Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
This is the last message in the Lord’s Prayer. What a fantastic series of messages we’ve encountered in the midst of our series of the Sermon on the Mount. We’ve come to the last stanza in verse 13 “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one...” There’s always a bit of confusion when one comes upon that line. What does it mean when we pray to God not to lead us into temptation? Is there a possibility that we could follow God into folly? This is the question we are going to answer.
If you remember, the praying of the Pharisees was characterized by hypocrisy (v.5). They prayed for their self-adoration so that all around them would see how holy and righteous they were. Jesus said that prayer is for the glorification of God alone.
Likewise, our prayers are not to be like that of the pagans. Who prayed mechanically, with meaningless repetitions (v. 7) and ritualistic utterances. I think of the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel who stirred themselves into a frenzy and even cut themselves.
The Christian prayer is entirely different. We are not praying for piety's sake and for our glorification. We’re not self-seeking or trying to conjure up some ritualistic stupor. We are praying to our Heavenly Father, putting ourselves under Him, surrendering to His will and glory, knowing He is our provider and protector. Our prayers are to focus on God alone. This kind of prayer is God-centered, not self-centered.
Let’s read the passage one more time together:
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread. 12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] (Matthew 6:9–13)
Every single petition here is a wonderful promise from God that there is nothing that we need to come begging to God for us to receive from Him. Instead, we are upholding what God has already provided for us. For instance, God’s name is to be made holy - that’s His desire. God’s Kingdom is coming, and He will be done - that is already in place. He has already promised to give us our daily bread. He has already granted us, in Christ, absolute and total forgiveness. And He has already promised that He will lead us, guide us, and direct us away from evil in the path of righteousness. So when we are praying, we are really laying claim to what is already promised to us. Therefore, the more we understand the promises of God, the richer and deeper our prayers become. We’re not begging God for what He reluctantly gives; we are living the abundant life He desires to provide for us. (MacArthur)
What is remarkable about the Christian life is we are awaiting a home not yet realized. And during that evolution, our Heavenly Father is leading us through a time and land that is treacherous and ruled by ungodly people and entities. From our finite perspective, it seems at times that the terrain is perilous. However, for the believer surrendered to God we realize that the Guide of our Life is the Master of the terrain.
A little boy led his sister up a mountain path, and the way was not easy. "Why this isn't a path at all," the little girl complained. "Its all rocky and bumpy." Her little brother kept on up the mountain, pausing just long enough to call out, "Sure, but the bumps are what you climb on."
So in the sixth and final petition, we’re not praying in a begging fashion for the easy road, but that we ourselves would follow our Heavenly Father in faith through the rugged terrain of life. That’s the essence of the sixth petition. It’s a continuing thought of trusting God for His protection. You could say that we’ve moved from our physical need (daily bread), to our moral need (forgiveness), to our spiritual or moral need (righteousness).
The word for temptation here is peirasmos, a neutral word used several times in Scripture. It is not a word that points to something positive or negative. It is the essence of being proven or tested.
How does the silversmith know just that moment to take the rock out of the flame? According to my research, the Silversmith knows the moment of purity is complete whenever he sees his actual reflection in the rock; at that moment, it is now pure silver.
“Lead us not into” literally means “into the power of.” So this petition means, “Do not cause us to be led into the hands of trial.” It is not the idea that God is leading us into trials and temptations, but rather the idea of God keeping us safe from the trials all around us that buffet the Christian life. To state the petition positively, it would read, “Keep us in your hands amid trials.”
1 Corinthians 10:12–13 LSB
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you but 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 provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
I believe there is a significant change in the perspective of sin for the believer. There is a change in attitude that gives thanks in gratitude to God for His forgiveness and an earnest desire to be delivered by God from the snare of future sins that await us in this life journey. We shift from a desire to receive forgiveness to a need for preservation. We’re not looking for a license or future pardon; instead, we earnestly desire to keep away from anything that displeases God.
This leaves us with a problem. When we face temptation, who appointed us to be tempted? The early church Father Chrysostom said, “This particular petition is the most natural appeal of human weakness as it faces danger.” While at the same time, there is is a truth that trails and hardships strengthen our faith.
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. 4 And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. (James 1:12–13)
There is a difference between TEMPTATIONS and TRIALS. Temptations come from the Enemy on the outside to make us weaker. Trials come from the Father to make us stronger.
Scripture reminds us of three truths we must remember when we face a trial:
1. Trials come to every believer becuse true faith must be tested (Gen. 22:1 - Abraham).
2. Trials work FOR US, not against us (Romans 8:28, II Cor. 4:17; I Peter 1:7).
3. Trials help us to mature in patience (Romans 5:4, James 1:3-4). (Credit: Larry Petton, Sermon Central)
The heart of this stanza in the Lord’s Prayer is the distrust of the self. And because I don’t trust myself, I rush into the presence of God as my refuge from temptation. The believer is not self-sufficient, but we are humble in the face of adversity and sin.
One day three men were walking along and came upon a raging, violent river. They needed to get to the other side, but had no idea how to do it.
The first man prayed to God, saying, "Please, God, give me the strength to cross this river." Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs; he could swim across the river in about two hours.
Seeing this, the second man prayed to God, saying, "Please, God, give me the strength and ability to cross this river." Poof! God gave him a rowboat, and he could row across the river in about three hours.
The third man had seen how this worked out for the other two, so he also prayed to God, saying, "Please, God, give me the strength, ability, and intelligence to cross this river." And Poof! God turned him into a woman. She looked at the map, then walked across the bridge. (Mark Eberly, Sermon Central)
?And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions and hardships, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10)
The effects of sin’s corruption are everywhere in our world. In nature, we see the groanings of the earth with earthquakes, pestilences, fires, and disasters. We are led by men who are ruled by pride, lust, and power while claiming to be intellectual, they are actually fools. Our country is overrun by medications, drugs, and sorceries. We see evil celebrated in our streets, glorified in our entertainment, and filled in our institutions. Meanwhile, our churches are growing in apostasy and even celebrating the evils of our world. The journey for the true believer is incredibly perilous, and if we are boasting and trusting in our strength, then we are on a destructive path.
“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and confirmed and one which enters within the veil, (Hebrews 6:19)
“In order to realize the worth of the anchor, we need to feel the stress of the storm.” (Tony Abram, Sermon Central).
I believe the lesson for us is to learn just how weak we are and just how strong God is, and when the trial of life comes our way through this fallen world, God turns each and every situation into an opportunity to strengthen us and fashion us more into His image.
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive. (Genesis 50:20 )
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only son, (Hebrews 11:17)
Dr. Paul Brand was born in India to missionary parents and spent most of his life caring for people who couldn’t feel pain - people with leprosy. He spent much of his life studying pain. At one point, he was given a grant to develop a system of warning that would protect people who couldn’t feel pain. So he worked on a glove that would make a sound or have lights that flickered when the hand was in danger. He discovered that even though the person would receive the warning, they would not change their course from the dangerous action without a negative consequence like pain screaming for them to stop what they were doing.
One of Dr. Brand's most significant discoveries was that people with leprosy do not have "bad flesh" that just rots away. Actually, their flesh is healthy. The problem is nerve endings that have died. The inability to sense danger to their bodies comes with the death of their nerve endings. Lepers live pain-free.
Don't you wish you could live life in the absence of pain? The absence of pain is the greatest enemy of the leper. Again and again, they harm their bodies without even knowing it because they have no pain system to warn them.
Dr. Brand knew that lepers often went blind. Why? Because they didn't blink. They didn't blink because they didn't feel the pain we feel when our eyes dry out.
Dr. Brand was puzzled by the fact that lepers often lost fingers and toes overnight. He knew they weren't disappearing into thin air, so he commissioned workers to observe the lepers sleeping. To the surprise of the workers, they found that rats would come in and nibble the exposed fingers and toes. The lepers, who did not feel pain, never awoke to brush away the rats.
Brand found himself at one time with an area of skin that seemed numb, unable to feel. He stuck a pin in this spot just below his ankle and felt nothing. He plunged it in deeper, and a drop of blood spilled out, and still he felt nothing. He went to bed that night assuming the worst - that he had himself contracted leprosy. The thought of it was devastating. The next morning he arose, and jabbed that same spot again with the pin. This time he yelled. (Brett Toman, Sermon Central)
We can learn quite a bit by observing the evil around us. However, when we embrace evil, we lose the proper perspective. Twenty-five percent of Christ’s fifty words have to do with deliverance from evil. What did he say? I challenge you to make that petition before God. I challenge you to say, “From this day forward, I am going to adopt this keep me from evil attitude with the Lord.” (Don Hawkins, Sermon Central).
I think one of the most dangerous qualities of our modern world is the Laodicean Church’s lukewarmness. Too much of the Church has lost its moral moorings. When that happens, where does the world go when it discovers it needs its moorings back? Unfortunately, many Christians do not stop to consider that we are engaged in spiritual warfare. Part of the problem is that we live in a culture that seeks the “Evil One.”
According to the Barna Research Group, 60% of Americans do not believe Satan to be a living being…. The modern worldview has made it socially dangerous to admit belief in demonic spiritual powers, but Jesus had no problem talking & confronting Satan’s activity in the world. Our culture resolutely refuses to believe in the real existence of evil while our newspapers are filled with a flood of immorality, violence, drug abuse, slavery, and behaviors that destroy human life. (Clarence Eisberg).
That brings us to the doxology in verse 13."[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]” It is an echo of 1 Chron 29:11
“Yours, O Yahweh, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the kingdom, O Yahweh, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. (1 Chronicles 29:1)
It is looking at today and even more, looking forward. The battle is already won. The victory has yet to be realized, but it is there. Are you a citizen of that Kingdom, and does its King reign in your heart? Are you looking forward to His return?
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, (Ephesians 2:19–20)
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:3)
