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Okay, you can turn in your Bibles
to Matthew chapter 6. God willing, as we conclude the
Lord's Prayer this evening, we're on the sixth petition, specifically
the petition for spiritual protection. Next week, Wednesday night, hopefully
we'll start the book of Ruth. We'll seek to make introduction,
cover the various things concerning that particular book. After the
book of Ruth, God willing, we'll move on to 1 Samuel. But tonight,
as I said, Matthew chapter 6, specifically verse 13, but I'll
begin reading in verse 5. just to set the context. And
when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. So they
love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners
of the streets that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I
say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into
your room and when you have shut your door, pray to your father
who is in the secret place and your father who sees in secret
will reward you openly. And when you pray do not use
vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they will
be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them
for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask
him in this manner. Therefore pray our father in
heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come. Your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 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. For if you forgive men
their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses. Amen. So the Lord Jesus obviously
is cautioning his disciples. He calls them not to pray the
way the hypocrites do, those men that seek simply to be seen
by men. Jesus said, if that's what you're
after, then that is the reward you will get. But rather, when
you pray, go in to your room, go into your secret place and
there pray, and your father who sees in secret will reward you
openly. He then gives a caution against
praying the way the heathen do. Verse 7, when you pray, do not
use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think they will
be heard for their many words. The Lord God Almighty is not
a deity that can be manipulated by a lot of words. He is not
like bail where we seek to come and just get him to do the sorts
of things that we want. And in light of verse 7 we ought
not to take the Lord's Prayer in verses 9 to 13 and just use
it as a means of recitation. In other words if we say it 10
times then we'll get the blessing from God. Rather, each of these
petitions are to be considered, they are to be rolled around
in our minds and in our hearts, we are to meditate upon them,
we are to consider what is at stake in each of these petitions,
and as a result then pray specifically with reference to ourselves,
with reference to family, church, society, all those things. We saw in this prayer that God
comes first. His name, His kingdom, and His
will precede us. It is a similar situation as
the Decalogue. The first four commandments in
the Ten Commandments are our duty toward God. The first three
petitions with reference to the Lord's Prayer are with reference
to God. His name, His kingdom, His will,
and then we shift direction and pray for those things that are
uniquely concerned with men. First, in terms of man, we pray
for our provision. Give us this day our daily bread. Not just food, but shelter, clothing,
all those things necessary to sustain temporal life. Secondly,
we are to pray for forgiveness. Forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors. The assumption, or the implication
is, is that we will sin daily, and therefore we need to pray
daily. And then the sixth petition is, do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. R.T. France makes this observation
concerning the fifth and the sixth petition. He said, after
a petition for the forgiveness of past sin comes one for protection
from future sin. After a petition for the forgiveness
of past sin comes one for protection from future sin. I think that's
a good way to approach the fifth and the sixth. We're confessing
sin, asking God to forgive us, and then in that sixth petition
we're crying out to God for protection so that we don't continue in
sin against Him, that He would afford those resources necessary
so that we do not succumb to temptation and so that he may,
in fact, deliver us from the evil one. So as we look at this
particular petition tonight, we'll look at, first of all,
the meaning of the petition, secondly, the explanation of
the petition, thirdly, the reason for the petition, and then fourthly,
just some particulars that we can try and tease out so that
we can apply this. But as has been our custom, I
do want to read the Westminster Larger Catechism on this petition. Number 195, what do we pray for
in the sixth petition? In the sixth petition, which
is, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, acknowledging
that the most wise, righteous, and gracious God, for diverse,
holy, and just ends, may so order things that we may be assaulted,
foiled, and for a time led captive by temptations. that Satan, the
world, and the flesh are ready powerfully to draw us aside and
ensnare us, and that we, even after the pardon of our sins,
by reason of our corruption, weakness, and want of watchfulness,
are not only subject to be tempted and forward to expose ourselves
unto temptations, but also of ourselves unable and unwilling
to resist them, to recover out of them, and to improve them,
and worthy to be left under the power of them. We pray that God
would so overrule the world and all in it, subdue the flesh and
restrain Satan, order all things, bestow and bless all means of
grace, and quicken us to watchfulness in the use of them, that we and
all his people may, by his providence, be kept from being tempted to
sin, or, if tempted, that by His Spirit we may be powerfully
supported and enabled to stand in the hour of temptation, or
when fallen, raised again and recovered out of it, and have
a sanctified use and improvement thereof. that our sanctification
and salvation may be perfected. Satan trodden under our feet
and we fully freed from sin, temptation and all evil forever."
