Message
When Temptation Strikes – Lord’s Prayer Series
A sermon on 1 Corinthians 10:13
Stop and think for a moment about the week that you have just had.
How much temptation did that week contain?
The temptation to spend money.
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The temptation to lust.
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The temptation to lie.
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Temptation is a serious - seven-day-a-week, 365-days-a-year event.
You know that.
I know that.
God knows it even more.
And because temptation is such a serious problem God has written to us to tell us how to deal with it.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
The first truth from this passage is that
Temptation is not an irresistible force.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.
Paul is addressing a situation where members of the church were continually making excuses about their sin problem. One excuse was that God was making the temptation too difficult to resist … God was planning it … so of course they were going to fall.
Paul is saying … you have to be kidding me! He doesn’t say it exactly like that – but that is what he means. Verses 1-12 give us the summary:-
Look at the examples of our fore-fathers.
They had the same promises we have.
They had the same blessings we have.
Yet they failed because they opened themselves up to idolatry.
They turned temptation into a game. You, you members of the Corinthian church, you will become like them if you continue to insist that you have a right to attend the pagan idol feasts. You will perish if you continue to flaunt with the devil. But, it does not have to be this way. No temptation has come upon you except that which is common to all Christians who live in a worldly and pagan society.
Temptation is not an irresistible force:- it is not something which has absolute power and complete control.
Temptation is able to be stood against and defeated.
When Jesus was suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane He told His disciples to keep watch while He prayed. We then read these words in Matthew 26:40-41:-
Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. ‘‘Could you men not keep watch with Me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ‘‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Yes it is true that it had been a very long night, but it is clear that the disciples could have resisted the temptations to drop their guard. The temptation was not an irresistible force.
In the book of Ephesians Paul talks about the need to put on the full armour of God. For what purpose? Ephesians 6:13 gives us the answer.
So that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
What this means is that we, with the help and strength of the Spirit, are able to stand against evil and temptation. We don’t have to be drawn into it.
The same truth can be found in 1 Peter 5:8-9. In fact the ability to resist is explicitly stated there.
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
When we put all these passages together the truth is clear. Temptation is not an irresistible force. When it comes to standing firm we are not thrust into a losing battle.
So that is the teaching – but why do we have so many issues?
If temptation can be resisted why does it always seem to take hold of us?
Why do we constantly find ourselves falling?
Why is it that we, who love the Lord and love to do His will, often find our life-style contradicts the Word of God?
Part of the answer can be found in verse 12 (read).
Temptation is not an irresistible force but we fall because we overestimate our ability to fight sin and we underestimate the cunning of Satan.
The members of the Corinthian church thought that Christianity gave them absolute immunisation against temptation.
So they would attend the pagan feasts which included prostitution, orgies, drinking binges and general immorality.
They would go to these places under the false assumption that placing themselves in such circumstances would not be a problem because they belonged to Jesus.
And then they would wonder why they had a problem with temptation.
There is a real sense where the Corinthian Christians had turned temptation into a form of entertainment.
A few years ago now the TV watching public in Australia was given a taste of seeing temptation as a form of entertainment when one of the networks aired a show called “Temptation Island”.
The basic plot of the show was that four couples were going to test their devotion to each other by placing themselves on an island with 26 single people who had the sole objective of enticing the couples to separate.
When it first ran it was the most popular show in America and Australia.
It ran for three seasons.
The very fact that a show like that has even been thought up is sad enough. The fact that it became a number 1 popular program is a tragic reflection on our society.
But we don’t have to look to the secular media for examples of overestimating our ability to sin and underestimating Satan’s cunning.
How many good honest Christian couples do you know whose lives have been broken because of temptation?
How many strong Christian businessmen find themselves under investigation because of temptation?
How many faithful pastors are no longer in ministry because of temptation?
There are stories, too many stories, where those who are believers in Jesus Christ have become poor examples of Christianity because of temptation.
Temptation is not an irresistible force but we fall because we overestimate our ability to fight sin and we underestimate the cunning of Satan.
The Corinthians were doing it. The world in which we live in does it. Even as Christians we do it. For some reason we forget to hold onto the spiritual strength which comes to us from God and we find ourselves falling into sin.
