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2 Timothy 4:5-8

But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured ot as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

James 1:12

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.

1 Peter 5:4

And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Rev 2:10,11

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

Did you notice that almost all of the promises of reward that we’ve read this morning are attached to conditions (like righteousness, perseverance, temperance or wisdom)? Lest you despair and think that such conditions are beyond you (which they are), remember what we learned last week. Sanctification is a gift. Progressively becoming more and more like Jesus can’t be accomplished in our own strength, but it will be accomplished in those to whom the Spirit is given. James 1:12 promises a crown to those who resist temptation, and if you go back to I Corinthians, we’ll see just how God makes this possible.

On our first Sunday together, I read to you from I Corinthians 9:24-27 where Paul urges the Corinthians to run in such a way that they may obtain, not a perishable crown, but an imperishable crown. Paul holds up the image of an eternal and imperishable crown and says, “Pursue it, be disciplined, be temperate, lest you run in vain and be disqualified.” Last Sunday I continued in the next verse, and read through to chapter 10, verse 12. What we saw was a survey of the rebellion and demise of all those Israelites who saw the miraculous workings of God in their exodus from Egypt, only to perish in the dessert for their lack of faith. The warning to us: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” This morning, I’ll continue with two final verses from this section, verses 13 and 14.

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 will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

The good news in this verse is quite obvious. Every single time we are faced with temptation, God provides a way of escape. Every time. The bad news is that when we do sin, we are without excuse. We can blame nobody but ourselves. It’s no good arguing that the devil made me do it, for the truth is, every time I yield to temptation I do so because I have rejected God’s way of escape. Verse 13 is one of those pillar verses in Christianity that everyone seems to know. Verse 14, unfortunately, does not get so much attention, but it is no less significant. The “therefore” links verses 13 and 14 so we can say, “because God always provides a way of escape, therefore flee from idolatry!”

Idolatry may sound to some like an old fashioned sin, but the church should know better. Idolatry has and will forever remain at the heart of all sin. We make a god out of whatever we find the most pleasure in, meaning that if we do not find the most pleasure in the one, the only living and true God, then guess what, we are an idolator. That is why these questions of affections are so significant to me. That is why I am not content to get up in the morning and enter into prayer and study begrudgingly. If fellowship with God is mere duty and not delight, then my affections lie elsewhere and no matter what my hands or eyes are doing, my heart is mired in idolatry.

I know this morning was supposed to be about reward, not warning, but the reward that Scripture promises will only be received by those who heed present warnings. Warning and reward are so closely paired in scripture that there is really no way to separate them, nor should we. In drawing our time together to a close, let me try and make one practical suggestion concerning your affections (because you’ll never gain victory over temptation if your affections are misplaced). Don’t be passive with them! Don’t tolerate skewed appetites which long for the poisonous pleasures of sin rather than the perfect and everlasting pleasures of heaven. The next time that alarm goes off and you’d rather stay in bed, preach to yourself. That’s the lesson of Psalm 42:5, 6

“Why are cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquited within me” Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan, And from the heights of Hermon, From the Hill Mizar.”

When you feel defeated, depressed or worse, preach to your soul! That’s what the Psalmist does. He is not content to wallow in discontent. He is proactive, knowing that God gives us no room to live in misery or lethargy. In fact God commands us to rejoice always (Phil 4:4). The Psalmist does this by reminding himself who God is, what God has done, and what God will do. We should do the same. Even when tragedy strikes and all hope seems gone, we have the example of Job, who wept bitter tears over the loss of family, health and wealth, but worshipped God through it all, knowing that the only One to whom his soul was anchored would never fail or falter. When our appetites are wayward, let us PROACTIVELY bring them back into submission. They are meant to serve us, not vice versa.

I opened our series together by examining the events of Matthew 26, which take place just before Christ’s arrest where we see Jesus praying and the disciples sleeping. I want to return to that account to bring this message and series to a close. Though I have spoken of the necessity to have a faith that looks long, past the promises of immediate (and short lived!) pleasures, there is a simply irony in the Christian life that goes like this. When Peter’s faith faltered and he fell, he was left in misery. Sin defaulted on it’s promise once again. Yes, it kept him from potential arrest, but it left his soul mired in guilt and torment. Peter believed that it would go better for him to deny than to obey, but it did not. Later on however, after Pentecost, when Peter proclaimed allegiance to Christ and the gospel with great boldness, and even though it did cost him beatings and imprisonment, he rejoiced that he was counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ’s name (Acts 5:41). And such is my experience as well, for I have never regretted an act of obedience or evangelical boldness, but I have often regretted their lack.

I’ll close with an exhortation from Augustine.

How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose.....You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. YOu drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure,k though not to flesh and blood, you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the yes of men who see all honor in themselves....O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation.

Let’s pray.