One of my favorite songs of the faith is the well-known hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, written in 1758 by an English Baptist pastor by the name of Robert Robinson. Many like myself have just fallen in love with this great hymn, primarily because it contains a phrase that so, I think, accurately captures our feelings of weakness, our feelings of vulnerability. Vulnerability as we face temptation. Here are the words that just grip our hearts. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. Every genuine Christian understands and can relate to these penetrating words. Although Christ has inwardly transformed us so that we indeed, we do have a new nature. A new nature that longs to obey the Word of God. Still, indwelling sin still makes us prone to wander far from the God that we love. And no one understood this attraction and inclination towards sin better than the author of those words himself, Robert Robinson. Although Robinson seems to have been converted under the ministry of the evangelist George Whitefield, he himself was prone to wander. Towards the end of his life, Robert Robinson was characterized by a lack of spiritual stability, as he was known to often lapse into sin and very unsound doctrine. In fact, a story is told about an encounter that he had while riding a stagecoach with a woman who was deeply engrossed in, of all things, a hymn book. When she asked him about what he thought about this hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, supposedly Robinson burst into tears and said, Madam, I am the poor, unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give 1,000 worlds if I had them to enjoy the feelings I had back then. You see, like so many believers before him, and so many believers after him, Robert Robinson was overcome by temptation, and he did fall into sin. But that didn't need to be his experience, and it does not need to be your experience. And to help us have victory over temptation, temptations that threaten us, Jesus gave specific instructions in the Lord's Prayer about what to do in terms of how to pray. Our Lord's solution for spiritual protection from temptation is found at the end of Luke 11, verse 4, where we read these words, and lead us not into temptation. And in Matthew's longer version of the Lord's Prayer, Matthew, the Apostle Matthew, he records Jesus adding the words, but deliver us from evil. It's not found in Luke's account, but in Matthew's it is. Now this is the fourth and the final petition given by Jesus in Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer. And like all the previous petitions, this one also is designed to be a model for us. Not in the sense, and I've said this many times but it's worth repeating, not in the sense of repeating this prayer verbatim, as so many people do, but in the sense that we understand the timeless, eternal principles behind this request, using our own words then to fit them into our own unique set of circumstances. So in other words, we incorporate these principles, not the exact words, but these principles into our prayers. using our own unique circumstances and whatever words you want to use. Now, in order to begin to understand the meaning of this petition, we first need to see that by divine design, Jesus placed it, note this, immediately after the petition about God's forgiveness of our sins, because they actually are related to each other. And here's how they're related. At the beginning of verse 4, Jesus told us that a true child of God is concerned that he maintain fellowship and closeness with his Heavenly Father, and so he asks the Father to forgive him when he sins. And as we saw a couple of weeks ago, this is that ongoing, moment-by-moment fellowship, parental forgiveness, that keeps the warmth of our relationship alive with the Lord. that keeps the joy of our relationship with Him, that keeps us close to Him. But now, having told us to ask God to forgive us for the sins we have committed, Jesus immediately tells us to also ask for God to protect us from committing any more sins in the future. In other words, a true child of God is not only concerned that God forgive the sin that they've done, but also He's concerned that he doesn't fall into any more sin. That's the point. Now, it's obvious that is indeed the point that Jesus is making in putting these two petitions back to back. And I say this, that it's obvious, because the Lord connects them together. with the word and, A-N-D, just like he did with the previous petition. So, what he's actually saying when you put it together is this, when you pray, ask God to forgive whatever sin you've committed, but don't stop there. Take it a step further and ask Him to protect you from falling into any more sin. That is to say, forgive us our debts and lead us away from any temptations that may cause us to incur more debts. That's the thought. This is an extremely important truth to understand about the Christian life. Extremely important, because not only does a true child of God want God's forgiveness for their sins, but their heart's desire is that they not fall into any more sin. And they express that desire by praying that God will not lead them into any temptation that they might succumb to. As one Bible teacher put it, he said, after God has forgiven us, there is nothing that we have so earnestly to pray for as that we fall not again into the same filth. You see, once we are