weekly sermon
9-16-07
Is That It?
Last week we talked about the power of prayer. We talked about what prayer means
to your relationship with God, how we are to pray, and how it helps us in our
Christian life. This week we will continue our quest to learn how to walk this
Christian life, by talking about weaknesses, strengths, and power. Recognizing at
all times your own weaknesses as well as God's strengths and keeping power.
First grab your Bible, I will wait. Now Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 10:12-13.
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (13)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."
Verse 13 gives us assurance of the eternal keeping of God in all temptations and His help in every one of them, providing we obey the warnings of verses 1-12. No man can be kept from a fall if he persistently refuses to meet conditions. Our standing depends upon our faith and union with God and steadfastness in prayer. The greatest saint can stand only as long as he depends upon God and continues in obedience to the gospel. Any man who rejects these conditions of living right will someday see that he can not escape death and eternal punishment. If you look in the previous verses, you will see some of the warnings of temptations that we are to resist.
Temptations started, in the Bible, from the very beginning. Now remember the story of Adam and Eve and how Eve was tempted by the serpent. She was tempted to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The serpent (satan) told her that she would surely not die as God had said, if she ate that particular fruit. She took a bite, and seen that she did not die. So she took it to Adam and he ate it also. Well we know that God was telling Adam and Eve that if they ate of that tree, that to die would mean the death of their innocence and eventually life all together, not immediate death. God came to them and they were hiding, because they then knew they did something wrong. They knew immediately that they were naked, and they were embarassed and ashamed of what they had done. This is conscience. Your conscience talking to you saying, you did something wrong. God then, as any parent, had to punish them for their wrong doings. They had the perfect life, living in the garden, all work provided for them, and all food provided for them. To punish them he caused the serpent to crawl in the dust, and the man and woman to be removed from their perfect place, and to live on their own having to raise their own food and make their own lives. We of course know that satan was the serpent, but did you know that the serpent was really a lizard? Just think about it, the Bible says that God told the serpent for punishment he would have to crawl on his belly from that day forward, which means he must have had legs to begin with. Oh well that is just one of the many points of humor I find in the Bible. Back to the message. Just as God punished Adam and Eve, he will punish us for falling into temptation. But as you can see in Genesis, in the story of Adam and Eve that, God also forgives.
Let us think about temptation and what the Bible really says about it and how it applies to modern day times. Turn with me to Luke 4:1-13. "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (2) Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. (3) And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. (4) And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. (5) And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. (6) And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. (7) If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. (8) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (9) And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: (10) For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: (11) And in [their] hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (12) And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (13) And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season."
Lets look at the 3 temptations that are shown here. First, turning a stone into bread, second, power, and lastly, tempting God. Why were these the ones shown here? I believe that they are the temptations that apply to modern day. These temptations cover everything that we have to deal with in our day and time.
The first one is something we deal with every day. We are hungry. From the man on the corner with the sign, "will work for food", to the wealthiest of the wealthy that eats every day. This is not only about bodily hunger, but hunger for many things. This is a hunger that man contains or the passion that man has for his goal at that particular time. That desire is our weakness at that moment.
Secondly we see Jesus tempted with all the kingdoms of the earth and having control or power of them. How does that apply to us in this day and time? How many have you noticed that want power? This is one of the most common weaknesses of the world today. On the grand scheme of this earth, we see that this is what causes wars, all the way down to friendly competition. Wars would be the most drastic symbol of wanting power. The friendly competition is still the ego wanting power, whether it be a power to control a country, or just the power to say mine is better than yours. If we would keep our mind set on God, as we discussed a few messages ago, then He would take care of what we need, no matter who around us has power. Whether you are the one in power, or someone around you, God will supply what it is you need for the task. The ego is what wants the power, and our true weakness.
Lastly, we see Jesus being asked to tempt God. How many of you have ever said, "if you will just give me this one thing, I promise...."? This is just another way of tempting God. "If you will make me well, I promise I will go to church every Sunday." "If you will take care of my child and heal him, I will promise to serve you better." Do these sound familiar? They are said by many day after day. They are just other ways of testing God.
These are our weaknesses. While we recognize these as our weaknesses, we have to
recognize God's strengths and power. Faith is the victory that overcomes the
world. Look in 1 John 5:1-4. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is
born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is
begotten of him. (2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we
love God, and keep his commandments. (3) For this is the love of God, that we
keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (4) For whatsoever
is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the
world, [even] our faith." Showing here that our faith will keep us from
temptation. Our faith will make us overcome the world and our weaknesses. This
also shows us that because of this faith we can see God's strength and power.
We are in a world of sin, temptation, and weakness, but fortunately we can
praise a wonderful God that, through our faith, has the strength and power to
bring us out of our weakness to become powerful Christians. Our weaknesses are
caused by evil, or satan, but we have knowledge that our God has power over
every demon and every thing that is wicked. Just as when the demons in the man
saw Jesus, they begged of Him. Mat 8:31, "So the devils besought him, saying, If
thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine." This is because
even they knew then, as they know now of God's power.
We all know we fall into temptation, and we should be praying, as was stated in
last weeks lesson, lead us not into temptation. Even with the knowledge that we
fall into temptation, we also have the understanding that God gives us the
faith to bring us through that temptation and deliver us from evil. And the
faith to know we will never go through any temptation that we can not handle, as
was stated in verse 13 at the top of this message. It says there that He [God]
gives us an escape from any temptation so that we have an out to be able to
avoid the ones we by ourselves can not bear.
I am very sure you know of temptation, it is common to all man, but if you do
not know the faith God gives to deliver us from evil, to forgive our sins and allow
our souls to have a relationship with the most holy God, then please say a simple
prayer with me to learn of this faith. Dear Lord, please come into my life and
deliver me from my weaknesses, and temptations, and take my soul to Heaven.
Amen.
If you said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation
and would love to rejoice with you. Contact us through this site so we can join
in your celebration and send you a few things to help you on your new Christian
walk.
With Love in Christ,
Pastor Stone