From Clochr Valley in County Tyrone we present Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you join us as Gospel Minister the Reverend Peter McIntyre is here to let the Bible speak and preach Christ in all his fullness. you Suddenly... Oh, they tell me I'm a whore Oh, they tell me that he smiles on his children's hair And his smile drives their sorrows all away And they tell me that no tears ever come again In that lovely land of a clouded day Oh, the land of cloudless day Oh, they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day This afternoon we are going to think about the words of our Lord as they are found in Matthew chapter 6 in the verse 13. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. In our consideration of the Sermon on the Mount we are looking at the Lord's Prayer and this is the sixth petition. And the emphasis again is upon the spiritual. Just as he said, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. The Lord also taught us to say, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. The problem of temptation has been an age old problem. Some succumb. They give in to temptation and depending upon the gravity of the sin, their lives are ruined. Those who give in to temptation in a comparatively small way, that leads to temptation in a greater way and a greater way until the life is ruined. Temptation is a terrible problem. People are occupying prison cells. People have a trail of broken homes behind them. People have left others in heartbreak. People have committed murder, adultery, all kinds of evil. Because they gave in to temptation. And we're thinking about how we deal with temptation. How we overcome sin. This is what our saviour is bringing us to now. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Facing temptation. Let's look at the source of temptation. Who is it that tempts us? The devil is the tempter. Whenever we first read of the devil in the scripture, he tempts Eve. And Eve goes on and tempts Adam. And together they eat of the forbidden fruit. And so humanity fell into the curse. This world is a world that's reeling from judgment. A world that's reeling from the curse of God. This world is a broken world. All of the miseries that have come upon humanity have come because of that moment when our first parents, they fell into temptation. And that temptation came from Satan himself. And as it was in the beginning, so it is now. The devil is wanting to destroy our lives. The Lord spoke to Peter. Peter was the foremost of his disciples. And he said, Peter, Peter, Satan is desiring to sift you. Just as wheat is sifted, he's moving you about. He's trying to destroy you. He's trying to ruin your life. He is an adversary. Peter called him an adversary. He said, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is not to be trivialised. He is on the march. He wants to ruin and destroy our lives. He is the source of temptation. Let's also think about the result of temptation. The result of temptation is evil. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. When we surrender due temptation we do that which is evil. All sin is evil. The evil of sin. People are suffering every day from the evil of sin. But what is this evil? Where does this evil come from? It comes from within. It comes from the heart of man. In Jeremiah 17 verse 9, Jeremiah said, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. The heart of man is desperately wicked. It's a deceitful thing. It deceives us because we think we are good. We think we are upright. We think we are religious. We think we are respectable. And God says, No, you're being deceived. Your heart is deceitful. And Christ said, out of the heart of man proceedeth all kinds of evils. And that's a humbling thing when we think of all of the evils that man is guilty of. It comes from humanity. It comes from the same humanity that you and I have because we are a depraved, wicked people. The fact that we are evil in our hearts tells us how much we need a saviour. In the book of John chapter 3 in the verse 20 Christ said for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved and that's a very interesting definition of that which is evil. The person that is evil doesn't come to the light but hates the light and who is the light? The light is Christ and those who will not become Christians those who refuse Jesus Christ as saviour that is an evil act a wicked act because you refuse the one who alone can save you from sin. It is a terribly wicked thing to turn away from Jesus Christ. Here is the one who did no sin, but yet he took upon himself the guilt of our sin. He never committed one sin, not one sinful thought or attitude, let alone one sinful act or sinful word. Yet he suffered the consequences of our sin. He went to the cross and he bore the wrath of God. He was broken on that cross for us. The brokenness of sin was visited upon him, the guiltless lamb of God. And he is the gift that God offers to you and to me. And yet you will not come to the light. You will not trust Christ. You will not embrace him. You turn away from Him, and that is an evil, and that is the evil thing that Satan wants you to do. Turn away from Christ. The Bible says that when you turn from Christ, when you embrace your sin, your heart becomes hard. It becomes indifferent. You turn away from the Saviour of men. Oh, the wickedness of turning away from Christ. Who knows where your path will lead you to? It'll lead you down that slippery slope. It leads to a lost sinner's hell, because that is where the evil of sin leads you to. Leads you to wastefulness in this life. leads you to destruction in the life to come, everlasting destruction, reeling from the wrath of God throughout eternity. Where will you spend eternity? O come to Jesus Christ that you may be saved. The result of temptation is evil. And then thirdly let's think about the tactic for temptation. If temptation is real and if sin is evil then we must employ the correct tactics in opposing it. How do we overcome sin? We overcome sin through scripture. Whenever the devil tempted our Lord in the wilderness and it is an amazing thing to think that Christ exposed himself to the great adversary the devil himself. He exposed himself to the devil in his weakness, in his humanity, and yet every time the devil tempted him, the Lord said, it is written, it is written, it is written. He used the scriptures, he used the sword of God's word to confound the evil one. And today I say to you, the Lord Jesus Christ says, come unto me and I will give you rest. The Lord Jesus Christ says, you must be born again. The Bible says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Look, look, look and live. Another way by which you combat evil is through prayer. Christ himself prayed. The hour was late, he was facing the cross. He went into Gethsemane and there he prayed. He said to his disciples, watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. And how must you pray? You must pray the sinner's prayer. And you must confess your sin and say, I'm sorry for my sin. My sin is destroying my life. I'm coming to you, Lord Jesus. You can do that today where you're at. Maybe your life has been squandered and wasted by sin. What must you do? Call upon the Lord. You don't need any minister or any member of clergy. All you need is a heart that cries to God for salvation. For you have a great high priest in glory. who's praying for you. There must be submissiveness of heart. Peter said, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Taking the care of your sin, the weight of your sin, and casting it on to God, for he careth for you. Realising that you can do nothing, that Christ has done everything. Oh give him your heart today, give him your heart. But then the other tactic we employ is this, and this is the tactic that God employs for us, and this is the most wonderful thing of all, Christ's high priestly work. It is through Jesus Christ alone that we overcome temptation. It is through Jesus Christ alone that we escape the temptation of this world and the evil of sin. because when Christ spoke to Peter in Luke 22 he said yes Satan wants to have you Peter but I have prayed for you it is not your overcoming that will defeat the devil it is not your holiness It is my prayers for you. I have prayed for you that thy faith fall not. That's why I encourage you today to come to Jesus Christ. It is not what you do, it is what Christ has done. Resting upon Him alone by faith. Will you do that today? Will you come? Will you enjoy the victory of Christ? The victory of He who died for you and He rose again for you and He lives for you and He says, because I live ye shall live also. O will you come, take Christ as your saviour today, accept the free gift that is offered, grace alone, he saves, he satisfies, he secures. O will you come and trust him today, for Christ's sake. Amen. you've been listening to Let the Bible Speak. If we can be of any further spiritual help, or if you would like to receive some free gospel literature, we invite you to write to us. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, Rev. Peter McIntyre, 13 Willand Crescent, 5 Mile Town, County Tyrone, BT75OQL. That's Let the Bible Speak, Rev. Peter McIntyre, Thirteen, Willand, Crescent, Five Mile Town, County Tyrone, BT75, OQL. You may hear Mr. McIntyre preach each Lord's Day here in Clocker Valley Free Presbyterian Church at 11.30am and 7pm. For further information you may phone us at 028 8952 1611. 028 8952 1611. We assure you of a very warm welcome at all the services and look forward to having you visit with us. Thank you for listening today. May the Lord richly bless you, and don't forget to tune in on this same station at the same time next week, when once again we turn to the scriptures and let the Bible speak.