8/16/26 “The Great Escape”
"The Great Escape"
1 Corinthians 10:13
Back in 1950, author Paul Brickhill wrote a book about a real-life event involving captured WWII Allied soldiers...
The soldiers worked as a team to dig tunnels out of the German prison in Poland where they were being held...a place called Stalag Luft 3.
13 years later, in 1963, a movie adaptation of the book came out starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, and James Coburn...
Many people remember the iconic motorcycle jump scene from the movie that continues to be one of the great cinematic stunts of all time...
In all, on March 24th 1944, 76 men escaped from that prison....
Unfortunately, however, the vast majority of those escapees were recaptured within 24 hours... and either executed....or put back in their cells until the end of the war...
But 3 men....3 men actually found their way to freedom...
A dutch pilot by the name of Bram van der Stok, and two Norwegian Air Force service men.... Per Bergsland and Jens Muller.
These individuals overcame incredible odds in order to successfully outrun...and outmaneuver....their pursuing captors.
Our passage of scripture for today is also about escaping....
Not from a WWII prison camp...but from Temptation.
Something that can be just as difficult to break free from....
Temptation has always been something mankind has dealt with....going all the way back to the Garden of Eden....
There we see the clever serpent tempting Adam and Eve to sin....and - as we all know - he was successful in that endeavor...
In fact, temptation continues to be an extremely difficult prison to break free from today....maybe more than ever before.
Just think of the many tools Satan has at his disposal that were not available to him just a few generations ago....
Just the internet alone has virtually unlimited ways in which mankind can be tempted to fall prey to his own sinful desires....
Many times, our culture prefers to make light of temptation.
Oscar Wilde once wrote "I can resist everything – except temptation"
He also said, "The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it"
I remember as a kid, one of my favorite tunes to sing along with while out in the field driving tractor was "Heaven's Just a Sin Away" by the Kendalls....
Anyone remember that song?
Catchy melody, right? ..... Heaven's just a sin away, oh-whoa, just a sin away...
It wasn't until I was about 13 years old that I actually began thinking about the words of that song....
...And I was like. ...OH. THAT is what this song is about!!!????
...and then I was just mad.
Mad that such a great melody had to be polluted by such a immoral message.
...and mad that I had been duped into enjoying a song that was – at the end of the day – about the glorification of sexual sin.
But actually...when it comes to temptation...that song describes humanity quite well...
Lyrics such as "Way down deep inside, I know that its all wrong....your eyes keep tempting me and I never was that strong....Devil's got me now, gone and got me now....I can't fight him anyhow....I think he's gonna win....
For the non-Christian....giving in to temptation is like breathing....
It comes very naturally....It's just doing what feels right....
...For the secularist...the naturalist....the humanist...the atheist....the existentialist....there is no such thing as temptation!
You just do what you want to do....
Because – according to your worldview - there is no higher being to whom you are accountable to....
It is only when we give our lives to Jesus Christ – the real, true supreme being who the world rejects - that the struggle with temptation takes place...
Our verse of scripture for today from 1 Corinthians chapter 10 is only one of many verses in the Bible that deal with the topic of temptation...
Many of you can probably think of a few instances in scripture where people are dealing with temptation of some kind...
We think of the temptation of Jesus himself.....right?
Jesus is finishing up his 40-day fast in the wilderness just before beginning his ministry....and Satan comes to tempt him to sin....
....which would have rendered his mission a failure.
Praise God that did not happen, Amen?
We think of Joseph in Egypt being tempted by Potipher's wife....
We like to think about these victories over temptation, because they have happy endings...
We don't like to dwell on the stories of temptation that have tragic endings
Yet...there are may of them.
We - of course – think of Adam & Eve being tempted by the serpent....the mouthpiece of Satan.
We think of Cain falling to the temptation to kill his brother Abel...
We think of the temptation of lust in the life of King David involving Bathsheba...
We think of Samson's physical strength....yet his flesh was no match for the temptation of pride...
We think of Moses succumbing to the temptation to act out in angry disobedience and strike the water-giving stone without God's permission...
We think of Ananias & Saphira being overcome by the temptation of greed...
We think of Peter falling to the temptation of fear by denying Jesus 3 times....
All of these stories and many more throughout the pages of scripture point to one deafening truth about human beings:
We don't do temptation well.
Even the most devout of believers will succumb to temptation of some kind from time to time....
Maybe not the "big" temptations of murder or adultery or thievery or abusiveness....
But falling to a "lesser" temptation.... is still sin.
....And the Bible doesn't contain a list of sins that don't lead to death, right?
This is why – as Paul writes - none of us can be prideful in and of ourselves....
...and this is why we all need a savior.
....this is why we all need Jesus.
Let's look at our verse of scripture again.
1 Corinthians 10:13 reads, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
Look at that first sentence: 'No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.'
The basic meaning of the word temptation (peirasmos) means 'to test' or 'to prove'....
Whether that testing results in our faithfulness – or our sin – completely depends upon our response to it....
We generally have a negative connotation to the word temptation...because - so often – we choose to respond to it in an unrighteous, sinful, way.
To be tempted in and of itself is NOT a sin....
Sin is a disobedient response to temptation.
It's important to note here that although God allows us to experience temptation in our lives... He will never introduce temptation into our lives...
Temptation never comes from God himself....
Does that make sense?
James makes this clear in Chapter one of his epistle when he writes, "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own desire, he is dragged away and enticed." (James 1:13-14)
In other words....when we respond to temptation by sinning....we cannot blame God for our actions....
It seems we all have only one person to blame when we have sinned....and that's the person in the mirror looking back at us....