converted, though we are still, because of our flesh, attracted to sin, and yes, we are prone to wander from the Lord, we also, we hate our sin. That's the paradox of the Christian life. We hate our sin even though we are attracted to our sin. And we hate it because we now understand God's holiness. We understand His hatred for sin and the kind of destructive force that sin has in our lives. It's not a trifling issue. Wayne Mack in his book on the Lord's Prayer entitled, Reaching the Ear of God, He lists a number of reasons why we should recognize sin as, and in his own words, the most awful thing in the universe. And once we do, he says, once we recognize that it is the most awful thing in the universe, we will be highly motivated to pray, lead me not into temptation. First of all, Wayne Mack says that sin is the most awful thing in the universe because it is an abomination to God. You have probably seen that word in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, where God says something is an abomination to Him. It means that He loathes it. He despises it. That's the thought behind the word abomination. It is an intense hatred. The Old Testament is full of references to God calling many sins an abomination to Him. In Proverbs alone, God declares that lying lips are an abomination to Him, as is someone who cheats. has a perverse heart, makes evil plans, is proud, perverts truth, and refuses to listen to his law. So we should hate sin and consider it the most awful thing in the world simply because God hates it. He loathes it. He disdains it. He abhors it. A second reason why sin is the most awful thing in the universe is because it is by its very nature, it is rebellion against God. It is rebellion against the Lord Almighty. Leviticus 26, 40 says, they committed sins against me and acted with hostility towards me. In other words, when we sin against the Lord, we are actually being hostile towards the Almighty. Hostile towards Him. It is the height of arrogance, the height of rebellion to stretch out our hands against the King of Kings and to defy Him. But that's what sin is. The third reason that sin is so horrible is because of its destructive nature in our lives. Do you realize that sin is the ultimate cause of death? It's the reason we all die. According to Romans 5.12, where Paul said, through one man, meaning Adam, the first man, sin entered into the world and death through sin And so death spread to all men. We're all going to die because of sin. Every time you attend the funeral or a memorial service of a loved one, it ought to evoke in you a deep hatred for sin. Because without sin, there would be no death. No death. Nor would there be any disease, physical pain, or emotional sorrow in the world if it were not for sin. But sin is not only the cause of death and disease, it also has the power to destroy our lives before we die. Because it is the source of every problem, it is the source of every conflict we've ever had with other people. James 4.1 asks this question, what is the source of your quarrels and conflicts? What a great question. What's the root cause of all these problems you have with one another? He answers his own question in the next verse with these words. Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and you don't have, so you commit murder. You're envious, you can't obtain, so you fight and you quarrel. James tells us that it is our sinful desires that make us so hard to get along with. Hard for us to get along with other people. And it destroys healthy relationships. It's always sin. In other words, we are difficult people because of our sinful longings. It's not the other person, it's us. The Bible lists all kinds of problems that are birthed from a sinful heart. Problems such as murder, greed, jealousy, gossip, disobedience to authority, sexual immorality, contentiousness, drunkenness, outbursts of anger, Robberies, extreme self-love, and on and on we could go. And sin's destructive character is also seen in the fact that it actually makes slaves out of us. It makes slaves out of us. It enslaves us into bondage. In Romans 6, the Apostle Paul tells us that before our conversion, we were Slaves of sin. That's what he says. We were slaves of sin. He actually refers to sin as something that was our master in Romans 6.14. To Timothy, the apostle described unsaved men as being held captive by the devil to do his will, 2 Timothy 2.26. And to Titus, Paul described us before our conversion as being enslaved to various lusts and pleasures. Titus 3, 3. So, listen, no wonder Jesus said everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. He said that in John 8, 34. But sin doesn't just enslave us. Sin is the worst thing in the universe because it separates us from God. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 59-2, God says that our iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you. Because God is perfectly holy. He cannot fellowship. He can't even look with any favor upon sin. And therefore, those who have never been forgiven, never been redeemed by Jesus Christ, they are separated from Him and will remain separated from Him forever unless they repent and trust Christ to save them. There is no more horrific thought than that. Now, it's in light of the hideousness, in light of the awfulness of sin being an abomination unto God and the most destructive force in our lives that Jesus tells us in the Lord's Prayer that those who have been converted not only ask God to forgive their sins, but they seek His help through prayer so that they no longer fall into the clutches of sin. That is to say, though we are still prone to wander in the very depth of our beings, true believers don't want to wander. They don't want to wander by allowing sin in their lives anymore. They want to stop it. They share the heart of the psalmist, of Psalm 119, who expressed his longings to be free from giving into temptation and succumbing to sin with statements like, do not let me wander from Thy commandments. Verse 10, make me to walk in the path of your commandments. Verse 35, incline my heart to thy testimonies and not to dishonest gain. Verse 36, establish my footsteps in thy word and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. Verse 133, all throughout that great psalm, that's what the man is saying. Incline my heart. I don't want to wander. Now, in the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray along these same lines. Looking to God, the Father, for help in not falling into sin by praying, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And the way to unlock the meaning of this petition so that we can understand precisely how Jesus wants us to pray is by focusing our attention on the two key phrases that make up this prayer request. Only two phrases. First, there is the negative phrase, and lead us not into temptation. And then there is the positive phrase, but deliver us from evil. So let's begin by examining the first key phrase, the negative one, and lead us not into temptation. Now immediately, as we look at these words, we are faced with a number of serious interpretive challenges. The first one being to determine what Jesus meant by the word temptation. We can't even begin to understand what the Lord is telling us to pray for unless we nail down the exact meaning of this word temptation. And that's not as simple a task as you might initially think. And that's because the Greek word that is translated in this verse, temptation, actually has two meanings because it can be used in two different ways. Sometimes the word means a test or a trial in the sense that God tests us or sends a difficult trial into our lives for the purpose of proving the genuineness of our faith, or to develop our character, to make us more and more like Christ. This is how the word is used in James chapter 1 verses 2 through 4, where James writes, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, here's that word, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." So there, it's used to speak of trials, in the sense that God sends them into our lives, if need be, to make us more like Christ. Apostle Peter used this word the very same way in 1 Peter 1, 6, and 7. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, I love that expression, if necessary, you've been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, his return. In this sense, these trials, these tests, are beneficial for us because God intends them for our good. However, the same Greek word that is sometimes used to speak of a trial or a test can also be used to speak of a temptation. And a temptation is very different than a trial, in that it is a solicitation from Satan, the evil one, to do evil. In other words, temptation far from being a test sent by God with the goal of having you pass the test, it's an enticement from Satan, who is called in Scripture the tempter, with the goal of having you fail. We know that Satan is the source of temptation. It's not God at all, because the Bible specifically says that God never entices us to do evil. James chapter 1, verses 13 through 15. Let no one say when he is tempted, I'm being tempted by God. James says don't say that, because it's not true. He goes on to say, for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust, his own desire. Then, when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. So the question then that we're faced with in trying to understand this fourth petition in the Lord's Prayer is this. Does Jesus mean, lead us not into any tests, or does he mean lead us not into any temptations? Remember, the Greek word for test and temptation is precisely the same. So in this case, referring to the original language doesn't help us. Often it does, most of the time it does, but not in this case. However, what does help us in determining what Jesus means is using sanctified common sense and thinking biblically and thinking logically. You see, it wouldn't make any sense for Jesus to say, lead us not into any tests, because tests are good for us. We don't want to avoid them. We don't want to be led away from tests or trials. We want them in our lives to help us to grow stronger in our faith. Tests are good for us. And this is exactly what James meant and why he wrote, count it all joy when you encounter various trials, because they do a good work in us. Therefore, if Jesus didn't mean lead us not into any tests or trials, then He must be saying, lead us not into temptation. In fact, the context indicates that this is precisely how our Lord is using this word, because this is why He connected it with the previous prayer petition about the forgiveness of sin, with the word and, because it's connected. In addition, He also speaks of evil in the next phrase, and so you see the context tells us that he's addressing the issue of temptation and sin and falling into doing something evil, not trials that benefit us. So now that we know that Jesus, what he's referring to, he's referring to temptation in this petition, then We have another serious theological problem. And it's a naughty, not naughty, but naughty theological issue to address. Because temptation, folks listen, temptation cannot be avoided. Jesus said, lead us not into temptation, but temptation is an unavoidable part of life. You can pray to God that God wouldn't lead you into temptation until you're blue in the face, but you are still going to encounter various temptations every day of your life. Every believer in Christ, regardless of how long they've been a believer, regardless of their spiritual maturity, everyone faces temptation. Everyone. And this is why we can appreciate, and we can relate to, and we embrace, we understand what it's talking about. Lyrics such as, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. So then, if it's impossible to avoid temptations, and it is impossible, And what does Jesus mean? And why did he tell us then to pray, lead us not into temptation? Well, in light of the fact that Jesus followed this phrase about temptation with another phrase dealing with evil, deliver us from evil. It clearly appears that this fourth petition is not about avoiding temptation, because you can't avoid temptation. Rather, it's about, note this, overcoming temptation. Overcoming it. In other words, the thought behind this prayer is, Lord, don't put me in a tempting situation that might overwhelm me, but rather rescue me from Satan's evil temptations. See, this is a prayer that recognizes that while temptations are inevitable, we don't want to give in to them. We don't want to fall into sin. As the German reformer Martin Luther once said, he said, we cannot help being exposed to the assaults. He meant satanic assaults. But we can pray that we may not fall and perish under them. See, the principle behind this prayer is that we are asking God God our Father, to protect us from falling into sin. And by doing so, we are recognizing just how weak we are, just how vulnerable we are to certain kinds of temptations. And before we go any further, we need to remember that temptation is not the same thing as sin. It is not the same thing. Giving in to temptation is what leads to sin. And a true child of God desperately wants to avoid sin. And so he or she is constantly asking the Lord to spare them exposure to those specific temptations where they know that they are especially vulnerable, where they are weak, where they are susceptible. See folks, every one of us has certain weaknesses, moral weaknesses and vulnerabilities that make us more susceptible to some temptations than to others. What might be a strong enticement for one person may not be much of a temptation for another person. And so while we are told to ask God for his protection in not leading us into temptation that threatens to overpower us, and listen closely, we pray for this, but there is still a responsibility we have in using sanctified common sense in knowing where we are weak, and therefore doing our best we can to stay out of those tempting situations that we know would be hard for us to resist. Otherwise, if you don't do this, then you're really showing you're not sincere. You're not truthful in asking God for help. If you ask God for help and then you knowingly go into an area that you know you're weak in, you're not really sincere about this. For example, for some Christians, It may mean staying away from certain places because those places present strong temptations in the area of sensuality. Moral purity, what Dan was talking about. An area where you're weak, such as the internet or stores that sell inappropriate magazines or certain television shows, movies where sensually explicit scenes can be viewed. If you've got a weakness, stay away from that. In fact, even if you don't have a weakness, stay away from that. For some, it may be necessary to stay away from certain stores in the mall that inflame feelings of covetousness and discontentment. But it's not only tempting places that we might have to avoid. Sometimes strong temptations come in the form of certain people, certain individuals who just are not a good influence on us, such as those who tempt us to gossip, to criticize, to slander others just like they do. Or those who would tempt us morally with relationships that we know are unhealthy and are not pleasing to God at all. Or those people who, when we're around them because of their poor attitudes, we find ourselves tempted to embrace those same poor attitudes. Listen, there are certain people who just bring us down. There are certain people like that. We're weaker in Christ when we are around them. And it's too tempting for us to be with them. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul was talking about when he told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15.33. He said, bad company corrupts good morals. Bad company corrupts good morals. So don't hang out with people who you know can and will corrupt you. So if you know that you have a particular weakness in an area that you find very tempting, then you just need to do your best to stay away from those areas. And in order to do that, we need God's help. And that's why Jesus teaches us in this prayer, that we need to ask the Father to protect us from those kinds of temptations. So, practically speaking then, here's how it should affect the way you pray. If you know that you struggle, for example, with, let's just say, loving money and coveting things, then you need to pray, Lord, keep me from opportunities as well as people that would tempt me to love money and to make it an idol. and forget you. Lord, help me. Help me. Or if you know that you are especially prone to the sin of pride, then you might pray, Lord, keep me from being put in situations where certain successful accomplishments might make my head swell and deceive me into thinking of myself as better than others. Or if you're vulnerable to immoral relationships and you need to pray, Lord, don't allow me to find myself in circumstances where I might be overcome by my desire for sensual pleasures. This is how you pray. This is how specific the Lord wants us to be in our prayers for His protection. In whatever areas you know that you're weak in, these are the areas you need to be praying about. Now, in light of the fact that Jesus commands us to pray for God's protection from temptation that could overcome us, there are a number of important issues that we need to know. First of all, none of us will ever take this type of praying seriously and put it into action unless we realize how weak we really are. Unless we realize how weak we are. As long as you think that you're okay, you're strong enough to handle any temptation, then you will not seek God's help, and you'll be very foolish. Scripture even tells us that with that kind of an attitude, I can handle it, I know I'm strong enough, I've grown enough in the Lord, I've been through this before, I'm old enough in the Lord, I've been saved for so many years. If you have that kind of an attitude, you are in great danger of falling into sin. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 12 says, Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. Now, this was a stern warning to the Corinthians to not be overconfident in their ability to handle, not even explicitly sinful things, but just Christian liberty. Those issues that are neither forbidden nor commanded in Scripture. They thought they could handle it. Yes, I can handle food sacrificed to an idol without falling into idolatry. Paul says if you have that kind of an attitude, you are going to fall into idolatry. Some of them foolishly thought that they could handle these pagan elements in their society without being overcome by them. But Paul warns them, and it's a great warning to us, not to think for one moment that in and of ourselves we are strong enough to withstand the temptations that come with living in our pagan society. You're not strong enough. I'm not strong enough. None of us are. The book of Proverbs is even more direct in telling us the outcome of those who are overconfident in their ability to handle temptation when it states, and it states it a number of different ways, but basically the message is this, pride goes before a fall. Pride goes before a fall. And one of the great illustrations of this truth, this overconfident arrogance, is the time that the Apostle Peter fell when he denied Christ. I draw your attention to Mark chapter 14, starting in verse 27. Jesus said to them, you will all fall away, because it is written, I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. But Peter said to him, even though all may fall away, talking about the other apostles, even though all may fall away, yet I will not. And Jesus said to him, truly I say to you that this very night before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny me three times. Peter kept saying insistently, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they were all saying the same thing. What arrogance. In his arrogance, Peter thought that he was better than the other apostles. He thought he was spiritually more mature, stronger than the other men. He couldn't possibly deny Christ. But he did deny Jesus. And he did it, as someone said, and I quote, in sweaty, sordid, foul language that had not come from his lips in years. See, Peter never saw how really weak he was, so he didn't see his need to depend upon the Lord for strength. As a result, he fell. He fell. And that'll happen to us the same way. If we're so self-confident, so self-sufficient, that we refuse to pray and ask God for help and protection in resisting temptation. So, what can you do to make sure you do not succumb to temptation? Well, first of all, repent of your self-confidence in your ability to overcome temptation by understanding what the Bible says about each of us. All of us are weak and needy. Weak and needy. And if you don't think that's the case, you've been deceived. Weak and needy. Regardless of your past spiritual accomplishments or how close you've walked with the Lord in earlier times, know the truth about yourself. You are weak and capable of doing the most horrific atrocities. If you think, oh, I would never do that, you're wrong. We're all capable of doing that. You've got to see yourself as the Apostle Paul saw himself. He called himself the chief of sinners. Paul. You've got to understand the truth about yourself as Paul understood the truth about himself when he said in Romans 7, 18, For I know that nothing good dwells in me. Nothing good dwells in me. As someone once said, Every form of wickedness that has ever been committed lies in germ form in your heart. until you lose all self-confidence, and I mean all of it, in your ability to resist temptation, and