Deliver Us

RECAP AND INTRO

Matthew 6:5–15 NIV

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

We live in a world where nothing seems sure at times. Just this past week there were several mass shootings. We read an account of a pastor who was caught in child pornography. I’ve heard about relationships that are in trouble. There have been many things happen just in the last week. I’ve read too many accounts over the years of broken relationships and wrecked ministries. It can be overwhelming and confusing.

And then I reread the phrase that is the focus of our message this morning. “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.”

And it struck me. We live in a broken world that doesn’t always make sense. But do you realize just how easily each of us as followers of Jesus can so easily fall into grievous sin. Even pastors and lay leaders in the church? It happens all to often these days. However, when I look at Scripture I also see just how God can use us even if we have done some of these things. There is Noah who got drunk, Abraham who lied about his wife, Moses who murdered an Egyptian, and of course there is David who committed adultery and then had a man murdered to cover up his sin.

That brings us to the second half of the Sixth key phrase of the Lord’s Prayer:  “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” The word “deliver” is very strong.  It means to rescue or to snatch.  To deliver from what?  Either from “evil” or “the evil one.” The KJV has “evil” and the NIV and most modern translations have “the evil one.” Which is correct? Are we to pray to be delivered from evil in general, or are we to pray for specific deliverance from Satan and from his power? In one sense, there is not a huge difference between those two. John Calvin suggests that the interpretation is not hugely affected either way. But there is something to be said for using the phrase “the Evil one.” When this particular Greek verb is used with this particular preposition it almost always means to rescue from a specific person, not from an abstract idea or thing like evil. And as we see in Matthew 4 Jesus was personally tempted by the devil himself. In this context, then, I think our Lord Jesus is warning his disciples not of evil in general, but of the arch-enemy of the believer-of Satan himself, of the devil and his power.  Therefore, we can understand this petition this way: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us, snatch us, save us, from Satan and his evil schemes against us.”

There are a few questions we need to examine in order to help us understand this at a deeper heart level. The first is this:

Does God lead us into temptation? (No!) - The answer is always NO! In fact, we see this in the book of James:

James 1:13 NIV

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

In the Bible, the concepts of “temptation” and “testing” are essentially synonymous. As mentioned a moment ago, in Matthew 4 we see Jesus himself was led by the Spirit into the wilderness in order to be “tempted” (tested) by Satan. I often wonder if this testing had not happened if it would hurt the witness of Jesus. If he gave in to temptation, would he be both fully God and fully human? It does however, make me appreciate that Jesus understands what it is like to be human and be tempted.

Let’s consider the story of Job:

Job is a wealthy man living in a land called Uz with his large family and extensive flocks. He is “blameless” and “upright,” always careful to avoid doing evil (1:1). One day, Satan (“the Adversary”) appears before God in heaven. God boasts to Satan about Job’s goodness, but Satan argues that Job is only good because God has blessed him abundantly. Satan challenges God that, if given permission to punish the man, Job will turn and curse God. God allows Satan to torment Job to test this bold claim, but he forbids Satan to take Job’s life in the process.

In the course of one day, Job receives four messages, each bearing separate news that his livestock, servants, and ten children have all died due to marauding invaders or natural catastrophes. Job tears his clothes and shaves his head in mourning, but he still blesses God in his prayers. Satan appears in heaven again, and God grants him another chance to test Job. This time, Job is afflicted with horrible skin sores. His wife encourages him to curse God and to give up and die, but Job refuses, struggling to accept his circumstances.

Three of Job’s friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, come to visit him, sitting with Job in silence for seven days out of respect for his mourning. On the seventh day, Job speaks, beginning a conversation in which each of the four men shares his thoughts on Job’s afflictions in long, poetic statements.

Job curses the day he was born, comparing life and death to light and darkness. He wishes that his birth had been shrouded in darkness and longs to have never been born, feeling that light, or life, only intensifies his misery. Eliphaz responds that Job, who has comforted other people, now shows that he never really understood their pain. Eliphaz believes that Job’s agony must be due to some sin Job has committed, and he urges Job to seek God’s favor. Bildad and Zophar agree that Job must have committed evil to offend God’s justice and argue that he should strive to exhibit more blameless behavior. Bildad surmises that Job’s children brought their deaths upon themselves. Even worse, Zophar implies that whatever wrong Job has done probably deserves greater punishment than what he has received.

Job responds to each of these remarks, growing so irritated that he calls his friends “worthless physicians” who “whitewash [their advice] with lies” (13:4). After making pains to assert his blameless character, Job ponders man’s relationship to God. He wonders why God judges people by their actions if God can just as easily alter or forgive their behavior. It is also unclear to Job how a human can appease or court God’s justice. God is unseen, and his ways are inscrutable and beyond human understanding. Moreover, humans cannot possibly persuade God with their words. God cannot be deceived, and Job admits that he does not even understand himself well enough to effectively plead his case to God. Job wishes for someone who can mediate between himself and God, or for God to send him to Sheol, the deep place of the dead.

