Text: “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” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Why would Paul give this information to the people of Corinth? During Paul’s day, there was just as much evil in the world as there is today. The devil was tempting people then just as he is temping people today. Temptation has been an issue since man was created.
When God first created man and woman there was no sin present, but there was one present who would bring about an enticement causing sin to enter the world. Scripture tells us that the serpent, also known as the devil or Satan, posed much more danger than any other animal God created.
Satan, disguised as a serpent, was a very sneaky, devious, and shrewd being who did not want to see God claim any victory. He is a created being and as we know, created beings do have limitations as to what they can do. At one time, he was an angel, but he rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven with one-third of the heavenly angels. He placed a question mark in the mind of Adam and Eve where God had already placed a period. Do you recall his words to the woman?
He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) Satan was placing a thought in Eve’s mind that would lead her to making a decision. This very same thing happens to us.
We may have been doing something constructive and good for a number of years and then one day we begin to wonder if what we are doing is good, bad, or needs to be changed. Our life has been good, our conscience has been clear, and we have been able to walk around with a smile on our face and love in our heart. Suddenly something happens within us whereby we begin to reconsider what we are doing and we begin to look worldly.
Satan has planted a seed of temptation within our mind. This happens to married couples. The couple has had a good marriage, a good relationship, a beautiful family and then the husband or the wife meets someone who seems to offer them more than what they have and the trap is set.
Satan steps in and plants a thought or a seed in the mind of one of the partners. The thought might be in the form of working late nights on a project together; invitation to lunch or dinner; offering a ride to some destination; a friendly phone call, text message, email, or simply listening to one with a heavy heart. Sympathy is extended along with ulterior motives. Lust of the flesh appears on the minds horizon.
Satan is out to win a victory and break up a family relationship. He is trying to steal one of God’s children by tempting them to commit a sinful act. He is attempting to lead one down the wide road leading to destruction, sin, and separation from Almighty God.
This is what Satan did to Eve when he proposed the question: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)
Satan was tempting or testing Eve to see what she would do. Eve could have resisted simply by following the guidelines of God. She could have communicated with God. She could have simply said “No!” The other thing she could have done was to ignore Satan and move on with her life.
The bait planted by Satan caused Eve to doubt the goodness of God. God told Eve that if the forbidden fruit was eaten death would occur, but Satan told her just the opposite. Satan said, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).
Satan gave Eve the impression that God was selfish and did not want her to have all the knowledge and understanding He had. Eve failed to realize what all God had provided for her and Adam. She didn’t give thought to the fact she and Adam were special creations of God and were superior to all of God’s other creations. Eve did not concentrate on what she had, but instead, she concentrated on what she did not have.
You and I do the same thing. We are special and priceless to our Father. There are times we are blinded by things we think we need instead of focusing on the many things God has provided for us. God gave each of us the breath of life. He breathed life into our bodies. At times, we feel sorry for ourselves because something did not go our way or we do not have what looks good to us.
God gave us the freedom to make choices. This freedom is wonderful, but the choices we make can be positive or negative, good or bad, constructive or destructive, beneficial or non-beneficial, helpful or hurtful or Godly or ungodly. Freedom does not mean we can do anything we want. Real freedom comes from knowing God’s will for our life and then being obedient to His will.
Some people have the idea or thought that God tempts His children. They cite the Scripture that says, “God did tempt Abraham” (KJV) to take the life of his son Isaac. People forget that words have different meaning depending how they are used. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the Hebrew word interpreted “tempt” has another meaning which is to “test or to try”.
Other versions of the Scripture such as NKJ or NIV use the word “tested” instead of “tempted”. These two versions read: “God tested Abraham” and this testing was to confirm Abraham’s faith in Him.
Did you ever say, “Wait, I’ll be back in a few minutes, I have to run to the grocery store” and then you get in the car and drive to the store. One meaning of the word “run” is to actually move along at a good pace using our own legs. Another meaning is without restraint. “I let my dogs run loose.” The word “run” is also used in reference to operating a piece of machinery. “I run the bulldozer for Sam’s construction company.”
