The Way of Escape

Introduction

Well, good morning. What a marvelous blessing it is to be here. And to have everybody here with us who has uh recently uh gone through some dangerous stuff. All of our visitors, we welcome you. Uh this congregation, I think is a very welcoming, warm, and friendly group. And I was telling the class that earlier. I think that is one of the greatest characteristics of this church. And I appreciate that about you so much. So I hope that if you’re visiting, that you feel welcomed, and that you give us a chance to get to know you after services are over. I see a lot of faces that I did not see at the 9 o’clock hour. And I want to encourage you. I don’t know everybody’s situation, and I’m not the judge.

But I want to encourage you to try to be here at the 9 o’clock hour if possible. You know, we do have a worship service that uh a preacher will prepare a lesson for and song leader prepares singing for, and a lot of work goes into that. And so it is encouraging when we see people here. On the other hand, it is discouraging when uh many people are not here at the 9 o’clock hour. And we need to keep in mind not only our obligation to God, but also our obligation to encourage one another. Hebrews 10 25, not forsaking our own assembly together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. So if you’ve made a habit of only coming to class and this hour of worship, uh then it will be difficult for you to come to the 9 o’clock hour because it’s not in your routine.

But if you start making a routine of it, you’ll see that it becomes more natural, and uh you’ll just automatically do it. So we invite you to do that and to be an encouragement to us. But I am encouraged by all who are here at this hour, and like I said, I don’t know everybody’s situation, but God does and God knows. Well, now let’s begin our lesson. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands. Take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, so that you may be able to bear it.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Hebrews 10, verses 12 through 14. I said Hebrews because I had Hebrews on my mind, but that’s 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 10, 12 through 14. The way of escape. With all of the temptations that surround us on a daily basis, many Christians feel helpless and powerless to overcome. Yet, ironically, it is those very weak Christians who are often the very ones who continue to place themselves in harm’s way. Oftentimes we’re like that poor hungry little boy who went on a walk and came in front of, came by this apple stand. And as he stood there, he saw this basket of apples that just looked beautiful. Oh, so scrumptious. He just was staring at this beautiful basket of apples. But he had nothing to buy it with.

And the owner of the stand said, Little boy, are you trying to steal my apples? And he said, No, sir, I’m trying not to. That’s often how we are. We wonder why can’t I overcome temptation when we’re that little boy and we just are fixated upon sin and we place ourselves right before it and we don’t remove ourselves from it. When temptation overtakes us, we must learn to take the escape route that God has provided. We can know with all confidence that we can overcome temptation. At the same time, we must not be overly confident about our own ability to overcome. And so we see balance in this passage that it’s really a transition set of verses between one major section and another in this chapter.

It teaches us balanced attitude toward temptation, and it also teaches us the way of escape. And so we’re going to see three points are made in this passage. In verse 12, the point is, do not be overconfident about your ability to overcome temptation. In verse 13, do not be unconfident. And in verse 14, don’t just stand there. Flee. So that’s the outline. But before we dig our teeth into those verses, let’s set up the context, which is verses 1 through 11, do not imitate the Israelites who fell into sin after they came out of Egypt. Verse 1. Paul says, For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. So you remember the cloud that led them and the Red Sea that they passed through.

And all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Well, they weren’t literally baptized into Moses. But these were Christians that Paul was writing to who had been baptized in Jesus Christ. So he’s making a parallel. That these Israelites had been symbolically baptized. They had come out not only of bondage, but they had come out of sin. They had come out of idolatry. They had come out of immorality from Egypt. And they were now baptized into a new way. This is a new life. And thus symbolically baptized into Moses. And so you would have high hopes for them. You would think they ought to do good now. And they were being led spiritually. Verse 3 and all verses 3 and 4, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them.

And the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness. You recall Numbers chapter 14 when the Israelites went into Cadus Barneeus and in the twelve spies who went into the spied out the land, came back with a fearful report. And that fear spread like a cancer. So that the whole congregation now was afraid to enter the land, and they wanted to appoint a leader and go back to Egypt. And so God sentenced them to wander in the wilderness. And they would.

Verse 6. Now these things happened to them as an example for us, so that we would not crave after evil things as they also craved. So you recall when they weren’t happy with the manna, they wanted meat. And so the lesson is don’t crave for something beyond what God has given us. Do not be idolaters, verse 7, as some of them were, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and stood up to play. The golden calf, Exodus 32 through 34. Verse 8, nor let us act immorally as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in one day. This is when the in Numbers 25, when the Israelites committed fornication with the Moabite women. And so God sent a plague that destroyed many of the people until Phinehas came and stopped the plague by killing two who were committing fornication.

