I'd love for you to join me this morning in Matthew chapter number six. Matthew chapter number six, and we have been in this series for quite some time. And today, we actually conclude our series that we've been in entitled The Blueprint. Of prayer, the blueprint of prayer. I've enjoyed it.
I heard a couple of people, one even in fact, today tell me how this series, and it's nothing that I'm saying, it's the word, has challenged their prayer life. And I hope that that's true in your life as well. And kind of give you the model of how to pray, what to pray for, and God's blueprint for what you should pray for. And so I hope that this series has been a challenge to you. And today, we kind of wrap up the series that we have been in.
And so, Matthew chapter number six. Here today, and we'll jump right into it. Verse five says. And when thou prayest, Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues.
and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, Enter into thy closet. And when thou hast shut the door, Pray to thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee. openly I've said this about every week of the series, but Jesus is not opposed to corporate prayer.
That's not the idea here. He is opposed to prayer that has a motivation for being seen of men. He's opposed to prayer that tries to impress the people around you. And so, if that's your motivation, your heart's desire is for everybody around you to think you're spiritual and that you're just super holy and that kind of thing, then that is what Jesus is opposed to. He's not saying that corporate prayer with other people is the problem.
He's saying the motivation behind which we pray can be the problem. Verse 7, but when you pray, Use not vain repetitions. Literally babbling or these long prayers as the heathen do. for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them?
For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before you ask him. And then in verse 9, he gives us this blueprint of how we are to pray. This is what your prayer life should look like. When you go before the Lord, and hopefully you already have done that this morning. When you go before the Lord in prayer, this is the model.
This is what it should be. It says, after this manner, pray ye, our Father. which art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Forever.
So here he gives us his Blueprint, this blueprint for Christians on how we are to pray. If you've ever wondered what you should pray for, what is it okay to pray for, and what does prayer look like? This is what you go back to. This is what it should be. Hallowed be your name.
It's all about adoration. Your kingdom come, your will be done. It's all about submission. Give us this day our daily bread is all about provision. And then last week we saw forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
It's all about confession. And then today, as we come to this phrase, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, it is all about. about protection. It is all about protection. Protection from the enemy, protection from our flesh.
And that's what we're going to look at for just a few moments here this morning: the idea of temptation. Can we go to the Lord in prayer and then we'll dive in? Father, we love you. God, we thank you for your word. And Lord, as we come before your word, I know we have things going on.
I know that we have responsibilities. We have things that we're already thinking about. And sometimes church, for these few moments, can just become mundane. It can just become routine a lot of times. And Father, I pray that in the few moments that we have that you would teach us this morning how to pray away the enemy.
That you would teach us how to pray for protection. That you would teach us how to pray for deliverance. from the different attacks that the enemy tries to throw at us each and every day. God, I pray that today there's some people in here that need victory, and I pray that today they get it. I pray that today they experience.
the victory that you have for them, that we would experience What it's like to overcome. The temptations that we face. God, speak to our hearts this morning, for it's in your name we pray. And all God's people said, Amen. Amen.
I want to ask you a question. Have you ever in your life uh made a decision And while you were making the decision, you knew In that moment of decision making, you knew that what you were gonna do was the wrong thing for you to do. How many of you have done that, okay? Every single one of you. If you didn't raise your hand, you probably are lying about it, okay?
And that's a conversation, that's a sermon for another day, all right? But here's what I want you to know: we've all been there, we've all been at the point. Of making a decision about something that you are tempted with, and in your heart, You know. What God says, you know that this is the wrong thing to do, but yet in that deciding moment. You decide to do whatever it is that you knew was wrong in the first place.
You say, How in the world can all of us, at some point in our life, we've done that, how could that overtake us? How can something that strong overtake us? And that's what we're going to talk about today, because the reason why we all struggle from time to time with doing what we know is wrong. is because that is the power. of temptation.
That is the power. Of the pool of temptation in our life. And here, in this, this really, this final aspect. Of the Lord's Prayer, as if we call it, or the blueprint of prayer of how we are to pray, Jesus commands us. To pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us.
From Evil. Today we're going to talk about this idea of temptation. What it is? Where it comes from, why it's powerful. And how we can, by God's grace, Overcome the temptation.
An hour. in our life.
So let's look first at the nature. Of temptation, the nature of temptation. Really, what is temptation? What does the Bible say about this idea of temptation?
So, temptation, here's what it is. I'm going to give you a definition. If you take notes, this might be helpful. It won't be up on the screen. But here's what temptation is: temptation, what we're talking about here in Matthew 6.
