Lead Us not into Temptation but Deliver us from Evil
(Mat 6:9-13 NASB) "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. {10} 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. {11} 'Give us this day our daily bread. {12} 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. {13} 'AND DO NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
This lesson is a study of the sixth petition in The Lord's Prayer. "And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil".
This petition confronts us with certain difficulties. For one thing, it seems to suggest the thought that God Himself is the one who tempts us to sin. We are instructed by Christ to pray, "lead us not into temptation", while the Bible clearly tells us that
". . . God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone."
(James 1:13 NASB)
Then there is the second half of the petition, "but deliver us from evil". Is this the evil one himself, the Devil, or does the statement refer to evil in general. I believe it refers to both.
In order to understand this petition, we must remember that nothing happens in this world except by the Sovereign will and determination of God. If this were not true it would be foolish to pray this petition. If God is not the deciding factor in all things, including temptation, and, it's outcome, then He is not Sovereign and our prayers are useless. But He is Sovereign over all creatures and events, both spiritual and physical. The scriptures make this very clear.
Consider Dan 4:34-35 NASB. "But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. {35} "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?"
(Psa 135:6 NASB) "Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps."
(Eph 1:11 NASB) "also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,"
Since what these verses declare is true, we must believe that whatever temptation might come our way is by God's appointment.
The word translated temptation is used in two different ways. First, it speaks of "trying the strength of a person." It refers to a test that one might pass of fail. The second meaning is, "to entice to do evil, to tempt to do evil." When the Bible, (KJV), says, "God did tempt Abraham", (Genesis 22:1), it means that He tried or tested his faith. This was a test with God's glory and Abraham's best interest in mind. God did not tempt Abraham to sin.
On the other hand when we read that Satan tempted Christ, it means that Satan tried to get Jesus to sin against God. Satan wanted to destroy Christ. We must, however, remember that it was God who ordained that this trial take place.
(Mat 4:1 NASB) "THEN JESUS WAS LED UP BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL." The Spirit of God led Christ off to be tempted or tested and He does the same thing with us at times. Therefore, we pray, "Lead us not into temptation."
In Christ's temptation we see both meanings of the word. It was a test and a trial sent from God for Christ's good and God's Glory. However, it was a temptation to sin on the Devil's part. I believe these two elements exist in almost every trial, temptation, or test we face. The Lord means it for good, the Devil means it for evil. The question is, who will win out. For the Christian, the answer is certain no matter what the intentions of the Devil are. God's will and intent will ultimately be carried out. This is something we must all come to know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Whether we stand or fall in the midst of the test, the outcome is the Lord's and the result will be good.
(Rom 8:28 NASB) "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Is this something you know and believe in your heart? Or are you still determined not to believe that everything is under God's control.)
The fact that God is the governor of all trials and temptations is revealed clearly in Job's case. Look with me briefly to the book of Job.
(Job 1:7-22 NASB) "And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it." (The New Testament tells us that he is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.) {8} And THE LORD SAID TO SATAN, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil." {9} Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? {10} "Hast Thou not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. {11} "But put forth Thy hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face." (Satan says, the only reason Job feared and worshipped God was because God had blessed him materially and kept him from hardship. The Devil believes that if God allowed him to destroy Job's family and his material goods he would curse God and worship Him no more. In other words, "You test his faith and I'll tempt him to sin, then, we will see what kind of man he is.) {12} Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." (Satan now has God's permission to destroy everything that was Job's, but, he could not touch Job personally.) So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD. {13} Now it happened on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, {14} that a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, {15} and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." {16} While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." {17} While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you." {18} While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, {19} and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died; and I alone have escaped to tell you." (The test of Job's faith is great on God's part. The temptation to sin, is great on Satan's part. True faith, however, cannot be crushed, hear Job's response.) {20} Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, (Symbols of great grief and sorrow.) and he fell to the ground and worshipped. {21} And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. THE LORD GAVE AND THE LORD HAS TAKEN AWAY. BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD." {22} THROUGH ALL THIS JOB DID NOT SIN NOR DID HE BLAME GOD."
