Well, let us turn to the Word
of God and we'll just read with you from Matthew chapter 6 verses
9 to 13. Matthew chapter 6 verses 9 to
13. After this manner, therefore,
pray ye, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven. give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead
us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. The scripture that I'll bring
before you this morning is found in the 13th verse but deliver us from evil, but
deliver us from evil. We have on previous occasions,
as I've had opportunity to preach from this pulpit during the last
year, we've had opportunity to consider the preface to that
which is commonly called the Lord's Prayer, Our Father, which
art in heaven, And we've considered the first three petitions, which
have to do with the glory of God, the coming of his kingdom,
and the performance of his will. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom
come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. And we've
considered three of the subsequent four petitions, which have to
do with our need. Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead
us not into temptation and so we come to the seventh and final
petition of the Lord's Prayer but deliver us from evil. Now many Bible commentators of
course treat the sixth and seventh petition as one petition They
say there are six petitions in the Lord's Prayer, but I find
myself in agreement with Martin Luther and with Dr Gill in maintaining
that there are actually seven petitions in this prayer. This
is the perfect pattern prayer given by Christ. Now these two petitions, the
sixth and the seventh petitions, can indeed be taken together. and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. But I think that really, the
one follows on from the other. And we've seen it before in the
Lord's Prayer, the fifth petition really follows on from the fourth.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as
we forgive our debtors. And we could say that the sixth
petition follows on from the fifth. And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation.
These petitions follow on, the one from the other, and in the
same way the 7th petition follows on from the 6th, and lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Now, considered
in this way, the 7th petition may regard it as culminating
as a culmination of all the preceding petitions. Indeed it might be
said that all the preceding petitions are included in this final petition. Or at least this final petition
follows on from all the preceding petitions but deliver us from
evil. It includes all the previous
petitions. Deliver us from the dishonouring
of Thy name. Deliver us from Satan's fraud
and tyranny. Deliver us from seeking the fulfilment
of our own perverse wills. Deliver us from poverty and the
want of bread. Deliver us from our sins. Deliver
us from the temptation to sin. Deliver us from every evil and
from all that is evil, whether inward or outward. Now, we note
that some modern versions of the Bible, the New International
Version, for example, the New King James Version, they render
these words, but deliver us from the evil one. Deliver us from
the evil one. Now, this is clearly an inaccurate
translation. In the Greek, it is literally,
but deliver us from the evil. Deliver us from the evil. The
word the is there in the Greek. But the Greeks would often use
the word the, where we would not. Just like the French do
today. And we have the same, the evil,
in chapter 5 and verse 39. But I say unto you that ye resist
not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also. Literally it's, but I say unto
you that ye resist not the evil. that you resist not the evil.
Now, if the translators of the NIV and the New King James Version
were consistent, they would have rendered that verse, resist not
the evil one, which of course would be ridiculous. No, the
word evil, the evil, here in the 7th petition, is a comprehensive
term. but deliver us from evil, evil
in all its forms. Yes, the evil one is included,
of course, but it is not just the devil, as I trust we shall
see. In his State of the Union address
in 2002, George W. Bush, the American president,
referred to North Korea, Iran, and Iraq as an axis of evil. Well, for the Christian, For
the child of God, the world, the flesh, and the devil is the
axis of evil. And it is from this axis of evil
that the child of God prays to be delivered. And so we should consider from
our text this morning these three things. Firstly, the world, the
flesh, secondly, and then the devil. Let us consider firstly
then the world, the world. Paul in his epistle to the Galatians
speaks of this present evil world, this present evil world. Galatians 1 verse 3 Grace be
to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus
Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver
us from this present evil world, according to the will of God
and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Now those words, this present
evil world, are very telling. The word present indicates a
lack of permanence. It is temporary. Indeed, the
world has not always been evil. When it was first created by
God, it was very good, and God saw everything that he had made,
and behold, it was very good. There was no evil in it, only
good. But then, as we read in Genesis
3, there was the entrance of sin through the devil's temptation,
And you know sin is the mother of all evils. Sin is the mother
of all evils. Through sin came the curse of
God upon Adam and Eve and upon us in them. Genesis 3.16. Unto the woman he said I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception In sorrow thou
shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband,
and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten
of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of it
was thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return. Through sin death came into the
world. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. Death is now stamped upon everything
in creation. We see it in the flowers, and
in the trees, in the birds, in every creature. You can have
a nice vase full of the loveliest roses, But you'll soon have to
throw them in the bin because they wither and die. You can
buy yourself a lovely new car. It will soon become dented and
