Sermon Idea: To pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” is to ask God to preserve us and deliver us from evil.
Introduction: There is something disarming about someone who has experienced difficulties similar to yours. It’s easier to connect with those who’ve shared similar suffering than with those who know nothing of your struggle. Whether it is our battle against sin or our suffering in this fallen world, we are grateful to learn that our pain is not unique and that others may relate to what we are experiencing.
It is not insignificant that the one who teaches us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” was once led into the wilderness of temptation himself and came out the other side victorious.
For the Gospel of Matthew, the memory of Jesus’ temptation is usually fresh in every reader’s mind as they read through it, because the temptation narrative appears in Matthew 4:1-11.
We read in Matthew 4:1, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Mt 4:1)
Three times Satan, who is identified as the “tempter” in verse 2, comes to Jesus. The first time, Satan appeals to Jesus’ hunger, as he had been fasting forty days, and tells him to command stone to become loaves of bread. The second time, Satan attempts to wield Scripture against Jesus, telling him to throw himself off the Temple, because there are promises that God will protect his Messiah. The third time, Satan pulled out his best card. He took Jesus to a very high mountain to show him the kingdoms of the world and their glory. To receive them all, he simply had to bow his knee and worship the tempter.
Each of these was not only a temptation to unnecessarily prove that he was, in fact, the Son of God—the coming Messiah —but also a temptation to pursue good things in all the wrong ways.
Jim Orrick says this well, “Satan’s temptations are illegitimate shortcuts to a legitimate goal.”
Food is good, but trusting God too little to provide is not. Turning stones into bread would be an illegitimate shortcut to a legitimate goal.
Having confidence in someone’s love for you is good, but pursuing affirmation of that love with dramatic action—like casting yourself off a building—is not good. God’s care for the Son has already been declared. Jesus already has what he needs. At Jesus’ baptism, a voice came from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17)
For Jesus, the kingdoms of the world and their glory were a legitimate goal. They are promised to him by the Father, but Satan wants to tempt Jesus with this thought: God’s ways are too hard, too difficult. God’s way is the way of the cross and the tomb. Sure, Jesus, I’ll give you the kingdoms of the world if you bow and worship me. Why be nailed to a cross, when you can simply bend a knee?
Each time, Jesus responded by quoting Scripture, and the last time he commands that Satan leave him, saying, “Be gone, Satan!” Of course, he does, because when Jesus commands that you go, you go.
The one who teaches us to pray about temptation and evil has been in the wilderness before us. He has stared the evil one in the face, and emerged obedient.
We know Jesus endured more temptations than these, because the author of Hebrews tells us, 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Heb 4:14–15)
As we consider the sixth petition, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, because his perfect obedience is the ground of our assurance before God, not our own. We also need to keep our eyes on Jesus, because as the one who has endured temptation without sin, he has become a merciful High Priest who grants us access to the throne of God and offers mercy and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).
To pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” is to ask God to preserve us and deliver us from evil.
It has a future aspect and a present aspect. The future aspect is heard in the words, “Lead us not into temptation.” That is, preserve us as we face the trials and temptations that are to come. The present aspect is heard in the words, “and deliver us from evil.” Right now, God, there is evil still in me, there is evil in the world, and there is an evil one against me. Deliver me now from evil.
I should not have to state the urgency and necessity of this prayer, but let’s be clear as to the stakes.
We will have trouble, and we will be tempted. In all of this, there is an enemy, an evil one who only means us harm.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Pe 5:8)
Now that we have put Jesus at the center of this petition and been plain about the stakes, let’s pray for preservation from evil and deliverance from evil, with the posture & practice required to resist evil.
I.) We pray for preservation from evil
Before we think about what Jesus means by “Lead us not…,” it will be helpful for us to think carefully about temptation. You can read Christian writers throughout the centuries across different theological traditions, and you will often find them identifying three enemies involved in temptation: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
An Orthodox Catechism says, for example, in question 150, “We are so feeble and weak by nature that we cannot stand even one moment without our most deadly enemies—Satan, the world, and our own flesh—incessantly attacking and assaulting us.”
We need to think about this, because it’s invaluable information. Insight into the enemy’s playbook better equips us to discern temptation, fight sin, and resist the devil.
- We are tempted by the world
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (Jn 15:19)
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 Jn 2:15–17)
The danger of temptation from the world is that it obscures reality—the way things really are—and then pressures us to fear being in the minority, to be strange. No one has thought about this better than David Wells, one of the most important and prophetic theological voices you’ve probably never heard of. In his book God in the Wasteland, he offers the best description of worldliness that I have read.
“Worldliness, as we have seen, is that set of practices in a society, its values and ways of looking at life, that make sin look normal and righteousness look strange.” – David Wells
2. We are tempted by our flesh
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (Jas 1:14–15)
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Ga 5:17)
So let’s make it plain. Even the redeemed love things they shouldn’t love, desire what they shouldn’t desire, and haven’t grown to hate what is opposed to God’s law.
