Download BASIC INSIGHTS The Constant Battle Session 3-

BASIC INSIGHTS
The Constant Battle
Session 3—The Great Escape
The following information is to help you get students thinking about the question: Are some temptations
impossible to resist? and to drive home this one truth: There is always a way out.
INTRODUCE THE TOPIC
Temptations are quite personal, wouldn’t you say? Take food, for example. Some people can’t resist
chocolate. Others adore ice cream or cheesecake. There are some folks, however, who simply do not have
a sweet tooth. Instead, they crave salty things like chips, party mix, and nuts.
In the drink category we find people who have a fondness for coffee. Brewed coffees. Hot or cold
espressos. Seasonal flavored lattes. The list is virtually endless. For some people, however, there is
absolutely no desire to drink coffee. Those who desire caffeine but do not drink coffee may be tempted with
a variety of teas or soft drinks.
And then, of course, there are the temptations that come with shopping. Some people cannot pass up the
latest electronic device or the newest upgrade. I, personally, fall into the category of sale shoppers, with the
ultimate find being a perfect pair of shoes in my size on a clearance rack.
Food, drink, and shopping represent just a few of the temptations that society categorizes as “acceptable”
temptations. Other “acceptable” temptations might include gossip or laziness. There are also temptations
that are clearly unacceptable temptations such as kleptomania and pedophilia. There is a third category of
temptations, however, that falls somewhere in the middle. This category contains such things as sexual
temptations, the use of strong language, smoking, alcohol use, and sinful thoughts. These temptations may
be deemed appropriate or acceptable by society but are inappropriate to Christians.
Clearly, temptations are personal. Only you know what tempts you. Only you know the intensity of your
struggle. The good news is that God understands and provides help to overcome temptations, regardless of
what they are. You are not alone in your struggle. You can resist temptations. The key is to understand and
claim God’s promise to provide you the way of escape.
POINTS TO FOCUS ON
1. You are not the only one who is tempted.
No one likes to face difficulties alone. Just look at all of the support groups that exist to help people cope
with life. Perhaps the most famous support group is Alcoholics Anonymous, founded in the 1930s. Today
there are multiple “anonymous” groups such as Gamblers Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous.
Whether individuals seek the help of a support group because they are dealing with an addiction or a
physical illness, they all share one thing in common—they have come to the realization that they are not
alone.
Some Christians feel guilty when they struggle with temptation. But you should not feel guilty because
temptation is not a sin—giving into temptation is a sin. Everyone deals with temptation. The encouraging
fact is that we are not alone in our struggle. That is what Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 10:13:
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No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not
allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of
escape, so that you are able to bear it. (1 Cor. 10:13)
“Are you tempted with _____? A lot of people are tempted with that as well.” That’s what the first part of
verse 13 means. You are unique in many ways, but the way in which you are tempted is not one of them.
Perhaps we feel like we’re the only one struggling in a particular area because our Christian friends are
too proud to admit their struggles. I was struggling with a temptation one time and shared the experience
with my best friend. She responded by telling me of her struggles with that same temptation. If she had
kept her personal struggle to herself and merely given me a pep talk to stay strong and stand firm, I would
have felt very alone. Instead, knowing that my friend struggled gave me the strength to overcome the
temptation.
The writer of Hebrews knew that it was important to understand that someone else can sympathize with
where you are at—especially when it comes to temptation. Read what the writer said related to Christ:
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For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has
been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with
boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. (Heb. 4:15-16)
Not only do other Christian brothers and sisters experience the same temptations that you face, but also
Jesus faced every type temptation that you may experience. Now, obviously Jesus was never tempted to
view pornography on the Internet and He was never tempted to lie on His income tax forms. So how was
Jesus “tested in every way as we are”?
To understand how Jesus faced the same temptations as we do, we have to look closely at sin. Two
things are found at the heart of any sin. First there is a spirit of self-centeredness—thinking only of how
something will affect you. And second, there is a spirit of disobedience—doing things your way rather
than following God’s plan.
When Satan tempted Jesus, he focused on physical needs, power, possessions, and pride (Matt. 4:1-10).
With each challenge, Jesus could have focused on Himself rather than trust God to meet His needs. Had
Jesus given in to the temptations, He would have been disobeying God and deliberately choosing a plan
contrary to God’s will for His life. But Jesus stood firm in His commitment to His heavenly Father and
resisted temptation. He was tempted, but He did not sin.
Because Jesus has been tempted as you are, He understands your struggle with temptation. He
understands what it means to be human and to have weaknesses. He understands how strong the pull of
temptation can be. He even understands what it feels like to think you are the only one being tempted
with something. Because of this, you can go to Jesus in prayer, armed with the knowledge that He will
hear your prayers with empathy and give you the grace you need to overcome your temptations.
