Temptation and Deliverance

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Transcript:

Well, turn with me tonight to Matthew chapter 6, and we’ve come to the last installment in our series on prayer. And I hope you have learned from the series some things to apply to your prayer life as I have. But we start in Matthew chapter 6 in verse 9.

It says, And tonight we look just at this last verse where it starts out and says, and lead us not into temptation. And many of you may have heard people joke from time to time saying, Lead us not into temptation, we can find it on our own. There’s a lot of truth to that, but that’s not to be taken as an excuse.

You know, temptation is so easy to find and so easy to fall into that, you know, why find it? Let’s just give in to the temptation. There’s some truth in it, though, about it being so easy to find our way into temptation.

That’s human nature. It’s human nature that we wander away from God. It’s human nature that we rebel against all He’s told us to do.

And yet we’re told here to pray that he lead us not into temptation. Now, immediately this presents some problems for us. If you’re familiar with the passage in James at all, in James chapter 1, if you’d like to turn there, where it says, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.

For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Do not err, my beloved brethren, every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. And see, I’m still one of these, I guess, backward people, as some in our society would want to call it today, who believes in the inerrancy of Scripture, who believes that it not only extends to the spiritual teachings not being in error, but believes that the whole Bible is without error. The whole Bible is without contradiction.

Now, this appears to be a contradiction on the surface until you realize the different uses of different words in the English language. We have words that mean so many different things. For example, you can say you love your wife, you can say you love pizza, and it’s not the same kind of love, is it?

Better not be. There are different meanings of the word temptation. Now, this is one of the rare instances I found where the Greek is just as imprecise as the English.

Because the word in here that says temptation, that’s translated as temptation, is the Greek word pirasmos, which means the same as testing. And unfortunately, throughout the scriptures, it’s used to mean testing or temptation. And so you have to read in and infer from context what he’s talking about.

Because this is the same word that’s used when it says that Jesus was taken out to the wilderness and was tempted for 40 days. Now, this word pirasmos means attesting or approving, you know, checking to make sure something really is what it claims to be, which applies to Jesus’ temptation. Now, Jesus was tempted by Satan, kind of like Philip Wilson used to say, the devil made me do it.

Well, the devil tried to make, tried to entice Jesus into doing things that he should not have done and that he knew not only as a student of Scripture, but as the one who inspired Scripture, knew that these things were not to take place, that he was not supposed to tempt the Lord, that he was not supposed to turn the stones into bread, that he was not supposed to do all the things that Satan tried to entice him to do. But inherent in that time of temptation, there was a testing, because it was a proof, not the only proof by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a proof to a watching, waiting world that this man really was who he claimed to be, that this was God in human flesh. Because I will, folks, if I were a betting man and I’m not, but if I were, I would say there’s not any one of us who could have resisted 40 days out in the desert the way he did.

And then the onslaught of temptation from Satan, folks, that had to have proved something about his character and about his nature to go through what he did and come out sinlessly, to come out sinlessly. I would speculate probably most of us can’t go 40 seconds on a regular day sinlessly. And yet 40 days he resisted the temptation.

But the word also means testing, and so we have to look at it in context. And when we’re praying to God and saying, lead us, and I looked at the words and thought, maybe it’s saying here, you know, let us not be led into temptation in the Greek. No, it’s saying, do not lead us.

So it’s talking to God about something he’s doing, then it can’t mean temptation the way James is talking about. Because James says here that God does not tempt and cannot be tempted with evil, And he explains how temptation works. He says, when every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed, Satan knows exactly the things, exactly the weak spots, where they are in our lives, in our spiritual condition, what the things are that are going to make us fall every time or nine times out of ten.

And he knows what those things are, and he draws us away of our own lusts, and we’re enticed, and when lust is conceived, it brings forth sin. Folks, I believe Satan knew that David would be tempted with Bathsheba, knew that that would be the sin that would get him. And I’ll tell you, Satan does not seem to tempt everybody with the same things.

I know people who are tempted by alcohol. That is not even something I want to try. I’ve never tried it, and I have no interest in it.

It’s not a temptation. And yet there are things that are temptations for me that wouldn’t be for other people. The temptation occurs when someone is drawn away after his own lust and enticed.

And Satan knows exactly what it is. And that when the lust is conceived, it brings forth sin. And when sin goes forward, it brings forth death.

And then he explains that we don’t get temptation from God. He explains what we do get from God, he says, on the other hand, is every good and every perfect gift. We don’t look at the world around us and the temptations and the evil and say, God did that.

God gave us that. God inflicts us with that. But folks, every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father in whom is no variableness, no changing, no little bit.

