This morning, we
are going to look at one of the most powerful exhortations in all the
Bible--v. 12. There is no more important warning in all of Scripture
than this one. How easy it is for us, when start to think that we have
spiritually arrived, that we are immune to failure! We have no business
thinking anything evil is beyond us. Given the wrong circumstances,
the wrong state of mind, and the wrong relationships, any of us is capable
of almost anything.
Here is a cute story of a man who let his guard down and got himself
in a terrible mess.
A man was injured at work. When the insurance company asked him to clarify
a few points on his claim, he responded: Dear sir, I am writing in response
to your request for additional information. In block 3 of the accident
report form, I put “poor planning” as the cause of my accident.
You said in you letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust
that the following details will be sufficient.
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working
alone on the rook of a new six-story building. When I completed my work,
I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of bricks left over. Rather
than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel
by using a pulley which, fortunately, was attached to the side of the
building, at the sixth floor.
Securing the rope at ground level I went up to roof, swung the barrel
and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied
the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the 500 pounds
of brick. You will notice in block 11 of the accident form that I weigh
135 pounds.
Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost
my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say,
I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. In the
vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains
the fractured skull and broken collarbone.
Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until
the fingers of my right hand were too deep in the pulley. Fortunately,
by this time, I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold
tightly to the rope in spite of my pain. At approximately the same time,
however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground, and the bottom fell out
of the barrel. Devoid the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighted
approximately 50 pounds. I refer you again to my weight in block 11.
As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This
accounts for the 2 fractured ankles and the lacerations of my lower
body and legs. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen
my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and, fortunately, only
3 vertebrae were cracked. I’m sorry to report, however, that as
I lay there on the bricks, in pain, unable to stand and watching the
empty barrel 6 stories above me, I again lost my presence of mind, and
I let go of the rope!
A good example from the Bible, of a great man of faith, who also got
himself in trouble because he didn’t take the necessary precautions
to avoid falling, is seen in the life of the apostle Peter. Peter told
Jesus, in the presence of the other disciples, that “Even if I
have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matthew
26:35) In essence what Peter was telling Jesus was that he could
count on him through thick & thin. Yet within a matter of a few
hours, Peter was reduced to tears as he refused 3 times to be associated
with Jesus.
But even though Peter committed the worst of all sins, it didn’t
stop him from being used mightily by God. And since God knows everything
that we are going to do, it didn’t stop Jesus from calling Peter
to be one of his disciples. Jesus knew that Peter was going to blow
it big time. For he said to Peter, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan
has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed
for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned
to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke
22:31-32) Peter bounced back from his fall, to the point that less
then 2 months later, he preached a sermon were about 3,000 people were
saved. If God can do that with Peter, he can do that with anybody.
Perhaps you here this morning, and you have made a mess of your life.
And right now you are suffering from the painful consequences of lifelong
broken relationships, addictive behavior, or irresponsible decisions.
And right now you feel caught in an endless cycle of failure. Maybe
you have the feeling that what you have done has put you out of the
reach of a loving God. So you’re sitting here this morning wondering
is there any hope for you? Is there any way out of that awful cycle
of sin?
If that is you, then I’ve got good news for you. There is a way
out of sin. There is a way to experience the love of God. And that way
is Jesus Christ. I want you to know that God is the God of second chances.
He is reaching out to you right now wanting you to come to him so he
can make everything right in you life. All you have to do is to reach
out and grab by faith the way of rescue he has provided through the
death & resurrection of Jesus Christ. I pray that before you leave
this morning that you will ask Jesus Christ to come into your life as
your Lord.
Brothers & sisters, please don’t miss the implications of what
the Spirit of God wants to say to his church through this exhortation.
If you think you will never fall down the manhole of sin into the sewer
of iniquity, you are walking on thin ice. If you feel that you are above
the rest, that you are mature enough to handle temptations on you own,
or that you can stare the devil himself in the face and come away pure,
unaffected, please be careful that you don’t fall down. Because
these kind of attitudes reflect that you are relying on self, and not
in God.