It is the enticement. To think Desire. Or act. in a way that goes against God's will. Temptation is the enticement to think.
Desire Or act in a way that goes against God's will, that goes against God's God's way that goes against God's standard. Temptation is the pool. toward sin. Temptation is the enticement and the tugging to get you to do something that violates God's character and that violates God's standard of living. That's what temptation is.
That's why here Christ is saying we should pray: lead us not into temptation, lead us not into ways that would cause us to stumble, that would cause us to violate God's standard, lead us not into ways that would cause us to violate God's law and God's. Word. The Bible says a lot about temptation. I mean, it mentions it several times, something that every one of us struggles with. Here's just a few thoughts about temptation to kind of get our minds in gear.
First, temptation by itself is not a sin. Temptation in and of itself is a sin.
So I want you to know that when you get tempted this way, being tempted with something can't be a sin. Here's why: is because, I mean, Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15, it says that Jesus, the very Son of God, was tempted in all accounts, just like you, just like me, and yet he was without sin, but he was tempted. Do you remember the story when Jesus was taken up into the wilderness? Do you remember that? And he was tempted by the enemy himself.
And here's what I want you to know: Jesus was tempted just like you, just like me, but yet he never sinned, he was flawless. In his response to temptation. Here's what that tells me, and it should give you comfort: temptation by itself is not a sin. Temptation, when you get tempted, it's not a sin to be tempted, but the way that you respond to temptation, you can send in. And that's what we learn.
Not only that, we're all tempted. We're all tinted. Every single person in here.
Okay. James chapter 1, verse 13, it says this: Let no man say when he is tempted. It doesn't say if. It says when. Here's what I want you to know.
This should give you comfort: that every single person in this room struggles with temptation. You don't outgrow it. You don't reach a point in your life where you're not going to be tempted. There's not a person in here. I don't care who is the most spiritual, godly person that you look up into this room today.
Here's what I can tell you about them. They are tempted just like you. We're all tempted. And so, therefore, temptation, it's not a sin to be tempted. And therefore, we're all tempted.
And then, number three, I want to show you this as well: we all struggle with similar temptations. Have you ever felt sometimes when you're tempted? Like, I am the only one that struggles with this. I'm the only one that has a problem with this. And therefore, because of that, a lot of times in churches.
We keep our struggles and our flaws. We keep them hidden in our heart. And yet, here's what we learn: we all struggle with similar temptations. I mean, 1 Corinthians 10:13, no temptation has taken you except what is common to man. Here's what that means.
is whatever you are tempted with.
Okay. Whatever temptation you struggle with during the week, here's what I can tell you. There's probably somebody else. In this room. That is struggling with the exact same temptation.
It's common to man. And so, therefore, I want you to know: everybody struggles with some similar temptations. We're all tempted. So, this sermon and this aspect of the Lord's Prayer. This is applicable to every single one of us.
Every single one of us praying. That we should ask God in our prayer every day, lead us not into temptation, lead us not in these places where we can be enticed to do wrong. That's the nature of temptation. It applies to every single one of us. But then I want you to see the source.
Where does temptation come from? Before we get into the, how do we have victory over it? Where does it come from? Is God just out to get you? Ever felt that way?
Like every time you turn around, this must be, God, that's what the Israelites struggled with, right? And so they would always blame God for where they are in life. Isn't that just like him to lead us to this place, right? And you might have sometimes felt this way, but I want you to know that God, this is something you need to know, God. He tests us.
But he does not tempt us. There's a difference. Yes, he tests us. But he does not tempt you. Remember, the definition of temptation is to entice us.
To act or behave or to think and desire something that is contrary to God's word, God is not out to get you to stumble. God is not out to get you to fall. He's not putting you in positions each and every day that you would be tempted to do something that is contrary to God's word. He will test us, he will test our faith. He will test us to mature us to become a more devoted follower of Jesus.
But he's not tempting us. Here in this verse We really see the source of temptation. Here in this verse, in verse 13, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. There's two enemies. that are addressed here.
There's two enemies that are addressed, and we see that these two enemies are where our temptations. Come from. The first enemy is our flesh. is our flesh. He says, lead us not into temptation.
You see, this prayer is a prayer to resist The evil that is within you. This is a prayer of protection. And and deliverance. From the evil That exist. in all of us.
You say, Pastor, I'm a Christian. Yes, but here's what I want you to know: you're a Christian with a very weak flesh. You're a Christian with a very weak flesh. And here's what I want you to know: and this is true for every single person in here. is that everybody's flesh is weak.
