By Reverend Christopher B. Cain, to God be the Glory!
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)
We are living in a time which the Bible plainly speaks of. The apostasy, or great falling away, spoken of in Scripture sure seems to be unfolding before our very eyes. All generations have held reservations about the change brought into society by successive generations. However, we live in a time which is unparalleled, and even generations that agree on little else are agreeing that rapid change is occuring like never before. People can sense a shift occuring. We who are in Christ have the benefit of having read the end of the story; we know how this plays out and we know wickedness will continue to abound as the day draws nearer. With these wicked times comes the wicked practices of sinful men and women. We who are in Christ are forgiven, but we are still flawed. What we must do is learn to overcome in Christ.
I am convinced that because our adversary the devil is not omnipresent like our Lord God is, meaning that he cannot be everywhere at once, that he must get us to shackle ourselves more often than not. I believe that the devil wants to trick us into being shackled by our past, our shame, and our guilt which is forgiven in Christ Jesus. I think he has an even trickier tactic than those, however. I think Satan does all he can to get the believer in Christ to take temptation and turn it into guilt and shame, bondage and ultimately even desire. You see, if someone is facing temptation to steal, or lie, or commit sexual immorality over and over, the battle in the mind of the believer can become overwhelming. In the heat of the battle against temptation we are outflanked when we stop recognizing the frontal assault that we are facing temptation and we fall victim to the mistaken belief that we desire these temptations. We need not desire that which we are tempted by. We need not feel as though it is a sin to be tempted because it is not. Temptation is not sin, acting upon it, even if only in the heart, is a sin. If the devil can trick you into desiring temptation that is all the better, but at the least he keeps us bound by the mistaken belief that we must live in guilt or shame for the temptation we face. That is a lie from the pit of hell. Jesus Christ was a man like us, fully man and fully God, yet He was tempted and sinned not!
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15 ESV) The book of Hebrews continues to say that because of Christ overcoming sin we are able to draw near to the throne of grace and receive both grace and mercy to help overcome temptation in our time of need. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. ” (Hebrews 4:16 ESV)
I am convinced that if we draw near to God He will draw near to us. It is my belief that as 1 Corinthians 10 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” That tells me God will not ever give me more temptation than I can handle. That tells me Satan cannot decieve me into thinking I am alone in any temptation. Satan wants us in temptation to feel isolated and alone from God and from the rest of humanity. We are not alone, we all face temptation to sin which is common to man. We do not have to allow him to trick us into being ashamed for the garbage he keeps bringing and we keep rejecting it. Just because someone else wants to dine on the husks of the world wallowing in the pig pen of this world does not mean I do not get to feast on every bit of the Word of God. I want to dine on the fatted calf at the King’s table not wallowing in the muck and myre of the wicked.