In the last three weeks we’ve looked at Lord’s prayer. Today we look at the last part of the prayer, beginning with, ‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’ (Matthew 6:7-15)
But before we do, let’s remind ourselves of how the Lord Jesus taught us to preface this entire prayer – with “Our Father.’ Jesus desires that we know God is our loving and compassionate and merciful FATHER. He is our ‘Daddy.’
And so we make all these petitions within this prayer to Him who loves us, to Him who sent His only begotten Son to be our sacrifice, to die on that Cross as our substitute so that you and I would not have to die eternally for our sins. We make our petitions to Him for our daily bread; For the forgiveness of sins; For protection against trials from both evil and from the Evil One.
It is to our most intimate Daddy that we come for help, and through the supernatural movement of the Holy Spirit, we learn to trust Him to hear our prayers and to do what is best for us, all according to His will. As the great apostle Paul told us, God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (See Romans 8:28)
So, now let’s turn our attention more specifically to verse 13, “Lead us not into temptation.” The Greek word used here is the same word used by the New Testament writers for either enticements to sin, or to describe a test or trial of one’s faith and perseverance as an indication of trials or tests of one’s perseverance and faith in their walk with Christ. As always, context determines how to understand the word, such as in this prayer.
We ought NOT to understand the ‘temptation’ to mean temptations to sin – as in, “Father, do not tempt us to sin.” Such a translation is completely out of the character of God who is ineffably holy and righteous. As St James makes it also clear: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” (James 1:13-15).
So, the ‘temptation’ from which the Lord instructs us to ask the Father to keep us has to do with tests, with trials, that any Christian can face in this life – such as serious or chronic illness, various kinds of persecution, of unremitting loneliness, and so forth.
Listen, the Lord Jesus knows about trials of faith. This prayer is also in context with His own severe trials in the wilderness of chapter four. And so we should not be surprised that He guides us in this prayer to request of the Father deliverance from such tests.
Now it is also true of trials that Scripture actually tells us to rejoice in our tribulations and tests. For example, here is only two texts to that point: (Romans 5:3-5) “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)
And James 1:2-3 (Amplified Version) “Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.”
So, trials of our faith are, in some mysterious and supernatural way, actually beneficial to our faith. The history of the faithful – whether of Jews of the Old Testament, or Christians in the New – in some way unknowable to us, trials of our faith actually can HELP our faith mature.
But most Christians, I believe, would rather NOT go through such trials. Why? Well, I can speak only for myself. I would rather not go through such tests because I am painfully aware of my own weaknesses, and do not want to fail the test again.
Those of you who know my story when Nancy had her stroke, you know I felt then – and still feel four years later – that I did not meet that test very well. I hope to never again be as Peter who assured Jesus he would not fail any test that came to him. I do not ever again want to be as the apostles James and John who told Jesus that they would be able to ‘drink the cup’ that the Lord would drink, and who also failed their test. (Mark 10:37-39)
And so, I want to be honest with you, I have asked the Lord often, “Lead me NOT into the time of testing.” And I suspect many of you, if you have given thought to the words we pray when we pray the Lord’s prayer and then reflect on this 13th verse and what we are asking, I suspect many of you also have prayed similarly – Lead me not into the time of testing.
NEVERTHELESS, I hope you also pray – as I do, and as the Lord Jesus ALSO prayed during His time of final testing: “Father, not my will but thine be done.”
At this point in my message, I need to also remind us of the promise God also makes to us about testing and trials. And if you have never memorized this text, I urge you to do so because when the severe tests come – and come they usually do – you can stake your life on this promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (NRSVA)
Now let’s move to the next clause in this prayer, which is a petition that our Father, “Deliver us from evil.” Grammatically, the phrase in the Greek can mean either ‘evil’ in the abstract, or ‘The Evil One.” One commentator said the whole weight of the word’s usage of New Testament favors the interpretation being “the Evil One.” And certainly, the Lord’s experience with Satan in the Wilderness of chapter four also strongly suggests Jesus tells us to pray God's deliverance from Satanic forces.
Remember the warnings of the apostles regarding Satan. Paul tells us, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:11-12)
And Peter tells us: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith. (1 Peter 5:8).
I do not want to give undo attention to the devil and his army of demons. He is a defeated adversary – but an adversary nonetheless. And so, also as St Paul warned the Christians at Corinth, we must not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes and tricks – his most often used ploy is to get us to doubt God's word. Isn’t that what he did with our first mother in the Garden of Eden? You remember the story, Satan said to Eve – Hath God said?” And with that three-word question, Satan seduced Eve into doubting if God meant what He said and said what He meant.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Deliver us from the Evil One,” and we do well to consider this hymn: A mighty Fortress is our God, a Bulwark never failing; Our Helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing: For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal. Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing . . . .”
Jesus taught us to pray, “Deliver us from the Evil One.” There is also good reason St Paul wrote this to the Christians at Ephesus – and we already referred to his warfare instructions in chapter six a few minutes ago:
“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:13-17)
Go back with me to that wilderness testing of the Lord Jesus? We talked about how Jesus responded to each of those satanic lies – with the Word of God, which was the sword of the spirit Jesus wielded. And it is the same sword you and I must wield in this fierce battle against the same enemy. No wonder the apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Brothers and sisters – I don’t know how to say it more clearly or more pleadingly: Read your bible. Study your bible. Obey the commandments found in the bible. Those supernatural words that God uses to generate in us faith and hope and challenge and encouragement are our ONLY ONLY ONLY defense against our supernatural enemy.
And finally, for today, as I bring this mini-series on the Lord’s prayer to a close, we turn to the conclusion of this prayer: For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’
Like bookends, this prayer begins with our acknowledgement that our Father in heaven is utterly holy and omnipotent. What He opens no one can shut. What He shuts, no one can open. It is to Him, our almighty God, that we address our petitions. And the prayer closes with a final reminder: The kingdoms of this world all, all, all belong to our Father who art in heaven. They belong to Him, have always belonged to Him, will always belong to Him because of His matchless power and glory with extends forever and forever.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus closes this prayer with that reminder about our God – our God who said it a long time ago: “Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. . . . All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.” (Isaiah 40:15,17)
It is this same God – our Father who art in heaven – who also said: “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies and of the son of man who is made like grass, That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor? (Isaiah 51:12-13b)
And as we close, let’s not overlook the last word of this prayer: “Amen.” The Lord did not tack it on as a throwaway word. ‘Amen,’ in both Old and New Testaments, loosely translated, means simply, “So be it.” Or, “These things can be trusted. We can rely on these things.”
In other words, we agree, we profess, we proclaim that God is our loving, compassionate, patient, forgiving FATHER is something we can rely on, something we can trust implicitly. And we can also rely on the promises that He is holy, that His kingdom will come and His will WILL be done in heaven and on earth.
When we say, “Amen’ at the end of this prayer we agree, we profess, we proclaim that ALL who belong to Him by faith in Jesus have the unfettered right – the RIGHT—to confidently petition our Creator for everything we need -- food, clothing, shelter, forgiveness, deliverance from tests and protection from the Evil One.
And so we pray it together now, one more time:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
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