Harvest Pointe Christian Church, Milford Ohio is a non-denominational Christian Church (Church of Christ) on the Eastside of Cincinnati OH

Obeying Gods Commandments | Series: Teach me to Pray | 03-28-10

Obeying God's Commandments
Series: Teach Me to Pray (The Lord's Prayer)
Matthew 6:13

The Seven Deadly Sins

wrath (anger), greed, sloth (laziness), pride, lust, envy, gluttony

Matthew 6:13:  "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

  I. We cannot avoid temptation altogether.   Matthew 4:1
        1. Even if you follow God's will in your life, you will still be tempted.
        2. It is not sinful to be tempted.

 II. This is a prayer of deliverance.  I Corinthians 10:13, Matthew 26:41

III. Temptation comes from within.  James 1:13, I John 2:16

 IV. Do not purposely put yourself in danger.

  V. We are vulnerable and weak.  I Peter 5:8, Psalm 50:15

 VI. Satan works through people.  II Thessalonians 3:2

Three Practical Things We Can Do

1. Acknowledge your own weakness.  I Corinthians 10:12
2. Pray daily for deliverance from temptation.
3. Do your part to avoid the temptation.  James 4:7-8, I Corinthians 10:13

Full Text 

Listed on your outlines and let's put it above me are The Seven Deadly Sins. They are wrath (anger), greed, sloth (laziness), pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. Now, you won't find these sins listed together like this in the Bible. The early church leaders just identified these areas as the ones where Christians are most likely to fall. This is not a complete list of all the sins, but these are the areas where we are most frequently tempted to mess up.
Now, look at those Seven Deadly Sins and identify the two where you are tempted the most. Don't circle them or anything. Someone might see your answers and start blackmailing you for White Castles or something! But, this is not so much an examination as it is a confession. We're acknowledging we have areas of weakness.
Now determine the one where you're least likely to stumble. We need to identify our strengths as well as our weaknesses, right?
But, we all have some areas where we struggle. Maybe yours is anger.  You fly off the handle a lot. Or does Greed undermine your contentment? You have to have more. Or maybe you're the opposite and you fight laziness. You watch a lot of television or spend your evenings on the internet but don't do the things that need to be done. Maybe your temptation is pride. That was Satan's downfall. Maybe you are tempted to lust. One survey revealed that 97% of men admitted to lusting. The other 3% admitted to lying. Or maybe it's envy. Are you jealous of those who have more? And then there's gluttony. When we think of gluttony we usually think of overeating. But we can overindulge in drinking, shopping, and even recreation.
The readers of Discipleship Journal, which tend to be Christian leaders, were asked to rank the areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them. Here was their list in order of appeal. Greed was at the top of the list. Then pride and self-centeredness, followed by laziness. Then there was a tie between anger and lust, followed by envy, gluttony, and they included lying.
Regardless of which of these you identified as your weakness, this illustrates that all Christians are tempted to do wrong. I doubt if any of you looked at that list of seven temptations and said, "None of these appeal to me." Some of you struggled to narrow it down to the two most powerful pulls in your life.
We all battle temptation every day. I Peter 2:11 is written to Christian people and it says, "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." Peter says the Christian life is a battleground.
We've been studying The Lord's Prayer. It is actually a model prayer that Jesus gave as He taught His disciples how to pray. Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:9-13, "9This, then, is how you should pray:  'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [And here is our topic today] 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Now this one takes a little thought to properly understand what we are to pray for. It does not mean that we should pray that we are never in a place where we will be tempted. By looking at both life and Scripture we know that would be a "pie in the sky" type of a request.
I. We cannot avoid temptation altogether.
We are all tempted every single day. That does not mean we are not saved or are not spiritual. It means we are normal in this world.
Sometimes God does lead into places where there are serious temptations. God led Abraham and he was tempted to doubt and lie. God led Moses to deliver the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, but it was while Moses was following God's will that he was tempted to lose his temper and be filled with pride.
 Think about Jesus. Jesus was sinless. Yet, after Jesus was baptized, the Bible says in Matthew 4:1, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." In fact, Jesus was tempted for forty days! Jesus was tempted so much that Hebrews 4:15 says this of Jesus as it talks about Him being our Great High Priest, "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."
First we learn from this verse that
1. Even if you follow God's will in your life, you will still be tempted.
Just like Abraham and Moses and even Jesus, even when we are doing what God wants us to do, we will be tempted. You come here today to worship, but you are tempted to let your mind wander. God leads you into some kind of ministry, but you're tempted to be filled with pride. He leads you into marriage, but you're tempted to neglect your mate or to quit. So no matter where God leads you, temptation will be there waiting.
Secondly we learn from Hebrews 4:15 that
2. It is not sinful to be tempted.
Temptation is a call to battle. The sin comes when we let our passions take control and we yield to the temptation-when we let the temptation win the battle. The wrong comes from allowing our passions to rule us rather than obeying God's commandments. The Bible says that Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses, those areas where we can be tempted, because He "…has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin."
So when we pray, "Lead us not into temptation", we are not praying, "God, lead us only into places where we won't even want to do wrong." That place does not exist. It's unrealistic. We are to pray that we do not hit any temptations that we can't resist. Which brings us to our second point.
