Good morning all. A great message and reminder. Just what I needed to hear! Have a safe and blessed day.
The Way Of Escape From Temptation
by Dr. Robert Jeffress
God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
–1 Corinthians 10:13
Paul closed the first half of 1 Corinthians 10 with a warning and a promise. Look at the warning in verse 12: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” No matter what spiritual privileges you have experienced in the past, do not think you are immune from sin and God’s judgment. Instead, Paul said, take an inventory of your heart right now.
Are there things you are craving in your life that you know are outside of God’s will for you? Is there anyone or anything you love more than you love God? Are you engaged in any secret immorality in your life? Is there some sin you think you have been getting away with that you need to repent of? Are you discontent with what God has given to you? Learn from the example of the Israelites. God will not let those kinds of sin go unpunished.
Finally, Paul offered a promise in verse 13: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” No temptation comes into our lives that is not common to everyone. Everyone is tempted with evil desires, idolatry, and grumbling. But we do not have to give in to those things because God has provided the way of escape from temptation. What is that way of escape? Jesus said it Himself in John 14:6: “I am the way.” Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of faith.”
If you want to escape sin in your life, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Look at how He dealt with temptation and imitate it in your life. What did Jesus do when He was tempted in the wilderness? He prayed. When He was in Gethsemane wrestling with God’s will for His life, He prayed. When He was on the cross, He prayed. Prayer was instrumental in giving Jesus the spiritual strength He needed to say no to sin. Jesus also saturated His mind with the Word of God. He so knew the Word of God that He knew exactly which Scripture to use in each tempting situation.
If Jesus, the perfect Son of God, knew He could not afford to become complacent in His spiritual life, if He knew He had to continually fortify Himself through prayer and God’s Word, how much more important is it for you and me to guard against complacency? Imitate Jesus’s life, and you will also imitate His victory over sin.
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