Now that is a mouthful and certainly a long question and answer to
remember in terms of a catechism, but it does very accurately and
very appropriately state what is involved in this sixth petition.
So first of all, what is the meaning of the petition? He says,
to pray, do not lead us into temptation. The specific word
in view here is test or temptation. And what is not in view are those
genuine tests that God does put upon his children for good ends. In the book of James, you can
turn there, James chapter 1, James writes specifically in
verses two and three, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall
into various trials. Now we know that we do not live
apart from a sovereign God, so that when we fall into these
various trials, it is not apart from the doing of our Lord God
most high. It is not apart or absent from
the decree of God, such that when we fall into various trials,
those have been ordained by God for the good of His people."
So when Jesus says, do not lead us into temptation, He's not
saying that we are to pray against those legitimate things that
the Lord uses for our good. Trials, temptations, testings,
difficulties at times have a very good effect in the hand of God
upon His people. James says, my brethren, verse
2, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing
that the testing of your faith produces patience. Do you remember
the account in Genesis chapter 22? When God calls Abraham to
take Isaac up to Mount Moriah and to offer him as a sacrifice,
the Bible says that God is testing him. And so that's not what's
in view in this particular petition. God the Lord in Deuteronomy chapter
8 tests the nation of Israel. These things are ordained by
God for the good of his people. What is rather in view with reference
to this petition, do not lead us into temptation in terms of
a solicitation to do evil. If you're still in James, we
see the same idea present in chapter 1. Chapter 1, verse 2,
count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing
that the testing of your faith produces patience. Drop down
to verse 13. Let no one say when he is tempted,
I am tempted by God. Now, the tempting there is not
the trials and the difficulties that oftentimes are sent by God
either to chastise us or to promote some further growth and grace
to us, but the temptation of verse 13 is a solicitation to
do evil. It is to engage in that which
is rebellion against God. And that's why James says in
verse 13, that no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by
God. God is not soliciting us to do
evil. God is not calling us to engage
in wickedness. God is not calling us to engage
in lawlessness against His holy commands. James explains further
in verse 13, 4. God cannot be tempted by evil,
nor does He Himself tempt anyone, but each one is tempted when
he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 5. Then when desire
has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full
grown, brings forth death. So it's that temptation, it is
that solicitation to do evil, it is to engage in rebellion
and transgression against God that Jesus says we are to pray
against. Do not lead us into temptation. Keep us from this. guard us,
watch over us, protect us, so that we don't stumble and fall.
Manton said it this way, he said, in temptation we must distinguish
between the mere trial and the solicitation to sin. The mere
trial, that is from God, but the solicitation to sin, that
is from Satan and ourselves. God solicits no man to sin. It is true God may try us, trouble
us, toss us, exercise our faith, hope, and patience. The idea
is that we are to pray to God that in the midst of those particulars
we don't engage in evil and rebellion against Him. The idea is, is
let us not be brought into temptation and thus sin against you, our
holy God. Watson summarizes this way, the
meaning is that God would not suffer us to be overcome by temptation. that we may not be given up to
the power of temptation and be drawn into sin. So you see in
the fifth petition we are asking God to forgive us of past sin. In the sixth petition we are
asking God to protect us from future sin. We do not want to
violate the law of God. We do not want to transgress.
We do not want to commit iniquity. The assumption of our text, obviously,
is that Jesus believes, Jesus assumes, Jesus presupposes that
his blood-bought children are going to pursue the course of
sanctification. They are not going to like sin.
They're not going to rejoice in iniquity. They're not going
to delight in transgression. They will fall, they will be
tried, there will be difficulty, but by God's grace, their chief
desire is to pursue those things which are pleasing in His sight.
