Why Is It So Easy To Fail? (Pastor John Franklin)

Now I want you to pay attention it wasn't anything in Israel wasn't their military.

Today we're gonna talk about a topic that actually been kind of hitting home to me a little bit.

How many of you have heard that phrase.

God's not going to give you any more you can handle.

That is taken from this verse out of context.

That is taken from this verse.

1st Corinthians chapter 10 Verse 13 it says no temptation has overtaken you that is not

common to man.

God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability but with the temptation he will also

provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it and.

So many people of this world try to Misquote that and say see God's not going to give you any

more than you can do on your own.

Guys, I'm here to tell you that's false.

I.

Before I go to Scripture.

God's gonna give you more than you can handle.

God gave has given me a lot more than I can handle especially in the last few years.

Because if I tried to handle it on my own, I wouldn't be here anymore.

Right I.

Had my father -in -law passed my mother passed my mother -in -law passed.

I had my wife almost died from kovat.

God's going to give you more than you can handle and when we look at this passage in context.

Which wouldn't be thankful you have a church and pastors and teachers should tell you to look at everything in context.

What Paul is actually doing here is giving the Israelites the people he's writing to the Corinthian Church

a warning from the Israelite history.

Let's look at this in context.

Go back to verse 1 for this.

For I do not want you to be unaware brothers that our fathers were all under the cloud.

Talking about the cloud the cloud by pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.

They were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea the parting of the Red Sea and all were baptized

into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and They all ate the same spiritual food.

They were given the manna for heaven.

They drank the same spiritual drink.

For this drink from the same spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ.

Nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased for they were overwhelmed in the wilderness.

Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did.

Do not be idolaters as some of them were as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up

to play.

We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did and 23

,000 fell in a single day.

We must not be put we must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by

serpents.

Nor grumble man, that's a tough one and.

Some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer.

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the age has

come.

Therefore that anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

That that verse that I first wrote that first Corinthians 10 13 wasn't.

Oh just be happy.

God's not gonna put more weight on you can it was a warning.

Because these Israelites had endured all this saw God in action.

Without a shadow of a doubt.

The parting of sea where they walked on dry land.

They were given manna from heaven where all they had to do was walk outside and food was there for them every morning.

Yet they still fell into temptation.

They still failed in.

And sin and Christian we don't see.

Like they did the acts of God today.

One day we will but we haven't seen that in a long time.

The fact is he's going to give you a lot more than you can handle.

Because that's when you're gonna realize you have to rely on him in my

weakness.

He is strong.

Right.

I can't do it on my own.

That's why Jesus said my grace is sufficient for you.

And I think one of the biggest things we have to realize when we start studying this is there's a huge difference

between testing and Tempting.

Those two words don't mean the same thing.

Some some of your translations may translate testing as trials in places, right?

But there's a huge difference between those things see testing and trials.

Those build you up.

Those give us an opportunity to see God working in our lives to see the glory of God acting in our

lives.

That testing that I endured sitting in that hospital room day after day.

Gave me an opportunity to see the glory of God work.

The many of years that I've watched little children die of cancer.

I'm gonna admit that was a test on me.

If never you've never seen that I'm thankful for you, but I've seen it more times than I can count.

And I'm not ashamed to admit there were there's at one point I had to go to Pastor Jeff for counseling for it.

Those are tests.

They they work on that sanctification Process that God is making us more like him.

That we see in James for you know that the testing of faith produces steadfastness or endurance as some.

Translate it and let that said fastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking

nothing.

It gives us that ability to face the next Trial that next test because when

I see God is faithful in this little thing over here I can see the next time when I'm facing

a trial I can see he's going to be faithful there, right.

And the next time I'm a little bit stronger and I can see him being more faithful there and.

Each time it gives me courage to face those tests over and over again.

And that's how that sanctification process works.

Mature and complete lacking nothing as James says because I don't need anything of this life.

I need everything from God.

Right and.

That's why James says that we can count it as joy when we face those.

I.

Can sit here and have joy for the fact that Melanie had to endure that and I hadn't adored my daughter had to endure that.

That sounds odd, doesn't it?

I can.

I can count this joy.

That I almost watched my wife die.

Then my 30 plus years in the medical field said she should be a vegetable and unfortunately, she's under the weather today.

So she's not here today but.

How many of you in here that didn't know her prior to kovat?

Knew she almost died.

That didn't know her private.

For those of you who came here after that or met us after that you would have never known.

But that was a test.

That was a trial.

It's different than the temptation me sitting there in a hospital room every day.

