Lords Prayer 6: That’s Very Tempting

Matthew 6:13; Mark 11:1-11

April 9, 2006 , Palm Sunday

Rick Warren tells of a Pastor in California that had to go into downtown Santa Ana for a meeting. He was late and ended up parking in a No Parking Zone. He wrote a note to "bribe" the cop and he put it under his windshield wiper. "I’ve circled this block ten times and I have to make this appointment or my heavenly Boss will be upset with me. Remember: `Forgive us our sins.’"

When he got back he found a ticket on his car and this note from a Police officer, "I’ve circled this block for ten years. If I don’t give you a ticket, my earthly boss will be upset with me.

Remember: `Lead us not into temptation.’"

Today we come to the final phrase in our study of the Lord’s Prayer. And this may be the most significant and difficult request of them all. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” or the more modern translation, “Keep us from temptation and deliver us from the Evil One.” Is there anyone here that does not understand the need for that appeal? Since the Garden of Eden, temptation has been the oldest problem on the planet, and we all have problems with it. For we all have weaknesses of the flesh, we all have dark areas we don’t keep under control.

That’s the bad news. The good news is: God desires to assist us. He says, “I want to help you get control of your life. I want to teach you how you can handle and overcome temptation.”
 
First, let’s talk about one of the biggest problems with this verse.  Most of us learned this phrase by saying, “Lead us not into temptation...” But, that might prompt one who knows the Bible to ask, “Doesn’t Scripture say that God will never tempt us? If that’s true then why would He ever lead us into temptation?” It would be a good question because indeed the Bible does say that God does not tempt us. James 1:13- “When someone is tempted, he shouldn’t say that God is tempting him. God can’t be tempted by evil, and God doesn’t tempt anyone.”(GW) So, what are we asking here?

The phrase “Lead us not into...” can be translated “direct me around or away from temptation.” The word here paints the picture of a Father directing his child around some danger.

Several years ago at a Promise Keepers conference, Dennis Rainey placed animal traps on stage. They were big ones too. Bear traps and even an African safari large animal trap that took two men to open. There were a dozen or so traps, and he set or opened them all. Then Dennis Rainey had a father blindfold his teen-age son, the father then walked to the other side of the stage and called his son to come to him. The boy took one step and the Father called out, “Wait! I’ll keep you from stepping in the traps.” So this Dad went back across the stage, took his son’s hand and “leads” him through the difficult maze of traps. Such is the heart of this petition. We are asking God to guide us around the traps and temptations in life.

You see, the common meaning of temptation is as an “enticement to sin.” James 1:13 says, “Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him.”

In a sense we are asking God to please keep us safe from ourselves.

Let’s look at one very clear passage that speaks on this subject: 1 Corinthians 10:13. For here, in this one verse are several very helpful truths about temptation. “There isn’t any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. But you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it.”

Here are 3 truths about temptation that we need to recognize...

(1) Temptation comes to every person. Notice is says that you don’t experience any temptation that is unusual for humans. In other words, the temptations you have are nothing new. Someone in history has experienced the same thing. Temptation comes to every person, no matter how spiritual. Jesus was the perfect Son of God yet He was tempted. Matt.4:1-11 is the record of how Jesus was tempted in the wilderness before he started his ministry. If the Son of God was tempted you and I will be too! You see, temptation is common. Even pastors are no different. I have to battle with temptation just like anyone else.

(2) Temptation is NOT sin. Listen to Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV), “15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
We can come confidently to the throne of grace in our time of need because Christ has been there, and he has promised to get us through this!

You see, righteousness doesn’t lie in the fact that you are never tempted. So don’t become discouraged if an evil thought passes through your mind or even if an evil desire comes to you. Righteousness lies in the fact that when you are tempted you resist the temptation and obey God.

In other words, you are not responsible for the temptation, but you are responsible for how long it lodges there.

Martin Luther once said, “You may not be able to stop a bird from landing on your head, but you don’t have to let it build a nest!” Temptation is not sin.  Entertaining the temptation, however, is another story for another sermon.

(3) Temptation can be overcome. Don’t sweat it!  The good news is that we do not have to be ground down by failure time and time again. God will help us handle it. The last part of 1 Corinthians 10:13 is “...you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it."

God’s promise is two-fold: First, God won’t allow any temptation to come our way that is impossible for us to resist. I sometime hear people say, "I was in a situation and I just had no choice." Or we get flippant and say, “The Devil made me do it.” (Get it?  Flippant—Flip Wilson ?)  Of course, this is not true unless you want to contradict God’s Word. He says that you can count on Him. He’s faithful and will not permit you to be tempted with an overpowering temptation.

The second thing God does, is that with every temptation, God gives an escape route. Let me ask you, if you took God’s escape route every time you were tempted, could you be sinless? Sure! If you took it every time. But the truth is as long as we live here on earth we will never be sinless. God knows that and so do we. God’s protection is not to make you sinless (we’ve already blown that one) but it is to help us sin-less.

Wow.  Did you ever realize that you were saying so much when you said “Lead us not into temptation”? 

Well, I’ve got time, so we’re not done with this phrase yet.

Let’s come back to the here-and-now, today.  Today we are celebrating Palm Sunday.  We are remembering the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem .  We are waving our palm branches along with the children and the people who are putting their coats down on the ground beneath Jesus’ feet.

In a sense, we want to feel good and are tempted focus on this celebration day today and then to look ahead to next Sunday, Easter Sunday, where we focus on the joyous occasion of the Lord’s resurrection.  But if we give into that temptation, we miss the most important part of the story, which can be summed up, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV)

You see, those people shouting “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday fell away from Jesus later that week and turned into an angry mob who shouted, “Crucify him!  Crucify him!” 

Don’t be tempted to skip over this crucial part of holy week—the Last Supper and betrayal of Jesus.  For without it, there is no Easter.  

“The Last Painting” video ( 8:30 service).

Plan to come to the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services this week, so that Easter Sunday will have a fresh new meaning for you and your family, and then you can shout with confidence, “Christ is risen indeed!”  Because that’s why we worship him!