This is the new principle that has been given to us in regeneration. God Almighty takes out that old
stony heart that has no predilection, no desire whatsoever for holiness
and righteousness. He takes out that old stony heart
and he puts in a new fleshly heart. And with that fleshly
heart, he writes upon our hearts the law and he puts it in our
minds and he gives us this desire to do those things which are
pleasing to him. And with that in view and with
that in mind, we take this petition and we pray for God's protection. do not lead us into temptation."
Now with reference to the explanation, do not lead us into temptation,
suggests at least a few things. With reference to this petition,
there is first an acknowledgment of God's sovereignty. We're not
subject to the devil. We're not subject to forces out
there that make us do things against our bidding or against
our will. We acknowledge the comprehensive
and absolute sovereignty of God Most High in all things. The
way that we come to Him and pray for provision, give us this day
our daily bread, assumes that God is sovereign and He's able
to deliver into our hands food. When we pray that fifth petition,
we acknowledge His sovereignty. We believe that He has the power
and the ability to forgive us of our sins, that He's made a
way of doing so through the blood of His own dear Son. And in this
sixth petition, we acknowledge that He is in absolute sovereign
and comprehensive control, so we come to Him and we acknowledge
that, and we seek protection, we seek guidance, we seek strength
from on high. We acknowledge his sovereignty
and spiritual protection from enemy forces. We realize that
he is sovereign and not the devil. We realize that he is sovereign
and not the world. We realize that he is sovereign
and not our own remaining corruption. We prayerfully submit to his
sovereign rule as the one who knows what is best for his children
and we seek his direction and influence in our lives so that
he would hedge us in. so that He would guard us, so
that He would keep us, and not allow us to transgress against
Him. This is the gist of the petition. It is an acknowledgment of the
sovereignty of God Most High. Secondly, with reference to do
not lead us into temptation, it is an admission of our own
weakness and of our own wickedness. That's the reality of it. There
is still in our hearts, as we just sang, in number 400. Oh
to grace, how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be.
Let that grace now like a fetter. Isn't that an interesting language? Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to Thee. We ought to pray that God would
so overrule our desires, our passions, our wants, so that
He would bind our hearts to Him. The hymn writer goes on to say,
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I
love. Here's my heart, oh, take and
seal it, seal it for thy courts above. So in this sixth petition,
we are making an acknowledgment of our own weakness and of our
own remaining corruption. Romans chapter 7, in fact, turn
there. It's been a while since we actually
just read the passage. Romans chapter 7, specifically
verses 14 to 25. There is a strain of interpretation
that says that Paul here is describing what he was prior to conversion. I do not believe that. I take
the position that Paul is describing here what he is as a converted
man. Galatians 5.17 confirms this
because it teaches the same thing. Notice in Romans 7.14, For we
know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not
understand. For what I will to do, that I
do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. If
then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that
it is good. But now it is no longer I who
do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that
is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For the will is present
with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the
good that I will to do I do not do, but the evil I will not to
do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to
do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me."
I think he's dealing with remaining corruption. not reigning corruption
prior to the time that he was converted, but remaining corruption
as a Christian man. Notice what he says in verse
21, I find then a law that evil is present with me. Again, it's
remaining, it's there, the tendency, that downward spiral is still
in our hearts. I find then a law that evil is
present with me, the one who wills to do good." I find that
very interesting, verse 21. When do we find the law that
remaining corruption is in our heart? Typically it's when we're
trying to do that which is right. You see the connection there?
