Lead us not into Temptation
Where do we normally think of our Temptations arising from?
The Devil
Occasionally we see the Devil show up personally unto temptation. In the Garden. In the book of Job. In the fall of Judas and the sifting of Peter but we must understand that the Devil is not omnipresent and most often the Temptations to evil, at their root, though inspired by the Devil, are not directly delivered by the Devil.
Still Scripture teaches that
I Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
And so we remember we wrestle not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers and we all the while pray, “Lead us not into Temptation.”
The World
St. James says that Friendship with the World is enmity towards God.
St. John can say
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Of course “World” in the way we are using it means to join in league with the Sons of Adam against the truth and principles laid down by Christ. We are Tempted by the World most normally when our desire to “fit in” rises above our desire to to walk in terms of God’s authority.
The idea of the “World” as a Temptress I think is better translated “this present age,” so that the idea is that Temptation is being driven by a desire that isn’t entirely abnormal to go along to get along. So, when it comes to Temptation, “The World” is not so much things like Alcohol, Smokes, or Theater, but rather it is what we surrender in terms of our identity in order to fit in with a zeitgeist that is opposed to God’s authority.
The Scripture gives us an example of that In Demas. Early on Demas was a valued companion of Paul.
Col. 4:14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.
Philemon 24 Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.
But later Paul can write of Demas,
II Timothy 4:10 — For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world,
Apparently, Demas considered the relief of no longer identifying with Paul and his work and message to be more important than what could be gained from that identity.
Concrete example,
The issue of sexuality in the public square. There are many in the Church who are surrendering this teaching inch by inch in order to be able to accommodate this present age,
Horton Quote,
“Although a contractual relationship denies God’s will for human dignity, I could affirm domestic partnerships as a way of protecting people’s legal and economic security. However, the “marriage card” is the demand for something that simply cannot consist in a same-sex relationship….”
“The challenge there is that two Christians who hold the same beliefs about marriage as Christians may appeal to neighbor-love to support or to oppose legalization of same-sex marriage.”
Or another Concrete example of being Tempted by the World
“Instantaneous creation of Adam and Eve is not explicitly required by the text or its subsequent interpretation, but the historicity of a first human couple with whom God entered into covenant is indispensable to theology at significant points in almost every locus.”
Nobody in the Church made these kinds of concessions until this present age insisted that Christianity couldn’t be relevant until it made these kinds of concessions. And so large segments of the Church have become Demas like in their abandonment of the Christian faith in order to avoid being seen as “narrow” as God’s enemies count “narrow.”
So love of the world, in terms of Temptation, can tempt us to abandon our associations with Christians as Demas did or it can cause us to give up doctrinal positions in order to maintain our relevance. And because the Temptations of the World can be so intense at every turn we are taught to pray, regardless of our place or status in life to “Lead us not into Temptation.”
The Self
Temptation often comes through the self as that self still remains besotted with the lineaments of our old Adamic nature. As regenerated we still deal with lusts, envy, self-centeredness, pride, unbelief and a host of other plug uglies that raise their heads all too frequently.
Our Canon’s of Dordt can speak to this issue by noting,
“Those people whom God according to his purpose calls into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and regenerates by the Holy Spirit, God also sets free from the dominion and slavery of sin, though not entirely from the flesh and from the body of sin as long as they are in this life.
Article 2: The Believer’s Reaction to Sins of Weakness
Hence daily sins of weakness arise, and blemishes cling to even the best works of saints, giving them continual cause to humble themselves before God, to flee for refuge to Christ crucified, to put the flesh to death more and more by the Spirit of supplication and by holy exercises of godliness, and to strain toward the goal of perfection, until they are freed from this body of death and reign with the Lamb of God in heaven.”
True it is a Christian people who are praying this prayer and we pray to God to lead us not into Temptation because as a Christian people we know all too well our weakness and dispositions. The praying then of “lead us not into Temptation but Deliver us from evil” is the prayer of a people who distrust themselves while trusting God.