Verse 9, nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did and were destroyed by the serpents. This is when they’re passing around Edom as they’re preparing to go up on the east side of the Jordan before they will hear the speeches of Moses that were given in Deuteronomy, and then cross over into the land. So this is toward the end of the forty years of wandering. And they complained and grumbled. So God sent serpents to destroy them. Verse 10, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. This may be a reference to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Numbers chapter 16, who rebelled against Moses and especially against Aaron. And so God caused the ground to open up and to swallow them alive.

Verse 11. Now these things happened to them as an example. That is an example for us. And they were written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come. So the parallel is this. These Corinthians had come out of, they had come out of the bondage of sin, and they had come out of idolatry and immorality and all manner of sin, but they were washed, they were justified, they were sanctified, they were baptized into Christ Jesus. They were being led by that spiritual rock which is Christ. Were they going to imitate and do the same thing that the Israelites did? Well, they sure were acting like they might. And they sure had a lot of problems that Paul was dealing with. And so he’s saying there is a danger of becoming like the Israelites.

1. Do Not Be Overconfident

And let us heed those same warnings. We need to study the Old Testament. We need to learn those stories of immorality and God’s judgment against it so we can learn not to imitate that. But it makes perfect sense once you understand the context that the very next verse would be in verse 12 therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. Do not be overconfident. Is there a danger of overconfidence among Christians? Absolutely. It was a problem among the apostles. It wasn’t only Peter who said, I will never deny you. They all said the same thing. It was Peter who said, even if all deny you, I will never do that. But, of course, he did, and they all did that night when Jesus was arrested.

They all forsook him and fled. Confidence is a good thing. Confidence in overcoming sin is a good thing when it is based in reality. And when we realize what we’re up against, the apostles had no idea. They were even sleeping when Jesus was in the garden, praying. They had no idea what was coming. We say, Well, I can handle it. I’m strong. And we place ourselves right in the middle of a fire. And we think I won’t be burnt. Who do we think we are? Well, I can hang around these types of people. It won’t bother me. Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good morals. Who do we think that we are? Never ever let your guard down. Be sober. Be vigilant. For your adversary, the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Peter 5.8. I spoke with a man who grew up much of his life in South Africa. And what he told me is that lions will roar in part to intimidate their prey. And they will circle the herd of whatever prey it is they want to attack. Roaring. And the animals, the herd kind of goes into an alert, cautious, panicked mode, and congregate together. And the lion is watching for those that aren’t moving quite right. Those that are on the edge, on the fringes, those that are weak, those that are sick, those that are young. And then the lion attacks. That’s what I was told. That is true, it’s very fascinating to think about. Satan being a roaring lion. He’s not just roaring to scare us.

He’s seeking his prey. He’s intimidating and he’s looking for those who are not paying attention. For those who are young in the faith, for those who are weak in the faith, for those who are sick in the faith, for those who just aren’t paying attention. And those are the ones that he will attack. Never ever let your guard down. Be sober. Be vigilant, that passage says. We need to realize that temptation never goes away for good. After Jesus successfully resisted the temptations of Satan in Luke chapter 4. Verse 13 tells us that the devil left him until an opportune time. In other words, he was coming back. You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. You may have to fight it over and over and over and over.

You may have to fight until the day you die. Temptation, unlike opportunities, always gives you second chances. And the devil is always willing to give second chances. And he’s patient. Sometimes we underestimate Satan. You see, overestimating your own power is underestimating the power of Satan. He’s a roaring lion. And 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 and the heavenly places. Ephesians 6 and verse 12. That’s what we’re up against. Do you realize what we’re up against, brethren? Why are some of you asleep? I mean, right now. This is important. And let us not sleep in our lives. Satan is a roaring lion. We are up against the most fierce opponent that we could possibly face.

I didn’t mean to be harsh if I was harsh. I’m going to feel terrible about that later. I don’t ever say things like that. I’m sorry. Okay, alright. Well, I got kind of an amen right there, so. That’s the first time I’ve got one of those tells. I like that. Okay. Hicks and Gracie. Hicks and Gracie is one of the greatest fighters that the world has ever known. He’s a Brazilian fighter. He’s a jiu-jitsu martial artist. And the best of all the Gracie brothers, who are legendary. I met Hicks and Grace. I’ve been to his house. My instructor trained at his house. And Hickson Gracie says this this is his philosophy about fighting. Now he fought over 500 fights without ever losing. His philosophy is every single time that he would fight someone, in his mind, he would think of that person as the world’s fiercest opponent.

