Flawed Appetites and Fatal Attractions | Part 2

One of our favorite games these days is the blame game. But do we truly understand how dangerous it can be?

Listen to Adrian Rogers. Young people don't see this today. Young people don't listen to the Word of God. First of all, they say it's really not my fault. Somebody made me do it. God wouldn't have made me this way.

It's all right. Society doesn't blame me anymore. Nobody's to blame. Are God you to blame? Are Satan you to blame? Are circumstances you to blame?

Are glands you to blame? No. Listen to me. You will not beat the game.

You will not. The blame game is a fun game to play, but you will always be the loser. Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the powerful and insightful biblical lessons of acclaimed pastor Adrian Rogers. In part one of today's message, we learned that sin is an inside job. It begins within. As long as we live, there will be temptation.

We can play the blame game all day long, but we'll ultimately lose. How can we stand firm against temptation? If you have your Bible, turn now to the book of James chapter one. We'll begin in verse 12. Here's Adrian Rogers to share how we can stand firm even when the devil provokes our flawed appetites and fatal attractions. Now, here's the message today, and I want you to get down in your heart and in your life. Sin is an inside job.

It starts in you. Notice again what he says in this passage in verse 14. Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, his own lust and enticed.

Do you have that? Now, what he is saying here is that a sin is very much like a seduction. You know, like a man may seduce a woman or a woman may seduce a man. That's what the word drawn away literally means.

Now, here's point number one, and get it down good. There is a courtship that leads to a consent. Now, the devil is going to court you. Temptation will come your way to entice you. Every man is tempted when he is drawn away. Do you see that word drawn away? Do you know what that word literally means? It was used in that day of men who were trappers, who would trap animals, or it was used of fishermen who would catch a fish with a bait or a lure.

It's a word to entrap, to ensnare, to allure. This is what it's all about. I remember the first bass I ever caught with an artificial lure.

I thought no bass could be this stupid. Somebody said, you take that piece of wood with those hooks on it and throw it out there by those lily pads. And I was with some other people, and I wanted them to think I was a macho man. These guys believe in this kind of fishing.

I'm going to believe in it. And I walked up and down the bank of that canal there, and the guys were way off over there. I could hear them talking. And just nonchalantly, I'm throwing that thing out, getting it snarled up, and trying to undo it, and finally get it back again. And I threw that plug out, and all of a sudden, the water exploded. And I saw this thing come out of the water. It's one of those things where you just knock the plug out of the water, but it was in his mouth. That line tightened, and the fight was on.

It was so exciting. I didn't even reel him in. I backed him out and pulled him out. What a dumb fish. What a dumb fish.

A piece of wood with paint on it and hooks in it. But there was something in that bass that said, I want that. And it went after it. Enticed, drawn away.

But he uses the word here not to talk about bass, but about people. Every man is drawn away of his own lust. Here's the anatomy of a sin. There's a courtship that leads to a consent. The devil flirts. The devil has his bait. He tries to draw you away.

It begins with a flirtation. Now the devil will throw the match, but the devil has to have the gasoline of an unholy desire in order for it to do some good. Now Satan throws out the lure. Satan throws out the bait. Satan lights the match. He does all of this.

He draws people away. But there must be, with that courtship, there must be a consent. The sinner says, I do. There's a courtship that leads to a consent. You cannot blame God. You cannot blame the devil.

You cannot blame circumstance. The Bible says you are drawn away of your own lust. Point number one, the courtship that leads to consent. Point number two, the consent that leads to conception.

First there's a courtship, then there's a consent, and then there is a conception. Look at your will now in verse 15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. There comes an unholy union that brings an unholy child, and that unholy child is sin. The mother of sin is inward lust. The father of sin is outward attraction. And when these come together, there is a sin that is produced. There is a fatal attraction. That's the father.

There is a flawed appetite. That is the mother. And when these two come together, there is a conception. Now when a baby is conceived, many times there's great joy in the physical realm.

People say, look, we are having a new baby in our home. And so it is sometimes with sin. Whatever it is, at the moment it may seem so joyful. It may seem so pleasant. It may seem so beautiful.

It may seem so natural. And so you may be going on right now, high, wide, and handsome, living in sin, having a wonderful time. Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin. What a beautiful baby.

Any kind of sin. But now here's the third thing. There is the conception that leads to a consummation. There is a courtship. There is a consent. There is a conception.

And then there is a consummation. Look at it again in verse 15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. When it is finished.

That means when it is literally full grown. So you can't see sin when it's a baby. You must have been a beautiful baby, but baby, look at you now. You can't see sin when it feels so good, when it seems so natural, when it seems so right.

You think perhaps you beat the game, but you've not. The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. The wages of sin is death. Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. First sin fascinates, then it assassinates.

