WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.690 The apostle just gave the Corinthians a serious warning. 2 00:00:06.690 --> 00:00:17.300 In this warning passage, he’s singled out several specific sins that he wants them to particularly pay attention to and avoid. 3 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:27.390 He gives examples from the Old Testament of people who also had received great grace and blessing from God, and yet had failed. 4 00:00:27.390 --> 00:00:32.540 He says, they experienced these same tests of faith. 5 00:00:32.540 --> 00:00:43.160 They presumptively, on the grace of God, were not able to pass those tests. 6 00:00:43.160 --> 00:00:48.660 He singles out specifically idolatry. 7 00:00:48.660 --> 00:00:55.560 God expects us to love Him and love Him alone. 8 00:00:55.560 --> 00:01:00.340 He wants us to love Him Himself and not the gifts and the things that He gives. 9 00:01:00.340 --> 00:01:11.980 He wants us to seek Him for His own self, so that we worship Him and not just seek Him in order to gain some type of blessing in our life. 10 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:23.040 He warns them against immorality, which is a form of rebellion against God, a sexual immorality in particular, that leads people’s hearts away from God. 11 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:36.090 He warns them not to, through sinful, willful disobedience, test the patience of God. 12 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:56.420 Do not test the limits of His patience by these kinds of sins, or to complain, to have their hearts moved away from God so much so that they’re dissatisfied with what God has brought about. 13 00:01:56.420 --> 00:02:11.240 They’re complaining and their hearts are moved towards with, you know, to actually, last week we looked at it, it leads their hearts to rebellion. 14 00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:29.500 In light of this, Paul points out that the things that the Corinthians are struggling with, the sins that they’re struggling with, the tests of faith that they’re struggling with, are things that are common to everyone. 15 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:38.760 The text we’re looking at this morning is 1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man. 16 00:02:38.760 --> 00:02:52.100 And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will with the temptation provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 17 00:02:52.100 --> 00:03:07.540 The first thing that Paul points out is that for the Corinthians and for us, we’re not unique in facing the tests and the trials and the temptations that we’re experiencing. 18 00:03:07.540 --> 00:03:12.660 Tests and temptations are common to all mankind. 19 00:03:12.660 --> 00:03:19.180 It says, No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man. 20 00:03:19.180 --> 00:03:24.520 My text translates this as *temptation*. 21 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:28.920 Some translations use the word *test*. 22 00:03:28.920 --> 00:03:33.320 They do that because *test* is the basic meaning of this word. 23 00:03:33.320 --> 00:03:40.740 The primary meaning of the word is the test that you are undergoing. 24 00:03:40.740 --> 00:04:02.260 In fact, the word that is used here, *peirasmos* or *peirazo*, this word is used in the New Testament to describe both tests, just the idea of your faith being tested, and the idea of temptation. 25 00:04:02.260 --> 00:04:08.360 So you have to understand what the word means from its context. 26 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:12.860 Here, I think two things are in view. 27 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:22.060 I would say it’s very probable, almost certainly, includes both ideas. 28 00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:26.360 That’s not so difficult to understand when we think about it. 29 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:32.760 We distinguish in English the difference between a test and a temptation. 30 00:04:32.760 --> 00:04:46.080 If you are tested, that means it’s the idea of putting something to the test in order to see what it’s made of. 31 00:04:46.080 --> 00:04:54.880 You test, somebody has a jewel, and they want to know whether it’s genuine or not. 32 00:04:54.880 --> 00:05:05.920 They take it to a jeweler who looks at it under the glass, sometimes does some tests, in order to determine its genuineness. 33 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:23.040 A test, in the New Testament, that is brought to us by God, is a circumstance in your life that God allows in order to demonstrate that your faith is genuine. 