TEMPTATION


A. "AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION"
  1. The original and true meaning of the word "temptation" is simply a "trial" or a "test":
    1. As in the case of Abraham - Gen. 22:1-12
    2. Also in the experience of the children of Israel - Ex. 16:4; 20:20; Deut. 8:2
  2. The planting of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil into the Garden of Eden was to test Adam and Eve:
    1. They had been created free moral agents.
    2. And God provided a means for them to assert their loyalty to their Maker.
B. "AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION"
  1. Why this petition?
    1. The Bible teaches, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." - Jas. 1:13
    2. That little word "evil" explains the reason for our petition. "And lead us not into temptation by the evil one to lead us into disobedience."
  2. God may permit his children to be tested:
    1. Permitted Satan to test Job to bring out in Job his unflinging loyalty to his God - Job 13:15; 1:1-3
    2. This was true, also, of the Son of man - Matt. 4:1- 9; Luke 4:1-8
  3. Our petition to our heavenly Father "And lead us not into temptation" stems from the fact that we realize our personal weakness:
    1. Had Peter realized his weakness, he would have prayed the petition of our text.
    2. Jesus knew what would happen with Peter, and he foretold him - Luke 22:31, 32
  4. Our temptations to evil come from the corruption of our heart:
    1. "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." - Jas. 1:14
    2. That was true in the experience of David - 2 Sam. 11:1-4
    3. And that is true with all who are possessed with a carnal mind - Rom. 8:6-8
C. OUR HEAVENLY FATHER PROVIDED REFUGE AGAINST THE TEMPTATION OF THE EVIL ONE
  1. Be on guard every waking moment of our life:
    1. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." - Matt. 26:41
    2. Said David, "I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top." - Ps. 102:7
    3. It is when we are spiritually asleep that the enemy of our soul steals in on us, takes us captive unto his devices.
  2. Stay close to the Lord of our life, Jesus Christ:
    1. Had Eve stayed close to Adam and not strayed away from him, the serpent would not have been able to beguile her as he did.
    2. Our Saviour gives us the terms of our safety in John 15:1-11 -- "Abide in me."
    3. He is the great secret of the saint's security against temptation - Prov. 18:10
  3. This writer knows of four specific places of refuge against temptation to do evil:
    1. The word of God is our security against Satan. Jesus used it successfully - Matt. 4:1-9
    2. Prayer, earnest and prevailing prayer, is still another must for the saints to be safe against temptation - Matt. 26:41
    3. The family altar is a must for the family to be sheltered against evil. It is at the family altar when we lay all our plans, our needs and our weaknesses before the Lord, that we actually give them to him.
    4. The fellowship of the saints is a very blessed shelter against temptation. When we join the saints in the study of the word of God, and in prayer, we have neither time or desire to do the things that cause men to sin.
  4. Finally, when we pray, "And lead us not into temptation", we declare that we rely altogether upon the Lord for safekeeping; when we do that we need not have any fear of being disappointed by the Lord.


Design © John Bryant 2011