I please the Lord to bless us
tonight as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the gospel
of Luke chapter 11 and we'll read verse 4. The gospel of Luke
chapter 11 and reading verse 4. And forgive us our sins for
we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This is part of that prayer which
the Lord Jesus gave to his disciples when they asked him the question,
Lord, teach us to pray. as John also taught his disciples. And of course, the Lord Jesus
had already spoken these words that we read of in the sixth
chapter of Matthew, which we call the Sermon on the Mount,
where again, the Lord said virtually the same words, but there was
a few words further, of course, at the end. But nonetheless,
we recognize that this is the prayer which the Lord spoke and
directed his disciples to pray. And it's good for us to realise
that we have such a simple and such a great example. There are many things perhaps
which we pray for, many things perhaps we think we need, and
no doubt they are, but here we have a very simple statement. The Lord came and said, pray
like this, our Father which art in heaven, what a blessing it
is if we do know we have a father in heaven a great and glorious
father a father who watches over us our father which art in heaven
hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done as in heaven
so in earth give us day by day our daily bread well there's
much in those few words which we just read together, but we
won't speak on those this evening. We're just coming down to this
fourth verse, and really, it's the last part of the verse I
want to concentrate on, but nonetheless, we read, and forgive us our sins. Well, that is vital, isn't it?
Without our sins being forgiven, we cannot enter in to the holy
place in glory. There's no sin in heaven. sin
cannot enter in. So unless our sins are forgiven,
we shall never enter into that place of glory with the Saviour
and all the redeemed saints. So such a prayer, such a request
is very necessary and very important. And forgive us our sins. And then the Lord draws an analogy. It says, for we also forgive
everyone that is indebted to us. So how can we expect to have
our sins forgiven if we have anything against anybody which
we have not forgiven? How needful it is that we examine
our hearts carefully to make sure that there's no one that
we hold any grudge against or any evil thought against, but
that we should desire and want to, and to freely and openly
forgive them for those things which they may have done against
us. And if we need any encouragement,
just think of what we're asking the Saviour to do. Surely we've
committed far, far worse sins against the Saviour than anybody
has committed against ourselves. And if we are expecting the blessed
God to forgive us of our sins, then surely we should be so willing
and desire us to forgive everyone who may have sinned against us. They may not. Sometimes we can
misjudge a situation And we can think people meant things which
they never did. And therefore we can sometimes
be caught up in the snare of the devil. The devil wants us
to never, as it were, clear our conscience. He always wants to
have some ammunition to be able to throw at us. And therefore
what a wonderful thing it is that we have such gracious words
written, gracious words recorded, from the lips of the Saviour,
in direct answer to the request to how we should pray. And so,
forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted
to us. Then he says, and lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. It's a very short
sentence, isn't it? but it's a very relevant and
a very important sentence. And it's really something that
we should desire to pray every day and perhaps throughout the
day, because let us be assured there are bound to be temptations
come before our eyes, come into our mind, temptations from the
devil. And again, be sure of this, that
these temptations won't draw us nearer to the Lord. What will
they do? They'll draw us away from the
Lord. And that's what Satan endeavours to do, continually. He never
gives up this side of the grave. Let us not think, well, I passed
through that temptation and now I can relax. No, we are always
to be on our watchtower. We're always to be alert, endeavouring
to discern when Satan is putting temptation in our way. And those temptations are very
broad and wide. And the truth is that temptations
to one may not be a temptation to another and vice versa. But the devil knows what is attractive
to our mind, what is attracted to our eyes, and you will concentrate
on those things. And you know what will happen?
If we pander to these temptations, we'll find that we bring upon
us barrenness into our souls, hardness of heart, famine of
hearing of the word, because these things will be before us
and will crowd in and crowd out the great and glorious truths
of God. How good it is that the Lord
so graciously set before us such a prayer, so needful, lead us
not into temptation but deliver us from evil. It doesn't mean
to say we won't come into temptations, we most certainly will. And sometimes
those temptations are really to kind of test the reality of
our spirituality. We're told sometimes there may
be a fiery trial to try us, to tempt us. to see where we stand. The Lord sends these things.
They are temptations. He sends them to test our faith. And as we may be blessed to realise
that the Lord is standing by us, the Lord is helping us in
these times of temptation, it's not something we just kind of
pass over. The apostle tells us, Peter,
who was well versed in temptation, wasn't he? He says that the trial
of your faith, the trial of our faith being
much more precious than the gold that perisheth, that it be tried
with fire, might be found under praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ. The trial of our faith, times
of temptation, perhaps tempted to give up religion. Perhaps
tempted to think, well, I don't seem to be making any progress.