2. Do Not Be Unconfident

The world’s greatest fighter. It doesn’t matter who it is that he was fighting. That was always his mentality. Why? So that he would never underestimate his opponent. And that’s why he never lost. We don’t have to pretend that Satan is our greatest opponent. He is the world’s fiercest opponent. He’s God’s fiercest opponent. And so we need to realize who we’re up against. And we do not need to think to ourselves, I stand. Doing that is underestimating the power of Satan. So do not be overconfident. Now you might say, well, that’s not my problem. I mean, I don’t have a problem with too much confidence. My problem is too little confidence. And so we see that dealt with in the following verse, verse 13. No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man.

But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it or bear it, as the New King James Version says. So this verse provides balance with the previous verse. While we shouldn’t throw all caution to the wind, we also shouldn’t throw all hope of overcoming away either. And we learn in this passage three ways to gain confidence in temptation. And it is by realizing three things. Number one, temptation is common to all humanity. No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man. Your temptations are not unique. Your situation is not unique. A common excuse that some might make is that, well, my situation is unique.

Oh, sure, brother so-and-so over there, sister so and so, they’re so strong spiritually, you know. But they don’t have the money problems that I have. Oh, brother so-and-so is so strong, but he’s not married to the woman I’m married to. If he was married to her, he wouldn’t be so strong. Well, so and so doesn’t have the sickness that I have. They don’t know. And so you almost begin to think, I sort of have an excuse here. And I don’t know how I can overcome sin in my situation. But that is false reasoning. Someone, somewhere, sometime, has endured your exact temptation or far worse and has done far better than you have. Has done beautifully with it. In the adult class, we’re studying Job. Need I say more?

Or Jesus, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 15. In all points as we are. Well, someone might say, but he was divine. Yes, but he was also human. Temptation is common to all humanity. You are not a special case. The second thing that helps us gain confidence. And by the way, to look at that in a positive way, let me leave you with the thought. Make sure to imitate those who did overcome and realize that you can do it too. Second thing we need to realize is that no temptation is impossible to overcome. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.

You can give yourself more than you can bear. But God will not. Do not say it’s too hard. Well, I just can’t stop drinking. It’s too hard. I can’t stop taking drugs. It’s too hard. I can’t stop behaving in a homosexual manner. It’s too hard. I can’t control my temper. I had somebody tell me that one time. She said, I have Irish blood. And she said, Therefore, when I get angry, I just I just can’t control myself. And that was in a karate tournament. And then I had to fight her. Someone might say, Well, I can’t stop lusting. I had a young man tell me that one time. He said, the way the girls dress at school with their shorts up to here or whatever. He said, I just can’t.

I can’t stop lusting. Yes, you can. We need to stop saying I can’t. And we need to say I can. We need to adopt first, uh, we need to adopt Philippians 4, verse 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Don’t say it’s too hard. It’s not too hard. You’re just too weak. If we don’t overcome temptation, it’s because we’re too weak. Period. And we need to grow stronger because we can do it, and excuses won’t matter to God. Amen. We take it one moment at a time. Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory. You can endure it. No matter how far the temptation has progressed, you can still stop. Eve could have stopped even after Satan appeared and talked to her and she looked at that fruit and wanted it. She could have stopped. David could have stopped even after he saw Bathsheba from that rooftop. He didn’t have to go on and do what he did. Jacob could have stopped even after putting on those sheep skins on his arms and neck.

He didn’t have to deceive his father. So you’ve driven to a sinful place. And you’re standing at the door. You know you shouldn’t go in there. But you might think, well, I’m already here. I might as well do it. Don’t do it. Turn around and leave. You’ve gotten to a certain point with your boyfriend or girlfriend, and you have bad intentions in mind. You might think, well, there’s no stopping now. Yes, there is. You can stop. Might have typed something sinful in a computer. But you haven’t yet hit enter. Don’t hit enter. You can still stop. You can overcome temptation no matter how intense the peer pressure is. You can do it. You can overcome temptation no matter how intense your desire is to give in to it.