First it thrills, then it kills. Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin. And sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. The child of lust is sin, and the grandchild of lust is death. And lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. Lust, sin, death, LSD. Now young people don't see this today.

Young people don't listen to the word of God. First of all, they say it's really not my fault. Somebody made me do it. God wouldn't have made me this way.

It's all right. Society doesn't blame me anymore. Why, we even have a no-fault divorce. Give me a break. Nobody's to blame. Or God you to blame, or Satan you to blame, or circumstances you to blame, or glands you to blame.

No. Every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And lust when it has conceived bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. Listen to me. You will not beat the game. You will not. You will not beat the game.

The blame game is a fun game to play, but you will always be the loser. Now, notice how sin ends. Let's just take something. For example, alcohol, liquor. Everybody tells us, oh, it's all right to drink today. We've humanized God and liquorized society and minimized sin. Let me give you a verse.

Put it in your margin. Proverbs 23 verses 31 and 32, Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. That means when it's fermented. There's a time when wine is not fermented. People say, well, Jesus drank wine. Jesus did not drink what is bottled today and call wine. That in the Bible would definitely be strong drink, condemned. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last, underscore that now, at the last, listen, at the last, at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder, not at the first, at the last.

One of the most beautiful advertisements on television and in magazines and on the billboards, the liquor advertisements. They never show some teenager with his face sliced up having gone through a windshield. They never go down to the emergency room. They never show the drunkard in the gutter covered in his own vomit with flies. They don't show that. They don't show the last. They only show the first. These guys sitting in that bass boat and they say, it never gets any better than this.

They're right, it always gets worse. At the last, at the last, at the last it biteth like a serpent. Down in Florida, I had an artist to paint a billboard to put on the parking lot in the church in Fort Pierce where I was pastor and it showed some garbage cans and a big rat about eight inches long and a drunkard down there with a broken bottle lying by those garbage cans in the back alley and I had put underneath that painting the finished product of the Brewers art because there was a beer that was advertising the finest product of the Brewers art. So I just put the finished product of the Brewers art and put that up on the parking lot for the boys and girls to see. I got a call at home. And the man said, are you Adrian Rodd? Yes, I am. Are you the pastor of that church?

Yes, I am. He said, well, I am the distributor for Thus and Such a Beer. And he said, you've got a sign on your parking lot I need to talk to you about. And I said, fine.

I'll meet you and as soon as you can get in my office, I'll be there. Went right down and I sat down and said, what do you want to talk about that sign for? He said, that sign discriminates against my product. I said, your product is brewed with tears thickened with blood and flavored with death and if I were you, I'd get on my knees right now and ask God Almighty to have mercy on me. He said, wow.

He said, I don't think I'm going to get anywhere with you. He said, that looks like grounds for a lawsuit. I said, I do too. I said, please sue me. I want my picture on the front page of the newspaper.

I want that billboard on the front page of the newspaper. And I said, you've got a lot of nerve. You come into our homes with your advertisements, you come with your billboards, you come with magazines, you come with this and that and I put one billboard on a parking lot for boys and girls in Sunday school and you don't like it.

I said, I'll make a deal with you. You take down all your signs, I'll take down mine. At the last, it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. The devil doesn't want you to see the end. What about immorality?

Everything today is run by sex. Proverbs 5 verses 3 through 5, listen to this. For the lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil.

Oh honey lips. Listen to what God's word says. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death and her steps take hold on hell. You're not going to break God's laws. God says, flee fornication. I mean, you're not going to break them with impunity.

You're broken on them. God's word says, thou shalt not commit adultery. Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.

We could talk about so many things, human pride. You say, well, I don't have to listen to this preacher. No, you don't. You say, I have my own ideas.

You may. Proverbs 14 verse 12, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the in thereof are the ways of death. You could say, I have my own religion. I have my own ideas. I'm going my own way.

Well, help yourself. But the in thereof are the ways of death. Sin when it is finished.

Former pastor of this church, Dr. R.G. Lee said, you can eat the devil's corn if you want to, but he'll choke you on the cob. The bread of the seed is sweet, but afterward a man's mouth shall be filled with gravel. So what do we have? We have a courtship. We have a consent. We have a conception. We have a consummation. Sin when it is finished. Now, let's see if we can wrap this up. Where is the problem? Sin is an inside job.

Remember Mark 7? Jesus said, all these things come out of the heart. You can't blame anybody else. Every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed.

This is an inside job. Well, you're not going to get rid of temptation. As long as you live, as long as you exist, there will be temptation.

So what are you going to do? The only thing you can possibly do is to have an inward change, to get your heart changed. And if you don't get your heart changed, Satan's not going to stop tempting you. So you've got to get your heart changed.

You see, you've got to get your water fixed. That's what Jesus did for me when He saved me. I want to tell you something.

