HOOKED
Week 3 “Reeled In”
July 16 2017
Pastor Timothy Porter
Text: James 1:12-20 Luke 4:13
INTRODUCTION: Today I’m going to talk about fishing again. Fishing is a popular subject in the Bible. Maybe that’s why I like to fish. I always tell people fishing is a biblical sport. I’ve been fishing for a long time, and I have had the opportunity to even be on some outdoor shows. I know it’s hard to believe, but I have. Back in the late 90s I lived on the coast and made alot if new friends. I was turned on to saltwater fly fishing and fly tying. Now, not just any fly fishing but fly fishing for sharks!
I want you to check out a trip that I was not fortunate enough to go on. I found the footage this week. Check it out.
<Shark fishing video plays.>
Well, what if I told you that someone’s trying to catch you? What if I told you that someone is tying a fly just for you. The fly is individualized, it’s customized, and the fly will be presented to you over and over. Then, what if I told you that this fisherman wants to catch you, to reel you in, to drag you into the boat. Some of you are like, “Come on, man. You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s a stretch. Someone is fishing for me?” Well, the answer is a resounding yes. Because as you look at the Scriptures you see Jesus was all about fishing. As I said earlier, Jesus fished and he said once we become followers we’re to fish. Jesus fishes for you and me. We have a choice either to take the bait, to get hooked.
Contrary to what you believe, the devil, that’s right, the devil also is fishing. He wants to keep you and me from discovering this incredible purpose and abudant life, this amazing plan that God has for our lives. If we could see the agenda that God has for us we wouldn’t believe it. We would be like, “Are you kidding me? It’s that amazing? It’s that awesome?” That’s the kind of plan that God has.
So the enemy wants to keep us from God’s purpose. How does he do that? Through temptation, through fishing. In fact, the whole word, the whole concept of being tempted, of being enticed, is a fisherman’s term.
The picture behind the phraseology in the book of James, for example. James 1, in the original language the term is exelkomenos. It means literally to lure a fish from cover, to trap a fish.
So yes, Jesus is the master caster, and I would say Satan is the caster of disaster. Jesus wants to move us from death to life. The devil wants to move us from life to death. That’s his agenda.
Today I want to help you avoid the hook of Temptation and being Reeled In by the devil.
Now you might be going, “Tim, come on man. Are you telling me that you believe, in a dark, personal, sinister force called the devil?
Yes.
All you have to do is look around and see or world is insane. Am I the only one? No. Look at the racism, look at the violence. [What happened in Gville and GP Speedway] How do you explain porn, for being a $97 billion industry? How do you explain child abuse? How do you explain the marital mayhem and the fragmented families?
How do you explain that?
A damaged chromosome? Your room was painted the wrong color when you were a kid. Your diapers were put on too tight.
No, It’s much deeper than that. There is someone called the enemy and he has customized temptations just for you and for me.
I.] Process of Temptation
Now, what did my friend do when he caught that big lemon shark? He did three things, And this is a three-fold process that we see in temptation. First of all, He tied seductively.
The enemy ties seductively
Explain the fly and how the fly is tied how color matters
The enemy is looking for ways to get us...He is looking for what he can use us
The devil himself is tying a fly for you. Why? Because you matter so much. Why? Because you’re so amazing. Why? Because he knows what’s going to happen as you continue to do what God wants you to do. That’s why you’re feeling temptation. So temptation should tip us off.
It should be like, whoa! I matter that much? I mean, my future is that bright? See, that’s where the devil is stupid. The devil is not omnipresent but he is organized and he has an organized plan to keep us from the best. So it starts with the fly. He ties the fly seductively.
The enemy chums strategically
He chums strategically. What is chum? You saw it. You cut some fish up, throw it in the water, and the fish will come. And pretty much fishermen say when you chum, the big sharks will come.
But you’ve got to chum in the right way.
