1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,000 In our last little heart-to-heart talk, we were discussing that portion of the Word of God as found in the sixth chapter of Matthew, 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:15,000 that wonderful pattern for prayer that Jesus gave us. 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:35,000 And we discussed that part of the prayer which He gave in these words, Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. 4 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:47,000 And you will remember that we saw that in this prayer we are obliged either to forgive our enemies in sincerity and in truth, 5 00:00:47,000 --> 00:01:07,000 not just merely with words, not merely with our lips, but we must forgive our enemies with sincerity and truth. 6 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:18,000 And we are never going to repeat this prayer. The Lord actually makes our claim to our own forgiveness to depend upon our forgiveness of others, and it's just like that. 7 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:35,000 You have no right to ask for forgiveness of your own sins as long as you are not willing to forgive another's injustices against you. 8 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:44,000 We cannot demand our own release before we release our brother. It's there. 9 00:01:44,000 --> 00:02:00,000 That's the reason when you analyze the whole thing, you see that the forgiveness of sin is the central problem of life, and it's just like that. 10 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:13,000 Now we come to the next part that Jesus gave in this pattern for our prayer. 11 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:27,000 And get it, just as I said it, our prayer. This is not His prayer. This is our prayer. 12 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:37,000 And this is the pattern that He has left for you and for me to use. 13 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:53,000 Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This clause has probably caused more difficulty than any other part of the prayer. 14 00:02:53,000 --> 00:03:01,000 For many earnest people, it has literally been a stumbling block. 15 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:11,000 They feel and rightly so that God could not lead anyone into temptation or into evil in any circumstances. 16 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:16,000 And so to them these words do not ring true. 17 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:26,000 Oh, so many people have been confused regarding this part of the prayer. 18 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:38,000 And I can honestly say that I do not believe that I have ever really heard a sermon preached on this part of the Lord's Prayer. 19 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Usually when one is giving an interpretation of the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, when they come to this clause, they ring it and then pass over it very gracefully. 20 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:59,000 Because it just is not being understood. 21 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:09,000 And if one was a medical man, they would just diagnose the case as virus. 22 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:21,000 You know, I told you, the very prominent Dr. Henry East, who in just a personal talk, he said, you know, 23 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:40,000 we have gotten to the place in the medical profession that if we are not quite sure what the disease is and in diagnosing a case, why we just call it virus. 24 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:50,000 And haven't you talked with folks who had, oh, something wrong with the head and the doctor said, well, it's just virus. 25 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:56,000 And then maybe the next hour you'll find someone else. They have a terrific pain in the back. What is it? 26 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:09,000 The doctor said it was virus. And then there's all excruciating pain in the leg and they had it diagnosed and the doctor said virus. 27 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:25,000 And so we can just put this down as virus because spiritual virus, because we just haven't been able to understand this portion of the Lord's Prayer. 28 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:31,000 I know there have been a number of attempts that have been made to recast the wording. 29 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:48,000 They felt that Jesus could not have said what he is represented to have said. And so they look about for some phrasing, which they think would be more in accordance with the general tone of his teaching. 30 00:05:48,000 --> 00:06:04,000 And those who tried to tell us that the Greek original meant something different than you and I accept as being a part of the prayer. 31 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:13,000 But all of this is absolutely unnecessary. 32 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:22,000 Jesus said exactly what he meant. 33 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,000 There's not a lost word. 34 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:33,000 And the meaning of this, the spiritual meaning is tremendous. 35 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,000 Don't try to sidestep it. 36 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:42,000 Don't try to put words in the mouth of Jesus that are not there. 37 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:47,000 Don't try to change the meaning of this. 38 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:56,000 He said exactly what he meant to say. 39 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:04,000 And what is here in this prayer is exactly as it should be. 40 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:11,000 First of all, you've got to remember that the Lord's Prayer covers the whole of the spiritual life. 41 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:20,000 The Bible, once, though the form is, is nevertheless a complete manual for the development of the soul. 42 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:24,000 It covers everything. 43 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:40,000 If all that we had, if the only Bible that we had, was just this small portion as given from the lips of Jesus, and that which we call the Lord's Prayer. 44 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:46,000 All we had was just these few verses, as we call it in the sixth chapter of Matthew. 45 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:57,000 We would have enough gospel to know how to be saved, how to live a spiritual life. 46 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:07,000 For this covers every phase of a man's life, one's spiritual life. 47 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:12,000 It's a complete manual for the development of the soul. 48 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:33,000 And Jesus knew only too well the difficulties that can and do beset the soul when once the stages of spiritual unfoldment have been passed. 49 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:43,000 He knew well the temptations in the life of every human being. 50 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:49,000 Now, the difficulty with too many people is this fact. 51 00:08:49,000 --> 00:09:03,000 They feel that after they have been born again, after this wonderful experience of regeneration, they will no longer have temptations. 