scratched and things begin to go wrong with it. We see death stamped in and upon
everything around us. We see death stamped upon our
own bodies as we grow older. everything in creation has the
stamp of death upon it now following the fall of Adam and Eve the
entrance of sin into the world as men increased upon the earth
so sin increased and as sin increased so evil increased until in Genesis
6 verse 5 we read and God saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually. Now that is total depravity. Every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. And then came the judgment of
the flood. the judgment of the worldwide flood. The whole world
was destroyed apart from Noah and his family and the creatures
that were with them in the ark. Peter refers to the world before
the flood as the old world. He says that God spared not the
old world but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of
righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. He speaks of the world that then
was, whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water,
perished. This present evil world, then,
is the world since the flood. Peter continues there in his
second epistle, but the heavens and the earth which are now,
but by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." This
present evil world then, in which we find ourselves, is but temporary. It is this present evil world. And so we read also several times
in the New Testament of the world to come. the world to come. In the world to come, eternal
life. And in the world to come, life
everlasting. And the sons and daughters of
the living God, those who are born from above, and are brought
to call upon God as our Father which art in heaven, are taught
of God, and they are given an understanding as to the world,
and what it really is. And they are awakened to the
fact that there is a world to come. There is a world to come,
and we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in
wickedness. And we know that the Son of God
is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know
Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true,
even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life." Eternal life. Oh, worldlings long after the
things of this life. The psalmist speaks of men of
the world, which have their portion in this life. The Christian has
his portion in the life to come. for thou shalt be recompensed
at the resurrection of the just." The people of God have always
regarded this world as a strange land and themselves as strangers
and pilgrims in it. Woe is me that I sojourn in Misek,
that I dwell in the tents of Kedar. I like Dr. Gill's comment on that verse
in the Psalms. He says, "...very grieving and distressing it is
to good men to have their abode among wicked men, as well as
it is infectious and dangerous to hear their profane and blasphemous
talk, to see their wicked and filthy actions, and to observe
their abominable conversation, is very vexatious, and gives
great uneasiness, as it did to righteous lot." Oh, how the children
of God long for heaven, their celestial home. In Psalm 107
we read of their desired haven. In Hebrews we read, but now they
desire a better country, that is, a heavenly. Paul speaks of
having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far
better. Oh, this is the Christian's great
longing and desire. And it's expressed in the words
of this seventh petition of the Lord's Prayer. But deliver us
from evil. Deliver us from this evil world. The hymn writer expresses it,
in the midst of tribulation, oft we cast a wishful eye to
our future habitation, and by faith the surest spy, blessed
assurance, we shall mount up to dwell on high. With what raptures
he'll embrace us, wipe away each falling tear, near himself forever
place us, and with his love our bosoms cheer. Hallelujah! We
shall with the Lamb appear. Oh, this is our hope. is this
your hope or do you just have a hope in this world? What a description of heaven
and of the heavenly state that is in the book of Revelation
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall
be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there
be any more pain for the former things are passed away Yet the child of God finds that
he still has a fallen nature that is attracted to the things
of this world? It can't be denied, can it? The
psalmist complained, My soul cleaveth unto the dust! Quicken
thou me according to thy word! Well, you notice he doesn't merely
complain about his malady. My soul cleaveth unto the dust.
No, he prayed about it. Quicken thou me according to
thy word! Deliverance from this present
evil world and deliverance from an addiction to the things of
this present world are to be obtained by wrestling prayer.
That's what we're taught in this pattern prayer. We are taught
to pray, but deliver us from evil. But deliver us from evil. and we note that a deliverance
from the world and from the love of the world is only to be obtained
in and through our Lord Jesus Christ but God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom
the world by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world that faith that is born of God
overcomes the world for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the
world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even
our faith who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God that faith It overcomes the world. Overcomes the world by the virtue
of the power of that One to whom it looks. It overcomes by virtue
of that One upon whom it rests. It overcomes the world by the
virtue of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the object of a real living
and true faith. our Lord Jesus Christ who gave
himself for us that he might deliver us from this present
evil world. The Lord Jesus Christ intercedes
for his people at the right hand of the Father. In John 17 we
have a specimen of his intercession on behalf of his people. He prays,
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil and our prayers at the throne
of grace coincide and concur with his intercession but deliver
us from evil but deliver us from evil now this brings us to our
second point the flesh the flesh by the term the flesh we don't
mean skin and bones We're not referring to the human body.
