1 Corinthians 10:13 Understanding Temptation A sermon delivered at Calvary Chapel DC Metro www.calvarydcmetro.org There are over 31,000 verses in the Bible. Some of them I still don’t fully understand; some I find moving and poetic and beautiful; some are full of data that I believe – testimony about the past, the present or the future; but the verse we’re looking at this morning, 1 Corinthians 10:13, is a verse I KNOW. It’s a verse I have lived. Massive transformations in my life can be traced back to this one verse. And I hope you’re able to say the same, or that you will be soon, after we study it together this morning. In fact, when we’re done, I’m going to give you a chance to respond to everything we’ve talked about. So keep that in mind as we look at this verse: 1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Do you understand why I said this verse has changed my life? It gets right to the point of our daily struggle with sin – and gives you the promise that you can make it through, with God’s help. You don’t have to be dominated by the things you’re struggling with, there is hope, you really can change, IF you’re willing to turn toward God for the strength to get through and be courageous enough to try an escape. This verse tells us that temptation is real. It exists – it affects you and it affects others, it is “common to man.” And, it’s present tense – temptation isn’t just something you used to deal with – it’s not just for all those messed up people outside the church, no, the warning of this verse is dealing with the present conditions of your life and my life, right here, right now. Temptation is regularly, actively, trying to overtake each us every day. And where does it come from? Well, there are two places: the desires of our own hearts, and the efforts of Satan and his demons. James 1: 13 …God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-­‐
grown, brings forth death. Desires rise up within us for things that are not good. This is one big reason why you can’t just live by your feelings, your impulses, or your desires. Have you ever had the desire to do something you know you shouldn’t? Of course you have. Sometimes we control those desires, it’s how many of us keep our jobs, or maybe you didn’t and you lost your job… my Copyright 2014 Calvary Chapel DC Metro – No Distribution Beyond Personal Use Permitted 1 point is, that just because you have a desire in your heart, that doesn't mean it’s supposed to be acted on. Sometimes our own thoughts, feelings, lusts, desires, things that spring up from inside us, can lead us into sin and away from God. You need to evaluate the things that pop up in your heart and mind in light of the Word of God in order to avoid temptation. But we can also be led astray by Satan. I think we here in the West tend to forget that we live in a spiritual world just as much as a physical world. There are places you can go, especially in Asia where you see and feel the spiritual much more plainly – for good or for evil. But even here in America, have you ever been around someone and just been totally impressed by the presence of God in their life? And on the other hand, have you ever been in a building or room and had the hair go up on the back of your neck and get this real sense of the presence of evil? There is a very real spiritual dynamic to this world we live in. We talk about ‘putting on the armor of God,’ and yet do you remember why? It’s because the Bible says in Ephesians 6:13 that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against mighty powers in this dark world, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. It was Satan who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. It was Satan who brought all kinds of tragedy into the life of Job, all in an effort to get him to turn his back on God. It was Satan who tempted Jesus at least three times in the wilderness after Jesus had been baptized. And Paul says that he had some problem in his life that he called a ‘thorn in his flesh’ which he said was “a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.” 2 Cor 12:7 So, Satan is real. And, he is the enemy of our souls. He has a proven track record of intentionally targeting and coming after Christians, especially those who are actively seeking to love God and love others. But we just don’t think in those terms, do we? Honestly, at times it seems a little amateur to think that some ‘demon’ is really at work in our lives – here in the middle of the big city where we’re all so sophisticated and well educated. But, the Bible tells us these things are very real. And I think this is why Paul tells us back in 1 Corinthians 10:12 “let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” the best thing that Satan could do is convince you he doesn’t exist, that he’s not really interested in you. Because if you’re not paying attention to his reality, he can set little traps for you all day long. So let’s talk about that for a minute, let’s talk about how temptation comes our way. The Bible also tells us that “Satan…transforms himself into an angel of light.” 2 Cor 11:14 Typically, he, and his temptations, don’t look all that ghastly at first. When you think of Satan tempting someone your mind probably brings up pictures of some dark, evil figure, dressed all in black with long hair and tattoos. We think of dark alleys, dark rooms, late nights. Not so quick. Satan is smart. He comes at you slowly, subtlety, in ways that seem to make sense at first. He comes asking gentle questions – in the Garden he asked Eve, “has Copyright 2014 Calvary Chapel DC Metro – No Distribution Beyond Personal Use Permitted 2 God really said?” In the wilderness He asked Jesus – ‘are you really the Son of God? If so, turn this stone into bread. Or, throw yourself down from the top of the Temple and let everyone see God save you.’ He likes to start you off with things that don’t seem like such a big deal, things you can rationalize. “It’s not that bad.” “ It’s not that far.” “It’s only a little.” And slowly, step by step, he leads you in deeper and deeper, farther and farther, until you find yourself crossing boundaries you never would have imagined – boundaries you swore you would never cross – things you know are bad for you or wrong, but your resistance has been worn down and now, you just keep going along. And then one day you have this moment of clarity. And you look at yourself in the mirror, or you see what is going on, what you’re in the midst of, and you ask yourself – how did I get here? The answer is: slowly, bit by bit, by things that didn’t seem too bad at first. Watch out for that. And watch out for the temptation to what you might call ‘respectable’ sins too – the sins that don’t seem so bad – the temptation toward pride and ambition that is so woven into the fabric of our lives here in DC. Watch out as well for temptations toward things we dismiss as just part of ‘who we are’ – things like impatience and irritability; being judgmental; envy and jealousy; discontent; anxiety. These are the kinds of sins that typically fly under our radar, and if you think we’re just talking about spending two hours on porn each night or drinking a fifth of vodka each weekend, you’re likely to be patting yourself on the back for not being like THAT, when, in the eyes of God, you need just as much forgiveness as the other person, and yet you don’t even realize it. Remember “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.” Temptation is common to all of us as human beings. We all face it. Now there are two ways we can take that. On the one hand it means we will all face temptation, there is no escape – even for those who think they stand – but on the other hand, that means you’re not alone. You’re not the only weirdo, or the only weak one, the only one having a hard time keeping it all together. We’re all in this thing called the human life together. But Satan would love to have you think differently. He loves to make us feel isolated and alone, embarrassed and ashamed, afraid to confess, because when he gets us off to the side, he can pummel us. Like the Scripture says, he’s a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. But two forces have combined to teach us a powerful counter-­‐lesson: the iPhone and YouTube. Certainly some of you have seen the video of the Battle at Kruger1 where two lions attack a young water buffalo and are about to make a meal out of it when suddenly the whole herd of buffaloes comes back and takes a stand against the lions. And while this is all going on, 1 Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM Copyright 2014 Calvary Chapel DC Metro – No Distribution Beyond Personal Use Permitted 3 crocodiles begin creeping in eyeballing the young animal. Well, the buffalo actually win the stand off – they recover the calf from the lion’s jaws and chase off the cats, and the little guy gets up and walk back into the safety of the heard. It’s an amazing illustration of the power of the pack – that there is safety in numbers, especially for the weak and vulnerable. Christian, the Bible says you are like a sheep, you belong with the flock under the care of the shepherd and if you go wandering off, He will leave everyone else and come searching for you. So, don’t think you’re the only one. Don’t suffer or struggle in quiet, stay connected to the body of Christ. Find someone to talk to – one of the pastors or their wives, your Christian friend, your brother or sister or mom or dad, someone and share what you’re struggling with. It might be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to be weird. Just getting it out in open between the two of you can be enormous first step because then you can stand and fight together. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.” Satan and your flesh love to get you off in the corner by yourself or keeping things bottled up inside, keeping things hidden. But Jesus and the gospel love to restore us to fellowship and unity, to bring us together, back into the herd, back into the fold, to let us know we’re not alone. 1 John 1:7 “if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” That’s the gospel my friends – temptation leads us into sin which separates us from God, and from each other, but forgiveness, restoration, and reunion is found in Christ. Go back to 1 Cor 10:13 with me again: 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Those are two amazing words – ‘but God.’ It’s like, here’s how everything ought to turn out… ‘but God.’ Here are the natural consequences… ‘but God.’ Here’s what it would be like if you were on your own… ‘but God is faithful.’ That right there is the critical difference between this sermon and some self-­‐help book. You probably recognize many of the problems in your life. You know several of your weaknesses. You know the things you want to change. But this isn’t Oprah telling you “you can do it.” This isn’t some motivational speaker or pastor telling you ‘the power is inside you!’ No, this is Scripture telling you, you can’t do it on your own! And if you’re honest, you know that’s true. But it’s OK – you can’t… ‘but God.’ He can. He does. He wants to be your strength to resist temptation, He wants to lead you in righteousness. He wants to transform your life. And He knows what your temptations are like. When Jesus came to earth, He put on real human flesh, and He was really tempted. He knows what it feels like. Hebrews 2:18 tells us “He Himself has suffered, being tempted, [and so] He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Copyright 2014 Calvary Chapel DC Metro – No Distribution Beyond Personal Use Permitted 4 A few chapters later Hebrews 4:15 says “we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but [one who] was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” You see, if you know the events of Jesus’ life, you know He was tempted by Satan in the Wilderness. The Bible tells us about three of those events, but there were many more spread throughout His life. He was ‘tempted in all ways like we are.’ So He knows your struggles and He knows the strength of the enemy you’re fighting – that’s why He offers to help, and until you let Him into the fight, you’re going to keep losing. But notice something else about this – something very important, something I wish I would have understood much earlier: Jesus was tempted but did not sin. That’s a critical distinction. Temptation is a doorway to sin, it is sin calling out to you, but it is not sin itself. It’s the bait that gets your attention, but it’s not the trap. Just because you are tempted does not mean you’ve sinned. Just because a desire rises up within you, just because a thought or memory pops into your head, just because you have an idea, doesn’t mean you’ve sinned. It’s not sin until you act on it. It’s knocking at your door, just don’t let it in. You don’t need to feel guilty for being tempted – unless you unnecessarily put yourself in a position to be tempted – if that’s true wise up. But if you’re just randomly being attacked by temptation, it just means you’re human. When you face that fork in the road – choose Jesus and you’ll be fine. He doesn’t look down on you for being tempted. You need to know that – temptation does not equal sin – but get away from it as fast as possible. Don’t check it out. God…will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. There will always be a way out. The Bible says “No temptation has come your way except what is common to man.” Not some temptations, not ‘watch out for this temptation’ – it says ‘no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.’ Every temptation is escapable. Now, that might mean you need to totally turn around and get out of the situation you’ve gotten yourself into. It might mean radical change is necessary in your life. But there will always be a way out; you just have to be willing to put every option on the table. In most cases, we know something that would work; we just don’t want to do it. That’s because temptation is strong. A part of us wants to resist, but there’s also a huge part of us that wants to just give in and go for it. Remember, if it didn’t touch on something we want to do, it wouldn’t really be a temptation. Temptations are like a test to see what we really want. And if you really want Jesus, He’ll come rushing in – but not necessarily to lift you out. You see, I think it’s also important for us to note that this verse doesn’t say God will make everything better by removing the temptation or changing your circumstances. Sometimes Copyright 2014 Calvary Chapel DC Metro – No Distribution Beyond Personal Use Permitted 5 that’s true – sometimes He can and will remove someone or something from your life and things will get better. Sometimes you need to make the change and things will get better. But what the verse specifically says is that “you will be able to bear up under it.” Ultimately, God wants to train you to be able to stand and not lose any ground. He wants you to be able to move forward like a soldier in battle. One of the things they teach you in the military is how to respond to an ambush. You see, when an enemy sets a trap they wait to catch you off guard and then they hope to cause chaos and confusion and while you’re running around trying to figure out what to do, or while you’re running away, they sit in their position coldly, methodically, picking you off. So for you, the best way to respond to an ambush isn’t to wait and figure out what’s happening and it’s certainly not to run away, but to start fighting back – to assault through the ambush and start attacking them. Give them the fight they want and win. It’s not going to be easy to do that with the temptations in your life. It’s going to be hard. You will be tested. You will be tried. But God is there on overwatch, He won’t let any more come your way than you can handle. But I’ve got to warn you – you can probably handle more than you think. And He’ll teach you that as time goes on and you learn to rely more and more on Him. So, what do we do with all of this? How do we put it all together? Well, if you’re not a Christian this morning, you need to become one. You’re out there trying to live life on your own and you’re getting picked off and pulled down by your own choices and the attacks of a demonic enemy that you may not even realize is there. You need to confess your sins, ask Christ to forgive you, and then come running to Him for help and shelter. If you’re a Christian, you need to know that God wants to give you victory in the struggles of your life. He knows what you’re up against. He knows what you’re dealing with. He’s been through it Himself, and He wants to walk through it with you. He wants to train you to be able to stand, to overcome, to change – to make choices you’re proud of, not embarrassed by. So here’s what I’m going to ask you to do – if you need to change this morning, if you need to become a Christian, or if you need victory over some temptation in your life, I’m going to ask you to stand in just a moment. To say, “Yes, the Scripture is true” temptation is common to man, and it is common to me. God, I need you to forgive me for the times I have fallen, I need you to help me resist, I need you to help me to stand.” Whatever the thing is in your life, whatever you need to overcome – some attitude, some addiction, some habit – you’ve tried to do it on your own, and you know you just need help. Would you stand right now and say God, please help me? Let this be your line in the sand moment, the moment you’re going to look back on for the rest of your life and say, “that’s when everything started to change?” And let’s pray. Copyright 2014 Calvary Chapel DC Metro – No Distribution Beyond Personal Use Permitted 6