Manslick Road church of Christ » Manslick Road Speaker
“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 to bear, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13 ).
The temptation to sin is life’s greatest challenge. This text reminds us of three important facts about it.
First, “no temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man.” It is natural to think we are facing something alone or for the first time ever. Teenagers are certain mom and dad “just don’t understand.” How often does someone who is struggling say, “You don’t know what I am going through.” The danger in such thinking is despair, the assumption that no help is available, and especially, that Bible solutions to one’s problems will not work.
In the preceding verses, Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were facing the same old temptations that came Israel’s way 1,500 years earlier. Circumstances may change, but Satan’s tactics do not. You can learn much by studying how Bible characters dealt with temptation. There is consolation in knowing others have been where you are. Remember, too, that Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15 ).
Second, “God . . . will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.” God does not tempt us Himself (Jas. 1:13-16 ), but He does allow Satan to do so. What God does is maintain control over the situation so that it does not get out of hand, a fact aptly illustrated in the story of Job (Job 1-2). There may be times when it seems as though you are facing too big a challenge, but rest assured you are not. As Matthew Henry worded it, “Either our trials will be proportioned to our strength, or strength will be supplied in proportion to our temptations.” We can be victorious!
One implication of this fact is worth emphasizing: I am responsible for my sin. If temptation is not greater than I can bear, sin is my choice. I did not have to do it.
Third, “. . . but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” What is the way of escape? Here are a few. Begin with avoidance when possible: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Stay out of circumstances in which Satan’s appeals are stronger. Associate with those who will be a positive, rather than a negative, influence. Jesus stored up Scripture in His heart and used it to combat temptation (Mt. 4:4, 7, 10; cf. Ps. 119:11 ). Prayer is another escape route. Sometimes you may need to do as Joseph did and literally run away from a situation (Gen. 39:12 ). God promises the way of escape; it is up to us to use it.
Paul appointed elders in the churches of Galatia at end of his first preaching trip there (Acts 14:23 ). Yet in his letter to those churches, when he got to the subject of erring brethren he wrote, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:1-2 ). More than the elders needed to be involved.
The church at Corinth was rife with problems: wrong attitudes, immorality, false teaching, etc. Timothy, a young preacher, was on the way, but it was not his responsibility to fix everything. Paul addressed a letter to the entire congregation (1 Cor. 1:2 ) in which he outlined what each one should be doing.
The church at Thessalonica faced significant opposition from without. Whose job was it to encourage them? Everyone’s. “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing” (1 Th. 5:11 ).
Every Christian is a member of the body (1 Cor. 12:27 ). A problem in the body is therefore everyone’s problem. Elders, deacons, teachers, and preachers have their specific tasks. But let no one sit back and leave all the work to them. Get involved and help. As an old saying goes, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
A Methodist church in our community recently hired a new “pastor.” For the first time in the history of the congregation, their pastor is a woman. In an interview with the local newspaper, she is quoted as saying, with reference to serving in that capacity, “Being a woman doesn’t matter to God.”
How do we know what matters to God and what does not? If He has not spoken it is all guesswork, and one’s guess would be as good as another’s. However, the Bible affirms that God has spoken. “God . . . in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb. 1:1-2 ). That divine communication which started in Christ was completed through the apostles, Jesus’ inspired spokesmen (Jn. 16:13-15; Mt. 16:19; 1 Th. 2:13 ). When we read what they wrote, we can know the mind of God.
Being a woman doesn’t matter to God regarding one’s salvation. All are one in Christ (Gal. 3:28 ). But it clearly does matter to Him when it comes to being a preacher. He commanded through the Apostle Paul, “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet” (1 Tim. 2:10-11; see also 1 Cor. 14:34-35 ). The same is true for pastors or elders or overseers. (Denominational people often confuse this function with that of preacher or evangelist.) One requirement of a pastor is that he be “the husband of one wife” (1 Tim. 3:2; Ti. 1:6 ).
In view of these plain statements, how can one assert that in this context, “Being a woman doesn’t matter to God”? Is it ignorance or rebellion?
In the Old Testament, God’s requirement was that priests be taken from the tribe of Levi, specifically the family of Aaron. On one occasion, some men from other tribes and Levites not from Aaron’s line affirmed their right to be priests too. “All the congregation are holy,” they argued. In other words, “Being from Aaron’s family doesn’t matter to God.” God responded by sending fire from heaven and opening the earth to swallow them up (Num. 16). What was true then and now is this: it matters to God that we respect and obey His revealed will.
Jesus’ parable of the sower is a story about hearing. It depicts four responses to the gospel. One man hears, but his heart is so hard the message does not sink in. He goes on his way unchanged. Another man hears and obeys, but his convictions are shallow. When opposition arrives, his commitment departs. Another man hears and, taking the truth to heart, obeys, but the gospel is not all that is in his heart. It is full of other things; eventually, they take over. A fourth man, one with a good heart, hears and brings forth fruit (Mt. 13:1-23 ).
In addition to this basic fourfold division, consider some other New Testament descriptions of hearers.
- “Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21 ). Old truths had no appeal to this crowd. They were obsessed with novelty. And their spirit lives on. Suggest a Bible study and these folks will yawn. Yet they intensely follow every detail of stories about the so-called “lost books of the Bible” or the Bible Code or the Gospel of Judas or the Da Vinci Code or any other “new” thing (which is really old infidelity). Not surprisingly, Paul had little success at Athens. Fascination with the bizarre does not lend itself to acceptance of plain preaching.
- “. . . always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7 ). Perhaps these were also enamored with new ideas. The context suggests two other problems. One is that they were learning from wrong sources: slick-talking teachers whose hearts were not wholly devoted to God. You cannot learn truth by listening to error. (Contrast that with the instruction of vv. 14-17: Timothy was to continue in the Scriptures, which he had learned from a godly mother.) The other problem was these hearers’ hearts. They were “gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts” (v. 6, NKJV). As Matthew Henry observed, “A foolish head and a filthy heart make persons . . . an easy prey to seducers.”
- “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4 ). Truth hurts, at least sometimes. Yet it is the truth that makes us free (Jn. 8:32 ). Error keeps us in bondage to sin. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of people who prefer entertainment, feel-good stories, and pats on the back to solid gospel preaching, and no shortage of speakers anxious to provide whatever the audience wants.
Compare these to Luke’s description of the Bereans: “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11 ). What kind of hearer are you?