We're referring to, as Alexander Cruden puts it in his concordance,
I quote, "...the whole nature of man, as it cometh into the
world corrupt, vile, and infected with sin." Paul calls it the
carnal mind. in Romans chapter 8, because
the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. The term the flesh refers to
fallen human nature, an enmity with God and against the things
of God. Now, in the Regenerate, that
opposition to God and to the things of God reigns and rages
and continues, unless and until God grants his regenerating grace. That is, unless and until the
sinner is born again, or born from above. that which is born
of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is
spirit marvel not that I said unto thee ye must be born again
and so Paul continues there in Romans 8, doesn't he? verse 9
but ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be that the
spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the spirit
of Christ he is none of his And if Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For
if ye live after the flesh ye shall die, but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. In the new birth a new nature
and a new principle is implanted into the soul. And that results
in a conflict. Paul describes the conflict in
Galatians chapter 5, where he says, for the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary,
the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that
ye would Now, those words at the end of that verse, the things
that ye would, we can understand two ways. We cannot do the things
that we would according to the Spirit, because of the opposition
of the flesh. Ah, but we cannot do the things
that we would according to the flesh, because of the opposition
of the Spirit. It is not only the flesh lusting
against the spirit, there is the spirit lusting against the
flesh in the true Christian. And so he cannot do the things
that he would according to the flesh. That's why John says that
the seed of God which is in us cannot sin, that we cannot sin. And Paul, of course, goes on
to speak, doesn't he? There in Galatians 5, of the
works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. The deeds of the
flesh are to be mortified. That is, put to death. That's
what mortified means, put to death. As Paul says in Romans
8, in Galatians 5 he says, and they that are Christ's have crucified
the flesh with the affections and lusts. In the believer, there
still remains that sinful and carnal nature of the flesh. It's
not ejected, it's not changed, it's still there and it still
opposes. So then, with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. The
flesh is not rectified, it's not made better, which is why
we deny the doctrine of progressive sanctification. I like the Gospel
Standard article 19. I think it's very well put on
the subject of sanctification. It says, we believe that the
blessed spirit is the author of what is styled in scripture
the new creature or creation or new heart being in truth an
implantation of the divine nature through which the child of God
would, according to the inner man, be holy as God is holy,
and perfectly fulfill all the good pleasure of his father's
will, but groans being burdened, being constantly opposed by the
contrary workings of the old man, We reject the doctrine of
progressive sanctification, or that a child of God experiences
such a gradual weakening, subduing, or rectification of the old nature,
called in scripture the old man. or such a continued general improvement,
as shall make him at any time less dependent upon the communications
of the Spirit and grace of Christ for all goodness, or less a poor,
vile, wretched, helpless sinner in himself and in his own estimation."
That's the experience of a child of God! Again, Paul says in Romans 7,
speaking of the conflict, he says, I find then a law that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. This is the honest experience
of a child of God. Earlier, we said that sin is
the mother of all evils. But what is the mother of all
sin? Is it not unbelief? Unbelief. The very first sin in the Garden
of Eden was committed by our first parents when they embraced
the lie of the devil and they did not believe the Word of God. Unbelief is the root sin Paul says in Hebrews, Take heed,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief,
in departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily
while it is called to day, lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end. This is the evidence of a real
child of grace that he perseveres, he continues, and his confidence
holds out right to the end. He that endureth to the end shall
be saved. Is there not in this seventh
petition, but deliver us from evil, a prayer for deliverance
from an evil heart of unbelief. a deliverance from all the workings
of the flesh and from the deceitfulness of sin, a prayer for preserving
and persevering grace, that we might prove at last to be true
partakers of Christ, or true Christians, but deliver us from
evil. That was a good prayer of Augustine.
Lord, deliver me from myself, Lord deliver me from myself."
