Bobby Bosler: Welcome to the Thee Generation Podcast. I'm Bobby Bosler, and I'm speaking to you today from Fairmont, West Virginia, in my office. And we're right in the middle of a vacation Bible school going on right here this week. And it's exciting to see God hear and answer prayer and to see folks in the church get involved. And it's been a great week, definitely a tiring week, but a great week.

I've been preaching through the book of First Corinthians on Sunday mornings and recently covered a text of scripture that I thought I'd mention to you because I thought it'd be a help and a blessing to you all. And one of the reasons why I think it's going to be a blessing is because these two verses are verses that we've probably all heard before. One of the verses probably scares the socks off of you. And the other verse, honestly, at times, can find itself maybe. A little bit out of context might be the best way to say it. I'm in First Corinthians chapter ten. We're going to be looking at verses twelve and thirteen. Here in this episode, verse twelve says this: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 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.” So these two verses here were given in a very specific flow of argument by Paul to the Corinthians. And I don't have time to go through all of what I've been talking about literally for the last several months here at our church, except to say the Corinthians were struggling with a unique temptation.

And that temptation was to engage in idol meats or the matter of idol participation. They'd had it in their mind that there was nothing wrong with these idols, that these idols didn't even really represent actual divine beings. And therefore, hey, meat is meat. There's no issue with this, there's no problem here. So we think we ought to be able to engage in it. In a certain sense, they felt like they had a right to engage in it.

Bobby Bosler: But Paul in this letter has been kind of going a roundabout way to get to the heart of the issue. He talked about the fact that, you know what, okay, so maybe let's just grant for a moment that there's nothing intrinsically wrong with this. But you gotta ask yourself the question, how is it affecting other people? And of course, you know, in chapter eight, he made it very clear: listen, if meat make my brother to offend, man, I ain't touching it, he says. chapter nine, he says, okay, so you think you have a right to this matter? Well, you know what? I have my rights too. And he talks a lot about some uncomfortable rights that he had. But the whole point of it was I'd gladly give it up for the sake of my mission. I don't want to be running a race and find myself missing out on the win because I can't control my appetites. But when we get into chapter 10, chapter 10 is where he takes this specific issue and goes a little bit deeper into it. He talks about the example of Israel at the beginning of the chapter and the fact that all of them experienced God's unique divine blessings from his deliverance through the Red Sea, whether it was the matter of him providing manna in the wilderness or water out of the rock, all of it was blessings from God. And yet he said, Yet with all of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. And the reason why he's saying this is all of these folks had been blessed by God, and yet all of them fell as carcasses in the wilderness. And the reason why they fell is because they disobeyed God specifically in this matter of engaging in idolatry. He went on right after he talked about that and said, Essentially, neither be ye idolaters, right? Okay, that's kind of the point that he's talking to them about.

He said, Neither let us commit fornication. That was all intertwined in idol worship. In fact, in that context, it said that they not only engaged in illicit immoral behavior, but they actually ate and drank in the presence of the idols. If you look up the context sometimes, it's amazing. He said, Neither let us tempt Christ. And it was almost like Israel was saying, Hey, God, I know you don't want us to do this, but I dare you to do something about it. And he sure did.

Bobby Bosler: He sent serpents, and they complained about the situation that they were in. And Paul said all these things happened unto them for ensamples. In other words, these things happened because God was trying to get a point across to you, a warning across to you. He said, These were written also for our admonition.

In other words, these things happened and they were written down because God was trying to get a message across to us. And that's the context leading up to verse 12. Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. In fact, if you jump down to verse 14, where he's going, is this: he says, Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. Don't entertain it. Okay, don't justify it.

Run away from it. I don't want you involved in idolatry. I don't care what your reasons are. I don't care what you think your rights are. I don't care how much you think God is blessing you right now. If God said no, don't you touch it. Okay. So that being said, one of the reasons why Paul gives verse 12 and 13 is because the Corinthians, like all of us, they had reasons that would prevent them from obeying. On Sunday, I preached a message entitled No More Excuses. And these two verses represent two different excuses that the Corinthians would give, would likely give. Paul foresaw that they would give in order to not obey. And the first one in verse 12 was him that thinketh, he standeth. In other words, they were thinking, I don't need to obey, I'm already standing, when they clearly weren't.

