God's Word on Temptation - Part 1 - 1 Corinthians 10:13

He does not permit you to be tempted above that you're able. In other words, when temptation comes, and we say, "God, you know all about this, you have permitted it, you are controlling it, and somewhere there is a way of escape."

I'd like to chat with you this week on a subject that I think is very important to you. It's the subject of temptation and how to win the victory. We're going to begin today in 1 Corinthians 10, focusing our attention on a very familiar verse, 1 Corinthians 10:13. This is what the Apostle Paul writes: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

1 Corinthians 10:13 gives us four important instructions about temptation. Now, I realize when I talk about temptation, I'm talking about something that is common in your life, in my life, in the life of every believer. Temptation is something that the Bible discusses many, many times. We find that many of the people of God went through times of temptation. 

Now, what are these instructions that Paul gives to us from 1 Corinthians 10:13? Instruction number one, he says: expect to be tempted. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man." Temptation is a part of the common experience of mankind. It is not a sin to be tempted. After all, our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted and he was sinless, holy, harmless, undefiled. 

Temptation is an opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a bad way. There's nothing wrong with passing an examination. That's a good thing. But if you cheat to pass the examination, that's a bad thing. And the temptation to cheat is the opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a wrong way. It is not wrong for a person to be hungry. This is one of the normal desires of life. It's not wrong for a person to eat. But if a person steals the food in order to eat, then of course he has yielded to temptation. 

Temptation is not a sin. Joseph was tempted. You recall how that Potiphar's wife tried to tempt Joseph and lead him into sin, and he fled from her presence. A quaint old Puritan writer said that Joseph lost his coat but he kept his character. Joseph was tempted, and yet Joseph was a man of God. David was tempted. Unfortunately, on at least two occasions we know of, David succumbed to the temptation. Peter was tempted. Our Lord Jesus was tempted. Paul talks about the temptations of life. Expect to be tempted. 

Now, of course, this raises the logical question: well, why must I go through temptation? Satan tempts us that he may bring out the worst in us. Now, you know your own heart and I know my heart, and there's still plenty of sin there. When the Lord saved us, he gave us a new nature within, but he did not change that old nature. And there's still a lot of potential for evil in your heart and mine. And Satan wants to bring that out. So Satan tempts us that he might bring out the worst in us and lead us to defeat. 

Now, the Lord tests us. He permits us to go through temptation that he might test us to bring out the best in us. God is so concerned to build character in our lives, and there can be no character without trial and testing and temptation. So expect to be tempted. Don't be surprised when it comes.

Instruction number two: take temptation seriously. Don't joke about temptation. Don't laugh about it. Temptation is a deadly serious experience. You see, it's possible for a Christian to lose his reward. Now, we don't lose our salvation, but we can lose our reward. It's possible for a Christian to lose his ministry, to be disqualified. In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul talks about being disqualified after having preached to others. 

You recall in the Old Testament example of Israel. They were delivered from Egypt—that's a picture of our salvation. They were to go into Canaan and claim their inheritance—that's a picture of our victorious life in Christ. But they succumbed to temptation. And many of those people were slain in the wilderness. Delivered from Egypt, yes. Entered into their inheritance to claim all the blessing, no. And there are many Christians, unfortunately, who have lost the blessing and lost the victory and lost character and lost reward because they played around with temptation. 

You see, my friend, Satan wants to make you a defeated person. He would destroy you if he could. One of Satan's names is Apollyon, which means the destroyer. Satan is pictured as a lion who devours. He's pictured as a serpent who deceives. Now, if you turned the corner and came face to face with a lion, you'd take that seriously. If you were walking through the garden and you came face to face with a deadly serpent, you would take that seriously. 

Expect to be tempted. That's Paul's first instruction. And take temptation seriously. That's his second instruction. You see, there has to be a way to escape. Now, the fact that he talks about a way to escape means we had better escape. It's not safe to play around with temptation. It is not safe to stay in the devil's territory. We should keep ourselves from these things. 

Now, the third instruction that he gives to us is this: don't trust yourself. In 1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul issues a warning. Now, he's talking to you, he's talking to me. You say, "Oh, but I've been saved for ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty years." That makes no difference, my friend. This warning comes to you, it comes to me. He says: "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 

Now, that's an important warning. Don't trust yourself. You see, oftentimes we are tempted and tested, not in our weakest point, but in our strongest point. Now, does that come as a surprise to you? You've been walking with the Lord for many years. Perhaps you teach a Sunday school class or you minister in some other way. You might be a missionary or a Christian worker of some other kind of ministry—a pastor, a deacon. And you say, "Well, Brother Wiersbe, I have been ministering for the Lord lo these many years. These things aren't going to bother me." Don't be too sure. 