Thomas Watson says, beware of the bosom traitor, the flesh. The heart of man is the Trojan
horse out of which comes a whole army of lusts. How true that
is! The Prophet Jeremiah says the
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Who can know it? Why, you do not even know, I
do not even know the full depth of the depravity of our own sinful
hearts. Our Lord Jesus said, for out
of the heart proceed evil thoughts, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies or how we need to
pray how we need to pray but deliver us from evil deliver
us from evil deliver me from my own evil heart but let us
consider thirdly and finally the devil now the devil is undoubtedly
the evil one is described by the Lord Jesus Christ as the
Wicked One in Matthew 13. When at any time, sorry, when
anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it
not, then cometh the Wicked One, and catcheth away that which
was sown in his heart. Oh, he is the prince of the power
of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. He is the thief that Christ spoke
of in John chapter 10 the thief cometh not but for to steal and
to kill and to destroy I am come that they might have life and
that they might have it more abundantly all Satan is the destroyer
he is the destroyer his aim is the destruction of the bodies
and souls of men He is the God of this world, that is, the God
of this present evil world, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. Or how the devil has blinded
the minds of men, Why he has even blinded them as to his own
existence! I believe it's one of Satan's
greatest achievements in these days of scientific progress and
discovery to convince men that there is no such thing as devil
or God. You know, the foundational doctrine
of Marxism is dialectical materialism. Now according to that doctrine,
dialectical materialism, there is no God, no devil, no spirit,
whether good or evil, no angel, no soul, no sin, no life after
death, no resurrection, no heaven, and no hell. And is this not the doctrine
which now governs our so-called secular society? This doctrine,
the doctrine of dialectical materialism, has opened the door to cultural
Marxism and its attendant and hand-made political correctness. And the root of Marxism and its
doctrine of dialectical materialism is, of course, the theory of
evolution. Marxism, like Nazism, is the
spawn of Darwinism. Even so, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. No wonder Paul, or rather the
Holy Spirit, warns us, Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit. after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Oh, how we
need to pray, like, deliver us from evil, deliver us from all
the devil's deceits and deceptions. But although the God of this
world is the inspiration behind atheistic dogma, we're not to
think that he's against religion. Oh, no. No, no, no. He loves
it. The devil loves religion. For not only is he the inspiration,
as I say, behind atheistic dogma, he is also the inspiration behind
all the religions of this world. From paganism, to Islam, to Roman
Catholicism. And no marvel! For Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. We read. He is the God of this world.
He inspires religion. He is the great counterfeiter.
He has produced many counterfeit versions, has he not, of the
religion of Christ, such as so-called Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons,
the Christadelphians, the Seventh-day Adventists and so on. And how
many have been deceived by the delusions of the charismatic
movement. But surely his great masterpiece
has to be the Roman Catholic Church. We said just now that the Lord
Jesus Christ described the devil as the wicked one in Matthew
13. Well, in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul describes Antichrist
as that wicked. And then shall that wicked be
revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming,
even him whose coming is after the working of Satan. The religion of the Pope of Rome
is not the religion of Jesus Christ. It is a satanic counterfeit. How we need to beware of a counterfeit
Christianity. A religion which is of this world
is a religion of the God of this world. Jesus said, my kingdom
is not of this world. My kingdom is not of this world.
Remember how he said to those Jews who didn't believe on him,
Ye are from beneath, I am from above. Ye are of this world,
I am not of this world. And concerning his people, who
are born from above, he says, They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Those who are born from above
want a religion that is from above. But deliver us from evil! Deliver us from that which is
force! Deliver us from that which is
carnal! Deliver us from that which is
counterfeit! We want a faith that is real! A faith which is
wrought in our hearts by the Spirit of the living God! That
faith which is of the operation of God! Now this is the religion
that the devil hates. He is the enemy of all those
who possess real saving faith. Satan, his name means adversary. And so Peter warns believers,
be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as
a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whom
resist steadfast in the faith. or many are his devices against
the child of God for we are not ignorant of his devices Paul
says to the Corinthians put on the whole armour of God that
ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil he says
to the Ephesians this is a real warfare, a real battle he is
the tempter and how he tempts and he is the accuser of the
brethren which accused them before our God day and night Or how
do the saints of the Most High God overcome such an enemy? Well, we read in the book of
the Revelation again, And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. The blood of
the everlasting covenant is their defence and their shield against
all the rage and malice of Satan. That blood cleanses us from all
sin. That blood is our perfect plea
before the throne of God. And the word of their testimony
is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. They bear
a faithful testimony to it. They cleave to it. They stick
to it. They want the Word of God to
abide in their hearts, ritually, in all wisdom. Yes, they cleave
to the word of God, which is why the elect can never, and
shall never, ultimately be deceived by the devil and his lies. Thy
word is truth. Thy word is truth. If we stick
to this, we can never go wrong, and we shall never be deceived. They resist the devil. How do
they resist the devil? By submitting themselves to God
and drawing near to Him in the faith. James says, Submit yourselves
therefore to God and resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God and he will
draw nigh to you. You know when God draws nigh
the devil flees. And as we draw nigh to God, even
before the petition has left our lips, we shall find the prayer
is answered. But deliver us from evil. But deliver us from evil. May
the Lord be pleased to bless these few thoughts to us from
His Holy Word. Remember Jabez, who prayed, O
thou that wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that
mine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from
evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that
which he requested. Well, may God grant that we might
be kept from evil, delivered from it, that it might not grieve
us. And may each one of us know a
complete deliverance from that axis of evil, the world, the
flesh, and the devil. God grant that we might be able
to say with the Apostle Paul, and the Lord, shall deliver me
from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly
kingdom to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. That complete deliverance is
to be found only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and by
faith in Him. But deliver us from evil. Amen.