WEBVTT - The Inner-Me Enemy, Part 1 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:03.400 Our struggle is greater with God than it is with 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:07.680 the devil. Why? Because it's a lot easier to give 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:12.760 into temptation than to resist it. But our biggest problem 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:14.680 is not with the devil, and it's not with God. 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:17.680 My biggest problem is with myself. 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.200 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:31.000 junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:33.040 I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us today as we're 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:37.040 beginning a message called The Inner Me enemy and Pastor. 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:39.880 As you point out, our struggle with God is greater 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:42.160 than it is with the devil. But you said our 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:45.159 greatest struggle is actually with ourselves. What do you mean 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:45.960 by that? 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:50.240 Well, I mean, usually I am my own worst enemy. 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:51.080 Okay? 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:56.000 Because, you know, when I got saved, I became a 0:00:56.000 --> 0:01:01.280 new creature in Christ, but wasn't perfect. The sin nature 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:04.720 still resides in me. Sure, it's like the old story 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:09.280 about the Indian was asked. He was a believer and asked, well, 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:14.040 who wins the spirit or the flesh? His answer was 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:18.080 whichever one you feed the most. Right, you see. And 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:22.680 so what happens? You know, it's it's if I feed 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:27.759 my flesh, it's going to be hard to overcome it. 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.720 It's an enemy. And I like to say it this way. 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:35.800 The enemy. Enemy, you know. Right. And I am. I'm 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:36.720 my worst enemy. 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.680 And I think many of us can relate to that 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.880 or understand that. We know that deep down, what's inside 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:47.080 of us is pretty dark. But there may be some 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:49.640 listening today who would say, you know what? Actually, I 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:52.360 kind of like who I am, and I don't see 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:55.120 the problem with me. I get that we live in 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:56.880 a very messed up world, and there are some evil 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.200 people out there. But how can I be my own 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.320 worst enemy? I'm a good person. 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.800 Well, it takes more than just being a good person, Steve. 