LENT 2017 THE LORD S PRAYER Matthew 6:9-13 And Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From The Evil One. Layne Lebo April 2, 2017 Before we pray The Lord s Prayer together aloud, I d like to tell you a story. A 92 year old man named Pank who attends the church I preached at last week in Duncannon corrected Randy Saultz one day after the service in response to Randy asking the church to recite the Lord s prayer. Pank said, I don t recite The Lord s Prayer, I pray it. That s a great point and I d like us to keep that in mind as we pray together this morning. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Several weeks ago as we were getting into this series I realized that the statements we re scheduled to look at over the next two weeks, And lead us not into temptation, and then, but deliver us from the evil one should be addressed as one statement, rather than being broken up over two weeks as I had planned. You can look at today s sermon and next week s as a mini-series on how God molds and shapes and matures us through testing, trials and temptation. The phrase, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. raises a number of difficult questions. Does God lead us into temptation? How much power does the evil one have? Do we have a role to play in confronting and responding to temptation, or are we simply pawns in a celestial chess match? And what exactly is meant here by the word temptation? Those questions are challenging, but don t worry. I plan to answer all of the questions you ve ever had about temptation and the relationship between God and the evil one over the next two weeks. After these two sermons you ll be experts on the subject. One of the difficulties with this line of The Lord s Prayer stems from the fuzziness of the word translated temptation. The Greek word used here can be interpreted as either temptation 1
or testing. James chapter 1 verses 13 & 14, tells us that God is not the author of temptation. When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. But in Matthew chapter 4 we read that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Technically, the verse doesn t say that God tempted Jesus, but God did lead Jesus to the place where He was tempted. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 the Apostle Paul writes, No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. God doesn t tempt us, but He allows us to undergo testing, and even though He s not the author of temptation, He won t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle. In his book, Living The Lord s Prayer, David Timms writes, Just as Satan tested Jesus own trust in the Father, so the Father may test our faith and trust in Him. God does not seduce us to sin though He may refine our faith or discipline our disobedience in ways that feel quite difficult at the time. I think I understand that, but the difference between God tempting us and allowing us to undergo testing is a fine line that we ll talk more about later today and next Sunday. The main idea I don t want us to lose sight of about testing and temptation is that God is our protector He s our shield that filters the testing and temptation we encounter and He uses temptation and testing to shape and mold our character. I want us to look at an example from Scripture where we see the redemption that God can bring even out of our greatest failures. We re going to look at the example of Peter. Peter and his brother, Andrew, were the first two disciples Jesus called, and early on Peter began to exercise his leadership role among the apostles. Peter was the first of the disicples to correctly identify Jesus as the Messiah. That was one of Peter s better moments, but he was also brash and impulsive. He was usually the first to speak in any situation and that meant that he frequently spoke without thinking, which resulted in him sticking his foot in his mouth. In fact, you might say that Peter walked around with one foot permanently lodged in his mouth. It was Peter who with the other disciples in the boat encountered someone (at first they thought it was a ghost) walking on the water, who said, Lord, if it s you, tell me to come to 2
you. Jesus said, Come. Peter walked on the water for a bit, but then he was overcome by his fear and began to sink. Peter was the one who when Jesus told the disciples He was going to be crucified said, Never Lord. This will never happen to you. Only to have Jesus rebuke him with the words, Get behind me Satan. And it was also Peter who boldly said, I ll never fall away. I ll stand with you to the end, when Jesus told his disciples that they would all leave Him. And it was Peter who, on the night Jesus was arrested, denied 3x that he knew Jesus. In Matthew 26 verses 31-35 we read of this exchange between Jesus and Peter Then Jesus told them, This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee. Peter replied, Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will. Truly I tell you, Jesus answered, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. But Peter declared, Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. And all the other disciples said the same. As events that night unfolded, Peter did deny that he knew Jesus 3x to people who asked him if he wasn t in fact one of Jesus disciples. In his Gospel, Luke gives us some context that relates directly to our discussion about temptation and the interplay between us, God and Satan. It s found in Luke chapter 22 verses 31 & 32 in a statement Jesus made: Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. The first thing we see in these verses is that Satan had designs to destroy all of the disciples, but he needed to ask Jesus for permission. Jesus was their protector. Jesus said, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. This is reminiscent of the exchange between Satan and God at the beginning of the Book of Job. In that story, God pointed out to Satan how righteous Job was and Satan said, God, he s only loyal to you because you coddle him and bless him. Let me bring some pain into his life and then we ll see how faithful of a follower he is. And God gave Satan permission to attack Job, but he had to spare his life. In this situation, Jesus appears to have granted Satan access to tempt Peter. But Jesus statement doesn t end there. He says, I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. Jesus assured Peter that He was praying for him. Jesus prayed that through his temptation Peter s faith wouldn t fail. And then Jesus demonstrated his knowledge of what was going to unfold that Peter would fall and he challenged Peter, after he fell, that he would regain his footing and strengthen the other 3
