Triumphing Over Temptation Part IV I Corinthians 10:1-13

This is the last in our series on Triumphing over Temptation.

We have looked at how Jesus triumphed using the Word of God.

·       He is victorious

·       We are in Him

o   Therefore we are victorious in Him

There is one more passage that we have to look at before we end this series on Temptation.

I will share a little background and then make the point -  Be Careful – God will provide an escape. 

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NLT)
²⁴  Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!
²⁵  All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
²⁶  So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
²⁷  I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

·       We are saved by Grace

·       But we have to run the race or lose the prize

o   Is it possible a person may think and say he is saved, but he may be wrong. Saying and thinking do not make a person safe and secure in Christ. Saying and thinking are not the reality or the evidence of salvation.

o   Is it possible a person may be baptized and belong to a church, but baptism and membership in a church do not make a person safe and secure in Christ.

o   Is it possible a person may take of the Lord's supper or sacrament and think he is thereby safe and secure in Christ, but taking of the bread and wine do not make a person safe and secure in Christ.

o   Is it possible a person may sense the presence of a supernatural being, or be greatly gifted and very active in the church, but it is not these things that make a person safe and secure in Christ.

o   This was the problem with the Corinthian believers. All of these things were true of them, and they felt safe and secure in Christ. But they were wrong, and they needed to be strongly warned or be doomed.

So Paul continues on with a real life example…

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (NIV)
¹  For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
²  They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
³  They all ate the same spiritual food
⁴  and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

·       They had relationship with God

⁵  Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

·       God had performed great miracles for them

o   Setting them free from Egypt

o   Parting the red sea so they could pass through

o   Providing food and water miraculously for them

·       Yet God was not pleased with them

o   The Israelites and the Corinthians had the idea they could do whatever they wanted and still be right with God

§  Wrong!

·       And they died under the wrath of God for their sins  

First Warning  

·       Privileges were no guarantee of success

Second Warning

·       Good beginnings do not guarantee good endings

⁶  Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

·       This story is related to the NT church as an example

^·               The Corinthians had the false notion that one can be saved and then live a faithless, God-less life ^{Life Application Bible Commentary - Life Application Bible Commentary – 1 & 2 Corinthians.}

⁷  Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry."

·       Where we invest God’s money? Checkbook

·       Where we invest God’s time? Calendar

·       We live in a broken world but we must not live like the broken world

o   James 4:4 (NLT)
⁴  You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.

⁸  We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

·       All sexual relations outside of a marriage, between one man and one woman, is sin

o   Sex is reserved for a Married man and a Married woman

o   There is no debate in the Bible

§  Believers who live an opposite lifestyle are subject to the wrath of God

⁹  We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes.

¹⁰  And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel.

·       According to Numbers 14 and 16 grumbling against God and His leaders resulted in divine punishment

¹¹  These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

·       Us – believers

·       Bottom line – we can’t say we love Jesus and live any way we want.

·       One Concern

o   We will fall to Sin

¹²  So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

·       Second Concern

o   We will fall to Pride

§  That would never happen to me

§  Look at that other person – I am better than them

o   Pride will lead to a fall just as

§  Immorality and grumbling

But these falling to these temptations are not inevitable

·       They don’t have to happen

Here is the key verse…

¹³  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.

·       Temptations come to every believers life

o   They are common to man – common to all

·       How do we resist

o   Look upon the Character of God

§  He is Faithful

·       He limits the temptation

o   Never beyond what we can bear

o   God knows what we can bear and how much we can bear; therefore, He limits every single temptation within our limits to overcome it. God is faithful.

o   Look for His way out

§  He always gives us the strength and energy to walk through or over the temptation or else to turn and flee from it.

·       Joseph in OT was tempted by Potifers wife

o   He ran away

·       2 Timothy 2:22 (NIV)
²²  Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

·       BATTLE PLAN

·       In a culture filled with moral depravity and sin-inducing pressures, Paul gave strong encouragement to the Corinthians about temptation. He said:

o   Wrong desires and temptations happen to everyone, so don't feel as though you have been singled out.

o   Others have resisted temptation and so can you.

o   Any temptation can be resisted because God will help you resist it.

·       God gives you a way to resist temptation by helping you

o   recognize people and situations that give you trouble;

o   run from anything you know is wrong;

o   choose to do only what is right;

·       pray for his help; and

o   seek friends who love God and can support you when you are tempted.

·       Running from a tempting situation is your first step on the way to victory

^{Life Application Bible Commentary - Life Application Bible Commentary – 1 & 2 Corinthians.}

You don’t have to yield to temptation

You don’t have to sin

He is Faithful

He will provide a way out!!