1 Corinthians 10. Look at verse 13. There hath no temptation taken
you, but such as is common to man. But God, who is faithful,
God is faithful. who will not suffer you to be
tempted above or beyond that you are able, but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to
bear it." The way to escape temptation. The longer I studied this, the
more difficult it became. Because there are so many kinds
of temptations, so many different temptations that I began to almost
put it off. But who is sufficient for these
things but our sufficiencies of the Lord? He has given us
the answer and we need to know this for our help. So we are
going to look at temptation. The word temptation means Test. To put to the test. The word
temptation means to entice, to allure. The word temptation means
to examine. in order to prove, take an examination
to prove what you know. The word temptations means to
try or trial. So temptations means trials,
temptations mean tests, temptations means enticements. There are
temptations from God. Trials. God doesn't tempt us
with evil. God doesn't entice us to do evil. That is from Satan. But somehow
God allows that. But there are trials and temptations
or tests from God. There are tests, temptations,
enticements from Satan, from the world, and from this flesh
from within. Whatever the temptation, whatever
form it may take, they are all for these purposes. Number one,
they are all to prove God's Word to us that God is true, that
God is faithful, that God is true and God is faithful to us
in telling us how to overcome this temptation, how to endure. James even said, And we're probably
going to start studying the book of James. But James said, Blessed
is the man who endures temptation. He will receive the crown of
life. That is, those who go through all temptations. And we're going
to see how that all our fathers went through all temptations.
There's no temptation, but such is common. They would all go
through it. And these trials, whatever form they may be, trials,
tests, enticements, allurements, they prove God's Word, that God
is true, God is faithful, and they prove who are the true people
of God. These tests, these trials are
to prove who are God's true people. They prove that God is true,
and they prove who are the true people of God. Okay? So the way of escape, you know,
and I'm not giving you anything you don't know. Okay? We've been reading the way. So
whatever temptation it may be. Alright, look at verse 13 again. It says, There's no temptation
taking you. Verse 1 says, Brethren, don't
be ignorant of this. Don't think you're the only one.
Not by any means. There's nothing you have gone
through, going through, or will go through that believers at
all times haven't gone through. Don't be ignorant of it. All
temptations He sent. No temptation taken you. No trial. No test. Whatever it may be.
Contacements to sin or trials sent by God. No temptation or
test has come upon you that is not common to all of God's people. All of God's people go through
them. And you know, the Lord wrote the book of Job and raised
up Job for this purpose, to show that God can even send all of
those temptations at one time upon one man. to prove that God
is faithful, that His grace is sufficient. None of us will go
through all of that at the same time. Job did. It says, while
they were bringing one bad news, he brought the next, and the
next, and the next, and the next, until anything that could possibly
happen to a man, it happened to him. And God proved by that. It's the oldest book in the Bible.
That He's true, that His Word is true, that His grace is true,
and His people will prove to be true. They're going to come
through it. He's going to bring them through
it. He's going to bring them through it. No matter how tough,
how long, how tried, God is faithful. And he won't, you know, Satan
attacked Job like no other man, all at once, didn't he? And God
said, God wasn't about to let Satan
devour Job. So that's what these temptations
and trials and tests are all about. The world is not tempted
per se. People that are dead in sin aren't
tempted to sin. You understand? They live in
it. They're dead. It's not a temptation. It's a
way of life. It's their desire. It's their life, if you will.
So it's not a temptation in that sense. They sure don't have any
faith to be tried. Right? So this is to the brethren. This is to believers. Believers,
verse 1. Brethren, now let's go to verse
1. Brethren, I would not that you
should be ignorant. It's an old way of saying, I
don't want you to be ignorant of this. I don't want you to
be ignorant of how that all our fathers, all our fathers were
under the cloud and all passed through the sea. That's why I
kept looking for that verse, shine through the cloud and rain,
through darkness, toil and pain, through sorrow and pain, make
thou my pathway, teach me thy way. All our fathers passed through
the cloud, all our fathers. All the brethren. You've read
with me many times, Hebrews 11, how all, male, female, old and
young, went through this world as under a cloud. Verse 2 says,
they were under the cloud, passed through the sea, and all baptized
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. This world of sin is
like being in the depth of the sea. In this world of troubles and
trials, it's like being in the depth of the sea. Like Job said,
all thy waves and thy billows have gone over my head. I'm going
to drown. I'm going to drown in sin, or I'm going to drown
in sorrow. One way or the other, every believer
thinks, I'm going to drown. I'm going to be overcome. I'm
going to be overtaken by all of this. David in Psalm 38 says, my sins
are over my head. But brethren, don't be ignorant
that all our fathers, all the brethren, all believers in every
age went through the depths of the sea. That's in Psalm 107, isn't it? They go down to the sea in ships. Listen to this. I love that psalm.
