"Lead Us"

All the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask besides, right? What better thing for a believer to know that Jesus Christ leads us every step of the way. That's important because today we're talking about how he leads us not into temptation. If you have your Bible, I would invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 4.

Luke chapter 4 as we once again embark on this marvelous gospel, the gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 4, chapter 11, verse number 4. We've been looking at the disciples' prayer. We've been looking at what it means to pray the way God wants us to pray, mainly because our prayers are so man-centered, so self-centered, that we have forgotten how to pray the way God wants us to pray. And so the disciples would come and ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. Let me read to you verses 1 down through verse number 4 to set in the context in your mind, and then we'll look at the sixth petition this morning.

It says, And it came about that while he was praying in a certain place, after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples. And he said to them, When you pray, say, Father, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins. For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation. We have told you that this prayer is only a portion of the entire prayer as Matthew 6 records it.

And that was recorded way back in Galilee, some two years beyond this place, or before this time in Judea. And our Lord would teach a similar prayer. And so we've gone back and forth to Matthew and to Luke to give you the total part of that prayer that you might understand each of the different petitions. This morning, we want to look at this prayer in a reflective way, a negative way, and a positive way.

That is, we want to go back and just reflect for just a moment on this pattern that we have been examining about prayer over the last several weeks. We won't go into great detail because we've only got a few moments this morning. But we told you that prayer basically is about God and his glory. We have forgotten that when we go to prayer. We think that prayer was assigned to meet my needs. It's not. And that's why the pattern of prayer is so important to us, because we begin to understand how it is God wants us to pray.

He says, when you pray, pray this way. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. For prayer to be about God and his glory, number one, I must be consumed with his preeminence.

It's about my Father, our Father, who is in heaven, and his name being hallowed in my life. Prayer begins with me being consumed with his purity and his preeminence. Then prayer leads to my concern about his program and his purposes. In other words, thy kingdom come. It's about his rulership. So my prayer life is centered around the rulership of God in my life. God, I am concerned about your program. I am concerned about the purpose you have for your program, your kingdom, and your rulership in my life.

Lord, I want you to rule me. I want you to oversee me. I want you to direct me, because you are the preeminent one. So prayer is about God and his glory. We are consumed with his preeminence. We are consumed with his purity. We are concerned with his program and concerned with his purposes. And then we are committed to his plan and its pleasure for our lives. So Jesus says, when you pray, pray this way, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I am committed to God's plan. I am committed to the pleasure of that plan in my life, because we talked to you about that word will, meaning God's desire. Lord, I want your desire to happen on earth as it happens in heaven, Lord, because that's where your joy is supreme. So that's how prayer begins, putting God in proper perspective. It's about God and his glory. And then you move to man and his needs. Then I can say, Lord, give us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, deliver us. I can say, Lord, give us this day our daily bread.

I can rejoice in his provision, because the bread that God gives me every single day is because of his program, his plan, and his preeminence. And so I rejoice in the provision he gives. Sometimes the daily bread we receive, we don't like. And so we're not too eager to rejoice in that provision, but God always provides for his people perfectly and in his time. And then after I rejoice in his provision, I respond to his pardon, his forgiveness. That is, I respond because I forgive others, because God has forgiven me.

And then I'm able to rest in his protection of my life. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. There are six petitions in that prayer, six petitions that form for us a pattern for how we are to pray when we go before the Lord. Folks, our prayers are, are so far removed from what the Scriptures tell us about prayer. So we need to go back and review what it is we say when we go before the throne of grace and go boldly, as the Lord has asked us to, into his presence to beseech him. Today, we're going to talk about that sixth petition.

Next week, we'll talk about the doxology. It's not in Luke, but it's in Matthew. And we'll talk about how the Lord brings that prayer to a, to a conclusion so that you know how to bring your prayers to, to a conclusion. But this whole section in the first part of Luke is about prayer.

That's essential because when we concluded Luke chapter 10, it was about sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to him, because that's the one thing that's needful in your life and mine. There are many things that we think are needful, but there's one thing that's needful, the Lord says, and Mary has chosen that, that, that important aspect because she would sit at the feet of Jesus and listen.

And Martha was so busy doing the work of the ministry, she forgot the master of that ministry, the Lord God himself. So Jesus says, there's one thing that's needful.