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:09.640 It takes the working of God in the life of 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:13.560 a believer in order to fulfill his goal. See, here's 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:16.079 the thing. If your goal is just to be a 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:19.880 good person, then you're missing the mark because that's not 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:23.280 God's goal. His goal is to conform us into the 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:26.799 image of Jesus Christ. That's a greater goal. And let 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:29.880 me tell you something, Steve. I know I look good, 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:34.720 but I don't look anything like Jesus Christ. I'm telling you, Amen. 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:38.560 And I'm talking about in terms of lifestyle and all 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:41.359 the other things as well. I've been walking this Christian 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.720 walk a long time, and there's been a whole lot 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.440 of things that God has given me the power to 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:53.560 overcome in my life, but yet, um, ever matriculating but 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:58.440 never graduating. I won't be transformed totally until I'm in 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.230 that grave in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. 0:03:01.470 --> 0:03:04.510 And I think for some people, it's actually kind of 0:03:04.550 --> 0:03:08.110 encouraging to hear you say that the fact that this 0:03:08.110 --> 0:03:11.669 is a life long struggle that we're engaged in. Uh, 0:03:11.669 --> 0:03:13.590 I know there may be some who have had this 0:03:13.590 --> 0:03:16.030 misconception that I became a Christian. Life gets easy. I'm 0:03:16.030 --> 0:03:17.990 not going to sin or I'm hardly going to sin. 0:03:17.990 --> 0:03:19.549 And that is not the way it is. 0:03:19.590 --> 0:03:21.270 It is not. And all you have to do is 0:03:21.270 --> 0:03:25.109 read Romans six, seven and eight. The second greatest Christian 0:03:25.110 --> 0:03:29.830 who ever lived said, when I would do good, evil 0:03:29.830 --> 0:03:33.430 was always present with me. And the good I would 0:03:33.430 --> 0:03:36.550 do that I do not. And the evil I don't 0:03:36.550 --> 0:03:39.670 want to do, that's what I'm doing. Paul said that? 0:03:39.710 --> 0:03:43.110 Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're going to be, uh, not in 0:03:43.110 --> 0:03:45.470 a book that Paul wrote today, but James, we're in 0:03:45.470 --> 0:03:48.470 James chapter one. So join us there as we begin 0:03:48.470 --> 0:03:52.510 a message called the Inner Me enemy. Here is Pastor Ford. 0:03:53.070 --> 0:03:57.790 The greatest struggle that we have is not with the devil. 0:03:58.470 --> 0:04:01.270 I don't know about you, but I have a bigger 0:04:01.270 --> 0:04:06.270 struggle with God. You say, wait a minute, wait a minute. 0:04:06.270 --> 0:04:08.070 What do you mean? You have a bigger struggle with 0:04:08.070 --> 0:04:12.030 God than you do the devil? Well, because it's easier 0:04:12.390 --> 0:04:16.990 to sin than to surrender. See, the devil wants me 0:04:16.990 --> 0:04:20.029 to sin, and God wants me to surrender. I guess 0:04:20.029 --> 0:04:22.630 I'm all by myself when I say it's easier to 0:04:22.670 --> 0:04:26.630 sin than to surrender. And so you know, if you 0:04:26.630 --> 0:04:30.750 can't say amen, say ouch. It's easier to live for 0:04:30.750 --> 0:04:34.950 self than to live for the Savior. It's easier to 0:04:34.950 --> 0:04:37.990 live for self than to die to self. I'm trying 0:04:37.990 --> 0:04:40.150 to set this thing up so you'll see I have 0:04:40.150 --> 0:04:42.910 a bigger problem with God than I do with the devil, 0:04:42.910 --> 0:04:47.510 because of what God demands of me in terms of 0:04:47.630 --> 0:04:51.630 my commitment to him and what and how I should 0:04:51.630 --> 0:04:56.430 be living. So God says, turn the other cheek. Satan says, yeah, 0:04:56.470 --> 0:05:00.950 turn theirs. God says, the first shall be last, and 0:05:00.950 --> 0:05:03.989 the last shall be first. And Satan says, the first 0:05:03.990 --> 0:05:06.870 shall be last, and the last shall get the leftovers. 