Paul knew the perils of overconfidence. He believed the promise that
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
(Proverbs
16:18) That is why Paul always acknowledged that his success was
“By the grace of God.” (1
Corinthians 15:10) It was because of God’s grace that he was
no longer a persecutor of the church, but instead an apostle.
The reason he always gave God the credit was because he knew that the
more self-confident we become, the less dependent upon God we are. He
knew that the less dependent we are upon God that the more careless
we will become in our living. When that happens, it is just a matter
of time before we find ourselves flirting with, instead of fleeing from
temptations. The more we are exposed to temptations, the more our resistance
towards sin decreases. Whenever we begin to think that we have spiritually
arrived, that is when we need to be most on our guard against Satan,
and most dependent on God’s Spirit to keep us from sinning.
I think the first step on the road to holiness is a step backwards.
It’s a step backward from self, so you can take a step forward
towards God. It is when you say, “He must increase, but I must
decrease.” (John 3:10) It’s when you agree with Jesus when
he said, “For without Me you can do nothing!” (15:5) And it’s
when you also say “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me.” (Philippians
4:13)
It means you need to take a healthy dose of realism, so you can realize
that the only way you can keep from falling is to stay totally and utterly
dependent upon God for the power to resist temptation! And if you think
about it, that is that not what Paul has been trying to teach us in
verses 1 to 11? He has given us a history lesson on the lack of holiness
in the life of the Israelites, to show us that even though they had
all the blessings and privileges of God, they took their supernatural
heritage for granted and they fell into the most diabolical sins imaginable.
They treated supernatural things as ordinary things. They became too
familiar with the blessings of God. But most importantly, Paul wants
us to see that they became so overconfident in their abilities, that
they didn’t rely only upon God’s ability to keep them from
sinning
Paul wants us to know that if it happened to them, then it can happen
in our lives too. We can get so overexposed to God blessing us that
we let our defenses down to the point that when we go out into the world,
we’re so over-confident that nothing can get us that we don’t
rely on the power of the Spirit for the help to keep standing firm.
And before you know it, the devil sends a dart to us, and it gets us
right in the heart!
Is it not true with Moses? The Bible tells us that he was the meekest
man that ever lived. Yet, in anger he struck the rock a second time
instead of speaking to it like God told him to. His sin of presumption
caused him not to enter into the Promised Land. Samson was the strongest
man who ever lived. Yet his weakness was women. One of which caused
him to lose his strength temporarily.
Don’t think that just because these are Old Testament characters
that it can’t happen to us today. In the book of Revelation we
find the church at Laodicia who thought they had spiritually arrived
because they were “Rich and increased in goods, and had need of
nothing.” But Jesus came and told them that he was going to “Spit
them out of His mouth because they were blind, they were poor, they
were wretched, they were naked!” (Revelation
3:16-17) And since many believe that the Laodicean church is a picture
of the church today, I’d say that we need to heed the words of
Jesus very carefully.
Please don’t think that Paul is taking about falling in such a
way as to lose your salvation. He is not suggesting that we can’t
be confident that we are going to cross the finish line. Paul was so
sure that we could never lose our salvation that he told us that we
can be “Confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good
work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians
1:6) That is the assurance from God that we are going to make it
to heaven if we truly are following after the Lord Jesus.
The assurance that no matter what happens we are going to cross the
finish line is what gives us the ability to stand up against Satan,
to resist sin, to be cheerful in the midst of trials, and to never give
up in the heat of the battle. This assurance is what gave Paul the ability
to write, “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels
nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans
8:38-39)
Now I want to add something that is very important to those of you are
here who might not be saved. Salvation is not found in your own good
works. It doesn’t matter how many times a year you come to worship
service, or how many times you’ve read the Bible, or how many ministries
you’ve been involved in, or even if your name is on some church’s
membership roll. None of these things will carry you over the finish
line. The only way to be saved is through having a relationship with
Jesus Christ where he is the Lord of your life. Paul shows us the balance
between good works and faith in Christ when he wrote; “By grace
you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are
His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” (Ephesians
2:8-10)
Now even though nothing can separate us from God’s love, we still
have to continually recognize our own weaknesses to temptations, which
causes us to continually ask God to refill us with the presence &
power of his Spirit. For it is only through the power of the Spirit
that we can successfully go through temptations. Now the problem in
Corinth was that the Christians were no longer seeking the refilling
of the Spirit, thus they were falling into all kinds of sinful behaviors.