Sit at my feet and listen to me. So you know, in this context, how to pray, because I want you to learn how to commune with me. I want you to talk to me, but you can't commune with me properly unless you know what I've said in my word. So you want to know how to pray? This is how you pray. Christ gives us the pattern. He's so good to us. He could have talked about prayer, but never taught us how to pray, right? But he does teach us how to pray. So let's look at this sixth petition in a negative way and in a positive way.

Lead us not into temptation, that's the negative, but deliver us from evil. That's the positive. And excuse me, under that negative, let me give you three points.

Number one is the confusion. Number two is the clarification. And number three is the caution. Here's the confusion under lead us not into temptation. And that's this. Could it be that if we don't ask Jesus to lead us not into temptation, that he will? Of all the petitions, there are six of them, this is the most confusing. Let me give you an example.

Matthew chapter four, verse number one, Jesus had just been baptized in chapter three. In the chapter four, verse one, it says the spirit of God led the son of God into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Okay, so if I pray lead us not into temptation, if I don't pray that, could it be, excuse me, that the spirit of God will lead me into some wilderness that I might be tempted by the devil? I must ask that question and answer it. Or how about this? Way back in the book of second Samuel, God said to David, David, do not number your men.

I don't want you to count how many men are in the military, in your army. And in second Samuel 24, it says, and the Lord God incited David to number his men.

David did, God became angry and killed 70,000 Israelites. So wait a minute, could it be that God would incite us to sin? I mean, if you read second Samuel 24 one, that's what it says.

It says that God incited David to number his men. God told him don't number them, but now he incites him to number them. And because David disobeyed God, God then killed 70,000 Israelites. How can that possibly be? See the confusion, but there really is no confusion. That's why we give you point number two, the clarification.

That's why you're here this morning. And you'll be so glad that you came because you'll understand, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Remember James chapter one, verse number 13, if you have your Bible, turn there with me, if you would, for a moment. It says, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself does not tempt anyone. Wow. Okay. So, so what do we do about Matthew four, verse number one and second Samuel 24, verse number one?

How do we reconcile that with James one, verse number 13? There is a confusion there on the surface, but in reality, God clarifies everything for us. God never tempts any man to do evil because God is holy. He's pure. He's righteous. He is true. But on the other hand, God will allow temptation to come your way. Now, stay with me. God will allow temptation to come into your life. For example, when you read second Samuel 24, you must also read first Chronicles chapter 21, because in first Chronicles 21, it says about the same thing that happened in first Samuel 24, that Satan provoked David to number his men.

So which is it? Is it God who incited David, first Samuel 24, or is it Satan who provoked David in first Chronicles 21?

The answer is God allowed Satan to tempt David and David succumbed to the temptation. God said, I don't want you trusting in your military. Don't count your men because once you begin to count your men, you begin, wow, I got lots of guys, man. I can, I can defeat them all. Bring on the enemy because I've got this many men and I can win. Or if you don't have enough men, you'd be saying, well, I don't have enough guys. I can't go to battle. And your trust for God dissipates. You see, we spend more time in our prayers, praying out of fear than out of faith.

You ever notice that? Oh Lord, please don't let this happen to me. Oh Lord, please don't let me lose my job.

Oh Lord, please don't let my marriage crumble. Oh Lord, please don't, don't let my, my, my finances go, go, go awry. Oh Lord, Lord, please don't let this happen. Oh Lord, please don't let that. We ask, we, we, we pray out of fear instead of trusting obedience into what God can do because he is the all powerful one. That's why the order of the in Luke 11 and in Matthew 6 is important. It's about God and his glory, his power, his preeminence, his plan, his program. He's in charge. So when I go to him and ask him to give me this day, my daily bread and to forgive us our sins, as we have already forgiven those who have sinned against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

I can go with confidence knowing the character and nature of my God. That's important. So if you're still in James, look at verse number 14.

It says, but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lusts. God never tempts man to do evil, but each man is carried away by the enticement from within. Notice this is about temptation.

Temptation comes internally and externally. Mark it down. Internally by the lusts of the soul, externally by the lure of Satan. Satan will use what's on the inside of you because you manifest that through your sinful desires, your sinful actions. Paul would say it this way in the book of Romans, Romans chapter 7. He would say, verse 22, for I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

Wretched man that I am who will set me free from the body of this death. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other with my flesh, the law of sin. Paul understood the struggle within his soul. So many times we forget that. That's why Jeremiah says that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. No man can know it. That's why Jesus said in Matthew 15 that it's that which is on the inside that defiles the man.