Job’s friends are offended that he scorns their wisdom. They think his questions are crafty and lack an appropriate fear of God, and they use many analogies and metaphors to stress their ongoing point that nothing good comes of wickedness. Job sustains his confidence in spite of these criticisms, responding that even if he has done evil, it is his own personal problem. Furthermore, he believes that there is a “witness” or a “Redeemer” in heaven who will vouch for his innocence (16:19, 19:25). After a while, the upbraiding proves too much for Job, and he grows sarcastic, impatient, and afraid. He laments the injustice that God lets wicked people prosper while he and countless other innocent people suffer. Job wants to confront God and complain, but he cannot physically find God to do it. He feels that wisdom is hidden from human minds, but he resolves to persist in pursuing wisdom by fearing God and avoiding evil.

Without provocation, another friend, Elihu, suddenly enters the conversation. The young Elihu believes that Job has spent too much energy vindicating himself rather than God. Elihu explains to Job that God communicates with humans by two ways—visions and physical pain. He says that physical suffering provides the sufferer with an opportunity to realize God’s love and forgiveness when he is well again, understanding that God has “ransomed” him from an impending death (33:24). Elihu also assumes that Job must be wicked to be suffering as he is, and he thinks that Job’s excessive talking is an act of rebellion against God.

God finally interrupts, calling from a whirlwind and demanding Job to be brave and respond to his questions. God’s questions are rhetorical, intending to show how little Job knows about creation and how much power God alone has. God describes many detailed aspects of his creation, praising especially his creation of two large beasts, the Behemoth and Leviathan. Overwhelmed by the encounter, Job acknowledges God’s unlimited power and admits the limitations of his human knowledge. This response pleases God, but he is upset with Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar for spouting poor and theologically unsound advice. Job intercedes on their behalf, and God forgives them. God returns Job’s health, providing him with twice as much property as before, new children, and an extremely long life.

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/oldtestament/section11/

Let’s look at a couple of other New Testament figures.

Peter (Luke 22:31–32)

Luke 22:31–32 NIV

31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Paul (2 Corinthians 12:1–10)

2 Corinthians 12:1–10 NIV

1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Jesus encourages us to acknowledge our weakness, our limitations. We see that in these words from Paul. It helps to keep us humble when we do. And it helps keep our focus on God and his grace being sufficient for us. Sometimes I wonder if the reason God doesn’t stop us when we are about to do something we shouldn’t is because we will learn humility from it when we are bruised and broken and at the bottom of the pit.

The second question for us to consider is “Does God bully us into the kingdom?” (No!)

God, the majestic Creator of all things, is revealed in Jesus to be “gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:28–30).

Matthew 11:28–30 NIV

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

God has given over the kingdom into Jesus’s hands! God invites us to be restored through the sacrifice of His only Son Jesus! That’s amazing to try to comprehend. The God of the universe sent his Son to restore a path for us to be made right with God!

Therefore, the humble Savior commissions us to go out and teach everything he has taught us (Matthew 28:19–20).

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The third question:

Does this kingdom that God has entrusted to Jesus include you? ( Yes!)

“The God we worship does not hoard power, does not selfishly grasp for glory, does not clench the kingdom in tight-fisted omnipotence. We know this because of Jesus.” (See Praying with Jesus p. 97.)

“The God we worship is a sharing and outpouring God. We know this because of Jesus.” (See Praying with Jesus p. 97.)

“Jesus demonstrates power and authority by relying on his disciples—folks like you and me—to go out and teach these things, to make fellow disciples, to bring new people into this community of Jesus followers through the rite of baptism. This is not baptism by the sword but by the word of gentleness, of humility, of kindness, of mercy (Matthew 12:18–21).” (See Praying with Jesus p. 10 0.)

Matthew 12:18–21 NIV

18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. 21 In his name the nations will put their hope.”

Friends, when we pray “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one” we are praying and asking God to continue to work through His Spirit in our lives to help us to hold up to the resistance of temptation. Make no mistake, we will all be tempted. We all have weaknesses that the enemy wants to exploit. The greatest victory Satan has is when a follower of Christ falls. However, we must also realize that we serve a God who restores and uses broken people:

Noah who got drunk Abraham who lied about his wife Jacob who was a deceiver Moses who murdered an Egyptian Rahab who was a harlot David who was an adulterer Paul who persecuted the church Peter who denied Christ

God used them ALL! And it doesn’t matter what any of us have done, God can and still wants to use us to help further His Kingdom! But this petition in the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that we can rely on God to help us resist the temptation of the enemy. We can stand strong in the power of the most high God and resist the enemy’s schemes.

There’s another amazing truth I want us to reflect on as we enter the Lenten season this week and spend the next forty days reflecting on the road that Jesus walked to the cross. Satan has already been defeated by Jesus Christ! The power of death couldn’t hold our Savior in the grave and no power in the depths of hell could keep him there! That’s why we have hope even when bad things happen all around us.

In just a moment, we are going to close with the song “Whom Shall I Fear (The God of Angel Armies). As we sing, I want us all to consider this question:

What do we have to fear if we are following Jesus? He will always be with us. We see that promise at the end of Matthew 28:20

Matthew 28:20 NIV

20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

What is keeping you from stepping out in obedience and full surrender to him?Maybe we need to be more diligent about praying the Lord’s Prayer more often now that we understand the context and meaning behind these powerful petitions.

SING

PRAYER ending with LORD’S PRAYER

BENEDICTION - May the beauty of God be reflected in your eyes, the love of God be reflected in your hands, the wisdom of God be reflected in your words, and the knowledge of God flow from your heart, that all might see, and seeing,  believe.