Noah was not a young college student when he got drunk. David was not some young teenager when he committed adultery. Peter had been walking with the Lord for three years. Peter had preached sermons and performed miracles. He'd walked on the water, would you believe? And yet Peter fell in the time of temptation. 

You see, we are often tested, not in our weakest point, but in our strongest point. What was Abraham's strongest point? His faith. Why, he's known as the man of faith. And yet that's where he failed. He came into Canaan land and there was a famine. He said, "Let's go down to Egypt." He got into trouble. God said, "I'm going to give you and Sarah a son." And Abraham waited and waited. And when he was eighty-five years old, he'd been waiting for ten years, they had no son. But his faith began to fail, and he married Hagar, and you know the consequences—a son was born who created problems for them. 

What was Peter's strongest point? His courage. You couldn't find a more courageous disciple than Peter. And yet Peter failed right in that point. He said, "I'll never deny you. I'll go to prison and death with you." Oh, but he didn't. 

Now, I don't know what your strongest point is. Maybe like Moses, your strongest point is your meekness. That's where Moses failed. He lost his temper, smote the rock, and as a consequence, he could not go into Canaan land. 

We've seen now three instructions concerning temptation. Number one, expect to be tempted. It's a part of life. You'll never grow apart from victory over temptation. Instruction number two, you take temptation seriously. Don't joke about it. Don't play with it. Number three, don't trust yourself. In yourself, you cannot win the battle, which leads us to the fourth instruction: you can trust God. 

God is faithful, and he always provides the way to escape. You can trust God's faithfulness. You see, when a temptation comes, you ought to say to yourself: number one, God knows about this. Nothing is hidden from him. Number two, God has permitted it. Now, God is not tempting you, but God permits it. He knows it can accomplish a wonderful purpose in your life when you win the victory. 

God controls the time. God controls the place. God controls the degree. God knows how much you can take. That's what the verse tells me. He does not permit you to be tempted above that you're able. In other words, when temptation comes, we look to God. And we say, "God, you know all about this, you have permitted it, you are controlling it, and somewhere there is a way of escape." 

Now, by faith, look for that way of escape. Sometimes it's fleeing. Paul wrote to Timothy and said, "Flee youthful lusts." That's what Joseph did. Sometimes it's just getting out of there. Sometimes it's in praying. Praying is always right when we're tempted. Sometimes it's in the use of the word of God. "It is written," as did the Lord Jesus in the wilderness when he faced Satan. 

God knows about this temptation. He has permitted it. He is in control. He knows how much I can take, and he has provided a way of escape. Now, right now, you may be tempted. There may be some marvelous offer being made to you, and you're tempted to accept it out of the will of God. Oh, my friend, look for that way of escape. Lift your heart by faith to God and say, "Lord, you know all about this, you have permitted it, you are controlling it, and somewhere there is a way of escape. I'm trusting you, Lord." And do you know what he'll do? He'll do for you what he's always done for his children who trust him. He'll open the way out, and when you come forth, you'll be wearing a crown of victory.

We're talking together about temptation. Have you been facing temptation? Have you discovered that those instructions that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 10:13 really are true? Expect to be tempted. God knows that you and I need the temptations and the testings of life. Now, the important thing is finding that way of escape. And it's marvelous how God has put some barriers before us to keep us from falling into temptation. 

In other words, when we face temptation, it's a detour off of the main road. And yet to get on that detour is not easy. God has erected four barriers to keep us from sinning and to keep us on the right road of life. Now, these barriers are given to us in the first chapter of the book of James. James 1:12-25. James 1:12 says, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." 

Now, in the next verses, he discusses these four barriers that God has erected to keep us from sinning. In James 1:13-16, the first barrier is God's judgment. James says before you fall into temptation, look ahead and see the consequences. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren." 

So here's the first barrier now, the barrier of God's judgment. He says look ahead at the consequences. What is the consequence of sin? Death. Did you notice that? "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." In James 1:15, he compares sin to a process of pregnancy. He says lust conceives and brings forth sin, and then sin, when it is matured, bringeth forth death. It may take years, but it'll happen. 