34 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:27.660 To demonstrate the nature of who you are. 35 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:40.280 A temptation, the English word temptation, we use that word to describe a situation, a trap that is being set. 36 00:05:40.280 --> 00:05:52.100 A circumstance is coming about with evil intent for the purpose of tripping you up, causing you to fall. 37 00:05:52.100 --> 00:05:53.960 God never does that. 38 00:05:53.960 --> 00:05:58.220 God never trips you up to cause you to fail or to fall. 39 00:05:58.220 --> 00:06:09.980 God never brings about a circumstance with the idea that you will, with the intent of making you fall into sin. 40 00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:11.860 It’s clear in Scripture. 41 00:06:11.860 --> 00:06:21.900 In fact, the Apostle James tells us in James 1:13-14 : When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” 42 00:06:21.900 --> 00:06:26.880 For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. 43 00:06:26.880 --> 00:06:48.240 But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is dragged away and enticed. 44 00:06:48.240 --> 00:07:07.300 Temptation to evil finds its source in Satan, or in this evil world system, or in these things that appeal to, as James says here, that appeal to our own sinful desires. 45 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:14.080 It can arise from our own sinful heart. 46 00:07:14.080 --> 00:07:22.980 We think about these things, we have to realize that practically speaking, there’s an overlap that takes place here. 47 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:27.480 I think theologically, we should separate it in our mind. 48 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:37.940 God allows a test, circumstances to be brought in our life in order that our faith can prove genuine, to test the genuineness of our faith. 49 00:07:37.940 --> 00:07:49.080 Those same circumstances, however, when not met with faith, become an area of temptation for us. 50 00:07:49.080 --> 00:07:55.340 Once it falls into temptation, it often leads to the sins that follow. 51 00:07:55.340 --> 00:08:04.240 At that point, having failed the test, that indulging in temptation is a sin in itself. 52 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:09.600 God never gives that second part, but He often gives the first part. 53 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:29.100 If you remember the whole account of the Book of Job, you can see how this works in the Book of Job, how God allows a test, a circumstance to come into Job’s life, and Satan is there who intends that test for evil. 54 00:08:29.100 --> 00:09:29.060 But God is working good through that when He allows it. 55 00:09:29.060 --> 00:09:39.000 God can work good through even the works of the devil in the life of a person, in the life of His people. 56 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:42.140 So we need to keep that in mind. 57 00:09:42.140 --> 00:09:45.490 Luther said, “Even the devil is God’s devil.” 58 00:09:45.490 --> 00:09:48.000 God is sovereign over everything. 59 00:09:48.000 --> 00:10:19.320 In that sense, He can take the worst sins of mankind and work them for good and provision for His people, as He did with Joseph’s brothers and Joseph, as He did on the cross, taking the wickedness of the wicked people and using that to bring about the greatest thing in all of history, the deliverance that comes to us through the cross of Jesus Christ, salvation and the completion of Christ’s work. 60 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:32.080 So every test of faith can become an occasion for sin or it can become an opportunity where we can be sanctified and prove the genuineness of our faith. 61 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:40.800 As McLaren said, “Temptation says, Do this pleasant thing, and do not be hindered by the fact that it’s wrong. 62 00:10:40.800 --> 00:10:49.860 But a test from God says, Do this right and noble thing, and do not be hindered by the fact that it’s painful. 63 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:52.740 That’s the difference between these two things. 64 00:10:52.740 --> 00:11:06.660 This Greek word, *peirasmos*, refers to all the trials, the testings, and the temptations that go into furnishing a test of your character. 65 00:11:06.660 --> 00:11:17.220 That can lead to sin or it can lead to God commending you because of your faithfulness to His Word. 66 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:24.000 So God sends these tests of faith to show the nature of a person. 