was interrupted spontaneously. I'm sure Paul wasn't thinking about what we so-called therapeutic abortion today.

And ultimately, Romans 8, 6, 4, to be carnally minded or conceived is death or abortion, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. So that's a way to look at that metaphor in scripture and how that might be applied. All right, so wrapping up here, I think I'll not read this just because of time, but I'll just read the beginning.

What fruit you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed, for the end of those things is death. I mean, all the sin manifested overtly or covertly ends up in death. And at the end of this, we all know, Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

And then in James 1.12, the verse that preceded this lesson, blessed is the man who endures temptation. But when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. So here's one of the crowns. This is one of the heavenly rewards is continuing to resist temptation or be tested favorably, as the Lord has indicated.

Now, here's this handout that Andrew shared last week. And of course, this diagram says it all. Thanks to Hal for this. I'm, I think, not going to probably spend a lot of time because of the time here. But, you know, temptation is covert or overt. Either way, it's there and ultimately leads, ultimately, to the internal response that's lust or desire. And we can reckon that to be indebted to the sin. and confess that lust and move on. But ultimately, when we take the bait is shown on the right, there's the diagram. Ultimately, that ultimately results in a pregnancy, if you will, if you want to look at that metaphor. And ultimately, that bears sin. And ultimately, that sin leads to death or abortion. So I think the diagram really kind of is something we can look at and see how what are dealings with temptation look like and where we fall on this plateau downhill to death from the sin nature we all encompass. Bob, I always like the fact that Hal kind of distinguished between the point at which you sinned.

There's a couple steps down there that you can reckon yourself dead to sin and not take the bait. So up until you take the bait, that's the struggle area we're talking about. Once you take the bait, you know, There's no returning from that. Yeah, right.

Then there's the horizontal line that relates to, you know, the sin nature is never going to change. So we're all tempted or tested. Again, think of that being tested because then we reckon that lust immediately and we confess and we move on. The fellowship's never broken. But once the bait, we get the bait and the fish follows.

I also like the fact that Hal would point out when he taught this many times that You know, God's desire is we're in the reckoning mode, if you will. He wants us to be in that mode that we're reckoning, reckoning, reckoning. Because once we've gone to the full extent, then we're in the confession mode. Much better to be reckoning, reckoning, reckoning, than confessing, confessing, confessing. Considering it accomplished, right? That the sin nature has been crucified. We need them because we have a sin nature that's still there. But better to be in the reckoning mode than the confession mode all the time. Amen.

All right, Jimmy, will you close us in prayer, please? Dear Father, thank you so much for the fellowship that we have with all of these believers. So it's so important in helping us abide in Christ, learning Christ, and through your precious truths. And we glorify you and thank you so much in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.