In the 6th chapter of Matthew,
at verse 9, we read what is known as the Lord's Prayer, where Christ
says unto his disciples, 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. This prayer obviously is well
known It is cited and prayed by many, including many who know
nothing of what the Lord speaks of here. And many who pray to
a father who isn't their father. But this prayer was given to
the disciples. It wasn't given to all mankind
to pray at its whim. to pray when in trouble, to pray
when man seeks a little help from his earthly trials and tribulations. But this prayer was given by
the Lord to his disciples, to those who knew him, to those
who knew his father. This prayer was given to his
brethren, to those who are needy, to God's people, Christ's disciples,
the needy, to pray unto their Father, unto Him who has the
power to provide for every need. I want to draw your attention not
so much to the whole prayer this morning, but particularly to
one phrase within this prayer, near the end, which underlines
our great need. Our every need is met by our
Father, which is in heaven, who we read of in verse eight, that
our Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask
him. And before we ask Him, He answered
our great need. And our great need is that which
is made known in verse 13, which underlies this prayer. Where we read that, we read,
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Yes we have many needs, but what a need we have to be
delivered from evil. The disciples are called to pray
to their Father in heaven whose name is hallowed, that his kingdom
should come, that his will should be done in earth as it is in
heaven. that he should give them their daily bread and forgive
them their debts as they forgive their debtors, and lead them
not into temptation, but deliver them from evil. How often throughout the scriptures
do we read the cry, deliver me, deliver us, save me, help me,
especially in the Psalms, and especially those Psalms written
by David, who out of the midst of suffering, who in the midst
of trials and persecutions, who had a deep experience as one
who followed his Lord, and one who knew the pathway of those
who would follow the Lord in this world, which hates the Lord. in such a pathway, and in such
persecution, in such trial, in such difficulty, David could
cry out in experience to his Lord, Lord save, Lord deliver
me, save me, help me. Throughout the Psalms, Psalms
6, 7, 31, 70, in many, many places, We read such phrases, make haste,
O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded
that seek after my soul. Let them be turned backward and
put to confusion that desire my hurt. Make haste, O God, to
deliver me. O Lord, lead us not into temptation. but deliver us from evil. Deliver us, deliver me. How often have you cried that? How often have you cried to the
Lord, Lord help me, save me, deliver me, deliver me from evil. Has the Lord shown you your need
of deliverance? Your need of his help, your need
of his salvation. Has he shown you how utterly
helpless you are? How without strength you are? How left to yourself, you will
perish. How left to yourself, evil will
overcome you. both without you and within you,
as He's shown you your need, your need of help, your need
of deliverance, your need of salvation, your need of deliverance
from evil. For only those who do, only those
who see their need, only those who like David have been brought
to this point, will know what it is to cry out to the Lord,
deliver me, deliver us from evil. Only such a people can truly
pray this prayer, known as the Lord's Prayer. Countless recite
it who know nothing of the depths in which they are, who know nothing
of the weakness of their own hearts and their own soul, who
know nothing of their absolute dependence upon the Lord God
to deliver them. They pray the prayer. They pray,
our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. They end
with lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For
thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen. And yet truly they know nothing
of what it is to be trapped in temptation, helpless, consumed
by evil, captive to evil, helpless, weak, lost, in absolute need
of the Lord to deliver them. They say the words, but they
know nothing of what they say. What do you know of the experience
that lies behind this prayer? That out of which such a prayer
springs, that out of which such a prayer flows forth, deliver
me, deliver us. For here the Lord presents to