67 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:25.240 They do that. 68 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:28.680 They show our nature and our character. 69 00:11:28.680 --> 00:11:31.360 You see someone walking along with a cup. 70 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:34.280 You may not know what’s in the cup. 71 00:11:34.280 --> 00:11:35.120 What is it? 72 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:36.140 Is it ink? 73 00:11:36.140 --> 00:11:37.080 Is it water? 74 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:39.020 Is it coffee? 75 00:11:39.020 --> 00:11:42.600 When their hand is jostled, we all find out. 76 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:47.740 When the test comes, it reveals the nature of what’s on the inside. 77 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:51.820 It reveals what is true about us. 78 00:11:51.820 --> 00:11:57.420 When we experience tests, what does that show about us? 79 00:11:57.420 --> 00:12:00.900 What is the nature that is revealed? 80 00:12:00.900 --> 00:12:11.980 Galatians 5:16 says, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 81 00:12:11.980 --> 00:12:23.560 Is it the Spirit that you are walking by that shows itself to be, reveals itself in the moment of your testing? 82 00:12:23.560 --> 00:12:31.240 Galatians 2:20 : I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 83 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:39.020 The life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. 84 00:12:39.020 --> 00:12:42.420 That’s the way that we should respond. 85 00:12:42.420 --> 00:12:50.960 When we receive tests, what should show up is the person and the nature of Christ Himself in us. 86 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:53.120 That’s what should be revealed. 87 00:12:53.120 --> 00:13:02.480 God allows us to go through tests so that His own good character and nature, the grace that’s operative in us, can be displayed. 88 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:12.320 As the grace of God is displayed when we pass and respond rightly to a test, that brings glory to God Himself. 89 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:19.800 It’s a great testimony to the reality of the truth of the Gospel, and how it works in us. 90 00:13:19.800 --> 00:13:27.220 When our faith is tested, and we respond true to the Lord in the test, God uses that. 91 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:29.060 He changes people through that. 92 00:13:29.060 --> 00:13:32.580 He changes us through it, through sanctification. 93 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:34.300 He changes other people through it too. 94 00:13:34.300 --> 00:13:42.880 They see the genuineness of the reality of the grace and Gospel of God, and so they respond to that. 95 00:13:42.880 --> 00:19:32.500 So, every test of faith can become an occasion for sin or it can become an opportunity where we can be sanctified and prove the genuineness of our faith. 96 00:19:32.500 --> 00:19:36.470 So it’s an encouraging word. 97 00:19:36.470 --> 00:19:44.220 The next thing that Paul wants us to, calls our attention to, and this is probably the key. 98 00:19:44.220 --> 00:20:01.820 If you’re looking for a key to deal with temptation and struggle with tests, it comes in this very next part of this verse: No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, and God is faithful. 99 00:20:01.820 --> 00:20:04.520 That’s what he says. 100 00:20:04.520 --> 00:20:12.600 He calls our attention in the test back to the character of God. 101 00:20:12.600 --> 00:20:27.920 Remember in that example last week from Israel, Israel in the wilderness, they go through circumstances in their life that they do not like, and they began to doubt the goodness of God. 102 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:32.500 They grumbled against God. 103 00:20:32.500 --> 00:20:33.900 We’re not to do that. 104 00:20:33.900 --> 00:20:36.840 We’re to do exactly the opposite. 105 00:20:36.840 --> 00:20:39.920 We’re to put on the shield of faith. 106 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:53.420 The shield of faith is trusting God, trusting Him for who He is, trusting Him for His goodness, trusting Him and recognizing that God is faithful. 107 00:20:53.420 --> 00:20:54.740 He is good. 108 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:58.400 He gives every good and perfect gift. 109 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:11.000 That means that if God has allowed this to come into your life right now, this miserable experience that you’re going through right now, if God has allowed it, then He has some great good in mind for it. 110 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:13.080 We’re to trust Him with it. 111 00:21:13.080 --> 00:21:16.680 Nothing evil comes from His hand. 112 00:21:16.680 --> 00:21:23.120 So if He’s allowed the circumstances that you’re facing, He has good purpose for it. 113 00:21:23.120 --> 00:21:25.020 We’re to trust that purpose. 