Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture, but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
Each day, many things are manufactured in this world, and before they are sold to the public, they must go through numerous testing first. I buy a lot of cables and rope for our sailboat, but before I purchase them I need to know how much weight they can handle. They need to be strong enough to support the mast and keep the sails in place during the heaviest of winds. Some companies will perform a tensile test which will test the maximum load that cables or chains can withstand before breaking. What they will do is begin to apply a steadily increasing load to a portion of the chain, until it finally fractures from the pressure. These tests are used to determine their overall strength and dependability when under high levels of stress.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
The devil will always tempt us at our most vulnerable points, but we must steadfastly resist him. Each temptation is a test of the strength and the durability of our faith. We must never yield to our weaknesses, but overcome temptations through the power of the Holy Spirit, because our faith is only as strong as our weakest link.
1 Peter 1 ⁶ Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
⁷ That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: ⁸ Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
A trial is a test to determine the strength, performance, or qualities of something. Temptations are a test of the strength of our faith, and the devil likes to tempt you at your weakest points. After all, the first place that the devil tempted Jesus was when He was hungry.
Matthew 4 ¹ Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. ² And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. ³ And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. ⁴ But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
When we stand up against the devil as the Lord Jesus did, he will run away, like a wounded animal.
“……Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
1 Peter 5 ⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
⁹ Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
In many factories they have a test area, but that’s exactly what this Earth is. It is a giant testing area, filled with temptations around every corner to test your faith. But we need not fear temptations, but embrace them as an opportunity to show God how much we love Him. When we endure temptation, God will bless us and someday grant us eternal life.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” James 1:12
James 1 ² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; ³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. ⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Occasionally I like to go fishing, and sometimes I will hook onto a fish that will constantly fight against being caught. They will battle so fiercely that they will eventually break the line or escape the hook and slip away. The devil is seeking to devour one’s faith, and when temptations arise, we must strongly resist, as God provides us with a way to escape.
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13
Jesus overcame temptations, and we must do the same.
Hebrews 4 ¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. ¹⁵ For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” 2 Timothy 2:19
To overcome temptations we must be completely focused on the will of God. He must be our greatest love, our greatest need, and our greatest desire.
1 John 2 ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Our faith must be strong to overcome the world. God will reward His obedient children.
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:21
“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13
If we want to pass the test, we must stand fast in our faith, and not allow ourselves to give in to the world and its temptations. Temptations are the opportunity to say no to the devil, and yes to God. Each of us have our own weaknesses, but these are exactly the buttons that the devil wants to push. We must overcome them all by the power of the Holy Spirit, because our faith is only as strong as….
……Our Weakest Link
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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