0:05:07.230 --> 0:05:13.270 You better be first. God says. Pay now, enjoy. Later. 0:05:13.270 --> 0:05:18.910 The devil says, live now, pay later. So our struggle 0:05:18.910 --> 0:05:21.990 is greater with God than it is with the devil. Why? 0:05:22.029 --> 0:05:26.390 Because it's a lot easier to give in to temptation 0:05:26.390 --> 0:05:30.310 than to resist it. But our biggest problem is not 0:05:30.310 --> 0:05:32.669 with the devil, and it's not with God. My biggest 0:05:32.670 --> 0:05:37.510 problem is with myself. Go ahead, Pastor Ford. Tell the truth. 0:05:37.830 --> 0:05:40.109 The enemy in me. Now, I share this with you 0:05:40.150 --> 0:05:42.909 once before. I don't remember when. I don't remember where, 0:05:43.230 --> 0:05:46.030 but I remember sharing with you about my son Nate 0:05:46.390 --> 0:05:49.870 and him watching me shaving. And let me tell you, 0:05:49.870 --> 0:05:51.950 like Paul Harvey, the rest of the story, he was 0:05:51.950 --> 0:05:56.029 watching me shaving and I said, oh no. Mhm. I said, 0:05:56.029 --> 0:05:59.070 you're not old enough. You don't have anything. Don't mess 0:05:59.070 --> 0:06:05.390 with this. Oh. He started. Okay, dad. Next morning, I 0:06:05.430 --> 0:06:11.550 get them up for school. This boy doesn't shave. I said, 0:06:12.070 --> 0:06:13.990 didn't I tell you? You don't mess with my razor. 0:06:15.029 --> 0:06:20.990 I mess with your razor. Yes. You did. No I didn't. 0:06:22.550 --> 0:06:25.470 I said, yes, you did. And I'm whooping your behind. 0:06:25.470 --> 0:06:29.230 And I'm giving you a whooping twice. Once for lying 0:06:29.270 --> 0:06:33.190 to me, once for disobeying me. And so I spanked 0:06:33.190 --> 0:06:36.950 his behind. He kept crying. Dad, how do you know 0:06:36.950 --> 0:06:40.390 I use your shaver? I don't have no hair on 0:06:40.390 --> 0:06:46.469 my face. You shave your eyebrows off. He shaved his 0:06:46.470 --> 0:06:52.430 eyebrows off and said he found hair. He found some hair. 0:06:53.070 --> 0:06:54.669 And here's what he told me. Here's the rest of 0:06:54.670 --> 0:06:58.910 the story. I'll never forget it. I said see you. 0:06:58.910 --> 0:07:01.990 You got what you deserve. Yeah. And here's what he said. 0:07:01.990 --> 0:07:07.470 Quote I told me not to do it, but I 0:07:07.470 --> 0:07:14.230 didn't listen to me. That's powerful stuff. That's profound. That's me. Okay. 0:07:14.270 --> 0:07:18.910 I'm just speaking for myself. That's me. Yeah. I tell myself, man, 0:07:18.950 --> 0:07:23.110 you know, don't succumb to this. And then all of 0:07:23.110 --> 0:07:29.270 a sudden, you're doing it anyway. And so what happens 0:07:29.270 --> 0:07:32.989 in James and in chapter one one through 12, he's 0:07:32.990 --> 0:07:38.989 talking about temptation as a noun. Now in 13 through 18, 0:07:39.030 --> 0:07:43.070 he's talking about temptation as a verb. Everybody still with me? 0:07:43.070 --> 0:07:46.830 So in one through 12 he's talking about temptation as 0:07:46.830 --> 0:07:50.190 a problem. But now he's going to show you that 0:07:50.190 --> 0:07:54.390 temptation is not just a problem. Temptation is a passion. 0:07:54.430 --> 0:07:58.230 Help me somebody. So it's like, what is an affair? 