God's Strategy for Victory I

God’s Strategy for Victory I

1Cor. 10:1-14

Struggling with re-occurring sins? Feeling like you are trapped in habits and patterns that have become progressively worse? Have you ever said, "That will never happen to me!"? All of these questions point to some struggle with temptations! We need a way to win the battles against temptations. Without exception trials and temptations are welded to the human experience. Whether we are saved or lost the same holds true. Everyone on the planet is facing some sort of test at one time or another. All of us know what it means to feeling enticed by something forbidden, illegal, or unholy. We all have acutely felt the invitations of evil and have believed the false promises of satisfaction, thrills, or significance. Every one of us can also testify to the fact that the devil does not tell us everything up front nor in the heat of the moment. After we have failed and sinned comes the seemingly endless waves of guilt, remorse, sorrow, pain, disappointment, questions, disillusionment, and on the lists of regrets and consequences continue.

We need a way to win these battles with our temptations. Whether “temptation” means a certain person at the office, church, or in the community, we desperately need a way to beat temptations. Whether “temptation” is a long grueling trial in our family, walk with the Lord, physical body, Internet life, or a relationship, we need a means of enduring without failing the Lord or ourselves. The good news is God has made provision for Christians to experience real victory in our battles with temptations. What then is God’s winning strategy for reoccurring temptations?  How can we break the chains of defeats and become victorious? Actually, part of a sound strategy for overcoming temptations consists of refusing an overconfident attitude about our ability to handle them. God’s strategy for victory over temptations involves listening to His warnings, adopting His perspective, and trusting Him to supply power and grace to continue in righteous victory.

A CAUTION: Listen to God’s Warnings to Avoid Overconfidence While Facing Temptations (1Cor. 10:11-12).

Never let your guard down because of overconfidence in the face of temptation or never embrace a false sense of security. Sometimes we place too much stock in our privileges, situation, or perceived advantages, and fail to meet each battle with full strength. Such missed placed confidence manifests itself as overconfidence and we are blindsided by the magnitude of a test or enticement to do evil. There are three lessons we must learn in this connection.

Great Privileges Do Not Necessarily Provide an Impregnable Defense Against Temptations (1Cor. 10:1-5). Correctly Harold Willmington wrote,

The ancient Israelites enjoyed God's supernatural signs and spiritual blessings, but all to no avail, for their hearts were not right before him (10:1-5). The tragedies that befell them were recorded as object lessons and warnings to us, lest we also fall (10:6-11). We should always be on guard against temptation, trusting God to help us resist it (10:12-13).

Great opportunities, benefits, and promise do not guarantee great outcomes (10:1-4). Israel had received numerous blessings of God’s grace and witnessed many miracles performed before their very eyes. But they still failed!

Spiritual privileges do not prevent us from falling into sin.  Yes, we are saved; yes, we have some strength in the Lord. Yes, we belong to a Bible preaching church. Yes, we have viable ministries to introduce people to Christ. Yes, we have a well-equip ministry staff of great experience in Christian service. Yes, we habitually walk in the truth of God’s Word, but none of these eliminate the possibility of falling into sin. While it is true such privileges will make us less vulnerable to temptation and sin, nothing eradicates the possibility.  In fact our pride about our privileges can be the very thing the devil uses to drag us down into great sin!

Adam and Eve had splendid privileges as perfect human being living in perfect harmony with God, but still she fell into temptation and they sinned! While we want to use whatever advantages the Lord affords us to become strong against temptations, we must also recognize their limitations and our persistent vulnerabilities.

The Failures of Others Should Serve As Examples And Warnings To Us (1Cor. 10:6-11).

Yes, Israel gave in to temptation and fell into sin Repeatedly (1Cor 10:6-12). They were guilty of “lusting,” idolatry (Ex 32), fornication (Numb. 25), tempting God (Numb. 21:4-6), and complaining (Numb. 14 & 16). These forms of rebellion and sin are serious and God does indeed judge them. Some of these rebels died immediately (see 1 Cor. 11:29-31), and others were not permitted to enter the Promised Land. They were saved from Egypt but lost the privilege to claim their rich inheritance. There are consequences of enslavement to sin and entrenchment to wicked lifestyles as a result of repeatedly giving in to certain allurements. 

The meaning of Israel’s failures is not limited to their historical value (10:11). They are warnings to us who are living in this gospel age (10:11). “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Possibly you view trivial fleshly indulgences as of little consequence. A little complaining here, a tiny bit of ingratitude there, and a slight measure of lusting every now and again never hurt anyone…right? Perhaps you feel you can dabble with self-gratification and not be affected by it. Maybe you have convinced yourself that you can handle high living, lax attitudes about self-control, pleasure mongering, and self-indulgence. Such deceived individuals are in the greatest danger of falling into sin.

