Devotional #127

Question 127. Which is the sixth petition?

Answer: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”; that is, since we are so weak in ourselves, that we cannot stand a moment (a); and besides this, since our mortal enemies, the devil (b), the world (c), and our own flesh (d), cease not to assault us, do thou therefore preserve and strengthen us by the power of thy Holy Spirit, that we may not be overcome in this spiritual warfare (e), but constantly and strenuously may resist our foes, till at last we obtain a complete victory (f).

(a) John 15:5: I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Psalm 103:14: For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

(b) 1 Peter 5:8: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Ephesians 6:12: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

(c) John 15:19: If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

(d) Romans 7:23: but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Galatians 5:17: For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

(e) Matthew 26:41: Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Mark 13:33: Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.

(f) 1 Thessalonians 3:13: so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians 5:23: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For your personal reflection:
Have you noticed the structure of this petition?  There are two parts.  First, a negative component: “lead us not into temptation.”  Here we affirm the sovereignty of God.  How?  Well, we can only pray this if we believe that God is in control of everything (the book of Job reveals this wonderfully).  If God is sovereign, and if God is directing and working all things for His purpose, then we must understand that any and every temptation has, at a minimum passed through His will.  Secondly, a positive component: “deliver us from evil.”  Because of our weakness, we ask the Lord to lead us not into temptation.  Having asked this we now ask the Lord to proactively deliver us from evil.  What do we mean by evil? Did Jesus mean the “evil one?”  Did He mean the “evil thing?”  Truly, we are not sure.  However, it matters little.  That great trinity of evil: the world, the flesh and the Devil, all conspire to advance the kingdom of darkness.  And, it not my fighting, my resistance or my battling that defeats this evil – it is God alone.
What are the enemies of the believer?
What truths does this petition teach us?