0:07:58.430 --> 0:08:03.230 An addiction to a person. That's what it is. And 0:08:03.230 --> 0:08:07.030 so it's a passion. Uh, so here's what James wants 0:08:07.030 --> 0:08:10.710 us to understand. Don't let the stuff on the outside 0:08:10.990 --> 0:08:15.750 get into your inside. So remember, you can't help what 0:08:15.750 --> 0:08:20.470 you see, but you control what you look at. You 0:08:20.470 --> 0:08:24.110 can't control what you hear, but you control what you 0:08:24.110 --> 0:08:28.350 listen to. And so he's going to talk to us, 0:08:28.350 --> 0:08:32.630 and he's going to give us the digression of our sin. 0:08:33.270 --> 0:08:37.470 He's going to talk about, uh, the inception of sin, 0:08:37.670 --> 0:08:42.150 the reception of sin, the deception of sin, and the 0:08:42.150 --> 0:08:44.950 conception of sin. Let me say it again. James is 0:08:44.950 --> 0:08:48.230 going to talk about the inception of sin, the reception 0:08:48.230 --> 0:08:52.430 of sin, the deception of sin, and the conception of sin. 0:08:53.309 --> 0:08:56.230 So he begins by talking about the inception of the 0:08:56.230 --> 0:08:59.150 sin of the flesh. Verse 13, let no man say, 0:08:59.150 --> 0:09:01.780 when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For 0:09:01.780 --> 0:09:07.420 God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. 0:09:08.220 --> 0:09:11.780 He says, don't blame God. Now, now here's the contrast. 0:09:11.780 --> 0:09:15.820 Remember we studied this, uh, last year, uh, sometime James, 0:09:15.860 --> 0:09:18.579 a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ 0:09:18.580 --> 0:09:21.340 to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. Greeting. So 0:09:21.340 --> 0:09:25.820 we said that the word scattered was diaspora or diaspora. 0:09:25.940 --> 0:09:29.980 It literally means seed sown, that wherever you are and 0:09:29.980 --> 0:09:34.339 whatever you're going through, remember that God strategically placed you. 0:09:34.340 --> 0:09:37.740 It's a word picture, uh, that talks about a farmer 0:09:37.740 --> 0:09:40.180 who has pulled up all the weeds and, and and 0:09:40.179 --> 0:09:43.660 broke up the fallow ground and watered it to receive 0:09:43.660 --> 0:09:46.420 the seed and then put the seed in. He did 0:09:46.420 --> 0:09:49.660 everything carefully. That's the picture that he gives us. Whatever 0:09:49.660 --> 0:09:52.780 you came in here going through, God wants you to 0:09:52.820 --> 0:09:58.580 know it's either God authorized or God allowed. So now 0:09:58.620 --> 0:10:01.860 why now? You tell us. Then, as we're going through this, 0:10:01.860 --> 0:10:04.340 God either authorized it or allowed it. Why are you 0:10:04.340 --> 0:10:07.980 telling us now that God does not test us or 0:10:07.980 --> 0:10:12.540 tempt us to do evil? Because he wants you to 0:10:12.540 --> 0:10:18.660 understand that even though God may be source, he's not agent. 0:10:19.300 --> 0:10:22.860 So let's take job, for example. Uh, job went through it. 0:10:22.860 --> 0:10:26.020 God didn't put him through it. The devil put him 0:10:26.020 --> 0:10:30.179 through it. And so he's the agent, even though God 0:10:30.179 --> 0:10:33.340 is the source because God allowed it. The devil cannot 0:10:33.340 --> 0:10:39.820 do anything to us unless Yahweh God allows it. So 0:10:39.820 --> 0:10:42.579 in other words, he's saying it's in the middle voice, 0:10:42.580 --> 0:10:50.220 which means stop an action already going on. Stop blaming God. 0:10:50.900 --> 0:10:55.340 There's nothing in God to receive sin. There's nothing in 0:10:55.340 --> 0:11:00.699 God to sin. To sin. God his chief Characteristic. According 0:11:00.740 --> 0:11:07.140 to Isaiah, is what his holiness he didn't say loving, loving, loving. 0:11:07.700 --> 0:11:11.820 They didn't say, even though he is. They didn't say voracious, voracious, voracious, 0:11:11.820 --> 0:11:15.059 even though he is. They didn't say immutable, immutable, immutable 0:11:15.059 --> 0:11:21.580 even though he is. They said, Holy, holy, holy, Lord 0:11:21.580 --> 0:11:26.219 God Almighty, who is, who, art and who is to come. 0:11:26.420 --> 0:11:30.260 And so the holiness of God. John chapter 14, verse 30. 