Transcribed by Jeff Fenske

Francis Chan

“We know it’s not going to fulfill. We know we can’t be happy outside of God. But everything in us is pulling us that way. What do we do?”

“There has never been a person in the history of this planet who has made the exchange and is thankful for it.”

“This has always been about relationship. It’s always been about love.”

The blame game…

“We can’t just keep running our whole lives [from temptation]. We have to run toward Jesus, the author and perfector. We have to fix our eyes on Him so that all these things are dangling in front of our face but we don’t even notice it — because we’re so focused. Understand that is the key to resisting temptation is running toward the love of God.

That’s why the Bible says if you love God everything is going to be fine. If you love your neighbor as yourself you can’t sin against them.”

“Sin, the [Greek] word there is for missing the mark. I used to think, ‘okay, it’s like aiming this arrow at the bullseye. Oh, I just missed the bullseye.’ But the reality of what he’s talking about here: it’s not that you just missed the bullseye. It’s that you started aiming at something else. You took your eyes off of the goal, the target, and you started looking at someone else. That’s why you missed the mark.”

Sin is like giving birth to a still-born baby. “It looked so good. I thought everything was developing…. I left the Spring of Living Water. I left my Love, the One who loved me and provided, and that inheritance. I left all of that for this [empty cistern]? … And that’s why he says ‘Don’t be deceived.’ … God’s going: ‘I love you so much. Don’t take the bait.'”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iszVTWUGQQM]When Sin Looks More Enjoyable Than God

Uploaded by on Nov 27, 2006

Francis Chan’s sermon @ Cornerstone Simi Valley 10/26/06
Very Good Illustrations for Temptations