Kingdom Pursuit (6)

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 He will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10.13

Grow through or fall through?
Martin Luther is reported to have said concerning temptation, “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head; but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.”

All Christians can expect to be confronted with temptations of various sorts. Temptation is not sin. Temptation is part of the daily struggle of pursuing the Kingdom of God in a fallen world. When temptation comes, the goal is to growthrough it into a stronger experience of Kingdom righteousness, rather than to fallthrough it into some spiritual or moral setback.

We need to be on the lookout for temptation, so that we recognize it when it comes.

But we also need to find the way of escape Paul mentioned as the key to growing through temptation.

Asaph on the way of escape
In Psalm 73 Asaph reported on a powerful temptation that almost snared him in sin. Here he was, a dedicated servant of the Lord, daily submitting to all manner of spiritual disciplines and rigors, and, so it seems, largely unappreciated for his work.

Certainly he wasn’t getting wealthy being a basically negative prophet in an age of great wealth and growing spiritual complacency.

When he looked around at the comforts the rich people of his day enjoyed, and at their cavalier attitude toward God and His Law, he was tempted to covet their ease and despise his calling. But at just the right moment, he recognized this temptation for what it was; and, in the process of maintaining his righteousness, Asaph shows us six places to look in finding the way of escape from temptation.

Six escape hatches
First, Asaph remembered that we never sin alone: He reflected that sin on his part would be a betrayal of the community of faith (v. 15). When we are confronted with temptation, we need to remember that others are looking at us, taking their cues from us. If we take sin into our souls it will affect not only us, but them as well. The demands of neighbor-love should help us to resist temptation and, thus, continue our pursuit of the righteousness of God’s Kingdom in our lives.

Second, though, Asaph took his temptation to the Lord (vv. 16, 17). By coming into His presence, undoubtedly through prayer, He put his own temporal circumstances in an eternal and heavenly perspective. He faced his temptation from the perspective of His Kingdom vision and calling. It would be hard for sin to control him as long as his heart and mind were fixed on and communing with the Lord.

Third, Asaph contemplated the effects of sin (vv. 18-20). Sin, he reflected, is a slippery slope. One sin leads to another, which leads to another, and so forth, until we’re so altogether miserable and burdened with sin that we’re no good for any Kingdom enterprise.

Fourth, Asaph expressed disgust with himself, that he would even contemplate descending into sinful behavior (vv. 21, 22). He became embittered in his soul to reflect that he was contemplating something more characteristic of brutes and fools than of a citizen and ambassador of the Kingdom of God.

Fifth, Asaph sought the counsel of the Lord (v. 24). He turned to God’s Law so that he could see the ugliness of his covetous inclinations and nip them in the bud before they had a chance to bloom.

Finally, he lingered in the presence of the Lord, meditating on his longing for God, until once again he began to know the fullness of joy and pleasures forever more which are to be had there (vv. 25-28). Perhaps he sang some hymns or took in some of the glory of God in the creation around.

Our glorious overcomer
As you pursue Kingdom of God, get ready: temptations will come. When they do, you’ll either grow through them or fall through. It all depends on finding the way of escape. All these ways of escaping temptation can make us stronger in the Lord, and keep us advancing against adversity in our pursuit of the Kingdom of God.

But above all, fix your eyes on Jesus, seated at the Father’s right hand, and remember that, as He overcame temptation by the power of God’s Word and the promise of His glory (Matt. 4.1-11; Heb. 12.1, 2), so we too, clinging to and abiding in Him, can resist the devil and all his tempting wiles to continue progress in the Kingdom rule of Jesus.

Next steps: Talk with some other Christians about how they deal with temptation. Share your own thoughts about how you might help one another in this important Kingdom-seeking discipline.

T. M. Moore

Additional Resources

This week’s study, Kingdom Pursuit, is the fifth of an eight-part series on The Kingdom Turn, and is available as a free download. T. M. has written two books to complement this eight-part series. You can order The Kingship of Jesus by clicking here, and The Gospel of the Kingdom by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.