his disciples that prayer, that model of prayer, A corporate
prayer really, for a gathered people. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. That prayer given to a people,
his people, his disciples, his church, his bride. This is that prayer he gives
them to pray. And it is a prayer they can only
pray. if they know of that experience
and that need to cry out from the depths of their poverty by
nature with a hardened heart, a heart of sin, souls in need
of salvation. Out of such a state the Lord's
people can pray. and they pray to their Father,
lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Deliver us, save us, save us
from evil, deliver us from evil, from evil. Salvation you see
stands in being delivered from something in being saved from
something, in being delivered from that which holds us captive,
that which is against us, that which pins us down, that which
binds us fast. And what is it that we most need
deliverance from? What do we need deliverance from? Do we need deliverance from poverty? Do we most need deliverance from
poverty? No. Do we most need deliverance
from illness, sickness, disease? Not most. Do we most need deliverance
from trouble, from trials and afflictions? No, not most. From oppression? Well perhaps,
but not most. Do we need deliverance from our
enemies? Well, certainly, but that isn't
our greatest need. What we most need deliverance
from is deliverance from evil. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Yes, if we're to be saved, if
we're to be spared death, If we're to ever taste of eternal
life, if we're to ever behold the Lord in His glory, in that
eternity of light and glory, if we're to ever to be saved,
we need to be delivered from evil. We need to be delivered
from evil, past, present, and future lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil consider this cry consider this
prayer consider this deliverance this deliverance from evil consider it in free regards Firstly,
we need to be delivered from that evil which is in this world. We live in an evil world. We live in a fallen world. We live in a world which in the
garden when Adam sinned, fell from God, fell from glory, fell
from innocence, fell into sin. fell into evil. We live in a
world which is full of evil. An evil world all around us. We see evil every day, on every
side. And this evil is against us.
This evil, this darkness, surrounds us like a glove. It surrounds
us, it attacks us, it comes at us from every side. It lays prey
against us. It seeks to hunt us down and
to bring us down and to keep us down and to keep us captive
in its grip. Yes, we need to be delivered
from evil without, from the evil of this world and deliverance
from evil. requires deliverance from all
the evil which is in this world, all the evil which is outside
of us, all the evil which would come upon us. So the Lord exhorts his disciples
to pray that they might be delivered from evil, to pray to the only
one that can deliver from evil, to pray to their father, who
has the power and the glory and the ability to deliver his people,
his disciples from evil, from evil that is without, from all
the evil that is in this world, from the evil of this world.
How does the Father deliver his people from such evil? by sending
His Son to deliver them from this present evil world. As we
read in Galatians 1, of the Lord Jesus Christ whom
the Father sent, the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our
sins, for the sins of His own, for the sins of His people, for
the sins of those disciples, whom He exhorts to pray under
His Father. Yes, He 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. Yes, He came to deliver His people
from their sins, in order that he might deliver them from this
evil world. And they could be delivered from
this world and all that is evil in this world, but one way and
one way only. Through the deliverance which
is in the Son, through the deliverance which is in the Lord Jesus, through
the deliverance which is in his death, through the deliverance
which he wrought, upon the cross when he died in their place when
he took the evil upon himself when he delivered them from all
that evil which is in the world all that evil which was against
them and is against them and will forever be against them
whilst they remain in this world he took that evil upon himself
and he took it out of the way He took the condemnation against
their sins. He nailed the condemnation of
the law to his cross that he might take it out of the way.
