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Temptation Trains You To Triumph
Sermon scripture given on ------------Topic given on -----------------Sermon preached on 02/27/2011
Z. Patrick Lewis
Thank:
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Pastor Davis
Ministers & MITs
Deacons & any other officials present
Pulpiteers
_________ for the song
And those of you in the congregation, God bless you for being here.
The Text:
Our text will come from 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians is in the New
Testament. You can find it after the Book of Romans and before the
Book of 2 Corinthians. I will be coming from 1 Corinthians 10:12-13.
That is 1 Corinthians, the 10th chapter, the 12th – 13th verse. When you
have it, signify by saying “Amen.”
12
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13
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There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye
are able ; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that
ye may be able to bear it.
The topic this (morning/afternoon/evening) is “Temptation Trains You
To Triumph.” “Temptation Trains You To Triumph.”
Let Us pray:
Temptation Trains You To Triumph
Church, what we find, in 1 Corinthians 10, is the Apostle Paul talking to
the Corinthian church. Paul is telling them about that period in time
where God was not pleased with His people, the Israelites. For when
they were in the wilderness, the Israelites began to lust after evil things.
God was leading them to the Promised Land and, while on the way,
some of them began to murmur and complain and fornicate and
worship false gods, and do some other stuff, and so God begins to cut
them off. God begins to take them out. But when you get to verse 12,
Paul says, “wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest
he fall.” In other words, Paul is saying, “Hold up. You need to stop. You
need to listen. You need to look at their example. You need to
examine yourself. Because whether you realize it or not, even though
you think you got it together, your current thought process, your
current foundation, it will collapse beneath you when you least expect
it.” Take heed lest you fall.
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That is part of the message that God has given me to give to you: take
heed lest you fall. If you do not listen for God in this season, the Bible
says, you shall fall. What does it mean to fall? It means that if you
don’t listen for God, you’re going to miss out. If you do not seek His
face in this season, you will be lost. And the thing you need to watch
out for, in particular, is temptation. As soon as we hear the word
“temptation,” many times, our minds think of things our flesh wants
that we know we should stay away from. When we think of
temptation, we think of being enticed to sin, being drawn to sin, being
attracted or persuaded to sin, but temptation is not that simple.
Temptation is also adversity; temptation is affliction, temptation is
trouble. And if you think of temptation this way, then temptation
becomes a struggle of how you’re going to respond to that trouble.
Temptation becomes a search to stop the guilt that you carry with you,
to find a way to make sure your needs are met, that your bills are paid.
Temptation becomes a mission to stop your secret loneliness, to stop
that secret pain you have on the inside, looking hard to fix these things
by any means necessary.
The Personality of Temptation
You also need to watch out for is temptation’s personality; the
personality of temptation. Many times, the reason we don’t get better
as fast as we could, the truth as to why we don’t get over some things
as quickly as we should is because we believe that we have control over
our temptations. Sometimes, we don’t feel convicted, we don’t feel
that things are wrong because we have fooled ourselves into thinking
that we’re running this thing. But the Bible says in verse 13 that, “There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man.” There
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hath no temptation taken you; not you taking temptation, but
temptation taking you. Temptation is possessive; it is temptation’s
nature to take a hold of you, to have you bound, to claim you for itself.
And the way God made it live for me was to look at temptation like a
large spider, a spider big enough to wrap its arms around you. And if
you think about a fly caught in a spider’s web, the spider doesn’t sit
there and give the fly a chance to wiggle free. No, the spider moves
quickly and begins wrapping the fly in its web. And that is what
happens when you get caught by the spider of temptation. It will move
quickly on you when you get tangled in its web, and the longer you stay
there, the more temptation wraps its web around you. And the more
that it wraps its web, the more temptation will have you bound. The
more that it wraps its web, the more difficult it becomes for you to get
free.
Temptation is also obsessive, it is persistent; so even if you do break
free, the spider will recreate his web and wait for you to come back.
Temptation is proud; the spider takes its time making the web to
perfection each time, making it oh so pretty to look at. And so when
you look at what temptation can do, if you’re not careful, you’ll want to
get closer to find out more. You’ll want to find out if you can be a part
of something that looks better than what you’re working with now.
You’ll want to know how this temptation can solve your problems
instantly. But when you touch temptation, when you touch that web,
you’ll soon find out that temptation is selfish; it looks like there might
be something great there for you, but the truth is that you are only
there to have the life sucked out of you.
