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Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
Established
November 2008 Published weekly on Friday
This is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men (and women) to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:3-4)
1 Corinthians (Lesson 30)
Good day and
welcome to HBS. If you’re visiting for
the first time, or if you’ve stopped by our Bible study once or twice before,
please know I’m glad you’re here. I do
hope you’ll stay awhile to “check us out;” to see what we’re about. If you have to go, please bookmark this site
and come back later; the Light is
always on here.
It’s good for the group
to remember the city of Corinth was a two-port city making it a very busy hub
of commerce and social activity. People
were visiting it from all over the Roman Empire for various reasons, some for
business, some for trade, and they were mixing business with pleasure while there. There was a tremendous exchange of money and
culture and everything else you might imagine since Corinth was steeped in
paganism. In Corinth the worship of Greek gods and
goddesses brought in large sums of money, and people became wealthy from
this activity, noting the sin trades have always been profitable.
Having been a
sailor at one time in my life, and having visited many ports, in many cities,
in various countries, I know something about the illicit activity that attracts
(tempts) young men and old who are
away from home for extended periods of time, with money in their pockets, and
not much common sense or a moral compass to guide them. If a sailor wanted to find an all-night bar, drugs,
a game of chance, or a prostitute in most foreign ports all he had to do was
hail a taxi-cab and tip heavily, literally.
It wasn’t much
different after our ship pulled into our home port in the USA. However, America’s poor lifestyle choices
can’t compare to the immorality of Corinth in Paul’s day. Americans are rushing headlong as fast as they
can to get there, Christians included, but they haven’t reached the
Corinthian’s level of depravity yet. Against
that backdrop and the gross immorality comes our Apostle Paul with God’s Gospel
of Grace offering salvation, and now he’s writing to this divisive church in
Corinth which hasn’t put too much distance between “now” and “then,” or their
previous pagan lifestyle.
Paul wants the
Corinthians to avoid Israel’s mistakes so
he pulls them (and us) into his recount of five stories taken from the O.T., speaking
specifically of the Exodus Generation’s failure to capitalize on their
spiritual privileges.
Paul wrote: Now
these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our
instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands
take heed that he does not fall (1 Corinthians 10:11-12;
9:24-27). Paul offers words of encouragement
and warning in these verses, in effect saying no Believer should think they are
immune from Satan’s spiritual attack. No
one should be so arrogant as to say,
“It can’t happen to me.”
As a matter of
fact, when Believers are enjoying one of their “mountain top experiences,” feeling
really close to God, so to speak, this is when they are most vulnerable to
spiritual warfare: Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
Let’s compare Scripture with
Scripture. Turn with me to Galatians,
chapter 6:1, where Paul writes: 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 (who) yourself, so that (insert your
name here) you too will not be (what) tempted.
Any one of us could
fall (into sin) at any time, so we
have to be alert, on our guard, at all times (1 Peter 5:8). But there’s good news… God’s got this, if
you’re pursuing God!
********
Please
open your Bible at 1 Corinthians 10:13.
1 Corinthians 10
13: No temptation
(testing)
has overtaken you but such as is common
to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted (tested) beyond what you are able, but with the
temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able
to endure it.
We’re
going to be examining the word temptation
shortly, but before we do I wanted y’all to know this word is associated
with the number 40 in Scripture (mentioned 146 times) and generally symbolizes
a period of testing, trial, or probation:
·
During
Moses life, he lived 40 years in Egypt and 40 years in the desert before the
LORD God selected him to lead His people out of slavery.
·
Moses
was also on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights on two separate occasions
(Exodus 24:18, 34:1-28), receiving God’s laws.
·
God
permitted twelve spies to investigate the Promised Land for 40 days (Numbers
13:25, 14:34).
·
The
prophet Jonah warned ancient Nineveh for 40 days that its destruction would
come because of its many sins.
·
It
rained for 40 days and nights during the Noahic Flood.
·
Jesus
was tempted by Satan during the 40 days He spent in the wilderness.
·
Because
of their sin of unbelief at Kadesh barnea, the Exodus Generation was punished
by God. Millions of people wandered in
the desert for 40 years until they perished.
There are other examples in Scripture like the
ones above; I just wanted to bring this important Bible fact to your
attention so you'd be aware of it. Getting back to our Bible text, the word temptation in the Greek language is Peirasmos (pronounced: pi-ras-mos’), Noun Masculine, and it can be
translated “testing,” or temptation and testing. Practically speaking then, every temptation is a test; every test is a temptation.
I’ve
found three principles in verse 13 that we need to “home in on:”
Temptation is
common to every individual – we’re all in this together. No one can say my sin is unique and then hide
behind that argument looking to be excused.
It’s impossible to operate a business and not be tempted to sacrifice
people for profit, for example. A
government employee may be tempted to forfeit integrity for promotion and we’ve
seen quite a bit of this lately with the VA Hospital scandals. As with most, if not all government positions,
employees who “foul up” aren’t fired they are transferred to another
department, agency, or the like and often receive a promotion and a higher
salary. It’s the veterans who suffer.
God is in control
of our temptations
– There isn’t anything outside of God’s control, so despite what you might
think it’s not unusual to find this item on His list. Permit me to illustrate: Engineers put load limits on highways and
bridges. You’ve probably seen the signs –
5 Ton, 10 Ton, or 20 Ton Weight Limit. I
personally wouldn’t want to test the load limit on any bridge I’m crossing over
by exceeding it, so I take them at their word.
