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Welcome to day two of our look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10. The verses we're
going to look at together today are some of the clearest verses in all of
scripture about how to handle the temptations that come into every one of our
lives. Listen to what 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 12 and 13 say to us, "So
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, 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. "
We're talking today about something every one of us will face today, every one
of us will face this week, and that is temptation.

What am I talking about when I talk about temptation? Listen to what Bruce
Wilkinson says in this description of how temptation feels. It's helpful, I
think, to remind ourselves of what we're talking about when we talk about
temptation.

He writes these couple of paragraphs, "You are tempted when something takes
place. If it didn't take place, you wouldn't enter into temptation. Each one is
tempted when he's drawn away.

" The words drawn away are borrowed from the fishing and hunting context in
which an unsuspecting fish is slowly drawn out of its original retreat under a
bank or in a hole when an animal is tracked into an area where the traps are
set. The picture is of a person being distracted with something which draws
their attention away from what it's currently focused on. Consider how this
happens.

A noise, someone walks past you, a telephone call, a distracting thought that
seems to come from nowhere, a letter, a person who cuts right in front of you en
route to the office, a unique smell which instantly brings back old memories of
previous sins, your neighbor puts in a beautiful new pool right next to your
ugly backyard, the cashier mistakenly gives you $20 too much change, someone
shares a tasty piece of gossip, the married co-worker in the next office starts
dropping hints about what could happen on the upcoming business trip, skillful
temptation warriors learn how to discern almost instantly when they are being
drawn away and instantly draw back. Now those words from Bruce Wilkinson remind
us that we all face temptation. Satan wants to draw us away from the things of
God.

The question is, where do you learn how to deal with temptation? Nowhere better
than these verses. It's one thing to admit, yeah, we're all tempted, but how do
you deal with it?

Temptation is different from sin. It is not a sin to be tempted. It's a sin to
give in to temptation.

You cannot keep from being tempted in this world, but you can decide not to say
yes to the temptation and thereby sin. As Martin Luther used to say, you can't
stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a
nest in your hair. Because temptation is so much a daily part of our daily
battle with evil, I want to just spend a few minutes on this.

Temptation wilts in the presence of truth. And in this scripture, 1 Corinthians
10, 12, and 13, you and I get some truth to remember about temptation and how it
works in our lives and how to defeat it in our lives. Four truths.

Truth number one is temptation will always be a part of our lives. You never
outgrow temptation. The scripture says, if you think you're standing firm, be
careful that you don't fall.

I don't care how much you grow as a believer, you will always face temptation.
How do I know that? Jesus was perfect and he faced temptation.

Jesus was perfect and he faced temptation. So I'm going to face temptation.
You're going to face temptation.

And the moment you think, "I'm above that temptation now," or "I'm above all
temptation now," the moment you think, "I'm standing firm," that's the moment
you often fall. You've seen this happen in your life. "Well, I haven't thought
about that temptation in a long time.

I may never do that again. " And the next day you find yourself caught up in
that same anger cycle. You find yourself caught up in that same materialism
temptation.

The moment you think, "I'm above the temptation," then you're caught up in
pride. And pride always precedes the fall. So temptation will always be a part
of our lives on this planet.

Once we get to heaven, it's gone. But on this planet, we're going to face it.
You just accept that.

It's going to be a battle the rest of my life. The second truth that comes out
of these verses that helps us face temptation is this. It is not a sin to be
tempted.

It's a sin to give in to temptation. I said this earlier, but I really want you
to get this one. Jesus was tempted, but he never sinned.

You can find that in Matthew chapter 4 verse 1 and Hebrews 4 15. And here's how
Satan tries to trap you. You face a temptation and the devil will come to you
and he will tell you that you're unholy just because you felt tempted.

And he wants to cause you to feel guilty just because you felt temptation. Well,
Jesus had temptation, but he never sinned. But if he can get you to do that, if
he can get you to feel guilty just because you face the temptation, then he gets
you to think, "Well, I already feel guilty.

I may as well go ahead and sin. " And then once you go ahead and sin, Satan
comes to you and says, "How could you do that and call yourself a Christian? "
Erwin Lutzer once said, "Temptation is not a sin.

It is a call to battle. So it's not a sin to be tempted. It's a sin to give in.

" Truth number three is this that we find in these verses. We all face the same
temptations. Paul wrote and said, "By the inspiration of the Spirit, all
temptations are common to man.

" There is something about our human nature that loves to think that our
temptations are somehow unique. But we think no one has ever faced the kinds of
temptations, the kind of pressures that I'm facing. Well, don't flatter
yourself.

