"Lead us not into Temptation"
This is a chapter from Phillip Keller's book "A Layman looks at the Lord's Prayer". My dad E-mailed me this chapter last week...it has been a huge help to me. I know it's a lot of text...but if you ever find yourself struggling with temptation, it will be worth the read.
At first thought, "And lead us not into temptation" appears to be a very simple petition. But is it? Would God lead anyone into temptation? Any person who truly loves his Father in heaven does not wish to be tempted. We don't want to displease Him. Who wants to be dragged down into evil? We have no desire to do wrong, do we? Surely God, our Father, knows this. Why then should He ever lead anyone into temptation? Does He do this? Does He place us in situations where we can or will be tempted?
As we contemplate this request, we begin to see that it really is not as simple as it seems. The questions that come to mind demand answers. Do we really understand the part played by temptation in a Christian's life? Do we know how to cope with it when it does come? Can we fully understand why we should ask our Father to keep us from it? It is well for us to remind ourselves that when Jesus Christ taught His disciples this prayer. He Himself had already been through very severe temptation. We are told that after His baptism in the Jordan, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil" (Mt 4:1).
It had been an agonizing, exacting ordeal from which He emerged totally triumphant. Yet it was a test of such magnitude that we read, "Angels came and ministered unto him" (Mt 4:11). After this conquest of His archenemy, He well knew temptation was a strenuous trial for anyone to face. No doubt, then, one of the reasons He included this petition in the prayer was a compassionate concern for His followers. Being lunched with the feeling of our infirmities, He shrank from seeing us exposed to the sort of temptation He Himself had endured. One of the wondrous aspects of our Lord's temptations is the .il>solute finality with which He completely routed His tempter, that ancient adversary, Satan. There was simply no question of giving In. True, He could not sin, but, much more glorious, He would not sin!
The first Adam gave ground to Satan when tempted. Because of his defeat, sin entered into our human heritage. The last Adam (Christ) gave no ground to Satan when tempted because of His complete victory in every encounter, righteousness is made available to those who follow in His footsteps, to those made members of God's family.
In spite of this, there lies within us the tendency to give way under temptation. Even at our best we are often beaten in our battles with the wicked one. Jesus knew this. It grieves Him deeply to see His followers succumb to Satan's skilled and cunning tactics. When He knew Peter would be severely tempted to deny Him just before His crucifixion. He said to Peter, "But I have prayed for you, that your faith might not fail." What solicitude!bHe cautioned the eleven disciples who accompanied Him to the garden, with these words, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mt 26:41).
Basically, the above statement puts into very plain language the whole problem of temptation for God's children. If we are truly born into the family of God, we are bound to face not less but rather more temptation than before. The reason for this is that the enemy of our souls contests the control of our lives by God's gracious Spirit. It is tremendously important to bear in mind that though temptation to evil is essentially a spiritual struggle that involves our wills, it is almost always fought in the realm of our personal passions (desires). This is why our Lord said that the spirit within us is willing to do what is in accordance with God's will, but it is our flesh, our personalities, our old natures, that buckle under in the battle for righteousness.
The temptations which assail God's children originate with Satan, called the great deceiver, and with our own lusts. Even the weakest Christian can sometimes rise to great heights of heroism in a cataclysmic hour of crisis. Instead Satan undertakes to get at us through our selfish, self-indulgent self-will. He tempts us to set our wills against our Father's will by appealing to one of three passionate points in our personalities.
These can be best understood and most easily set out in a diagram. It will be noted it was exactly along these lines Christ was tempted in the wilderness.
SATAN'S SUBTLE POINTS OF APPROACH TO MY PERSON ARE THROUGH
1. MY EMOTIONS, i.e., self-pleasure, self-indulgence. Christ was tempted to make bread from stones.
2. MY MIND, my reason, i.e., self-preservation, self-reasoning. Christ was tempted to cast Himself off the Temple.
3. MY WILL, I, ego, i.e., self-prominence, self-assertion. Christ was tempted to accept an offer of world empires.
The devastating thing about these devilish tactics is that Satan generally chooses to tempt me in that area of my personality that is not yet under the full control of God's Spirit. He knows full well that I am much more likely to succumb to his inducements where he still can have sway over my person. And the testing becomes a clear demonstration as to who really holds the upper hand in any given area of my life. Does God or does the devil? Consequently the whole contest for the child of God is one of deciding whether Christ, by His Spirit, controls me, or whether Satan, by means of my old self, manages me. It is for this reason that Paul wrote so emphatically to the Galatians saying, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust [passions] of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would" (Gal 5:16-17).
If perchance I find an area of my life in which I repeatedly succumb to temptation, it is because there self, my old passions, my old nature, my old desires, hold control rather than God's gracious Spirit. It is for this reason that any man or woman who really desires to come completely under the control of God's Spirit must turn over all this territory to Him. Unless this is done as a deliberate act of the will, then that ground will be the beachhead from which the enemy will always launch another assault.
And to assert that it is God who allows this temptation to go on is to fail to understand the whole nature of temptation. James, in his usual very practical and pragmatic way, explains temptation this way: "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 [passions], and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (Ja 1:13-15).
Our Master knew this. Because of the dire consequences attending any defeat in temptation, He urged us to pray that we might not be exposed to it. I have sometimes wished this petition had a short rider attached to it this way, "And lead us not into temptation, but guide us by Your Spirit." Of course, our Father does endeavor to do this. The problem is we are not always sensitive or responsive to the overtures of His gracious Spirit. We are not always prepared to give Him control of our conduct. We are not completely sure that He can manage our affairs. We are not always willing to choose His way. So, self reasserts itself, and wherever this happens the terrain is open for Satan to tempt us.