52 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:09,000 And this is where many a spiritual leader has failed. 53 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:31,000 We somehow, in our zeal in trying to get men and women to accept the Christ as their Savior, paint such a rosy picture of the Christian life that the unregenerated feel that when once they have accepted the Christ, 54 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:47,000 there will no longer be battles, there will no longer be temptations, all the fact will have ceased in that wonderful experience of regeneration. 55 00:09:47,000 --> 00:10:14,000 My friend, believe me when I tell you, we'll have temptations as long as we're still in the body of flesh and steel on this old earth, and as long as the enemy of our soul is in the same world. 56 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,000 And it's just like that. 57 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:23,000 I don't care how deeply spiritual you may be. 58 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:41,000 When anyone comes to me and tells me that they have reached such a spiritual plateau, they have soared so high spiritually that they no longer have temptations. 59 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:50,000 I just smile to myself and I think, Brother, you're only kidding yourself. 60 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:55,000 You are the only one who's being deceived. 61 00:10:55,000 --> 00:11:06,000 I don't care who you are, what spiritual experiences you may have received. 62 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:12,000 How deep you go in the things of God. 63 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:25,000 I would not discredit the fact one iota, not for a minute, would I argue the fact with you that you are not a saint of God. 64 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,000 I will agree with you. 65 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:43,000 But I will have to argue the fact with you if you tell me that you never are tempted. 66 00:11:43,000 --> 00:12:09,000 My brother, when one is even as spiritual as the Apostle Paul, one of the greatest saints that ever lived, when you realize what a surrendered life Paul must have lived for God to have used that vessel 67 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:16,000 and to have given Paul the deep spiritual secrets that he gave to him. 68 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:26,000 I do not believe any human being was ever closer to God in the flesh than the Apostle Paul. 69 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:36,000 And yet constantly he was reminding us of the temptations that you and I would face. 70 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:45,000 He was constantly having a war within himself regarding his own temptations. 71 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,000 Why? 72 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:53,000 Because he was still in the body of flesh. 73 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,000 Know that. 74 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,000 This flesh is still corruption. 75 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:04,000 This flesh is still mourning. 76 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:18,000 And you will have temptations as long as there's breath in this mortal body, regardless of your deep spirituality. 77 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:24,000 I give you a personal word of God as found in James, the first chapter. 78 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:33,000 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. 79 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,000 Now that's exactly what I'm trying to say. 80 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:47,000 This clause in this prayer that Jesus has taught us to pray has probably caused more difficulty than any other part of the prayer 81 00:13:47,000 --> 00:14:02,000 because Christians feel and rightly so that God could not lead anyone into temptation or into evil in any circumstances. 82 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:07,000 And so they feel that these words do not ring true. 83 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,000 And this is substantiated in this personal word of God. 84 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:15,000 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. 85 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:22,000 For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man. 86 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:34,000 But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. 87 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:51,000 As long as he is still in the body of flesh, as long as this body is still corruption, there is still the flesh to contend with. 88 00:14:51,000 --> 00:15:07,000 The scripture continues, then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. 89 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:12,000 Bow me a little closer. 90 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:19,000 Temptation is not a sin. 91 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:32,000 Remember, I said the greatest saint living today will be tempted because the devil is still very much alive. 92 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:45,000 Secondly, because that saint of God is still in a body of flesh and that flesh is still corrupt, 93 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:51,000 there will still be the lust of the flesh. 94 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:56,000 You will be tempted, but temptation in itself is no sin. 95 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:04,000 It's when you yield to temptation that it becomes a sin. 96 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:10,000 Don't tell me that you are no longer tempted. 97 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:19,000 Look at the very sum of the living God and do not say that his temptation was not real. 98 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:24,000 Do not tell me that he could not have yielded to temptation. 99 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:38,000 Remember that he was as much man in the flesh as though he were not God. 100 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:43,000 And of course, there's much God as though he were not man. 101 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:53,000 Jesus was tempted by the same devil who tempts you and tempts me. 102 00:16:53,000 --> 00:17:10,000 But even though he was tempted, that temptation was not a sin because he did not yield to temptation. 103 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:20,000 He was as perfect as though he had never been tempted. 104 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,000 Don't feel as though you failed God. 105 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:28,000 Don't feel as though you have slipped spiritually. 106 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:34,000 Don't feel as though you have lost some spiritual experience when temptation comes to you. 107 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:42,000 No, my friend, with that temptation, Jesus will be there to be your strengthener 108 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:50,000 and you'll receive a reward for having overcome the temptation. Amen.