In this sermon, the preacher discusses three main influences that lead people to sin: our own human flesh, Satan, and the world. He emphasizes that while there is an inherited factor of sin, the created man himself is not inherently evil. The preacher warns against being ignorant of Satan's tactics and urges listeners to seek victory over the urge to sin. He concludes by highlighting that while the created world itself is not evil, the world system controlled by Satan tempts individuals to fulfill their desires in ways contrary to God's will.

The following recording is available from the Canadian Revival Fellowship, Box 584, Regina, Saskatchewan, in Canada. The title of this message given by Pastor Dick Sipley is, The Imposed Factor. In this message, Pastor Sipley deals with the two-fold source of temptation and how to triumph over it. Now we pray that the Holy Spirit will open our minds to understand the Word of God, the truth of God, and our hearts to receive. Lord, we need your help. We need your encouragement, your strength. We need instruction in the things of God. Instruct us tonight, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. What is it about human beings that makes them so often want to do wrong? Why do we want to do wrong? Where does this repeated urge to sin really come from? I am not speaking tonight about where sin comes from, but I am talking about the urge to sin. That's something that every person listening to my voice tonight understands. You may not understand all about it, but you have experienced it. That inner urge to do wrong. What is it? Where is it from? How can we deal with it? What is the way of victory over this urge to sin? There are at least three sources or three factors that produce this urge to sin. I did not say to produce sin, but I am talking about that which produces the urge to sin, the desire to do so. First, there is what I call the imposed factor, and that has to do with the enticement to sin. Second, there is what I call the inherited factor, and that really has to do with death, as we will hear next Sunday night. Third, we have the acquired factor, and that has to do with habit. We'll be discussing that in the third of this series of messages. Tonight, let us consider first the imposed factor, the problem of enticement. Look with me at James 1, verses 12 through 17. Verse 12, "...Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust," his own desire, "...and enticed." There are two things there. He is not enticed by his desire. He is drawn away by his own inward desire. He is drawn from something outside of him. There is something outside of the man that appeals to something inside of the man. It is the enticement that is outside. He is drawn away and enticed. There is enticement on the outside that appeals to his own desires on the inside and draws or pulls on those desires. And this produces within him the urge to sin. It says, "...and then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Here we see the urge to sin, and we see first that it does not come from God. God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. I know there are places in the Bible where the King James Version has, "...and God tempted," such as, "...and God tempted Abraham." But that word would have been better translated as, "...and God tested Abraham," or, "...put him to the test," not by trying to get him to do wrong, for God never, never, never puts pressure on a human being in the direction of evil or sin. God always puts pressure on us in the direction of doing good or right. And when God tests us, he puts us in a position where we could do wrong, but he puts pressure on us to do right. But there are some other things that put pressure on us to do wrong. And so God never tempts anyone, and the urge to sin never comes from God. Then where does it come from? Well, it comes, as we have already noticed, from two things. It comes from our natural God-given desires, and I want to say that very carefully. The urge to sin that I'm talking about tonight arises from our natural God-given desires and Satan's enticement, Satan's propositions to fulfill those desires in a way contrary to the will of God. Now, turn with me to 1 John 2, and verse 14, over to the right from James. Here the Apostle by the Holy Spirit is talking about victory in the Christian life, overcoming sin, overcoming Satan. And we are talking about Satan tonight and his enticement. 1 John 2.14, "...I have written unto you fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning," that is, you know God and you know Christ, who is the eternal God. "...I have written unto you young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you," how important that is, "...and ye have overcome the wicked one." You see, this urge to sin we're talking about tonight arises from our natural God-given desires when they are appealed to by the wicked one, and he entices us and pulls on those inward desires to try to get us to satisfy them outside of the will of God. And John is talking about overcoming that wicked one and defeating his attempts and his enticements and having victory over sin. Now, the famous passage that many of you could quote since you learned it as children, "...love not the world," why? Because Satan only has one thing basically he can use to entice us. What is it? It's the world all around us. Well, you say, is the world in itself evil? Well, not the created world, that isn't evil. The world system is evil, that is, under the control of Satan. But you see, Satan holds out to us all of the marvelous things of the world, of