That was the test.

That was a test.

That was a trial.

The temptation was when my 30 years of medical knowledge said my wife is going to be dead and

That 30 something year old nurse would lean over her bed.

Guys, you know what? I'm talking about.

That was the temptation when she'd reach over to my hand and just kind of That was a

temptation.

Right.

That was an opportunity for me to sin.

That was an opportunity for me to be unfaithful to the vow that I made to my wife.

See temptations break us down.

Temptations corrupt us.

I define a temptation as a situation or a circumstance where we have the choice to Sin

or remain faithful to God.

Now, don't get me wrong.

Temptation does not Equal sin.

It is the opportunity to sin just because you are tempted with

something does not mean you're going to Submit to that sin.

Right.

That's why Jesus when he taught us to pray taught us to lead me not into temptation.

God don't put me in the position that I'm going to be tempted Lest I fail.

Because that sin that creeps in with that temptation builds barriers between us and God.

That sin that creeps in separates us From the love of the Father

not that he stops loving us, but because I feel so guilty and shameful in my sin.

I Don't feel his love and scripture says in Isaiah that he will not hear

us.

If we allow sin to remain

it builds that barrier.

So as we look at our stuff We're going that we have to realize is this a test where I can see God's glory in this work in me.

Or is this a temptation that I have the opportunity to?

Remain steadfast to God or submit to my flesh

and guys.

I'm here sometimes.

It's easy to fall into that temptation, isn't it?

I'm here as a pastor today have.

When did we finish when I become a an officially a pastor I?

Don't remember he and I finished MIT and it was shortly.

That's 2016.

I've been a pastor since 2016.

Wow.

That's right.

That doesn't name you feel nearly as old as when I walked into a hospital room and told the nurse Yes, I've been stick or the patient.

I've been sticking people longer than your nurse has been alive.

That one made me feel up.

But guys I'm here to tell you today.

I struggle with temptation every single

day.

Some days I win the struggle some days.

I don't that does not mean

God stops loving me.

Right.

What's the Bible say pick up our cross daily?

So when I've fumbled and I've dropped my cross today what.

Guess what I get an opportunity to do tomorrow to pick up my cross again and

Follow him.

You see it's easy to fall into temptation because that tape temptation is within us.

James 1 14 says each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.

I don't have to look anywhere, but my own internal heart to find a temptation.

That's not God tempting me.

That's not Satan tempting me.

That's not the demons tempting me.

That's.

My own.

Sinful desires.

Are tempting me and all quite quite honestly we need to quit trying to

blame Others for our temptations.

We need to admit the fact that it is my own evil desires.

That want me to stray from God.

Paul said the Galatians the Galatian church like this for the flesh desires.

What is against the spirit and the spirit desires what is against the flesh?

These are opposed to each other so you don't do what you want.

Because God, I honestly will tell you I promise you I was Well, I was that's where on a stack of Bible,

but you guys get the idea I Want to do good every day.

But some days my anger gets a hold of me.

Some days the lust of the flesh the pride of the life, right?

Some days that jealousy when I see people that have things that I don't have and I'm struggling to make what I do have work.

It's hard not to fall into temptation.

When things start getting tough at home.

It's hard not to fall into temptations to walk away and say I

give up.

Because it's my own inwards desires that want to feed myself.

Now you guys might be different you have my well.

I don't have any problem with that, but I would say

You're not being honest.

Because what's first John say if we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves, but the

truth is not in us.

Right if we confess our sins.

He's faithful and righteous forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we say we don't have any sin.

We make him we make God a liar and the truth is not in us.

Just because you choose to follow Christ does not mean you are going to stop sinning today.

It may mean that you overcome a temptation today.

But I promise you no one's going to come along and you're going to fail.

And for a lot of us we use that as a reason to walk out the door and not come back.

But we use it as a reason, but I'm just going to close the Bible.

I'm not going to read it again.

We're looking for a reason to serve flesh rather than tools

to fight.

The temptation we say oh that person

offended me.

I'm not going to go back to that church, but the problem is you don't go back to any church.

Right and.

Christian I'm here to tell you a little secret.

You can't go to church as a Christian.

As a non -believer you can go to church.

But as a Christian you can't.

Do you understand that because a Christian you are the church.

The question is are you one that's falling apart and breaking down or are you one that's actually sitting and living for the kingdom of?

God and Cleaning it up your house to make it ready for him to come back.

So if you claim the name of Christ you can run as far as you want.

But you're still part of the church.

See you're not special.