This 6th petition reminds us thus again that the only place we can go is to the prayer closet and to our Father to secure help as against ourselves.
When we talk about Temptations we would do well to remind ourselves that sometimes the most effective Temptation is the most subtle,
Screw Tape Letters,
“You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
― C.S. Lewis
What may we say of this connection between our Temptations and God?
First if we look back at Mt. Ch. 4:1 we see God ordaining the Temptation of our Lord Christ,
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Clearly we see here that God is sovereign even as it pertains to our Temptations. And while James teaches that God himself tempts no one, clearly He is sovereign over the coming and goings of Temptations. And even when Temptation does come into our lives as believers we can be confident that
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (I Cor. 10:13).
And so it is fitting and proper to pray that we might not be led into Temptation. Who else can calm our sinful appetites so that we are not Tempted except our Father in Heaven?
Now we turn to the prayer for deliverance.
It is likely that the Scripture here should be translated, “Evil one” as opposed to just “Evil,” though it is not wrong to translate it either way.
Mt. 5:37 / Mt. 13:19, 38, / John 17:15 / I John 2:13
I prefer “Evil One” as opposed to just “Evil” because it reminds us that Evil is not just an abstract philosophical concept but Evil is personal.
When we pray to be delivered from this Evil one we are praying not only to be delivered from his agenda but also the agenda of all those who are in league with him and so all those who advocate his agenda. In this prayer we are reminded that those issues that we stand against that are contrary to Christ and His Gospel can not be abstracted from the Evil one. So when we pray to be delivered from the Evil one we at the same time pray that we would be delivered from all that opposes Christ. We pray for deliverance from unjust wars, we pray for deliverance from assaults on the family, we pray for deliverance from being enslaved by unjust rulers because these are all the machinations of the Evil One whom we are praying to be delivered from.
Of course this prayer reminds us also that because of Christ’s finished work on the Cross we have already been delivered from the Evil one. Because of Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension, the Devil no longer has any hold on us. Paul can say in Colossians that God has delivered us from the Dominion of Darkness and translated us to the Kingdom of God’s dear son.
So, we can pray “Deliver us from the Evil One,” precisely because we have been delivered from the Evil One. There is a now, not yet to this prayer.
“O Father, I thank you that you have delivered me from the Devil’s authority and power in the death of Christ. I thank you that sin as a lifestyle and way of life no longer has dominion over me. I thank you that I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. Now, I ask that despite my weakness and frailty you would continue to deliver me from the Evil one.”
So, as Jesus puts this prayer on the lips of His people we see how realistic it is. We are are a forgiven people who are in need of forgiveness, we are a delivered people who have need to ask for deliverance from the Evil one. We are a people who find our beginning with our Father in Heaven and our ending in desiring His Kingdom, Power, and Glory to be seen forever.
Deliver us from Evil
As part of the Church militant our cry is always for relief from the designs of the enemy. And so until we are made secure in the Church triumphant — the church at rest — we constantly cry out for deliverance.
To cry out for deliverance in our Prayer life reminds us that our victory is not in ourselves. We can not deliver ourselves. This petition reminds us then how beholden we are to God for our final deliverance, just as we are beholden to Him for our current deliverance.
And so here we are praying this prayer that has been on the lips of God’s people for millennial. And the more we pray it with earnestness the more we see how dependent we are upon God to traverse all the dangers that we find in the Devil, in the World, and in ourselves. In praying this prayer we communicate to God and to ourselves how much we long to be done with those character flaws, those habits, those crooked desires that are inconsistent with the Christian life. Prayed in earnest and with understanding, this 6th petition throws us off ourselves and on to the mercy of God.
And yet at the same time praying this prayer reminds us that we are praying this as a already delivered people. God has secured us in Christ so that we the delivered ones keep praying for deliverance. And so the prayer, rightly understood, is also a prayer of gratitude.
Let us stand and together pray the Lord’s Prayer