114 00:21:25.020 --> 00:21:29.080 We’re to know that it’s there. 115 00:21:29.080 --> 00:21:32.780 He’ll bring blessing through those discouraging trials. 116 00:21:32.780 --> 00:21:47.490 As the hymn we sing, “Fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds you so much dread are filled with mercy, and will break with blessings on your head.” 117 00:21:47.490 --> 00:21:52.120 So we’re to trust Him. 118 00:21:52.120 --> 00:21:57.580 God is trustworthy, and He doesn’t fail us. 119 00:21:57.580 --> 00:22:10.160 As we go through the trial, as we go through the test, as we go through the temptation, when it presents itself, God is there with us, and we need to keep that in mind. 120 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:12.420 He is, we’re to trust with Him. 121 00:22:12.420 --> 00:22:16.820 He goes with us through the test. 122 00:22:16.820 --> 00:22:21.800 Jesus said, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 123 00:22:21.800 --> 00:22:28.020 God says in the book of Hebrews , I will never leave you nor forsake you. 124 00:22:28.020 --> 00:22:43.540 The Psalmist, when he looked at the darkest trial of his life, said, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 125 00:22:43.540 --> 00:23:00.660 When we experience a test and a trial, we know that God who is sovereign and who is all-powerful, and who is perfectly good and righteous, has allowed this trial and test to come into our life for a purpose, and that purpose is for our good ultimately. 126 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:04.160 We can trust Him for it, that He will bring us through it. 127 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:07.240 When He brings us through it, it will be for our good. 128 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:09.900 It will be glorious. 129 00:23:09.900 --> 00:23:22.420 One of the ways that Paul points out that God is faithful here is that He tailors the test that we’re to receive to our abilities. 130 00:23:22.420 --> 00:23:30.320 In the first part of this verse, He points out that the kinds of things that we experience are common to all people. 131 00:23:30.320 --> 00:23:31.140 They are. 132 00:23:31.140 --> 00:23:45.280 There’s nothing that is absolutely unique about every sin, every sin and temptation, and every test and hardship that we experience has its own unique characteristics. 133 00:23:45.280 --> 00:23:52.630 But they’re all largely the same kinds of things that everybody experiences. 134 00:23:52.630 --> 00:24:00.110 And yet, God shapes the test that you receive for you. 135 00:24:00.110 --> 00:24:02.660 He gives the test that you receive. 136 00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:10.520 He sovereignly makes sure that the test that you receive is tailored to your abilities. 137 00:24:10.520 --> 00:24:15.840 He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. 138 00:24:15.840 --> 00:24:24.800 He’ll not allow you to be tested beyond the grace that He has already given you to meet that test. 139 00:24:24.800 --> 00:24:34.440 A good pilot, before he prepares his plane to take off, one of the things that he makes sure of is the cargo, how it’s loaded on the plane. 140 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:37.320 He makes sure that it’s not loaded too heavy. 141 00:24:37.320 --> 00:24:40.020 The same thing with a ship. 142 00:24:40.020 --> 00:24:44.500 There’s the Plimsoll mark on the side of a ship, a cargo ship. 143 00:24:44.500 --> 00:24:49.980 When they’re loading the ship with cargo, the ship sinks down into the water. 144 00:24:49.980 --> 00:24:54.660 When it reaches the Plimsoll mark, they can load no more on. 145 00:24:54.660 --> 00:24:58.180 That’s its limit, that’s what it can take. 146 00:24:58.180 --> 00:25:05.180 God, when He allows a trial or test in your life, doesn’t give you more than you can handle. 147 00:25:05.180 --> 00:25:15.500 If you fall away and fail to trust Him, you will fall short of His provision which He already knows is there, which He’s made available to you. 148 00:25:15.500 --> 00:25:19.740 That’s why it’s sin. 149 00:25:19.740 --> 00:25:27.340 So He tailors the test that you have to endure to the measure of grace that He’s already given you. 150 00:25:27.340 --> 00:25:37.180 The next thing, the next way that He shows His faithfulness is that with the test, God gives us a way of escape. 