You can do it. As fierce as Satan is, if you resist him, he will flee from you. Gregory referred to that in James 4 and verse 7 in his lesson. He’s a ferocious lion, yet when we resist him, he will turn and like a scared little puppy, put his tail between his legs and run away from you. You have to stand your ground and resist. Overcoming Satan, however, is going to take hard work. No one can ask honestly or hopefully to be delivered from temptation unless he has himself honestly and firmly determined to do the best he can to keep out of it. So let us do that. Let us not be unconfident. We can overcome temptation. Well, so we’ve talked about confidence on both sides.

3. Don’t Just Stand There, Flee

Lack of and too much. But we haven’t talked about the very practical matter about how do we go about overcoming temptation when it happens. Well, it’s a very simple formula. And Paul gives it in verse 14 when he says, Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Flee. You mean that’s that’s all there is to it? Flee. That’s what it really comes down to. The Corinthians were flirting with idolatry. Idolatry is what they had come out of. I want to do some reading here. In the following verses, we’ll really just start in 14 and go through through verse 22. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Now he’s setting up a whole new section. I speak as to wise men, you judge what I say, which means you’re going to have to really pay attention at this part.

Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break, a sharing in the body of Christ. Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body. For we all partake of the one bread. Now pause there. What’s he doing talking about the Lord’s Supper in this context? Seems kind of out of place, doesn’t it? He’s setting up a parallel. So he’s saying, don’t you realize that when you take the Lord’s Supper, you are sharing in his body and in his blood. In essence, you are sharing in a worship by putting the stuff in your body that you do in taking the Lord’s Supper. Okay? Now, verse 18, a second parallel. Look at the nation Israel.

Are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? Okay? So the point there is, under the law of Moses, the priests who would eat the meat sacrificed to the Lord, they were sharing in the altar. They were sharing in the worship by putting this meat in their body. So two parallels about putting things in your body and sharing in worship. Now he’s making a point about eating meat sacrificed to idols. Okay? And I believe that the context is specifically here at the idol temple. Because in chapter 8 and in the latter part of chapter 10, he makes the point very clearly that eating meat sacrificed to idols in and of itself is not wrong, so long as you don’t cause a brother or sister to stumble.

Okay? But here it seems the context is dealing with eating meat sacrificed to the to the to idols at the idol altar. So we go on and look. Verse 19. What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we? His argument is this. You Corinthians are thinking, well, yeah, I’m going to the idol temple, and I’m eating the meat, but idols aren’t real.

And the meat is nothing is just meat. So what really is the problem? The problem is, though the idols are not real, there are demons that are real. And there are demons receiving that worship that is offered to the false idols. And when you go to the idol temple and you partake in that, though you are not truly worshiping an idol, you are in effect offering worship to a demon or partaking in a worship, I should say it that way, that a demon is receiving. And that is a very powerful point. That false worship is not just worship that is received by the air. It is received by demons. But anyway, they were flirting with idolatry. Oh, we can do that. We can eat that meat.

We can go to the idol temple. We’re not going to go back into idolatry. Who do they think they are? You see? We do the same thing. We flirt with sin. We get a right up to the edge. We do as much as we can do without it being this right here, but it’s still very dangerous and foolish. So we ought to flee from idolatry. The idea is proactively get away from sin with all intensity and focus. This is my third reference to martial arts in this one lesson. That’s unusual, but I have one more illustration. When I was coming up in my training, I trained from the age of nine, and once you get up into the advanced levels, they start teaching weapon defenses. And so we would learn gun defenses, and they would have a wooden fake gun, and if somebody’s point blank holding it up to you, you learn all these fancy moves that you could do.

But my instructor was, he was very pragmatic, very practical. And he would say, Listen, I’m going to teach you this stuff. I want you to learn these techniques. But the truth is, if somebody pulls a gun on you, you’re probably going to get shot and killed. Like, well, that’s very comforting. He said, but if you have opportunity, instead of standing there and fighting somebody with a gun, really the best thing to do is run. So really. This is what my karate teacher was telling me. He said, Listen, if you run, they might not shoot. If they shoot, they might not hit you. If they hit you, they might not kill you. So, you know, if somebody pulls a gun on you, that really is the bravest thing to do.