So the devil is chumming in your life and mine, just throwing some stuff out there saying, “I know you wouldn’t do it, but just think about it. What would it be like to hold her? I know you’re married but just think about it. What would it be like to hold her in your arms? I mean, what would it me like to be with him? I know you wouldn’t do it, but what would it be like to lie and to exaggerate, to make the extra bit of money? I know you wouldn’t do it, but just think about it. What would it be like to cheat at school? I mean you don’t have to study as much. I mean, I know you wouldn’t do it but….” He’s chumming. He’s chumming.
he is throwing different temptations at you.
The enemy casts accurately
[Pastor Tim casts fly rod into the audience.]
He’s casting, watch out. He casts, he casts, the devil does. And when you cast, see, you’re casting the weight of the line. So he sees somebody. He’s patient. He’s like, “OK, A father of three, and I know it’s kind of crazy at home. So I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to put that attractive co-worker at the office and… I know you won't do anything but…”
And he fishes, right? He fishes. He casts. He casts accurately, he casts aggressively. OK, yeah, I mean your priorities, you know you should seek God first but there are so many other things out there that you can do, so many other extracurricular activities. You know you need to pray regularly and talk to God and be involved in at the bridge, serving in the bridge kidz, cleaning, serving on sunday mornings, tiething and all that, that’s where life change happens, but you’ve got all these fun fixes and all these things you can do. So get involved in good stuff as opposed to great stuff.
So the devil is always casting, always casting, always casting.
He will do all sorts of casts. Backhand casts! He will do short casts. And sometimes he will do the long casts, but he’s casting. He’s patient. He’s like, “it’s OK. It’s OK. I know you wouldn’t do it. In your position, you wouldn’t do that. But just, you know, it’s just going to be out there and…” Temptation.
He will wait patiently
II.] Hooked with Temptation
Did you notice the shark, when hooked the shark didn’t know he was hooked for a while. It took the fly. He’s like, “Oh boy! Free sushi!” He’s gone. And you can tell it by the way a shark swims. And suddenly, though, after a while he feels the force. He feels the steel, and he starts thrashing and splashing. And that’s when you don’t want to get in the water, when you have a shark that’s hooked. Because I’ve seen them bite props in boats. bite the sides of boats. I’ve seen them try to bite people in the boat.
What happens when we’re hooked with temptation?
“Oh, I’ve gotten away! No one will know!” And some of you right now are thinking, “man, I’ve been doing what you’re saying. I’ve been cheating on my spouse. I’ve been messing around. My priorities are all jacked up. I’ve been living this lie, I’ve been lying a lot, and everything is cool. I’m making a lot of money, I’m successful. I’m the man, I’m the girl.”
Think about that shark. Everything is fine. That shark Had the feathers in his mouth, he thought it was sushi. Everything was cool. He’s just swimming in the warm waters. All of a sudden… <reel spin sound effect> … hooked.
And then you have thrashing and splashing. You have the collateral damage, don’t you? You hurt people, situations.
Unlike me, when I catch a fish I release the fish. The devil, what does he do? Takes the fish, calls the taxidermist, and he has an impressive trophy room.
All these believers caught and pulled them far from God! Now they are Hurting and Broken and believe the lies of the devil that not a soul loves or wants them b/c that have messed up. [this is why the bridge is here]
James 1:13 “Let nobody say when they’re tempted, ‘Oh God is tempting me.’”
On social media, what do we do? We love to tag people. Do you ever tag people on social media? I’m the only one? So when you tag someone, you call them out, you point them out. Well, the Bible says don’t tag God with temptation.
God does not tempt anyone. The devil tempts us to make us do wrong. God tests us to make us strong. That’s the deal. So, God cannot tempt."Why can’t God tempt?” Because God cannot even entertain evil, so for God to tempt you or me would be for God to cease being God. The enemy does it.
It's not Jesus fault - God does not tempt us.
I love this James Breaks it down. He gets even more specific into the process. [ James 1:14-15,] “Each one (I told you it was individualized – there’s a fly being tied) … each one (you and me) is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed, and battled.” Again, there’s our word, exelkomenos. The word I talked about in the introductory remarks, to lure a fish, to draw a fish out of cover. “When the elicit desire is conceived it gives birth to sin; when sin has run its course it gives birth to death.”