II. This is a prayer of deliverance.
We are asking God to keep His promise in I Corinthians 10:13 that "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." This is a prayer that we do not yield to sin. That we will have the strength to resist.
Let's look at Matthew 6:13 again. We've been focusing on the first clause. Now focus on the second clause. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." This is a prayer that we be delivered from Satan! That he doesn't trap us with a temptation that we can't handle. Rather than a prayer that we never be tempted, it is a prayer of deliverance.
Remember when Jesus led His disciples into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Even while Jesus prayed, Judas Iscariot was leading a large group of Jews to the garden to arrest Jesus and drag Him off to be crucified. Jesus told them in Matthew 26:41, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Again Jesus says to pray not to be tempted, but this time He says it is because we are weak. Jesus knew that in a short time He would be arrested and His disciples would be tempted to fight with the sword, or run away in fear, or even to deny Him. So Jesus was telling them to pray for the strength to resist the temptation. Pray to be delivered. Pray for strength not to yield.
And just because God is leading you, don't think it is God tempting you. "Lead us not into temptation" does not mean God is the one doing it to you. The Bible makes it clear that God never tempts a person to do evil. James 1:13 says, "13When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed." Did you catch where the problem is? It's us!
III. Temptation comes from within.
If I put out a bowl of boiled hogs' eyes and told you not to eat any of them, how many of you would be tempted to pop a few in your mouth anyway? Not too many. Why?  Because it would gross you out.
Now, what if I put out some home-made, fresh out of the oven apple cobbler with hand-cranked home-made ice cream on top. And I told you not to eat any. Would you be tempted to grab some anyway? Now this is a different situation. Why? Because we love the taste.
The point is, if we didn't want to do it to start with, Satan couldn't tempt us. If you are tempted to steal, isn't it because you wanted to just take something anyway? When you are tempted to lie, isn't it because you wanted to deceive someone in the first place? When you're tempted to envy, isn't it because you are not content with what you've got? Satan tempts us by baiting his hook with something we want to begin with. The source of the problem is inside of us.
John also talks about how the problem is within us. I John 2:16 reads, "For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world." Here we have three sources of temptation that even after 2,000 years lies in the hearts of all of us.
"The cravings of sinful man" is difficult to translate. It includes all the physical appetites: Food, drink, sleep, and sex. These things are not wrong in themselves. But when they are an obsession; when they consume; when they are done inappropriately; when you desire them more than you should, that's when they become a source of temptation.
The "lust of his eyes" has to do with culture. It is wanting what you see around you. It might be that you want to be socially refined and polished. Maybe it's a certain educational degree. Or to live in a certain neighborhood or have a certain job or income. Or maybe you want to be a tough guy or one of the good ol' boys. Or maybe it's dressing a certain way or listening to certain music. It's wanting what you see in your culture. Again, none of these things are wrong in themselves, but when Satan can latch on to one and get it to grow into an obsession, then it becomes a source of temptation.
And the third one is "the boasting of what he has and does." We do need to have pride in ourselves and our accomplishments. But again, we all have known someone who constantly brags and you know it's all exaggerated. I knew a guy that by the age of thirty had owned a construction company, been an underwater welder, changed light bulbs on top of radio towers and about twenty other exciting jobs. Not bad for about ten years of work!
But these are three sources of temptation that live within each of us. The cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does. Pretty well sums us all up, doesn't it! Through these windows Satan does what he can to persuade you sin.
Now, occasionally God does test someone like he did Abraham when He asked him to sacrifice his son and then stopped him. Hebrews 12 tells us that sometimes God allows hardship into our lives to discipline us like a Father His children. But God never tempts us to do something sinful. That comes from within. So we need to pray for strength and deliverance. Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Don't pray for lighter burdens, pray for stronger backs."
Now, if we are going to ask God to deliver us from the evil one, that means, fourthly,
IV. Do not purposely put yourself in danger.
When you pray "deliver me from the evil one," you need to ask God to help you keep so close to Him that you will be able to resist. As Peter said, it's a battle. It's hard enough to resist Satan without playing into his hands by putting yourself in unnecessary danger. If you are an alcoholic, you don't go to the bar with your buddies. If you have a drug problem, don't go to certain parties. If you get in trouble when you are with certain people, avoid joining in with them.
I've never seen the show, and I have no desire to either. But "Temptation Island" was a FOX miniseries that took four real life couples in "committed relationships" and put them on an exotic Caribbean Island. Then the producers separated them into two groups of four men and four women and plunked them in the middle of 26 singles who had been chosen for their ability to tempt members of the opposite sex. Network executives insisted that the show was not about sex but about exploring the dynamics of serious relationships. Right.
Chuck Colson said, "You have to wonder what kind of people would agree to this arrangement. They deliberately walked into temptation to see if their relationship and character could withstand it."