You're just not that creative. There is nothing new under the sun. We're facing,
you're facing the same temptations that people faced thousands of years ago.

Folks used to covet their neighbor's horse. Now they covet their neighbor's
Porsche. It's the same temptation.

Nothing new under the sun. In fact, we even know what these temptations are.
There's three major areas of temptation in our lives.

The big three are pleasure, possessions, and power. I want to gather pleasure to
myself, possessions to myself, and power for myself. You can look it up in 1
John 2.

16 is one of the verses that talks about it. You can see it in Genesis, other
verses as well. 1 John 2.

16, these are the ways of the world, wanting to please the sinful selves,
pleasure, wanting the sinful things we see, possessions, and being too proud of
what we have, the power. The idea that somehow I can meet my own needs through
pleasure, possessions, and power is behind every temptation. Sin may come in a
lot of different packages, but they're all these three flavors every single
time.

When I look at temptation, there's some truths to accept. One of the truths is
that I'm always going to face temptation in this world. Another truth is it's
not a sin to be tempted, it's a sin to give in.

A third truth, we all face the same temptations, but there is a fourth truth
that's incredibly encouraging in these verses, and that truth is this, there is
always a way of escape. God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond
what you can bear, but when you are tempted, He will provide a way out.

There is always a way of escape, always, always, always. We could take that
phrase, "I couldn't help myself," and throw it right out the window based on
this verse, when you become a believer in Christ. Before you know Christ,
there's no way of escape because you don't have Christ, but in Christ there is
always a way of escape.

Now you may take it, you may not, but it's always there. God's promise in 1
Corinthians 10-13 is that you will never face a greater temptation than you can
handle, never. For the Christian, there is no such thing as an irresistible
temptation.

Now it's important to remember that this promised way of escape, it's not based
on your willpower. It's not even based on your knowledge of Scripture. Notice
what it's based upon here.

It's based upon the faithfulness of God. God is faithful, and He will provide a
way of escape. So whether I'm a brand new believer, or I've been a believer for
30 years, whether I know a million Scripture verses, or I know two or none, God
is faithful, and He is providing that way of escape.

Now the truth is, the longer you're a believer, the more mature you should get
in being able to find that way of escape. Because it's not my way, it's not my
willpower way, it's not my way, it's not the way of my pride, hey I did it, it's
God's way. So instead of resisting the temptation, I'm going to do this, I'm
going to say no to this on my own power, you look for the way out of the
temptation.

It's interesting, the Bible never tells us to resist temptation. Instead it
calls for us to reject temptation outright. You don't get involved in the tug of
war with temptation, because it always tugs back and it always pulls you into
the mud pit.

Instead of resisting temptation, you reject. And how do you reject it? You let
go of the rope.

You don't play the game. You look for God's way out. Now you might say, I've
looked for God's way out, I couldn't find it.

Does He hide it somehow? Does He not want me to know it? No, He tells us.

He gives us specific directions for dealing with every type of temptation. The
way out of immoral passion, pleasures, is marked run. St.

Timothy 2 22 says, "Flee youthful lust. " Don't depend on your own willpower.
You get out of the situation as quick as you can.

The way out of materialism or possessions is marked thanks and giving. A
thankful heart combined with the habit of giving will help you get your way out
of that temptation. It gives you an entirely different perspective in life.

The way out of pride, out of power, is marked serve. Jesus is our example. Satan
offered Jesus the world, trying to appeal to His pride.

And Jesus resisted this temptation with a decision to serve us. God's provided
the way out. The reason I can't find it is I try to use my way, the way of my
pride, the way of my willpower.

But when I drop those and I say, God, what is your way? When I humble myself
before Him, He will show me the way out. Jesus right now, as human beings who
face temptation, the struggle of temptation, and some of us who are praying this
prayer right now, we are caught up in not only a temptation but the sin that has
resulted from us saying yes to that temptation.

We want a different way. We want your way out. And so we pray right now that you
help us to listen to your voice.

Help us to let your word make its way into our lives and help us to depend on
the fellowship with other believers, not face this alone. And Lord, help us to
look for your way out. Help us to realize that you are faithful.

And in your faithfulness, we can know that you're going to lead us out of this
temptation one day. That's what heaven is all about. It is going to happen
sooner or later.

And so why not today? Why can't this be the day when I begin to say no to that
temptation? No to that temptation of materialism or of lust or of pride or anger
or of gossip or whatever it is in my life, God.

Why couldn't it be today? You are faithful. You will show me the way out.

Show me the way today. And Lord, if I stumble, show me the way again. You will
never stop being faithful.

I am confident in that. So I put my confidence in you. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Join us tomorrow. We're going to look at the power of what influences you.