Welcome back to THE V.O.I.C.E.. Where does this issue find you in your personal walk with God? You know, if you’re saved, you have a great privilege to walk hand-in-hand with Jesus Christ every day. Isn’t it great to realize that Jesus goes to school with you? Perhaps it’s more frightening to think that He goes home with you . . . in your room. Can I encourage you to enjoy the great blessing of a close walk with the Lord. Think of how many unsaved teens cannot pray or spend precious time just talking with the Lord.

The next time you walk into a test that you are totally unprepared for, what will you do? Fact is, if you’re like me, you will start begging God for mercy! Ever been there? What does a lost person do? What does a lost teen do who has been threatened by his parents about bad grades? Most likely, they panic. How sad, they have no one to turn to in a time of distress. You, on the other hand have a heavenly Father that cares about the D you’re about to get in Algebra. Soooooooooooooo, pray!

The greatest danger we face on planet earth is letting some sin come between us and our walk with God. That’s why we’ve been going through THE W.E.D.G.E. PRINCIPLE. Breaking the cycle of sin! You do know that God cannot fellowship with you if you’re involved in sin? Perhaps you have let a sinful dating relationship destroy the fellowship you once had with God. That tall, dark, and handsome guy may be “the bomb,” but is he worth ditching the God Who created you? The Rock music you listen to may satisfy a worldly craving you have, but could it ever be as sweet as perfect harmony with God? Perhaps the rebellious spirit you are expressing with your parents gives you a feeling of power, but it will never be as powerful as the walk you could be having with the Lord. Have you grown tired of feeling awkward when you go to prayer knowing the whole time there is unconfessed sin preventing you from reaching God’s throne? If so, the next point is for you:

GAIN A SECURE POSITION FAR FROM SIN

Recently we spoke about three keys to breaking the cycle of sin: Write down your greatest temptations, Enter into a commitment with God, and Destroy any present avenue to sin. In short: be honest with yourself about the areas of temptation that you tend to fail miserably in. Then, make a commitment with God that you are not going to commit those sins. Having done that, you need to destroy all of the opportunities that make it easy for you to sin. After you have had victory over sin for a while, you may be tempted to “flirt” with old sins a little. That’s when you need to Gain a secure position far from sin.

Read Proverbs 7:6-23. Notice the greatest failure of this young man was that he did not place distance between himself and sin. Verse 8 tells us that he went “the way to her house.” It doesn’t say that he waltzed right up to her front door, banged on the door, and screamed, “will you help me lose my virginity!?” He simply allowed himself to get close to sin. By the way, you may be a young man who has struggled with pornography or indecent thoughts. You would be crazy to walk by the magazine racks that draw your lustful eyes. You would be foolish to watch a movie with some friends. You’d be asking for it to get on the Internet with no one else around. You would be walking the way to temptation’s front door.

Unfortunately, many times we think, “Well, I won’t initiate the sin, but if they ask me . . . I won’t say no.” That’s begging for trouble! You are sure to fall! Fact is, that may be exactly what we want, so we are placing ourselves just close enough to be tempted. Many men lose their integrity walking past the magazine racks at Wal-Mart. Why? They have a preset mentality that “if it’s there, I’m going to look.”

In verse 10 of our passage we see exactly what this foolish young man was hoping would happen in his sinful heart: the woman meets him, she’s dressed to kill, and she kisses him. Someone might say, “verse 13 shows that she caught him and kissed him. It wasn’t his fault!” Oh, but my friend, remember he placed himself in a position for the sin to happen. Don’t ever forget, if Satan knows you really want a sin, he will make it happen. Playing dumb before God just won’t cut it. The fact is, many times we place ourselves in temptation’s way just hoping something will happen.

Verses 14-20 shows how temptation urges him and finally convinces him into adultery. Watch how appetizing she makes sin appear.

• Vs 14: “It won’t be wrong for us.” (She tries to trick him into thinking God won’t mind.)
• Vs 15: “It’s just meant to be.” (She deceives him by making him think it was magical the way the opportunity to sin just fell into place.)
• Vs 16-17: “It will be beautiful, not bad.” (She wants him to think sin is disgusting for others, but beautiful for them. “Others who look at porn are perverts, but not when you do it.”)
• Vs 18: “It will be satisfying, and we deserve it.” (She tempts him with the idea of satisfying a craving that he deserves to enjoy.)
• Vs 19-20: “We won’t get caught, and it will go unnoticed.” (She tells him “All the angles have been checked, and there’s no possible way we could get caught.”)

Verses 22-23 finish this sad passage by explaining how he blindly and foolishly ran directly into the temptation that would end up ruining his life. Why did this young man fail? Why do many of you fail? I think there are three principles he ignored that could have saved him.

1. Learn to recognize the early stages of sin.
   If you have a particular weakness in your life, then learn to spot the early signs that you are falling back into that sin. When you start getting a taste for that forbidden fruit of pornography, Rock music, MTV, physical pleasure, rebellion, deceit, and other sins, get into the Word of God and seek help. Don’t let that passion for sin snowball until it gets so big you are powerless to stop it. Don’t wait till you are so overcome with lust that you aren’t thinking straight. Recognize the early stages of sin and avoid them! Set road blocks in your life that prevent you from reaching those early temptations. Listen, you will never break the cycle of that sin in your life if you continue to toy with the early stages of that sin. By the way, if you never look the first time, you will never lose your purity.
2. Place yourself several steps from temptation.
   Rather than going the way to her house, had he gone in the opposite direction, he would not have fallen. Don’t let yourself get so close to temptation that it is impossible to say no. Ladies, if you let yourself get alone with Mr. Put-my-hands-where-I-want pervert, you are doomed for failure! If you would stay clean, don’t get into the car with him. Don’t go into a room alone with him! And by all means, if he wants to take advantage of your chaste body, DON’T DATE HIM!!! Place yourself several steps from temptation, and you won’t fall. “Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” (Romans 13:14)
3. Don’t take the first step.
   The greatest way to keep from falling into that sin that seems to drag you down is to never take the first step in that direction. Don’t ever forget, whatever direction you are taking steps in will determine where you end up sooner or later. Some of you may be playing with the cult through the “Harry Potter” books. If so, you are headed toward Satanism. Many of you may be listening to “Oldies,” soft jazz, or Contemporary Christian Music. If so, you are heading in the direction of Rock and Roll. Perhaps you are getting relaxed about holding hands, kissing, or making out. If so, mark it down, you are taking steps that are leading you in the direction of losing your virginity. Look, if you don’t take the first step, you’ll never get there! Have you ever met a drunk who never took a first drink? No! You may say, “But Phil, that’s impossible!” Right! And if you never hold hands and kiss, I promise you, you won’t end up in bed with someone you’re not married to! Am I right?

I simply want to encourage you to stay right with God. What does it mean to stay right with God? It comes from the word “upright.” The word “upright” literally has the idea of standing up straight. It is the opposite of being bowed over. What a wonderful picture. As you go to prayer with God, can you with a clean conscience stand up straight before Him with nothing to be ashamed of, or must you be bent over in shame as you think of sin in your life? Good question, isn’t it? Hey, are you right with God tonight? If not, get things right now and start gaining a secure position far from the sin that will drive you away from God.