I find that a law that evil is present with me, the one who
wills to do good. If I'm not willing to do good,
I'm not conscious of this struggle. If I'm not willing to read my
Bible, I'm not willing to pray, I'm not willing to attend corporate
worship, I'm willing simply to sit down and read the progress
of the times. Something not necessarily evil,
but not something that's good. We don't find that principle
at work in us until we do those things or attempt to do those
things that are pleasing to God. I find then, Allah, that evil
is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight
in the law of God according to the inward man. I see another
law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body
of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then
with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the
flesh, the law of sin." Now, that is not an easy section of
Scripture. There's a lot of ins and outs,
a lot of clauses, a lot of things that would take a long time to
unpack. But I think the gist of it is
this. Paul, as a Christian, has remaining corruption in his heart. Galatians 5.17, he says, for
the flesh, well, verse 16, I say then, walk in the Spirit, and
you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The flesh lusts
against the Spirit, the Spirit against the flesh, and these
are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things
that you wish." There is in us that competition. There is in
us, when we are standing before the throne of grace, seeking
to pray to our God, or kneeling before the throne of grace, a
thousand thoughts can run into our heads that have nothing to
do with Christ and His glory and His majesty. Or when we're
singing praises to God in corporate worship, instead of being drawn
out in worship and love and adoration, we're thinking about soup or
what we're going to have in a half hour when we get home. There
is in us that remaining corruption, that tendency that wants to do
those things which are displeasing to God. And so this petition
is an acknowledgment of that weakness and wickedness, and
we pray to God to lead us not into temptation. John Owen says,
for ourselves, we are weakness itself. We have no strength,
no power to withstand. Confidence of any strength in
us is one great part of our weakness. Did you get that? Confidence
of any strength in us is one great part of our weakness. In other words, when we esteem
ourselves highly, that's a chink in the armor. When we say, wow,
I'm able to withstand, or wow, I'm doing really good in this
particular area. That's actually a weakness. Rather,
it is best to cast ourselves humbly at the throne of grace
and ask God to lead us not into temptation. He goes on to say,
confidence of any strength in us is one part of our weakness.
It was so in Peter. What happened to Peter? If everybody
denies you, Lord, I won't. I'll follow you right to the
cross, Lord. I'll do whatever it is you say,
Lord." He could have signed 505 with absolute sincerity, all
the way my Savior leads. And Jesus says, no, you're going
to deny me three times. And this is precisely the issue.
Owen says, he that says he can do anything can do nothing as
he should. He that says he can do anything
can do nothing as he should. This sixth petition causes us
to reflect upon our weakness and our remaining corruption
and hopefully draws us or sends us to the throne of grace to
seek protection from prevailing temptation. Thirdly, do not lead
us into temptation is a recognition of the power of temptation. You
see, if there was not power in temptation, we shouldn't have
to pray this. If there wasn't some allurement
in sin out there, then we shouldn't have to pray this. But the reality
is that there is an allurement, there is something about it,
there is a desire in our hearts, and so this petition causes us
to reflect upon the power of temptation. Consider Genesis
39, 7-23, Joseph in Potiphar's house. ran. Joseph fled. Joseph left
from the premises. That's how he dealt with temptation.
And we would do well to do likewise. Job 31.1. Job says, I have made
a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a
young woman? It's interesting. Job knows the
power of temptation. Job understands the remaining
corruption that is in his heart. And so Job makes a covenant with
his eyes so that he will not look upon a young woman. Proverbs
5, verse 8, remove your way far from her, do not go near the
door of her house. Matthew chapter 5, verses 27
to 30, again with reference to sexual sin. Ephesians 4, 29,
let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. Temptation is
powerful and we are fools to think otherwise. Another place
dealing with sexual sin, this happens to be prevalent at times
in the scriptures, is in the Proverbs. Can a man take fire
into his bosom and not be burned? Can a man take a burning coal
and lay it in his suit pocket and not get burned? Of course
not. When he takes that coal and he lays it on his chest,
it's going to burn him. The same is true with reference
to lust. Can a man engage in this particular
reality and not get burned? Temptation is powerful. Again,
John Owen says it this way. And these quotes are from Owen's
volume 6, Temptation and Sin, or Sin and Temptation. I highly
recommend that volume. The bulk of it is an exposition
of Psalm 130, and the bulk of that is an exposition of verses