I don't seem to be getting any blessings. Everything seems to
be dry and hard, and the devil says, well, there's no good pursuing.
You may as well give it all up. Enjoy yourself in the world.
Go after all the things which attract your mind. and occupy
yourself with those things. Well, such a temptation will
be a very testing time, the trial of your faith. Now, the blessing
is, as the apostle says, being much more precious than a gold
that perishes. Gold we know is valuable, the
trying of our faith is more valuable. Because when that testing time
comes, what do we lose? We lose that which is of the
flesh, and we retain that which is of the spirit. And the devil
finds that he cannot make the inroads that he thought he would.
And perhaps we felt we should make shipwreck, Sometimes I think
of that little account in the Pilgrim's Progress, where Christian
was fighting Apollyon, the devil. We have battles, don't we, with
the devil. We have constant battles with the devil. And Christian
was fighting Apollyon and he slipped over. And he lost his
sword. Napoleon said, here will I spill
thy blood. Yes, Christian was down, but
he wasn't dead. He wasn't dead. As you read that
account, we find that he managed to stretch out his hand and get
hold of the sword. and thrust upon him, and he went
away." The illustration directs us of course to the Word of God,
the sword of the Spirit. And as perhaps we come into these
times of temptation, when we feel that Satan is going to overwhelm
us, may we turn to the Word of God. We have some very wonderful
accounts in the Word of God, some wonderful times where we're
told what to do and what happened. Remember, the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ, he sets before us a great and important example. And in the Hebrews, we read in
the fourth chapter, speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ,
as our High Priest. The High Priest is one, of course,
who takes our case and presents it to the Father, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we read, for we have not
an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin. What a blessing it is to have
such an High Priest. Because as you and I may be faced
with severe temptations, we may think, well I'm sure no one else
quite understands and has been in the same place that I am. Well if we think such things,
clearly we're wrong. And we have here the friend of
sinners, who knows exactly the temptation that you and I are
passing through. It's wonderful, isn't it, to
think that the great God condescended to come into this sinful world
and to be tempted, as we are, so that we have a companion,
and we come today to this great and glorious Saviour who understands
our temptation, but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin. So, we can come to the blessed
Saviour. We can explain our concerns. Now, Remember the last thing
the devil wants you to do is to come to the Saviour. He'll
do what he can to stop you. He'll do what he can to pretend
when it's no good you going, it's no good you praying, you're
just too bad, you've just committed too many sins. Well it's nice,
I think sometimes the line in the hymn which tells us I came
to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad. Sad perhaps because
of our sin, because of our failures. Worn out perhaps with continual
oppression, and yet we can come to this blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
And so we have these wonderful words tonight. Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Remember also when the
Lord Jesus, after he was baptized, he was led up into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil. And well, that wasn't any light
temptation, was it? And in the fourth chapter of
Matthew, we read, about this great truth that the
Lord Jesus Christ indeed endured. And also we read it in the same
gospel that we've referred to tonight, the gospel of Luke.
And in the gospel of Luke, we read these words which are encouraging
because they describe how the Lord Jesus Christ responded when
he said, Jesus answered and said unto
him it is said thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. When the devil had ended all
the temptation he departed from him for a little season. You
think of the temptations that Jesus had to face because we
read in Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into wilderness. This world is a wilderness,
but he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He wasn't led into a nice, calm
and pleasant retreat. He was led into the wilderness.
