The Lord teaches us to pray. Lead us not into temptation. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Mark chapter 14? Verse 26. And when they had sung a hymn,
they went out into the Mount of Olives and Jesus said unto
them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it's written, I will smite
the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. But after that,
I am risen. I will go before you into Galilee. You know, none of them paid attention
to what the Lord said here. None of them believed that he
would be risen. They weren't waiting at his tomb.
But he told them in verse 29. But Peter said unto him, Although
all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily,
I say unto thee that this day, even this night, before the cock
crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more
vehemently, if I should die with thee, I'll not deny thee in any
wise, likewise also said they all. And they came to a place
which was named Gethsemane, and he saith to his disciples, Sit
ye here while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter
and James and John and began to be sore amazed and to be very
heavy and saith unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto
death. Tear ye here and watch. And he
went forward a little and fell on the ground and prayed that
if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. You know,
that's such an amazing verse of scripture. The Lord was the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And he knew it
was not possible. He knew that was his purpose
in coming. And yet he is, as a man, who understands this? I feel like an idiot even talking
about it. As a man, he was so overcome with the thought of
being separated from his father. being forsaken by his father. He understood what was getting
ready to take place. You and I don't understand even now. We don't
understand, but he did. He knew he was going to bear
the awful wrath of his father as the sinner's substitute. And
he actually says, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me Verse
36. And he said, Abba, Father, all
things are possible unto thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless,
not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he cometh and findeth
them sleeping. And saith unto Peter the same
one he said would soon betray him, Simon, Sleepest thou? Couldst thou not watch one hour? Watch ye and pray, lest you enter
into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but
the flesh is weak. Now, what is meant by temptation? We're told to pray every day,
and this is something that should be the prayer of our hearts,
the desire of our hearts. Lord, lead me not into temptation. In the scriptures, temptation
has two meanings. One, trial, trouble. And number two, the temptation
to sin, the temptation to disobey God, the temptation to do what
you know you should not do. And the Lord teaches us to pray,
lead us not into temptation. Don't let me be tried, prevent
me from even being tempted. And I don't have any doubt that
the Lord has both of these meanings in mind when he says and tells
us to pray, lead us not into temptation. Now, the first thing
that I'd like to talk for a moment about is trials. I will have trials, you will
have trials. You've already had some and you
have greater ones ahead. I'm glad I don't know what they
are, aren't you? I do not want to know the trials that I'm facing
or the trials that you're facing, but you and I will be tempted
and we will be tested with trials. And God did tempt Abraham, the
scripture says. And he did it when Abraham was
an old man and he tempted him many times before. But you, like
Abraham, I, like Abraham, will be put to the test. We will be
tempted and we will be tried by God. And we're even told in
the book of James to count it all joy. when we fall into trials. Now there's a commandment I'm
not real sure that I've kept. I want to, but Canada Joy, that
you fall into trials. And Jay also said, blessed is
the man that endureth temptation for when he has tried. And this
is what this is about. This tries us. It shows what
we really are. That's what trials are for. God
already knows who we really are. but he lets us know who we really
are. Through these trials, he sends
our way. Blessed is the man that endures
temptation for when he tried, he shall receive the crown of
life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Now remember
believer, all of these trials are all under Romans chapter
eight, verse 28. And we know that all things, all things work together. for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. And all these trials are painful.
They wouldn't be trials if they were not painful. Now, if you've
not been sick, I can talk some about this. If you've not been
sick, you will be. And I know a little something
about sickness. I know a lot about sickness,
actually. I know a lot about sickness. And I know how miserable
it is to be sick. And I know that you can't separate the soul and the body. You're
not a body or you're not a soul living in a body. You're a man.
You've got a soul and body and you are affected by that sickness. You cannot not be affected by
that sickness in one way or the other. And I love that scripture.
He whom thou lovest is sick. That's enough for me. When I've
been sick, that verse of scripture has been such a blessing to me.