you see yourself as weak and sinful, and in need of God's help and aid, you are going to have trouble overcoming Satan's attacks. And in recognizing these attacks, the source of them, they come from Satan, the devil, leads us then to the second key phrase that Jesus spoke of in this fourth petition. Having given us the first phrase, which is presented in a negative form, lead us not into temptation, the Lord now gives us from Matthew's fuller version, the second phrase, which is presented in a positive form, but deliver us from evil. Now concerning this phrase, deliver us from evil, which is found in the second half of Matthew 6, 13, there is a debate amongst Bible scholars as to whether it should be translated deliver us from evil or deliver us from the evil one, meaning Satan, meaning the devil. But this is somewhat a fruitless debate. It's really a moot point because regardless of how this is translated, the thought is exactly the same. Since the Bible calls Satan the tempter, and in Matthew 13, 19 he's specifically referred to as the evil one. So it would appear, folks, that the thought here in this fourth petition is that Jesus is telling us behind all of these temptations that threaten to overcome us is Satan himself. It's helpful to understand because the Bible gives us specific instructions on how to resist Satan and temptation. We're not left out there on our own. The Bible tells us what to do. But first, let me show you something that I think should be a great encouragement to all of us, should give all of us great hope. It's the promise found in 1 Corinthians 10, 13. This would be a great verse to memorize. The Apostle Paul said, no temptation. has overtaken you, but such as is common to man. And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." What a great promise. According to what Paul wrote here, God will not allow you to face temptation that is beyond what you are capable of handling, because he will always provide a way of escape. So, you might wonder then, if that's the case, then why do we need to pray? Lead us not into temptation, if God already promises us a way of escape. Well, the answer is because the way of escape only comes when we do things God's way. God's way and not our own way, and His way is what? His way is to depend upon Him to give you the strength by praying for His help and protection. That's His way of escape. giving you the help that you need as you call upon Him for help. And doing things God's way is precisely how the Bible tells us to resist the devil and his temptations. Listen to what we are told in James. Again, James. A lot of quotes from James. James 4, verse 7. Submit therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James tells us that the way to resist the devil is by submitting to God. And the way that we submit to God is very simple. We submit to His word, His authority, the Bible. When you obey God's word, and that includes the obedience of asking for His help in protecting you from temptation, then Satan will flee from you. Those temptations will not always be around you. They might come and go, but he will flee eventually. Now in addition to this brief statement from James, the Apostle Paul expanded on what God wants us to do in our battle with Satan and the evil temptations he throws our way. In Ephesians chapter 6, and I would encourage you, we obviously can't cover all of this here, but I did a series on spiritual warfare, standing firm while under attack, It's online. It would be helpful to listen to all those messages. But in Ephesians 6, Paul gives us the most comprehensive strategy to resist the devil's temptations in all of Scripture. There is no other passage quite like this found in Ephesians chapter 6. Here's what we read starting in verse 10, going through verse 17. Finally, Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you'll be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. I take it that he's talking about different ranks of demons under Satan. Therefore, therefore means because this is true, Take up the full armor of God, so that you'll be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you'll be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Now, folks, the point of these verses is to instruct us on the spiritual resources that God has already provided for us. And He's provided them for us for the purpose of protecting us from the attacks of Satan and demons, so that we are not defeated. That is to say, this passage is designed to help us in our personal battles with the enemy of our souls when we are under attack. You can't prevent the attacks, you can just make sure you're dressed for battle when the attacks come. Now he uses the analogy of the various pieces of armor that a Roman soldier would wear for his protection in his physical battles. And Paul then refers here to the resources God has provided for us for our spiritual warfare. He calls it the full armor of God. In fact, it is very interesting to note that when Paul wrote Ephesians, he was chained to a Roman soldier while under house arrest in the capital city. And it's very likely that while Paul was looking at these soldiers, he was guided by the Holy Spirit to see in their armor, the spiritual armor that God has provided for us, his soldiers, in our battles with Satan. Paul may have been looking at the soldier and writing it down. So Paul's concern here in telling us about this spiritual armor is that