But because they were manifesting all the gifts of the Spirit, they
thought they were in good spiritual shape. And anytime we think we are
beyond the reach of temptations, we open ourselves up to the attacks
of Satan. Trust me, if you ever get to a certain spiritual plateau where
you feel you have arrived, then you are in big trouble! This verse tells
you that you are the prime target for a fall! When the devil goes looking
for some one to attack, you’re the one!
The only way to keep from falling is to not stay where sin is. We have
to keep going on to higher ground. We have to keep on moving! During
a military campaign a young captain was recommended to Napoleon for
promotion to a higher rank. Napoleon asked why they suggested the man.
They said that they recommended him because through his cleverness had
won a great victory several days earlier. Napoleon said that was tremendous.
But then he asked them what he did the next day.
That is what I want to ask you this morning. Yes it is great that you
didn’t fall into sin yesterday, but what are going to do tomorrow
to keep from sinning? What are you going to do to ensure that you have
more spiritual victories than sinful defeats? What are you going to
do so that you can live more on spiritual mountaintops than in the wilderness
of sin?
Don’t misunderstand me, temptations are unavoidable, but sinning
is escapable. Believe it or not, even in this sinful world that you’re
living in, sin is escapable. To prove this Paul gives us the most wonderful
encouragement in all the Bible–v. 13. Some of you might right now
might be feeling discouraged because this week you have been bombarded
by temptations. And possibly you are sitting here this morning thinking
that if you have to face that temptation one more time, that you won’t
be able to overcome it, and instead you will crash & burn. If that
is you, please notice that Paul doesn’t bring a word of caution,
but rather a word of comfort.
What a comfort it is to know that whenever you feel completely alone
in the temptation that you’re wrestling with that there are other
Christians who have also wrestled with it. You just need to remind yourself
that your problems aren’t greater than anybody else’s.
Now that doesn’t mean that everyone else experiences every temptation
you experience. Some of you are tempted by cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes
has never been a temptation to me. It only took one puff off of a cigarette
to show me that there was no future in smoking. But I promise you that
I have temptations that you may not have. The point is that none of
our trials are superhuman.
And since we live in a world of common experiences, you don’t need
to feel ashamed to tell others when you are struggling with a temptation!
I promise you that if you will learn to be more transparent, that you
will find another Christian who discovered the strength & grace
from God they needed to overcome that temptation! And that person will
give you the help you need to also successfully overcome the temptation.
Not only are you going through the same struggles that others have gone
through, but there is the Almighty God, who is on your side, who is
faithful in bringing you the help you need! This truth is what every
Christian needs to hear in this day and age, when we are bombarded with
so much filth that it seems almost impossible to live a pure, holy life.
Yet Paul promises that God will provide a way of escape, that you may
be able to successfully endure any temptation the devil throws at you.
No one can ever claim, when overwhelmed by temptation, that the devil
made me do it. Part of the reason we respond like that is because we
believe that the words “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil,” (Matthew
6:13) means that God will never allow us to encounter any tempting
situations.
What Jesus really meant was that when we pray this we are asking our
heavenly Father to stop us before Satan’s temptations, which are
a part of our everyday life, turns into a sin. Now it is important for
us to realize that Satan’s temptations are based on our desires.
The Bible says that “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away
by his own desires and enticed.” (James
1:14) This is how Satan can take the beauty of sex and turn it into
the monstrosity of fornication & adultery. This is how Satan can
take the enjoyment of eating food and turn it into the sin of gluttony.
This is how Satan can take the God-given desire to take care of one’s
family and turn it into the sins of greed & materialism.