I read about an off-handed comment from a young woman named Mandy who may have put it all in perspective. On the evening of the fifth day while being carried to her hut on the shoulders of her date, Mandy looked back over her shoulder into the camera and said, "Tonight I'm in Heaven but tomorrow I'll be in Hell." Think about it. She's throwing away future years of joy for a few hours of immediate gratification. Why? Because she deliberately placed herself in temptation.
When we pray, "Lead us not into temptation," we're saying, "Lord, please give me the strength and wisdom to avoid putting myself in a position where I will be tempted. There is enough temptation hitting us every day. We don't need to go looking for it. Use the common sense that God gave you. If you pray for deliverance, don't put yourself in danger.
When we pray, "lead us not into temptation," we are also recognizing that
V. We are vulnerable and weak.
When we ask God for help, we are admitting we can't do it on our own. Some temptations are so strong we need help from friends or professionals and most definitely from God. It's like the little boy who had saved up all winter for a new ball glove. When spring came he was almost there and he prayed, "O God, don't let the ice cream truck come down our street!" Some temptations are just so powerful we can't resist by our own strength.
We have a spiritual enemy, Satan, who is working hard to trap and enslave you. Jesus called him a murderer, a liar, and a thief that comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Satan hates God so much that he wants to kill your relationship with him; he wants to steal your sense of purpose, your joy, your poise, and your assurance of salvation; he wants to destroy your witness to the outside world.
Peter warns in I Peter 5:8, ""Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Watch out because Satan, like a powerful lion, attacks unexpectedly and we can't resist him alone.
So when we pray "Deliver us from the Evil One", we are saying, "Father, I recognize that I am too weak to defend myself against such a powerful enemy on my own. I need your help." God tells us in Psalm 50:15, "… call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."
Next I want you to know that
VI. Satan works through people.
Satan is not everywhere like God is. So Satan often has his followers incite people to lead you astray. II Thessalonians 3:2 tells us to "… pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith." Satan has evil people who warp the truth to accomplish his wicked ends.
They are often nice people who don't even realize Satan is using them. They invite you to the wrong kind of party. They encourage you to join in on the dirty talk. They say things that sound good on the surface, but the words lead people astray. You see, we need to be the light of the world. We need to be the salt of the earth. We need to be the ones influencing others for good-- not the ones being influenced to sin. Don't give in when people tempt you to sin. Pray, "… lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Let's close with three practical things we can do that hopefully, you already gathered from this sermon.
1. Acknowledge your own weakness.
Have you ever noticed that a lot of Christian people underestimate their ability to cope with suffering and they overestimate their ability to cope with temptation? We see other Christians going through horrible circumstances and we say, "I could never endure that," but with the power of the Holy Spirit we can. On the other hand, we are overconfident of our ability to cope with temptation. "Oh, I can go to that party without getting sucked in." "I can go to that university without being influenced." "I can hang out with those people and not be influenced." The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 10:12, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"
2. Pray daily for deliverance from temptation.
Once we recognize our weakness and we see our need for God's help, we begin each day praying, "Lord, I don't know what today is going bring, but reinforce me against temptation."
And sometimes we know in advance we will be tempted. Then we can pray specifically. "Lord, we are getting together with some of our family today. You know how they can be and sometimes I react negatively. So help me to guard my tongue and not be quick tempered."
3. Do your part to avoid the temptation.
If you have a problem with gambling, don't go to a casino. If you have a problem with materialism, don't just hang out at the mall. If you have a problem with overeating, don't go to Golden Corral.
Let me tell you about two preachers. One went to visit someone one afternoon. The lady met him at the door, completely naked. He did the right thing. He turned around and walked back to the sidewalk. He stood on the sidewalk for a few moments and then he got stupid. He went back to the door and went inside. He threw away his family, his ministry, and a bright future. Why? Because he did not do his part to avoid the temptation.
Another minister led a local prostitute to Christ. During his many visits, no one ever accused or suspected him of anything. Isn't it amazing that the gossips never said anything about the preacher seeing a prostitute?
What I didn't tell you is that the preacher had a four year old daughter who was a motor mouth that often embarrassed mom and dad because she told everything she knew to everyone! The preacher just took his four year old daughter with him when he visited the prostitute. If anything would have happened, she would have told! And I'm also certain his four year old daughter was a tremendous deterrent to yielding to temptation!
Do your part to avoid yielding to temptation. James 4:7-8 tells us, "7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you." Do your part.
The problem with temptation is, when we yield, it is our own fault. We have no excuse. I Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
When we pray, "… lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one," we are tapping into God's promise to provide a way out. God also provides a way out of our sin. The way out is Jesus. If you are ready to accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior this morning, come forward and we'll help you confess Him and be baptized into Him. Or if you have already done that and would like to place your membership with us, come forward as we stand and sing.

Based on a 09/22/1999 sermon by Bob Russell of South East Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky.