Temptation… that selfish urge a person has to do the wrong thing even when he or she know it’s wrong.  Sometimes people go so far as using temptation to justify their inappropriate actions.  For example, have you ever heard these excuses or maybe even used them yourself?  “The devil made me do it.”  “It called to me and I couldn’t resist.”  “I just couldn’t help myself!”  “I wanted ____, and I always go after what I want.”  “I’m sure I heard God whisper in my ear to go ahead.”  But does God ever tempt people to do what He calls wrong?  Does being tempted really excuse you or me from our responsibility to do what God calls right?  What would Jesus do if he was tempted?

     One of the New Testament writers, James, in his general letter to Christians, wrote, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”  Hmm, did you see that?  God rewards those people who endure or resist their tempations to do wrong.  “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil,” he continues to explain, “nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”  God is not the source of our temptations.  In the next verse James reveals the real source of our temptations, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”  Did you know that?  Your own selfish desires are what generate your temptations… the greater the desire, the greater the temptation.  “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”  Serious business… deadly business in God’s eyes… when people give in to their temptations.  So serious and deadly that James warns us, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (James 1:12-16)
     What sorts of selfish desires are we talking about that tempt us to do the wrong thing… that attract and invite us to sin?  The apostle John tells us, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.  The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:16-17, NASB)
     How can we endure temptation so that we may receive God’s promise?  How can we resist doing and seeking what’s wrong when it’s our very own desires attracting and inviting us not to resist?  How willing is God to help us resist temptation and what proof do we have of His willingness?

     Well, in the second chapter of his second letter to Christians, the apostle Peter encourages us that “… the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,” (2 Peter 2:9).  God rescuing Lot when He destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:6-8).  God rescuing Noah & his family when He destroyed the world with the Great Flood (2 Peter 2:5).  Peter uses these two examples of God rescuing the godly when He punished the ungodly for giving in to their temptations… two examples of righteous people rescued through obeying God’s instructions… examples reminding us that Peter is telling us the truth.
     So then… how does the Lord rescue us today from our temptations?

     The apostle Paul answered that question for us in his first letter to the church in Corinth… simply put, God provides us a way of escape.  “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 with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”  Remember James’ warning that we looked at earlier?  Not everyone uses God’s way of escape and they give in to their temptations.
     Just exactly what is this way of escape provided by God that some take advantage of and others refuse to use?

     You may be aware of the time when our Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after He had fasted forty days.  Probably most children who have gone regularly to Sunday bible class, if you ask them, can tell you the story that’s recorded by Matthew and Luke in the New Testament’s gospels named after them.  Satan tempted Jesus to prove His divinity by turning stones into bread to feed Himself, but Jesus refused.  
     However, have you considered the fact that Jesus used Scripture as the way of escape… as His means to resist that temptation?  Quoting God's instructions in the Old Testament scripture from Deuteromy chapter eight, verse three, Jesus answered Satan with, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4)  In fact, for each of Jesus’ temptations recorded in Matthew chapter 4 (also recorded in Luke chapter 4), Jesus used God’s Scriptures and His obedience of that written word to to resist those temptations.
     Have you considered why Jesus was willing to use Scripture this way to resist temptation?  He understood the purpose of God’s instructions and He understood the examples He was setting for us to follow.  We know this is so from His explanation in John 12:44-50.  “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” (*For discussion of the different Greek words translated into English as “judge,” see the article “Discerning Matters of Evil in the feature column “Plowing the Fields unto Harvest” and also the article Building Your Bible Vocabulary: “Judge -- Condemn? Examine? Distinguish?”)

     As we’ve seen, God does not tempt people… people are tempted when they are drawn away and enticed by their own selfish desires.  Yet God does deliver people from their tempations by providing them with a way of escape through His written word.  When was the last time you followed Jesus’ example as you were tempted to do something you shouldn't do?  
     Following Jesus’ examples of applying and obeying God’s written instructions and of wanting to obey those instructions helps us… helps us escape our temptations… helps us walk with Jesus.