Sermon Central
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Deliver Us From Evil Series
Contributed by John Hamby on Apr 9, 2001 (message contributor)
Summary: An examination of the petition in the Lord’s Prayer for the LORD to protect us from the evil one.
A Study of the Lord’s Prayer
Lesson # 8
“Deliver Us From Evil”
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.(10) Your kingdom come.Your 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 forgive our debtors. (13) And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (NKJV)
The King James Version translates this, “deliver us from evil” but The New King James Version , The New International Version and The New English Bible translations rendered it, “deliver us from the evil one” – referring of course to Satan.
In our last study we saw how the phrase, “lead us not into temptation,” indicated that the child of God was conscious of past sin and failure and fearful of falling into yet further sin. When you use the phrase “deliver us from the evil one” you are admitting that this life is a struggle with an enemy that oppose us. Because we do not know what dangers we will face each new day, we need God’s protection to cover us. When you pray “deliver us from the evil one” you are turning your protection over to God.
There is no part of life that is not touched by evil. It has ruined our circumstances, it has marred our character, indeed it has affected the whole of God’s creation. According to Romans 8:22-23 “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (23) Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (NKJV)
I. Existence of Satan
The Lord’s Prayer recognizes evil as a deadly fact. Yet many Christians have never stopped to realize the nature of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged. Part of the problem is that we live in a society that has fictionalized the existence of the evil one. According to a national survey conducted by the Barna Research Group most Americans do not believe in Satan. 60 percent of American adults – six out of ten – believe that Satan “is not a living being but a symbol of evil.” Only 25 percent “believe strongly” that Satan is a real being. Only 45 percent of those who describe themselves as “born again” deny Satan’s existence.
The Devil has been portrayed as evil in appearance. When portrayed in the movies, he always has a sinister appearance. Yet the Bible says, that he can appear as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Satan was originally a powerful angelic being, a wise and beautiful cherub named Lucifer. Pride and rebellion led to a rebellion described in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-17. Lucifer became proud because of his wisdom and beauty and he declared, “I will be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14). He sought to make himself equal to God and aspired to be worshipped. Because of his sinful heart, he was cast from heaven by his Creator. He would subsequently be know as the Hebrew name Satan which means “adversary.” Satan is also called the devil (from the Greek word diabolos) with the meaning of slanderer or accuser.
The angels who joined Satan in his rebellion against God are commonly referred to as evil spirit or demons. According to Revelation 12:9 those demons were cast out of heaven along with Satan. According to Revelation 12:4 he took one-third of the angelic population with him.
It was Satan’s sin that introduced evil into the universe. Later, Satan misrepresented God’s motives to Adam and Eve. They had been created sinless, in the image of God, but they were given the freedom to choose whether to obey their Creator. Because they choose to believe Satan and ate the fruit that had been forbidden by God, through their sin, sin entered into the human race. Satan has been an evil force in every generation.
It should be remembered that Satan is a created being and therefore in no way the equal of God. Although he is God’s chief antagonist, he is not God opposite in power. As a created being, he is under God’s control. He is subject to the limitations of being a creature. He cannot be everywhere at the same time, he is not all powerful and he is not all knowing like God.
II. Description of Satan
Father of Lies (John 8:44)
God of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4)
Prince of demons (Matthew (9:34, 12:24)
Prince of this world (John 12:31)
Ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2)
