Overcoming Temptation

Christians need to be concerned with overcoming temptation.

I have titled this sermon, "Overcoming Temptation."1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV) says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." Now why should we care about doing such a thing as overcoming temptation? Most people around us don’t have any hang-ups about being tempted. In fact, they often enjoy being teased by temptation!

You don’t walk into a candy store because you want a healthy snack. You go because you have deep, unconscious, uncontrollable desires. You go because you like to be teased by soothing milk chocolate or by the bite of a sour drop.

And when you go to the candy store, you’re not thinking about the dentist's chair, cavities, blood sugar levels, or diabetes. You’re in the zone! "I can handle this because I’m in control," we tell ourselves. "I’ll take a little of this and a little of that. It tastes so good!" By the way, don’t forget about Fall Family Fun Night tonight. We have piles of candy. We are going to sugar up your kidsso much that they won’t sleep for days! It’s going to be a great time! We’ll have soup, chili, hotdogs, games, and costumes. I’m dressing up as a doctor.

Seriously, all the world is a candy store. We are constantly surrounded by things that tease our desires. All of these things are permissible to our permissive culture. No one is going to bat an eye if you indulge yourself. But here is the deal. Paul says thateverything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.

Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.

Overcoming temptation is all about asking what is beneficial. The prevalent attitude in our culture though, is that it doesn’t matter whether something is beneficial. Eating candy is one thing, butlet me give two more serious examples from the news this week.

First, coming to a city near you, in San Francisco they are voting to legalize prostitution. They’ve already fueled a homosexual revolution which is touching every elementary school in America. Now it’s acceptance of prostitution that they want.

Here is the logic. If people enjoy it, what’s the big deal? Prostitution isn’t necessarily beneficial (it enslaves human beings, objectifies women, fuels domestic violence, destroys the sanctity of marriage and human sexuality, spreads diseases and incurable viruses). But just because it isn’t beneficial doesn’t mean that we have tooutlaw it.Yikes!

Second, atheist Richard Dawkins is supporting a campaign in Britain run by the British Humanist Association. They are running advertisements on buses that read: "There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

There’s probably no God? Four of five people in Britain already believe that their country is in severe moral decline. Why stop the slide? How foolish! "There may be some risk in assuming there is no God… but stop worrying! Enjoy. Partake." [http://christianpost.com/article/20081022/-no-god-ads-to-hit-london-buses.htm]

Why bothertrying toovercome temptation?

So here is my question to you. Why bother overcoming temptation? Why trust Christ? Why look for a way out? Wouldn’t you rather just enjoy it? Wouldn’t life be so much better if we were to unload ourselves of worry about sin?

Let me tell you three reasons that sin is so prevalent and why overcoming temptation has become so trivial. First, most consequenceslie in the future. There’s a disconnect between the present and future. If we experienced immediate consequences instead of future consequences for sin, we’d live radically different lives.

Second, most consequences are uncertain. A teenager might get pregnant. A smoker might get cancer. A sugar-tooth might develop a diabetic condition. If you knew beyond a doubt that using product X caused cancer, you would never use product X again. Most of uswill take the risk or gamble of sin if there is a possibility that there won’t be a consequence.

Third, most consequences seem more positive than negative. Sin exhilarates. It excites, it thrills, and it stimulates. Sin provides an instant gratification that feels good. Why stop something that feels good? Stopping feels bad, boring, and negative.

In order to overcome temptation,threethings have to happen. First, we have to experience the future in the present. Somehow, the full reality of tomorrow has to sink in today. Second, we need to believe in the certainty of that future. The more certain a thing is, the more seriously we take it. Third, we need to experience something more positive, more rewarding, and more gratifying than sin. We need a bigger "yes" to thrill us, excite us, exhilarate us, and make us feel good.

God has given us baptism and communion to help us overcome temptation.

God has given us two gifts to accomplish all of these things. Historically the church has called these two gifts sacraments. Sacraments are a means of grace—a way in which God ushers the future into the present. They are ways that God makes the uncertain more certain, and gives us a "yes" infinitely greater andmore positive than sin. These two gifts, or sacraments, are baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Do you think it’s an accident that in the midst of talking about overcoming temptation Paul talks about baptism and communion? 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV) says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." Let me explain further.

Baptism.

First, baptism. Look at 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 (NIV), "For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea."

Do you realize that God has given us the symbol of baptism to remind us of our salvation history? In the days of Noah God destroyed the world with aflood, but Noah and his familywere saved through water. This is referred to in1 Peter 3:20 (NIV) which says, ".... God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water..."

In the days of Moses, God destroyed the entire Egyptian army with its horses and chariots. Buthow? Moses and the Israelite nation were saved as they passed through the Red Sea. But that very same water obliterated the evil Egyptians.

In the days of Jonah, God saved the entire city of Ninevah.But how? As Jonah fled, he was thrown overboard and left to die in a raging sea. The sea was God’s judgment on Jonah. But Jonah called out to God and was saved by a whale.

In the New Testament, Nicodemus asked Jesus how a spiritually dead man (like himself) could experience life in God. Jesus used the familiar analogy of birth, "You must be born of water and spirit."To live, a mother’s water must break and the child must be born out through water. To remain in the watery womb is to die.

In the Bible, water is a powerful symbol.

