In our last little heart -to -heart talk, we
were discussing that portion. The Word of God
is found in the sixth chapter of Matthew. That
wonderful pattern for prayer that Jesus gave
us. 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. And you will remember that we saw that in
this prayer we are obliged either to forgive
our enemies in sincerity and in truth, not just
merely with words, not merely with our lips.
But we must forgive our enemies with sincerity
and truth. Or never again 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. You have no
right to ask the forgiveness of your own sins.
as long as you are not willing to forgive another
his injustices against you. We cannot demand
our own release before we release our brother.
It's there. That's the reason when you analyze
the whole thing, you'll see that the forgiveness
of sin is the central... problem of life. And
it's just like that. Now we come to the next
part that Jesus gave in this pattern for our
pray. And get it just as I said it. Our pray.
This is not His prayer. This is our prayer. And
this is the pattern that he has left for you
and for me to use. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. This clause has probably
caused more difficulty than... any other part
of the prayer. For many earnest people, it has
literally been a stumbling block. They feel,
and rightly so, that God could not lead anyone
into temptation or into evil in any circumstances.
And so, to them, these words do not ring true.
Oh, so many people had been regarding this part
of the prayer. 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. Usually, when one is giving an interpretation
of the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, when
they come to this clause, They read it and then
pass over it very gracefully because it just
is not being understood. And if one was a medical
man, they would just diagnose the case as virus.
You know, I told you, I have a very prominent
doctor in the East who, being just a... personal
talk. He said, you know, 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. And haven't
you talked with folk who had Oh, something wrong
with the head. And the doctor said, well, it's
just virus. And then maybe the next hour you'll
find someone else. They have a terrific pain
in the back. What is it? The doctor said it was
virus. And then there's, oh, excruciating pain
in the leg. And they had it diagnosed. And the
doctor said, virus. 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. I know there have
been a number of attempts that have been made
to recast the wording. People have 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. There
are those who've tried to tell us that the Greek
original meant something different than you and
I, except as being a part of the prayer. But!
All of this is absolutely unnecessary. Jesus
said exactly what he meant. There's not a lost
word. And the meaning of this, the spiritual
meaning is tremendous. Don't try to sidestep
it. Don't try to put words in the mouth of Jesus
that are not there. Don't try to change the meaning
of this. He said exactly what he meant to say.
And what is here in this prayer is exactly as
it should be. First of all, you've got to remember
that the Lord's Prayer covers the whole of the
spiritual life. Condensed, though the form is,
is nevertheless a complete manual for the development
of the soul. It covers everything. If all that
we had, if the only Bible that we had, portion
as given from the lips of Jesus and that which
we call the Lord's Prayer, if all we had was
just these few verses as recorded in the sixth
chapter of Matthew, we would have enough gospel
to know how to be saved, how to live a spiritual
life, for this covers everything. phase of a
man's life, one's spiritual life. It's a complete
manual for the development of the soul. 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. He knew
well the temptations in the life of every human
being. Now, the difficulty with too many people
is this fact. They feel that after they have
been born again, after this wonderful experience
of regeneration, they will no longer have temptations.
And this is where many a spiritual leader has
failed. 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, there'll no longer
be battles, there'll no longer be temptations,
all that will have ceased in that wonderful experience
of regeneration. My friend, believe me when I
tell you, we'll have temptations. Patience 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. And it's just
like that. I don't care how deeply spiritual
you may be. 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. I just smile to myself
and I think, brother, you're only kidding yourself,
that's all. You are the only one who's been deceived.
I don't care who you are, what spiritual experiences
you may have received, how deep you go in the
things of God. 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.
I will agree with you. But I will have to argue
the fact with you if you tell me that you never
are tempted. 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 and to have given Paul
the deep spiritual secrets that he gave to him.
I do not believe any human being was ever closer
to God. in the flesh than Apostle Paul. And yet,
constantly, he was reminding us of the temptations
that you and I would face. And he was constantly
having a warfare within himself regarding his
own temptations. Why? Because he was still in
the body of flesh. Know that. This flesh is still
corruption. This flesh is still mortal. And you'll
have temptations as long as there's breath in
this mortal body, regardless of your deep spirituality.
I give you a personal word of God is found in...
James, the first chapter. Let no man say when
he is tempted, I am tempted of God. Now that's
exactly what I'm trying to say. This clause in
this prayer that Jesus has taught us to pray
has probably caused more difficulty than any
other part of the prayer because Christians feel,
and rightly so, that God could not lead anyone
into temptation or into evil in any circumstances.
And so they feel that these words do not ring
true. And this is substantiated in this personal
word of God. Let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted
with evil, neither tempteth he, any man but every
man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own
lust and enticed 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 The
scripture continues, Then when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death. Bow me a little closer.
Temptation is not a sin. Remember? I said the
greatest saint living today will be tempted because
the devil is still very much alive. Secondly,
because that saint of God is still in a body
of flesh and that flesh is still corrupt, there
will still be the lust of the flesh. You will
be tempted, but temptation in itself is no sin.
It's when you yield to temptation that it becomes
a sin. Don't tell me that you are no longer tempted.
Look at the very Son of the Living God. And do
not say that his temptation was not real. Do
not tell me that he could not have yielded to
temptation. Remember that he was as much man
in the flesh as though he were not God. And of
course, as much God as though he were not man.
Jesus was tempted by the same devil who tempts
you and tempts me. But even though he was tempted
that temptation was not a sin because he did
not yield to temptation. He was as Perfect as
though he had never been tempted. Don't feel
as though you failed God. Don't feel as though
you have slipped spiritually. Don't feel as though
you have lost some spiritual experience when
temptation comes to you. No, my friend. With
that temptation, Jesus will be there to be your
strengthener. and you'll receive a reward for
having overcome the temptation. Amen.