3 and 4. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand, but there is forgiveness with you
that you may be feared." So when you look at Owen's volume six,
probably the most of that is Psalm 130, probably the most
of that is verses three and four, but the rest of that volume deals
with sin and temptation and those sorts of things. It's very powerful
and most helpful in our fight against sin and temptation. Here's
what Owen says, There are traitors in our hearts, ready to take
part, to close, and side with every temptation, and give up
all to them, yea, to solicit and bribe temptations to do the
work as traitors incite an enemy. Do not flatter yourselves that
you shall hold out. There are secret lusts that lie
lurking in your hearts, which perhaps now stir not which, as
soon as any temptation befalls you, will rise, tumultuate, cry,
disquiet, seduce, and never give over until they are either killed
or satisfied." It's terrifying. You may not be conscious of it
now. You may think you have put that particular sin to death,
and then a temptation presents itself, and he says, that or
those lusts in you will rise, tumultuate, cry, disquiet, seduce,
and never give over until they are either killed or satisfied. Again, Owen says, let no man
then pretend to fear sin that does not fear temptation to it. They are too nearly allied to
be separated. Satan has put them so together
that it is very hard for any man to put them asunder. He hates
not the fruit who delights in the root." So if we say we hate
sin, we ought to hate temptation as well, and this particular
petition hopefully will remind us of that reality so that we
can resist these things. And then a fourth observation
with reference to the first part of the petition, do not lead
us into temptation. It is a humble appeal for divine
aid. It is a humble appeal for divine
aid. It's a petition. We're calling
upon God. Lord, we don't want to go out
and dishonor you. We don't want to go out and give
cause to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. We want to be faithful. We want to be upright. We want
to be holy. We want to let our conduct be
worthy of the gospel. We want to abide in your light
so that we may honor and glorify you. and shine a light upon your
majesty." So in this petition we are making a humble appeal
for divine aid. Hebrews 4, 14 to 16 tells us,
"...seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast
our confession. For we do not have a high priest
who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points
tempted as we are, yet without sin." Now based on that, here's
what the author says, let us therefore come boldly to the
throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in time of need. When is that time of need? It
is from the moment you open your eyes in the morning until the
moment you close your eyes at night. And probably you might
have issues in your dream life as well. So before you close
your eyes and sleep, you say, Lord, protect me, guard me, keep
me, watch over me. so that I don't sin against you
even in my dreams. That's how wicked we are. We
will seek any outlet to sin against the Lord God Most High. Even
our subconscious, when we're lying there peacefully, everybody's
looking at us saying, wow, isn't that nice? He looks so at peace.
And in our minds and in our hearts, we're rolling around in some
wicked, noxious sin. So we need to realize that this
petition is in fact a humble appeal for divine aid. So the
first part of the petition, do not lead us into temptation.
Four things suggested. An acknowledgment of God's sovereignty,
an admission of our weakness and remaining corruption, a recognition
of the power of temptation, and a humble appeal for divine aid.
Note the second aspect of the petition. It's one petition.
It is for protection. Do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. Deliver us from the evil
one. There's two different ways that
that could be translated. It has nothing to do with the
textual tradition. The word could be translated
deliver us from evil in general or the evil one in particular. Probably evil in general is better
because it involves the evil one and everything else. The
evil one does, in fact, make sense. I mean, we see Jesus tempted
by the evil one in Matthew chapter 4, but we should pray against
the other enemies as well. It's not just the devil that
we have to contend with. There is a world out there, and
there is a sin, a remaining corruption in our own hearts. Ryle says,
we are here taught to ask God to deliver us from the evil that
is in the world, the evil that is within our own hearts, and
not least from the evil one, the devil. I think that captures
the essence of the petition. And Manton wisely makes this
statement, if there were no devil to tempt us, yet the heart of
man is fruitful enough of all that is evil. Even if there wasn't
a devil out there, even if there wasn't an evil one, there is
within our own hearts, in terms of remaining corruption, enough
evil there that we ought to be praying to God to deliver us
from the evil one. As well, we need to recognize
the fact that this is an ongoing prayer. This isn't something
we pray once when we first get converted. We have seen, with
reference to these petitions, Jesus envisions that the church,
corporately, will be praying these things on an ongoing basis.