0:11:30.300 --> 0:11:35.860 Jesus talks about his own impeccability just a $50 theological 0:11:35.900 --> 0:11:38.980 term that we learned in seminary. And since I paid 0:11:38.980 --> 0:11:43.540 the money, I gotta drop it on you. In the 0:11:43.540 --> 0:11:48.140 doctrine of Empacar teaches that Jesus could not have sinned. Why? 0:11:48.179 --> 0:11:53.980 Because he did not have a sin nature. And so 0:11:53.980 --> 0:11:57.380 he circumvented the sin nature because he was born of 0:11:57.380 --> 0:12:01.020 the Virgin, his humanity from Mary, his deity, from the 0:12:01.020 --> 0:12:06.180 Holy Spirit, and so he does not have sin. First 0:12:06.179 --> 0:12:09.980 Peter 222. Hebrews 415. 0:12:11.820 --> 0:12:13.980 That's some great stuff, isn't it? And we're going to 0:12:13.980 --> 0:12:16.660 get back to this teaching in just one moment. Our 0:12:16.660 --> 0:12:20.020 message is called the enemy. Enemy. And maybe something you've 0:12:20.020 --> 0:12:23.140 heard on a broadcast raises a question. We can always 0:12:23.179 --> 0:12:27.820 ask your question of Pastor Ford. Simply come to our website, npr.org. 0:12:27.860 --> 0:12:30.220 Click on the contact link, give us your feedback or 0:12:30.220 --> 0:12:32.900 ask that question. Who knows? That might be answered on 0:12:32.900 --> 0:12:35.219 a future broadcast. And if you ever want to hear 0:12:35.220 --> 0:12:37.900 Pastor Ford speak live and you're in the Chicago area, 0:12:37.900 --> 0:12:39.620 you can get all the info you need by coming 0:12:39.620 --> 0:12:42.540 to our website and clicking on the about link. Again, 0:12:42.540 --> 0:12:47.699 our website address is treasure. Truth, Radio.com. Again, here's Pastor Ford. 0:12:48.179 --> 0:12:52.060 So here's what James is saying. Don't blame God. Don't 0:12:52.059 --> 0:12:56.540 blame the devil. It's you. It's me. Look at your 0:12:56.540 --> 0:12:59.700 neighbor and say it's you. That's right. Even though it's 0:12:59.780 --> 0:13:02.540 Bible study, it's you. As a matter of fact. Romans 0:13:02.540 --> 0:13:05.699 chapter one. Remember we talked about it before I was 0:13:05.700 --> 0:13:09.500 interviewed by, uh, the Christian brother who's, uh, on, uh, 0:13:09.540 --> 0:13:13.380 on ABC news, and he came in the sanctuary. They 0:13:13.420 --> 0:13:15.580 set it up and they set up over there, and 0:13:15.580 --> 0:13:17.219 they said, we want you to walk in like you're 0:13:17.220 --> 0:13:18.620 getting ready. So I had to go all the way 0:13:18.620 --> 0:13:23.140 over here, walk in, walk up to the pulpit, walk down. And, uh, 0:13:23.179 --> 0:13:27.140 they asked me what I thought about the Supreme Court decision, uh, 0:13:27.140 --> 0:13:30.060 about marriage. And and that's what I dropped on him. 0:13:30.059 --> 0:13:32.780 Romans chapter one. So I'm not surprised. We're living in 0:13:32.780 --> 0:13:35.860 the last days. It's part of what uh, Paul said 0:13:35.860 --> 0:13:38.219 to Timothy is going to be happen. And and then 0:13:38.220 --> 0:13:40.540 he said, so. So how do you think it came about? 0:13:40.540 --> 0:13:43.020 I said, I'm so glad you asked me. It's Romans 0:13:43.020 --> 0:13:46.059 chapter one. Here's what Romans chapter one says. First, sin 0:13:46.059 --> 0:13:51.580 is tolerated, then sin is moderated, then sin is abdicated, 0:13:51.900 --> 0:13:57.260 then sin is mandated, then sin is legislated, then sin 0:13:57.260 --> 0:14:02.740 is celebrated. And that's what happens. And so what happens. 