Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Well, good morning 1045 service. Thank you for joining us from your living room or wherever you are right now. My name is Mark, one of your pastors, coming to you live from the Twin Lakes Church Auditorium. As Val just said, and by the way, wasn't it great to see Val? She's just so awesome, and we're so glad that she was able to do announcements this morning. But she reminded you that we are going to be sharing in communion at the end of this message. So I hope you've had a chance to prepare.

As we continue in our series in the Lord's Prayer, we arrive at Matthew 6:13, where Jesus teaches us to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Some time ago, I was in a conversation with a forensic specialist—not the kind of crime scene investigator who looks for fingerprints and DNA and other types of physical evidence. This guy, his specialty is in finding digital evidence on computers and cell phones. He's a forensic data specialist. It could be a device that was hacked, or the laptop of a cheating spouse, the computer of an embezzling office worker—anyone who's got something to hide.

I learned one thing in this conversation: if you think it's just as simple as putting something in the trash on your computer and that just makes it all go away, you're mistaken. Guys like this can probably find it. As he's telling about his job and all that it entails, you know, peering into people's digital secrets, I want you to imagine someone uncovering your browser history page by page, even the parts of the history that you think that you can clear. He spends thousands of hours doing just that, looking into those things. I said to him, "That has got to be so hard on your soul, especially with all of just the garbage that's on the internet." He says to me, "Mark, you have no idea." I said, "I don't really want to." He goes, "No, you don't." Then he says this: "I'll put it this way: evil never sleeps."

You know, Jesus never intended this prayer to suffer from what we call the pledge of allegiance syndrome, where we're so familiar with it we can mouth the words but neglect the meaning. Just as we can't take for granted our daily bread or our absolute need to be forgiven, as well as to be forgiving, today's part of the prayer reminds us that evil never sleeps, but we do. Whenever we become complacent or careless, our judgment clouded, our moral compass no longer reliable. So Jesus teaches us to confess our weakness and our vulnerability, that only God can deliver us from ourselves and from the one who wants to steal our joy.

So let's delve into this, starting with just the first half of this verse: "And lead us not into temptation." You might be thinking to yourself, "Well, why do we even have to pray this in the first place?" I mean, I would think that God would be all about leading us out of temptation instead of into it. For starters, one of the challenges is that in English, the word temptation is always negative, right? It has to do with being seduced or enticed. But in the Greek language that this was written in, the word for temptation is more neutral. It can also mean test—to be tested by various trials, temptation being one of them. Often, trials and temptations go together.

If you've ever tried to work on a car or fix a piece of equipment and it didn't go so well, you know that the temptation to use increasingly more colorful language just goes up exponentially with that frustration. Not to get too technical with the grammar here, but there's even some wiggle room around how to translate this verse. For example, the New Living translation puts it this way: "And don't let us yield to temptation." It's a slightly different connotation there, but rescue us from the evil one. My favorite translation comes from Eugene Peterson's message paraphrase. It simply says, "Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil," and that pretty much says it all right there.

But however you interpret it, there are times God allows us to be tempted. You may know the story of when Jesus was baptized, and as soon as he comes up from the water, it says that the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him and the voice of the Father could be heard saying, "This is my son whom I love; with him I am well pleased." It's this amazing affirming revealing moment. But immediately afterwards, like the very next thing, Jesus is led into the wilderness. The Spirit leads him out where he will be tempted by the devil. There's an important distinction there: Jesus is led by God, but he is tempted by the devil.

Since none of us like being tested through temptation, Jesus invites us to pray that we would avoid it, that perhaps the Lord would lead us down a different path. Sometimes he does just that, but not always, because overcoming temptation can actually strengthen our faith. Like Chuck Swindoll says, "Where there is no temptation, there can be little claim to virtue." So there will be times that we do face temptation, the test of it. In those times, Jesus again teaches us to say, "But Lord, deliver us from evil," or "the evil one," as most modern translations put it. The image is of God snatching us out of Satan's trap.