The point I am trying to make is words can have multiple meanings or can be used in different ways. When one is reading Scripture care must be taken as to the meaning of words. Most translations today take this into consideration for us.
God does not tempt us, but He can try us or test us. He may send trials and tribulations our way to demonstrate our weak faith or our strong faith. If our faith is weak, these times of testing can bring us into a closer relationship with the Father thereby increasing our faith.
Temptation is a part of life. It is real. Everyone is subject to temptation. Temptation in itself is not a sin. Sin enters the picture when we give in to temptation.
Listen to the man who was tempted:
A man in a responsible position, entrusted with large sums of money, was one day tempted to put some of the cash to his own account. He knew that it would be a long time before his theft could be discovered. He resisted the temptation, but felt that he must tell somebody the anguish of mind through which he had passed.
He went, therefore, to the man who had occupied the position before him, and told him all about the temptation, and how he had almost fallen.
To his surprise, the man did not criticize him, but put his hand on his shoulder in a fatherly sort of way. “I know exactly how you felt,” he said quietly. “I went through it all myself when I occupied your position.”
--------------Christian Herald
Why was Jesus tempted? That is a good question. Jesus had just been baptized by John. “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love: with him I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16, 17).
Satan now appears on stage. The Holy Spirit led Jesus out to the desert so that He could be tempted by Satan. Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights in the desert. I don’t know about you, but to me that is a very long time. He must have been hungry. Would you have been hungry? I would have been starved.
Satan probably thought he really had Jesus in the palm of his hand. He knew Jesus had power so he said to Him, “If you are the son of God, tell this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3). Since Jesus was fully human, He had to face everything human beings face.
Adam and Eve were fully human, but they gave in to temptation. Jesus had to fix what they broke. Sin entered the world through their disobedience. Jesus had to experience everything humans could ever experience. The experience of temptation had to come. It was a part of the Father’s plan. It is really good to know that Jesus was tempted just like we are tempted, yet He did not sin. Jesus fixed the original sin and it is called “salvation”.
When Satan posed the bread choice to Jesus, He replied, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). Jesus teaches each of God’s children that temptation can be overcome. It is overcome by the Word of God.
God’s Word for us is to be used like a knife or a sword. Ephesians 6:17 tells us the “…sword of the Spirit is the word of God”. We need to know the Scripture or the Word, but we also need to obey it. It is interesting to note that Satan also knows the Scripture, but he chooses not to obey the Word. We should choose to obey it just as Jesus did.
When Satan asked Jesus to turn the stones into bread, the focus was on a physical need. Each of us has a need for food for our body. We get hungry and our body craves food. If we do not eat, our body weight goes down, our natural immunity suffers, and eventually we fall prey to disease and sickness.
Jesus had fasted forty day and forty nights and was hungry, so Satan though this was a great opportunity to talk about food. When we are hungry, the only thing we think about is getting something to eat. We have the desire to satisfy our physical need which is nourishment for our body.
Have any of you ever been hungry? Have you ever been hungry to the point of breaking God’s Law to get something to eat? In other words, have you ever taken food that did not belong to you? If so, you have been tempted or tested and you have fallen just as Adam and Eve fell.
Jesus placed His faith and trust in His Father. He was obedient knowing that His Father would take care of His need. He had the divine power to perform the act, but chose not to use that power. If Jesus had used His divine powers, He would not have experienced what you and I experience when we are tempted or tested.
Jesus’ used Scripture to teach us there is a way to counteract temptation. The answer lies in knowing the Word and obeying what the Word says. God knows our needs and our desires even before we know them. He looks out for us and does not want any of us to be in need. He does want us to call upon Him in time of our need. He wants us to use the most effective weapon against temptation and that weapon is the Word which is a part of the Christian’s armor (Ephesians 6:17).
