REVIEW
FLIP CHART: SOM’S KEY VERSE, GOAL, MOTTO
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ….” (Mt. 6:33a).
The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.
FLIP CHART: Show new “Perfect Righteousness” chart explaining steps to coming to Christ (As a worm, mourning, meek, spiritual hunger/thirst with the result of legal righteousness). Explain: moral righteousness, immediate moral change at conversion, gradual change through life’s challenges and speeding up moral change via CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection and Confession/Thanksgiving). Key verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:14).
FLIP CHART: John Stott’s outline of SOM.
This then is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:7-13)
REVIEW:
God forgives us our moral debt. People will wound us and sin against us. As He has forgiven our moral debt we forgive others. In this respect our Father is more stubborn than we and will not forgive our moral debts / sins if we refuse to forgive others. Though His children because of judicial forgiveness we will not experience parental forgiveness and their will be a chill and block in our relationship with our Father.
OUTLINE FOR TODAY:
1. Problems in Interpreting the Sixth Request.
2. Our Conflict is with the “Evil One”
TABLE QUESTION: What problem/s immediately pop up when we try to interpret this sixth petition? There are at least a couple.
TEMPTATION & TESTING
I. PROBLEMS IN INTERPRETING THE SIXTH PETITION
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew 6:13)
Does this mean that God sets His children up to be tempted?
Why would God ever lead us into temptation? A dilemma?
QUESTION: What does the petition imply about God?
Would a pure, holy, blameless, unblemished loving God lead us to a place where we would be tempted? Would He let us fall into the clutches of the evil one?
Does this mean that the only way to keep free from temptation is to beg God not to lead us into temptation?
Defining the word “temptation” in Matthew 6:13
FLIPCHART – – Write “pirasmos” in the center of the chart. Then have someone read the explanation about “pirasmos” and write key words on the flipchart, e.g. temptation / seduction to evil; trial; test; neutral.
READING: “Now the English word temptation means seduction to evil. But the word temptation is not always the right translation. Sometimes this word is translated test, sometimes it’s translated prove, sometimes its translated trial, sometimes it’s translated temptation and that’s because it can be any of those things. It is a test, it is a neutral word. We think of temptation as a seductive act which draws us into sin. But the word pirasmos here I’m convinced would better be translated trial. Let’s read it that way. Lead us not into trials, testings.” (The Protection of Prayer, John MacArthur)
In James 1:2-3 we read: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
The word pirasmos is translated as “trials” in James and as “temptation” in Matthew 6:13. In James 1:3 this “trial” is referred to as “testing.”
So pirasmos can denote an enticement with a goal to cause a person to sin or it can denote a test or trial that proves the validity of a person’s faith.
Pirasmos appears 21 times in the NT and 20 of those appearances give the idea of testing or trials. (Joachin Jeremias, The Lord’s Prayer (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1980). p. 29.
So we could easily translate the sixth petition: Lead us not into trials and testing but deliver us from the evil one.
“Testing” best translation because God does not tempt, entice us to sin.
James 1:13 states, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ . . . for [God] does not tempt anyone . . . “
Hab. 1:13: Thou are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can not look upon iniquity. The nature of God makes it impossible for Him to tempt us to sin.
Jesus died to destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8); He gave Himself to rescue us from this present evil age (Gal. 1:4); He prayed that we would be protected from the evil one (John 17:15); He coaches us on how to avoid falling into sin (I Pet. 5:8, Luke 22:31-46).
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested. He was tempted by the devil but the goal of this testing / temptation was imperative because it was used to prove His sonship, His divinity.
QUESTION: If we translate “temptation” as testing what is the second dilemma we face in interpreting this verse?
“Lead us not into testing but deliver us from the evil one.” (Mt. 6:13)
James refers to testing as good. Why she we pray to avoid testing?
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2).
How can you pray to avoid something that is good for you?
Perisamos can mean “test of character” as it obviously does from the context in James, e.g. trials generate perseverance etc.
Joseph said to his brothers when weighing what they did to him in sending him down to Egypt, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen. 50:20)
The trial formed Joseph’s character, dealt with his pride, caused him to increase in faith in God, gave him the privilege of modeling forgiveness etc. And it also saved the lives of the Jewish people.
Seeing the petition as the cry of a child’s heart
John Chrysostom felt that this is the natural appeal of a human in danger, who is feeling weak. It is much more emotional than it is rational. It is not a theological statement but the cry of a heart that despises and hates the potential to sin.
John MacArthur writes, “Jesus is not speaking of logic or theology but of a heart desire and inclination that cause a believer to want to avoid the danger and trouble that sin creates” (Macarthur, 395).
This is not too different from the cry of our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” (Mt. 26:39) He knew it was the Father’s will to bruise Him. He knew from all eternity that this day would happen. He knew the outcome. Nevertheless the emotional part of Jesus dreaded the cross.