And he changes here and then he’s always changing and constantly evolving into something else. A constant God who never changes, who never stops being who he is, in whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Not only does he not change, there’s not even a hint of him changing.

He always has been and always will be the giver of every good and every perfect gift that comes from above. And when we’re tempted, we’re not tempted by him, but we’re tempted by the evil one and drawn away after our own lusts. So the first point of tonight’s message, and we’re going to try to move through this quickly because I told them that we’d give them the opportunity to come up and have the Awana kids come up.

The first thing we need to understand is God doesn’t take part in our temptation as we understand the word. If we’re looking at temptation as being the enticement to do wrong, then God has no part in that. What we’ll see in the next bit is that our prayer is that God might spare us from the most difficult tests.

See, because this word pirasmos applies to temptation, but also literally means testing. And as I read this, and as I tried to understand from the Greek, what exactly God is talking about here? What exactly Jesus is telling us to pray?

I recalled the story of Peter right before the crucifixion when he is telling Jesus, I will never deny you, I’ll never forsake you. And yet Jesus says in Luke chapter 22, And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. Now, there is a lot of speculation on exactly what that means, what is entailed in sifting him as wheat.

There are a lot of theories, and folks, whichever we subscribe to, it can’t be a good thing. Cannot have been a comforting thought. When Jesus looked at Peter and said, Simon, Simon, Simon, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you and to sift you as wheat.

That can’t have been a comforting thought. That’s why he reacts so and says, I’m ready to go with you. I’m ready to go with you both to prison and to death.

He denies that he’s going to go through this process. But what he’s showing here, what Jesus is foretelling is a time of testing that Peter is about to go through and fail, quite honestly, to go through and fail. Now, God was going to allow Satan access, much like with Job, allow Satan access to Peter for a time, for a time of testing, to prove.

And folks, God already knows. God already knew that, I mean, he tells him here that you’re going to deny me three times. God already knew what Peter’s response was going to be, but it was going to be a time of testing or proving.

And I think to show Peter where he fell short. But he was going to allow Satan access to Peter for a time of testing and proving. And Peter was going to fail, as we know the end of the story.

And yet no one ever has suggested anywhere in commenting on this story in any of the Gospels that somehow God is standing behind Peter, that God the Father or God the Holy Spirit, as Jesus is being put on trial, that either of the other two members of the Trinity are standing behind Peter saying, just go ahead and deny him. Just tell him you don’t know him. Folks, God was nowhere to be found standing behind Peter telling him, just deny Jesus.

See, that’s the difference between testing and temptation. That’s the difference between testing and temptation. This week, just to give you a, well, I want to say real-world application, but that implies I don’t believe this really happened, and I do believe this really happened, so just understand what I mean when I say real-world application.

Last week when it snowed, I made snow ice cream for my kids, and Benjamin watched me gather the snow. Well, that was great. He enjoyed that, and it was all I could do because it was too cold for him to play in it.

I figured, well, the next best thing is to eat it. When we finally did get out of the house and went and ran errands and went to the grocery store and went to the bank and came up here, I noticed that every time he got out of the car or into the car or near the car, he would reach down wherever we were and pick up a handful of snow and eat it, even out of the parking lot. Some of you saw the dirty slush in the parking lot, and I kept telling him, do not eat that snow.

You can only eat it when Daddy brings it to you that’s dirty. And he’d even tell me, I don’t like it, and yet I’m going to keep eating it. Folks, I led him through the testing, I guess, because we had to walk through the snow to get anywhere.

There wasn’t any place in this entire town that was not blanketed in white or eventually muddy brown. But nowhere was I standing, I was leading him through the snow, but nowhere was I standing behind him going, just pick up a piece, he’ll be all right. No, he got that in his own mind.

His father was not trying to get him to eat the snow. That was not his father’s reason for making him walk through the snow. And folks, sometimes God will lead us through times of testing, and sometimes we are going to fail that test. Sometimes we are going to fail that test, but it’s never the voice of God standing behind us saying, just take that drink, nobody will ever know.

It’s never the voice of God saying, just change the numbers on your tax return, nobody will ever know. Folks, it’s never the voice of God being the one to entice us to do wrong. And so when we pray, lead us not into temptation, We’re not praying and saying, God, would you stop putting all this stuff in my way that’s going to make me sin?

We are saying, God, would you spare us the worst of these tests that we have to go through? We cannot and will not get through our Christian life without being subjected to some tests. Because another word that’s used in Scripture for testing is proving.

And it proves to us either where we stand up or fall short, because we need to know those things. We need to be reminded sometimes to have humility because we fall short in this area and to rely God more. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the strength that he’s given us.