Since Satan did not win the first round, he took Jesus “…to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world” (Luke 4:5). Satan knows that people like to possess things. People have a desire to accumulate as many worldly things as possible.
Some people want the biggest house in an elite neighborhood. They want the best and most expensive furniture. The average automobile does not satisfy their desire. They want to have equal or better than the people next door. I am saying that people have a tendency to want everything that falls within their vision. They think power lies in possessions. The possession of worldly things is not bad, providing they do not come before God.
Satan did not own and did not have the power to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. God is the Creator and therefore everything belongs to Him. Satan was trying to get Jesus to take the world as a political leader, but this was not Jesus’ mission. Jesus’ mission was to salvage or save the world from sin, but Satan was testing or tempting Him to move in another direction.
Satan said to Jesus, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to” (Luke 4:6). What did Satan want Jesus to do in return for all the authority and splendor of the kingdoms? He wanted Jesus to bow down and worship him. Satan always has an ulterior motive when he speaks to us.
Jesus reply to Satan was: “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only’” (Luke 4:8). Satan is still at work today. He offers us the world simply by enticing us to place material possessions, power, and money before God. He tries to get us to place a greater importance upon these things. He tries to convince us they are essential and more valuable than anything divine.
Satan wants us to depend on these possessions to the point of worshipping them instead of worshipping Almighty God. When we are tempted or tested by Satan concerning these issues, we need to use the weapon Jesus used, which is the Word of God. We need to say, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Luke 4:8).
Stan lost the second round. His next move was to try one more time. The devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple, “If you are the Son of God throw yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’” (Luke 4:9-11).
Satan took these words from Psalm 91. The words are true, but Satan misinterpreted the words. The words, as used in the Psalm, shows that God protects or offers protection for His children. Satan uses the words in a way that indicates manipulating God’s power. In other words, Satan is thinking about some foolish display of God’s power. I am not saying this could not be done, because God can do everything, but we are not to mock Him.
We are not to look at God as some magician whom we can call upon to do some miraculous act for entertainment or for our immediate benefit. I am not saying God does not perform miracles or do marvelous things, but I am saying they are done in His time and on His terms and not ours.
We are not to put God to the test. We are to accept Him by faith, place our trust in Him, believe His Word, and be obedient to Him. We are not to ask God for signs of proof of His power, His love, His compassion, His existence, or anything else.
When Satan tries to get us to test God, we again, need to use our most powerful weapon, which is the Word, and respond with the words, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Luke 4:12).
Conclusion:
Temptation or testing is a part of life. Temptation is not a sin, but yielding to temptation is a sin. Satan is as strong today as he ever was. He is working hard to pull people away from God. He makes many sinful things look good and permissible.
We have all struggled against temptation and will continue to do so until the Lord calls us home. We can overcome temptation by knowing the Word and obeying the Word.
Story: A Struggle with Temptation”
At school Joe was good in arithmetic but poor in spelling. Mabel was a fine speller and sat opposite him. On examination day Joe forgot many words, and the tempter said, ‘Look on Mabel’s paper; she has them right!”
So Joe copied several, and the teacher saw him. She intended to talk to him after school, for she always thought Joe was honest. Just then the boy who was collecting the papers came to Joe’s desk, and she saw him tear his up, and say, “I haven’t any!”
She knew he had decided to take a zero rather than hand in a dishonest paper. When the school closed, she called Joe and said, “I saw your struggle, and am proud of a boy who conquered temptation.”
-----------The Water Lily
We are going to face temptation and we are going to be tested. We will face trials and temptations. We will have burdens placed upon our shoulders. Responsibilities may weigh us down. For all of these things, our strength lies in knowing, believing, trusting, and having faith in Almighty God.
God knows our limitations and will not give us more than we can bear. He always supports us no matter how heavy the load might feel. His arms are always stretched out waiting for us to ask Him for assistance.
“God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it” (I Corinthians 10:13).
Amen.