None of us are we all have sin and no matter how

much I struggle with it There's days that I fail.

Paul did What Paul say for I don't understand.

I do the things that I don't want to do and I don't do the things that I want to do.

Paul wrote more books

of Scripture than anyone else.

Who God took from being a heathen sinful murderer?

And to one that was preaching the gospel, and he still struggled daily

with sin, so you're not special.

Or like pastor Jeff says we all have the exhaust fans in the bathroom.

And it's all for the same reason and I will have to say here publicly we need one in our men's room here.

So all you contractors figure out a way.

But guys we're not special.

When you start saying well nobody understands my sin.

Nobody gets me nobody understands my struggles.

That's a bunch of bovine feces.

What it's saying our top of her no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

That means somebody else Has already dealt with it.

You think nobody understands your temptation.

Nobody understands your secret sin.

Somebody and likely somebody in this room Has already dealt

Has already walked through the same sin that you're struggling with now.

You're just too ashamed to admit that you have sin or you're too prideful to admit you have sin.

Which by the way.

That's a sin too right.

The beauty is even with all this sin.

Scripture said God's gonna give us an out.

Right.

Every time that temptation is allowed in our lives every time that it's come we we face that

temptation.

Scripture says we are given an out.

What did it say?

No tend not common to man.

God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

Which means the temptation that is facing you have the ability to deny that temptation

you have the ability not to sin that occasion.

But with temptation he will also provide a way of escape that you will be able to endure it.

God.

God's gonna give you a lot more than you can handle because that's the only way you're gonna realize you need him.

But that temptation that you're dealing with that that secret sin that you don't want to tell anybody about he's giving you a way

out.

Be it calling somebody on the phone.

When the temptation arises be it going back to his word when the temptation arises.

I've been on that phone call chain.

When we've had that alcoholic in the group that says I can't make it from my work to my home without being tempted to stop.

So Monday you called him.

Tuesday you call him Wednesday you call and every day somebody would talk to that person all the way home.

God gives you a way out Christian that part of that may be in this family right here.

Because even when I'm faithful and faithless even when I'm sinful even when I feel like I can't do it.

And I won't do it because I'm being stubborn God is still faithful.

Psalms 89 32 says then I will punish their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity

with stripes.

But I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be a false to my faithfulness.

Guys you may have to deal with some repercussions of your sins.

But just because you sin doesn't mean God's gonna stop loving you because

he loved us even before right.

But God proved his own love for us is why we were yet sinners.

Christ died for us.

You can't get yourself cleaned up enough.

That's why he loved you while you were filthy.

And that's why even when you fall and stumble today.

He's still gonna.

Love you tomorrow.

That's the beauty of it.

He's gonna give us that out.

He's going to remain faithful

second.

Peter 2 9 says then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until

the day Of judgment I promise you all you have to do is call out to him

when whatever that is that is affecting your life today.

It's just getting too much for you to bear.

Call out.

What does that come to me all.

You are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest it

doesn't matter what it is.

He'll help you shoulder the burden right.

He'll give you that opportunity To follow him,

but to fight that battle that rages within what in us between that flesh and that spirit.

We have to know the tools to use.

We have to know to follow him and not myself and something that that sounds obvious, but sometimes I

need to be reminded of that.

Especially again.

I'm type a at I Like to think that I know what I'm doing.

I Don't know if any of you other men or ladies think that but you like to think that your idea is the best

idea.

Right.

Sometimes it's not and that's hard to say.

Sometimes we have to know to follow him and rely on him.

Joshua 24 says now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness.

Put away the gods of your fathers and serve beyond the rivers in Egypt and serve the Lord.

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord choose this day whom you will serve with the gods of your

father.

Served by the religion beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites and whose lands you dwell.

But as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord.

The first thing to find temptation is knowing who to follow.

I have to choose to follow him rather than me.

Because I can't follow my own efforts.

Scripture says the heart is deceitful and wicked who can understand it.

I Can't follow my heart as the world tries to tell you to do today because it's deceitful and wicked and it's gonna lie to me

as well it is to you and What's it's going to feel today is going to change

tomorrow.

And for some people I've seen it change three times in less than 30 minutes.

So I can't follow my own efforts because they're sinful.

Jesus said in John 3 whatever is born of the flesh is flesh.

Whatever is born in the Spirit of Spirit.

And we just read in Galatians that those two fight each other.

So if it's born of me if it's born of the flesh It's at war with the Spirit.

Romans 8 5 says for those who live according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh.

But those who live according to the Spirit about the things of the Spirit.