(emphasis & conviction here)
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Church, if you play with temptation in this season, if you do not listen
for the voice of God in this season, you’re going to be taken off guard
when parts of your life you consider stable will begin to crumble. You’ll
be shocked to find other things will gradually be cut off. You’re going
to be overwhelmed when things are added to your life that you didn’t
ask for.
And church, you’re going to be tempted to deal with these things
yourself. You’re going to be tempted to fix your problems yourself, to
work it out on your own, to fight your own battles. You’re going to look
at that web and think your solution is there, you’re going to have a rude
awakening. Because if you don’t watch out, and you yield to that
temptation in this season, God has sent me to tell you that you shall
fall.
But, God is Faithful! Here’s why!
But the Bible also tells us in verse 13 that in the midst of your
temptation, God is faithful. In the midst of what you’re going through,
God has not forgotten you. Even if you are in the roughest part of your
storm, God still cares. God hasn’t switched up on you. He’s still the
same yesterday, today, and forever. He will never leave you, nor
forsake you. And just because you’re going through, just because you
have struggles in your life, that doesn’t mean that God has counted you
out. You shouldn’t take it for granted that you’re here today; the fact
that you’re here means that God’s grace has kept your temptations
from taking you out. That fact that you’re still in the land of the living is
proof that God still has better things in store for you. It’s hard to see
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that when we’re fighting for our survival, but God tells us in the Book of
Jeremiah that He knows the thoughts that He thinks towards us. He
knows what’s He’s doing. And those thoughts are thoughts of peace,
and not of evil. God is not looking to destroy us, but instead He is
looking out for our best interests. And that is also what God has sent
me here to tell you, that God wants not to just solve your problem
temporarily, He wants to eliminate your problems. He wants you to
walk in victory, and that is the purpose of the temptations in your life—
your temptations are there to train you to triumph. You’re not going
through for no reason; your temptations are preparing you for that
expected end that God has in mind for you.
How do we know this? The Bible says in verse 13 that because God is
faithful, He will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able
to handle. You won’t go through more than what God has put on the
inside of you to deal with. But sometimes, when life seems to be
spinning out of control, it doesn’t seem like this is true. But the devil is
a liar! The problem is that what God sees in you and what you see in
yourself is not the same. And because of that difference, you don’t
trust God’s judgment. What also can make going through difficult is the
question of why you are going through; why you did this have to fall
apart, why this person had to act up, why my car, my TV, my boss, my
kids, my job, Jesus why? And sometimes, God will not give us an
answer, for whatever His reasons may be. But because He is faithful,
each and every time, God will make a way of escape. Each and every
time, God will provide some sort of relief from what it is you’re going
through. Sometimes, that escape is simply the passing of time. Other
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times, God will step in, and like a mighty rushing wind, come in and
eliminate everything that stands in your way.
But then, there are other times when no matter how much you pray,
how long you wait, no matter how much you fast, how much you sing
or shout or dance that your situation doesn’t seem to change. And
sometimes, the reason your situation hasn’t changed, is because God is
waiting on you. Sometimes, we yield to temptation because we
couldn’t stand the pain that we felt before, and so we settle for what
we think is the lesser of two evils. We get impatient, tired of waiting,
we get jealous, we get depressed and we doubt that God will come
through for us. But the whole time, God is might be telling you that if
you would just let such and such go, if you would just leave this person
alone, if you would stop worrying so much about these things that you
can’t control, if you would just let go...and this isn’t always about big
things. You might be wondering why people don’t talk to you, why they
don’t confide in you or trust you, and God is saying, let go of your
attitude. On the other hand, God might be waiting on you to add some
stuff to your life: add some prayer, add Bible reading time, add some
compassion, add some humility…God just might be waiting for a “thank
you” for the things He’s already done.
Hebrews 4:15, 2:18
But no matter what it is you’re going through, just knowing that
someone understands can help a lot. And what’s so awesome about
Jesus is that in Hebrews 4:15, the Bible tells us that Jesus is touched by
the feeling of our infirmities. In other words, Jesus feels everything we
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go through, every problem, and every circumstance. Jesus is touched
each and every time we are tempted, every time we feel like giving up,
every time we feel like we can’t make it. But not only is Jesus touched,
but the Bible also says that Jesus was tempted in all points, He was
tempted in all things, He experienced every temptation just like we do.
So not only does Jesus feel what you feel, but He knows for Himself
what your situation is like. And as our high priest, He is the one who
goes to God on our behalf. And because He knows all about our
problems, that makes Him the best man for the job. Church, like John
said, Jesus is our advocate, our intercessor, our lawyer, our mediator;
and how many of you know Jesus has never lost a case? No matter how
bad things become, Jesus will stay on your side, He’ll stay in your
corner; He’ll still fight for you.