This means that there's at least two sources of evil that we need to be delivered from. The first is this: we need deliverance from evil that is in us. You know, we don't always get to say, "The devil made me do it." We've all learned that we're pretty good at falling into temptation all by ourselves. In fact, look what James, the younger brother of Jesus, says on this very subject. He says, "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me,' for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone." In other words, again, God may allow us to be tempted, but he is never the source. James says, "Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed." Now, he's not saying that all desire is bad, but on the other hand, not all desire is good either.

There's a great line in one of the Chronicles of Narnia books where Aslan says this: "I'll get what they want; they do not always like it." We've all been there; I know I have. When I was in college, I think I can honestly say that I was not a big partier, but that's different than saying that I didn't party at all. One time, I went to a party way up Old San Jose Road, and if you're not familiar with our area, it's a winding mountain pass. While I was there at this party, regrettably, I had too much to drink. Fortunately, my friend Phil did not; he was responsible. On the drive home, it only took about four or five of those turns when I was begging Phil to pull the car over because I had to empty my stomach. I don't tell you this to glorify it; I share this to my shame and embarrassment. But be that as it may, while I was hunched over and miserable, Phil said something that I will never forget.

One of the things I loved about Phil is his ability to say things that are both funny and wise at the same time. So he says in that moment when I'm bent over, "Just think, Mark, some people get to have this much fun every Saturday night." I'll get what they want; they do not always like it. But there's even a more insidious side to evil. It's not just the evil inside us; it is the evil around us, evil influences, and yes, the evil one himself, Satan. Now, you might be thinking to yourself, "Well, come on, Mark. I can't believe in some being with horns and red PJs and a pitchfork." Well, I can't either; that's just a caricature. But Jesus and the Bible speak to a very real devil, and even though Jesus has defeated Satan, he still takes Satan's ability to influence us very seriously.

For example, before his arrest, Jesus says to the Father, "My prayer is not that you would take them out of the world, but that you would protect them from the evil one." This is almost like the last part of Matthew 16 right here, exact same word here at the end: protect us from the evil one. I'm thinking that if this is something that Jesus took seriously, we probably should take it seriously, too. And notice we're not told to be fearful; we're not told to be obsessed with what the devil may be doing. Our focus is on Jesus. But we are told to be aware. In the early 1600s, an English pastor and scholar named Thomas Brooks wrote these insightful words: "Though Satan can never rob a believer of his crown, he will leave no stone unturned, no means unattempted to rob them of their comfort and peace, to make their life a burden and a hell, to cause them to spend their days in sorrow and mourning, in doubting and questioning." In other words, evil never sleeps.

So in response to this, I want to give you three ways that we can all apply this passage to our life today, and then we're going to draw strength and encouragement through communion as we remember and celebrate how Christ gained for us the ultimate victory on the cross. But in keeping with today's main text, the first way to apply it is this: stay prayerful. The gospels tell us that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places so that he could pray. He seemed to think that this was very important to his life, especially when he was facing temptation and evil. Like when he's agonizing in the Garden of Gethsemane, he calls out to his disciples and says, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the body is weak." And bear in mind, this is just moments before his arrest. But rather than praying, his disciples fell asleep. Not surprisingly, they shortly thereafter fell into temptation, especially Peter.

Even though earlier in that evening at supper, Jesus looks him right in the eyes and he says to Simon Peter these sobering words: "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail." Now, I want you to imagine Jesus saying that to you. Imagine he pulls you aside and he says, "You know, there's really no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to cut to the chase: Satan has asked to sift you as wheat." Wow! I mean, talk about a chill running down your spine. In response to those very words, Peter says, "Wow, oh Lord, that is so heavy. I mean, thank you for praying for me, but are you serious? I'm not up to that kind of challenge. You need to save me, Jesus." Actually, he didn't say anything remotely like that. Instead, Peter replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." You know, thanks for the prayer, but you know, I got this.