2. God won’t let you be overwhelmed.
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No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not
allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of
escape, so that you are able to bear it. (1 Cor. 10:13)
Did you catch that? God “will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able” to withstand. When
you are faced with a temptation, you can know without a doubt that you can resist it. Why? Because if you
couldn’t resist it, God would not have allowed you to encounter it. He would have blocked it from your path
as your Heavenly Father. Therefore, the very fact that you are faced with the temptation means that you can
overcome it. The struggle will probably not be easy, and you may wind up with a few scars, but you can be
victorious in the battle.
The promise that God “will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able” to withstand affirms what
the Bible shows us over and over: God knows each one of us personally. John 10:14 says, “I [Jesus] am the
good shepherd, I know My own sheep, and they know Me.” Jesus “calls his own sheep by name” (10:3).
Think about that. Jesus knows your name. When you pray to Him, He knows it’s you. And if there are other
people who have the same name as you, Jesus knows which one you are because you belong to Him. And
because you belong to Him, He knows you very well and He knows exactly what you can handle.
That idea is beautifully portrayed in the Book of Job. God knew Job. He knew he was capable of
withstanding everything Satan threw at him. Through those experiences, God grew Job’s faith to a mature
level that Job had not experienced prior to everything that happened. God limits the extent of the
temptations that Satan puts before us—not allowing us to be overwhelmed.
When you are faced with temptation, you can be sure of two things. God will, if you allow Him to, use the
experience to help you mature in your faith. But be aware that Satan will do everything in his power to get
you to yield to the temptation and cause you to sin. It’s the same temptation with two vastly different
outcomes. Just remember, God is not tempting you though He will allow you to experience temptation or
even walk yourself into temptation based on your poor choices and evil desires.
God allows temptation to come into our lives in order to test our spiritual strength. Satan, however, wants to
use temptation to weaken our spiritual lives. As you depend upon God’s strength in times of temptation, you
grow and your spiritual life blossoms. You learn, through experience, that you can, indeed, overcome and
walk away from temptation with God’s help. You learn to trust that God will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you can withstand. When Satan gets us to yield to temptation, the result brings about
destructive holes and zigzag tears in our lives. Giving into temptation works into Satan’s plans, too, because
when we fall we may say “Well, God didn’t mean it when He said I would not be overcome. I just could not
resist that temptation.” Doubt ensues and we grow weaker with each temptation.
You cannot prevent temptation from coming into your life. But you can trust in God and then watch Him
strengthen you so you can stand firm on the promise that He will not allow you to face more temptation
than you can handle. It’s a promise worth claiming every day of your life.
3. God will provide you the way of escape.
The last part of 1 Corinthians 10:13 provides the full picture of God’s promise. We know from the first part of
the verse that we are not the only ones who are tempted. We know from the second part of the verse that
God will not allow us to face a moment of temptation that we cannot withstand. But how does He do that?
Let’s look at the last part of the verse to get the full picture:
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No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not
allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of
escape, so that you are able to bear it. (1 Cor. 10:13)
When temptation comes, God promises to “provide a way of escape.” Does this mean that we will never
give in to temptation and sin? No, it means that when we are faced with temptation, God will give us
whatever we need in order to stand firm and resist. If we give in to temptation and sin, it’s because we have
chosen to do things our own way and we have no one to blame but ourselves. God provides the way of
escape—it is up to you to choose to escape or not.
Personally, I wish there was an index of God’s escape plans. I would love to be able to look up a particular
temptation in the index and then turn to a page that describes God’s “way of escape.” But it doesn’t work
that way. In the same way that God is personal and calls us by name, His involvement in our lives is also
extremely personal. For me, His escape plan for a temptation may be a few specific Scripture verses. His
escape plan for your particular temptation may include Christian music. His escape plan might involve an
accountability partner or a filter for your Internet. Or, like Joseph in Genesis, the escape plan may be to get
up and run away—literally. The one thing we know for certain is that an escape plan exists.
Recently, I was playing a game on my computer. The game is set up so that when I’ve lost, a box appears
on the screen that says, “There are no more possible moves.” If that box does not appear, it means that I
still have options. As I was playing the game, I kept going through the same steps repeatedly, seeing the
same cards but not seeing any place to make a move. This went on for quite some time as I clicked through
the deck. There was no obvious move, but, since I knew that the computer would tell me when there were
no more possible moves, I kept looking. Finally, I found the move that allowed me to continue the game.
Because the computer had basically promised to tell me when there were no more moves, I kept looking for
that “way of escape.” In the same way, because God has promised to “provide a way of escape,” we must
keep looking for it when we are faced with temptation.
So, if there is an escape from every temptation, why do Christians give in to so many temptations? That is a
great question. It basically boils down to this: they want to give in to the temptation more than they want to
escape. The temporary pleasure of the temptation and sin command our attention and cloud the vision of a
way of escape. So, what about you? Do you want to give in to the temptations you face more than you want
to find the way of escape? Remember, there are NO temptations that are impossible to resist—there is
always a way out.