Fornication, adultery, theft, murder, it all comes from what is in the inside. Peter would say it this way in 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1, I'm sorry chapter 2 verse 11. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. You see temptation comes not because of God, but because of our lusts in our own soul internally and the lure of Satan externally which causes me to fall into sin. The Bible says very simply these words in James 1 verse number 15.

Then when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is accomplished it brings forth death. That's a terrifying verse, isn't it? Sin comes, death happens. The wages of sin is death. It's that separation from God. Look at verse number 16.

Do not be deceived my beloved brethren, every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of life with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. That's what comes from God is good, not evil. What God gives is the good gifts from above. It's important to remember that. Oh God may allow Satan to do things in your life. God allowed the temptation of his son in the wilderness. God allowed the temptation of his son in the garden. God allowed all of hell's fury and all of his temptation to come to him on Calvary's cross.

But in his allowance of those things to happen he brought about the greatest of all things for the world, people such as you and me. Now Jesus says when you pray, pray this way, lead us not into temptation.

The word temptation is parosmos. It is a neutral word, a neutral word. In other words when we think of temptation in our English language we think well that's a seduction to do evil. In the Greek language parosmos is translated trial, test, or to prove. It's a neutral word. It's neither good nor bad. So when we go to prayer we are asking God to do a great work in our lives. For instance when you have a test at school one of two things happens. You either pass or you fail. When you have a test in your spiritual pilgrimage one of two things happen.

You either pass or you fail. If you're walking in the spirit you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You'll pass. If you're not walking in the spirit you'll fail. And that temptation, that parosmos, that trial that God has allowed to come into your life because of what is on the inside of you, the lust of your soul, that enticement on the inside, because you're not walking in the spirit you will fulfill the lusts of the flesh. And sin when it is conceived brings forth a separation from communion and fellowship with the living God of the universe.

It's like the man who is traveling. He goes from hotel to hotel to hotel to hotel. He receives a phone call. That phone call is from a prostitute. That is what we call a parosmos. Okay. It's a temptation. It's a trial. It's a test. He will either pass that test or he will fail that test. Walking in the spirit he'll pass. If he's not walking in the spirit then the lust of the flesh will be fulfilled and he will fail the test. But like Job God allowed a parosmos, a test, a trial. Satan even came to him.

In fact before Satan even came to him the Lord God says, have you considered my servant Job? Consider him. Well you've got your arms of protection around him. You are protecting he and his family. And the Lord says, oh okay I'll remove that protection. Do whatever you want. Just can't touch his life. Think God will do that to you sometime? Sure. Remember Job was the most righteous man on the face of the earth. There was no one more righteous than Job. He walked with the Lord. Satan knew he was protected by God.

So the Lord released the strings. Allowed Satan to inflict this man's income and family and livelihood. The test came because he walked in the spirit. Walked in communion with God. He passed the test. How about you? God says, I'll remove the reins.

And you can touch his livelihood. You can touch his income. Can't touch his life but you can touch his income. You can touch his family but you can't touch him. Satan does. And the prosmos comes. The trial. The test. Are you passing or are you failing? And then Satan came back to the Lord God and said if you let me touch his life.

Let me touch his life. And then he'll fail the test. What did God do? Did God say no no no you can't touch his life. No God said have at it. You know sometimes God says to Satan have at it with your life.

How do you respond to that? How do you respond? See that's so important. The test comes. The prosmos comes. Are you praying lead us not into that trial. That test. That proving. That is so severe that it will cause me to fall into temptation Lord. This petition becomes so crucial for us as we live our Christian life from day to day. We need to understand what the Bible says.

We pray this way. Lord don't ever lead us into a trial that will turn into a temptation we can never resist. Don't put us into something we can't handle. That's the prayer. Oh by the way the answer to this prayer is in scripture. And I'll show that to you. The prayer request is Lord don't put us into any situation we can not handle. Because people say all the time I can't handle this. Really. I just I can't handle it. You know the Bible says that when you pray lead us not into temptation you're asking God not to put you in a situation that you can not possibly handle without his resources.

And God always answers that prayer by the way. Did you know that? In the positive way. Not the negative way. Always in the positive. That's so important. So let me give you a caution.

We've seen the confusion, the clarification. Now caution. Two things you need to remember. Turn with me to Matthew 26 for a moment.