At first, it looks like Peter does got it. I mean, when this mob shows up armed with swords and clubs seeking to arrest Jesus, Peter whips out his own sword and just starts swinging. I mean, he is ready to go down in a blaze of blood and glory. But where Satan got him to crumble, to completely cave, wasn't at the sight of an armed mob of thugs; it was through the taunts of a young girl. "Hey, aren't you with Jesus?" "No, no, no way, never heard of him." "But you sound like a Galilean. Are you sure?" "I told you, I never knew the man." And here's the takeaway for you and for me: rather than presuming that he could face anything hell might throw at him, Peter would have fared so much better if he would have simply prayed. And the same is true for us.

I mean, just as we pray for you weekly, I know so many of you are praying for us. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the entire staff. Listen, we don't just covet your prayers; we depend on them. So for yourself, your loved ones, your church, your world, for everything that you hold dear, stay prayerful. And second, stay connected. Stay connected, first of all, with God's people. Going back to what Jesus says to Peter, he says, "I've prayed for you, Simon," which is just such an encouraging thing that Jesus was praying for Simon even before he would face this temptation, "that your faith may not fail." And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. In other words, Peter, you're going to be down, but you're not going to be out forever. When you come back, I'm going to have a job waiting for you. In other words, your failure isn't final.

And quite frankly, maybe that's what you need to hear today. Because since this message started, what you've been thinking about is the time that you actually did fall to temptation. You know, maybe it was through some massive moral blowout. You're still living in the aftermath of that, or maybe it was just this week where in a fit of anger, you said things that you wish you could take back. Or perhaps it's just something little by little over months, maybe years, that's managed to sink its claws into you. And now it's no longer a temptation; it's a persistent habit. It's a lifestyle. It's got ownership. But I'm here to remind you this morning: your failure doesn't need to be final.

Jesus wants to do the same thing in you and me that he did with Peter when he says, "Man, and when you turn back, when you've repented, but when you've turned back, strengthen your brothers." And listen, we all know that our sins don't just impact us. I mean, when we fall to temptation, we drag other people down with us, and that's just a hard fact. But the opposite is just as true. When God redeems our past and lifts us back up, he uses us, our story, to redeem and lift up others. We become a source of hope, a trophy of his grace. We become living proof that what God has done in us, he can and will do in others.

And man, if there was ever a time when we needed to stay connected, it is right now, strengthening each other in these stressful times. As Hebrews 10:25 says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another." Now, of course, meeting together looks different during this pandemic, but so did meeting together when this was written. They didn't meet in a building like this; they met in homes. They met wherever they could. For the moment, we meet in this livestream, or we meet in small groups, at outdoor cafes, or on the beach, or in Zoom meetings. And we'll be gathering, as Val said, later this month right outside this building.

However we can safely manage gathering together is vital to our spiritual health—vital to your spiritual health. I mean, you've seen this in every nature movie or show on TV, right? It's the same script every time: the predator scatters the herd, and then it singles out its prey. It is always the one that's by itself, that's isolated, that's most vulnerable. So stick with the herd. Stay connected with God's people. And listen, I'm very mindful of how hard that is right now. Maybe you're shut in, or maybe you really need to make sure that you stay far away from this virus because of your age, your health, or whatever those things are. But just do the best you can. Even go to our website, TLC.org/classes. We have resources; we have groups that you can be a part of so that you can stay connected with God's people.

And secondly, stay connected with God's Word. Because just like fellowshipping with others fortifies and strengthens us, so does our time in God's Word. And there's no barriers to that, okay? You can read your Bible just as much today as you could ever. The writer of Psalm 119 says this: "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." It's an investment in overcoming temptation. In Ephesians 6, Paul calls scripture the sword of the Spirit. It's the sword that Peter should have grabbed. It's the sword that Jesus did grab and wield when Satan tried to tempt him. With each temptation, Jesus just sliced through it with the truth of God's Word, quoting verses like this one from Deuteronomy 8: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

So stay prayerful, stay connected, and finally, stay humble. Here's a challenge for some of us today. There are folks who have been hit very hard economically or otherwise because of this pandemic, and there's also lots of folks who haven't really been affected that much at all. I mean, you work in a sector of business or whatever that is just chugging along just fine. It might even be that the sales might even be up because of the particular product that is of a special need during this time. Whatever the case, when life's relatively good, when we're comfortable with our relationships, with our bank accounts, with whatever the case might be, thinking about temptation and evil can lack a certain urgency, if you know what I'm saying. It's kind of like, you know, you feel good, but your doctor wants to talk to you about your cholesterol, and you're like, "You know, why bother?"