Do we pray once for our daily bread? No, we hopefully pray
daily for our daily breath. Do we pray once for the forgiveness
of sins? No, we probably pray every day,
God forgive me for my sin. You don't pray that way, maybe
you should renew your acquaintance with this particular prayer and
bring these things to your prayer closet, but in the same vein,
lead us not into temptation, deliver us from the evil one.
The prayer for protection from temptation and deliverance from
evil is to be frequently engaged in because of the constant danger
posed by temptation and this unholy trinity of enemies. It
ought to be something that we pray often to God. Do not lead
us into temptation. Deliver us from the evil one. Jesus said in Matthew 26, 41,
watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed
is willing, but the flesh is weak. So with reference to this
second part of this aspect of the petition, deliver us from
the evil one. We need to see the enemies in
view, the world, the flesh, the devil, the continual threat.
And then I think there is a reality assumed in the petition also.
Deliver us from the evil one. I don't know if you caught it.
I know that's a mouthful, that Westminster larger catechism
195. Could you imagine growing up in a Puritan home? having
your supper and dad saying, OK, Junior, number 195, what do we
pray for in the Sixth Petition? And then having to say that after
you've just eaten your soup, that's quite a mouthful. There's
a lot going on. But they were very wise to indicate
this. toward the end, or if tempted,
that by his spirit we may be powerfully supported and enabled
to stand in the hour of temptation." Isn't that beautiful? If tempted,
we might say when tempted. That by his spirit we may be
powerfully supported and enabled to stand in the hour of temptation. They don't stop there. The divines
continue. Or when fallen. raised again and recovered out
of it, and have a sanctified use and improvement thereof."
You see, the divines understood that as much as we pray, as much
as we fast, as much as we attend to the means, There is in us
that remaining corruption. There is in us that proneness
to wander. There is that tendency to leave
the God that we love. The divines understood Paul in
Romans 7. They understood Paul in Galatians
5. They understood Peter saying, vowing his allegiance to the
Lord Jesus and then denying Christ to a slave girl. They understood
that and that's why they say, or when fallen, raised again
and recovered out of it. Deliver us from the evil one
is something to employ as well after the fact. God, I sinned
against you. I'm confessing it in the fifth
petition. In the sixth, I'm asking for
recovery. I'm asking for restoration. I'm
asking that you would take these things that I have done and sanctify
it to me. You might not think that good
could result from a life of sin or from an act of sin, very often
it can. God sanctifies it, we make improvement,
we learn something about it, so that we don't continue in
that particular vein. They go on to say that our sanctification
and salvation may be perfected, that's within the petition, Satan
trodden under our feet, and we fully freed from sin, temptation,
done all evil, forever. So I love the balance that these
men strike. Pursue sanctification. Pursue
holiness. Pursue righteousness. Pursue
law and obedience to it. But understand you're going to
sin. That's why we have a mediator. That's why we have Jesus. That's
why we have the blood. That's why Christ came, because
we don't fulfill those commandments whether unsaved or saved. The
best of men, that is a godly man, fails miserably each and
every day. We need to understand that. Paul
himself penned Romans 7. Paul himself penned Galatians
5. Peter, one of the men that was
closest to Jesus, Peter, James, and John, denies Christ three
times. to a slave girl, not to Caesar,
not to Pilate, not to Herod, but to a servant girl. He feared
in her presence. And so he disowns the Lord Jesus
Christ. I mean, that's the reality of
it. I get a little bit weary when we don't remember this reality
that when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even
Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John chapter 2, John tells
us, my little children, I write these things so that you may
not sin. I don't want you to sin, I want
you to pursue righteousness, I want you to be godly, I want
you to be lawful Christians, but if anyone does sin, we have
an advocate with the Father. So the believer is supposed to
pray this, deliver us from evil. cleanse me, wash me, purify me,
in the language of the Catechism, when fallen, raised again, and
recovered out of it, and have a sanctified use and improvement
thereof. I'd like to think that if I hit
my thumb with a hammer, I'd learn the lesson not to do that again.
I think that's the idea of this sanctified use and improvement
thereof. Hey, I took this particular path
last time, and it brought me misery, it brought me sin, it
brought me shame, it brought me all kinds of bad things. I
hope in the future, God, you will sanctify this to me, this
learning experience, and may there be improvement, so if given
the opportunity again, I will resist that temptation, and I
will pursue those things which are pleasing in your sight."
