1Corinthains 10:13
It Counts
The topic in this verse is temptation and God’s protection from it.
I. What is temptation?
A. Temptation is any invitation to sin.
1. It can be any kind of invitation.
a. The invitation can by trick.
(1) Eve’s sin, the first sin, was a trick temptation.
(2) Even more, it was a deliberate, lying temptation.
Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman,
Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
(3) But notice, God neither gave mercy nor offered an
exemption due to it being tricked and lied to.
(4) It was a tricked temptation but it counted as a
full-fledged sin.
b. The invitation can be offered and accepted in
ignorance.
(1) That is, you might not know the sin you are being
invited to participate in is a sin.
(2) It doesn’t matter. It still counts.
(3) God created an offering in the Old Testament to
be offered for ignorant temptation sins.
Numbers 15:27 And if any soul sin through
ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the
first year for a sin offering.
c. The invitation can be accepted due to personal
weakness, desire, or lust.
(1) In fact, James tells us that most of our sins are
because of these.
James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is
drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death.
(2) No matter how the invitation comes, if it is a
invitation to commit sin, it is a temptation and
it counts.
2. The source of the temptation is irrelevant. The invitation
can come from anyone.
a. In Eve’s case, the tempter was a superior foe, Satan.
(1) The devil was superior in all aspects.
(a) He was spiritual. She was fleshly.
(b) He was malicious. She was trusting.
(c) He came to kill. She was innocent and
ignorant.
(2) Still, the temptation and Eve’s sin counted.
b. In Adam’s case, the tempter was Eve.
(1) This was family, his only family.
(2) I don’t think she had any evil intent toward
Adam, but she had become the tempter.
(3) It still counted.
c. In the man of God’s case, it was an older prophet.
(1) \\#1Kings 13:1\\ The man of God is never named,
just assigned a task from God and given some
commands.
(2) After completing his task, an older man of God
came and invited the man of God to sin while
pretending to have a message from God.
(3) God had to judge the man of God for disobeying
Him.
(4) God held the man of God accountable because even
though someone he should have been able to trust
lied to him, it still counted.
d. As James pointed out, our most constant tempter is
ourselves.
(1) And that is bad because we are with us everywhere
we go.
(2) Yet, there is no exemption for what we do to
ourselves.
(3) It still counts.
B. So any invitation to sin is temptation and, if accepted, they
all count against us with God.
1. It is important we understand this because we are a good
excuse-making people.
2. I am and you probably are as well. I guess it is in our
genes for the first words out of Adam’s mouth was, "The
woman that thou gavest me gave to me and I did eat."
3. In that sentence, Adam blamed both Eve and God for his
sin.
4. Yet, God did not accept his excuses.
5. So we need to learn some truths about God and how to avoid
temptation.
6. That is what this verse is about.
II. Two Comforts
A. Temptations come to all.
1. This truth is only to help us deal with what we are
going through.
a. It is to help us realize that we are not in this
alone.
b. That fact offers no cleansing. It is strictly for
our mental and spiritual help.
c. It is God’s ways of telling us that we are not extra
dumb or more spiritually bankrupt than everyone else.
d. All humans are just alike and all humans face the same
temptations.
2. It is also our challenge.
a. If everyone else is facing the same temptations I am
facing but not going through the same failings that
I am going through, then I must be missing something.
b. If every person is tempted to drink, smoke, cuss, be
lazy, blaspheme, quit on God, be angry, be grumpy,
but they are not then what I have missed.
c. There may not be a cure for temptation, but if others
are doing better than I am, there must be something
that will help me. I need to find it.
d. That cure is Jesus Christ and surrendering to Him.
B. But God is faithful
1. It is a statement that first assumes that God is on your
side. If you are a believer, God is on your side.
2. It is a statement that then assumes God can do something
to help you. If you are believer, God can do something
to help you.
3. Then it is a statement that says God will do something to
help you. This where faith comes in.
III. Three Promises - What will God to help you?
A. God will put a limit on temptation.
1. This is for a knowledge and to exercise our faith.
2. This is mostly God’s work, but there are somethings we can
to help this process along.
a. Believe
b. Be clean
c. Be prayerful
B. God will make a way out of temptation.
1. Every temptation either has or will have a door of escape.
a. Every one.
b. How do I know, God said so.
2. This promise is for our admonition.
a. What do I need to do?
b. I need to look for the door.
3. How?
a. By prayer
b. By the Word of God
c. By counsel of the godly
d. By obeying everything I know to do
C. God will make a way to bear temptation.
1. Until God provides the door, God will give you the ability
to withstand the temptation.
2. This is for our patience. It is God’s way of saying,
"Hang in there until it is over."
3. God has given some helps for this.
a. Word of God
b. Prayer
c. The Holy Ghost - Draw close to Him. Rely on Him.
d. Hang with the believers.
e. Be busy in the work.
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