There's a caution here. Because some of you are out there thinking that's not going to happen to me. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to yell and scream at God. That's not me. I'm not going to get mad at God. I'm not going to fall into sin. I'm not going to fall into some gross sin. It's like the young couple who's just about to get married. They're newlyweds and they're about to embark on this journey together. And he says and she says well he says first I'll never lust after another woman.

And she says oh my husband he's committed to me. I mean look how beautiful I am. He'll never lust after another woman. Look at me.

He's got me. It happens. Or the businessman who says you know yeah I might be a little greedy but that'll never turn to fraud and then turn to imprisonment. Not with me it won't. Or like the King Solomon who asked God for wisdom because he wanted to govern God's people properly. So God granted the request and gave him wisdom so that he might govern God's people properly. And yet his weakness for women turned him away from his God and a nation into idolatrous worship. But he was one who was the king in Israel.

Two cautions. One is pride. Let me read it to you. Matthew 26 verse 30. And after singing to him they went out to the Mount of Olives. This is the the eve of the crucifixion. Then Jesus said to them you will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered. But after I have been raised I will go before you to Galilee. But Peter answered said to him even though all men fall away because of you I will never fall away.

Jesus said to him truly I say to you that this very night before it caught crows you shall deny me three times. Peter said to him even if I have to die with you I will not deny you. All the disciples said the same thing too. Not us. We are we have left all to follow you. We are your disciples. We are the closest to you on this earth. There is no other band of men like us. We are faithful. We will never deny you. We will never turn our back on you. We are committed to you Lord. And Peter says even if everybody else does those other knuckleheads I won't because I'm the leader here and the leader never fails.

And Jesus even said to him ah before the cock crows you'll deny me three times. Peter said no. No I won't. See the pride that's there? The pride that says well I'm not like those other Christians. We're not like the other church. We're not like the other family. Our business is different than their business. I'm not like the other students. I'm different than they are. I translation am better than they are. That's just pride and arrogance. That's a caution right? Because Paul says to him who thinks he stands what?

Take heed lest you fall. The minute you think you're standing you've already begun to crumble. Already. That's what Paul says. The other one is prayerlessness. Pride and prayerlessness. And both go hand in hand right? My pride leads to prayerlessness. And if you read on in Matthew 26 then Jesus came and with them and to a place called Gethsemane and said the disciples sit here while I go over there and pray. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed.

And he said to them my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch with me. And he went a little beyond them and fell on his face and prayed saying my father if it is possible let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will but as thou wilt. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter so you men could not keep watch with me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

They've already said we're not going to deny you not us. We're committed. Really? Let's go pray together. There they were men. Zonked right out. Jesus not one hour? You couldn't do it for one hour? Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Okay Jesus okay. Jesus walks away. You're back to sleep again. How could that be? Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Our prayerlessness leads to us falling into temptation. It leads us away from God not closer to God. How was your prayer life this morning before you came to church?

How was your prayer life before you go to work? How's your prayer life throughout your day at work? Because we're to pray without ceasing right? Alan Redpath in his commentary on the disciples prayer says this. He says about this petition lead us not into temptation. He says Lord I am weak and I would avoid every temptation of the devil if I could. I do not ask to be exempt from trial because that would not be good for me. But Lord if today there is to be put in my path an inducement to sin Lord Jesus then lead me through.

Take my hand and keep me near to you Lord. I don't ask to be free from the furnace of testing but oh God I desperately need your presence through the fire. Isn't that good? This prayer is a prayer of of protection and it's also a prayer of recognition. A recognition that I'm weak and I need my God to strengthen me each and every moment of the day. If I pray this prayer lead us not into temptation it will change the books I read. It will change the places I go. Because you can't pray this prayer Lord lead us not into temptation as you are walking into a place of sin right?

I mean that is that that doesn't work. That's like that's like going to the pornography stand and and taking a magazine saying Lord lead us not into temptation. That doesn't work right? Not at all. And so you can't ask God to lead you not into temptation if you're willing to walk right into it yourself. Which leads us to the positive aspect. That's the negative. Lead us not into temptation. Lead us not into any trial any test that is so so great that it will cause me to be tempted to fall away from my God.

But deliver us as Matthew's account says. Luke's account doesn't record it. Matthew's account does. But deliver us from evil. Three things. The plea, the person, and the promise. Okay. First of all the plea.