You see, you and I look upon sin as an act, but God looks upon sin as a process. Now, you may forget your sins, but your sins won't forget you. Now, I know God forgives us, he cleanses us, he holds our sins against us no more. There is no condemnation. I know that. God in his grace cleanses me from sin. But God in his government has to permit me to reap the consequences of my sin. 

David sinned. He lied about it. He tried to cover it up. And then the prophet came and told him the story about the little ewe lamb. And David's heart was stirred, and then David said, "I have sinned." And the prophet said, "The Lord has put away your sin. But, nevertheless, because you have done this, the sword is not going to depart from your household." And it didn't. The baby died, and two of David's loving sons, boys that he loved so dearly—I don't think they loved David too much, but he loved them—they were killed. His daughter was violated. Oh, my, the consequences of forgiven sin. 

You say, "But I'm a Christian, Brother Wiersbe. I know Jesus is my savior." Well, sin is sin. In fact, it's worse when it's committed by a Christian. Perhaps you heard about the church member who came to his pastor. The pastor had been preaching about the sins of God's people. And the church member said, "Pastor, why do you talk about sin in the lives of Christians? Sin in the life of a Christian is different from sin in the life of an unsaved person." And the pastor said, "Yes, it's worse." 

Did you notice the process here? First, there's desire. Desire when it has conceived. Now, desires can be good. The desire for food is not a wrong desire. If you didn't have it, you'd die. The desire for rest, the desire for love, the desire for water to drink—these things are normal desires. But when those desires become abnormal, we seek for some way to satisfy them outside the will of God, then we're facing temptation. 

First, there's desire, then there's deception. Lust, when it has conceived, brings forth sin. You see, in James 1:14, James uses two words that are of interest to you who are outdoors people. A man sins when he is "drawn away" of his own lust and "enticed." The word "drawn away" means a trap that is baited. "Enticed" means a hook that is baited. Here's a hunter who puts bait on the trap to entice the animal. You can't fish with an empty hook, and so the fisherman puts bait on the hook to entice the fish. First, there's desire, the normal desires of life. Then there's deception. Satan says, "Oh, I can satisfy that desire here. Here is some bait." 

Then there's disobedience. He is drawn away, he's enticed, and then he sins. He takes the devil's bait, and this leads to death. He's caught. He's trapped. He's hooked. Now, he can confess his sin, and God will forgive. But there's going to be a sad consequence to that sin. I say it again: God in his grace forgives us. God in his government must permit sin to bring forth its consequences. We reap what we sow. Jacob reaped what he sowed. Samson reaped what he sowed. And so will you and I. 

Now, God puts this barrier up before us to warn us. Sometimes late at night when I'm driving down the street, all of the red lights are flashing red. All down the avenue, you can see red lights just flashing. And they do this at night to warn people: slow down, slow down, be careful. Well, this is one of God's red lights. God says to you today, "All right, you're facing that temptation, you're considering it, you're swimming around the bait looking at it, it's so alluring. You're up to that trap, and oh, there is that delicious-looking bait." 

Now, God says if you disobey, you're going to become part of a process, and there's going to be death. It'll kill your joy. It will kill your peace. It'll kill your power to serve God and witness for him. It'll kill your spiritual energy and enthusiasm. It might even kill your body. Yes, there is a sin unto death, my friend. Samson sinned unto death. Saul sinned unto death. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." In the Corinthian church, God had to send the discipline of judgment, death, because Christians were defying him and daring him. 

And so the first barrier God erects is this: judgment. Now, it's negative, I know this. We don't like this today. People say, "Well, you preachers ought to be positive." Well, I'm being negative that I might be positive. My mother and father said "no" to me that they might be able to say "yes." 

And here we have a picture of the awful consequence of sin. And so, my friend, when you are tempted, look ahead. Look beyond the bait. Look beyond the alluring offer that Satan is presenting to you. There is a godly fear that ought to motivate our lives. And as we look at these alluring temptations, desire within us wants us to accept the bait. But God says look beyond it now. "The wages of sin is death." That was written to Roman Christians. "The pleasures of sin for a season." The barrier of God's judgment. 

God says to you and God says to me, "I have something better for you. Don't jump over my barrier. Look ahead at the consequences and realize you don't want a coffin, you want a crown."