Sermon on the Mount
“The Lord’s Prayer”
Part 7
<Temptation, A Character Builder>
Matthew 6: 13; Luke 11:4b
Introduction
No one, not one person on earth is above falling – There isn’t anyone above yielding to temptation in its multiple varied, diverse forms.
From the preacher with his top of the line suits, pressed shirts and clean hair cut, showing he has it all together, to the poor homeless beggar are not above succumbing to it.
There have been countless men and women that have – from well known to those who will never be known who have and will give in to temptations.
All Christians, all believers, all those born again, need to know how to pray, how to ask Our Heavenly Father for spiritual protection for ourselves.
This last petition of only one single line, Luke 11: 4b; in Matthew 6:13 a negative part and a positive one stands out strong, and abrupt.
Don’t Lead us into Temptation
“Lead us not into temptation; does this mean that God our Father is the prime mover behind all temptation? Look at the wording, the Greek word peirasmos is usually translated as temptation. Reading “Lead us no into temptation” could imply that God Himself tempts us. This misunderstanding is strongly rejected in the letter of James, 1:13, in reference to this petition of the Lord’s Prayer – it says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he Himself tempts on one.”
Joachim Jeremias writes: “the rendering “temptation” does not catch the sense of the concluding petition in its full depth. The Greek word peirasmos can have twofold meaning: 1) temptation, as being misled into sin, (Genesis 3:1-6, the serpent misleading Eve); and 2) trial or testing as of one’s faith or fidelity being put to a test. (Abraham in Genesis chapter 22.)
In the New Testament, where the word occurs twenty-one times, the meaning “temptation (into sin)” appears only at one passage, 1 Timothy 6:9; “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation . . .”; in all the other passages the reference is to the testing of faith or to God’s fidelity being put to the test.
Some believe that praying this prayer they will be delivered from all temptations. But Scripture is clear that temptation is an unavoidable part of the human existence. Every Apostle & all the great and not so great saints, live in continual temptation.
The Key
The key to what “Lead us not into temptation . . .” is the word ‘lead’ which either means don’t ‘bring’ us into temptation or ‘Don’t cause that it happen –(temptation)- which we saw earlier has two meanings, to be misled, deceived, which has as its final goal the causing of sin, or testing of the validity of one’s faith.
Why would God test you? Tests are given to show what you have learned and to prove to yourself that you’ve got what you learned ingrained in you for future use.
God doesn’t test us to learn for Himself what you have learned, He knows that already; but for us to know.
We are to pray that He not allow us to come under the sway of temptation that could over power us & cause us to sin – “Don’t cause that to happen.”
In old Jewish morning prayers the overall main idea is asking the Lord to preserve the one praying, from temptation, (trials) that would bring the person under its sway & cause them to fall:
“Do not let us be overcome by sin, disobedience or iniquity or trials . . . Do not let the evil inclination rule us . . . rescue us today & everyday from my evil inclination, from an evil friend . . . from the destructive adversary.”
It’s not praying that we will be spared being tempted at all; we will be exposed to temptation. But we are to pray that we be spared those temptations from Satan, his demons, that we can’t withstand. But again, he won’t spare us from all, 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us “No temptation has overtaken you that isn’t common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with that temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
In reality, temptation, testing is good for us. It molds us into stronger Christians, builds confidence and trust in the Lord God, the Eternal One.
In Marine Boot Camp the basic idea was to change an individual and build him into a man filled with confidence in himself and trust in his fellow Marines.
Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness molded His life & ministry. Satan himself came at Him full force, all guns blazing, with some of the most insidious psycho-spiritual attacks ever made.
Jesus withstood it all & with the temptation conquered He went on to live a pure less life. Yes I know, He was born sinless, but as a man He was susceptible to being tempted and sinning.
Three and a half years later He triumphed over temptation as He conquered the impulse to flee from the cross – That impulse to flee had to be heavy on His heart, so much so that that the stress and fear that He suffered ‘hematidrosis’ as recorded by Luke (the physician) in 22: 41-44. Let me read in part from verse 44, “And being in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.”
At times I get the idea when His agony is described that it was something He took it in stride. Not from the record of Luke. But what He went through in the Garden molded Him more for the cross.
In boot camp, we were told, the training was going to be so tough that Vietnam was going to seem like a walk in the park when we’d get there.
