WORKS

Mini-Series—Just Stop It!Part 4-Stop Blaming The Devil

Date Passage Sermon Title Big Idea

Mini-Series…Just Stop It!5/8 James 1:1;9-11 Stop Dropping Names James was the half-brother of Jesus yet he

called himself a bondservant

5/15 James 1:2-4 Stop Wasting Your Trials Trials are the process and means by which God develops in every believer Christ’s character.

5/22 James 1:5-8 Stop Paying Stupid Tax Wisdom is offered freely and extravagantly to those who cry out for God’s wisdom.

5/29 James 1:12-18 Stop Blaming the Devil We sin because we have inward desires to sin

6/5 James 1:19-20 Stop Playing God We play God when we react in anger towards our trials and those who try us.

6/12 James 1:21-25 Stop Deceiving Yourself A person who study’s the Bible and leaves unchanged is a person that is self-deceived

6/19 James 1:26-27 Stop Waiting For Others to do your job

Pure religion acts to meet the needs of those around them and doesn’t wait for the government or others to do the job God has called them to do personally

“The Devil Made Me Do It!”

• Have you ever heard someone use the line, “The devil made me do it?” That line found its origin in the very first sin committed in the garden of Eden when Even blamed the snake for her sin. Six thousand years have passed since that first sin, and yet we are still using the same worn out excuse that the devil made us sin! James refutes this erroneous claim as he uncovers that the real root of our sin is not anything external, but rather it is the internal, sinful desires of our depraved heart.

• James writes, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed”. The phrase “the devil made me do it” should be changed to, “I made me do it!”

James 1:12-13

12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

James 1:14-15

14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Fishing Hooks 101

The Destructive Spiral of Sin

• LOOK—SIN ORIGINATES WITH OUR OWN INTERNAL DESIRES (14)

• The word trials (6) and temptation (12) are the same greek word peirasmos. This word implies a test for the purpose of learning the true nature or character, or to make to stumble. The verb tempted, peirazo, finds its origin in the same word. These temptations can either be used for joy, reward and maturity in one’s life or for stumbling, slavery and death!

The Destructive Spiral of Sin

• LOOK—SIN ORIGINATES WITH OUR OWN INTERNAL DESIRES (14)–God does not provoke us to sin–The devil does not make us sin, but he is

its father!–We sin when we worship our own

internal desires• WE BATE OUR OWN HOOK!

The Destructive Spiral of Sin

• LOOK—SIN ORIGINATES WITH OUR OWN INTERNAL DESIRES (14)

• HOOK—SIN SNARES AND ENSLAVES IT’S VICTIMS (15A)– Romans 6:12-14 – Sin desires to reign and have

dominion over you– Romans 6:15-19 – Sin brings slavery to its

worshippers– Romans 7:13-23—Sin’s hold is an ever present

battle

The Destructive Spiral of Sin

• LOOK—SIN ORIGINATES WITH OUR OWN INTERNAL DESIRES (14)

• HOOK—SIN SNARES AND ENSLAVES IT’S VICTIMS (15A)

• COOK—SIN ALWAYS RESULTS IN DEATH(15B)– Sin will take you farther than you want to go,

keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.

– Romans 6:20-23 – Sin’s pricetag is death

James 1:16–18

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Wrap-It Up

• James sandwiches his teaching on sin’s destructive and enslaving nature with the gracious and rewarding nature of our God. In verse 12 he reminds us that there is reward for the believer who endures temptation because of their love for God and verses 16-18 remind us that our God is the giver of good gifts including our rebirth by the word of truth!

Wrap It Up!

• O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

• Romans 7:24–8:1

Has Sin Hooked You?

• God’s remedy for sin is the CROSS, CONFESSION and COMMUNITY. – At the cross our sins have been forgiven and its

power broken– With confession we are released from sin’s

hold on our lives– With community we can experience sustained

victory through the power of Christian community and accountability.