151 00:25:37.180 --> 00:25:45.440 It’s important for us to look for the provision, for the way of escape that God has given for us in the test. 152 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:53.920 But with the temptation, He says, He provides the way of escape also. 153 00:25:53.920 --> 00:26:04.440 The imagery here is of an army that is caught and surrounded by the enemy, and as the enemy surrounds them, there is a pass. 154 00:26:04.440 --> 00:26:06.580 That’s literally what this word means. 155 00:26:06.580 --> 00:26:12.240 It’s a path, a narrow pass through a narrow place where you can escape. 156 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:19.380 You can go through that narrow path and avoid the army that surrounded you. 157 00:26:19.380 --> 00:26:22.880 God gives us a way of escape. 158 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:25.860 We have to look for that. 159 00:26:25.860 --> 00:26:43.040 When I said theologically, probably the best way to think about the tests and circumstances that God gives us is to think first of all of it as a test that God has given, and then recognize that it can lead into temptation. 160 00:26:43.040 --> 00:26:48.900 But the test, if you pass it, you won’t feel the temptation. 161 00:26:48.900 --> 00:26:55.000 You won’t feel the strength of the temptation. 162 00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:16.760 It may not be the best of examples, but if you routinely go into a convenience store, maybe you buy your gas there. 163 00:27:16.760 --> 00:27:20.960 As you go in to pay, you pay on the inside. 164 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:29.880 So if you go in to pay, you know that there’s a magazine rack and they have not the kinds of things that you should be looking at. 165 00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:32.840 Well, don’t go over there. 166 00:27:32.840 --> 00:27:37.240 The test is to avoid it. 167 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:46.700 The Corinthians are toying around with idolatry and they think that they have everything that they need to avoid it. 168 00:27:46.700 --> 00:27:53.140 Out of grace, God provided a provision for them in His Word. 169 00:27:53.140 --> 00:28:05.420 Back in *Acts*, He tells them, “Don’t eat things, don’t handle things sacrificed to idols, don’t eat these things.” 170 00:28:05.420 --> 00:28:07.740 Is there a sin in the thing itself? 171 00:28:07.740 --> 00:28:08.600 Maybe not. 172 00:28:08.600 --> 00:28:10.720 But it’s a provision. 173 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:13.160 It’s the way of escape. 174 00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:17.280 We’re to look for the way of escape and we should not presume upon it. 175 00:28:17.280 --> 00:28:29.120 If God has a way of escape in the circumstance, not to go to that particular website or even YouTube channel or whatever it is. 176 00:28:29.120 --> 00:28:36.660 If God has a provision for us and we miss the test, miss the way of escape. 177 00:28:36.660 --> 00:28:40.700 We can’t presume and think that He will give us another. 178 00:28:40.700 --> 00:28:42.880 That’s a presumption. 179 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:48.300 He will give us a way of escape, but we can’t be presumptive about it. 180 00:28:48.300 --> 00:28:50.300 We should take that way of escape. 181 00:28:50.300 --> 00:28:53.900 When we find it, we should listen to it. 182 00:28:53.900 --> 00:28:55.960 We should pay attention to it. 183 00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:59.870 So with the test, God gives that way of escape. 184 00:28:59.870 --> 00:29:17.620 One of the things that tells us in *Galatians 6:1* is that even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. 185 00:29:17.620 --> 00:29:24.840 Each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. 186 00:29:24.840 --> 00:29:31.160 There’s another interesting verse in *2 Timothy 2:24-26*. 187 00:29:31.160 --> 00:29:52.980 It says, The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth. 188 00:29:52.980 --> 00:30:03.340 And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 189 00:30:03.340 --> 00:30:18.440 One of the things, two applications from those verses, is if you’re struggling in the test and in the circumstance, God sometimes, really often, gives us the way of escape through other people. 190 00:30:18.440 --> 00:30:22.640 He has worked in their lives to give them experience. 191 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:32.780 He has taught them something of His Word and they’re able to share His Word with you in a way that can give you a way out of the trap that you’re in. 192 00:30:32.780 --> 00:30:39.600 So one of the provisions that God has for all of us in circumstances is each other. 