It is also important for us to realize that temptations are in and of
themselves not sinful. God the Father allowed his son Jesus to be tested
by Satan’s temptations, yet the Bible makes it perfectly clear
that Jesus was without any sin. Jesus was tempted in the same 3 areas
of life that we are tested by: “The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life.” (1
John 2:16) Yet Jesus passed the test with flying colors. The same
is true with us. God will never lead us into a temptation that he won’t
also give you the ability to successfully handle it.
Despite the fact that we like to hide behind the devil himself, the
fact is that we cannot escape personal responsibility for our actions.
And this truth counters the lies that our culture is trying to get us
to believe. The world’s experts say that we do bad things because
of genetic structure or social environment. God says that we do bad
things when we give into our evil desires. The Bible says “When
desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.” (James
1:15)
When we are tempted in produces within us a desire for action. A wrong
action is to give in to the temptation and sin, the right action is
to resist it. And the way to successfully overcome our temptations is
as one of the greatest modern day theologians, Deputy Barney Fife, said,
“Nip it in the bud!” Nipping it in the bud is when we refuse
to allow our eyes to wander, our minds to settle, and our imaginations
to linger on things that would tempt us to sin.
Billy Graham said that “It’s not the first look at a girl’s
leg that’s the problem. It’s the second look.” Paul doesn’t
want us to buy into the lie of the world that we aren’t responsible
for our actions. That is why he said “Do not be deceived, God is
not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians
6:7) Whatever thought you sow in your mind, you will reap in an
action. And if you keep reaping an action, eventually that action will
become a habit. And as you allow that habit to become part of your life,
eventually it will form your character. And your character will determine
your destiny.
I wish I could say that there is some magical way to overcome temptation.
I wish I could give you a recipe of 7 steps to overcome temptations.
But I can’t. I can only say that the only way to successfully overcome
any temptation is to look for that the way of escape.
What Paul is telling us here is that in the midst of our natural trials,
there is supernatural help. The Greek word translated “a way out”
is used elsewhere of a mountain pass that enables a trapped army to
escape an ambush. If you like old western movies, you’ve seen this
scene on the screen. It’s when the cowboys get themselves trapped
in a canyon. The Indians have them surrounded on 3 sides, and behind
them is nothing but a huge mountain wall of rocks. It appears that they
are totally trapped. But in the nick of time the scout comes up and
says that he has found a passage way through the canyon. And he leads
them out of the canyon into safety.
God has many ways of providing such an escape. Sometimes he will sovereignly
remove the temptation when we ask him to. Sometimes he will change the
circumstances. Or he may even use an accountability partner to challenge
us about where we are spending our time. Some times it’s prayer
and meditation on God’s Word that gets us through.
I can honestly say that I don’t ever recall facing a temptation
when the way of escape wasn’t obvious. Sadly, I haven’t always
taken it, but it’s always been there. Instead, I, like these Corinthians,
chose to live dangerously near to the edges of this pagan word of idolatry
and sin. Instead evacuating when I saw the storms of sin coming, I often
stayed right in the path of temptations. I am guilty of flirting with
temptations instead of fleeing them. I have often ignored God’s
stop sign that he place in the road in front of me to warn me of the
impending danger. But instead of heeding God’s warning, I used
my liberty which led me into the disaster of sin!
Let me ask in conclusion: How long will you continue to ignore the lessons
of history and continue to repeat its mistakes? How long are you are
enjoying your enormous spiritual privileges, but not live out your responsibilities?
How long are you going to literally dare the devil to attack you with
all kinds of temptations before you will fall into sin? And when you
succumb to those sins, don’t rationalize them away by claiming
the temptations were too great.
Don’t kid yourself by say that you couldn’t help yourself.
Or it wasn’t your fault. Paul makes it perfectly clear that if
you fall into sin it’s because you refused to take the way out
God provided. Let me say that again, because it is of critical importance:
If you fall into sin it’s because you refused to take the way out
God provided.
Let’s
pray
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