He whom thou lovest is sick. And I love the way they came
to the Lord. They didn't say heal him. They
didn't tell him what to do. They simply said, he whom thou
lovest is sick. So you're going to deal with
physical problems. Some of you are going to get
cancer. You're going to have heart attacks. You're going to
have diabetes, heart disease, on and on. You're going to have
physical problems because you're a dying sinner. That's why. I
mean, it's going to happen. But as far as that goes, I don't
think of trials of health, although they are great trials. They're
not the greatest trials. True story. Right before I was
diagnosed with esophageal cancer, I can't explain this, but two
weeks before it took place, I knew something big was going to happen
in my life, and I was scared to death. I was nervous. I just had a feeling the Lord
was going to send a severe trial my way. Now, at the time, Aubrey
was dating a boy that I did not like. Well, I shouldn't even
say it. Whatever, I said it, so there
it was. It's out there. But what I was so concerned about
was that she was going to end up being married to him or something
like that, and I didn't want that to happen. And I remember
when I found out I was sick, it was a relief. That's how I
felt. I felt I would rather be that
way than the other way. I think that there are much worse
trials than sickness. To have a wayward child, to have
a child in rebellion and so on would be a much greater trial
than that of sickness. Trials. Man that's born of woman
is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. They're trials of
prosperity, where you're blessed with prosperity. And that's a
trial. What if you forget the Lord?
What if you just become totally consumed with things and stuff
and financial prosperity? There's trials of poverty. There's
economic trials where you feel like you're under the gun and
what a trial that is. Those trials ruin many. There
are trials in our homes. going through times, hard times
with your spouse, where you think, I didn't sign up for this. Every
marriage has had its hard times, every single one of them, but
mine, nobody believes that, as long
as they know me, but the point is, there's temptation, there's
been temptation for people to walk away, walk away, I didn't
sign up for this. Walk away. What a trial that
is. But I also still like what Rothbard
said when somebody said, have you ever thought about divorcing
your wife? He said, not even once. He said,
I've thought about murdering her a few times, but never divorce. That's never happened. But I
admire someone who sticks it out even through problems like
this. They're going to stick it out for the gospel sake, for
Christ's sake. But there's trials in your homes. Trials with wayward children.
I have so many dear friends who have children who just rip their
hearts out by their conduct, by the things they do. And what
a blessing it is to have children who have not been that way. Oh,
aren't you thankful for that? Look at what some people go through
with the trials of their children. And I know this. The fact that
I haven't gone through that isn't because of some kind of superior
parenting on my part. The Lord has just delivered me
from that, for which I'm very thankful. There's the trial of
death, losing someone you love, bereavement. There's the trials
of old age, the trials of loneliness, the trials of feeling isolated.
There's emotional and mental trials. There's mental illness. Can a believer get mentally ill? Well, can they get physically
ill? Yeah, then they can get mentally ill as well. And what
a trial that would be. Trials of depression and all
the different things people have to deal with. People can become
in such despair that they take their own lives. Trials of conflict. Trials of conflict with others. What a trial that is. Maybe someone
doesn't like you and bears ill will toward you. You've experienced
that. And what a trial that is. Or maybe a true friend turns
on you. and no longer acts like your
true friend and even betrays you. What a trial that is to
be under someone's critical eye or someone's slanderous tongue
where things are attributed to you that really are not true
but they're being attributed to you and what a trial that
is. Feeling unloved, that's a trial. I could go on and on But man
that's born of woman is born to trouble as the sparks fly
upward, and we live in a sin-cursed world filled with sorrow. And
Paul said this regarding these trials, there hath no temptation
taken you but that which is common among men. You're not in some
kind of special category if you're being tried. Now you may see
the glass half full, you may see the glass half empty, but
it's still half a glass. And we're going to have trials
that God sends our way and yet we're permitted to pray. What
a blessing this is to be able to pray this prayer, Lord, lead
me not into temptation, lead me not into trial. I don't want
to be tried. I don't want to have economic
problems. I want to be able to pay my bills. And I'm allowed
to ask for that. I don't want to have health problems.
I want to be healthy. I don't want to deal with pain
and sickness. And Lord, lead me not into that
temptation. I don't want to have conflict
with people. I want to just have a good relationship with people. Let me not be tried in that way.