And if that wasn’t enough, Hebrews 2:18 that because Jesus suffered
being tempted, because He went through just like we go through, the
Bible says that He is able to help them that are being tempted. And so
not only is Jesus fighting for you in heaven, Jesus is also fighting with
you down here on Earth. Because He went through like we go through,
Jesus came out with power, and with that power, Jesus is able to help
you in the midst of your temptation. With that power, He can help you
make it through. With that power, not only is Jesus able to bring you
out of this thing, but He trains you in the way that you should go. And
so the next time you are tempted with the same thing, you won’t get
caught in the web of temptation. Next time, you won’t fall for the
enemy’s trap. You won’t depart from the way that you should go. Next
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time, not only will you have the victory, but you will triumph over your
temptations.
Just be honest…
Church, I wish I could tell you that Jesus will always just take you out of
your storm and immediately end your suffering. But sometimes, for
the kingdom’s sake, the best way to help you is not to just bring you
out, but to train you in the way you should go. It doesn’t make sense to
go through all of what you go through and not come out better than
when it all started. Because when Jesus came out, He came out with
power. And when you come out, because you are trained, you’ll do
more than make it, you’ll come out of this thing with power. With your
training, you’ll know count it all joy no matter what it is you’re dealing
with. With the training of the Holy Ghost, you’ll learn that in your
temptation, in the trying of your faith, you’ll gain patience. And if you
let patience have her perfect work, if you trust God even when things
are chaotic, God will begin to perfect you. Those broken pieces of your
life will be put back together. The crooked things will be made straight.
Curses will be broken. Hearts will be mended. God will begin to revive
those areas that once were dead in your life. If you just learn to wait
on the Holy Ghost; church, if you allow the Spirit of God to train you
through your trial, not only will you come out, but you will come out
with the victory.
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Your temptations hurt because temptations are like labor pains in the
spirit. Each time you feel a contraction, that is God using your
temptation to stretch you. Each time you feel that sharp pain, that is
God increasing your capacity for His Spirit. And so when you feel your
contractions happening closer together, when you feel like all hell is
breaking loose, just know that your increased pain is the signal that you
are on the edge of your breakthrough. Your victory has to be birthed
out of you. Your triumph has to come from the inside. God has already
placed in you what you need. He’s already called you to higher heights
and deeper depths. He’s already cleared a path for you. But to walk
into it, you have to tap into that which God has placed on the inside.
And so every time you experience some trouble, that is God training
you to go higher. Every time you experience some adversity, that is
God training you to go to deeper in Him. You can’t come out of this
thing until your spirit is fully dilated. You won’t come out of this
trouble until you open up to God like He needs you to for this next
level.
And so if you are wondering why we go through things over and over
again, it is because before it is time for us to be delivered, we stop
feeding our spiritual baby. We stop eating of the Word. We stop
believing on the promises. We still claim to be a Christian in public, but
start falling off in private. Because we don’t push past the pain of our
temptations and trust God, that which God put on the inside, can’t
come to term.
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Church, if you would just trust Him in spite of, trust Him when you can’t
see your way, trust Him and obey, not only will He bring you out, but
He’ll take you over. He’ll see you through. He’ll lead the way. He’ll fix
it. All you have to do is hold on. Hold on to the promises. Hold on to
His Word. Hold on, and don’t give up. Hold on and don’t give in. Wait
on the LORD. Wait on His move. Try God. Taste and see the LORD is
good. For even if you can’t feel Him moving, God is training you to
triumph. Even if you can’t see Him working, God is working it out right
now. He’s training you to be the head and not the tail, to be above and
not beneath. He’s preparing a table for you, in the presence of your
enemies. Church, if you would trust Him, if you would put your faith in
Jesus, He won’t let you down. He won’t turn His back on you. He won’t
leave you high and dry. With Jesus on your side, you have someone
who will meet you where you are. Jesus doesn’t look at you and tell
you you’re not going to make it. He won’t write you off. He won’t
throw you away. He won’t leave you halfway though. Church, if you
trust Jesus in the midst of your struggle, He’ll walk with you every step
of the way. And if you take that step with Jesus, when you come out of
your temptation, you will triumph.
And so if you feel that the devil is getting radical in your life, with Jesus,
know that you can get radical right back. Know that it’s not over. It’s
not done. Jesus will not quit on you. No matter what your temptation
is, no matter what your struggle is, Jesus sees the best in you. And
when He trains you through these trials, you will be the best you
possible.