and being 40 days tempted of the devil. 40 days tempted of
the devil. Have you and I been tempted for
40 days? Well, we may have been. Temptation
may have been very great. We may have feared that the devil
will spill our blood. But remember what Christian did? He took his sword. the sword
of the Spirit. What did the Saviour do? He took
the sword, the Word of God. That's how he countered the temptation
of Satan. He said, it is written, it is
written. The devil can't gainsay that
because he knows it's true. He may pretend But if we do enter
into temptation, then let's remember the gracious examples that we
have. They are gracious examples. And
to think that it's the example of the Saviour himself. It is
written. Now, of course, if we know nothing
of the Word of God, we won't be able to answer him in the
same way. But oh, may the Spirit of God
give us that grace to truly study the Word of God so that we may
have it as part of our armor, the sword of the Spirit, and
be able then to resist the devil, that he may flee from us. He
can't stand against the Word of God. And yet the devil will
probably try and blind our eyes and stop us remembering perhaps
anything from the Word of God. The devil will use every instrument
and every way that he can to bring us into a time of temptation
so that if possible we may fall and sometimes of course we do
fall and that's why we need to remember this prayer lead us
not into temptation but deliver us from evil we have the gracious
example of the savior we also read the words of the apostle
peter But we know the Apostle Peter fell. He was tempted. He fell. Why? Because he was
relying on his own strength. It's the most dangerous thing
to do, to rely on our own strength, even if perhaps we think we know
the Word of God very well. Don't rely on it. Don't rely
on it. Rely on the Lord. Rely on the
Holy Spirit. to give words to speak at the
right time, to resist the devil, not to rely on our own ability
and our own knowledge. Why? Because if we were able
to answer him from our own knowledge, our own ability, without praying
for help from God, we'd pat ourselves on the back and we'd say, well,
that was well said. My friends, we must always rely.
from the help from God so that we can come in and thank our
God for the help he's given in time of need. The Lord does provide,
he does come, but he will be inquired of by the house of Israel
to do these things for them. We are to come to him in prayer
and we are to pray like this and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil. We are indeed to watch and pray,
aren't we? Watch and pray. We should be
thankful, shouldn't we, that the Lord's given us so many encouraging
words with regards to this situation and we found really watching
and praying. And towards the end of the Gospel
of Matthew 26 we read And he cometh unto the disciples,
and findeth them asleep. And saith unto Peter, What? Could
you not watch with me one hour? It's very easy, you know, to
fall into a situation of sleepiness. So that we're not on our watch.
And the Lord then graciously says, Watch and pray that ye
enter not into temptation, The spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak, and perhaps we've proved that, sadly. And
we need to be reminded of this great favour, and to be found
watching and praying. So they go together, don't they?
We are to watch. Watch out for the devil. Watch out for his, as he approaches,
and pray that we might have grace to resist him and we need to
do that because you know those temptations which come into our
hearts are often those things which our lustful heart goes
after and therefore we need the blessed
spirit to come and to give us grace to watch and when we see
it to pray Naturally, we may not want to
pray. That's why we have the gracious
words here of the Saviour, to watch and pray, that ye enter
not into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. Our flesh is weak. Our flesh
is sinful. What a blessing it is if we know
the work of the Spirit in our heart, that spirit which seeks
after holiness, there's the conflict, there always will be, this side
of the grave, between the flesh and the spirit. And so here we
have such words as this, watch and pray that you enter not into
temptation. Just the same, isn't it? The
Lord uses the same words really here when he says, and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Well, we read the words and they're
no doubt well known to us, and yet sometimes we can quite easily
come and forget them. And then, you know, there was
that wonderful parable of the sower, again in this Gospel of
Luke, earlier in this chapter. And it again is very instructive. But in this parable, we're told
about those who receive the word, or the seed, as on the rock. And the Lord, he tells us, some
fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, It withered
away because it lacked moisture. Well, there wasn't really any
good ground for it at all, it just withered away. And the explanation
of that from the Saviour was, they on the rock are they which
when they hear, and this is not the rock Christ Jesus, this is
just a hard, earthly rock. They on the rock are they which
when they hear receive the Word with joy, and these have no root,
which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away."
Well that's a very sad situation, a very solemn description of
many people who hear the Word of God preached. You see this
parable of the sower, It goes through those who are not true
Christians. The only true Christians are
really those who are the good ground, who hear the Word and
it falls into this good ground. But that on the good ground are
they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word,
keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." Well, there's
so much in these few words, isn't it? Fruit with patience. You're
not to expect fruit to suddenly rush up and be evident. Patience,
you see, to have this growth. But coming back to this point
here about that we fall away in this time of temptation, it's
those who just receive the word and they rejoice in it, they
think it's a good word, they might say it's a good word, and
yet, the sad thing is, they don't have the root. They don't have
the true work of God in their souls. They don't have, as it
were, a good foundation. You know, when the seed is sown
into good ground, what happens? The root occurs first, before
there's anything seen above the ground. And our need for it is,
there is a root. And we might say, well, what
is a root in a spiritual sense? I'll tell you what it is. It's
the conviction of sin. It doesn't show above the ground,
does it? It's the conviction of sin. And you see, that conviction
produces desires after mercy, desires after godliness, recognising
that without the Lord's favour and blessing, we are lost and
ruined. What's happening? There's the
root, going down, nothing above ground to be observed. But you
see in this case, there was no root. There was no true conviction. There were plenty of nice words,
plenty of pleasant sayings, but no root. And therefore, when
the time of temptation came, they fell away. Well, my friends,
let us not be found amongst those who enter into these times of
temptation, which we will, and then fall away. But may we be
blessed to have the root. And may that root go down deeply.