Every single one of us. And so that's why, you know, scripture would say, don't boast about not failing. You know, how you see somebody that falls, and it's easy to start thinking, like, that could never happen to me. You see somebody that fell into temptation and into sin. And you're sitting on the other side and you're thinking, man, that would never, ever happen to somebody like me.
Listen, that's why scripture says, take heed. Why does it say that? Take heed lest we fall. Like, I would never do that.
Well, listen, our flesh has the power to do a lot of things you would think you would never do. And so our flesh is weak. And so this is a prayer of deliverance. Let us lead us not into temptation. It's a prayer asking God to give us victory.
To overcome the weakness of our flesh, because we all have the potential to fall into sin. But the second enemy that we see here is not only just the flesh that lives inside of you and me. The weakness of that, it's also addresses the second enemy, and that's the devil himself. That's the devil himself. I mean, it says, deliver us from evil.
Deliver us from evil. Listen, the devil, the enemy. He is out to get you. And so when it says, deliver us from evil, it's literally speaking of the evil one. Deliver us from the enemy.
And I know we don't like to talk about the devil in church a whole lot, do we? We don't like to mention it, but I want you to know you're in an attack. You're in a war. Right now. You are in warfare, and the enemy is trying his best to entice you.
To do things and to act and behave and desire and to think in a way that is contrary to God's word. That's why so many of us can agree and testify to the fact that, yes, there's been times in our life where we knew right from wrong and we knew what God said, but we chose to do something against God's moral law, against God's moral standard in that moment. How in the world? It's because the temptation of the enemy is real. It's because temptation of the evil one.
is strong. If you're like me, sometimes you think that the enemy He only attacks in really weird ways, like you see in the movies, right? Those ways where you ever seen a scary movie and like somebody is like possessed and they're floating in the air or something weird and that kind of thing, right? And we think sometimes, like, that's the only way, and media and production kind of portrays and paints this picture in our mind that that's the way that the devil works. And yes, he can work in ways like that.
But here's what I want you to know: he works in a lot of subtle ways that affect Christians each and every day. His tactics are going to make sin look as enticing and beautiful and okay in your life. And he is going to try to get you to put a question mark where God has put periods in your life. And that's the point. He's going to get you to question things just the way that he did with Adam and Eve.
Do you remember that? Questioning God's word. Questioning what God says. And he's going to paint a picture: like, hey, listen, that's okay that you do that. That's okay that you go with that.
That's okay that you go to that thing. That's okay, you listen to that. That's okay that you watch that. That's okay that you do that. That's okay if you and her do whatever.
And the point is: he's going to make it sound so, so good. You see, this is a prayer of deliverance from your weak flesh. And from the evil One You see, this prayer is asking God to deliver us from the evil within us. as well as the evil around us. James chapter 1 talks about this.
You would know this very familiar passage, James 1:14. It says this: But every man is tempted. That's all of us, okay? When he is drawn away of his own lust. And enticed.
He goes on in verse 15. And I wanted to show you this just before we get into how to overcome temptation, because this is really what I would call the progression. Of temptation in your life if you start giving in. He says, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
So this prayer of temptation Is a prayer that God would deliver you from the evil within you, that's your flesh. And the evil around you, that's the enemy. And here's the danger with temptation. There's a progression that comes with it. You'll see this up on the screen.
Here's what it is. is that temptation starts with a desire. Right? It starts with a desire when when your heart Is lusting, that's what James one says. When your heart is lusting after something that you know.
God says not to. We've all been there. We all agreed earlier that we've been in a situation where you have to decide right from wrong. You know what God says, and you do it anyway. Listen, when you start lusting after it, here's what happens after.
When you start lusting after a desire that is contrary to God's word. You then are enticed. That's the enemy's attack, making it look really good, making it look okay. Making it look like something just ancient, something found in a book that makes no sense in today's modern world, right? This will make you popular.
This will make you cool. This will help you get wherever you're trying to get in life. And when you start to desire something contrary to God's word, and you give in to the enticement and temptation of that, here's what James 1 says: it leads to sin. In other words, doing something and acting and behaving and thinking in a way that is contrary to God's word. And here's the worst thing, and this is the danger for every single one of you.
If you're heading in this direction and you're giving in every day to temptation, you're giving in to these things, he says that the end result of that is death. You ever seen somebody Fall Maybe a like a major situation. Maybe it's a pastor. Or a political figure. Or somebody in leadership.