we should always be ready for attack by being properly dressed for battle. And although many Christians give little thought to the reality of Satan in their lives, it is critical that you put these spiritual resources, these pieces of armor, to use. Because I can assure you, you will come under attack. You may be under attack right now. All true believers come under attack. And if you're not prepared for these attacks by being protected with God's spiritual armor, then you are going to be defeated. you're going to be ineffective, you're going to be a useless Christian. And folks, that is precisely Satan's objective, his goal in attacking you as we read in 1 Peter 5.8. Be of sober spirit, Peter says, be on the alert, your adversary, the devil, he prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Like a roaring lion always on the prowl to pounce upon his prey, so Satan is always on the lookout to overwhelm some believer with temptation in the form of such things, and it's not limited to this, such things as discouragement, morality, fear, anxiety, false teaching, doubts, bad attitudes, on and on it goes. Listen, knowing that He cannot take your salvation away, that's impossible, His goal is to beat you down and emotionally defeat you so that you are spiritually useless. You're out of fellowship with Christ, you're incapable of effective service for Christ. Now, we don't have time to examine every piece of armor. That's listed here by Paul in Ephesians 6. So I encourage you on your own to do some research. But one piece of armor that is essential to resisting the devil and is consistent with what James tells us about submitting ourselves to God is what's known as the breastplate of righteousness. Verse 13, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Essentially, the breastplate of righteousness is our personal, daily obedience to the Word of God. It's practical righteousness. In other words, what Paul is saying is that a life of day-by-day holiness personal application of the Word of God, righteous living, that's what protects you from Satan's attempts to draw your affections away from Christ. The breastplate covers that part of you represented by affection. So if you find yourself in some seemingly overwhelming temptation, you need to examine your life. You need to repent of anything that is not in submission to God's Word. Listen, we are all, without exception, we are all prone to wander, but we don't need to because God will always help His children who are humble, humble enough to admit their need, who are dependent upon Him, and who walk in daily obedience to Him. He will always help you to have victory over Satan and his temptations. In Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer, we read that Jesus ended this prayer with a simple yet a magnificent doxology. He said, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Although most Bible scholars doubt that Jesus uttered these words at this point because they do not appear in some of the leading ancient manuscripts, they certainly reflect and are consistent with the truths of Scripture. God is the Supreme One, isn't He? of which the kingdom, the power, the glory all belong to Him. And so it is appropriate to end our prayers by giving Him praise and thanksgiving of which He is so worthy. But before we do that, make sure that your life is characterized by obedience to Christ. That's the way to be protected from succumbing to Satan's temptations. And if you do not know Christ as your Savior, then you are fair game for Satan. And without realizing it, unwittingly, you are a slave to him, to your sin as well as to Satan. He's captured you. You may not even believe that He exists. It doesn't matter. He's captured you. The only way to be delivered from your sin and from Satan is by repenting of your sin, turning from it, changing your mind about it, and trusting Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. Believing in your heart that while Jesus was on the cross, He was paying for your sins, and that is the basis alone for your salvation. not Christ and church, not Christ and anything you've done, Christ and Christ alone. If you would like to speak to one of our pastors about trusting Christ for your salvation, please come up. I'll be at the front. See me as we close the service. So let's pray. Lord, we do give you the praise. We do give you thanksgiving because you are the supreme one. Lord, we thank you for the privilege of going through this prayer, having studied it for quite a few weeks. And we pray that it's made a difference in the way we pray. We pray that we'll think about these truths as we approach you. But Lord, we are weak. We are needy. I pray that each one here who knows you would take these truths to heart and would not think that they could handle things on their own, not think that they could just go through a day without spending time in your word, without prayer, without fellowshipping with you. We're weak, we're needy, and we are vulnerable. So, Lord, protect us from the evil one, and help us to use common sense, sanctified common sense, to not get into areas or hang in places that are very tempting to us. And Lord, we would pray for those who may not know you. We would pray that the word of God today has done a work in their hearts, and that you're drawing them to yourself. We pray that you'll bring them to faith in Christ even today, we pray this all in Jesus' name, amen.