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᛭ INI ᛭

(5. Oops!: Temptation often attacks us!)

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, that you may be able to bear it.

Yeah, how’s that going for you? Yikes, huh? But let’s meet the problem head on. Let’s be honest about temptations: where they come from, who or what can actually overcome them, and what it means for you and me as Christians.

The problem with temptations is their source. Sure we can talk about the devil tempting us. We can talk about the temptations of the world: society or shows or movies or ads or friends or work or whatever else. But the devil or his kingdom of the world is only tapping into something within us!

The source of temptation we all want to ignore is, well, us! “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1) As Jesus Himself says, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man.” (Mt 15)

All of us face temptations, but temptation is also individual. What tempts you may tempt me, or it may not. What tempts me might tempt you, or maybe not! Yet, it’s still common. “There’s nothing new under the sun.” (Eccl 1) So also in a world of 8 billion people or among everyone who’s lived, you can find someone who’s tempted the same way you are.

(4. Ugh!: Temptation often overtakes us!)

Temptation’s a yikes kind of conversation, because you know how it goes. And that’s just the ones you realize! We often don’t even realize how up to our necks we are in temptations not only in feeling them giving in to sin. “Who can discern his errors,” (Ps 19) the Psalmist says. “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” (Gal 5) You cannot serve God and mammon or family or sports or work or politics or temptation or sex or booze or whatever it is!

Paul’s confession is a true one for all of us: “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

“I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7)

(3. Aha!: What hope then do you have?)

So, what hope do you have? None. None in you. And that’s why we don’t like this topic. It breeds hopelessness and fear because the devil and the world and our own flesh tricks us to believe that we must fix us rather than the Lord must fix us.

Some may also believe that they need not be fixed, that their temptations and sins are just the way they are. No need of Jesus. In them the words of Hebrews are coming true: “It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” (Heb 6)

They put Him to open shame because He no longer is their “shield” from devil, sin, and hell. He no longer is “strength and power” in temptation. He is no longer there to “make their way perfect,” blameless. (2 Sam 22) But for those who trust Jesus:

CHRIST AND HIS GIFTS ARE YOUR WAY OUT TO ENDURE TEMPTATION.

(2. CHRIST AND HIS GIFTS ARE YOUR WAY OUT TO ENDURE TEMPTATION.)

Christ is your way out because He Himself was “tempted just like you yet without sin.” He endured the attacks of the devil. He lived never giving in. He also suffered for your sins, paid their penalty, and rose from the dead to put an end to death, fulfilling His Father’s will, and gaining for Him a holy people—you forgiven from your sins.

His Gifts, His Word and Sacraments, are your way out, too. We always want to forget that. Our flesh and devil and world do not want us to avail ourselves of His Word and Gifts, because they will enliven us, fill us with the Spirit, strengthen us by His power that we will “walk in newness of life.” (Rom 6)

In fact, this is how Paul continues 1 Corinthians 10:

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, that you may be able to bear it.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. Paul talks about temptation then in the next breath speaks of Communion, maybe we should, too…

(1. We hold fast to His Word and Gifts, then!)

To feel temptation is, [then], a far different thing from consenting or yielding to it. We must all feel it, although not all in the same way. Some feel it in a greater degree and more severely than others. For example, the young suffer especially from the flesh. Afterward, when they reach middle life and old age, they feel it from the world. But others who are occupied with spiritual matters, that is, strong Christians, feel it from the devil. Such feeling, as long as it is against our will and we would rather be rid of it, can harm no one. For if we did not feel it, it could not be called a temptation. But we consent to it when we give it the reins and do not resist or pray against it.

Therefore, we Christians must be armed and daily expect to be constantly attacked. No one may go on in security and carelessly, as though the devil were far from us. At all times we must expect and block his blows. Though I am now chaste, patient, kind, and in firm faith, the devil will this very hour send such an arrow into my heart that I can scarcely stand. For he is an enemy that never stops or becomes tired. So when one temptation stops, there always arise others and fresh ones.

So there is no help or comfort except to run here, take hold of the Lord’s Prayer, and speak to God from the heart like this: “Dear Father, You have asked me to pray. Don’t let me fall because of temptations.” Then you will see that the temptations must stop and finally confess themselves conquered. If you try to help yourself by your own thoughts and counsel, you will only make the matter worse and give the devil more space. For he has a serpent’s head. If it finds an opening into which it can slip, the whole body will follow without stopping. But prayer can prevent him and drive him back. (LC III.107ff.)

…if you cannot discern this, at least believe the Scriptures. They will not lie to you, and they know your flesh better than you yourself. [As St. Paul concludes]in Romans 7, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” If St. Paul may speak this way about his flesh, we cannot assume to be better or more holy than him. But the fact that we do not feel our weakness just makes things worse. It is a sign that there is a leprous flesh in us that can’t feel anything. And yet, the leprosy rages and keeps spreading. As we have said, if you are quite dead to all sensibility, still believe the Scriptures, which pronounce sentence upon you. In short, the less you feel your sins and infirmities, the more reason you have to go to the Sacrament to seek help and a remedy. (LC V.76ff.)

For CHRIST AND HIS GIFTS ARE YOUR WAY OUT TO ENDURE TEMPTATION.

᛭ INI ᛭