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JAMES 1:13-15

"SIN"

Intro: Each of us face powerful forces and pressures to sin. My inherent weaknesses,  the 
       daily pressures. God has made available to me His resources stronger than  any force.
       Sin is an act, a choice of my will. Sin (Greek & English..

I. SIN, ITS BEGINNING "LUST."
        A. The word means strong desire, through use it has been limited to desire of one
           thing.
                1. Desire is not sin, it is natural and God given.
                        a. Jesus - "with desire have I desired..." "Epithumia."
                        b. Paul - "having a desire to depart and be."
                        c. Peter - "which things the angels desired."
        B. In back of every sin is a desire which is not sin.
                1. "Be not drunk with wine..."
                        a. Strange bringing together of opposites.
                        b. What is the desire behind drinking?
                                1. It opens a window, lifts, exhilarates
                        c. What is the result of being filled with the Spirit?
                        d. The man who turns to drink is not on the road to the discovery of
                           God, he is following the wiIl-o-the-wisp into the swamp.

II. THE METHOD OF SIN, "Each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and
    enticed."
        A. "Drawn away" A hunting term to lure into a trap.
        B. "Enticed" A fishing term, a bait "seduced by a fancied advantage.
        C. I have a certain desire in my life, and here is the suggestion that I can fulfill
           that desire by turning aside from God's path.
                1. The desire is not sin.
                2. The temptation is not sin.
                        a. Jesus was tempted and in each case Satan appealed to a natural 
                           desire.
                        b. But that He turn aside from God's path to attain.

Ill. WHEN DOES IT BECOME SIN? "Lust when it is conceived bringeth forth sin." Seized, grasped.
        A. You have a strong desire, Satan sets out his enticements - his bait. You seize it.
                1. The moment you seize it, that is sin.
                2. You are not seeking God, you're turning your back.
                3. Sin is the result of the suggestion that I turn aside from God's path to 
                   fulfill my desire.
        B. Sin is not something to be laughed at or even to be pitied.
                1. It is to be smitten.

IV. THE END OF SIN "Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death."
        A. I was seeking a fuller life, I followed the path to death.
                1. Not death in the future, physical death; death now, in trespasses and sins.
        B. Take any desire of your life and seek to satisfy it apart from God's path and you
           only intensify the desire.
                1. The constant yearning for that which can never come.
                2. Seize upon Satan's bait and you are seized by the hook.
        C. Beware of the religion or philosophy that would declare that sin is a part of God's
           process.
                1. It is man's deadly poison.
        D. Who has never sinned?

V. JESUS TAKES UP WHERE SIN LEAVES OFF.
        A. He brings us new life.
        B. He sets us free.
        C. He gives us resources greater than the opposing forces.