I just love it. It's my favorite. They that go
down to the sea in ships." What ship are we in? Christ the Ark. Fellowship. We're fellowship. Fellows in the ship. The fellowship
of believers. The fellowship of the gospel.
The fellowship of His suffering. His suffering. And fellows in
the ship who go through the same suffering. These do business,
he says, in great waters. deep waters. And he goes on,
there's no period there, he says, these see the works of the Lord.
His wonders are in the deep. And it goes on to say, He's the
one that commands and raises the stormy wind and lifts the
waves thereof. And we mount up to heaven and
come crashing down. Our souls melt and we reel to
and fro and stagger like a drunken man at our wince end, crying
to the Lord. And He brings them out. He makes
a storm of calm. And the waves are still. And
they're so glad. And they're quiet. And He brings
them to their desired haven. Every one of them, everybody
in the ship makes it. Why? Because the master of the
ship, the captain of the ship, because of the ship, because
they're in him. It says that we, like our fathers,
are under the cloud. and in the sea, baptized into
Moses. You know, Moses represents our
Lord. That prophet Moses said, the Lord is going to raise up
a prophet like unto me. Him, you'll hear. That prophet. And that's Christ. And in Christ,
we walk through this cloud. We're not alone. We walk through
this cloud. You know, the world is, as it
were, under a cloud. how fitting that this day was
a dark, cloudy day. God's people walk through this
world and it's not, every day is not clear skies and sunshiny
days and all happiness, not a worry and not a care, but to the contrary. There are cloudy skies. We're
under a cloud. This world is under a cloud,
as it were, the shadow of someone's hand. Now listen to me. This
world is under a cloud, as it were, the shadow of someone's
hand. That's God. And God, it's because
His wrath is about to fall. But now, we're under the shadow. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. We're in a cloud, all right,
but it's not darkness to us. You remember it says the Egyptians
that cloud was darkness to them, but light to the children of
Israel. The day they walked through, there was a cloud leading them.
They were under a cloud. They were in a cloud. They couldn't
see too far, but they could see far enough. And even in that
cloud, they could see God's hand leading them. What I'm trying
to show you is that we're under a cloud, the cloud of God's protection,
but we can see through this cloud It doesn't matter if it's cloudy,
the sun is shining. And this present evil world is
in darkness and under the wrath of God, but we're not. Listen to William Cowper. William
Cowper lived his whole life under a cloud, didn't he? Those of
you who know him, he was subject to severe depression all of his
life. This man that wrote hymns like
this. John Newton was one of his best
friends. Newton tried his whole life to give him some relief.
He would and he would be down again, up and down. But listen
to this. God moves in a mysterious way.
One of the best hymns ever written. Fear not, ye saints. Fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy and shall
break with blessings on your heads. There are no dark clouds
over God's people. They all have a silver lining. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face. So they all pass through cloud
in Christ our Savior in the depth of the sea. Remember Psalm 130? That's my favorite Psalm. Out
of the depths that I cried unto thee, O Lord, hear my voice.
If you should mark iniquity, who should stand? But there's
forgiveness. Out of the depths of sin, out of the depths of
sorrow. God's people go through sickness
and suffering and pain and sorrow and all these things. Nobody
is exempt from these things. Enticements to sin. I was reading
Spurgeon. And he said, some will say to
me, but you don't know the awful thoughts that go through my head.
