Slaying the Giant of Temptation.

 

Text: I Cor. 10:12-14.

12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13There 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.  14Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

 

The Common Experience of Temptation.

13There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man

 

The Controlled environment of temptation.

….. but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;

 

The Certain Escape of Temptation.

but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

II Cor. 1:

8For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:  10Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us

 

The meaning of the word escape -  a narrow passage through a cannon with walls on both sides. 

 

 

 

A.         Recognize the possibility of temptation.

B.         Request Help in advance of temptation.

C.        Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

D.        Retreat from certain kinds of temptation.

E.         Remove the means of sin far from you.

F.         Replace the bad influences with good ones.

G.        Resolve to live on the high road.

 

Recognize the possibility of temptation

12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

 

Request Help in advance of temptation.

Prov. 16:18

18Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall[1]18Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall

 

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

James 4

7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up

 

Retreat from certain kinds of temptation

1.      Retreat from Idolatry. I Cor. 10 :14

2.      Retreat from Immorality. I Cor 6: 18

3.      Retreat from Greed. I Tim. 6:10-11.

 

Remove the means of sin far from you

Remove from your reach the things that will make you want to sin

Rom 13:

14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof

Ill the man with the Doughnut.

 

Replace the bad influences with good ones.

Prov. 13:

20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed

 

 

Resolve to live on the high road.

Expect and demand more from yourself

Ill.  The secrets of surviving in the deep.

       The nuclear submarine ‘ Thresher’

 

Conclusion

Strength from within is the only solution to overcome temptation

 


[1]The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.