Deliver me. Let me not be tempted. Lead us
not into temptation. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
30. Everybody in this room has experienced
some or all of everything I'm talking about as far as these
trials that come our way. Verse seven. Two things have
I required of thee. Deny me then not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and
lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Now here's the two things he
asked for. Remove from me vanity and lies. Give me the truth.
Now that's what I, Lord give me the truth. Give me the truth
concerning who you are. Give me the truth concerning
who I am. Give me the truth of your word concerning how you
save sinners by your grace. I want the truth. I want the
truth. Give me the truth. That's the
first. Give me the truth about myself. Lord, examine me, try me, prove
me, give me the truth about myself. As hard as it may be to take,
I want the truth about myself. Now, I don't want all the truth
about myself. I don't want to know everything
about myself, but I want to know enough about myself to drive me to the
Lord Jesus Christ and cause me to just cling to and cleave to
Him. Give me the truth. Remove from
me vanity and lies, the vanity and lies of my own natural religion,
the religion of the natural man. Give me the truth. And here's
the second thing he asked for. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Can you pray that prayer? Give
me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me. Now if I have too much, I'm afraid
I'll be fooled and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? Who
needs him? Or lest I be poor and steal and
take the name of my God in vain. That's another thing of saying,
don't let me be tempted. That's the same thing. Don't let me,
give me the truth. Don't give me poverty. I'm afraid
of what I'll do if I have it. I know the way I react. Don't
give me riches. I'm afraid of what I'll do, and
I'm afraid it'll make me forget you. Give me neither thing. Lead
me not into temptation." Now, I'm thankful the Lord allows
us to pray that prayer, aren't you? I'm thankful. Lord, don't
let me be tempted. Don't lead me into temptation.
I'm so thankful to the Lord. Lord, let me get out of all this.
I want out of it. I don't want to have to deal
with this. And you don't either. And the Lord is so merciful in
allowing us to pray, lead us not into temptation. But we also
know this. We are going to be tempted. And
we are going to be tried. And here's what's glorious about
this. Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 1. Verse six, wherein you greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, what are the next three words? If
need be. If need be. You see, every trial
the Lord sends your way and my way, there's a needs be to it. It's exactly what you need. given by your wise, heavenly
Father, who's too wise to err and too kind to be cruel. And
there is a need to be." Whatever trial is coming our way, there
is a need to be. That the trial of your faith
being much more precious than gold. Now you have this heaviness
through manifold temptations, many temptations, but here's
where it results, that the trial of your faith being much more
precious than that of gold that perishes, though it be tried
with fire, might be found into praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love that scripture in 1 Thessalonians
5, 16, in everything, give thanks. in everything. Give thanks. Now we're permitted to pray,
Lord don't let me be tried, don't let me be tempted. But we also
know this, every temptation he sends our way is for our good. It's exactly what we need, precisely
what we need, and for his glory. And we're called upon in the
scripture to give thanks for it, for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you. And everything that I'm dealing
with right now, everything you're dealing with right now is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Isn't that blessed? Remember, this too shall pass. And Paul spoke of our light affliction, which is, but for a moment worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while
we look not at things which are seen, but things which are not
seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. Everything
you see, it's just temporary. It's not going to last. But the
things which are not seen are eternal. And we're strangers
and pilgrims passing through looking for a better land. All that being said, knowing
that the Lord's in control of the trials, I'm praying, Lord,
lead me not into temptation. Let me be delivered from trial. Cause me to simply believe your
word so I don't have to learn the hard way. Okay, the second meaning of this
word, lead us not into temptation. The word temptation means temptation
to sin. Now, does that mean that the
Lord tempts us to sin and the Lord tempts us to rebel against
him. Well, let's look what James says
about this in James chapter one. Verse 13. Let no man say when
he's tempted, if I'm tempted to sin, if I'm tempted to sin
against God, if I'm tempted to do something that is wrong, Sin
is the transgression of the law. Now, you're tempted to sin all
the time, every day, in so many different ways. When you're tempted to sin, let
no man say when he's tempted, I'm tempted of God. For God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man, but every
man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust. and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it's finished, bringeth
forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Don't err in this thing. Don't blame God for your sin.