That's what Jesus tells us with reference to this petition. Do
not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil
one. The reason for the petition, we have already covered one of
them, our remaining tendency towards sin. Again, this wouldn't
be there if there wasn't remaining corruption. Why would Jesus teach
us to pray this? If we assume that Paul is not
talking about Christians in Romans 7 and in Galatians 5, we got
a problem with this passage. Why would Jesus tell believers
in the church to pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil? Why does he teach us to pray
that? Because we have in us a tendency, a remaining tendency. It doesn't
reign, it doesn't rule, but it remains. And as a result, we
need to pray to God to keep us from these things. As well, this
petition hopefully expresses our desire for communion with
God. The child of God yearns for communion
with God and wants to remove any and all obstacles that bar
that relationship. That should be evident. Something
stands between us and God, we ought to deal with it by His
grace and for His glory. And then a third reason for the
petition is our longing to glorify God. Owen said this, consider
the end of any temptation This is Satan's end, sin's end. That is the dishonor of God and
the ruin of our souls. You see, that's the devil's purpose. That's what temptation in us
wants. It's not happiness, it's not
joy, it's not freedom, it's not liberty. What the devil wants
is the dishonor of God and the ruin of our souls. I think if
we see temptation and we see sin in that particular light,
we do what Owen says elsewhere. We need to load our consciences
with the guilt of sin. We need to see how bad it is,
what an affront to God it is, what an abomination it is to
him. and then some particulars quickly, we'll just tease out
a few things. The individual believer, certainly
we ought to pray this for ourselves. Do not lead me into temptation.
Deliver me from the evil one. Lord, keep me, watch over me,
protect me, help me not to make foolish decisions. You know,
the wise man foresees evil, according to the Proverbs, and he hides
himself. The simple pass on and are punished. God, help me not to be the simple.
Help me to be that wise man who foresees evil and passes on. How many times do we possibly
foresee evil and instead of passing on we get as close to it as we
possibly can? That's wrong. We can't play with
temptation and expect not to get burned. That is simply foolish
in our thinking. the believers' intercession on
behalf of others, certainly as parents and as grandparents. We ought to pray this for our
children and grandchildren, keep them from temptation. I mean,
we have a generation that have a pocket full of temptation.
They've got phones with more capability in them than, you
know, we knew growing up. I mean, what did we do before
cell phones? How did we function without texting
way back then? Now they've got all this right
at their fingertips. We need to pray, God most high,
lead them not into temptation, deliver them from the evil one. We ought to pray this for family
members, for friends, for fellow churchmen. If a brother or a
sister confides in us, I'm struggling with a particular sin, we bring
that person to the throne of grace and we pray for them. Lord
God, lead them not into temptation, deliver them from the evil one.
We can pray for church members, we pray for church leaders, we
pray for government officials. I mean, 1 Timothy chapter 2,
verses 1 and 2, Paul tells us we ought to pray for kings and
all who are in authority. I think a legitimate prayer for
a king or one who is in authority is, Keep them from temptation,
the temptation to exploit their office for money, or to exploit
their office for security, or to exploit their office for political
purposes instead of for righteousness. God be merciful to them. Keep
them from temptation. Deliver them from the evil one. With reference to the church,
we ought to pray that God would lead us do not lead us into temptation. Temptation to disunity. Ephesians
4 verse 1. Endeavor to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace. God most high wants the church
of Jesus Christ to function in unity. It's not going to be perfect.
We're never going to dot every I and cross every T perfectly
together. It's not going to be like we're
marching like some German soldiers with lockstep and the whole spiel.
But for the most part, collectively and corporately, the church ought
to manifest unity. We do that in our expression
of a common confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We
ought to pray, with reference to the church, that we not compromise
the truth. I came across this quote by Malcolm
Watts. It actually said Watts, and for
a moment I said, Isaac? And it's not Isaac. Isaac didn't
write this one. Malcolm Watts, if any of you
have heard of him, he's a living man. He's a living man. That sounds odd. He lives in
England. He's a minister of the gospel,
and he has written a wonderful little book. I mean, it's probably
yay big. It's called, What is a Reformed
Church? It's fantastic. But he says this
with reference to ministers. And this is a good thing we ought
to pray. God, lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from the evil one.