The letter to the Hebrews bears testimony to the molding effect of those & other sufferings in the earthly life of our Lord.
Hebrews 2:10 – “. . . For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation, [Jesus], perfect through suffering.
He’s been there, done that; so if temptations helped shape the life & ministry of the perfect Christ, how much will they do for us?
Temptation is necessary for developing our moral character. William Barclay writes that temptation isn’t so much a “penalty of manhood as it is the glory of manhood. It is what makes a man an athlete of God.”
Martin Luther became stronger fighting the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Conquered temptations knit the fibers of our souls.
There is an old belief that the strength of a slain enemy passes into the slayer, that, it is said true in regard to a Christian overcoming temptations.
Scripture urges what is called the long-view; James 1:2-3 tells us to “count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
In out times we have had great Christians like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Corrie Ten Boom, Alexander Solzhenitzen, Richard Wurmbrand. Their great trials made them into spiritual giants.
Charles Spurgeon talks of two men who were condemned to die under Queen Mary. One boasted loudly that he was grounded in his faith that he knew he would never deny Christ. That he longed for the fatal morning like a bride for her wedding.
The man’s prison companion was a poor trembling, scared soul, even though determined not to deny Christ, was very afraid of the fire. He said he was always afraid of suffering, sensitive to the fact, and was afraid that when he began to burn, the pain would cause him to deny Jesus.
He urged his friend to pray for him and spent his time weeping over his weakness & crying to God for strength. The other man rebuked him & chided him continually for being so unbelieving & weak.
When they came to the stake, the man who had been so bold, at the sight of the fire, recanted & went back disgracefully to an apostate’s life.
While the poor man whose prayer had been, “Lead me not into temptation” stood firm as a rock, praising & magnifying God as he died a cruel death.
The proper prayer for protection is saturated with the awareness that all of us are profoundly weak and subject to fall.
There is a clear & present danger in a pious bravado that assumes we all, everyone, are too strong to stumble & fall.
Deliver us From the Evil One
Some manuscripts say ‘evil’, others say ‘evil one’. Most commentators say that more probably it should read ‘evil one’.
Praying for spiritual protection understands that the accuser is a real person, not some dark cosmic force.
Believing in an utterly malignant being behind the universe’s evil is classified by many as medieval foolishness that pictures Satan as some green eyed gnome with clove hoofs who smells like brimstone.
Helmut Thielicke said in postwar occupied Germany that: “There is a dark mysterious, spellbinding figure at work. Behind the temptation stands the ‘tempter’, behind the lies stands the liar; behind all the dead & bloodshed stands the murderer from the beginning. . . In our days, we have far too much contact with demonic powers.”
He is not omnipresent but tries to imitate omnipresence by commanding a host of evil spirits, fallen angels, that are the ones who affect the godly and the ungodly, just as God who sends His ministering spirits to care for His elect, those saved.
2 Corinthians 11: 14-15 says that Satan & his angels disguise themselves as angels of light.
We don’t have anything to fear when we acknowledge our foes, our enemies’ cosmic power when correctly praying, ‘Deliver us . . .” God can & will deliver us.
Martin Luther sang – “The prime of darkness grim, we tremble not for him – His rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure! One little word shall fell him.”
This should be part of our daily prayers – “Deliver us from the evil one.”
Pray always that God place a hedge around you, the saints, His children of this church, their family, their extended family. The assaults of the evil one, by his armies, are incessant & we have to recognize our frailty & our weakness & lean on God’s power, knowing that without it, we will not stand, doesn’t matter how tough you think you are. –Acknowledging that temptation is necessary for our spiritual growth, we must pray that the Lord keep us from those temptations that would destroy us.
“Lead us not into temptation” we humbly pray to Him that He also deliver us from the evil one, knowing that victory over Satan & his legions can only come through the power of God, as we truly depend on Him.
Look, even Michael the Archangel didn’t get into a dispute with Satan when contending over the body of Moses but did what? He called on the Lord saying, “The Lord rebuke you.” (Jude 9).
Being willing to authentically pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” is key to spiritual health.
It’s part of the ideal pattern, outline, given by our Lord for prayer.
Do you pray it? Is prayer for deliverance from temptation & the power of the devil part of your everyday prayer life?
Are you willing to make it so?
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