When you're tempted to sin, the reason you're tempted to sin,
when I'm tempted to sin, The reason I'm tempted to sin is
because of my own wicked nature. That's the only thing that causes
us to be tempted to sin. You know, when Satan tried to
tempt the Lord Jesus Christ to sin, he said, the prince of this
world has come and has found nothing in me. He couldn't sin. He didn't have an evil nature
like you and I have. The temptation, I know he was
tempted in every point, but yet without sin. You see, he could
not sin because he doesn't have that wicked, evil nature that
you and I are born with. But you and I have an evil nature. And when we're tempted to sin,
it is all our fault. We cannot blame God. It's our own wickedness. Now, we have three problems in
this thing of temptation to sin. Number one, the devil. Satan. He's called in the scripture,
the tempter. When he came to the Lord, he
came as the tempter. Now we know enough about the
devil that we need to know from the scriptures. I don't like
to think about him. And I say, Lord, deliver me from him. but
he is a tempter and he influences believers. Don't think he doesn't.
Remember when the Lord said to Peter, get thee behind me Satan. He said that to Peter. Peter
just made this great confession and the Lord said, Valor Peter
upon this rock I'll build my church. Oh, I'm sure Peter was
feeling good about himself at that time. The Lord really commended
him for this confession he made of himself. In the same chapter,
he says to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. Turn with me to 2
Timothy chapter 2 for a moment. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy
chapter 2 verse 25, in meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves, if God perventure will give them repentance to
the acknowledging of the truth and that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him
and his will. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
2. Verse 10, to whom you forgive
anything, I forgive also, for if I forgive anything to whom
I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of
Christ. Lest Satan should get an advantage
of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. So we have one
called the devil that you and I, we're no match for him. And we
cry, lead me not into temptation, let me not, deliver me from the
wicked one, deliver me from the devil turning me inside out. And then we have this thing called
the world. Turn to 1st John chapter 2. Verse 15, love not the world, neither the things that are in
the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father
is not in him. For all that's in the world,
the lust of the flesh, Now that has to do with pleasure.
Sinful pleasure. And there is pleasure in sin
for a season. Without question. Do you find in you something
that is attracted to that? Sinful pleasure. The lust of
the flesh. And then next he speaks of what's
in the world, the lust of the eyes. Being concerned about what
other people think. Being controlled not by what
God says, but what by man sees. It's the fear of man, which is
a snare. It's being controlled, it's causing
you to do what you do to please men. If I yet please men, Paul
said, I should not be the servant of Christ. This is, you could,
you could summarize the first one with the word pleasure. The
second one, you could summarize by the word popularity, popularity,
the lust of the eyes. And then there is the pride of
life. There's so many things that you
could say about that, that the desire for power, the desire
for prestige, the pride of life, religious pride, self-righteous
pride, wanting to be, the pride of life, I've got control, I've
got power. I think it's so amusing to see
how everybody is control freaks and when in reality we don't
have any control of anything. Not a thing, but yet we want
to control things. But what a temptation that is.