He says ministers are not called to entertain people by projecting
themselves, displaying their talents, or indulging in humorous
or anecdotal addresses. The apostolic injunction is to
preach the word. The church desperately needs
preachers, not comedians. That's why I said it wasn't Isaac
Watts. I don't think Isaac Watts would have written something
like that. Certainly in that vein, I'm sure Isaac Watts would
amen that. But that's very important with
reference to the church. Lead us not into temptation to
compromise the truth. Lead us not into temptation to
do those things which get people in, but in the wrong way. Lead
us not into temptation of seeking to find favor in the eyes of
a culture that is at war with the living and true God. I mean,
why would we want to have truck with a culture that despises
our God and his Christ? And we ought to pray to avoid
the temptation to obscure the cross. The cross is everything
in Christianity. The cross ought to be the focal
point in the church, and I don't mean one on the wall or on our
hymn books. I mean the proclamation of the
message of the cross, the rallying around those central cardinal
truths of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So those are some
suggested areas with reference to that particular petition.
Just want to close by reading the catechism on the doxology. Notice how the prayer ends. For
yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever If
you're using a new version, it'll set that off and suggest that
it's not part of the original text. It's interesting, it is
in the Didache, and the Didache was an early Christian manual
that dates around 100 or 110. It was quoted by or in the Didache
that soon. It does seem to me that it is
in the textual tradition that it ought to be there and we ought
to abide by it or understand it. But I like the catechism,
196. What does the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us?
The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, which is, for thine is
the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. teaches
us to enforce our petitions with arguments which are to be taken,
not from any worthiness in ourselves or in any other creature, but
from God, and with our prayers to join praises, ascribing to
God alone eternal sovereignty, omnipotency, and glorious excellency,
and regard whereof as He is able and willing to help us, so we
by faith are emboldened to plead with Him, that he would, and
quietly to rely upon him that he will fulfill our requests.
And to testify this our desire and assurance we say, Amen. For yours is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. The petitions are reasoned or
argued or founded upon not our merit, not our goodness, not
our ability, but upon the kingdom and the power and the glory of
God Most High." That is the chief argument that we bring to him
with reference to these petitions. One final note before we finish
with reference to action. It is good to pray. It is good
to do. We cannot pray these things and
then go put ourselves in harm's way. It doesn't do us any good
to say, Lord, lead me not into temptation and then go to a strip
club. Lead me not into temptation and
then go and hang out with the neighborhood gossip. Lead me
not into temptation and then walk into a store where we know
our desire is to steal Snickers bars. You know, we need to make
sure that as we pray, so we live. Owen said, he who prays as he
ought will endeavor to live as he prays. He who prays as he
ought will endeavor to live as he prays. I think that's a good
note to end on with reference to this, the Lord's Prayer. May
God indeed help us to take these things corporately and individually
and to pray these things back to our gracious God. Well, let
us close our father. We do thank you for these things.
We thank you for the emphasis upon your name, your kingdom
and your will. Help us not to rush to the throne
of grace and simply set forth what we want. Help us to consider
the glory of your name and the coming of your kingdom and the
the obedience to your will that you call us to consider. As well,
Father, we thank you that you do give us petitions to pray
back to you for our food, forgiveness, and protection. We ask now that
you would protect us as people here at this Bible study, We
pray that you would protect the entirety of our church. We pray
that you'd protect our children, our young people, that you would
watch over them and lead them not into temptation, but deliver
them from from evil. Grant us grace now, Father, to
go into fear and to hope. glorify your most holy name and
bring us together on the Sabbath day that we may rest in you,
that we may worship you in spirit and in truth, that your word
may go forth and that sinners may be converted unto Jesus Christ,
that saints may be sanctified and edified and built up and
more and more conformed unto the image of our beloved Christ.
And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.