Deliver us. Deliver us. It's a petition. It's a cry from the heart of one, listen, who not only despises sin, but despises the potential to sin. That's eye-opening isn't it? I mean after all why would we pray this if we want to sin? That's why the psalmist said Lord lead us not into presumptuous sins. Why would we even go there if we know we're going to sin that day? We're looking to sin that day to fulfill the lust of the flesh. We're not going to pray lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

No we're not going to do that because we kind of like the evil. We kind of like the sin. Right? So that's why Jesus says this is your pattern.

This is how you pray. You don't want to pray my way. You won't even tackle this petition because this is one who wants my name to be hallowed in their lives because they recognize me as the preeminent one. So important. We plead with God to defend us because we are so weak. We know the enemy right? We know the enemy. In fact when you pray this prayer it is an acknowledgement of Satan's power and an affirmation of God's greater power because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

And we know that the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one right? He is the prince and the power of the air. We know that Peter says that he goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He's out to destroy your testimony. He's out to devour your life. He's not out to nudge you in another direction. He is out to devour your life. Destroy you. We are asking God to deliver us. There's a plea that's there. There's a desperate cry of the heart of man. That's why Jesus prayed this prayer in John 17.

I pray not that thou should take them out of the world but that thou should keep them from the evil one. You know that God never prayed for your isolation. He just prayed for your insulation. He never prayed take them out of the world. Protect them by taking them out. No. Protect them from the evil one while they're in the world. So our Lord has already prayed for your protection and he lives to make intercession for you. Hebrews 7. Praying for your protection from the evil one. So you move from the plea to the person.

Who's the person? For the little translation says lead us not into a trial or a test that is something so great I can't handle it but deliver me from the evil one. That's the person because behind every lie there is the liar. Behind every murder there is the murderer. Right? Behind every deception there's the deceiver Satan himself. He is the evil one. The nature of our warfare is wrapped up in the character of our enemy. That's why Ephesians 6 verses 10 and following the armor of the Christian is to protect us from the wiles of the devil.

The schemes of the evil one. That's why in 2nd Corinthians 11 Paul says Satan disguises himself as an angel of light therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness whose end shall be according to their deeds. Oh he is a master deceiver which led Martin Luther to pen these words. The prince of darkness grim we tremble not for him his rage we can endure for lo his doom is sure one little word shall fell him. One little word. What word is that? The word of God.

The words of God. His doom is sure. Satan's doom is fixed in the plan and purposes of God and the word that we use is the word of almighty God. So we move from the plea to the person to the promise. The promise. What's the promise? Well the Bible gives us the promise and that is the answer to this prayer. 1st Corinthians 10 verse number 13. No temptation has overtaken you but such as common to man and God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also that you may be able to endure it.

Don't think for one moment that God allows something to happen in your life that you can't handle. That would go against his promise. He has promised to be faithful to make sure that there is always an escape route through every temptation. And by the way the escape route is not around but through that temptation. It's through the difficulty. But don't think for one moment that the situation you're in number one is something you can't handle because you can.

If you're a believer you can handle it with the power of almighty God. With the grace and the resources that he himself gives you can handle it. Job did. I'm not sure there's anybody in this room. In fact I know there's nobody in this room who has experienced what Job experienced. And he was able to go through the trial, go through the temptation, the difficulties. Paul the same way. And yet, and yet Paul says that the temptation that comes to you is common to man. And how many times you hear people say, well you know no one has had it like I've had it.

Really? That's not what the Bible says. No one has had it as severe as I. No one's cancer is as bad as my cancer. No one's loss of income is as great as my loss of income. No one's peril is as great as my peril. Really? That's not what the Bible says.

The Bible says that no temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man. It's common. It's common. Oh it might not be common in your sphere of influence where you live your little life. But when it comes to Christendom it's common. Happens all the time. But we like to say because we want people to sympathize with us and say oh you're right we've never gone through anything like that. Oh it must be so overwhelming for you. Really? Really? You mean to tell me that God gave you something you can't handle?

That mean God is a liar? He violates his word? I don't think so. Maybe you're walking in the flesh and you're fulfilling the lust of the flesh maybe. But God's not going to violate his holy word and give you something you cannot handle. Or something that has never happened before. That it's so uncommon that it's never happened in anybody else ever. Never. It's common but God is faithful. God is faithful. I like what Peter says. 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse number 9. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation.

