Sermon Tone Analysis

Defender (Call Upon the Name)

Stronger

Welcome (Sam Garcia)

Scripture Reading (Matthew 6:9-13)

Prayer of Praise (God is jealous), Seth Figgers

Crown Him

Blessed Be Your Name

Prayer of Confession (Disobedience), Cameron Harris

Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy

PBC Catechism #17

Pastoral Prayer (Mike Lindell)

SERMON

Perhaps the only thing worse than being in danger, is being in danger and not realizing it.

On December 6, 1941, the U.S. intercepted a Japanese message that inquired about ship movements and berthing positions at Pearl Harbor.

The cryptologist gave the message to her superior who said he would get back to her on Monday, December 8.

At 3:20 AM on December 7, a U.S. minesweeper guarding the harbor entrance reported sighting a periscope.

The periscope belonged to one of the five 46-ton Japanese “midget” submarines that would eventually attack the battleships on Pearl Harbor.

But after a fruitless search, the periscope sighting was dismissed as bogus so the skipper went back to sleep in his cabin.

At 7AM a radar operator on Oahu saw a large group of airplanes on his screen heading toward the island.

He called his superior who told him it was probably a group of U.S. B-17 bombers and not to worry about it.

55 minutes later, the attack on Pearl Harbor began.

By 9:10 AM the attack was over.

19 Navy ships and 328 aircraft had been either damaged or destroyed.

2,403 U.S. personnel were dead.

Only the Lord knows how many lives would have been saved if even one of those warnings had been treated more seriously.

If you’re a Christian, you are in danger.

Jesus warns us!

Jesus not only warns us of the danger we’re in, He tells us what to do about it.

The Christian in danger should cry out to the Father.

Turn to Matthew 6:13

Jesus is teaching Christians how to pray

Jesus lists six petitions (requests)

1-3) God’s name, kingdom, and will

4) “Give us this day our daily bread” (provision)

5) “Forgive us our debts” (the Christian’s prayer for forgiveness and restoration of a right relationship to the Father)

Now if Jesus stopped there you wouldn’t think we were in danger.

But He concludes with one final petition...

Matthew 6:13—“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

We don’t have to be caught off guard like many of the men and women at Pearl Harbor.

Jesus has warned us about the danger we’re in and has given us hope to escape.

Ask and answer FOUR QUESTIONS to help us to escape the danger we’re in...

1) WHY Are We in Danger?

Why not stop with food and forgiveness?

Maybe you're really not concerned about temptation or evil.

As long as your needs are met and your sins are forgiven you’re okay!

If so, you have misunderstood the Christian life

Jesus is clear that Kingdom citizens are called to be holy!

Matthew 5:20—“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

If you aren’t righteous with a righteousness that’s greater than the superficial hypocritical righteousness of the Pharisees, you won’t go to heaven!

Matthew 5:29-30—“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.

For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

The person who does not labor to kill his sin will go to hell!

Matthew 5:48—“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

If you’ve been adopted by the Father, you’ll start to look like Him!

Matthew 6:14-15—“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

The person who does not labor to forgive others gives evidence that she isn’t forgiven!

Matthew 7:19—“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The person who does not labor to bear good fruit will go to hell!

Matthew 7:21—“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Calling Jesus “Lord” isn’t enough to go to heaven.

You must actually follow Him.

Matthew 7:24—“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

It’s the wise man who survives the storm of God’s wrath.

And the wise man is the one who obeys.

This sort of teaching is ALL OVER the New Testament:

Colossians 1:21-23a—And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel. . .

Hebrews 12:14—Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

We must be holy, but we are tempted daily to sin!!!

We are in danger because Jesus demands holiness, and holiness is hard!

2) WHAT Must We Do?

The answer is simple: we must ask for help!

Matthew 6:13—“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

This looks like two requests, but as we’ll soon see it’s really one request stated in two different ways

“Lead us not into temptation”

Why would we pray for deliverance from temptation if God doesn’t tempt us?

James 1:13—Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.

God doesn’t entice us to sin! He’s not playing games with us or trying to trick us.

Some respond, the word “tempted” can mean “test” or “trial”

In a trial or a test, you’re not enticing someone to sin but you’re putting through a challenging situation to bring about a positive result

It’s true that the word can mean “test” or “trial,” but that translation creates another challenge...

Why would we pray for deliverance from trials if we’re supposed to “count them all joy”?

James 1:2-3—“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

The key to understanding this part of the prayer is seeing the two lines as connected.

“Deliver us from evil”

Some translations say “the evil one” and that’s a possible translation

John Calvin—There is no necessity for raising a debate on this point: for the meaning remains nearly the same, that we are in danger from the devil and from sin, if the Lord does not protect and deliver us.[2]

The point is, we don’t want to be trapped in evil

What do we do with the danger we’re in?

We ask God to protect us from giving into temptation.

We ask Him to protect us from doing evil.

We ask for Him to help us be holy.

The Westminister Larger Catechism says this is a prayer that we may 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.”[3]

This prayer says...

God, protect me from temptation today.

God, help me to resist this temptation I’m facing right now.

God, forgive me for giving into temptation.

Please restore me!