The Way of Escape
It’s been said that people often crucify the present between two thieves; yesterday and tomorrow. In other words, often people don’t live in the grace that God provides for the present because they are either held hostage by past hurts, failures, regrets, or they’re worried and anxious about what the future holds. When we’re stuck in the past or worried about the future we are not living in the present by the grace that God provides. If we avail ourselves of God’s grace, He will heal past hurts so that we might rejoice in the present hour. But when we worry about tomorrow, we borrow from tomorrow’s troubles. And God doesn’t give us grace today for tomorrow’s troubles (Matthew 6:34). He gives us grace for today. Corrie Ten Boom put it like this: “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.”
When we are not living in the grace that God provides in the present, we are more susceptible to the temptation of finding relief, comfort, and pleasure in ways that are sinful and destructive. And this is what the bible calls idolatry. Idolatry, you see, is more than bowing down to a physical idol. We commit idolatry when we try to find in something or somebody what we can only find in God. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-22, we find 3 principles for overcoming the temptations that are common to us all.
Looking to His Provision
After explaining that Israel’s wilderness wanderings serve as an example so that the Corinthians might not desire evil as they did, Paul commands: “Do not be idolaters as some of them were;” (1 Corinthians 10:7a). And later Paul concludes his observations with, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14). When the Israelite’s desired evil things in the wilderness, they did so because they did not trust God to provide what they needed. And in the same way, if we don’t trust God to provide for our needs, we will look to other things to do for us what only God can do. This is idolatry.
In his book, Counterfeit gods, Tim Keller suggests that our hearts are idol-making factories that can turn just about anything into an idol, even good things. When we make good gifts from God ultimate in our lives, they take the place of God in our affections and allegiances. One example that Paul gives of the Israelites struggle with idolatry and putting Christ to the test, happened when they were grumbling and complaining about the lack of food (v.9). Numbers 21:4-9 records that because they grumbled and complained, the Lord sent poisonous serpents. As Stephen Um noted, “[God] also gave them a means of escape, [namely the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness, which symbolized the cross of Jesus] (John 3:15). They failed to trust him, so he sent a trial into their lives to show them that the one means of escape is to trust in him.”
Do you look to God at all times to lead you and to provide for your needs? As Jesus taught us, we must pray “Your kingdom come” so that His will is done in our lives. Are we waiting on God and trusting His timing or do we take matters into our own hands? God is worth waiting for!
But like the Israelites, many Christians today are wandering in a spiritual wilderness never making it into their Promised land—into the fullness of all that God desires for them to be in Christ. O they may have had some spiritual experiences in the past, but they’re failing to trust God’s provision in the present and consequently they’re turning to idols of their own making to do for them what only God can. It’s important to see that in the race of life, we must look unto God to provide and not take matters into our own hands. We must also lean on His power to endure trials. You see, the way of escape is not only God providing a way out of trouble, but the power to endure troubles for our good and the good of others.
Leaning on His Power
After pointing to the example of the Israelites’ propensity toward idolatry, Paul writes: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). What the Corinthians arrogantly viewed as their liberties in Christ not only caused others to stumble, but also put them in tempting situations that should have been avoided. Some in the church were eating food offered to the worship of idols. This food was purchased in markets and eaten at home, but it was also served in pagan temples. In these pagan temples, more was going on than the consumption of food and drink. Although the gods that these foods were offered to had no real existence (1 Corinthians 8:4), Paul explains in verse 20 that demons were behind the ritual practices going on in these temples which included cult prostitution. Hanging out in these temples not only opened the door to temptations, like sexual immorality, but also to demonic influence and participation (1 Corinthian 10:19-20).
Notice that Paul further explains to the Corinthians in verse 13: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Paul is stating a general principle here that would only be realized if the Corinthians looked to God’s provision and did not lean on their own power and understanding (Proverbs 3:4-5). The word "temptation" translated here could mean both the difficulties of life or the allurement of sin. When we look to God and lean on His power, we can trust His faithfulness to deliver us from a hardship or to give us the grace to endure it. If the temptation is an allurement to sin, and we lean on His power and not our own understanding, He will give us the strength to escape either by avoiding it or by fleeing from it.
But if like the Corinthians, we think that we can exercise our liberties and stand up to whatever temptations might be associated with them in our own understanding, we are putting God to the test. It’s not that we are making it harder for God, but that we are making it harder for ourselves. In other words, when we are looking to God and leaning on His power —when we pray, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” we won’t put ourselves in vulnerable situations simply because we think we have the liberty to do so. We won’t sit down at a Hooters restaurant where the waitresses are scantily dressed because we like the chicken wings. You won’t sleep over at your girlfriend’s house. When your ultimate allegiance is to God and not to something or somebody, which is idolatry, you will avoid people, places and positions that will feed sinful appetites and give the devil a foothold.
