By Kurt Krowel
Text: 1st Corinthians 10:12-14
You’ve heard me say before that there are 3 certainties in life – death, taxes and plaque. Let me add a fourth item to that list of certainties – temptation.
Begins with First Parents
Temptation is a constant factor in the life of every single living person. Beginning with our first parents, Adam and Eve down to today – May 28, 2006 – the failure to fight off and resist temptation has been the source of a lot of lost joy. But if we’re going to experience and recapture more of that true joy in knowing and living for Christ then you and I have got to learn God’s way to deal with temptation.
Today, we’re going to discover how to recognize and tackle temptation. I don’t know about you but I’m so thankful that God has made a way for us to do this. If it were up to my limited resources it would all be over. But praise God for His wisdom and His way.
Let’s read 1 Corinthians 10:12-14 “So if you think you are standing firm, be careful so that you don’t fall. No temptation has seized you, except what is common to man. And God is faithful he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.”
A Huge Seaport City
I don’t know exactly why Paul said what he did to the Corinthian believers, but I would bet money that it had something to do with all the temptations to sin that were a part of that city’s life.
It was a huge seaport and like many huge seaport cities, everything wicked and tempting that one could imagine sailed through that city. And because of the presence of all kinds of temptations a lot of the Corinthian believers had experienced a lot of grief and guilt.
Temptation Robs Joy & Enthusiasm
Temptation, although it might bring a temporary thrill and pleasure when you give in to it, eventually robs you of your joy and enthusiasm in living for Jesus. That’s a big reason why Paul wrote this section in the letter.
That motive of Paul’s is especially relevant to you and me today. You don’t have to live in a big port city to be vulnerable to temptation.
Temptation is Non-Discriminatory
Temptation is non-discriminatory – it’s an equal opportunity employer. Every temptation imaginable is at our fingertips today and too many of us believers are becoming casualty statistics in the struggle. We need Paul’s words from God on tackling the joy-stealer of temptation, just like our brothers and sisters in Corinth did.
Paul lowers our guard and helps us out by explaining that no one is exempt from this experience. No one of us is free from temptation no matter who you are or what standing you have in life.
Paul says that temptation is…
I. An Ordinary Experience (13a)
Let’s look at the first part of 1 Corinthians 10:13. He says, “No temptation has seized you, except what is common to man.”
Sometimes we get the idea that no one else faces the temptations we face in life. We think our struggle is isolated and unique because we’re so unique and special.
Now we are unique to God and special as well. But our experience in temptation is not. Temptation is an ordinary experience. Everyone goes through it. Temptation is a daily, shared and universal experience of humanity. There are no unique situations that would excuse you or me from the requirement to resist temptation.
From the beginning to end in God’s Holy Word we’re shown the commonality of man’s tempting experiences.
– Adam was tempted and he chose to disobey God.
– Abraham lied about his wife, Sarah.
– Noah drank too much and got in trouble.
– David committed murder and adultery.
– Peter denied the Lord Jesus.
– Paul and Barnabas got in a heated argument and went their separate ways after serving as missionaries.
And just so you see the absolute commonness of temptation on all those who bear human flesh, look at Hebrews 4:15.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.” Jesus was tempted but he didn’t give in.
Exposure to Wrongdoing
Temptation is the exposure to the possibility of doing wrong. The exposure to temptation is not the sin. Don’t take that too far because you’ll end up getting the mistaken idea that you can get real close to sinning without ever actually sinning. That’s such a dangerous way of thinking – it becomes an excuse for toying with sin. The best thing is to steer as far away from tempting situations as you can. But the exposure to the possibility of doing wrong is not the same as actually doing the wrong thing.
Mature Christians Experience Subtle Temptations
In this life temptation is a part of everyone’s experience. In fact, as a believer, the longer you know and walk with Jesus, the more subtle and intense the temptations seem to be. You’re not going to stop temptation in this life but you can overcome it – you can learn to resist it. Let’s prepare for it and find out how to move from victim to victor.
Temptation is, first of all, an ordinary experience.
Next, we find that temptation always takes place in…
II. An Orchestrated Environment (13b)
The greatest news about temptation is found in the next part of 1 Corinthians 12:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”
If you and I could get this truth into our hearts and minds – if we could burn it into the frontal lobes of our brains – our defeats and our loss of joy would greatly decrease.
