God’s Promises Regarding Temptation
Notes
Transcript
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. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
The members of the church at Corinth often gave in to temptation. There are numerous examples of this in 1 Corinthians, where Paul confronts such things as divisiveness, incest, law suits, abuse of the Lord’s Supper, and much more.
We face temptation, too. We’re tempted every minute of every day to live by our own wisdom and power, instead of trusting the grace of God and looking to his Word to guide us. Last week the reading from the catechism reminded us that “our deadly enemies, the devil, the world and our own flesh assail us without ceasing.” This being so, we must beg our faithful Savior to deliver us from evil.
In today’s text, Paul tackled the question of temptation head-on. How should we face it? What does God’s Word say about it? Let’s see.
Common to Man
Common to Man
Since we have a tendency to magnify our own temptations, our text begins by putting them in the right perspective. The KJV says that our temptations are only such as are common to man. That is, we all face the same kinds of temptations as everyone else. None of our temptations is unique.
I understand that we might feel otherwise, especially when we’re in the throes of temptation. Our struggles are so horrible, so overwhelming, and so seemingly invincible that we can’t imagine that anyone else could ever have been tempted in the same way. We might even wonder why we’re being singled out. Is God angry at us? Has he stopped loving us? We ask ourselves a lot of Job-like questions, hoping to be able to understand why the Lord allows us to be so sorely tested. And most of the time, the answers remain hidden in the secret council of his will. We just have to trust him to do what’s right, especially when our circumstances seem most wrong.
But we have to remember that our temptations are common to mankind. The sins with which we’re tempted aren’t the issue. Maybe we’re tempted not to trust God or to complain or to steal. We all have our weaknesses and they’re not all the same. Whatever our temptation looks like, we’re not the first people to face them.
At first, the fact that human temptations are common doesn’t seem to offer much comfort. So what if Bob and Bill faced the same temptations yesterday? That has nothing to do with me. I want to know why I’m facing temptation today. I want to know how I can overcome it.
But if that’s what you’re thinking, then you’ve already missed the point here. Why? Because Paul didn’t mention the commonness of temptation to teach you to go to Bob and Bill for help. He did it to direct you to Jesus Christ, the one who suffered every temptation that you’ll ever face, and he did so without even the slightest hint of sin. Hebrews 4:15–16 says,
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
In fact, Jesus endured temptations far greater than we’ll ever experience because he bore the full weight of God’s wrath against sin.
So, here’s the first promise to consider when we’re tempted. We need to abandon all worldly props and seek help from the only one who endured every temptation. As our high priest, who offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins, he invites us to pray for his help. He gives us the assurance that we’ll find everything the answers to our temptations and struggles in him.
God is Faithful
God is Faithful
The next point of encouragement in our text is this: God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.
We are not faithful. That’s the whole problem. We disappoint one another all the time, and we disappoint the Lord even more. By nature, we’re all covenant breakers. We run into sin knowingly and willingly. What does the Bible say?
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Therefore, when it comes to temptation, we cannot expect to save ourselves.
But our text says that God is faithful. This means our lives are so completely under his control that he even sets the limit for our temptations. So, no matter how out of control our lives may seem to us, every atom in the universe serves God’s purpose of drawing us to closer fellowship with himself and making us more like Jesus. In doing so, he shows himself to be the all-wise, merciful, kind and loving God that he is.
And what specifically is God faithful to do? Our text says that he will not allow us to be tempted above our ability to bear it. This is another way of saying that sin is never inevitable or unavoidable. As Calvin said, “God alleviates temptations, that they may not overpower us by their weight. For he knows the measure of our power, which he has himself conferred. According to that, he regulates our temptations.”
Does this mean, then, that we’ll never fall, that we’ll never succumb to our temptations? No, it means that the power to resist is always there. However, it doesn’t reside in us personally but in the grace that God has poured upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ. Remember, he alone endured every temptation so that we might be spared.