For the minds of the flesh is death the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.

For the mindset of the flesh is hostile to God.

Because it does not submit itself to God's law for it is unable to do so.

You want to rely on your own understanding?

The scripture says it's unable To be in line with God.

I can't rely just on the law.

The law of God's perfect right the scripture.

I can't rely on it because it

says in Romans 3 no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law.

Because of knowledge of sin comes through the law.

I Can't rely on following law because all that does is point out the fact that I can't do it.

No matter how hard I try I am going to fail.

My class is getting ready to start a study series on the Ten Commandments guys.

I can't go a day without breaking one of those.

Much less the.

614 of them Char said she can't go an hour.

All it does is point on out my sin.

Romans 5 20 said the law came along to multiply the trespasses.

Because the more you tell me I can't do the more opportunity I have to do something.

I'm not supposed to.

Right.

Adam and Eve had one law and they couldn't keep it.

So I can't rely on myself.

I can't rely on the law.

So I have to rely on God.

The Lord is good and upright.

Psalms 25 Therefore he shows sinners the way He leads the humble and what

is right and teaches them his way.

He leads the humble means you got to follow.

It means you have to submit yourself to something more than yourself.

Right.

And it can't be the doorknob it has to be God.

Some of you understand that reference.

He teaches the humble which means first thing I have to do is admit that I can't do it.

Guys you're struggling with temptation today.

You're struggling with sin today.

Admit you can't overcome it on your own.

Scripture says that I am a slave to something my either a slave to my sin or I am a slave to God.

I

Have to know who to follow.

The best leaders are those who know how to follow somebody.

Not the person to get up and just yell and tell you what to do.

But the one that knows how to follow somebody else.

That's why Ephesians 5 said therefore be imitators of God as dearly loved children.

God has to be our guide.

Christ has to be our example.

Galatians 5 16 that said I say then walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the

flesh.

In other words don't let your mind control what you do.

Submit to God and let him control what you do.

Let that Holy Spirit has been awakened inside you lead you

first.

Peter 1 14.

As obedient children do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.

Christian you say you're incorrect.

Don't be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.

And guys ignorance is not a bad word.

Our society has claimed ignorance is a bad word.

To call somebody ignorant is a bad thing.

No to remain ignorant is bad.

Ignorance is just lack of knowledge.

But Christian you've been given knowledge, you know who to go to right, you know what

to do.

You're ignorant if you choose not to do it actually you're stupid.

If you ignorance you already have the knowledge.

Do not be conformed to the desires your former ignorance, but as one who is holy.

Who called you as holy you also are to be holy in all your conduct.

For as written be holy because I am holy.

And guys I.

Can have faith in him again going back to those?

Trials that I faced before.

Because he's already faced every temptation we have and he's overcome it

said no temptation, right?

Christ has already overcome all the temptations.

Hebrews 4 for 15 says we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness.

But one who has been tested in every way and yet we are yet without sin.

When he was led into the desert for tempting It failed.

Because he was without sin.

You may fail.

That's okay.

He hasn't you have an opportunity tomorrow to do better

and I'm gonna be short today.

I'm gonna be short today.

I'm gonna get the musicians to go ahead and come up.

I'm gonna be closing soon

guys.

When you face that temptation you have two choices.

You have that choice.

To be obedient to God and succeed and when that happens

We need to give thanks to God for it for the strength

to overcome it.

For the wisdom and discernment to identify it and for the

opportunity to still serve him today

and when you fail.

You're going to we need to repent.

We need to not let that just get us down.

We still need to remember who redeemed us From our worthless way of life,

and I need to repent and repent just doesn't mean saying I'm sorry.

Repent means actively turning away and pursuing what is right?

So you may fail today.

Tomorrow get up and pursue what's right?

You may struggle today.

And I love pastures.

I brought this struggling doesn't mean saying I'm tempted by something.

Struggling means to actively fight against that temptation.

So a lot of you that say you're struggling with your sin.

You need to ask yourself am I truly struggling with it or am I succumbing to it every day and just

wallowing in my sin?

But if you failed.

Ask for forgiveness if we confess our sins he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and Then stand up from there and pursue righteousness.

Stand up from there and do what is right as we stand up today.

I Want each of you to think about your temptations you face this week?

Were you successful and need to thank God for them?

Or did you fail and stumble?

And you need to come repent and Then get accountability to help you the next time you

face that temptation.

Get some of those brothers or sisters that can do that phone call chain if you need it.

Seek out someone that has more wisdom and discernment than you.

But you come today as God leads.