James 1:14-15 “Each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed, and battled. When the elicit desire is conceived it gives birth to sin; when sin has run its course it gives birth to death.”
We have the right to choose
Here’s what’s interesting about life, and especially about temptation.
We choose our choices, but we don’t choose our consequences [Every Action has a Reaction - Every choice you make has a consequence] {You jump off a 10 story bldg. the consequnce is - You hit the ground}
Oh, we’re free to choose. God has given all of us free will and we choose our choices, but we don’t choose the consequences. And the consequences of taking the fly, they aren’t pretty, are they? Because we’ve all we have all done it.
So we have to rely on God to give us the wisdom to look past the hook, to look past the cast to the consequences, and that is this part of temptation.
When our will [not gods will] and our desire come together they concive and give birth to a baby named sin and James says when this kid matures [when it grows a goetee] it gives birth to death.
James 1:16-17 , “Do not be misled, every good thing and every perfect gift is from the Father of lights.”
Being Born Again
The birth of desire and will is sin! - The of Word of God and Spirit of God is a new birth
James 1:18 “It was of his own will that he gave us birth, by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures
Here’s the good news. We’re kind of turning it here. “It was of his own will that he gave us birth, by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. “ I love that.
I have a birthday. Write this down. Aug. 22, that’s my birthday. I didn’t have anything to do with my birthday. My mon and dad just got together nine months later I was born. I had nothing to do with my birth, nor do you. That’s my birthday
My second birthday occurred when I became a follower of Christ. I was born again.
You’ve heard that phrase before, born again. What does that mean? Well here’s how you’re born again. WhenThe Word of God and the Spirit of God, get together and because of that we have a new birth, it brings about repentance.
I talked about the birth of sin, desire and will. Now let’s talk about our second birth, being born again. The Word of God gets together with the Spirit of God and then we’re born again
And I just told you the secret of dealing with temptation, one of the secrets.
III.] Dealing with Temptation
How do you deal with temptation? “It seems like, you can't deal with it. It’s too strong. It’s too powerful.”
Sing happy birthday. Not your first birthday, your second birthday. And hopefully you’ve had a second birthday. Because if you had a second birthday, that’s your spiritual birth and because we’re born again, we’re born again into the family of God. You can tap into his power, his inheritance. God will always give you the strength and the power from the inside, out, to look past the cast, to look past the bait, to see the consequences and to swim the way God wants us to swim from.
So when you feel that temptation, when you see that temptation, when that fly is going by, just go, “Happy birthday to me!” Remember that second birthday. Remember who you are. Because really, my last name is not Tim Porter. It’s Tim Porter Christian, that’s my name because I’m in the family of God.
You are not alone in your temptation
The Bible always refers to “one another You’re not by yourself. And that’s why in the Bible, when it talks about the church, Christianity is not a solo sport. The Bible, it always talks about one another, one another, one another, one another, one another, one another.
“When you covey up with other belivers in small groups you grow, you learn to open up and Revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing”
1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”
There will always be an escape route When you are tempted, He will provide a way out
We should have endurance. As we go through temptation it builds endurance.
CONCLUSION:
Let me use another fishing analogy. When I fish for a fish called Spots on Keowee I use 4-lb test, nothing more than 4lb test. When I Hook a 3 lb Spot, you can only pull at about 2lbs of pressure. Once you start getting around 3 to 4… Then it's blink.
Well, God knows exactly how much we can take. It could be 2lbs pounds, 16 pounds, it could be 50 pounds. I don't know. He knows, and he will never put us in a situation where he will not give us the ability to get out of it.
So that is just a little bit about temptation. God has the best for you, and the reason the enemy is coming after you is because he knows what can happen and what’s going to happen because of how valuable you are. So let’s continue to walk in wisdom, and to walk following the Lord.