I sin all I want to because I don't want to, because something happened in me when Jesus saved me. There was an old timey preacher named Lester Roloff, he was a great old preacher. Lester Roloff told one of the most incredible stories about a man who was having difficulty and he went to see the doctor. And he said, doctor, I want you to do something for me.

By the way, the name of the doctor was Dr. Law, L-A-W. Dr. Law said, well, what's the matter? He said, it's my eyes. My eyes are looking at the wrong kinds of things.

I'm looking at pornography. And my hands, my hands are doing things and taking things that don't belong to me. And my feet, my feet are going places, ought not to go. And my problem is my eyes, my hands, my feet. And Dr. Law says, no, that's not your problem. Your problem is your heart. No, he says, no, no, no, it's my hands, my eyes, I don't know.

Dr. Law says, trust me, it is your heart. Well, okay, Dr. Law, can you give me some medicine? Nope.

Can you give me some exercises? Nope. Well, Dr. Law, what are you good for? I only diagnose and I'm telling you, you've got a fatal disease and it's going to kill you. And your problem is your heart.

Well, Dr. Law, you mean I'm going to die? Is there no hope? Oh, yeah, there's hope.

Well, what kind of hope? Well, you need a heart transplant. A what? You need a new heart. Well, well, well, can you do that surgery? Oh, no, I don't do the surgery. I just diagnose.

Well, who does it? Dr. Grace. Dr. Grace. Well, where's Dr. Grace? Right across the hall. Do I have to make an appointment?

Oh, no. He'll see you immediately. What will it cost?

Nothing. You mean he can give me a new heart? Yes.

You mean he'll do it right now? Absolutely. You mean I don't have to make an appointment?

I just go again? Yes. And it won't cost anything?

Nope. Will it hurt? It sure may. It may hurt. But you need a new heart. Step across the hall and tell him that I sent you. And the man steps across the hall and knocks on the door. And there comes the most kind looking man he's ever seen, Dr. Grace. And he says, Dr. Grace, Dr. Law sent me here. And he says, I've got a bad heart. Can you do anything for me?

Yes, I can. And Dr. Grace puts me on his table and reaches in with his hand and takes out my heart. And when I see it, it is so vile.

I'm still awake during this operation. It's vile. It stinks.

It's loathsome. I never dreamed how corrupt my heart was. And then Dr. Grace puts within me a new heart. Immediately there is a change with my eyes, with my hands, and with my feet because I have been given a new heart.

Now, friend, if you read in James chapter 1, that's what James is talking about after he talks about that old heart, that old desire, that old lust. Then he says, of his own will begat he us. That is, we are born again. First of all, there's the conception of sin, but then there's the conception of the new birth.

Of his own will, he begats us with his word. I'm not perfect. You say, I already knew that, Pastor. I'm not perfect. But Jesus gave me a new heart. He gave me a new heart.

The power that I need to live victoriously, and I don't have to make excuses, I don't have to try to blame God for circumstances, but I can say by the grace of God, I am what I am, changed, changed. You need a new heart today, and I'm telling you Dr. Law cannot save you. Dr. Law just says the wages of sin is death.

Dr. Law has made a good diagnosis, but Dr. Grace will save you today. His name is Jesus. Would you pray a prayer like this? Pray it out of your heart. Dear God, I am a sinner, and the problem is my old heart, and I stop making excuses. Lord, I stop trying to blame somebody else. It's me, it's me, it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Oh, Lord Jesus, give me a new heart today.

Change me. Save me, Lord Jesus. Jesus, I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sin. I believe that God the Father raised you from the dead, and I believe you'll save me if I trust you.

I do trust you today. Save me, Lord Jesus. And if you prayed that prayer, I want you to thank Him. Pray this way, thank you for doing it.

I don't look for a sign or ask for a feeling. I stand on your word. Begin now to make me the person you want me to be. In your holy name I pray.

Amen. If you've prayed to receive the forgiveness that Jesus has offered you, we'd love to also offer now an insightful resource on our website. It's the Discover Jesus page. You'll find answers there that you may need about your newfound faith. We also want to hear about it and celebrate with you.

On the website, there's a response section where you can share your decision with us. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus at the top of the page. Again, lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family.

We can't wait to hear from you. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, request one by the title, Flawed Appetites and Fatal Attractions. Call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD. This message is also part of a powerful series, Challenges to the Cross. For the complete collection, all six insightful messages, call 1-877-LOVEGOD or go online to lwf.org slash radio.

Or you can order by writing us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Well, thank you for joining us in our study of God's word today. Are you being tempted to sin? Don't blame God or circumstances.

Instead ask God for a change of heart and for the strength to refrain from sinning. And be sure to join us tomorrow for more timeless truth from Adrienne Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener in Ontario, Canada shared some words of encouragement with us recently.

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