And you see that they, you know, they did something publicly, and because of that, they had to lose their whole career over it. Ever seen that? Where they lose their family, they lose their job, they lose all respect. I mean, it is like the pit. We've all seen somebody fall that way, but let me tell you this: it didn't just happen for them to get there.
You know what you want to know what happened? They can trace it back, you talk to them, they can trace it all the way back to a moment in their life. Where they started desiring something. That was contrary to God's word. And they started being enticed.
To do something and to think in a way and act and behave in a way that is contrary to God's word. And as they desired it, they gave in to the enticement, and therefore it led to sin. And next thing that you know, their entire life, their career, their family, everything has fallen apart. Why? Because of the power and progression of temptation, if it is not.
protected from if a person's not protected from it. That's the power of it. That's the progression of temptation. And so we understand we're all tempted. Every single person in here is tempted.
We all have similar temptations.
So how do we overcome it?
Well, listen, any good. general going to battle, right? They have a plan. And they have a plan to try to protect themselves from temptation. And here we see there is victory over temptation.
You know what's interesting is, I think that this is a prayer that a lot of us don't pray often. And I was telling a couple people about this even this morning. And as I studied this. I think we're really good praying for the verse prior to this: you know, forgive us our debts, forgive us our debtors. Right?
It's like we are really good at confessing past sins. But we're really bad about praying against potential future sins. And if you l evaluate your prayer life, I'm like this. I'm really good about it. I know when I've done wrong.
Like, I'm really good about going before the throne and saying, hey, God, forgive me. I did this thing wrong. I shouldn't have thought that way. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have, whatever.
I'm really good about that. But you know what I'm just not good at? And you're probably this way as well. It's praying against what I might do this week. Or praying against what I might think this way, this week.
Or praying against what I might say. This week. We struggle with it, but here's what we got to understand. Is that the same God Who can pardon you? For past sins and can forgive you of past sins is also the same God that can give you victory over potential future sins.
Let me say that again. The same God who can pardon you and forgive you over what you've already done is the same God that can give you victory over something that you are about to do. All right, listen, I've said it twice. I'm going to say it a third time to you. Amen.
Let me say it one more time. Here's the point: the same God that can pardon you and forgive you over your past sins is the same God that can give you victory over your future sins. Listen, you guys got to wake up or something here today. Listen, some of us, we don't get it. We don't get it because a lot of times we go to God and we ask for forgiveness, and then next thing you know, you've probably been there.
The very next day, you're doing the same thing you asked for forgiveness for the day before. Why? Perhaps it could be that we're forgetting this element of the blueprint of God's prayer. And that we should be praying against the temptations that come. in our future.
Praying against the flesh. Praying against the evil within us and the evil around us. Us. And here's what I want you to know. You can have victory.
You don't have to watch. What you're struggling to watch. You do not have to listen. to what you know you shouldn't. You do not have to watch.
You don't have to go to certain places that you know you shouldn't. Go. You don't have to put certain things into your body. That you know you shouldn't. You don't have to eat.
Alright, this one's too personal. The things you know you shouldn't eat. Right. You don't have to do the very thing that you are convicted and tempted to do. But oftentimes we find ourselves falling back into these same exact patterns of sin, and we wonder why it could be perhaps that we've completely neglected this final aspect of the Lord's Prayer.
God, lead me not. When was the last time you came into God's presence on a Sunday or perhaps on a Monday morning and said, God, as I go to work today, lead me not into temptation? God, protect me from the evil within me. Protect me from the evil that is around me. Protect me from the attacks.
Protect me from that thing that I struggle with so often. Protect me from the very thing that I ask for forgiveness for. Just yesterday. Protect me from these things. And that's the point.
You can have victory. You can have victory. over these things. You want to know why? It's just found in the gospel.
If you know Jesus is your Savior. And you've trusted him as your savior. What you have trusted in, and what you have believed in, you see, salvation is so much more than just a get-out-of-hell-free card. God help us if that's all that we think salvation is. A lot of times in our churches, we've taught these kids, like when they're young, like, hey, pray and you don't have to spend eternity in hell.
And yes, that's one of the aspects of it. I'm grateful for that. But salvation is so much broader than that, and it's so much more than that. What salvation is, is salvation is trusting and believing that when Christ hung up on a cross for you. That all of your sins, past, present, as well as future.
were hung on that cross. And for him on the cross, it is believing that you can have victory over the power of sin in your life. It's more than just, hey, I get a, I don't have to go to hell one day. Yay, good for me, good for me. No, it's saying this, I'm a Christian, and because of that, today I have power.