Living in His Presence
Having explained that because God is faithful we can trust Him in times of trials and temptations to make a way of escape so that we may be able to endure it, Paul continues: “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14). In other words, Paul is saying, in view of God’s faithfulness and promises, don’t make your own way of escape, but instead trust in God’s way of escape. Don’t be like the Israelite’s who got impatient. And rather than trusting the faithfulness of God, who brought them out of the bondage of Egypt, manufactured their own god to provide for their own heart’s desires.
When we draw near to Christ through the Lord’s supper in community and other means of grace, like prayer and the word, Christ draws near to us. In other words, we experience His presence and enjoy His fellowship through the work of the Spirit in our hearts. It’s the joy of communion and fellowship with Christ that provides the way of escape in trials and the power to flee idolatry.
After explaining how we participate with Christ through the Lord’s Supper, Paul concludes: “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. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians 10:19-22). Why does Paul say you can’t partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons? John Piper explains it like this: “You can't. Because when you truly partake of the cup and the table of the Lord, you are being nourished and satisfied by the Lord, and loving the Lord, and delighting in the Lord, and trusting the Lord and fellowshipping with the Lord. That's what it means to [participate] in the blood and body of Christ—to sit with Jesus at the banquet of the benefits of his death. In that kind of experience idols and demons lose all their attraction and all their power.”
How do we overcome the temptation to make idols in our hearts of even good things, which will then become our masters and keep us from God’s best for our lives? How do we keep from going in circles in our own spiritual wilderness so that we might obtain the fullness of the spiritual life and blessings that Christ purchased for us with His own blood?
We look to His provisions and wait on Him in all circumstances. Someone said, it’s better to wait long than to marry wrong. Don’t crucify today between the two thieves of yesterday’s hurts and tomorrow’s uncertainties. Trust God and look to Him to supply the grace you need for each and every day. We overcome the snare of idolatry by leaning on His power, not our own understanding or the false securities of this world.
But more importantly, the idols of this world will lose all appeal when we live in the enjoyment of His presence through worship based prayer and the word and bask in all that God is for us in Christ. God is faithful! We trust Him to make a way of escape when there seems to be no way. Living and delighting in His presence is our escape. Christ is our rock and only sure foundation. May we forever drink of His fountain, which will never run dry.
In your service,
Pastor Marco
When we are not living in the grace that God provides in the present, we are more susceptible to the temptation of finding relief, comfort, and pleasure in ways that are sinful and destructive. And this is what the bible calls idolatry. Idolatry, you see, is more than bowing down to a physical idol. We commit idolatry when we try to find in something or somebody what we can only find in God. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-22, we find 3 principles for overcoming the temptations that are common to us all.
Looking to His Provision
After explaining that Israel’s wilderness wanderings serve as an example so that the Corinthians might not desire evil as they did, Paul commands: “Do not be idolaters as some of them were;” (1 Corinthians 10:7a). And later Paul concludes his observations with, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14). When the Israelite’s desired evil things in the wilderness, they did so because they did not trust God to provide what they needed. And in the same way, if we don’t trust God to provide for our needs, we will look to other things to do for us what only God can do. This is idolatry.
In his book, Counterfeit gods, Tim Keller suggests that our hearts are idol-making factories that can turn just about anything into an idol, even good things. When we make good gifts from God ultimate in our lives, they take the place of God in our affections and allegiances. One example that Paul gives of the Israelites struggle with idolatry and putting Christ to the test, happened when they were grumbling and complaining about the lack of food (v.9). Numbers 21:4-9 records that because they grumbled and complained, the Lord sent poisonous serpents. As Stephen Um noted, “[God] also gave them a means of escape, [namely the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness, which symbolized the cross of Jesus] (John 3:15). They failed to trust him, so he sent a trial into their lives to show them that the one means of escape is to trust in him.”
Do you look to God at all times to lead you and to provide for your needs? As Jesus taught us, we must pray “Your kingdom come” so that His will is done in our lives. Are we waiting on God and trusting His timing or do we take matters into our own hands? God is worth waiting for!