The same goes for the elevator I’m riding in. Every human being has their “load limit” too
and God knows what it is; I also take God at His word. Some people are able to bear more pressure (trials and tribulation) than
others that’s a given, but everyone has their breaking point. In this verse, Paul is saying God is faithful He will not allow you to be tempted (or tested) beyond what you are able to bear (Romans 8:28-39).
God provides a way
of escape –
Paul’s not saying there’s an obvious way
of escape. Paul is saying, “Look for the escape route; there is a way
out!” Believers must take advantage of
it. For example, minefields have signage
stating: DANGER MINE FIELD. Seeing the
signs, people wisely avoid the danger. Overcoming
temptation (testing) in our lives is
not you and me testing God by visiting
the wrong places or hanging around with the wrong people; the kind of people
who encourage (tempt) us to participate in wrongful activities, and then say, “O.K. God; do Your stuff… show me how to get
out of here before I do something I’m not
supposed to do,”
as if God is our heavenly “Lifeguard.” We
are accountable to God; we have responsibilities; we certainly know what’s right
and what’s wrong. We have to do our part
and Paul tells us in the next verse what we are to do:
1 Corinthians 10
14: Therefore, (since God provides
a way of escape) my beloved, flee
from idolatry.
15: I speak as to
wise men (and
women); you judge what I say.
Idolatry and immorality, i.e.
paganism in the city of Corinth was considered normal activity; it was part of
the daily routine. Offer a dead animal
as a sacrifice in worship to a false Greek god or goddess in the morning, have
sex with a temple prostitute, eat a meal afterwards, if there’s time, and then
head on out to work or to a ship bound for another port. Just routine run of the mill stuff…
Before
anyone chimes in saying, “There are no idols in my life.” I think it’s best to perform an immediate
inventory before making that assumption.
Anything that captivates the heart
of the Believer, and displaces God in the process, is idolatry.
1
John 2:15 says, Do not love the world
nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. It does not
say, nor mean to say, if any man or woman love
the world he or she is not saved, or that the Father does not love them.
It merely declares that the love of the world and the love of the Father
cannot occupy the same individual’s heart at the same time.
Some
of the idols that might be on your
inventory list could include: your car,
your home, your job or career, your hobby, your children, your business, your
religion, your spouse, your girlfriend or boyfriend, anything that displaces God from being the Main Thing in your life
is an idol. Thus, our Apostle Paul, speaking as to wise men (and women)
exhorts the Corinthian Believers to flee
from idolatry – to run for their lives, as a deer runs away from an
approaching hunter.
In
the 1970’s entomologists determined that male moths were attracted to flame
because it contained some of the exact wavelengths of light given off by female
moth’s luminescent pheromones, and they wrongly assumed they were going to get
“lucky.” The male moths headed straight
for the light, or fire as it were, and were burned alive. In effect, the flame deceived the moths, tempting
them toward the fire and to their death.
Matthew
4 teaches that Believers have a tempter as well, an enemy actually, for Satan
is constantly trying to deceive us. He’s using the same scheme to bring about our
downfall that he used on the woman
in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-6).
Why? Because it works! He’s continually bombarding us with things that appeal to the eye: For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes
and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world
(and Satan is the god of this world)
- (1 John 2:16).
Jesus
said: “The eye
is the lamp of the body. So if your eye
is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your vision is poor, your whole body
will be full of darkness. If then the
light within you is darkness, how great
is that darkness! (Matthew
6:22-23)
Darkness in both the O.T.
and the N.T. is a suggestive word. In the book of John for instance Light
symbolizes Jesus Christ and truth whereas darkness
connotes everything that is anti-God:
the wicked (Proverbs 2:13-14;
1 Thessalonians 5:4-7); judgment (Exodus
10:21; Matthew 25:30); and death (Psalm
139:12). Salvation brings Light to those
in darkness (Isaiah 9:2).
The
Lord Jesus Christ counsels Believers to make sure our focus is on the best
things; those things which are not seen or realized, yet are eternal, and to place our joy in them. True faith isn’t interested in excess, but
with the real meaning of life; and it can’t be found by shopping and then stuffing
our attic and garage with stuff. The worldly man or woman has been deceived
by the father of lies; his or her vision is poor, and their body is full of darkness (2 Corinthians 4:4-7).
Satan
is referred to as the accuser, the
slanderer, the father of lies, the murderer, the deceiver, and our adversary (1
Peter 5:8). Our Apostle Paul writes: our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers,
against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places (Ephesians 6:12). In 2
Corinthians 2:11 Paul said we are not
ignorant of his (Satan’s) schemes - or
we shouldn’t be. We are not to fear, so
don’t go there, this book informs us Greater
is He who is in you, that he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
“Satan is an
illegal on the earth. He's a created
being. He has no authority here because
he wasn't born here. Mankind had
rightful dominion of the whole earth.”
Charles Capp
Our
adversary’s main weapon against us is
the lie or deception. Satan tries to make something appear to be
truthful but it’s really a lie; it’s
a deception. I once heard it put this
way: “If I were to tempt you, you would
know it. If I were to accuse you, you
would know this too. But if I were to
deceive you, you would have no idea.
Satan’s power is in the lie. If you take away the lie, you remove Satan’s power.
How
do we disarm Satan? Jesus showed us all
how to do this during His period of temptation is the wilderness (Matthew
4). We remember what God has said; we
use this book, in other words. With each
temptation, Jesus’ response was, “It is written…”
That
voice you hear inside your head is not an indication you need a medical
appointment it’s your conscience and it’s warning you to flee from idolatry or
Satan’s lies: I will bless the LORD who has counseled
me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night (Psalm 16:7,
42:8, 63:6, 73:24).
(To
be continued)
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Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
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