Surely nobody thinks the evil thoughts that I do. Spurgeon
said, they all do. But he said, you don't so much
argue, but I'm tempted at times to blaspheme God. The most wicked,
terrible, vile things come through my mind. I think, where did that
come from? And certain Persians said, no, all do, don't you? There's not a person in here
that wouldn't attest to that, you think. How could I think
that? Or even fall into sin. Commit
sins. Ask David. Ask Abraham. Ask Jacob. Ask Peter. Ask them a lot. Ask them all. They'll tell you. They're liable
to do anything but God. So we all have the same hope.
We all have the same way of escape. Verse 3, and they did all eat
the same spiritual meat and drink the same spiritual drink. They
drank of that spiritual rock that followed them. And that
rock was Christ. Meat and drink. And we read that in Hebrews,
didn't we, that they had the gospel preached unto them. They
read that Sunday. The gospel was preached unto
them. And this is our meat, what we're doing tonight. This is
our bread. This is our sustenance. In a time of famine, not of bread,
but the hearing of God's Word. We feast. Just like the children
of Israel going through the wilderness feasting. God just sent bread
from heaven. Just kept sending it. If they
were hungry, there it was. You said, go out and get it.
Every morning. Give us this day our daily bread.
Okay? And water the smitten rock. The smitten rock. Christ said,
I am the water of life. You'll never thirst. Drink of
me. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst. And verse 5, But with many of them God was
not well pleased. They were overthrown in the wilderness.
We couldn't hear a more important message, we couldn't read a more
relative and important and vital passage in our day than this
right here. Now, we're in the very last days upon
whom the end of the world, the end of the ages are come. He
said in verse 11, this is it, these are the very last of the
last days. And he said they'll be like the days of Noah, just
wicked, so very wicked. But with many of them, God was
not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
How were they overthrown? Did the enemies come and kill
them all? No. They were passing through this
world, and they would pass through towns and villages. And the Lord told them, you have
enough. You have food, you have rain. We're going to, through
Moses, he said, we're going to a city, a promised land. Don't look to the right, don't
look to the left, okay? Just follow. We're not going
to stay here. We have here no continuing city
anywhere. Do not be taken by these vanities,
okay? We're going to a land flowing
with milk and honey, a land of righteousness. A land where God
dwells. Now, come on. Keep your eyes
straight ahead. Don't look to the side. Don't
look to the side. Look with many of them. How they were overthrown
with us. enticed by the things and the
people, said things like this, the fish, the leeks, the onions,
the garlic, the things, the women said, Honey, I'm tired of moving.
I want to settle down. I want to stay here. I want a
house of my own. It was things that overcame. They began to envy the people
of the world. They began to set their affection
on things below and not on the promised land. And they began
to murmur and complain. Read on, verse 6, it says, These
things are our example, to the intent we should not lust after
evil things, as they also lusted. Now, Paul wrote in Romans 14,
verse 14, And I'm persuaded of the Lord Jesus that there's nothing
unclean of itself. Nothing. God made all things
for us to richly enjoy. Nothing evil. There's no evil,
there's no sin in anything. Why does he call them evil things?
Because when they began to take our hearts, when we began to
think about them and give ourselves to them more than God, then it's
evil. It's evil. And he said it's idolatry. Paul said in Philippians 3.19,
he says, and he said, I say this weeping, that their God is their
belly, who mind earthly things, that all they think about are
things and never give God a thought. That's what it means to lust
after evil things, to have such a consuming desire after things
that you'll forget God. Isn't that exactly what the Lord
warned Moses and the people? Be careful now when you come
into the promised land. Even when you get there, beware,
you're going to build houses and you're going to have all
this land flowing with milk and honey. You're going to have plenty.
