A guy had a dream he had went to heaven and saw many clocks. As is customary with these stories St. Peter is attending the gate. When asked what the clocks were for Peter replied that every person on earth has a clock here, and each time one sins, the hand on their clock moves just a bit. The man said, “Where is my clock?” Peter replied, “It is in the office, Moses has been using it for a fan.”
Sin begins with temptation. We are going to look at a portion of the Lord’s prayer this morning as it deals with temptation. Let us begin by reading the entire prayer.
Matthew
6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
6:10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (KJV)
Lead us not into temptation.
I. We are not immune to temptation.
Jesus could see things in this world that were not so obvious to his disciples, and are probably not so obvious to us today. Jesus knew the power of temptation, and his directive to us was to pray that we not be tempted.
There are real forces behind our temptation.
The apostle Paul said, “We war against powers and principalities. These are groups of angels, fallen angels.
The leader of the fallen angels is Satan.
You will recall what Jesus did after he was baptized. He was driven into the wilderness amongst the “beasts” to be tempted of Satan.
I think the word “beasts” speaks of something other than simply animals.
Jesus could see into another dimension on this earth.
The demons he ran into knew exactly who he was.
On one occasion the demons within a person said to Jesus, “What have you to do with us thou Son of the Most High.”
Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.
We see by this that Satan is the tempter, and we do well to know that his demons are also tempters. The name Satan means “accuser”
Thus, this same devil who tempts you to eat the fruit of sin is also the individual who will bring the accusation against you for doing so.
He is not only the person who sells drugs; he is also the district attorney who prosecutes you after you have taken them.
And, his demons are no different.
Remember, Satan offers nothing good. The fruit he offers is poison to the soul.
Jesus said, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
How do we cope with temptation?
Some would say, bring it on, I will not fall to temptation.
And yet, Jesus says for us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.”
Friends, we should not have great confidence in ourselves, we should have this confidence in God.
Simon Peter loved to brag. He was a “bring it on” kind of guy. He had great confidence in himself at one point in his ministry as he followed Jesus.
Simon Peter bragged, “All may forsake you, but not I”
Jesus’ response to Peter was immediate. Jesus said, “Satan wishes to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you.”
Before that night was over Peter had not only forsaken Jesus, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus.
This should teach us in a strong way that we are not to speak greatly of our own abilities.
That is just asking for it.
Pride comes before a what?
Pride comes before a fall.
I have known dear people who really blasted and gossiped about someone else who had fallen to sin, and then later they themselves fell to the same sin.
When we get wrapped up in our own confidence, we are getting ready for a fall in a big way.
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Thus, the #1 item about facing sin is to realize that we are capable of falling into temptation. Jesus tells us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation”
Jesus goes on to say, “But deliver us from evil.”
What did Joseph do when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him? He ran didn’t he? That is always a good option.
II. We need to know right from wrong.
What is sin? Do we define sin?
It is a second problem we face with the issue of temptation. We can usually justify our sins. This is to say, we can determine that something that God calls sin is really not sin.
This is something that we see from the very beginning. Eve was hanging around the tree long before she ever ate from it, or offered it to her husband.
God had told Adam and Eve that if they ate from that tree they would surely die, Eve was convinced by the serpent that God was wrong, and they did eat, and they did die....
Thus, 2 things about sin.....
1. We are not immune to temptation.
2. Justifying what we know to be sin is a normal first step toward the power that sin brings in our lives.
Sin is always a poisonous fruit.
The devil likes to make it look like something that will bring happiness.
But it will not.... It may bring pleasure for a little while, but the payment is death...
The wages of sin is death.
What sin do I like to talk about most?
My favorite sin to talk about is someone else’s sin.
Yet, in all honesty, if I point one finger, I have three pointing back at myself.
Did you know that my sermons are preached to someone else before you hear them? No, not my wife Kathy, but myself.
Sin is going against God’s will, and God’s word….
It means to miss the mark…
Sin is like a bore in the root of a plant that is not so obvious to begin with….
Leonardo da Vinci was painting his masterpiece, The Last Supper, he selected as the person to sit for the character of the Christ a young man, Pietri Bandinelli. Pietri was connected with the Milan Cathedral as chorister. Years passed before the great picture was completed, and when one character only, that of Judas Iscariot was wanting, the great painter noticed a man in the streets of Rome whom he selected as his model. With shoulders far bent toward the ground, having an expression of cold, hardened, evil stature, the man seemed to afford the opportunities of a model terribly true to the artist’s conception of Judas.
When in the studio, man began to look around, as if recalling incidents of years gone by. Finally, he turned and with a look of half sad, yet one which told how hard it was to realize the change which had taken place, he said, “Maestro, I was in this studio twenty five years ago. I, then, sat for Christ.”
Sin is something that changes the individual over time.
You may think that sin is simply doing something wrong.
I have gone out and done this or that….
Sin is also the not doing of something that the Lord is compelling.
Look at Jesus teaching….
The rich man and the poor man that lay starving at his gate,,,, The rich man’s great sin was that he ignored the poor man Lazarus who would loved to have had the crumbs off of his table….
The dogs came and licked Lazarus wounds…. In other words the dogs had more compassion than Dives.
The parable of the man with the talent he failed to use…. His sin was not doing something wrong, it was a sin of not doing anything with what God had given him.
The parable of the man who would not forgive….. what had he done? Failed to forgive his debtor as he had been forgiven.
The parable of the wicked vineyard keepers who failed to yield their harvest over to the owner….
Sin is often doing something wrong.
Sin is often doing nothing at all.
1. We can convince ourselves that we are beyond the temptation of sin.
2. And we can convince ourselves that sin is not sin and thereby justify all that we do or fail to do.
3. A third part of this puzzle is that we can fail to call upon God in the face of temptation to sin.
Someone once said, “Why is it that opportunity knocks only once, yet temptation bangs on the door constantly?”
People fail to recognize that God sees all things……….
And people fail to see that God can give us the power to overcome temptation.
III. It is only through God’s power that we can avoid sin.
In that same prayer we began with…. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever.
1 Corinthians 4:20 “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
In Ephesians 3:7 “Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.”
Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole amour of God….
This power of God is spoken of throughout the New Testament….
Dunamis is a word for the power of God spoken 71 times in the NT…. We get our word dynamite from this word…
That power comes through prayer. Notice Jesus disciples wanted to know how to pray, not how to preach.
J.B. Phillips paraphrases Ephesians l:19-20, "How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God." When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us.
[SermonCentral]
The apostle Paul spoke of a people having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.
One New Year’s Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas.
Often, Christians neglect their spiritual maintenance, and though they are "clothed with power" (Luke 24:49) find themselves out of gas.
[Steve Blankenship in God Came Near by Max Lucado, Multnomah Press, 1987, p. 95.]
We can do all things through God who strengthens us
Through God we can not only resist the temptation of doing evil, we can also do good….
And it is through prayer that we access this wonder working power.
And let me tell you, there is great joy in following God…
Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."
John Bunyon
Early African converts to Christianity were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, "Brother, the grass grows on your path."
Today in the Word, June 29, 1992.
Does grass grow on your path?
Is temptation beating on your door?
Do you desire a closer walk with God?
Prayer holds the power to change lives.
Deliver us from evil for thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.