disciples. I believe that in Jesus words we have a picture of how Jesus intercedes (stands in the gap) for us as followers of his, but we ll look at that in a few moments. Events in Peter s life unfolded just as Jesus said. That night, Peter denied that he knew Jesus 3x and after the third time a rooster crowed in the early morning hour. And when he heard the rooster crow Peter was overcome with grief. Luke tells us, He went outside and wept bitterly. But that wasn t the end of the story for Peter, and our sin and failure isn t the end of the story for us either. Jesus was tried and He was crucified, but He was also raised to life on the 3 rd day. And then Jesus began revealing to his followers that He was alive. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene. Later He appeared to his disciples. He also appeared personally to Thomas because Thomas wasn t there when Jesus appeared to the disciples and he doubted the testimony of the others who had seen Jesus. And then Jesus appeared to 7 of the disciples including Peter when they were out fishing one day. And Jesus took that opportunity to restore Peter and to reinstate him as a leader of the disciples. I ll summarize that exchange. After the disciples came in to the shore after fishing and catching so many fish they could barely haul them all in because Jesus had directed them where to fish Jesus had a conversation with Peter. He asked him 3 different times one for each time Peter had denied Jesus Simon, son of John, do you love me? Each time after Jesus asked this question, Peter said, Yes, Lord. You know that I love you. And then Jesus said, Feed my sheep. The third time Jesus asked him this, Peter was hurt and he replied, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. And Jesus told Peter, Follow me. And the Peter that we encounter after that exchange and after the coming of the Holy Spirit, just a few weeks later, is completely transformed. On the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to the believers Peter was the one who preached a powerful message connecting the coming of the Holy Spirit with the Old Testament prophecy in Joel and 3,000 people believed and were baptized. Peter not only preached boldly, he also performed miracles of healing. He looked at a blind man who was begging for money and said, Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, walk. He helped the man to his feet and he began running around and jumping and giving glory to God. When the religious leaders who knew Peter saw him in Acts chapter 4 we read this, When they saw the 4
courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. And in two letters that Peter wrote, known as 1 and 2 Peter, which are included in our New Testaments, we see Peter as a loving, kind-hearted shepherd. The bluster and self-assurance is gone and it has been replaced by humility and trust in God. The transformation that Jesus worked in Peter s life after his denial of Jesus is one of the outstanding miracles of the New Testament. Peter s life demonstrates for us how God uses temptation and testing and failure to refine us and to mature us and mold us into the people Jesus desires us to be. I ve just said it, but it s crucial, so I ll say it again. What Jesus did in Peter s life is what He longs to do in your life and in my life. We will be tempted; we will be tested; and, we will fail. But God is the God of second chances. He uses temptations, testing and even failure to strengthen us, mold us and refine us. Remember the words I shared at the beginning of the message from James chapter 1 verses 2-4: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. When we pray, And lead us not into temptation we re asking for God s protection and filtering for us as we face temptation and encounter testing. And the words, deliver us from the evil one, acknowledge the spiritual battle we re all in and our enemy s desire to destroy us. We re going to talk more next week about the hope we have in Christ and about his transforming power in our lives, but I d like to conclude with two quotes from David Timms, who does a great job tying what I ve talked about related to testing and temptation back into The Lord s Prayer. The first statement emphasizes the hope and the victory that is available to us in Jesus Christ. As Jesus teaches us the Lord s Prayer. He addresses the fundamental flaw with which we all grapple. He raises the issues of testing and evil that confront us every day and He gives us great hope. Just when we may feel overwhelmed by our own faithlessness or sinfulness, Jesus reminds us to turn to the Father, the One who leads us through those valleys and delivers us from evil. The 2 nd statement reminds us that it s only through Jesus, not through our own strength that we can be victorious over temptation and testing. Timms writes, 5
The Lord s Prayer teaches us to lean on the Father to lead, guide, and deliver us, not empower us to have a victory of our own. He delivers us. We do not conquer sin in our own strength. And such deliverance arises from obedience, not gritty determination for victory. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 6