He bore their sins in his own body on the tree. He was made
sin that he might take sin itself away in his own body upon the
tree that he might deliver them. from their sins and from their
sin and from the evil which is in this world. By the cross they
have been delivered from this evil world, by the cross, by
the only way, through the crucifixion of one in their place. for they could not take sin away
for they are sinners and they could not deliver themselves
from evil either in them or outside of them they could not deliver
themselves but God sent one to deliver and he delivered them
by his cross and hence pour glories he says in Chapter 1, as we read
of Galatians, verse 1, to the Father, to Christ, to whom be
glory forever and ever. And he glories in Christ and
in his gospel. He glories in his cross. For by that cross and that death
upon the cross, his Lord and Saviour delivered him from the
evil of this world. This present evil world. Thus he glories, and he glories
in nothing, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. If you are to be delivered from
this present evil world, this world must be crucified unto
you, and you must be crucified unto this world. All the thoughts,
all the affections, all the desires must be taken out from being
set upon this world and all that is in this world. They must be
crucified to this world and they must be set upon that which is
in Christ, which is in another world, which is in the heavens,
not upon the earth. They must be set upon that which
is from above. As Christ says later in the sermon,
the discourse which he delivered upon the mount after giving this
model of prayer, he says, lay not up for yourselves treasure
upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves
break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven. where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. For
the light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be
single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine
eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. And if darkness,
how great is that darkness. No man can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he
will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God
and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life what you shall eat or what you shall
drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. Is not
the life more than meat and the body more than raiment? Behold
the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap,
nor gather into barns, Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are ye not much better than they? Yes, you're much better than
they. Oh, that we should be delivered from this evil world. Oh, that
the affections, that the desires, the lusts should be set upon
another, should be consumed with Christ, that we should seek him
and his kingdom, that his will should be done in the earth as
it is in heaven. that we should be delivered from
this evil world, from all its faults, all its affections, all
its manipulations, all that the world sets before us as great
and glorious, all that glitters in this world, all that sparkles
before the eyes, all the riches and the glories of this world,
the power, the status, the pride of life, the lust of life, Oh
that we should be delivered from evil, lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil, the evil of this present evil world,
the evil which is without. But we need deliverance not just
from evil which is without but evil which is within, much more
than that which is without us. much more than that which we
can point with the finger to as coming from without as temptation
which is from without that which we can separate ourselves from
and say well it is not me it's all around me I fell because
of that which is around me oh no we need deliverance from not
just that which is without but that evil which is within that
evil which lies in the heart of man that evil which is within
all of us by nature that evil which slays us all by nature
this evil that which condemns us as sinners before a holy God
what do you know of the evil of your own heart? of your own
heart child of God what do you know
of the evil of your own heart of your natural heart of your
old man the sinner hardened in his sin who knows not God who's
blind to God and deaf to God is blind to his sin you tell
him he's a sinner and he says not me But when God sends the alarm,
when God opens the eyes to see, then he falls upon his knees.
Then he sees the corruption, not just without, but the corruption
within. And he has to confess that I
am evil through and through. I know how this evil grieves
the child of God. For having been awakened, having
been born again of the Spirit, having come to embrace Christ
who delivers from evil. All evil, how achingly aware
he is of the evil which dwells in his flesh. How Paul was aware
of that evil. What do you know of the evil
within? Paul writes in Romans 7, for I know that in me, that
is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For
the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but the sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, But I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For the good that we would, we
do not, and the evil which we would not, that we do. O wretched men that we are! Who
shall deliver us from the body of this death? Who shall deliver
us from evil within? Paul cries out. with his knowledge in the gospel.
Having cried out from such depth to the Lord, who shall deliver
me, deliver me from evil? He cries out in praise and wonder. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord who has delivered me. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sent in his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us. To walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Oh yes, Paul found a deliverer,