This passage tells us that temptation happens to us in a God-controlled setting. In other words, the temptations that we experience are allowed by God to come across our paths and they are never more than God knows we can handle if we learn to handle them His way. You and I don’t have to live with the joy-stealer of temptation. We don’t have to give in. We don’t have to sin.
God Will Come Through for Me
God knows my strength and my limitations. But God also knows the resources He’s made available to me. The problem is that when I choose to fix my sights on a temptation I also choose to take my eyes off of God and His way to defeat it. I can easily be tested beyond my abilities and my strength but I cannot be tempted or tested beyond God’s abilities and strength.
God is faithful! God will always come through for me! What this means is that I can’t experience a defeat and say that God gave me more than I could handle.
Purposes of Temptations?
Do you ever wish that life were free of temptation? I’ve given this a bit of thought and arrived at two conclusions. First, if life were temptation-free down here, we’d never have the opportunity to demonstrate our individual love for Jesus, or our loyalty to God and his principles as opposed to the things of this world.
If we never faced temptation, we’d also never have to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. God would also never get glory when I decided to resist temptation and obey Him instead. When you and I resist temptation God is glorified in our choices. The fact that God enlists our own wills means that we’re not robots.
Heaven Free of Temptations
The second conclusion at which I arrived was that the desire to be free from temptation is the desire to be with the Lord in the next part of life. Heaven is going to be free from the temptation to sin. Heaven is going to be the “no sin zone.” Are you looking forward to that? It’s a good thing.
But for now, temptation is an ordinary experience that happens in an orchestrated environment – God will never give me more than I can handle.
Finally, temptation also has…
III. An Obvious Escape (13c)
Look again at verse 13 – “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Here’s what I want you to get in this verse: when you enter into a temptation, there is always a way out of it! There is always a point when you become aware of a way to escape giving into that particular temptation.
If you really examine your failures at dealing with temptation you can track how you got into it, where the opportunity came to get out of it, and when you ignored that opportunity and allowed yourself to fall prey to temptation.
God always gives you and me an obvious way out. It may be a small window but it’s a window of escape. It might be a momentary choice of which you become aware. When it comes up, take it! It’s like being on a freeway with only two exits, the one before the town and the one after the town.
With that in mind, let me leave you with a few practical suggestions which will help you see and choose the obvious escape God provides for you:
A. Recognize that you are temptable.
Look back at 1 Corinthians 10:12 – “So if you think you’re standing firm be careful that you don’t fall.” If you think that some particular sin could never happen to you or you’re beyond this or that, look out! God says, “pride goes before a fall” (Prov. 16:18).
B. Request God’s help before you are tempted.
No soldier going into battle waits to get ready on the battlefield. You check your armor and your ammunition before you get there. Ask for God’s help before you’re tempted and I’ll guarantee you’ll be more aware the next time it shows up. Jesus said, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” (Matt. 26:41). If I make my purity and integrity a matter of prayer, God will make me more mindful and aware of it.
C. Either remove tempting opportunities or retreat from them.
God’s Word repeatedly shows us that there are certain things we need to run from and there are certain things we should never even go near. Those may be different for each on of us.
The Bible says that you and I should run away from idolatry – anything that we allow to take the place of God in our lives (1st Cor. 10:14). We should also flee from immorality – illegitimate sexual relationships with another person to whom we are not married (2nd Tim. 2:22). And then we should flee from greed (1st Tim. 6:10-11).
But there are other areas in my life where I’m just more prone to sin. I shouldn’t even go there. Roman’s 13:14 says, “Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh.”
No Return Visits
If you know the areas in which you are weak – don’t go back there to visit. It’s like the man who said that if the Lord wanted him to stop drinking He wouldn’t have provided an open parking spot right in front of the bar after his 8th trip around the block. Don’t even go near the temptation.
Let me leave you with this shattering discovery I’m making. As I grow older I’m learning that having victory in tempting situations is a matter of what I focus on. In other words, it’s a matter of what and whom I choose to love.
The more I learn to love and walk with Jesus, the less I’m going to want to be drawn away from Him. The more I rely on Him, the more I see Him as faithful. He becomes my way of escape as He shows me the way out. My strength to resist and escape temptation is directly connected to the closeness of my relationship with God’s Son. How’s your relationship with Jesus?
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If you appreciated this article, please pray for the author. After serving as a pastor for at least nineteen years, he left everything dear in his life. He needs our prayers of intercession, hope and repentance. Thank you.