The Lord meant this test, this trial, this temptation for good, it was designed to strengthen Job's faith and to glorify God. The Devil meant it for evil. He intended that Job sin and dishonor God. On our side each and every trial we face has the potential of honoring or dishonoring God. Each trial has the potential of increasing our faith, our peace, and improving our witness, or, of doing just the opposite.
Job faced yet another temptation, this time, it had to do with his own person.
(Job 2:1-10 NASB) "Again there was a day when the sons (This word refers to angelic beings, even the rebellious ones like Satan.) of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. {2} And the LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the earth, and walking around on it." {3} And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And HE STILL HOLDS FAST HIS INTEGRITY, ALTHOUGH YOU INCITED ME AGAINST HIM, TO RUIN HIM WITHOUT CAUSE." (Job's test had not come upon him because of sin.) {4} And Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. {5} "However, put forth Thy hand, now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse Thee to Thy face." {6} So the LORD said to Satan, "BEHOLD, HE IS IN YOUR POWER, ONLY SPARE HIS LIFE." (Take note, and never forget, God sets all the parameters for Satan's activities and he cannot go beyond them.) {7} Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. {8} And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.
Disease is quite a test of faith, it is a trial of all that we are as Christians and it is a temptation. In the midst of personal pain and discomfort we might be tempted to curse God. We might charge Him with being unfair or too harsh with us. We might decide that our faith isn't worth much to us, that we have worshipped God in vain. We might come to these decisions if we are either not saved or are just ignorant of the scriptures. Job was both saved and knowledgeable of truth, truth that allowed him to come to the right conclusions.
Job believed that God had given him his land, money, children, and health. He understood that these things STILL belonged to God to do with as He pleased. Therefore, he declares, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away", not the Sabeans, the Chaldeans, not a great storm, and not the Devil. These things are but second causes, it is God who commands the Sabeans and the Chaldeans, the great storms, and, it is God who restrains or permits the Evil One himself. "IT IS THE LORD, ALWAYS."
Job's faith held firm in the midst of unimaginable suffering and heartache. The Lord meant it for good, the Devil meant it for evil. Good was the ultimate outcome, for, at the end of the book we see Jobs health restored and his faith increased. We'll look at that in a moment but first, there is another person in this story.
We must think for a moment about Job's wife. Did she not experience everything Job experienced? Were the herds not hers, the children, the wealth, her husbands health. Yes indeed, Job's wife was in the same trial, the same test, the same temptation, but, with a different result. She is the one who collapsed in unbelief and failed the test. The temptation that could have increased her faith proved it extremely weak or none existent. She was tempted by the Devil to sin and she did. 9} Then HIS WIFE said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? CURSE GOD AND DIE!" (This woman was embittered toward God. In her mind God had treated them unfairly, unjustly, and with extreme harshness. She was angry with God. She refused to bow before His wisdom and providence for her life. I believe she did what Satan tried to get Job to do. I believe she cursed God for His dealings with her. In the midst of her unbelief she became a temptress to evil, like Eve in the garden. She counseled her Husband to join in her bitterness, "Curse God and die", she said. Job's answer is a blessing to read.) {10} But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. (A fool is a person devoid of Divine wisdom.) SHALL WE INDEED ACCEPT GOOD FROM GOD AND NOT ACCEPT ADVERSITY?" In all this JOB DID NOT SIN WITH HIS LIPS." (As his wife did.)
The same verse in the King James Version reads; "But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? SHALL WE RECEIVE GOOD AT THE HAND OF GOD, AND SHALL WE NOT RECEIVE EVIL? In all this did not Job sin with his lips."(Job 2:10 KJV)
What did this man know that stabilized and strengthened him in the midst of the greatest temptations and tests that could ever befall a child of God? It's simple, he knew God as He really is, the Sovereign, Reigning Lord of the Universe. The one who gives and takes away as it pleases Him. He knew the Lord of heaven and earth, the God of all, even, Satan, blessed be the name of the Lord. His wife lived in the same household but did not know, and, did not like Job's God.