Maybe not the bravest, but the best. And so we need to flee. We need to flee from sin. Who are we to think that we can stand there in the dangers of temptation right in front of it and duke it out? We need to get out of there. We need to flee. And that may involve literally getting your body out of that place. Although I think it has more applications than just that. Didn’t Joseph do that? Didn’t he flee from Potiphar’s wife? So you’re at a party. Bad things start happening. You know what you need to do? Leave the party. You’re at a movie theater. A naked woman pops on the screen. Well, you should have known better before you got in there. But you know what you need to do at that moment?

Leave. But my friends are with me. Leave. Wait in the lobby. But I paid money for it. Leave. You don’t want to pay to go to hell. We go to the red box and we swipe our card and we get the movie and it’s trash. Here’s filth. Because 99% of it’s filth, brethren. And we have it in our hand. Now I’m not saying all of it because there’s that 1%. But if you’ve got the 99% in your hand, well, I’m going to take this home and you pop it in your DVD player. You have paid money to watch sin and fill your mind with. Are you fleeing from sin in that case? Well, I can listen to it. I won’t talk that way. Are you fleeing from sin when you act that way?

I can hang around these people, I won’t act that way. Are you fleeing from sin? That’s what it comes down to. No more excuses. We need to flee from sin. Amen. Call on God, but row away from the rocks. Ralph Waldo Emerson. I like that quote. Here’s another one. To pray against temptations and yet rush into occasions is to thrust your fingers into the fire and then pray they may not be burnt. Deliver me from temptation, God. Well, how about get your hand out of the fire and deliver yourself? Here’s my favorite one. A man went to the doctor complaining that he had broken his arm in two places. The doctor’s reply, well, then stay out of those places.

We go to places where we know bad things are going to go on. Are we fleeing from sin when we do that? No, we are not. We need to stay away from those places. We need to be careful in everything we do. Flee from sin. This is an idea that Paul repeats often. In 1 Corinthians, he says it in chapter 6. So this is earlier in the book in verse 18, flee immorality. This means sexual immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Flee from it. He says in 1 Timothy 6 11, but flee from these things. In the context, he’s talking about covetousness and greed. Flee from these things, you men of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

Conclusion

So it’s not only fleeing from sin, but it’s running towards righteousness. It is as Greg has said many times in his sermons, Romans 12 and verse 9 says, Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. I mean, we need to hate sin. It needs to fill us with abhorrence. The deepest level of hatred. In 2 Timothy 2 22, now flee from youthful lusts. Oh, the young have their lusts. You know what you need to do with them? Flee. Flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. I want to close with a parable. You’re asleep and you wake up to the smell of smoke. And the room you’re in is just filled with smoke.

Increasingly. Your house is on fire. Fortunately, you’re the only one there. So you jump out of bed and you begin to panic. How to get out. So you rush over to the door, but smoke is just billowing under the doorway. There’s no way you can get under there. I mean, get through there. So the only way out is a window. But you’re on the second floor. But you don’t have a choice. And down below is concrete. So you take a chair and you bust out the window and you clear as much glass as you can, and you get your legs out over the ledge. And what choice do you have? It’s either jump or die. So you jump, break your leg in the process. But you escape with your life.

When temptation surrounds us, you need to take the way of escape. I mean, that’s the moment where you have to get out. You can’t just stand there. This is a big deal. Now the escape route might not be easy to find. And it may not be convenient. And it will always be hard. But there is an escape route that God has provided. And it is our responsibility to take that escape. Any temptation can be overcome through diligent caution, intense effort, and complete reliance upon God. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you’re able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, so that you may be able to bear it.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Would you bow your head with me in a word of prayer? Our God, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy and for the strength you provide through your word. May we take this matter of sin and temptation very seriously and take our enemies seriously and take you seriously and put our full trust in you who provide the way of escape. It is through your Son that we pray. Amen. I don’t know how I skipped it, but I skipped a point. A small point, but a big point in a way. And that is God is the one who provides the way. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

Why did he do that? He could have made it impossible. He does that because he wants us to overcome. He wants us to go to heaven. He wants us to be like him and be like Jesus. The only way you can start doing that is by beginning your life as a Christian. You do that by repenting of your sin, turning away from it from it, repudiating it, and fleeing it, confessing your sin and confessing the name of Christ. And being baptized, buried in water, so that you can rise to walk in newness of life. If you’d like to become a Christian, why don’t you come this morning? And if you need the prayers of the church, if you’ve sinned in some way and you need strength and encouragement, or if you’ve sinned in some public way that you feel you need to come and make that known, we’d be happy for you to come, and we’d be happy to pray with you and for you if you’d come as we stand and sing the song of invitation.