So that when the storms of life come, which they will, we may
be shaken, but we won't be uprooted. No, we should stand. Yeah, we
should stand every test and live at last. Our life is really a
continual one of testing, isn't it? And it's tested through these
times of temptation. James, the servant of God, in
his short epistle speaks about this temptation. He says, and
it's interesting how he addresses this, my brethren, count it all
joy when ye fall into divers temptations. That doesn't mean
to say that we submit to the temptations. That's why we should
pray against temptation, because we might submit to it. But James
tells us, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into
diverse temptations, because if we do have that good root,
and it is deep in the ground, then the effect of this will
be to strengthen our faith, because he says, knowing this, that the
trying of your faith worketh patience. That means that we have to be
waiting upon the Lord. The temptation may be, well,
the Lord hasn't answered your prayer, therefore it must have
been wrong, or you must be wrong. There's no hope. You've prayed
and nothing's happened. Well, here we have this test. The trying of your faith worketh
patience. Patience to wait for the Lord's
time, the Lord's appearing. Let us never forget the Lord
has a perfect time to bless us, a perfect time to show us the
Saviour. And these times of temptation
may be to take away all the desires, or perhaps many of the desires,
after the poor things of time, and direct us to have that desire
to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now then, if these
temptations work this way, you'll rejoice in it. But let patience have her perfect
work, that she may be perfect and entire wanting nothing. Further down in this first chapter,
James says, blessed is the man that endureth temptation. Doesn't mean to submit to it.
The devil would harass you. He does harass us. There's an
enduring. Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of
life. which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. And just
remember what James says, let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man, but every man is tempted when
he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath
conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished
bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. See, this is the truth, the word
of God and the work of God in the soul of the believer to direct
us indeed to the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole purpose of this is
to bring us to the Lord Jesus Christ and to view what he has
done But He has gained the victory, and therefore you and I are complete
in Him. We shall live through Him, not
because of anything we've done ourselves. And so, the Lord Jesus said, didn't He, in
this 11th chapter, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. Evil is all around us. Evil is
in our heart. Yet it's all there because of
that original sin, the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden. Evil. We are evil within. And we need
to be delivered from it. We need to pray for it. Let us
not forget to pray for these things. Let's not just assume,
well, I think everything will work out alright and I'm soon
to be getting on alright in my Christian life. The Lord will
cause us to pray. He'll cause us to seek his face. He'll bring us into a situation
where we will have to pray like this. Lord, lead me not into
temptation, but deliver me from evil. Left to myself, I'm so
weak and I'm so foolish. And it brings such sadness and
sorrow in my heart because of the evil which exists there.
Oh, that I had none of myself, said I think it was Rutherford.
Oh, that I had none of myself. But he didn't stop there. But
Christ. That's the difference. We may
not want our sinful self, but if we don't may be wanting Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we know him and enter
into that communion and union with him, what a blessing it
will be. When the Apostle John wrote his revelation that the Lord
gave him, when he was on that isle of Patmos and he was writing
to the seven churches, And as he came down towards the end,
speaking to the church of Philadelphia, he said, him that overcometh,
overcometh temptations. Him that overcometh. How do we
overcome? Through the blood of the Lamb.
That's how we overcome. Him that overcometh. When I make
a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more
out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name
of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh
down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my
new name. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the church as well. That's a
wonderful promise, isn't it? and may therefore our confidence
not rest in ourselves at all. May we hear these words tonight,
hear these gracious words of instruction the Lord gave to
his disciples after they requested it, and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. And may I confess, Lord that's
what I need, but Lord I haven't strengthened myself. Remember,
The Lord gives us strength. What did the apostles say? I
can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. There's
the secret, my friends. May we be found going to Christ,
seeking for his help, seeking for his support and his strength
as we enter into these temptations. And remember what a blessing
it is to be found an overcomer, through him. Him that overcometh
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no
more out. And I write upon him the name
of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New
Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and
I will write upon him my new name." That's a glorious promise,
isn't it? And may we meditate on such promises
like that and plead that Lord will grant us that help and to
resist the devil and being able to come and pray, Lord, lead
me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. Amen.