Did you get that? The Lord knows how to deliver the what? Not the ungodly. You see if you're walking in the flesh and you're living an ungodly life God knows how to deliver you. But God doesn't deliver the ungodly. He delivers the godly out of temptation. He knows how to do that. I mean it is God right? And if God in his sovereignty consciously permits something to happen to you like Job. He didn't cause the sickness of Job. He didn't cause the illness of Job. He didn't cause the death of Job's family.

He didn't do that. He allowed it to happen though didn't he? He did. God, God allows disasters. God allows death. He allows those things to happen. Why? Well for the most part you'll never know the eternity. But God's at work. And but yet God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. If you're having problems looking for the escape route in your temptation, maybe it's you who's blocking the escape route because of your ungodly lifestyle, your sinful attitude, your bitter spirit, your unforgiving attitude, your your rebellious actions towards God and those around you.

Maybe that's the case. But don't think for one moment that God has given you something that you cannot handle with his grace and his resources, his power at your disposal. He'll take you through. He will. He'll take you right through it. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art what? With me. God's with me. God's with me. And the choir is saying it. All the way my Savior leads me. What have I that ask beside? What else is there to know that my Savior is leading me day after day after day?

What a great promise. The Bible says in Hebrews 2, verse number 18, for since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

He is the only one qualified to come to your aid. Your pastor is not. Your elders are not. Your spouse is not. There's only one qualified to come to your aid, and that is the son of man who is tempted in all points like you are yet without sin. And so we ask God to spare us from the trial, but if that difficulty comes, deliver us from that evil one. Deliver us from his entrapment in order that we might glorify your name. That we might come out like Job in Job 23, verse number 10, when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

Or like James says, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith worketh patience. Or like Peter said it in 1st Peter, chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, when he records these words, he says, in this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Peter says, listen, all your testing, it's only for a little while. It's not forever. It's only for a little while, but it's for the proving of your faith. So at the revelation of God, the honor and glory of your Christ will be seen. Listen, when you pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. I want you to remember three things. You want to be delivered? You want to be able to get through the trial? Just let me give you three things real quick.

Number one, consider Him. The writer of Hebrews said it this way, Hebrews 12, consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, so you will not become weary and faint in your minds. Consider Him, it's a mathematical word, that is to lay out all there is about Him, add it all up together, and come to a right conclusion. The next time you find yourself in the midst of that trial, consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners. If you don't consider Him, you will faint in your minds.

You will. It'll be too much for you to handle. It'll be too great for you to grasp. It'll be overwhelming to you, and God says He won't allow anything to happen that you cannot handle through His resources, His grace, His power.

But first you must consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners. Consider Him. Number two, communicate with Him.

Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Don't become prayerless because of your pride. Consider Him, and once you consider Him, you can't but fall down before Him and communicate with Him on His level, praying the way He wants you to pray, so that you can communicate with the living God coming boldly before the throne of grace. Consider Him, communicate with Him, and then thirdly, capitulate to all that He says.

That is, I will submit to everything that He says. And what does He say? Flee youthful lusts. Flee immorality. Flee idolatry. Run as fast as you can from those things that will ensnare you. Run! And so as I am considering Him, and as I am communicating with Him, I am capitulating to all that He said, and I am running away from those things. I'm not walking away from them. I'm running away from them. You don't walk away from the pornography store. You run away. You don't walk through Vegas. You run around Vegas.

See? We want to walk through it. Look at all the lights. See? Wow, this is great. You want to run around it. You want to walk through it. You want to run. Flee and pursue the things that are righteous, and pure, and true, and holy. This sixth petition is for us to take to heart, and may God give us the grace to wrap our arms around it, that we might live a life that brings glory and honor to Jesus Christ our Lord. Let me pray with you.

Father, thank You for today. Lord, thank You so much for today. For this petition is so, so real. I mean, Your whole Word is real, but this just seems to hit home for all of us, Lord, because the lust of the soul and the lure of Satan is pulling so great toward the things of the world. Father, we got to be strong in the Lord, in the power of His might, and I pray, Father, for each and every person today. Father, You do a work in their heart. Help them, Lord, to always consider You, to look to what You endured so we don't go faint in our minds and weak and falter.

Help us to talk with You, to communicate with You, to pray without ceasing, Lord, and to run as fast as we can to obey all that You say, Lord. Run to You, and running away from all those things that will lead us to sin. By Your grace, by Your power, we can accomplish this. In Jesus' name, Amen.