Because of this, we can lead ourselves into temptation when we become careless about people, places, and circumstances that could have been avoided but make sinning more likely.
We lead ourselves into temptation when we are casual about what we think about and dwell on it. We lead ourselves into temptation when we put off actions that are clearly right and good in accordance with God’s Word. Delayed obedience quickly turns into disobedience.
3. We are tempted by the devil
In Scripture, Satan is referred to as the tempter (Matthew 4:3), the enemy (Matt. 13:39), the adversary (1 Pet. 5:8), and the devil (James 4:7).
His ways are not direct, for he is a schemer: “11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Eph 6:11)
If I can press upon you anything important about the schemes of the devil, it would be this: Satan most likely doesn’t want to ruin your life today; he wants to give you just enough for you to minimize its effect on your life in your own mind. Then he’ll give a little more, then a little more, and a little more, until he can do great damage to you and those around you. Satan is laying the groundwork to ruin your life ten years from now.
Wilhelmus A. Brakel helpfully writes, “To advance all his temptations at once would not be effective with many. He knows the constitution of the body as well as its vulnerability; he knows the sin most likely to be committed, and he knows what circumstances we must at all times be in to do so.”
That’s some insight into temptation, but now let us consider what it means not to be led into it.
If Jesus promised that we would have trouble (John 16:33) and the Bible assumes temptation is an expected difficulty of the Christian life, then we can safely assume that this is not a prayer to avoid trials and temptations altogether.
Rather, the idea is that God would empower us and help us not to be overwhelmed by temptation, and so not sin. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Co 10:13)
To pray Lead us not into temptation” is to ask God to keep us from giving in to people, places, and circumstances that will result in sin.
To pray this prayer sincerely, we need to believe at least four things with conviction. It is worth borrowing from Brakel again, becasue it is hard to improve on these reflections.
To pray this sincerely indicates…
- Knowledge and acknowledgment of the sinfulness of our heart and our weakness in resisting temptation.
- A hatred and aversion to sin, and a fear of falling into it.
- A love for communion with God, which sin affects and obscures; and a love for the honor of God’s name, the reputation of godliness, and the joy of the godly.
- Faith in God’s care for his own, and in God’s omnipotence to give them strength to subdue the enemies in their assaults.
II.) We pray for deliverance from evil
The second part of the petition is similar to the first, but concerns the present reality of evil, ranging from the evil that remains in us, the evil in the world, and the evil one—Satan himself.
To pray, “Deliver us from evil,” is to pray that we will not walk in the flesh, but in the Spirit. It is to pray that unrighteousness and wickedness are stamped out, so that our family, culture, and society celebrate what is good, beautiful, and true.
We pray for the fulfillment of Romans 16:20: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Ro 16:20)
We can pray this prayer in confidence and hope, because we know that nothing unrighteous or wicked can enter the kingdom of God. All of it will eventually expire; we simply need to keep praying for God to bring that day.
Earlier, I quoted a part of the answer to question 150 of the Orthodox Catechism. Here is the rest of the answer.
“Therefore, we pray that you would uphold, establish, and strengthen us by the might of your Spirit, that we may not yield in this spiritual combat as conquered, but withstand our enemies both courageously and consistently, until we get the perfect victory.”
III.) We pray with the posture & practice required to resist evil
- Humility & Earnestness
As we pray this petition, we must confess with conviction that we are too weak to overcome temptation and resist sin in our own power. We can overcome it in Christ and with the help of the Spirit, which is why we pray. That is, we pray this prayer with the posture of humility.
We also need to pray this prayer with earnestness. That is, we should pray it daily and with sincerity, because the risk is high.
Sin is not a mere mistake that has no impact on you and those around you. Sin deforms the soul. Sin only brings sorrow and misery. Nothing good comes from it, and the cost is far higher than we can afford.
“Sinning does not merely consist in the committing of transitory evil thoughts, words, and deeds, but it injures the spiritual life itself. It becomes more feeble and weaker, and a person becomes less fit to live godly and to turn from sin.” – Wilhelmus A. Brakel
- Pursue and practice obedience and resistance to the devil while praying, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
We must practice what we pray for. There is to be no contradiction between our acts and our prayers. That is, to truly pray this petition, you must make every effort to avoid opportunities that may invite temptation and to resist sin and the devil’s schemes.
What did Jesus also teach us in the Sermon on the Mount?
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (Mt 5:29–30)
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (Ro 6:12–13)
Yes, we should pray for the Lord to help us overcome temptation, but as we do so, we should make every effort not to lead ourselves into temptation!
Application
- How often do you pray like this? When was the last time you were so aware of yourself and your circumstances that bringing God’s help to overcome temptation and resist sin was imperative?
- Are you harboring any hidden sin this morning that could hinder the sincerity of this prayer if you prayed it? Or perhaps, we can say it this way: what dangerous areas of your life have you grown casual about?
- As you reflect on these two questions, prepare your heart to go before the Lord, honestly confess sin with a broken heart, rest in his gospel promise to forgive and to cleanse, and then pray for the grace to change.