In almost every case where this does occur, it is not our loving Heavenly Father who has led us there. It is our own self-will. It is our own choice. The only exceptions are those instances in which God allows us to be tested and exposed to hardship in order to enlarge our confidence in Himself. For it is there He demonstrates to us His amazing ability to deliver us triumphant out of the temptation. Our faith in His faithfulness is fortified. And our characters are conformed to His.
Also it is well to remind ourselves, always, that He does not allow us to be tempted above or beyond that which we are able to endure or bear. (1 Co 10:13; Heb 2:18).
There is often confusion and deep disquiet, especially among new Christians who find themselves being tempted. Very often they feel that the inclination to do wrong is in itself evil. This is not so. To be tempted is not to sin. To give ground to the enemy and allow him to control us, contrary to the will and purpose of our Father, is to sin.
There are six steps which follow one upon another that lead to defeat in temptation.
The first step in temptation is often the least obvious. We are given a false impression by Satan that whatever wrong we do really is not serious. Somehow, in very subtle ways, he convinces us that self-will and self-centeredness in counteraction to our Father's will are not crucial matters. "After all," he hints, "is God your Father not loving and forgiving and merciful? What harm is done if you do slip a bit and give ground?"
Second, Satan makes us see (either in fact, or in our minds) something, someone, or some situation which he is sure will appeal to our self life. In other words, he presents a picture to us that arouses some passion or desire in our personality.
Third, this produces, unless we understand his tactics, a powerful response within us. A deep and compelling desire is actively aroused. Often it appears very pleasant or very reasonable or very much to our personal advantage to pursue it.
Fourth, we begin to toy with this idea. We entertain it. We play with it. It appeals increasingly; so we finally reach out to take it. At this point, we have actually fallen for Satan's ruse and given ground. Here we sin against God! But the action is not over. Temptation, once succumbed to, has dire consequences. We have become a slave to sin and Satan. We are now under his orders in this area. Fifth, we proceed to act on that which was presented to us in such a subtle, skillful manner. But the moment we do, we are chagrined and dismayed by our own defeat. We become downcast and discouraged. The devil is delighted!
The sixth and final step is to hide the defeat. We attempt to excuse or conceal the debacle from others and from God. This cuts us off from open communication with our Father. At this point a sense of deep despair and sin and separation overwhelms us.
A careful examination of the sequence of events in Adam and Eve's temptation will show these six steps in action.
1. Satan led them to believe that eating the forbidden fruit would not really have serious consequences (Gen 3:4)
2. Satan presented the picture of them becoming as gods, knowing good and evil, if they ate the forbidden fruit (Gen 3:4-5).
3. This had a tremendous appeal. It aroused the desire to become great and wise. It seemed pleasant and reasonable (Gen 3:6).
4. They actually reached out and took the fruit. They accepted it. They ate it. They took it right in. This was self-will exerted against God's will. This was sin (Gen 3:6).
5. The result was they sensed at once that they had been taken in. They were stripped. They were victimized. They stood naked and ashamed. They were embarrassed and chagrined (Gen 3:7).
6. They attempted to hide from their heavenly Father. They were cut off from open, frank, honest communication with Him (Gen 3:8).
When God came to meet with them, they were in despair, endeavoring to hide from Him. He called out, "Where are you?" Not that He did not know. He did! Here, for the first time, a son of God had succumbed to Satan's tactics. Now he was estranged from his Father. Did Adam know this? "Do you know where you are, Adam?" is really what God was asking. Do we know where we are when defeated?
Without question, it is because of this sequence in our temptations, leading to estrangement from our Father, that Christ prayed, "Lead us not into temptation." We don't want to be separated from Him who loves us so much. We don't want to walk at a distance. We don't want to be His discouraged, defeated children. Fortunately we are not left without definite tactics to counter temptation. We are given explicit instructions on how to handle it. And the steps to victory in this field are every bit as clear as those which lead to capitulation and defeat. These will be dealt with in detail in the next chapter.
At this point, one thing should be made very clear. Temptation in itself is not necessarily an evil experience. It is part and parcel of our Father's plan for producing people of strong character and Christ like qualities. When He created us as freewill beings, He knew we would be confronted with never ending choices for good or evil. Our characters as His children are the sum total of the choices we make in a life fraught with temptation. Temptation, from God's standpoint, is our great testing ground. It is the disciplining we undergo as we mature. It can help us grow up into godliness under the guidance of His gracious Spirit.
Dr. J. B. Phillips, in his splendid translation of James 1:2-4, makes this very clear to us. "When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence."
Precisely the same sort of view is fully developed in Hebrews 12:1-17.
The picture of temptation presented to us all through Scripture is that it is not an easy ordeal. It is something most of us would prefer to avoid. It is an integral part of the Christian's life. It is something we are to accept as a challenge. We can use it to demonstrate, as did our Lord, that we are determined, with His help, to do God's will. It is an opportunity for us to prove both to ourselves and to a skeptical world, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world!" (1 Jn 4:4).
It is perfectly proper and legitimate for us to ask our Father in heaven not to lead us into temptation, simply because we know our hearts and their natural propensity to evil. Still, He has made provision for us to be triumphant in temptation. He is able to deliver us from evil. The decision as to whether or not we shall triumph in temptation is pretty much ours.
This is a sobering thought. It shows how much our Father believes in us. He is convinced that if His Son, Christ our Saviour, could overcome, so can we! Bless His name.
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