After Job's great trial, of flesh and spirit, God made him to prosper in every way, even, beyond what he had known before the trial.
(Job 42:10-17 NASB) "And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had TWOFOLD. {11} Then all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all who had known him before, came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the EVIL that the LORD had brought on him. (All the tests, trials, and hardships, were from the Lord, even though Satan was the immediate second cause.) And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold. {12} And THE LORD BLESSED THE LATTER DAYS OF JOB MORE THAN HIS BEGINNING, and he had 14,000 sheep, and 6,000 camels, and 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. {13} And he had seven sons and three daughters. {14} And he named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. {15} And in all the land no women were found so fair as Job's daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. {16} And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his grandsons, four generations. {17} And Job died, an old man and full of days."
In the first chapter of Job we find that he faithfully sacrificed and prayed for his children. (Job 1:5 NASB) "And it came about, when the days of feasting had completed their cycle, that Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, "Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually."
Do you suppose that Job continued to offer sacrifices and prayers for his new family? Of course he did, perhaps even more faithfully than he had before. For now he knew how quickly his children might enter eternity and face the judgment. I also believe, based upon what is revealed about our ancient Brother, that he prayed, for himself and his family, something similar to the sixth petition in the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." That is to say, "Lord I pray that You will not test and try me as you have in the past. However, if you chose to do so, keep me from giving in to the evil one and from evil itself, keep me from sin in the midst of the trial."
That is the essence of the sixth petition in the Lord's prayer. We are to pray that God will keep us from temptation. That we might escape sore and severe trials and tests of our faith. However, we must do so with qualification, for THE TESTING OF OUR FAITH MUST COME. Our faith MUST be tried so it will grow and be made strong. We are commanded to pray, we have the privilege of prayer, we have the instrument of prayer. Pray, said Jesus in Luke 22:40, that you may not enter temptation. That is, prepare your heart, set forth the request, but if denied, pray for strength to endure the temptation without sin.
When we offer up this petition we are praying for what God has already promised, preservation and provision in the midst of troubles and trials.
(1 Cor 10:13-14 NASB) "No temptation (Test or trial) has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, (To all who are His.) who will NOT ALLOW YOU to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it. (As Job did, without sin.) {14} Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry."
The temptation, in the Corinthian context, was to participate in Idolatrous activity of some kind. This temptation provided an opportunity for the strengthening and display of ones faith when the sin was resisted. On the other hand, it was a temptation from Satan to sin against God. These people were surrounded by Idolatry. The pressures were great, but God sets before them, and us, a promise meant motivate and strengthen us for doing what is pleasing to God while resisting our flesh and the Devil. God does not abandon us when He brings tests and trials into our lives. Quite the opposite, because He intends our good and His glory He would never leave us to fend for ourselves. He is faithful to the faithful, His blood bought people. He will supply strength in proportion to the test. The temptation is never, never, never too much for you. You can endure the test as long as it lasts and can do so without sinning, accusing, or cursing God. Why, because He works by grace in all HIS children causing them to will to do His good pleasure, enabling them to actually do His will even on the storm tossed sea of temptation and trial.
The Corinthian text says, "but with the temptation (God) will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.
What is this way of escape that is promised? Well, it doesn't have to do with the trial going away before the appointed time for He says, "that you may be able to ENDURE it", that is, the trial." Rather, the promise has to do with God's faithful provision to those He tests or tempts, so that, inspite of all, they escape sin, or, if they fall He provides for a certain recovery. God always provides that which is necessary to keep us from being finally overcome by sin and the Devil. Job endured his temptation and escaped out the other side with his spiritual integrity intact. He prepared himself for the day of testing by living for God each day with faithful worship and unceasing prayer.
Jesus taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but if you see fit to take us there, deliver us from falling into sin." This, God has promised to do. This is the Sixth Petition of the Lord's Prayer.