Text: 1 Cor 10:13, Title: Need Hope? Date/Place: NRBC, 7/10/11, AM
A. Opening illustration: Bill Hybels tells about an interesting experience after a baptism service in their church. He writes: “I bumped into a woman in the stairwell who was crying. I thought this was a little odd, since the service was so joyful. I asked her if she was all right. She said, ‘No, I’m struggling.’ She said, ‘My mom was baptized today. I prayed for her every day for almost 20 years. The reason I’m crying is because I came this close to giving up on her. At the 5-year mark I said, “Who needs this? God isn’t listening.” At the 10-year mark I said, “Why am I wasting my breath?” At the 15-year mark I said, “This is absurd.” At the 19-year mark I said, “I’m just a fool.” But I just kept trying, kept praying. Even with weak faith I kept praying. Then she gave here life to Christ, and she was baptized today. I will never doubt the power of prayer again.”
B. Background to passage: Context of the knowledgeable believers eating in the temples of idols and causing the brethren and the non-believer alike to stumble. So Paul has told them not to do those things even though theologically they are correct. He says to limit your own liberty. And he has just issued a stern warning about rebellion in their hearts and the bodies that would be strewn in the wilderness. He is concerned that they think they’re OK, but they are on the verge of a fall. So, in the verse today, Paul offers some hope to those struggling with the desire to go and eat, and the desire to exercise liberty without restraint. He also offers hope to others suffering trials because of the behavior of some. Common verse quoted by many with regularity because of it’s ability to comfort the afflicted.
C. Main thought: in the text we will find hope and strength for our trials and temptations. You may be waiting, suffering, longing, for that end that never seems to come, let this verse give you strength.
A. Trials Are
1. The word here for “temptation” is also translated “trials” in many of it’s occurrences in the NT. Usually the best translation is determined by the context. But in this text, either could fit, and either could work to serve the purposes of Paul’s thought process. I believe that Paul actually intended both meanings, since he spoke to the weak and the strong believers simultaneously. So let’s point out a few shared truths about temptations and trials. 1) they are common; happen to all men. All men have trials, and all are tempted; differing degrees and lengths, but all share these things. 2) Both are used by God to test, prove, and improve our faith. 3) We can find joy in both as long as God is in the center of our lives and is our satisfaction. 4) They are both temporary. In the presence of Christ they will all come to an end.
2. James 1:2, Rom 5:3, 8:18, 8:28, Gen 50:20, 2 Cor 4:17,
3. Illustration: “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” -Helen Keller, John Stott writes, "Christian people are not guaranteed immunity to temptation, tribulation or tragedy, but we are promised victory over them. God's pledge is not that suffering will never affect us, but that it will never separate us from his love."
4. 1) You situation is not unique. Millions of people worldwide have endured exactly what you are going through, in fact, probably are doing it simultaneously with you. The lie of Satan is that “you are the only one.” We are given the ability to minister to others in those situations because of our pain and sin. 2) We know that the bible teaches that trials test us to see what manner of men we are. Trials prove the veracity of our faith to us (reminder: God doesn’t need to know how true your faith is, He already knows. Trials and overcoming temptation will catapult you spiritually into depths of Christ that you haven’t previously plumbed, and give you wisdom and understanding, and uncover ministries and abilities that you never knew. 3) When we are tempted, we find out if our love of Christ and our joy in Him is strong enough to overcome particular sins. And victory over them furthers our joy in Him. When we are tested through trials, we realize where our true joy lies. When our satisfaction is Christ, we are equipped to endure trials and overcome temptation. 4) One day trials will be o’er. There will be no temptation in heaven. Our sin nature will be permanently overcome in His presence.
B. God Is
1. 1) Not a tempter. God doesn’t, cannot, will not even tempt anyone. 2) Faithful to the righteous. The previous examples reminded them that God will judge the faithless. But this verse of hope says that to those that are striving against sin, and against causing others to stumble, God is there for you. What a great message!!!! If you are truly putting forth the effort into your Christian life, God is there for you! If you are willing to return to Him or come to Him for the first time, He is there for you too!!! 3) A Supervisor. He superintends every trial and temptation. He causes them all to work for your good. He limits the scope of, the breadth of, the intensity of, and the length of. God is not trying to hold back the tornado of Satan in your life, He is like a surgeon skillfully causing a scalpel to remove diseased tissue. He is merely granting permission for you to be afflicted. But all that permission is ultimately designed for your good!
