Is Temptation Avoidable? | Rediscovering the Lord's Prayer | Episode 9

Church history has long regarded the Lord's Prayer as a complete "body of divinity" and a perfect summary of the Gospel message. Pastor Jim Thomas dives into the protective custody of the sixth petition: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Challenging our daily vulnerabilities with pastoral warmth, Pastor Jim highlights how the Holy Spirit warns, guides, and strengthens us to navigate a broken world. Discover the immense comfort of turning to a Savior who understands our struggles intimately, offering us the exact grace we need to resist or flee when testing comes our way.

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

In talking about the Lord's Prayer, theologian J. I. Packer said what it means to be a Christian is nowhere clearer than here. Packer also cites Tertullian, the second and third century Roman Christian theologian and writer who called the Lord's Prayer a quote summary of the gospel. And Packer also quotes the 17th century English Puritan Thomas Watson, who called the Lord's Prayer a body of divinity. So one thing's unequivocally clear. The Lord's Prayer is probably the most well-known and has been the most uttered prayer in human history. So before we go any further in this episode of Timeless Truth, let's say and pray the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen. Amen. Well, today we're going to focus in on that phrase, lead us not into temptation. And I think it's really, really a practical and important one. Here we notice our need for providential protection from those things that so easily beguile us in this broken world in which we live. Jesus teaches us to pray, lead us not into temptation. In other words, Lord, please help us. Please keep us alert and strong, for we are weak and vulnerable to so many kinds of temptations. G.I. Packer again said, the realism, the self-distrust, and the humble dependence on God that breathed through this petition is something we all need to learn. And I agree with Packer. That's so true. He has a short book called Praying the Lord's Prayer that I recommend. And I've got to confess, over the past few years, I've had a new appreciation for the importance of this line of the Lord's Prayer. Once we dedicate ourselves to living a life of following Jesus, it becomes the increasing desire of our hearts to avoid not only sin, but also the temptation to sin as well. Avoiding temptation, or another way the Bible puts it, fleeing from temptation requires both watchfulness and self-control. To remain watchful and courageous enough to flee from temptation is as practical as wisdom gets. And so this line of the Lord's Prayer is for all of us in many different categories of life. There's concurrence because while we are completely dependent on God for both the spiritual insight and the moral strength we will need to resist temptation, especially the vast number of them that come our way, it's also clear that we must be actively involved. So we're dependent and completely so, but at the same time we're actively involved. In Matthew 26, 41, for instance, Jesus taught his disciples, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. So the best guardrails are in the first part of what Jesus said, watch and pray. John Owen, the other 17th-century Puritan theologian I'll quote today, said this: He that would be little in temptation, let him be much in prayer. So he agrees with Jesus 100%. Watch and pray. It shouldn't surprise any of us that we will be tempted, but we must remember that experiencing temptation is itself not a sin. Even our Lord Jesus was tempted. It's how we respond to temptation that matters and determines whether or not we end up falling into sin. And pray we must pray for alertness, for discerning wisdom, for strength to stand fast. There's a guy named Brian Hedges, who's a pastor, wrote a wonderful little book on the spiritual discipline of watchfulness, in which he speaks a good bit about our vulnerabilities to temptation and our need for God's help in facing it. I'm going to quote him twice in this episode of Timeless Truth. First, temptation will come, but left to yourself, you are like a tumbleweed in a tornado, a handkerchief in a hurricane. The lion will roar, the viper will strike, the flaming arrows of temptation will fly, and you will fall apart from grace. That is why you need God. Beware of self-confidence. That's Brian Hedges again in his book, Watchfulness. So it's good to ask. What sins are we regularly tempted to commit? If we don't know what they are, we might not see the temptation coming. We might fail in watchfulness. In brief, the traditional list of seven deadly sins includes pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth or laziness. Have you noticed how we don't talk about these things much anymore? And why do you think that is? Why don't we talk about that much anymore? And what impact has not talking about that much anymore had on our society or what is it having? What impact is it having on our society, especially when it comes to our kids? Is it good to simply ignore the subjects of temptation and sin? Well, ironically, while we don't