the natural world that God has created, and the things of this world system that man has created. And he takes that world, he holds it out to us, and he says, come on now, fulfill those desires inside of yourself by partaking of this world the way I'm suggesting. Do you see that? God says, I have put within you those natural desires, I have placed you in this world, and there are good and proper and righteous ways that those desires should be fulfilled in this world, and even through the use of this world without abusing it. But you see, this urge to sin comes from Satan's enticement as he holds out the world to us. Years ago when people became Christians and they were about to join the church, they would take vows before God and before the elders of the church, and they would say that they denounced the world, the flesh, and the devil. Well, that just covers it. And tonight we're talking really about those three things. We're talking about our own human flesh, the natural man, and the natural desires. We're talking about Satan, and we're talking about the world that he holds out to us and says, come on, do what you really want to do, never mind what God says. Then he says, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Now I'm going to make a statement that may shock you, and so I'm warning you. Are you ready? Listen carefully. It is not true to say that a man sins strictly because he is a sinner. That is not true. And one of the reasons that we so often misunderstand our temptations and misunderstand the urge to sin and are not able to handle it properly is because we misunderstand how our inner man functions. Well, you say, Aren't we sinners? Oh, yes. Well, you say, Don't men ever sin because they're sinners? Oh, yes. But it is not true to say that men always sin strictly because they're sinners. That isn't so. Now, he is a sinner, but he does not need to be a sinner. Listen carefully. A man does not need to be a sinner to experience the urge to sin, nor to yield to it, nor to commit the sin. Are you listening? Well, you say, I don't know if I believe that. That's bad theology. No, it isn't. It's very good bibliology. I can prove it to you very quickly, and I'm going to give you two examples tonight, and it's very important that we understand this. Example number one. Go with me to Genesis 3. You know where that is? The first book of your Bible, the first human beings and the first human sin. The first human sin. Let me ask you a question before we read from this passage tonight. Did Eve sin because she was a sinner? Well, what do you think? Oh, you don't know what to think. You say, I'm afraid you're going to trap me. No, I almost never ask trick questions. I do occasionally, but I usually warn you when I do. No, Eve was not a sinner until after she sinned. Adam and Eve had been created by God in his image, and after God created man in his own image, he said that what he had created was not only good, but very good. And Eve did not have a sinful nature. Where would she have gotten it? From God? She was created by God. Eve had a sinful nature after she sinned, and so did all of her children, except for one, the Lord Jesus Christ. But Eve did not have any sin in her nature before she sinned, and Eve had the urge to sin without being a sinner. And the reason that's so important tonight is because many times in misunderstanding what is happening in our lives, we become discouraged and despondent and give up and do not have the victory God wants us to have. When you take a look at this, you'll see right away what really happened. Verse 5, or rather 4, And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God. You say, what was wrong with that? Nothing. They were made in the image of God. It would have been all right to be like God, but not to be as God. That would be different. That would be to be God in the place of God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that's the lust of the flesh. Notice that. And pleasant to the eyes, that's the lust of the eyes, or the inner soul, covetousness. And to be desired to make one wise, that's the pride of life, appeal to the inner spirit, pride. She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. You see, the first human sin was exactly what I've been talking about tonight. Are you following this? Here was Eve, and she really had some God-given capacities. Now God, when he had created man, and you'll find this in the first chapter of Genesis, had said to them that they were created in his image. God said, let us make man in our own image, after our likeness. Man had the capacity to be like God, not to be as God, or to be as a God, but to be in the image of God. Great capacity. But not to be independent from God. And Eve had that capacity. God gave it to her. It was her God-given capacity to be like him. Satan, now watch his cleverness. Paul said, we're not ignorant of his devices. Satan came to her and said, really, I'm not suggesting you do anything that God wouldn't want you to do, because after all, God made you to be like him. And I'm just telling you that if you take of this fruit, you'll be, he just changed one word, you'll be as God. You will become your own God. He was appealing to something inside of her that was not in itself evil. See, when someone is tempted to commit adultery, there are many factors, and of course one of those factors is his sinful nature that he has inherited, and we're not the primary source of his sin. When he is tempted to commit adultery, the primary source of his sin is twofold. It is because God has put inside of him a