We will go through tests, but folks, it’s all right sometimes, I think, to ask God, can you spare me some of the worst tests? I don’t have the strength to go through this. You know, Jesus prayed in the garden, Father, if there’s any other way, let this cup pass from me.

Spare me this test. And yet he said, nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. Folks, we can ask God to spare us from the most difficult tests. We can pray to God for protection from Satan and his efforts to put us to the test. I read the story of Job, where Satan speaks to God and says, and God says, have you considered my servant Job?

Folks, I pray sometimes that, and I think we should pray sometimes, maybe Satan won’t notice us. Now, not to the extent that that means we’re not doing anything to disrupt his business, But I think there are times that it’s okay to pray, God, can you just protect me from the testing? Third of all tonight, our prayer is that God would lead us away from sin and its ruination.

That’s not a made-up word. I use that word on purpose, ruination. Sin will bring us to ruin.

If you didn’t catch it already, James said, sin, when it is brought forth, leads to death. And so not only are we praying, lead us not into temptation in the sense, God, God, spare us and protect us from some of the tests of this life, but also deliver us from evil. Deliver us from evil.

Sin is destructive, absolutely destructive. I’ve said on many occasions, and I still stand by it, I don’t care what physicists say, that sin is the most destructive force in the universe. Would you agree with that?

I don’t care what weapon somebody pulls against you, they can only kill your body. Sin destroys everything. There is no sin without total and collateral damage.

Our sin affects people we don’t even imagine. I mean, we’re still dealing with the effects of Adam and Eve, sin in the garden. Sin is so destructive.

And we pray, but deliver us from evil. Folks, this could apply in a few different ways. It could mean protect us from our own sinful inclinations.

Lord, protect us from the temptation that we go through. When there’s evil presented to us, when the evil one steps forward and whispers in our mind, do this, do that, we can pray, Lord, deliver me from evil. And the Bible even tells us, God is faithful and will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will with the temptation always make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it.

He tells us that in 1 Corinthians 10, 13. Folks, God is able to make us a way of escape from temptation, from our own sinful inclinations, if we will just look to him for that escape. And so sometimes, Lord, deliver us from evil means, protect me from my own sinful inclinations.

Lord, make that exit sign clear where I can see it. Sometimes we’re not even bothering to look for the exit sign when temptation comes along. And yet God has promised to make a way of escape.

Sometimes it means protect us from evil influence around us. It’s no secret, it’s no surprise to anybody that we live in a world that is saturated with evil influences. We live in a world where sin seems to grow worse and worse every day.

And folks, sometimes those who do evil have intentions to harm us, have intentions to destroy our joy, have the desire to see God’s work cease, to see us quit trusting God, whatever you can think of that would be the result of evil influence, ladies and gentlemen. Folks, we can pray for God’s protection and from deliverance, not only from the evil in our own hearts, but in the hearts of others. Now, He doesn’t promise that always He will protect us and make sure there are no consequences and that we will never suffer anything.

But folks, I would much rather trust him to be in control and be in charge and be protecting me and delivering me from evil when he sees fit than to go it alone and say, I’ve got this under control. Folks, God can and will lead us away from sin if we pray that he’ll deliver us from evil. And then finally tonight, our prayer is that God’s sovereignty over all things might be acknowledged.

When he says here, when he says here, for thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever. Amen. Folks, he’s praying that God’s sovereignty would be acknowledged, and I want to make sure we pick up on this point.

That begins in our own hearts and lives. When we as believers are saying yours is the kingdom and yours is the power and yours is the glory forever, folks, that starts right here. I can’t very well pray about the greatness of his kingdom if I’m not in subjection to him as my king.

I don’t normally come up here with a lot of notes and don’t read verbatim what I do have. But as I was pondering over this verse, I wrote something this week that I’d like to read to you, because I don’t know that I could say it better just from memory than I, I mean, in prayer we’re admitting that God is in fact sovereign over the world in which we all live. All the universe, known and unknown, seen and unseen, is his kingdom, the domain over which he rules in uncontested supremacy.

All power is his. There is nothing consistent with his own nature and will that is impossible to him. And all the glory is his.

There’s no praise of which he is not worthy and no amount of glory ascribed to him that could be excessive. And all these attributes belong to him forever. They’re endless.

He was I am before time began and will so remain after all human history is brought to its conclusion. From everlasting to everlasting, he is God. And by our amen, we signify our unqualified agreement.

That is the way it should be, and that’s the way it is. Folks, when we pray, thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, we are admitting in our prayer, which we should do more often when we pray, instead of just going with our grocery list to God to get it filled, which there’s nothing wrong with that. But we should use time and prayer to remind ourselves that he’s sovereign over all things.

He is ultimately in control. He ultimately calls the shots, and he ultimately will have his way.