Be careful that you don't forget God. Even when you come in and even
when you have a permanent tent, it's not going to last. Job proved that, didn't he? In
the very first book. He went through that. He had
it all, and he didn't love it. His heart wasn't set on it. God
proved that, didn't He? He had it all. He's a man that
could have it all and not have his heart in it. So he was a
perfect and upright man, one that just chewed evil, walked
with God, followed God. And when God took it all away,
what did He say? When God took it all away, what
did Job say? He blessed the Lord. He said,
Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. I want to be like that. I want to be like that. Christ was his life. And so he
lived through it. It was a way to escape. Verse
7, don't be idolaters. Don't be idolaters. Some of them
were. That means God is your belly. It says, people sat down to eat
and drink and rose up to play. There's nothing wrong with eating
and drinking. Nothing wrong with playing. I often like to think about the
disciples as the Lord's little children. They were men. You
know, men. You ladies don't know. Well,
you've seen guys that are just wrestling and carrying on and
just scuffling. They do what guys do, you know. The Lord looked at them playing
together. Maybe they played sports. He didn't begrudge them that
any more than we do our children. They're playing. And I often
think of Him looking at them like you would look at your little
children playing in the yard. Have fun. But they followed Him. No. There's
a time for that. They didn't forsake Him for playing. No. They followed Him every step
of the way, and they went through hardships and trial, and He gave
them times of refreshment and times to go into a desert place
to refresh them and take it easy, because the rest of the time
was tough. But the thing is, It's idolatry
when that's all we think about. They sat down to eat and drink
and rose up to play. In other words, that's all the
people thought about. Remember, that's what he said
in his Sermon on the Mount. Don't be like the Gentiles. All
they can think about is, what are we going to eat? What are
we going to drink? Where are we going to eat next? How are
we going to be entertained? What are we going to do tomorrow? That's what people are overcome
by. That's idolatry. And they loved the world, and
the world was in their heart. Verse 8, "...sat down to eat
and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication,
as some of them committed, and fell in one day twenty-three
thousand." Oh boy, you know, how relative
is all this? It talked about that God is their
belly, their appetites, and in here it talks about the lust
for sexual pleasure. How relative is this? How current
is this? Fleshly pleasure and desire for
things and entertainment and so forth and sexual animal passions
and so forth. Food, drink, raiment, entertainment,
things, sex, the world and so forth. That's what they became
overcome with in God's group. They didn't enter the Promised
Land. And it says 23,000 fell in one
day, verse 8. 23,000 fell in one day. Now,
don't be ignorant people. that 23,000 a day are falling
now. Every year, in the United States
alone, 620,000 people die of heart disease, directly attributed
to an overindulgent lifestyle. Do the math. Nothing's changed. And we say, well, it's just God-given. Since 1985, and it talks about
fornication, since 1985, since they found and diagnosed what
AIDS is, in this country alone, 650,000 people have died from AIDS in
this country alone. Millions the world over. 50,000 people a year are infected,
newly infected every year in this country alone. Guns aren't
killing us. Food and drink and sex. 11,000 people, by the way, killed
by hangover. Can't see the forest for the
trees in ignorance because we're not reading this. We're killing ourselves. So,
but we have a way of escape. He's given us a way to escape.
What is it? You're looking at it. You're looking at it. You're
reading it. We're not in darkness even as
others. The word, entrance of thy word giveth light. We see,
you know, that we're no different. We're no different. Verse 9 says,
Don't tempt Christ as some tempt and destroy the serpent. Moses, the Lord sent Moses, and
he led them and spoke to them. And it says they rose up against
sin, against God and Moses. They couldn't get to God, but
they could get to Moses. They got angry at him and blamed him
for it all. And read on, verse 10, it says,
Neither murmur ye. They all murmured in their tents,
every one of them, as do we. They murmured against God. They
murmured about their lot in life. They murmured about their trials.
They murmured against Moses. They all murmured, as do we,
complained about everything. Murmuring is complaining at the
same time. And the Lord says, don't do it.
They were destroyed to the destroyer, verse 11. But, well, what do
we have to complain about? But verse 11 says, Now these
things were examples. They happened unto us for examples.