0:14:02.740 --> 0:14:05.020 He talks about the inception. Now we know what we do. 0:14:05.059 --> 0:14:06.860 Come on I just told you what are the three 0:14:06.860 --> 0:14:08.940 things Adam did with his sin. Come on, holler it 0:14:08.940 --> 0:14:14.500 out real quick. He tried to hide it, cover it 0:14:15.140 --> 0:14:18.540 and blame. Those are three things that we do. But 0:14:18.540 --> 0:14:21.740 here's what James is trying to get us to see. Uh, 0:14:21.940 --> 0:14:25.380 Satan can tempt us, but he can't make us sin. 0:14:26.220 --> 0:14:28.620 I mean, you know, uh, those of us who dealt 0:14:28.620 --> 0:14:30.940 with drugs and all that kind of stuff say we 0:14:30.940 --> 0:14:33.260 got to get these drug pushers. What? The drug pusher 0:14:33.260 --> 0:14:36.300 didn't make you buy it, and the drug pusher didn't 0:14:36.300 --> 0:14:39.380 make you use it. So a drug pusher is like 0:14:39.380 --> 0:14:44.460 the devil. The devil comes to you and he tempts you, 0:14:44.460 --> 0:14:49.020 but the desire for it has to come from you. Remember, 0:14:49.020 --> 0:14:53.340 you need two things to sin. That's desire and opportunity. 0:14:54.220 --> 0:14:56.940 And so you have sisters who? And I'm just picking 0:14:56.940 --> 0:14:59.580 on sisters. But, you know, uh, it's one I'm thinking 0:14:59.690 --> 0:15:01.450 about because she came to me and she said, boy, 0:15:01.490 --> 0:15:03.570 I can't wait till this testimony. What testimony? That he 0:15:03.610 --> 0:15:05.370 kind of stepped at me. I said, speak to the hand. 0:15:05.570 --> 0:15:08.050 My soul don't understand. I already have a man. His 0:15:08.050 --> 0:15:11.250 name is Jesus. And I said, were you telling me 0:15:11.250 --> 0:15:16.010 about somebody you didn't want? You come back and share 0:15:16.010 --> 0:15:19.770 that testimony when it's somebody you want it. When he 0:15:19.770 --> 0:15:24.410 got everything that you wanted in a man but he 0:15:24.410 --> 0:15:27.970 ain't saved, then come back and tell me, I told him, 0:15:28.290 --> 0:15:34.770 speak to the hand. And so what does the devil do? 0:15:34.810 --> 0:15:39.369 Listen to this. This. This is the theology of temptation. 0:15:39.370 --> 0:15:42.330 Here it is. First thing he does, he calls our 0:15:42.330 --> 0:15:48.570 attention to sin. We see it. Secondly, then he causes 0:15:48.570 --> 0:15:52.450 our attraction to sin. Well, let me go back. Let 0:15:52.450 --> 0:15:54.210 me back up. Let me. Let me show you something. 0:15:54.250 --> 0:15:57.609 He calls our attention to sin. That's through the eyes. 0:15:57.810 --> 0:16:02.370 We see it. Then he causes our attraction to sin. 0:16:02.370 --> 0:16:07.290 That's in the mind. We sense it because. Listen, before 0:16:07.290 --> 0:16:10.130 you ever did it, you thought it. You better. You 0:16:10.130 --> 0:16:13.450 better help me. Yeah, yeah. Now, now, sometimes we men 0:16:13.490 --> 0:16:15.570 don't think about things. You know, if a man get 0:16:15.570 --> 0:16:18.530 into something, he ain't thought about it. We we just. 0:16:18.530 --> 0:16:22.050 We just stupid. We just, you know, we like the 0:16:22.050 --> 0:16:26.930 governor who who had a girlfriend and text her when 0:16:26.930 --> 0:16:32.250 his phone was linked to his wife. iPad. That's how. 0:16:32.290 --> 0:16:35.050 That's how she found out he was cheating. His phone 0:16:35.050 --> 0:16:38.410 was synced to her iPad. So he thought he was 0:16:38.410 --> 0:16:43.090 texting his girlfriend, and he was texting his wife. Man, 0:16:43.090 --> 0:16:46.570 we men are stupid. But I guarantee you, if a 0:16:46.570 --> 0:16:52.369 woman does it. She done thought that thing out. Jack. Okay. 0:16:53.090 --> 0:16:55.210 And so he calls our attention to send the eyes. 0:16:55.210 --> 0:16:58.050 We see it. He causes our attraction to send the mind. 0:16:58.050 --> 0:17:02.370 We sense it, then he causes our affection for it. 0:17:02.370 --> 0:17:07.250 That's our emotions. We settle for it. Then he corrupts 0:17:07.250 --> 0:17:12.050 our ambition in sin. That's our volition, our will. We 0:17:12.090 --> 0:17:18.490 serve it. So Romans Paul said in Romans chapter seven, 0:17:18.490 --> 0:17:22.250 verse 14 and following he said, hey, this is Paul. 0:17:23.130 --> 0:17:26.090 You know Paul who wrote half the New Testament. You 0:17:26.090 --> 0:17:29.530 know Paul who met Jesus personally on the Damascus Road, 0:17:29.530 --> 0:17:32.010 you know, Paul the apostle that was born out of 0:17:32.330 --> 0:17:35.970 you know, Paul, the