The Bible is filled with examples of the dangers of overconfidence. Sennacherib, king of Assyria (Isa. 36-38), was enjoying tremendous victory as he conquered the nations and kingdoms of the Middle East. Standing outside Jerusalem’s walls, his general Rabshakeh taunted Israel with the boast that her God could no more save her than the idol gods of other lands had saved them. A short time later, the Angel of the Lord was dispatched to strike down 185,000 troops in the camp of the Assyrians. When the surviving members of the camp awakened early the next morning, they found dead soldiers strewn everywhere. A few days after, this same defeated king returned to Nineveh, Assyria, where he was assassinated by two of his sons and succeeded on the throne by a third (Isa. 37:36–38). He was prideful, arrogant, blasphemous, self-sufficient, and he placed too much stock in his military might. If we are wise, we will learn from the failures of others and not pretend that we are better than they just because we have not falling into sin. Lusting/coveting, premarital sex, bitter complaining, pride, defying/daring God, deifying celebrities, revering sports figures, worshipping high-powered leaders, and loving/trusting money are serious sins in the eyes of Almighty God. Such behaviors are not only prevalent in society, but even ‘Christians’ are sanctioning many of these blatant violations of God perfect standard! The failures of others are not opportunities to gloat, but promptings to take serious inventory of our condition instead!

These Warnings Instruct Us To Avoid Overconfidence When Facing Temptations (1Cor. 10:12). One of the surest ways to fall into temptation and sin is to become overconfident.

Each Christian must be careful to avoid becoming Cocky and Overoptimistic by Overestimating our strength against sin (10:11-12). We can become too sure of ourselves, almost prideful. If Israel fell into idolatry, so could we. Many believers feel themselves perfectly secure in their Christian lives believing that they have arrived. They are saved, baptized, well taught, part of a Bible preaching church, and presumably mature. They think they are strong enough to freely associate with lost friends in their social activities and not be affected morally or spiritually, as long as they don’t participate in outright immorality or sin.

Temptations are common to everyone, even mature Christians. The noblest souls are often the ones most tempted. It seems that Satan assaults Christians in positions of leadership with his strongest weapons. Therefore, we must all be on our constant spiritual guard (Wiersbe).  There are dangers to maturity as well as to immaturity, and one of them is overconfidence. When we think we are strong, we discover that we are weak. The strong believer who assumes he has enough experience to handle anything may find himself struggling with an enemy who is too strong for him (Wiersbe).

No human being is ever beyond temptation while he or she is on this earth. We are warned to not let down our guard. Those most liable to fall are those who think they will not. “O, that will never happen to me,” they say! We cannot live long on the far edge of risk without falling into sin. When a Christian becomes so confident of his strength that he thinks he can handle any situation, he is in great danger of falling. The danger is not of falling from salvation but of falling from holiness and from usefulness in service. It is a serious danger and the Lord does not take it lightly. Therefore, He warns us!

Peter discovered that he was extremely weak in the very area he thought himself strong! Satan will not seduce some of us in our areas of weaknesses; he will come by way of our strengths to destroy us. Peter was most vulnerable in an area of strength, not weakness! He assured Jesus, “Lord, I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison, and to death!” But, as Jesus then predicted, before dawn Peter denied three times that he even knew The Lord (Luke 22:33–34, 54–62). We all tend to be overconfident in the areas we feel are our strengths…beware.

We should also strenuously avoid the deceptive game of “comparison pride.” Unfortunately most of us can list people who are moral, ethical, and spiritual “failures.” We may become proud of ourselves as Believers who have “stood strong” by comparison. This is a dangerous game to play:

·         We ought to take their failures as sober warnings of our own vulnerability to sin.

·         Such comparisons fail to demonstrate compassion for others who have failed.

·         Such prideful comparisons evidence NO respect or concern for the dangers of false confidence.

·         We must place our confidence in God rather than in our personal record or efforts.

If you visited the Golan Heights you would see the place where, in 1967, the Israelis penetrated the Syrian defenses and secured that strategic area for themselves. From those heights Syrian guns overlooked most of the Galilee region of northern Israel and were a constant threat. The entire Golan area was closely guarded by the Syrians, except for one spot where the cliffs were so high and sheer that they seemed perfectly safe from attack. One night, however, Israeli bulldozers cut out the cliffs enough to push tanks up to the top. By morning a large contingent of tanks, followed by infantry and supported by fighter planes, completely overran the Syrian positions and secured an area that extended ten miles inland. The spot the Syrians thought to be the safest turned out to be the most vulnerable (Source Unknown).