They're written for our admonition, to admonish us, to reprove us,
rebuke us, because we're all subject to all of these temptations. All of these trials, all these
tests, every one of us go through this sea, this red sea, this
wilderness of sin. It's for our admonition. Upon
whom the ends of the world are come, so let him that thinketh,
he standeth. I believe I stand in Christ,
don't you? Well then, take heed. lest you fall. And it gives this
blessed promise, and I'll close in just a few more minutes. There's
no temptation taken you, but such is common to man. God is
faithful. God is true to His Word. God
is true to His people. He will not suffer you, allow
you to be tempted, tried, tested, enticed above or beyond that
you're able, but will with the temptation make a way of escape,
a way to escape that you may be able to bear. All right, what
is that way? And if you don't know by now, Christ said, I am the one. The Son of God came. Now, you
know these things, but look at it in light of this. The Son
of God came, sent by God, our covenant head, and was first
thing as a man. What happened to him? The very
first thing, he was what? Tempted. The very first thing,
he was tempted by Satan in all points. I love that. All points. There's no temptation
that you've gone through, no test, no trial, no enticement,
no allurements, no pain, no suffering, no sorrow, that Christ didn't
go through ten thousand times more. Job, much more than Job. In forty days, he went through
hell. He went through hell. And then
on the cross in six hours, the Lord put him in hell. Our covenant
head. And the Scriptures say that he
is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He's tempted
in all points like as we are. And he's touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. And he's able to succor, able
to help them that need him. He's just a call away. Just a call away. Call on me,
he said, in a day of trouble. I'll be with you. Ask Simon Peter. He went out on that ocean and
he began to sink. Shortest prayer ever prayed.
Lord, save me. And he reached down and picked
him up. Tempted in all points like as we are, lust of the flesh,
lust of the eyes, pride of life, and he sinned not. He was our
representative. He was our covenant head. He's
the captain of our salvation. And he did this for us. And he satisfied us. I have to
say this. This is good news. He kept the
law of God perfect for us. We can't do it. No matter how
hard we try, we can't do it. But He did. And God gave us that
righteousness that He hoped for. And then made Him to be sin for
us. He who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God. And He punished Christ.
And Christ said, Come unto Me. Come unto Me. Are you guilty?
Come unto Me. I'll pardon you. Have you fallen? Call on me, I'll pick you up. Can't keep the law, I have. Come
unto me. I am the way. The way to escape is Him. Faith
in Christ is the way to escape. Look to Him, trust Him, believe
Him, call on Him. Now, go quickly. And I've got
to determine that preach shorter. Couldn't be any shorter. But preach shorter messages.
Matthew 26. Turn over there real quick. Matthew
26. The Lord summed it up in the garden to His disciples in
these three words. And when he went in to pray for
us, our great intercessor, mediator, Matthew 26, he went in and began
to be made sin, sweat blood for us, to endure that cup, that
wrath, and drink it dry for us. And he came back and found them
sleeping. I just read today part of Pilgrim's
Progress where Pilgrim and Hopeful fell asleep in byway. The Lord told them, don't get
out of the way. And they said, look, this way. And they both
got out of the way. And they fell asleep. And the
big giant called despair got them both and put them in a dark
dungeon. And they stayed there for a long
time without hope, thinking, we've gotten out of the way and
we're gone. Now we're gone forever. They
got out of the way. Quit following Christ, His Word. And then the Christian said,
how could I be so stupid? I've got a key right here in
my bosom that will unlock any door of despair. It's a key of
faith. They got out of that black, dark
dungeon, got out of the next door, and the bars and everything
just parted way, and they skedaddled real quick. Back where, John? In the way. Don't look over there. Keep right
on. Where was I? They fell asleep. in chapter 26, and he came, verse
40, and the disciples had found him asleep and said to Peter,
who was the most talkative one of them, what? Could you not
watch with me one hour? Folks, the Lord brought them
into this garden with Him in communion with Him. If you want
to stay in the way, stay in close communion with your Lord. You stay in close communion with
your Lord. It's like a dog siding up to its master. If you run
off, you're going to get hit by a car. Old Abner ran off chasing
deer one time. And somebody apprehended him
and took him in their house. And I put out a reward. I went
looking for him. I redeemed him. And buddy, from
that day forward, he wouldn't leave my side. Stay in close communion. He said,
could you not watch with me? One hour. Read on. He said, watch and pray that
you enter not into temptation. Right there it is. The way to
escape. Watch. I'm called a watchman. I'm called a watchman. If I'm
a good watchman, what I'll be doing is looking at His Word,
this is light, the entrance of His Word, and looking around
and by the light of His Word, stop, watch out. And looking
at the sheep, watch out, watch. The Word of God opens our eyes
and ears to see traps and pits and nets and enticements and
allurement. Satan counterfeits them. Satan disguises them. Satan is
the master of deception. Makes things look good, smell
good, seem good, and they're not good. God's Word. Watch. It opens our eyes to see
things for what they really are. And what does it say about everything?
