This sermon explores 1 Corinthians 10:13, emphasizing that all believers face common temptations. It encourages trust in God’s faithfulness, who provides a tailored way of escape and enables endurance.
Transcript
The apostle just gave the Corinthians a serious warning. In this warning passage, he’s singled out several specific sins that he wants them to particularly pay attention to and avoid. He gives examples from the Old Testament of people who also had received great grace and blessing from God, and yet had failed. He says, they experienced these same tests of faith. They presumptively, on the grace of God, were not able to pass those tests.
He singles out specifically idolatry. God expects us to love Him and love Him alone. He wants us to love Him Himself and not the gifts and the things that He gives. 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. 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. He warns them not to, through sinful, willful disobedience, test the patience of God.
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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
Common Tests
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. Tests and temptations are common to all mankind.
It says,
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man.
My text translates this as *temptation*. Some translations use the word *test*. They do that because *test* is the basic meaning of this word. The primary meaning of the word is the test that you are undergoing. 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. So you have to understand what the word means from its context.
Here, I think two things are in view. I would say it’s very probable, almost certainly, includes both ideas. That’s not so difficult to understand when we think about it. We distinguish in English the difference between a test and a temptation. 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. You test, somebody has a jewel, and they want to know whether it’s genuine or not. They take it to a jeweler who looks at it under the glass, sometimes does some tests, in order to determine its genuineness. 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. To demonstrate the nature of who you are.
A temptation, the English word temptation, we use that word to describe a situation, a trap that is being set. A circumstance is coming about with evil intent for the purpose of tripping you up, causing you to fall. God never does that. God never trips you up to cause you to fail or to fall. God never brings about a circumstance with the idea that you will, with the intent of making you fall into sin. It’s clear in Scripture.
In fact, the Apostle James tells us in James 1:13-14:
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 evil desires he is dragged away and enticed.
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. It can arise from our own sinful heart.
We think about these things, we have to realize that practically speaking, there’s an overlap that takes place here. I think theologically, we should separate it in our mind. 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. Those same circumstances, however, when not met with faith, become an area of temptation for us. Once it falls into temptation, it often leads to the sins that follow. At that point, having failed the test, that indulging in temptation is a sin in itself.
God never gives that second part, but He often gives the first part. 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. But God is working good through that when He allows it. God can work good through even the works of the devil in the life of a person, in the life of His people.
So we need to keep that in mind. Luther said, “Even the devil is God’s devil.” God is sovereign over everything. 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.
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. As McLaren said, “Temptation says,
Do this pleasant thing, and do not be hindered by the fact that it’s wrong.
But a test from God says,
Do this right and noble thing, and do not be hindered by the fact that it’s painful.
That’s the difference between these two things. This Greek word, *peirasmos*, refers to all the trials, the testings, and the temptations that go into furnishing a test of your character. That can lead to sin or it can lead to God commending you because of your faithfulness to His Word.
So God sends these tests of faith to show the nature of a person. They do that. They show our nature and our character. You see someone walking along with a cup. You may not know what’s in the cup. What is it? Is it ink? Is it water? Is it coffee? When their hand is jostled, we all find out. When the test comes, it reveals the nature of what’s on the inside. It reveals what is true about us.
When we experience tests, what does that show about us? What is the nature that is revealed? Galatians 5:16 says,
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Is it the Spirit that you are walking by that shows itself to be, reveals itself in the moment of your testing? Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
That’s the way that we should respond. When we receive tests, what should show up is the person and the nature of Christ Himself in us. That’s what should be revealed.
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. As the grace of God is displayed when we pass and respond rightly to a test, that brings glory to God Himself. It’s a great testimony to the reality of the truth of the Gospel, and how it works in us. When our faith is tested, and we respond true to the Lord in the test, God uses that. He changes people through that. He changes us through it, through sanctification. He changes other people through it too. They see the genuineness of the reality of the grace and Gospel of God, and so they respond to that.
God’s Faithfulness
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. So it’s an encouraging word. The next thing that Paul wants us to, calls our attention to, and this is probably the key. 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.
That’s what he says. He calls our attention in the test back to the character of God. 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. They grumbled against God. We’re not to do that.
We’re to do exactly the opposite. We’re to put on the shield of faith. 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. He is good. He gives every good and perfect gift. 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. We’re to trust Him with it. Nothing evil comes from His hand.