In the Garden....Adam tried to blame his sin on Eve (Who God made for him..... so he was really blaming God)
Eve tried to blame the serpent (Who God also made.....so she too was actually blaming God)
We love to blame others for our own faults....for our own shortcomings...
In fact, our entire culture today is built on blame-shifting.
How often to modern secular therapists tell their clients that what they are currently struggling with in their lives is the result of their own sinful actions and choices.....NEVER!
It's always something else....
....It's your parents and how you were raised...It's your mean boss....it's your overbearing spouse...it's the online bully...it's the medication....it's the seasonal changes....it's the economy...it's the president...it's the potholes...It's because Culver's no longer serves Pepsi products...
(Well, that last one could have some truth to it.... 😊)
It's never our own fault!....We are a society that no longer accepts responsibility for our own actions, choices, and lifestyles....
James says that we cannot do this.
When it comes to temptation, we all have a choice.
We can either – by God's strength – resist it....thereby proving our obedience....and God's faithfulness in our lives....
...Or, we allow the temptation to linger...to hang out in our minds....to take hold of our thoughts....and lead us down the path of sin.
...A path in which our inherent sin nature wants to go.
...Saying no to temptation...in many ways....is saying no to ourselves!
Temptation can come upon us unexpectedly...but our decision as to how we react to it is always a process....
James articulates that process in the next verse.
Verse 15 (James 1:15) states, "Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death."
In the animal kingdom - as with mankind - there is always a period of time between conception and birth...
Living things are not conceived and birthed all at once...
So it is with the process of sinning in response to temptation.
James says that – like a fish desiring a shiny lure – we begin to desire something that we ought not have....
Then, the conception of desire is when we allow our minds to linger on that shiny lure of temptation...
Rather than swimming the opposite way...we entertain it...we analyze it...we process it....we conceive a desire for it....
Then....if that desire is not aborted in our mind...it will give birth to sin....
Either in action...or in our minds being completely fixated upon it.
Remember – sin does not have to be an action.....
...We can sin in our minds without ever lifting a finger.
Jesus says in the sermon on the mount that "Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:28)
This teaching doesn't just pertain to lust either....
We are perfectly capable of committing the sin of jealousy in our minds...
The sin of hatred...the sin of greed...the sin of condescension...the sin of racism....the sin of ungratefulness....
...All of these are desires that we've allowed to not only conceive...but to give birth in our hearts....
James says that if this heart posture becomes a chronic condition....
...If unrepentant sinfulness becomes our identity....then we are in danger of losing more than just a single battle in the war....
We're in danger of aligning ourselves with the side of evil...the side of death....the side that will ultimately lose the war between good and evil...
But....there is good news.
Back to our verse for today in 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
Verse 13 (1 Corinthians 10:13) reminds us that God will never allow for the Devil to be able to tempt us beyond our ability to resist the temptation...
God knows your individual capacity to resist temptation....
AND – not only does he know your limits...
But He also graciously provides a way out from under any temptation that comes your way...
For the men in the German prison....the way out was a tunnel....
...And for us....There will always be a tunnel of escape from whatever tempting situation is in our path....
Sometimes, this will be the ability to literally remove yourself from the source of the temptation...
Sometimes, it will be through a "positive" distraction that God providentially provides at just the right time....
Has that ever happened in your life?
I remember some time ago, there were thoughts rolling around in my head that really should not have been there....and before any of those thoughts had the opportunity to conceive and give birth to sin....
My phone rang. It was a pastor friend on the other line...
"Hey, brother...how's it going?"
...."Better now" was my response.
....I didn't mention why I was better now!
That call was my escape tunnel.....
Don't get me wrong....I don't always take the way out....
I sure wish I did, though.
LIke Paul in Romans chapter 7, .....and, like all of you here this morning – I grieve over the things that I do (Or think) that I know I shouldn't....
...Same holds true for sins of omission...those things that I don't do that I know I should.
If I had a dime for every time I committed a sin of omission in my life...Well....I'd have a boat load of dimes.
Temptation will always be around us...
In many ways...We really are like fish swimming around in a lake full of bait with hidden hooks within them....
It's completely our decision whether or not we allow ourselves to become enchanted by the bait...or whether we swim away.
At the end of the day, the bible gives us 3 ways to defeat temptation utilizing supernatural power...
The first is prayer.
Mark 14:38 says, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us to ask God through prayer not to lead us into temptation...
He's not saying that – as we saw earlier – that God tempts us to sin....
What Jesus is saying here is that we are to ask God to keep us strong enough to resist Satan's tempting snares....those dangling carrots of desire that he so cleverly places in our path....
Folks, prayer is essential in the life of a believer....and it is essential in going through a trial without that trial becoming a sinful temptation....
Secondly, as we are praying....we must trust that God will indeed deliver us from that temptation....
So often, we pray without believing that God really can do what we are asking of him....
.....Devil's got me now, gone and got me now....I can't fight him anyhow....I think he's gonna win....
Listen....our prayers are meaningless.....unless we truly believe that God can alter the course of whatever situation we're praying about....
If we face a tempting situation with the mindset of the Devil already having victory.....then, of course he's gonna have victory.
We must demonstrate to God through faith and trust that we are confident in His ability to provide strength to resist temptation...
Lastly, while going through a trial or tempting situation....we focus on our savior.....we focus on Jesus Christ.
Jesus endured every temptation common to man....and - therefore – he can help us through anything we may be going through as well...
Hebrews 12;3 says, "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the best way to say no to temptation....is to say yes to something better....
....And that something better....is Jesus....our way of escape.
Let's Pray.