one who founded churches all over 0:17:35.970 --> 0:17:39.290 the known, you know, Paul the great theologian, the deep 0:17:39.290 --> 0:17:44.090 brother that even Peter said his scriptures are hard to comprehend, 0:17:44.290 --> 0:17:50.050 that Paul, he said, when I would do good, evil 0:17:50.290 --> 0:17:55.730 is always present with me, so that the good I 0:17:55.730 --> 0:17:59.290 would do, I do not. And the evil I don't 0:17:59.290 --> 0:18:02.650 want to do. That's what I do. It's like the 0:18:02.650 --> 0:18:06.369 little boy who is standing in front of a fruit stand, 0:18:06.570 --> 0:18:09.290 and he's just staring and staring at them. Big red 0:18:09.290 --> 0:18:15.129 Washington apples. Shiny, bright owner came out and said, young man, 0:18:15.369 --> 0:18:18.410 are you trying to steal one of my apples? He said, no, sir, 0:18:18.609 --> 0:18:24.970 I'm trying not to. And that's us. There are things. 0:18:24.970 --> 0:18:27.690 And you say, oh, that's not me. Well, well, the 0:18:27.690 --> 0:18:31.970 thing that tempts you ain't came along yet. That's what 0:18:31.970 --> 0:18:38.330 it is. But keep on living. It's coming. Yeah. It's coming. Jack. 0:18:39.210 --> 0:18:42.409 And so inherent in this statement is what we call 0:18:42.410 --> 0:18:46.129 original sin. We're born with a proclivity to sin. Psalm 0:18:46.130 --> 0:18:52.810 51 five. So it's not external circumstances. It's internal desires. 0:18:52.810 --> 0:18:57.929 It always has to be an internal desire. Why? Because 0:18:58.250 --> 0:19:03.850 it's our own lusts. It's closed now, but on 71st 0:19:03.850 --> 0:19:07.170 Street there used to be a bakery. And my mama, 0:19:07.210 --> 0:19:11.730 my mama made some cold blooded bread pudding. It was 0:19:11.730 --> 0:19:14.570 one of my favorites. Now, some people don't even know 0:19:14.570 --> 0:19:16.210 how to make bread pudding. They say, I know how to. 0:19:16.210 --> 0:19:18.490 I say, what do you start with? They say bread. 0:19:18.970 --> 0:19:22.330 I said, what kind of bread? Bread. Bread? No. The 0:19:22.330 --> 0:19:28.130 best bread pudding starts with moldy bread. If you don't 0:19:28.130 --> 0:19:30.650 make it with moldy bread, you don't know what you're doing. 0:19:30.650 --> 0:19:33.770 I don't care what you say. Mama made it with 0:19:33.810 --> 0:19:38.170 moldy bread, boy, knock your socks off. And so there 0:19:38.170 --> 0:19:41.649 was a bakery on 71st, and I used to go 0:19:41.650 --> 0:19:45.970 up there and buffet my body, and he said, hey, 0:19:46.090 --> 0:19:48.570 why don't you try some of my bread pudding? I said, no, 0:19:48.570 --> 0:19:52.690 because nobody makes bread pudding like my mama. He said, 0:19:52.690 --> 0:19:55.050 I tell you what, I'm gonna give you two pieces free. 0:19:56.090 --> 0:19:58.449 He gave me two pieces free, along with my dozen 0:19:58.450 --> 0:20:00.970 doughnuts that I was taking back to all my family. 0:20:02.650 --> 0:20:05.810 I said, let me taste this. I knew as soon 0:20:05.810 --> 0:20:08.409 as I tasted it. I went back in, you know, 0:20:08.450 --> 0:20:09.929 I got on my car. I went back in because I, 0:20:09.970 --> 0:20:12.850 you know, you know, you never get them home before 0:20:12.850 --> 0:20:17.730 you start eating them. I said, you made this with 0:20:17.770 --> 0:20:20.210 moldy bread. He said, there's no other way to make bread. 