natural, normal capacity to enjoy a sexual experience. God made him that way, and God said, be fruitful and multiply. God says that marriage is honorable and all, and the bed undefiled, but adulterers and warmongers God will judge. There is nothing evil about that desire. That is a normal desire, good and pure and holy. God created him with that desire. But Satan comes along and he reaches out the world and holds it out, and he says, now come and fulfill that desire this way. And God says, thou shalt not commit adultery. God says there's only one way to fulfill that desire, just one and no other, and that is within the bounds of marriage. Any other attempt to fulfill that desire says God will turn it to bitterness, will make it an evil, and will destroy you. And Satan says, you don't believe that, do you? Did God really say that? Why, look, anybody can tell from his natural desires that that couldn't be wrong. No, the sexual act is not wrong. The sexual act is created and ordained of God, but to fulfill it outside of marriage is wrong. Are you with me? I'm talking about the urge to sin. The urge to sin is a combination of the desires of the man which in themselves are not evil, and the enticement of Satan with a world system that is evil. And when he draws out that desire, pulls on it by his enticement, if we allow our attention to focus on that enticement, if we give our minds to think about it, if we begin to move in the direction of it, then eventually that desire will conceive. It is like a seed being received and conceiving to bring forth a birth. And when we receive the enticements of Satan and we turn them over in our mind and we discuss them with him and we barter about it, there comes a point where it brings a conception and the two come together and the next thing it does is bring forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, brings forth the tragedy of death and separation and destruction. The urge to sin. The urge to sin. There's another example I want you to see tonight, just very briefly. Turn with me to Matthew 4. I want you to see that a man does not need to be a sinner in order to sense the urge to sin. Verse 1, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. This is a very interesting passage, and before we get into it, would you agree with me that Jesus was not a sinner? How many think that Jesus was not a sinner? Then how in the world was he tempted? Or somebody says, I don't think it was real temptation. It was just all on the devil's side. Don't you believe it? The Bible says that he was tempted in all points like we are. There's nothing phony about the temptation of Jesus. God doesn't deal with deception. When God says that his Holy Son was tempted, his Holy Son was tempted. It's very important to me to know that, because I know that my Lord Jesus went through all the pressures that I went through, except for one thing. I do have in me the inherited factor which he did not have. But I thank God that I can have what he has to counteract that. We're going to talk about that next time. But there are other things I have that Jesus had. For instance, when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterwards hungered. Ever been hungry? You say, why did you bring that up? I haven't had anything since dinner, and you're a long-winded preacher, and I'm getting hungrier by the minute. Well, good, you'll understand what I'm going to say then, because the devil may entice you to get up and leave before I'm done so you can go get your hamburger, but don't you yield. We sang tonight, yielding is sin. Jesus was hungry. Is there anything wrong with that? Well, I hope not, because I get that way all the time, constantly, over and over. And I'll have a big meal, and I'll think I won't be hungry again for at least 24 hours, and I'm hungry again in three or four hours. Jesus was hungry. That is natural and normal. You say, where did he ever get the hunger from? He got it from God. God created us in such a way that our bodies, to reproduce themselves and to strengthen themselves, get hungry periodically. And Jesus had been fasting 40 days and 40 nights. Now he has a tremendous hunger. There was not a thing sinful about that desire in Jesus. And now the devil comes. You know, he knows right where to touch our human desires, right? He knows what human desires he can touch in me, because he knows which places I'm the weakest and where my desires are the strongest. And he knows all about you, too. He's had a long time to study this matter, and he is not omniscient. And I wouldn't say he's wise, but he's at least clever. And I don't know if I buy all of C.S. Lewis's picture of Satan and the screw tape letters, but I tell you, there's a lot of truth in it. Because the Word of God says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against what? Against principality, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against hosts of wicked spirits in the heavenlies. That's a lot of spiritual power, a lot of spiritual beings and personalities against which we are wrestling. And I believe they are attacking the people of God constantly, and attacking the Church constantly. And I know there's some on my heels all the time, because they're always enticing me. You say, don't tell me the preacher gets enticed. What did you think he was? Some people think the preachers go to heaven every night and come back in the morning. Not exactly. Some of them don't even get to go to bed at night, let alone to heaven. No. And here is Jesus, you see, and he's enticed. When the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command these stones be made bread. And what he is doing is the simple old thing that he's been doing all these centuries to human beings. He is reaching out, touching Jesus at his weakest physical point, and saying, Look, that's a natural human desire given to you by God, built into the human system. It's perfectly legitimate and right. And up to then he had told the truth. He said, Why don't you fulfill it this way? That's it. Drawn away of his own desire and enticed. The inward drawing, the outward enticement. Well, that didn't work. Jesus said, Man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. So the devil took him up on the pinnacle of the temple, and he is pulling all the same three temptations he pulled on the first human pair. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Right down the line, same thing. He's never changed his tactics. That's because man hasn't changed, and he knows exactly what to do. And so he put him on the pinnacle of the temple, and he said, If you're the Son of God, why don't you cast yourself down? Because the word of God says the angels will come swooping from heaven, and they'll catch you in midair, and just imagine what that would be like. Here you are on the pinnacle of the temple. There are thousands of Jewish devotees down in the temple, worshiping God. The whole square is filled with these people, and you want them to believe in you, that you're the Messiah, so you can save them. And here is your opportunity by a grand miracle. Why don't you just leap off this pinnacle? The angels will come swooping from heaven. They'll catch you in midair, and all the Jews will believe. You'll have it made. There's nothing wrong with performing a miracle if it's done under the direction of God and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and according to the word of God. But that miracle wouldn't have been according to the word of God, because Jesus said, It is also written, Thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the test. Don't ever do that. You have reached the end of side one of this recording. Please turn to side two for the completion of this message. Don't ever do that. You see, he was ready for this kind of thing, but so often you and I aren't ready, are we? Oh, how he tricks us. And then, of course, since that didn't work, he took him up to an exceeding high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world. And he said, If you'll fall down and worship me, I'll give all this to you. And he appealed to what in you and I could turn into pride. That capacity to be, because Jesus, of course, was the very God. And all the kingdoms of the world really belonged to him. And he had the right to be worshiped by all the princes and governments and kingdoms of earth. Do you see how he tempted him? The same thing, the inward desires, the outward enticement, Satan holding out the world and saying, Come and partake, fulfill your natural God-given desires, but do it in a way contrary to the will and the word of God. Now, if we understand this, it can make a great deal of difference in our victory. I remember a time when every time that I had the urge to sin, I was convinced that it was something evil in me. And because I thought that that urge to sin proved that there was something terribly evil in me, not that there wasn't anything evil in me. Don't misinterpret what I'm saying. For I was born in sin and inherited a bent to sin, that's true, or to selfishness, the same thing. But you see, in misinterpreting how that urge to sin comes about, we can become discouraged and we can become defeated. But I'm so glad for some of these things that God has taught me, because now when Satan comes around and he entices me, and I don't know whether it's him or one of his evil spirits that makes a little difference, but when he comes and holds out the enticement of the world to me, and he does almost every day of my life, same as to you, and he says, Come on, come on, and he draws on my inward desires, and I say back to him, Listen, that desire in me of itself is perfectly normal and natural and God-given, and God has given me a way to fulfill that within his will. But not that way. You're not going to fool me with that. In Jesus' name, you go your way. I will not listen. Amen? Oh, there's a big difference when you understand. You say, Well, I thought that all of my problems with sin were just my terrible inherent sinfulness, and I was wrestling against this awful flesh and blood, and I wish I could get rid of it. There was an age in the church when people used to consider the body itself to be a sinful, wicked, evil thing, and that's why they flagellated it, that's why they decimated it with all kinds of fasts that were unscriptural, and why they did terrible things to their bodies because they thought the body was evil, and they thought that the soul was evil and the spirit was evil in itself. And though there is an inherited factor of sin, yet the created man himself in his naturalness is of God and is not evil. And Satan is a liar, for we're not supposed to be ignorant of his devices. Now, you say, What is the way of victory over this kind of urge to sin? Turn with me to James 4, in closing. James 4, verse 4. I think I'll start with verse 1 and read the whole passage, but there are two verses especially I want you to notice. From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not even of your lusts, that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not, ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain, ye fight in war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. See, there's a way, there's a way, God's way, for a man to be fulfilled. Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? That's interesting because there is another spirit in us. You see, there is the spirit of the world, the spirit called Satan, and all of his hosts of spirits outside of us. Thank God they're outside, amen? Aren't you glad they're outside? He can't come inside unless he binds the strong man first, and he's never going to bind the strong man in me. I'm glad he's outside, but there is another spirit in me, inside, and he's jealous over me with love. The Holy Spirit who dwells within me, all the time there is that urge to sin that comes from the drawing on my desires by the wicked one outside of me. All the time there is the Spirit of God inside of me, giving me an urge not to sin. Praise the Lord. Boy, that's a help, because there's this drawing and this urge to sin, but right away in me there is something deep down in my inner spirit that's holy and pure and clean that says, Don't do it. Listen to me. Follow me. Surrender to me. Yield to me. Trust in me. I have all the strength you need in this moment. Depend on me. Oh, that Spirit that dwells in us, the Holy Spirit of God, but he giveth more grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. That grace of God, he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Now here's what I want you to see, these next verse and the first part of the eighth. Submit yourselves therefore to God, as be submissive to God, obedient to him, to his word. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Now notice carefully in closing what happens. There are those natural desires within me. They are put there by God. There is also the inherited factor that we'll deal with next week. There is also the acquired habits of sin, and you and me will deal with that. But there is first and foremost, and we have to deal with it first because it came first, there are those normal desires of the natural human being that are not in themselves sinful, but are given by God and intended to be fulfilled within the boundaries set by God for our pleasure and for God's glory. There is outside of me a host of wicked spirits who are enticing me constantly every day of my life, pulling on those desires to get me to fulfill them in a way contrary to the word and will of God. But thank God there is in every Christian the Holy Spirit. And for the Christian who has gone to Calvary and yielded everything up to Christ, there is the fullness of the Holy Spirit who wants to fill us through and through. And he loves us to the point of jealousy. He doesn't want a spot on our lives. He wants complete control. What do we do when we have that urge to sin? When we have that urge to sin, we should do two things. Resist the devil, that outside force drawing upon us, imposed upon us. Resist the devil and draw nigh unto God. Say no to that enticement. Say no to Satan. Resist him in Jesus' name. Command him to flee and to leave you alone. It says if you resist the devil, he'll flee from you. Do you believe that? You're afraid of him. Stop being afraid of him. He's afraid of you. I have sat in a mental institution and looked across the table at one of America's greatest football players and looked into his face and I said to him, the evil spirit in you, sir, is afraid of the Jesus Christ in me. Is that true? And that man who had been so bold and so smart aleck and so caustic and so resistant just melted. Resist the devil, brother, and draw nigh unto God. Turn inwardly to the Holy Spirit. Draw near to the Spirit of God who loves you to the point of jealousy and say, O Holy Spirit, in this hour help me. Truly my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. You know how enticing that is. You know how he's pulling on my desires. O God, the Holy Ghost within me, strengthen me in this moment. As I reject his voice, strengthen me, Spirit of God. I trust in you. I cast myself upon you. I humble myself to you and yield to you, Holy Spirit. Keep me in this moment. And my friend, there comes a surge of strength and power from deep within in our inner spirit from the Spirit of God. And there is victory and triumph. Amen? Let us bow in prayer. O Father, I pray tonight that the Spirit of God will seal these truths in every person in this building, that they may never forget it, and that you may bring to your beloved children victory over sin. In Jesus' name, amen. What you find deep inside, I long for thee, to take away secret sins and set me free. Take away these things that would hide your face. Don't let anything hinder my race. Take away false pride, selfish primities. Take away secret sins and set me free. Take a look at my heart, past things that show. If you find wicked ways, please let me know. If there's envy and greed, your help I'll need. So take away all these things and set me free. Take away these things that would hide your face. Don't let anything hinder my race. Take away false pride, selfish primities. Take away secret sins and set me free. Let your love flood my soul and make my goal that I only might be one used of thee. My ambitions for life and worldly strife. Take away, Lord, I pray and set me free. Take away these things that would hide your face. Don't let anything hinder my race. Take away false pride, selfish primities. Take away secret sins and set me free. Take away secret sins and set me free. Oh Further copies of this message as well as others are available from the Canadian Revival Fellowship Box 584, Regina, Saskatchewan in Canada. Postal code S-4-P-3-A-3