talk much about temptation and sin, we also don't talk much about virtue in our culture anymore. Um, the traditional list of seven virtues prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, faith, hope, and charity or love. I've often wondered what would happen if we started talking about those vices and virtues again. Um I'm not sure which of these traditional categories of temptation, the vices that I just mentioned, that you might struggle with. I confess I've struggled with most of them at different times in my life and in different ways. Um I like, really like the way Frederick Dale Brunner put it. He said, the typical temptation of the young is lust, of the middle-aged, ambition, of the elderly, bitterness. Actually, he said, all three drives are similar and related. Ambition is a refined lust. Bitterness is a disappointed one. Frederick Dale Bruner from his commentary on Matthew's gospel and the Sermon on the Mount section specifically. So no matter how young or how old or how wealthy or poor, uh, no matter where we live or what we do for a living, we all need to pray and be watchful and heed Jesus' instruction to watch and pray that we enter not into temptation. And to be praying, Lord, help us. Lead us not into temptation. We need your help all along the way. I want to read a little bit of a lengthy quote from C.S. Lewis on this. He's talking about Jesus, because I know a lot of you are thinking to yourselves, well, Jesus was tempted, and how did he handle it and what happened there? And, you know, is it is it true that he was tempted in like manner that we were? And does he understand what we're going through, the kind of temptations we go through in our own day and time? Listen to what Lewis said. No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. He goes on. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army, remember, Lewis was writing during the World War II. You find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. Lewis is so insightful here. He goes on. That is why bad people in one sense know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it. And Christ, because he's the only man who ever who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means. The only complete realist. That again by C.S. Lewis and from his book, most of you are familiar with, called Mere Christianity. Um it's in the third section of that book, chapter 11, titled The New Men. I think Lewis is quite insightful there, reminding us that Christ, who never caved to temptation, knows temptation in a way that you and I will never know it because we've all caved in at some point. We've all uh fallen in some way. But Jesus, whom we look to, we whom we pray to, um uh the strength uh that we can draw upon from Christ, um, it's it's stronger than any strength we can ever have on our own. Should we stumble and fall, the good news remains good news. Here's a closing insight from uh Hedges, Brian Hedges' book. Even here in your repentance, that's if you've fallen, you must not only turn from temptation and sin, but also turn to Christ. That's what repentance means. Turn away from your sin and turn toward Christ in faith believing. Hedges goes on, he is the one. Jesus is the one who both preserves the tempted and restores the fallen. So wherever you are in respect of temptation and sin, seek Christ. Great, great advice from Brian Hedges. Um let's turn to Jesus as a matter of fact, right now. Let me pray for us. Um, Lord, thank you that you became one of us, that we have someone to turn to yourself, our Lord, our savior, our king. Um you're you're not unfamiliar with the struggles that we go through. You are familiar. As a matter of fact, you know them at a much more intense level than we do. So, our Lord, our God, our savior, our redeemer, we turn to you. I pray for each and every one within the sound of my voice that today, this day, from this moment forward in this day, you would lead us not into temptation. Lord, that you would um help us to be watching and praying that we enter not into temptation, that we would always be looking to you, turning to you, and that in so doing, we would find in you the strength we need to resist or to flee, whichever it is, the temptation that comes our way. That as we turn to you in faith believing and placing our hope, our confidence, our faith, and trust in you, Lord Jesus, be our refuge and strength, be all that we need. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would be present with us, convict us, warn us, lead us, guide us, stir us up to trust in you to place our faith and hope in Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen and amen. God bless you. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Thank you for listening to today's episode of Timeless Truth. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. Wherever you are in your walk of faith, we're glad you joined us today. And we hope this conversation encouraged, challenged, or inspired you. At the Village Chapel, we believe God's word is unique in its source, timeless in its truth, broad in its reach, and transforming in its power. To find more resources or support our ministry, visit the VillageChapel.com.