The really good news is that God is especially faithful when we’re not. We sometimes run into temptation. Sometimes we’re tempted because we haven’t armed ourselves against it. Maybe others occasionally put us in tempting situations. Yet, nothing that we or anyone does will ever upset God’s purposes. Simon Kistemaker wrote, “Even if believers knowingly place themselves in circumstances where temptations are rampant and inevitable, God demonstrates his faithfulness by coming to their rescue.” He encourages us to consider Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who chose to live in Sodom, knowing the temptations he would face there everyday, yet the Lord rescued him in spite of his bad choice. And even when sin, all is not lost thanks to Jesus’ precious death on the cross. God is also faithful in his forgiveness. John wrote,
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So, when temptation gets you down, think about God’s faithfulness. Ask yourself how you can give in when your Savior gave himself faithfully for your sins, protects you by his grace, and assures you that your sins — every one of them — is covered by his death on the cross. How can you be unfaithful to the Lord when he is so faithful to you?
The Way of Escape
The Way of Escape
The final encouragement in today’s text comes in the last half of verse 13: the Lord not only limits our temptations, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Here I want to begin with two quick points:
First, the Greek doesn’t say a way of escape, as if there were different ways of escape for different temptations. Rather, it says, “the way of escape” (τὴν ἔκβασιν). There’s only one escape. In order to bear temptation, you need to know what that way is.
Second, the word translated way of escape is a nautical term used to identify a ship’s destination. Having traveled over treacherous seas, it eventually reaches a safe harbor. Literally, it means ‘a way out’ or ‘an end.’ But we mustn’t think that God promises to airlift us to shore. No, just as the ship has to pass through dangerous waters, we have to endure temptation. Yet, we will reach our destination without fail.
So, what is the way of escape? Is it the promises of Scripture? Jesus quoted from the book of Deuteronomy when the devil tempted him in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1–11). Or maybe it’s Jesus’ blood, which delivers us from the penalty, the power and the pollution of sin. Is it the Holy Spirit, who applies the gift of salvation to us? Is it prayer? Jesus told Peter to watch and pray to avoid entering into temptation (Matt. 26:41). Is it the sacraments or the fellowship that we have in the body of Christ? What is the way of escape?
Well, in a sense the way of escape is all these things. The Lord uses every one of them either to draw us to Jesus or to conform us to his perfect image. So, we should be thankful for all of them. But remember, our text mentions only one way of escape. While the Lord uses many things to move us along in our sanctification, we still have to ask what that one way of escape is.
But doesn’t our text answer this for us? Doesn’t it say that whenever we experience temptations, God is faithful? In our temptations, he directs us to our high priest, who endured every possible temptation to give us the grace and mercy of God? In his sovereign mercy, he also limits our temptations to what his grace empowers us to endure. Not even Satan, the archfiend that he is, can touch us without God’s approval. And in everything, he reveals his marvelous love for sinners. When we’re struggling with temptation and sin, he never fails to come to our aid.
This, beloved, is God’s covenant. He revealed his mercy to Abraham when he walked through the parts of his sacrifice, thus obliging himself to suffer the curse for our countless transgressions. And he stated it more positively when he said,
And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
And,
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
And God’s covenantal promise is still good for us. We are his people by adoption and grace. Peter put it this way:
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
Temptation comes in a variety of ways. Sometimes it sneaks up you, and other times we chase after it. Sometimes we’re bombarded with one temptation after another, seemingly without end; other times they come spaced far enough apart that we can bear them without too much trouble. Sometimes the temptations are obvious and in our face; other times they’re more subtle and harder to recognize (or maybe we don’t want to recognize them). And therefore some days are worse than others. A day can be bad if the Lord calls us to fight a big temptation, but it can be just as bad if we have to face a lot of little ones.
But get this: the promises given in today's text apply in every one of these situations — even the worst temptations that we can imagine. So, draw your strength from the Lord. Take refuge in the Savior’s mercy and compassion. And when it's all over, give him the praise because every victory is his. Amen.