What a temptation all those are. Somebody says, well, I'm not
tempted. I don't have problems with those. Well, nobody believes you. Nobody
believes you for a second. We have this thing called an
evil nature. You see, a believer has two separate
natures. He's got a holy nature, a nature
that does not sin. A nature that cannot sin, born
of God. You see, if I've been born again,
I've got the very nature of God, born of the Spirit, and I cannot
sin. That nature cannot sin. But that
other nature, that's the one who does the sinning. And what
a Scary thing it is to be tempted by the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. But you know what? The
devil's a real problem. You and I can't stand before
him. The world's a real problem. And you know the biggest problem
me and you have? Self. Do you believe that about yourself? Forget the devil. Forget the
world. put you in a room with no temptations,
no what's going to happen. You know, your constitution,
your upbringing, your gene pool, which is not an excuse, but the
way you were raised can make you more prone to some sin because
of the way you're raised. For instance, I remember Lynn
and I looked into being foster parents when Aubrey was a little
girl and we went to all these different meetings and we thought
maybe perhaps we could do it, but one of the things that we
learned very clearly from that, they wanted you to know what
you're going to be getting is abused children. Children have
been taken out of their home, they're abused, and it's abused
children who generally abuse others. And that just made me
afraid. Maybe I should have done it,
but I didn't. I was afraid because I thought, well, what if something
would happen to my little girl? But the point is, Your gene pool, your experiences
will make you more disposed to some sin. Some are more tempted
by the lust of the flesh. Some are more controlled by the
lust of the eyes. Some have craving for the pride
of life. But this temptation to sin, now
you think about it, sin is the transgression of the law, isn't
it? That's what scripture says. 1 John 3, 4, sin is the transgression
of the law. You ever tempted to put anything
before God? What a horrible temptation that
is. Are you ever tempted to have
false ideas of God that will make you feel more comfortable
with yourself? Are you ever tempted to loosen
up and not be so reverent and devout? Taking His name in vain? Is it a temptation to do something
instead of to rest? Is it a temptation to not honor
authority properly, not honor your parents, not honor any God-placed
authority? Is that a temptation? To rebel? Is it a temptation to kill? And
I'm not just talking about murdering. I'm talking about killing somebody
by slander, by innuendo, By making them seem darker so you seem
brighter. Same thing. To be angry with
somebody without a cause. To be jealous of them. To be
envious of them. Is that a temptation? Is it a temptation to commit
sexual sin? To commit adultery? Is it a temptation
to steal? And I don't just mean shoplifting.
I trust that nobody's shoplifted in the last few weeks. I hope
you haven't over the last few years. But what about taking
credit where credit's not due? What about robbing God, robbing
Him of His glory? What about not paying your bills?
Is it ever a temptation to not tell the truth, even to remain
silent, to save your own skin and to save yourself from trouble?
So you omit what you ought to say. That's telling a lie. Is
that ever a temptation to not tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth to save yourself? Is it a temptation to covet what
is your neighbor's? to be displeased with what they
have that you don't have. Is that a temptation? Now, is
it any wonder the Lord taught us to pray, Lord, lead us not
into temptation? And here's what I know about
temptation. I know how I handle it. So I ask, Lord, prevent me
from being tempted. I know that if I'm tempted, I
know what happens. So I'm asking you by your grace
to prevent me from being tempted. Don't even let me be tempted.
Somebody says, well, where is there any moral virtue in you
just not being tempted? I don't know, but I don't want
to be tempted. I just know that I don't want to be tempted. I
know what happens when I am. I don't pull myself up by the
bootstraps. No, Lord, just let me not be put in that position
of being tempted. Now, when we pray this prayer,
and the Lord allows us to pray this prayer, isn't this a blessing?
Lord, don't let me be tempted. That's something to ask the Lord
for, don't let me be tempted. Now, when I pray this prayer,
number one, we show that we do not trust ourselves. That's a good person to not trust.
He that trusts in his own heart is a fool, the scripture says.
And in not being tempted or asking the Lord to not let us be tempted,
you know, we're showing love for others. How so? Well, we're fearful of being
a bad example to others, of bringing reproach on the gospel of Christ
by some kind of ill conduct on our behalf. And we don't want
anybody to be emboldened to sin by following our example. When
we sin, others will follow our example. And you can just write
that down. If we're cold, others will think
it's okay to be cold. If we're hot, somebody's gonna
follow that example too. If we're lukewarm, somebody's
gonna follow that example. Somebody, if we loosen up and
are not quite so faithful, somebody's going to say, see, nothing happened
to him. It's all right. It's all right. I don't want
to live in such a way as to embolden people and make people feel comfortable
with it. I'm going to be like them. When we sin, we're tempting others
to sin. When we become spiritually lazy,
We bring others down with us. And so in asking the Lord, Lord,
don't let me be tempted. I'm really loving other people.
I don't want them. I don't want to be a stumbling
block to them. And when we pray this prayer,
we're confessing how weak we really believe ourselves to be.
I can't stand before temptation. If I'm tempted, I'll fall. Oh, Lord, let me not be tempted. Lead us not into temptation. I love that passage of scripture
in Galatians chapter six, verse one, where Paul said, if a man
be overtaken in a fault. You can understand somebody being
overtaken in a fault, can't you? If a man be overtaken in a fault,
you which are spiritual, which is every believer of spiritual
nature, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering
yourself, lest you also be tempted, knowing that whatever your brother
did, you would do worse in the same position. You know, it's a good thing to
be weak because when we're weak, Only then are we strong. Did
you know that? It's so. Paul said that. When
I'm weak, then am I strong. That's when I find out His grace
is sufficient for me. Now this is in Fox's Book of
Martyrs. There are two men in prison awaiting
the time when they were going to be tied to a stake and burn
alive. And one said, I can't wait for it to happen.
What an honor the Lord to give me to be able to glorify him
like this. By the grace of God, I'm going
to stand firm. What an honor, what a privilege
to get to die for the cause of Christ. And the other fellow
was scared to death. He thought, I know when it happens,
when they light the flames, I'm going to recant. I'm going to,
I'm going to say, I don't believe what I said. I believe I'm going
to, I'm going to turn it all around. I'm scared to death.
I'm going to mess up. Now, when it came time that day
for them to be burned, which one recanted and which one stayed
true? You know, one man denied the
man who looked forward to it and thought, oh, this is going
to be great. He denied that he even knew the Lord and he ended
up living the life of an apostate. And the other one was given grace. As he was tied to that stake
and the flame burned, he didn't deny his Lord. The weak one was
made strong. The strong one was weak. A tempted one, would you turn
to Hebrews chapter four, a couple of scriptures. which we'll close
with. Now this scripture for many years
did not comfort me because I didn't really understand it. But we
read in verse 14 of Hebrews chapter 4, seeing then that we have a
great high priest, that's passed into the heavens, Jesus, the
son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not
in high priest, which cannot be touched, moved to sympathy
with the feeling of our infirmities. Oh, they're horrible feelings,
aren't they? The feeling of our infirmities, our weaknesses.
But it says he was at all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin. Now, my thoughts had always been,
well, how can that comfort me? Okay, he was tempted the same
way I was tempted, but he never gave in. I have. How can that be a comfort to
me? Well, because he is touched by
the feeling of our infirmities because everything I have felt
in my sinfulness He has felt more acutely Himself. When He was made sin, He was
tempted in every point imaginable. And He experienced... And once
again, I'm talking about something I don't even know what I'm talking
about. But I know this. He experienced everything about
sin and temptation with the exception of the commission of it. He felt
the guilt of it. He felt the horror of it. He
felt the shame of it. He felt the humiliation of it.
He felt all those things yet without sin. And that without
sin is the righteousness that is given to every believer. So
the writer to the Hebrew says, let us therefore come boldly
under the throne of grace. That we may obtain mercy. That's what I need and find grace
to help in time of need, time of temptation. One other scripture,
first Corinthians chapter 10. Verse 13. There hath no temptation taken
you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful. Who will
not suffer you to be tempted above that which you're able.
But will with the temptation also make a way to escape that
you may be able to bear it. And does that mean that the Lord
is not going to let you be tempted beyond you being able to say
no to that temptation? I can say no to that. I mean,
he's not going to. I still have a choice. I'm I can say no to
that temptation or I can get myself out of that trial. Is
that what that's saying? Well, if it is, have you done? Have you done? What is the way of escape? Is
it you being able to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and say,
no to sin, and I can bear this trial that God sends my way better?
No, the way of escape is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only thing that does
anybody any good, and that's the only way of escape. the gospel
of Christ, I'm allowed to come to Christ the way I first came,
as a failure before temptation, as a sinner, needing his mercy
and his grace. And isn't that the way you come?
And what a way of escape that is. Aren't you thankful the Lord
gave us this in this prayer? lead us not into temptation don't
let us be tried and prevent us from being tempted to sin because
we know what happens when we are so Lord please lead us not
into temptation what a wise thing the Lord has given us to pray
and may the Lord enable us all to pray this prayer from our
heart Lord lead us not into temptation let's pray together