Because they were engaging in idol participation. Here's the thing, young people. It's very easy for us to deceive ourselves when it comes to the matter of us actually standing. You see, they thought they were standing, and it's interesting how he says, Him that thinketh, he standeth. They only thought they were standing. They may have appeared to stand from their own mental perception standpoint. It may have appeared to themselves that they were standing, but they actually were not standing.

Bobby Bosler: Can I say this, young person? If you think you're standing, you're never going to obey. In other words, if somebody comes to you or the Bible confronts you in an issue and you look at that Bible verse and you think, well, I'm already doing that. I'm fine when you're actually not, then you're not, you're going to fall. You know, I find many times young people, they think they're surrendered, but they're really not. Or they think they're depending on the Lord, but they're really not. Or they think they're sort of obeying their parents, but there are clear areas in their lives where they

Are not. Young person, just because you look like a godly pastor's kid or missionary kid, or just because you have it in your own mind that you're better than other people in your youth group, just because you think you've got it all together doesn't mean you do. There is a self-deception that is pride that can result in us falling flat on our

Faces. This verse essentially is the excuse. I don't need to obey because I already am. Listen, maybe you are the most spiritual young person in your youth group. And maybe you really do have a lot of things going for you. Maybe your life really is, for the most part, lining up with scripture that you're actually listening to the Spirit of God, but there are some corners of your life where you're not.

Don't tell me that you're standing when you're treating your siblings like trash. Don't tell me you're standing, young person, when you're giving your mom or dad grief when they ask you to do something. Don't tell me you're standing when you're secretly looking at garbage on your phone or on your computer. Don't tell me you're standing when you are resisting God's call on your life. Don't tell me you're standing when God wants you to go to a particular Bible college and you say there ain't no way.

Don't tell me you're standing when you're disobeying your parents and communicating with somebody they don't want you to communicate. Don't tell me you're standing young person when you've got secret social media accounts going on that your mom, your dad don't know about where you actually say what you really think to your friends. Don't tell me you're standing when you sing in the choir on Sunday morning, God honoring music and listen to the world's music for the rest of the week.

Bobby Bosler: Don't tell me you're standing when in your heart you're binging on questionable or outright sinful YouTube videos during the week. Do you catch the drift? Here's the thing: you might think you're standing, you might give yourself a compartmentalized outward appearance where it looks like you're all good, or you might have developed a self-image about yourself and you think you're standing, but you're actually not. That to me was the most helpful part of this verse.

Because the Corinthians weren't standing. They were engaging in something that God forbade. They were indulging in something that God literally buried the Israelites in the wilderness because of. And yet they thought they were fine because of their reasons. Listen, don't fall for the excuse. Well, I'm already standing when you're already halfway down towards falling. But you know, that's not the only excuse. There are some of you that are listening.

You're proud as a peacock and have just as many proud pin feathers sticking out of your your heart, so to speak. But there are others of you. You hear something like I just gave, or I kind of got in your business a little bit, and you think, see, I knew it. I was always going to fail. And here's the thing you think that failure is inevitable. You think that they you really have no other option.

Maybe because of the circumstances of your life, or because of the home that you're in, or because of the deck, the hand, so to speak, that you've been dealt, you think you have no other choice. Can I say this, young person? Well, and that's where really verse number 13 comes in. He says, There hath no temptation you take in you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape. You gotta recognize no matter how.

Impossible victory might seem. Because God is faithful, there's always a way out. Okay, for the Corinthians, it's important to understand what was going on with them. Paul was asking them to literally disengage from temple idol meat. Now that doesn't sound like too hard of a decision to us in our day, but in Paul's day, that was where business happened. That's where social relationships were forged and formed. that's where people who oftentimes paid you.