But like the Israelites, many Christians today are wandering in a spiritual wilderness never making it into their Promised land—into the fullness of all that God desires for them to be in Christ. O they may have had some spiritual experiences in the past, but they’re failing to trust God’s provision in the present and consequently they’re turning to idols of their own making to do for them what only God can. It’s important to see that in the race of life, we must look unto God to provide and not take matters into our own hands. We must also lean on His power to endure trials. You see, the way of escape is not only God providing a way out of trouble, but the power to endure troubles for our good and the good of others.
Leaning on His Power
After pointing to the example of the Israelites’ propensity toward idolatry, Paul writes: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). What the Corinthians arrogantly viewed as their liberties in Christ not only caused others to stumble, but also put them in tempting situations that should have been avoided. Some in the church were eating food offered to the worship of idols. This food was purchased in markets and eaten at home, but it was also served in pagan temples. In these pagan temples, more was going on than the consumption of food and drink. Although the gods that these foods were offered to had no real existence (1 Corinthians 8:4), Paul explains in verse 20 that demons were behind the ritual practices going on in these temples which included cult prostitution. Hanging out in these temples not only opened the door to temptations, like sexual immorality, but also to demonic influence and participation (1 Corinthian 10:19-20).
Notice that Paul further explains to the Corinthians in verse 13: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Paul is stating a general principle here that would only be realized if the Corinthians looked to God’s provision and did not lean on their own power and understanding (Proverbs 3:4-5). The word "temptation" translated here could mean both the difficulties of life or the allurement of sin. When we look to God and lean on His power, we can trust His faithfulness to deliver us from a hardship or to give us the grace to endure it. If the temptation is an allurement to sin, and we lean on His power and not our own understanding, He will give us the strength to escape either by avoiding it or by fleeing from it.
But if like the Corinthians, we think that we can exercise our liberties and stand up to whatever temptations might be associated with them in our own understanding, we are putting God to the test. It’s not that we are making it harder for God, but that we are making it harder for ourselves. In other words, when we are looking to God and leaning on His power —when we pray, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” we won’t put ourselves in vulnerable situations simply because we think we have the liberty to do so. We won’t sit down at a Hooters restaurant where the waitresses are scantily dressed because we like the chicken wings. You won’t sleep over at your girlfriend’s house. When your ultimate allegiance is to God and not to something or somebody, which is idolatry, you will avoid people, places and positions that will feed sinful appetites and give the devil a foothold.
Living in His Presence
Having explained that because God is faithful we can trust Him in times of trials and temptations to make a way of escape so that we may be able to endure it, Paul continues: “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14). In other words, Paul is saying, in view of God’s faithfulness and promises, don’t make your own way of escape, but instead trust in God’s way of escape. Don’t be like the Israelite’s who got impatient. And rather than trusting the faithfulness of God, who brought them out of the bondage of Egypt, manufactured their own god to provide for their own heart’s desires.
When we draw near to Christ through the Lord’s supper in community and other means of grace, like prayer and the word, Christ draws near to us. In other words, we experience His presence and enjoy His fellowship through the work of the Spirit in our hearts. It’s the joy of communion and fellowship with Christ that provides the way of escape in trials and the power to flee idolatry.
After explaining how we participate with Christ through the Lord’s Supper, Paul concludes: “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. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians 10:19-22). Why does Paul say you can’t partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons? John Piper explains it like this: “You can't. Because when you truly partake of the cup and the table of the Lord, you are being nourished and satisfied by the Lord, and loving the Lord, and delighting in the Lord, and trusting the Lord and fellowshipping with the Lord. That's what it means to [participate] in the blood and body of Christ—to sit with Jesus at the banquet of the benefits of his death. In that kind of experience idols and demons lose all their attraction and all their power.”
How do we overcome the temptation to make idols in our hearts of even good things, which will then become our masters and keep us from God’s best for our lives? How do we keep from going in circles in our own spiritual wilderness so that we might obtain the fullness of the spiritual life and blessings that Christ purchased for us with His own blood?
We look to His provisions and wait on Him in all circumstances. Someone said, it’s better to wait long than to marry wrong. Don’t crucify today between the two thieves of yesterday’s hurts and tomorrow’s uncertainties. Trust God and look to Him to supply the grace you need for each and every day. We overcome the snare of idolatry by leaning on His power, not our own understanding or the false securities of this world.
But more importantly, the idols of this world will lose all appeal when we live in the enjoyment of His presence through worship based prayer and the word and bask in all that God is for us in Christ. God is faithful! We trust Him to make a way of escape when there seems to be no way. Living and delighting in His presence is our escape. Christ is our rock and only sure foundation. May we forever drink of His fountain, which will never run dry.
In your service,
Pastor Marco