But listen, it's times like that when we're feeling great about everything that Scripture tells us to stay humble, to stay on our guard. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:12, "So if you think you're standing firm, be careful that you don't fall." Again, remember Peter. It's no wonder that years later, and I have to think he's looking back to the night that he completely abandoned and disavowed Jesus, that he pens these words when he says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." And it's a vivid image, isn't it? But notice he doesn't say, "Be afraid; be paranoid. There's a lion on the loose." No, he doesn't say that at all. He simply says, "Be self-controlled and alert." In other words, humble in the knowledge that we can still fall prey to temptation at any time, at any stage of life.

And listen, make no mistake: Jesus has won the war. But until we go to heaven or Jesus comes to earth, we will always have to face temptation and evil. To think otherwise is to give our adversary an advantage. Well, I'll close with this. In 1987, the Soviet Union had the largest air defense system in the world. But even so, a West German teenager named Matthias Rust shocked the world when he flew his assessment airplane right into the Soviet Union. In fact, into the heart of Moscow. Now, to put this in context, just four years earlier, when a Korean Airlines 747 just accidentally entered Soviet airspace, they shot it out of the sky, killing all 269 passengers on board.

Well, when Rust takes off from Finland heading towards Moscow, as he enters into effect—even before, as he approaches and then enters into Soviet airspace—he was immediately picked up by these same air defense systems. Within moments, a MiG fighter just blows right by his Cessna, and the chances of him surviving the next few minutes are slim to none. Yet moments later, that MiG just disappears into the clouds. Incredibly, those same people in the Soviet air defense centers mistakenly take Rust's plane for a friendly aircraft. I mean, after all, it's just a Cessna. What harm could it bring? Well, when Rust reaches Moscow, he makes three low passes right over Red Square. He was trying to clear people out so that he could make a landing, but they weren't getting the message. They're just staring up at this plane, wondering why it's flying just several feet above their heads. So instead, he lands his plane on a nearby bridge and then taxis it right into Red Square, parking it right next to the Kremlin itself.

I mean, it was an incredible moment that was a massive embarrassment for the Soviet Union. For us, it's a reminder of this truth: that we are never as invincible as we think. And more often than not, the threat that slips through isn't the big obvious one; usually, it just looks small and harmless. So we tolerate it. We don't take it as seriously as we should. Remember, for Peter, it just came in the form of a young girl. She was the Cessna that exposed his weakness. Well, what's yours? You tell yourself you can handle it; you can manage it; you can control it; you can stop it. But you're just rationalizing it, because someday it will land in your lap.

And so this morning, if you would like to see it for what it really is, I invite you to join me in prayer right now. Heavenly Father, we come before you with real gratitude, knowing that we are welcomed into your presence through prayer. Lord, we thank you that we have a high priest in Jesus who was tempted in this life in every single way and yet without sin. And so he's able to sympathize with our weaknesses, and yet he also intercedes for us and has done so through his life, death, and resurrection. And so, Lord, with confidence, we come to you and ask for your grace in our lives. We pray, Lord, that you would give us the grace of, first of all, just being courageous enough to evaluate our lives.

That maybe there's something in our lives that we've been tolerating. We've seen it on the radar, but we don't really do anything about it, and yet it keeps coming closer and closer and closer to the heart of everything that we hold dear. And so, Father, help us to be silver-minded today, to be alert, to be on guard of those things, and to take action where necessary—to seek out help, to confess to a friend or a pastor, to make the change that we can make now in avert what could be a disastrous outcome. It could be a myriad of things, but Lord, I trust that through your Spirit, you will make those things known to us even now.

And so, Lord, we ask that you would deliver us, that we would take the steps necessary to cooperate with your loving and good work in our lives. We pray this in the matchless name of Jesus Christ, our victorious King and our loving Savior. And all God's people said, "Amen."