ILL: When crossing a high bridge in the arms of her father a small child may cry, “Daddy, don’t drop me.” She knows her father, knows of his love, knows of his strength and yet looking down from the high bridge, fear grips her heart and she cries, “Daddy, don’t drop me.” Or she is with her father at a zoo and when she sees a lion she cries, “Daddy, don’t let the lion get me.”
Our heart so despises sin and we are so conscious of our own weakness that we cry with emotion in this prayer, “Father don’t lead me into testing for I may be tempted and fall into sin.”
QUESTION: Would someone like to share an experience where you cried for God’s help to help you?
Seeing the petition from a theological perspective
QUESTION: What are the differences in the goals of temptation and testing? How do the two inter-relate?
The goals of temptation and testing are different. Temptation’s goal is to entice us to sin; Testing has the goal of perfecting our character. In every testing there is temptation.
Every trial has the potential to become a temptation and thus cause us to fall into sin. The key is our response.
Another way to interpret the sixth petition:
“Lord, please do not lead us into a trial which will present a temptation stronger than our ability to resist.”
“Do not allow us to be led into a trial that overwhelms us and we fall into sin, but rescue us from the evil one.” (John Stott)
“Save me from the trial. I fear it. If you will not keep me from the trial keep me from falling into the temptation related to the trial.”
Some feel the language is saying something like, “Let the sea churn but keep us in the boat.”
II. OUR CONFLICT IS WITH THE “EVIL ONE.”
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew 6:13)
The KJV says “deliver us from evil” but most of the modern translations feel “evil one” is best.
QUESTION / FLIP CHART: What are some of the names metaphors used for the “evil one” in the Bible?
Satan (Hebrew name meaning adversary)
Devil (Greek name meaning slanderer)
The ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesian 2:2)
The spirit who works in the hearts of the disobedient (Ephesians 2:2)
Roaring Lion, Lying serpent, angel of light, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Belial,
Abaddon (Heb) & Apollyon (Gk) – The Destroyer, Angel of the Abyss.
He is not omnipresent but his agents are everywhere.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the Powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).
READING: Did you know that there is a demonic hierarchy, much like a military or governmental organization, even now in place, organized to promote the agenda of Satan himself? It is true! When Ephesians 6 speaks of rulers, powers, and forces it is referring to the organizational structure of Satan’s hierarchy. The word which is translated “world forces” is kosmokratoras. A more recognizable anglicized rendering would be cosmocrats. Many, like Professor F. F. Bruce, think that these terms refer to the hierarchy of fallen angels. One cosmocrat could have been the angel-prince of Persia who hindered the angelic messenger sent to Daniel.
The demonic cosmocrats of Satan’s army are deployed everywhere in our culture. Infiltrating every segment of society, both secular and ecclesiastical, their one purpose is to destroy God’s work. Directly and indirectly, they attack God’s work. They are after you and your walk with God. They are after your family and your relationships with others. They attack you through your emotions and your circumstances. And they do not sleep. It is a very real and personal struggle. (J David Hoke, Living Under Protection)
Satan has power over the kingdoms of this world (Mt. 4:8-9); Jesus is now confronting Satan over this authority since Jesus holds legitimate authority (Mt. 28:18-20); Jesus defeated Satan on the cross “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (Jn. 12:31); Christ despoiled the principalities and powers by His death and triumphed over them (Col. 2:15); Satan can no longer accuse or destroy through death those who have been delivered from sin (Rom. 8:29-39).
“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too share in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – – that is, the devil.” (Heb. 2:14)
Satan spends very little time with drug addicts, Hell’s Angels, Dope Dealers, Spouse Abusers etc. He has them. He focuses on us. And as C.S. Lewis emphasized his very best strategy is to convince us that he does not exist.
The “evil one” is not passive!!!! He is waiting to pounce on us. Being aware of our pre-disposition to sin and the magnetic pull of the world we need to live in awareness of the Devil’s goal and plead with the Father to keep us from trials will enable to Devil to snare us.
READING: “How the Irish Saved Civilization”: Augustine, the church father of the west (354-430AD) had a tremendous conversion (page 57); wrote his Confessions, which has been a Christian classic for 1600 years and is considered the first true biography of modern man; won major theological disputes with Pelagius and this theology has dominated Western Christendom down to the modern time; wrote The City of God, another classic setting forth the conflict between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdoms of this world (written after the Visigoths sacked Rome). Yet at the end of his life he supports unworthy Christian leaders, torture in the church and denigrates sex in marriage. (Page 64-66). The end of his life he is referred to as an “evil cleric” (Page 67).
SO WHAT???
1. Our Father will not and in fact cannot tempt us because it is not His nature to do so.
2. Testing is good and can lead to character change and maturity.
3. With every test there is also the possibility of a temptation.
TABLE DISCUSSION: Make a list of various trials/tests we fail and what an accompanying temptation would look like. For example the test would be, while you are seeking to watch your diet, to be invited to a rich buffet, fully paid for by your host. The temptation is obvious
4. We should so despise sin and so fear displeasing our Father that the emotional cry of our heart is that we are not lead into a temptation that is too much for us to handle.
5. We must always remember the evil one is active, seeking to destroy us, and that we are no match for him.