Everything is vanity. Don't fall asleep at Vanity Fair. Beware of Vanity Fair. Many a
pilgrim have died there. Watch. Watch. Couldn't you watch
with me? Christ is the Word. And pray. That's calling on Him. That's
the Word and prayer. Calling on Him that you enter
not into temptation. Oh, the Spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak. Oh, my. Pray, because Christ said, without
me you can do nothing. And when we talk about communion,
that's what we're talking about. Read, read, read, read, read.
Just keep reading. And you know what you'll find
yourself doing? Loving to read. Do we read more of the things
of this world than God's Word? Let us hang our heads. Do we
listen to more what men say than what God has said? We will be
enticed. We will be allured. We will be
deceived. The entrance of God's Word giveth
light to show us things for what they really are, and show us,
see, the things that are seen are temporal. The things that
are not seen are eternal. And only His Word opens the cloud. Only His Word peels back the
veil, doesn't it? It's a thin veil. You see clearly. The Word of God and prayer, watch
and pray, the way to escape. They go together. You can't separate
them. The way. Christ is the Word. And He is
the One we call upon. The way you escape. You know,
we're not just going to church when we come here. We're coming,
and the world thinks that. But what we're doing is coming
to the light. Remember our Lord said, they that do the truth
come to the light that their deeds might be made manifest.
to come to Christ's light. Christ has promised to be here
and where His Word is preached, the light for our steps, our
path, know how to walk. Christ is here whom we call upon,
whom we pray to, who has promised to speak to us and to commune
with us and comfort us. He has promised to be here every
time, every time. We're not just coming to Christ.
We're coming to the light. We're coming to the tabernacle. We're coming to watch together. We're coming to wait on our Lord. We're coming to have our eyes
open. We're coming to have our understanding enlightened. We're
coming to have our affections settled. We're coming to be grounded, settled,
established, strengthened, be kept by the power of God. We're
coming to get food and drink and meat, to go in the strength
of this for the next few days. and come back and do it again.
Oh, the Lord has given us a way to escape. And the last verse
there behind that says, Brethren, flee idolatry. And that's the last verse Peter
said in his epistle. Idolatry, because God has many,
many, many fell in the wilderness. I don't want to. Do you? I want
to be with Him. He's given us a way to escape.
Alright, stand with me. Our Lord, oh, how we thank You
for Your Word. And it's so much more than a
book. So much more. It is Your voice.
It is Your mind. Your will. It's the Father's
chastening rod. It is everything. It's our staff
that we lean on, light for our path. Oh, Lord, how we thank
You for Your Word and the Word that speaks of Christ. Christ
is the Word incarnate. He is the Word incarnate. He
lived the Word. how we want to be like Him and
follow Him and look to Him. Oh Lord, He said, this is the
way. Walk therein. Look to Me. Follow Me. We want to follow
Him. Lord, let us not Go out of the
way. Let nothing have dominion over
us. Let nothing, no one entice us
away from Thee way, from Christ Himself. O Lord, be with us,
we pray. Enable your people to draw nigh
unto Thee. O Lord. Help us to commune with Thee
more fully and so much more as we see the day approaching. Bring
us here where we commune with Thee and one another and edify
one another like sheep in a fold and help one another and edify
one another. Bring us here. This is such a
blessed place to be when You are with us. Be with us, Lord. In this present evil world, in
these last days full of sin and temptations. O Lord, we call
upon Thee our way to escape. Forgive us, Lord, where we have
gotten out of the way. Forgive us when we've fallen.
Forgive us and we shall fall again. O Lord, pick us up. Leave
us not to ourselves. But may we look to Thee and be
found in Thee in that great day. In Christ's name we pray and
met here tonight. Amen.