2. Josh 23:14, 1 Kings 8:56, Deut 32:4, Ps 100:5, 2 Cor 12:9-10
3. Illustration: must read the John Gill quote, “He’s my rock, my sword, my shield… "God is just as faithful to destroy the wicked as God is faithful to save the righteous,” even as a good father, I sometimes give my children things to carry that are too hard (but God never does that), but I also constantly show them they can do more than they think.
4. 1) You cannot make an accusation against God for any fault in your temptation or trial. If you fail, it is your fault, not God’s, not Satan’s, not your spouse’s, or your children’s, or your boss’s, or your neighbor’s. 2) You and I may not always come through. We may let people down. In fact, no that all people will let you down sometime. But God never fails, never lets us down, is never absent, nor asleep, nor too busy, nor unconcerned. His character is flawless, and His faithfulness endures from everlasting to everlasting! All of these things go to the righteous, who are fighting tooth and nail to overcome, and not to the wicked who are planning rebellion. 3) God knows you well, and knows exactly what you can handle, and you may think He’s given you too much, but in conjunction with His perfect knowledge, He has perfect wisdom, and flawless execution. He puts enough in for your humbling and your growth, but not so much that cannot endure. A long list of afflictions would not be sufficient even for men who have suffered a great deal, or for those who have experienced little pain in life, because however much it is, it is the perfect amount.
C. You Can
1. Just by way of encouragement this morning (which by the way is the point of Paul writing it, he is saying that even though many fell in the wilderness when they fell into sin, you need not fall), I want to remind you or inform you or plead with you—you don’t have to fall! 1) Never claim that you didn’t have a choice. God provides a means of escape and the strength to bear under, but humanly speaking, we have the choice as to whether or not to use those provisions. As sinners our nature is in bondage to sin, but as a believer, you have been set free from that bondage. You don’t have to give in any more. 2) Never claim that there was no way out, maybe no easy way out. Deliverance here is not pictured as removal from hardship or temptation, but rather as endurance. And it may not be easy. The Christian life is not easy, but war. 3) Walk in victory. Don’t believe Satan’s lie that it is too much for you to refuse, or to continue on suffering. 4) Endure it through a means of escape. It’s a promise, God will do it, and we must look for it. This goes in part to our desire to avoid sin, and suffer well. So we must be alert. Remember too that Christ is our means of escape in general. The gospel frees us in Him.
2. 2 Cor 2:14, Rom 7:25, 8:35-37, Phil 4:13, 1 Pet 5:8-10,
3. Illustration: with any addiction there are usually times of faltering as one fights, and sometimes when there is a fall, we figure that we might as well fall big, then get back on the wagon, but you don’t have to! That is Paul’s point. Just because you think it, doesn’t mean that you should act on it, the boy whose confident response to the man in the storm on the ship, the little lad replied, "My dad is the captain, and he has never lost a ship at sea." "Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven't even gotten up to bat yet!"
4. And because it is always the perfect amount, we can receive suffering well, knowing that we can handle it, and that His grace for us to handle it (whatever it is) is sufficient. 1) It is a lie that leads to the denial of responsibility and of self-pity. It underestimates who you are in Christ, discounts the freedom from sin that you have in Christ. Suffering and refusing temptation is an opportunity to make much of Jesus. People see you suffer well, with joy through the tears, with confidence in your Savior, with willingness to endure wrong, praying for those who are wronging you, and doing good to them, and they know there must be something different about you. So meditate on the scriptures, meditate on the gospel and it’s effects in your life. This is not a try harder message, but a trust deeper message, that is the Christian life. As you battle sin in your life, you are called to trust more than try. He is our strength, our power, our joy, our satisfaction, our life, our strong tower, our refuge, our rock, our reservoir of endurance, our hope, our Savior, our Deliverer, our Shepherd, and the Guardian of our souls.
A. Closing illustration: "God expects of us the one thing that glorifies Him and that is to remain absolutely confident in Him, remembering what He has said beforehand, and sure that His purposes will be fulfilled." “Everything I need for Joy”
B. God loves you, and wants you to live a life full of joy as you submit yourself to Him and His will for your life.
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