Bobby Bosler: Okay, that's where they expected you to meet with them. That's where birthday parties were with friends in the temple halls where they served the temple meat. Literally, if you were going to pull yourself away from idol meats and eating food that had been offered to idols, you were literally completely extracting yourself from a means of income for some people. You were extracting yourself from all social connections, and at times you were risking.

ostracizing yourself from your family and ruining potential work contacts. Again, I'm not going to read the quote from the commentary, but this was a real rough thing. And really, a a lot of the Corinthians were probably, yeah, they were presenting their reasons, but in the back of their heart, they were fearing and thinking, if I obeyed God in this matter, I wouldn't make it. I wouldn't have food to put on my table for my family. I wouldn't

I'd literally lose all of my friends, my family would cast me out. And the temptation that the Corinthians had, it was really to compromise because they thought they had no other choice. He says, There's no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man. And can I say this, young person, no matter how alone you feel in your temptation, and no matter how impossible and unique.

And unprecedented your situation might feel. He says here, no temptation. there isn't a temptation that is not common to man. Young person, you're not alone. You might feel like the only person struggling with same-sex attraction, but can I tell you you're not alone? You might feel like you're the only pastor's kid struggling with pornography, but can I tell you you are not alone? You might feel like you're the only person in a home that's toxic and maybe at times.

angry and violent, but you are not alone. You might feel like your circumstances are so unique that nobody else would understand. Paul wants us to understand. No, you're not. You're not alone. God is faithful. You know what that means? God will not abandon you. You might feel like you've gotten yourself in too deep. You've gotten too far away. Your situation is something where it looks like this ain't gonna work. God isn't gonna get you out of this. He has just dropkicked you because he's sick of you.

Bobby Bosler: But I want you to know that's all a lie. God will never abandon you. He said he will not suffer you, literally allow you to be tempted above that ye are able. And you know, that shows us that God's in control. Your situation may feel out of control. Your emotions may feel out of control. Your, your, your siblings or your parents or your friends or your school might look out of control, but nothing gets out of God's control. You might say, but man has a free will, they can mess my life up. yeah, you're right.

But it can never get outside of God's care for you. I remind you that Joseph's brothers threw him in a pit, sold him to slavery, and everything seemed to fall apart. And it really looked like, from an outward standpoint, that God had lost control. And yet, you know, at the end of his life, Joseph told his brothers, Ye meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, to save much people alive. And you know what, young person, you might feel like Joseph, where your friends have betrayed you, people have forgotten you, the closest people.

Have hurt you, and you might feel like it's all out of control, but this verse right here says, God will not allow things to get out of control. Well, what will he do? He'll with the temptation also make a way to escape. You know what a lie you can tell yourself is there's no way out of this. My situation is such that I'm trapped. There's no way forward, there's no way backwards. I've got a sea in front of me and Pharaoh's army behind me.

Maybe it's your friends in front of you and your siblings behind you. I don't know what it might be, but you see where I'm going, young people. Okay. God can make a way where a way could not be. You might think the way forward is impossible. You might not see an exit ramp or a way out, but I'm telling you, young people, there's always a way out when God is in the equation. At the very end, he says that you may be able to bear it.

To bear it means to be able to forbear or keep going. And you might tell you, I'm not going to make it, but that's a lie. Because with God you can do all things with Christ.

Bobby Bosler: You can make it. What's impossible with man is possible with God. And young people, you might tell yourself, I just can't do it. I just can't do right in this situation. And you're right, you can't without God. But thankfully, God is faithful and God's in you, and God's got you, and God has put his Holy Spirit in you. And if you'll listen to him and yield to him and say yes to him, you can make it because God is faithful.

Listen, young person, as you hear this, as you look at this text, I really want to encourage you, kick the excuses out the window. If you think you don't need to obey because you're good, if you're excusing areas of disobedience in your life, listen, let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall. Or if you think there's no way out, if you think you just can't help it, there is no alternative. I tell you that's a lie. Reject the lies. Surrender to Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God. Depend on

On his power, and I will tell you, no matter how impossible your situation seems, you will be able to obey. And God will be glorified. And God will get you out of that thing. And if he doesn't right away, he'll give you strength to obey in the midst of the temptation. Young person, don't be discouraged. I don't know who this is for here today, but I do know this God is faithful.

If you'll totally surrender to God and totally depend on his power, he'll not only enable you to overcome that temptation, he'll use your life to turn it upside down, to turn the world upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks for listening.