Today I have victory over whatever temptation comes my way. That's what the power of salvation really is. And that's what we have to understand. And so what he's saying here is this: pray for it. You've been struggling with the same sin.
Pray that God would protect you from it this week. Go before him and ask him, lead me not into temptation. Deliver us from the evil within us and the evil around us. I want to give you uh just by way of closing. Because all of us face temptation.
And all of us are commanded. to pray for protection from temptation. Here's three practical. applications for you. And I hope that this will help you because listen, we're all tempted.
And every single one of us, you're tempted in some way. In a room this size, there are so many temptations flying around in your heart and in your mind.
Some people don't even know about them right now. And you're thinking, man, if everybody knew the way that I was tempted, I'd be so embarrassed.
Well, listen, that's true of every single one of us.
So how do we get victory? Here's three practical things for you. And I mean, these are super practical, all right? Avoid people. That may tempt you.
Now this is hard. Avoid people. That may tempt you.
1 Corinthians 15, you know what it says? It says, Evil communication corrupts good manners. You know what he's really talking about when he uses the word communication? He's talking about influences. Talking about people around you.
Listen, if you struggle with gossip, Don't hang around with gossips. If you struggle. With substance abuse and stuff like that? Don't hang out with other people that do. If you struggle with pornography and sexual immorality.
Don't hang out with other people that struggle with the exact same thing. Listen, you know what Paul would say in the New Testament when you struggle with these things? He says this word, very strong word, he says, mortify it. You know what that means? Crucify it.
Means put it to death. Listen, here's what I'm saying: is that sometimes for some of us, we keep falling into the same patterns of temptation and giving into the same enticement. It's because we haven't taken some hard steps to protect us from it. Avoid people that may tempt you to do something that you don't want to do. If you hang out with prideful people, You're going to eventually become prideful If you hang out with party people, you're eventually going to become a part of that company.
We all know that, you know, I used to tell my students when I was a youth pastor all the time that if you show me your five closest friends around you, I'm probably going to be able to show you where you're going to end up in 10 years if those five people around you stay with you. And that's true of adults. That's true of life.
So, you got to put yourself in a position with people around you that will help you. Number two, avoid practices. That may tempt you.
Jesus says Matthew 5. He says if you're stumbling. Or he says specifically of your eyes causing you to stumble. Pluck it out. All right.
Now I'm not saying for some of you, like, oh no, that's what I got to do. We're not going to have a plucking out ceremony at the end of this service, all right? But here's what I want you to know. I think Jesus, he wasn't literally saying, hey, if your hand offends you, just cut the thing off, like literally. But what he's saying is, you got to be willing to make a hard decision to protect your spiritual life.
And for some of us, That's where you are today. That you need to cancel the subscription. of whatever it is that you're struggling with. For some of you, you need to put parameters on your device. Because you're struggling.
For some of you, you need to just say, hey, I'm not going to that person's house anymore because when I go there, I always am tempted and enticed to do something that I know I should not do. For some of us, we need to say, I'm not going to that store anymore. For some of us, I'm not watching this. For some of us, I'm canceling whatever it is. That's what he's saying.
Mortify it. Mortify it. Christ died so that you could have victory over whatever it is that you're struggling with. And then third. Avoid places.
So, avoid people, avoid practices, and avoid places that make Tempt you that may tempt you. It makes no sense to step into a fire. Hoping that you're not going to get burned. And for some of you. You continuously step into the fire of temptation.
and you're wondering why you come out on the other side burnt from it. For some of you, you continuously hang out with the same people that tempt you, and guess what? You're wondering why you come out on the other side burnt from it. It's because you continuously step into the fire of temptation. And what Christ is saying here is, He's saying, and can you imagine the emotional side of this?
When He was teaching in Matthew 6, He hadn't even gone to the cross yet. He was teaching them, like, I am about to die for the things that you continuously stumble into. Can you imagine? Like, he's saying, I died for the things you're struggling with. Be willing to make a hard decision to avoid something so that you can have victory and overcome the temptations of your life.
I'm speaking. Listen. You can have victory. For some of you, that's where you are today. You're dealing with the same thing.
Could be your mouth. It could be what you're watching. It could be what you're hearing, what you're listening to. It could be pride. Could be arrogance.
It could be any of those things. It could be something that I did not mention and I haven't even touched on. That's okay. Listen, we're all tempted. We all might have different temptations, but there's probably some that are common to man in this room.
And today, I want you to understand that you can have victory over whatever it is in your life.
Okay.