not one that simply delivered him from sin without, from evil
without, but who delivered him from that very evil of his own
heart, the very evil of his own flesh, the evil which was within,
and he delivered him. by condemning that sinful flesh
by condemning his very sin in the flesh of Christ upon the
tree in his own place instead. Yes we need deliverance from
evil without and we need deliverance from evil within but we need
also deliverance from evil at its very source from that place
where evil came in, from that place where evil entered into
man. If God just delivered us from
the evil which is without, and if he simply delivered us from
the evil which is within, but left us like Adam in the garden
in innocence, left us in the same situation as Adam, pray
to him who would bring in the evil, then we'd have that evil, that
tempter come alongside again. But God hasn't just delivered
us from evil without, and he hasn't just slain the evil within,
but he's slain him from whom evil comes. Yes, we need deliverance
from the source of evil itself. You see, Adam was created in
a world without sin. He was created without sin. He was innocent, pure, spotless
in an innocent and pure and spotless world. Yet sin entered Adam and
sin entered this world and death by sin and death and sin passed
upon all men and slew all men. And as a consequence, all men
like Adam have sinned and all men die. And all men are dead
in trespasses and sins, and all left in such a state await the
judgment and the pronouncement of eternal judgment against their
sins. Oh yes, in such an innocent world
sin entered, because one who was evil itself, one who was
evil personified, one from whom evil sprang, came alongside Adam. and whispered in Eve's ear, whispered
in the woman's ear, who later deceived the man, who later brought
the man into her deception and transgression. The woman was
deceived and the man followed. The tempter came, the tempter
came alongside mankind, whispering. He whispered, he caught his attention. And man, innocent man, fell,
transgressed, died. Yes, there's one from whom evil
springs, and we need to be delivered from evil. Evil without, evil
within, and the evil one. Yes, we need deliverance from
that source of evil, from the cause of evil, from the evil
one, the serpent, and tempter. In John chapter 3, as in Numbers
and 21, we read of the brazen serpent which Moses lifted up
in the wilderness. When the people of God, in Numbers
and 21, we read, when the Israelites sinned grievously against the
Lord, when they complained that the Lord's provision, the Lord
had delivered them from Egypt, He'd given them manna to eat
in the wilderness and water, and they complained and grumbled. They complained against the Lord's
servant and the Lord himself, that Moses and the Lord had brought
them into the wilderness to die. And they grieved the Lord greatly,
such that the Lord sent them, he judged them by sending them
serpents, serpents to bite them. the bite of which slew them.
And Moses was given a serpent, a brazen serpent, to lift up
upon a rod before the people. And he was told to tell the people
that if they were to look up at that serpent, if having been
bitten by one of these serpents with their venomous bites, which
would slay them, if they were to be saved, they should look
up at that brazen serpent. and looking up at the brazen
serpent, they would be delivered and saved. And in John 3 we read
of that brazen serpent in its figure and type in which it points
unto Christ who would deliver us from the evil of that serpent. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. You see that serpent pointed
in a type under him who would deliver from evil, under him
who would deliver from the serpent, under him who would deliver from
the serpent's bite. But the type of the brazen serpent
wasn't so much to be lifted up as it were to point the people
to look unto Christ, but they were told to look unto the serpent
itself. For in looking unto that brazen
serpent itself, they were reminded of that serpent from whence the
evil came. This evil people, this people
who had grieved the Lord, this people whom the Lord had shown
so much mercy and blessing in delivering from Egypt, this people
who grumbled and moaned and complained against the Lord, whom he judged,
who had the bites of serpents which would slay them, were told
to look upon the brazen serpent, to look upon this figure of him
who slew them at the beginning, to look upon that figure of the
serpent, Satan, the adversary, the deceiver, the devil, who
slew them in the beginning, by whom sin entered. By whom they
were as it were bitten, mankind was bitten with venom and venom
entered all men. By whom sin entered, they were
told to look to the figure to realize just how much They needed
to be delivered from evil. Evil without, evil within. And that evil one, that serpent
from whom the evil sprang. So they were told to look to
the serpent. And the serpent was lifted up. And in seeing
their sin and seeing the source of their sin, they were then
pointed to Christ in the gospel. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of this world. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. Yes, there was a serpent, a brazen
serpent lifted up, and it reminds us of that source of sin. But
how much more we should look to Christ, who bruised the serpent's
head, who crushed the serpent's head. The serpent may have bitten
man, and at the cross the serpent may have bitten the heel of Christ
the Saviour. but Christ crushed the serpent's
head and he delivered not just from sin and evil without not
just for evil within the heart of men the heart of his people