And it doesn’t just happen out there in the world.
It can happen to Christian people … good people … who are in the church.
It happens because people keep on putting themselves in situations where they were not ready and not able.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. But we make it uncommonly difficult by exposing ourselves to situations which are begging for us to be tempted and fall.
You who struggle with alcohol, why do you allow yourself to walk into the pub? Why do you go to the bottle-shop? Why do you meet friends at the bar? Do you want to be tempted?
You who are a compulsive spender, you don't have to go down to the shops, you don’t have to get all the home shopping books. Ask yourself. "Do I want to be tempted?".
You who cannot control your desire for sexual pleasure, why do you seek to be alone with your girlfriend? Why do you drive to those lonely romantic places? Why do you make those suggestive comments? Is it not true that you set out to be tempted?
Temptation is not an irresistible force. But there are times when it is playing an easy game to win. if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.
Now all of this is true … but it is also true that temptation does get us in the end.
Temptation is not an irresistible yet we continue to fall into its hands …
We know ourselves … in fact we even know each other. And we know enough about ourselves and each other to come to the common conclusion that temptation does have a good strike rate. So what do we do once we have fallen?
Have another look at our text … especially the last part of it.
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.
… but when this happens we have a God who will continue to hold us despite our failures.
Even when it comes to the issue of falling into temptation God is with us the whole time. God is serious about temptation and He wants to make sure it does not destroy us.
We have a God who promises to stick by us.
We have a God who will never leave us to our own devises.
We have a God who gave His Son to make sure we would succeed.
We have a God who will never push us away from Himself.
In the midst of temptations and trials it is hard to remember that sometimes isn’t it.
Many years ago I met a lady who would always complain about her marriage.
Her husband never supported her.
She felt that she was missing out because he didn’t have a good income.
They didn’t have a real sense of companionship and she felt like she was being ignored.
The interesting thing about this lady was that she ended the conversation by saying “Job had his trials and I’m just like Job”.
That is garbage. There are lots of people mentioned in the Bible who go through difficult times. The only one of whom we are specifically told that this was happening as a result of a test was for Job. On a large number of occasions the difficulties come as a result of sin. We need to be so careful not to fall into this Job-complex mentality. The main reason this woman was having such difficulty in her marriage is because she never stopped to listen to her husband and when she did he was always wrong anyway.
Let us be really sure about all those temptations that happened last week. In none of those situations was God out to get you.
He doesn’t deliberately put us in difficult situations to see if we will cope.
His desire is to hold us and strengthen us.
He is for us, not against us. No passage makes this more clear than James 1:13-15.
When tempted, no one should say, ‘‘God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Never can we say, “I sinned because I didn’t have a choice – God pre-planned it that way”. He never gives us more then we can bear.
Instead we should always take personal responsibility … but also comfort. “I have fallen into temptation … but God always wanted me to be drawn closer to Him”.
Know that it was never God’s intent to see you fall … and that will help you rise again.
But that is not where the help stops. Let me read again the closing section of this verse. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
When temptation comes we don’t have to take the way of failure.
We don’t have to be defined for the rest of our lives by the sins we have committed.
There is an escape hatch – a hatch which is in place even after we have fallen into temptation.
Through His death and resurrection Jesus gives us a guaranteed escape from the effects of temptation since, even when we fall, Jesus continues to show grace, love and mercy.
Jesus came to take the punishment of all our sins.
Jesus came so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin.
Jesus came to make us a member of God’s family.
That is a truth which can bring us through any failure.
God is not one who sets conditions upon His grace and mercy.
God does not expect perfection in return for the salvation He has given.
Rather God accepts us as we are – warts and all – into His heavenly fold.
Nothing can change that fact for those who are the children of God.
Which brings us to the Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in Heaven
Hallowed be Your Name
Your Kingdom come
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
God we are coming before you and we are asking that you will protect us
From Satan,
From this world
And from ourselves.
Help us to know our weaknesses and not place ourselves in situations which bring us down.
When we fall pick us up … again … and again … and again.
Father, as Your children we rely totally on You.
That’s what this prayer is asking.
Prayer