So if He’s allowed the circumstances that you’re facing, He has good purpose for it. We’re to trust that purpose. We’re to know that it’s there. He’ll bring blessing through those discouraging trials. 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.” So we’re to trust Him. God is trustworthy, and He doesn’t fail us.
Tailored Tests
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. He is, we’re to trust with Him. He goes with us through the test. Jesus said,
I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
God says in the book of Hebrews,
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
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.
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. We can trust Him for it, that He will bring us through it. When He brings us through it, it will be for our good. It will be glorious.
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. In the first part of this verse, He points out that the kinds of things that we experience are common to all people. They are. 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. But they’re all largely the same kinds of things that everybody experiences. And yet, God shapes the test that you receive for you.
He gives the test that you receive. He sovereignly makes sure that the test that you receive is tailored to your abilities.
He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.
He’ll not allow you to be tested beyond the grace that He has already given you to meet that test. 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. He makes sure that it’s not loaded too heavy. The same thing with a ship. There’s the Plimsoll mark on the side of a ship, a cargo ship. When they’re loading the ship with cargo, the ship sinks down into the water. When it reaches the Plimsoll mark, they can load no more on. That’s its limit, that’s what it can take.
God, when He allows a trial or test in your life, doesn’t give you more than you can handle. 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. That’s why it’s sin. So He tailors the test that you have to endure to the measure of grace that He’s already given you.
Way of Escape
The next thing, the next way that He shows His faithfulness is that with the test, God gives us a way of escape. It’s important for us to look for the provision, for the way of escape that God has given for us in the test.
But with the temptation, He says, He provides the way of escape also.
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. That’s literally what this word means. It’s a path, a narrow pass through a narrow place where you can escape. You can go through that narrow path and avoid the army that surrounded you. God gives us a way of escape.
We have to look for that. 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. But the test, if you pass it, you won’t feel the temptation. You won’t feel the strength of the temptation. It may not be the best of examples, but if you routinely go into a convenience store, maybe you buy your gas there. As you go in to pay, you pay on the inside. 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. Well, don’t go over there.
The test is to avoid it. The Corinthians are toying around with idolatry and they think that they have everything that they need to avoid it. Out of grace, God provided a provision for them in His Word. Back in *Acts*, He tells them, “Don’t eat things, don’t handle things sacrificed to idols, don’t eat these things.” Is there a sin in the thing itself? Maybe not. But it’s a provision. It’s the way of escape. We’re to look for the way of escape and we should not presume upon it. 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. If God has a provision for us and we miss the test, miss the way of escape. We can’t presume and think that He will give us another. That’s a presumption. He will give us a way of escape, but we can’t be presumptive about it. We should take that way of escape. When we find it, we should listen to it. We should pay attention to it.
So with the test, God gives that way of escape. 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. Each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.
There’s another interesting verse in *2 Timothy 2:24-26*. 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. 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.
Encouragement
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. He has worked in their lives to give them experience. 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. So one of the provisions that God has for all of us in circumstances is each other. We’re to look to each other. We’re to do that, but also, we’re to be the way of escape for people. Sometimes God will use you to be the means of blessing and escape for someone who is caught up in the circumstances.
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. He’ll be able to endure it. That’s what God’s provision does. He provides out of His faithfulness, out of His grace. He provides for us so that we are not overly weighed down with the test, but it’s a test that we can pass. He provides the means of escape for us. The provision of that is so that we can go through, we can endure that test, whatever it is, for however long it lasts. He gives us the means to endure through the grace that He has given us.
I think this passage is largely encouraging. I find it encouraging. It’s encouraging to know that you’re not unique in the test and the temptations that you experience. We can look to fellow Christians for strength and help. Some of them have gone through things quite similar and we can learn from their examples, good or bad. We can trust God in the test or trial that we’re going through. That’s probably the greatest lesson in this verse. 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. God tailors the test to your abilities. 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.
That means that when you get through this test, it will have worked great good in your life. It will have worked great good in equipping you for an eternity of blessing. Finally, God gives us a way of escape. We’re to look for it. We’re to trust God for it. When we have an opportunity, we’re to be that way of escape for other people. Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for Your kindness in giving us this wonderful verse. I pray, Father, that we, if we haven’t already, that we would commit this verse to memory. 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. Father, help us in these struggles, especially in the bigger struggles that people are going through now. Father, that help us in all these things to be faithful to You. 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. 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. 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. Father, in doing so, that we would bring honor and glory to the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. We ask this in His strong name. Amen.