but he delivered even from the evil one the serpent who bit
the people and slew them oh how great is his salvation oh how
great is his salvation How great is his salvation! How evil is
the evil in this world! How evil is the evil in the heart
of man! How evil is that one from whom
evil came! How easily we are bitten by that
serpent from whom evil comes. How deadly his bite! And how
much we need the Lord to deliver us How much we need the Lord
to deliver us. Lead us, Lord, not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Oh, how great a deliverer there
is in the gospel. For many are the afflictions
of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. The Lord delivers his people
out of all their afflictions. He delivers them out of all the
evil. Yes, we need deliverance from
all these things, all of them. But praise God that he hears
the prayers of his people. Deliver us from evil. He delivers
them from all the evil, all that is against them, all that evil
which is outside of them. all that evil which is inside
of them, and all that evil which springs from him who would deceive
them, him who slew them at the beginning, the evil one. Yes, the Lord sent a Deliverer,
a Deliverer to deliver from all evil, a Deliverer named the Lord
Jesus Christ, a great Deliverer, a great Deliverer, One who has
the power, the power to deliver us from all temptation, to deliver
us from all evil. As we read in Romans 11, And
so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall
come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto
them, when I shall take away their sins. There shall come
out of Zion the Deliverer, out of Zion. The Lord Jesus came
out of Zion. He came from glory, the Deliverer
came. He came unto his own where his
own were. He came unto this evil world. He came into this world of darkness. He came to deliver his people
from this present evil world. He came to deliver them from
that evil outside them, from that evil within them. He came
to deliver them from all the evil. He came to crush the serpent's
head. He came to deliver them from
every enemy and every foe. O the pain the serpent caused
the Saviour upon the cross! O the pain of the bite upon the
Saviour's heel! O the sufferings the Saviour
suffered! O never have light views of His
sufferings! Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world! Look unto Him! Look unto Him
who was lifted up, the Saviour, who was lifted up to deliver
us from that serpent. Look unto Him in His travail,
in His soul travail. Have great views of His sufferings,
great views. How? By viewing first what He
suffered for, what He delivered us from, The evil. The evil outside. The evil inside. The evil at its source. Satan. The devil. The evil one. The serpent. Look at the brazen
serpent. See how evil the world is. See how evil your heart is. See how evil, how malevolent
your adversary is. And behold the Deliverer, crucified
to deliver us from evil. For that's what Christ delivered
us from. And in the midst of His suffering,
in the midst of His travail, dying to save His people, think
of the cries of Christ the Saviour. Deliver me! Think of the cries
of this Deliverer. This One who was perfect, righteous,
holy. This One who never sinned, who
never knew sin, who never knew evil, who never put His hand
to any evil thing. This One who was tempted like
us we were, but never fell. Think of His cries. Consider
His cries. Consider His cries. Did not His
cries sound greater than any other? Deliver me, he cries. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Lord, save me. Save me. Oh, the love he had for his own
that took him to that place. The love, the overwhelming love,
that took him to that place of death from which he cried. Deliver
me from evil. And yet did not his father hear?
Did not his father hear? Did not his father deliver? Yes,
he heard. Yes, he delivered. Yes, he saved. It is finished, Christ cried. And having taken the sin away,
he rose again the third day, victorious, conquering sin, conquering
death, conquering hell, conquering the evil one. delivering from
evil. And will He not hear the cries
of all His little ones? Will the Father not hear the
cries of all those that pray unto Him? Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Will He not hear? Surely He will
hear, for His is the kingdom, the power and the glory. He delivers,
for He has the power to deliver. He delivers us from evil and
he brings us out of evil into his kingdom, into the kingdom. For thy kingdom come, thy will
be done in earth as it is in heaven. For thine is the kingdom. He delivers us from this present
evil world into a kingdom wherein dwelleth righteousness. a new
heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, a place
where there is no evil, where there dwells no evil, where there
is not a spot of evil, not a fort of evil, a place wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Yes, he delivers from evil. And
the Lamb of God dwelleth in the midst of that kingdom. And as
God, his eyes are too pure to behold evil. he delivers from
evil. O praise God for his deliverance,
his deliverance from evil, from all evil, outside, inside, from
its source, from all evil. Have you cried to him for deliverance? Has he delivered you? If not, cry, look unto the Deliverer,
look unto the Lord, behold the Lamb of God, Cry unto him who
has the power to deliver us from all temptation and all evil,
for none who truly know the evil, none who know the evil without
and the evil within, and who truly pray with his disciples,
deliver us from evil, will ever, ever, ever be ignored. but all
will be heard and all will be answered and all will be saved
with an everlasting salvation. Praise God, praise God for His
is the kingdom and His is the power and the glory forever and
ever. Amen.