193 00:30:39.600 --> 00:30:41.180 We’re to look to each other. 194 00:30:41.180 --> 00:30:48.520 We’re to do that, but also, we’re to be the way of escape for people. 195 00:30:48.520 --> 00:30:59.620 Sometimes God will use you to be the means of blessing and escape for someone who is caught up in the circumstances. 196 00:30:59.620 --> 00:31:12.070 He’s able to use you to be a blessing to someone so that they can endure, so that they can go through the test that God has called them to, has brought about in their life. 197 00:31:12.070 --> 00:31:16.220 He’ll be able to endure it. 198 00:31:16.220 --> 00:31:18.100 That’s what God’s provision does. 199 00:31:18.100 --> 00:31:22.140 He provides out of His faithfulness, out of His grace. 200 00:31:22.140 --> 00:31:32.740 He provides for us so that we are not overly weighed down with the test, but it’s a test that we can pass. 201 00:31:32.740 --> 00:31:36.260 He provides the means of escape for us. 202 00:31:36.260 --> 00:31:44.680 The provision of that is so that we can go through, we can endure that test, whatever it is, for however long it lasts. 203 00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:51.480 He gives us the means to endure through the grace that He has given us. 204 00:31:51.480 --> 00:31:55.840 I think this passage is largely encouraging. 205 00:31:55.840 --> 00:31:58.400 I find it encouraging. 206 00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:05.480 It’s encouraging to know that you’re not unique in the test and the temptations that you experience. 207 00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:09.540 We can look to fellow Christians for strength and help. 208 00:32:09.540 --> 00:32:16.020 Some of them have gone through things quite similar and we can learn from their examples, good or bad. 209 00:32:16.020 --> 00:32:20.040 We can trust God in the test or trial that we’re going through. 210 00:32:20.040 --> 00:32:22.920 That’s probably the greatest lesson in this verse. 211 00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:32.580 He’s sovereign and in control of all the details, and He’ll bring blessing through this trial if you remain faithful, if you trust Him through it. 212 00:32:32.580 --> 00:32:35.680 God tailors the test to your abilities. 213 00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:46.740 You may feel overwhelmed by the trial, but God will refine and sanctify you through the test and will not give you more than you can bear. 214 00:32:46.740 --> 00:32:52.600 That means that when you get through this test, it will have worked great good in your life. 215 00:32:52.600 --> 00:32:59.720 It will have worked great good in equipping you for an eternity of blessing. 216 00:32:59.720 --> 00:33:02.580 Finally, God gives us a way of escape. 217 00:33:02.580 --> 00:33:04.920 We’re to look for it. 218 00:33:04.920 --> 00:33:07.420 We’re to trust God for it. 219 00:33:07.420 --> 00:33:12.920 When we have an opportunity, we’re to be that way of escape for other people. 220 00:33:12.920 --> 00:33:14.400 Let’s pray. 221 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:20.400 Father, thank You for Your kindness in giving us this wonderful verse. 222 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:26.740 I pray, Father, that we, if we haven’t already, that we would commit this verse to memory. 223 00:33:26.740 --> 00:33:39.720 Father, that as we think about the test that we face every day, every day we face trials and tests that often, when we fail, lead to temptation and sin. 224 00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:47.420 Father, help us in these struggles, especially in the bigger struggles that people are going through now. 225 00:33:47.420 --> 00:33:53.680 Father, that help us in all these things to be faithful to You. 226 00:33:53.680 --> 00:34:07.000 Help us to trust You, to not take our eyes from You, but to look to our Savior, the Lord Jesus, His redeeming work for us, His provision for us. 227 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:18.120 To recognize that You have given us Your Holy Spirit who can equip us, and to give us wisdom, and to enable us to, to, to have provision. 228 00:34:18.120 --> 00:34:28.000 Father, whatever test You bring us, we pray that You open our eyes to that way of escape, that we would follow the path that You lead us. 229 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:34.120 Father, in doing so, that we would bring honor and glory to the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. 230 00:34:34.120 --> 00:34:36.040 We ask this in His strong name. 231 00:34:36.040 --> 00:34:38.040 Amen.