0:20:20.210 --> 0:20:20.810 But I said. 0:20:20.810 --> 0:20:22.369 Man, man. 0:20:23.410 --> 0:20:25.330 I told him, I said, you know what? I used 0:20:25.330 --> 0:20:27.690 to push drugs, and you just did to me what 0:20:27.690 --> 0:20:30.250 I would do to everybody else if I had somebody 0:20:30.250 --> 0:20:33.450 who never got high before they first high was free, 0:20:34.210 --> 0:20:37.490 because I knew that once they had what I had, 0:20:37.730 --> 0:20:40.410 they be coming back. I told them, I know what 0:20:40.410 --> 0:20:43.330 you trying to do. You trying to get me up 0:20:43.330 --> 0:20:45.290 here at 3:00 in the morning saying where the bread 0:20:45.290 --> 0:20:51.970 pudding dog. Where the bread pudding man you know. But 0:20:51.970 --> 0:20:56.169 that's it. That's it. Remember the old Chinese proverbs? First 0:20:56.170 --> 0:20:58.970 the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink. 0:20:58.970 --> 0:21:03.200 Then the drink takes the man. That's us. So whatever 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:06.800 it is, your proclivity. Because everybody la dee da dee 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:10.520 and everybody in here has some proclivity to some sin. 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:14.959 Look at it. Looking all innocent like not me. Mhm. 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:16.800 You're a halo. Going to become your new sun. I 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:21.920 told you that plenty of times. But it's our own lust. Man, 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:23.600 one of the things I hate to hear is he 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:26.160 made me hit him. Oh, yeah, she made me hit her. 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:29.520 He made me hit her. What? Nobody makes you do anything. 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:33.960 You do it yourself. You did it. You did it. 0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:38.880 So the inception of sin comes from our flesh and 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:41.359 my flesh. There's no good thing. And remember, when it 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:45.200 comes to salvation, Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:48.479 who died, was buried, and rose again the third day. 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:50.919 As a matter of fact, uh, when we look at 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:55.280 the resurrection, it is the capstone of Christianity, and we 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:58.720 know that. And so you say, what's going on here? 0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:02.359 He says. The inception of it has to do with 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:04.159 our own lust. 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:08.479 You're listening to Treasure Truth and the beginning of a 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:11.560 series called The Inner Me. Enemy, really? A look at 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:15.080 James chapter one in today's broadcast. And this is going 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:18.440 to be a powerful series about the battle against sin. 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:20.080 If you want to make sure that you don't miss 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:23.879 any of these broadcasts, come to our website. It's Treasure Radio. 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:27.600 There you can sign up to begin podcasting the program, 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:30.600 and if you happen to use iTunes for your podcasting, 0:22:30.600 --> 0:22:32.600 would you go ahead and rate the podcast that will 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:35.120 help us be found by even more people? Other ways 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:37.080 to listen. You can come to our website and each 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:39.680 and every day and stream the programs through your computer 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:42.720 or mobile device. You can download MP3's or you can 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:46.439 order copies of this broadcast on CD. 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