In the Bible, water is a powerful symbol. It is a symbol for both death and life. Water symbolizes death because it represents God’s judgment on sin and wickedness. Water symbolized life, because God in his grace meets us in death and delivers us (he saves us) from death through water. God’s grace provided an ark to Noah and his family,a staff to Moses and the Israelites,a giant whale to save Jonah and Ninevah,and a new birth by his Spirit for Nicodemus and for all of us who trust Christ.

Now why should you be baptized in water by full immersion? Why does our church believe that sprinkling is inadequate? It’s because our salvation is a full body experience.

In Romans 6 the waters of baptism represent a watery grave. Just as Christ was crucified and buried in a grave, so in baptism our old self is crucified and buried under water in a watery grave. But God’s grace meets us in our watery death. And just as Christ was raised to new life through the power of God, so we too are raised to new life in baptism. We come up out of the watery grave to live a new life as instruments of righteousness.

So here is why baptism is necessary.Instead of dying a second death in the future at our death, at Christ’s return, or on Judgment Day, we die to sin in the present and trust Christ for life now. Instead of living in the uncertainty and fear of sin, we make our eternal destiny certain. Instead of offering ourselves as instruments of sin, we offer ourselves to a greater, more positive "yes". We become instruments of righteousness, living for God.

In 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Paul brings the Corinthians back to their baptism. The Israelites were saved to love and serve God—not to grumble, test the Lord, be pagans, be immoral, or set their hearts on evil things.

In Romans 6:2 (NIV)Paul asks,"We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Let me ask, if you haven’t dedicated your life to Christ in water baptism, what are you waiting for? God wants to meet you in the watery grave of baptism and raise you upand give you a whole new life in Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Pauls says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

It’s time you take this step of faith. This Wednesday night at 6:00 pm in my office, you can learn how and why to take this step. It's a one night lesson. Let me know if you will be attending so I know how many to plan for.

Communion.

Second, there is communion. Some churches practice communion once a month. We practice communion once a week. To be honest, once a week isn’t often enough. The early church practiced communion daily in almost all their gatherings. Christ instituted communion for three reasons.

First, he wanted to bring the future into the present. It is true that we will one day stand before the throne of Christ in heaven. Proverbs 13:12 (NIV) says,"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." I don’t know about you, but I want to have fellowship with Christ now, in the present!

In 1 Corinthians 10:16 (NIV) Paul says, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the body of Christ?" Friends, that’s not future, that is present, right now!

Later in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NIV) Paul writes, "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes."

Communion ushers the past and our future with Christ into the present. We remember him and we commune with him.

Second, communion makes spiritual realities "certain" or "sure" or "tangible."When God says that the wages of sin is certain death, he demonstrated that reality on the cross. The bread we take symbolizes Christ’s body that was broken and pierced on the cross. The juice symbolizes the blood Christ shed on the cross for our sins. When we take communion we are giving witness to the unjust murder of Jesus Christ who was the perfect lamb of God, who was spotless and without blemish, and who was made to die for our sin.

It’s your body that should be broken. It’s your blood that should be shed for your own sin. But instead, Christ was broken and his blood shed in orderto pay your penalty. The cross is a vivid reminder of the certainty of judgment against sin. But it is equally a reminder of the certainty of God’s love—that he saved us not because of our righteousness, but by his own mercy and grace.

In communion God sets before us the certainty of death and the certainty of life. Choose life! In communion we give witness to the certainty of God’s power over sin and death—proclaiming his death until he comes.

Third, communion is to be a greater "yes". You want to know what is more exhilarating, exciting, thrilling, stimulating, inspiring,and infinitely more gratifying than sin? It’s God’s grace. It’s God's extreme generosity which is expressed to us byhis kindness in sendingChrist Jesus to earth to save us.

Here is the dirty little secret about sin. Sin makes us feel dead inside. Sin destroys our souls and our relationships. Sin isn’t enjoyable. Sin is a lie. Temptation robs the soul. But God’s grace? It changes us from the inside-out. It rejuvenates us, restores us, redeems us, and reconciles us to God and to one another.

What should happen during communion?

Two things need to happen in communion. First, in 1 Corinthians 11:28 (NIV) Paul says, "A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup." Second, in 1 Corinthians 11:29 (NIV) Paul says, "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself."

Communion must be a time when we say "yes" to God in our spirit and "yes" to the body of Christ. Think about it. Sin destroys our relationship with God and each other. God’s grace should be doing just the opposite. God’s grace should be restoring our relationship with God and restoring our relationships with one another. We're to judge, or evaluate, whether this is happening every time we take communion. Is communion inspiring us to love God more fully and love others more fully?

Baptism and communion are God’s gifts to us. In baptism and communion God ushers the future into the present.We die to sin and are raised with Christ in baptism. We participate in Christ's broken body and shed blood.

In baptism and communion God makes the uncertain, certain. The water of baptism is a symbol of death and life. Certain death to those outside Christ, but life to everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord. Likewise, communion is a symbol of death and life. Certain death to those who reject Christ’s sacrifice for sin, but the hope of eternal life to everyone who trusts in Christ’s atoning sacrifice.

In baptism and communion God gives us a "yes" infinitely greater and more positive than sin. When we're raised up out of the waters of baptism, we're raised to live a new life. We offer ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness. We pledge to live with a clear conscience before God.

Likewise, communion is saying "yes" to God and "yes" to one another. It’s an occasion for overcoming temptation—a continual dying to self and reaffirmation of our desire to serve God. An occasion to let God’s extreme generosity transform our relationships.