“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” – Matt. 6:13

Our desire for deliverance should be from all sin, not just certain sins. If you think you are safe because you have overcome a particular sin or avoided others you are mistaken. As I said, “there is some sin that you can’t resist without God’s help”. Given the right time, situation and circumstances there is some sin you cannot resist without divine help. There are some sins you haven’t committed only because you have never had the opportunity. If you did you would collapse like a house of cards. That’s why you need to pray that God will keep it from you. God not only can keep you from sin He can keep sin away from you!

However, remember this, praying to be kept safe from sin does not negate the need for other things. You must avoid bad company, watch, study the scriptures, be obedient, mortify the flesh, etc. While nothing is more important than prayer, prayer is not the only important thing. Excelling in one thing doesn’t excuse our failure in another.

The problem of temptation is everywhere, everyday, for everyone.
The power of temptation is enormous.
The prayer regarding temptation is effective.
The protection against temptation is essential.

The moment God saved me He put within my heart a desire to do what is right– to please Him. It was God given. I didn’t sit down and reason out why I should.God put the desire in me. The same is true of every Christian. There is a yearning to be like Jesus. And although the struggle is great God enables us to win. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13).– HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” – Matt. 6:13

I can’t tell you how important prayer is. About the best thing I can do is to say what I’ve said many times–“Everything depends on prayer”. Without it we fail. This is never more true than when it comes to deliverance from evil. Many pray this after the fact, when they should have prayed before their fall. It’s better to pray to be able to resist it than to later pray to be rescued from it!

Evil is a terrible thing and does terrible things! And, in our ability, we have no power over it. You might not be tempted to any and all sins, but there is some sin you can’t resist without God’s help.

When you understand what is meant by the word “evil” you will agree with me when I say, only a fool wouldn’t want to be delivered from it. We are in constant danger because we cannot avoid temptation. You can’t lock it out or hide from it. You can isolate yourself like a monk in a monastery but you can’t lock temptation out. James 1:13-15 explains why–we are drawn away by our “own lust”.

Temptation isn’t a sin, but we are commanded to flee from it (2 Tim. 2:22). We are even told to avoid all appearance of evil. God doesn’t tempt us to do evil, but He does test us, or allow us to be tested so as to bring out the best. Although He permits us to be tempted He has promised that through Christ we can win ( Rom. 6:14). As someone said, “True holiness is the result of a battle–It is only as we fight against our own lusts and against Satan that we become holy”.

To see the seriousness of this we need to consider the word “evil”. When we understand what we need to be delivered from we will be more serious about prayer. It comes from a Greek word (poneros) that means “bad, of a bad nature or condition, wicked, or hardships causing pain and trouble”. If you knew a serial killer wanted to enter your house would you invite him in? Of course not! If you knew you house was contaminated with a deadly disease would you spend another night there? Of course not! We take every precaution possible to protect ourselves physically. Why then would we ignore the danger of evil? We are quick to pray when afflicted, but sin is far worse than afflictions. Thomas Watson said, “There is more evil in a drop of sin- than in a sea of affliction”. That being the case shouldn’t we pray, “deliver us from evil”. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” – 2 Pet. 3:9
The Bible is a wonderful book, and there are many wonderful verses and phrases that make a deep impression on us. Due to our particular need some of these are easy to remember because they address that subject. However, sometimes some of the most wonderful verses do not get the attention they deserve. I believe that’s the case with our text, where it says God “is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.

Notice the words “not willing that any should perish“. Is that not wonderful? You could say, that’s another way of saying “God so loved the world” ( John 3:16). It is an expression of God’s loving concern for everyone’s welfare – amazing grace. Considering God’s holiness and mans sinfulness He would be perfectly justified in allowing all of us to perish, but His love will not allow Him to do so. Instead He devised a way of salvation. In Christ He has provided a means whereby we can be forgiven, escape the wrath of God, and receive eternal life.

But God doesn’t impose His will on us and force us to turn to Him. We each must come to Him. Just because God wants something to happen it doesn’t mean it always will. God wants you to be saved,  is willing to save you, and is waiting to save you, but He won’t force you to be saved. We must be willing for His will to be done. Our acceptance of it is implied by the word “repentance”. That is the greatest day of a person’s life!

To see the greatness of this, consider the words “us” and “any“. That speaks of everyone and includes you. Regardless of how vile and sinful a person is God is willing to save them if they trust Christ. He receives all who receive His Son ( Eph. 1:6). As the old song says, “There’s room at the cross for you”. Those who die and go to hell cannot blame God. Jesus tasted death for every man ( Heb. 2:9), making salvation available to whosoever will. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”-  James 4:15
Someone said,” Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want, but you can spend it only once”. How true that is! But most people are like a kid in a candy store – they can’t make up their mind on how they want to spend it. Sadly, most folks end up wasting it. They allow the things of the world to distract them. They allow good things to crowd out the best things. They allow personal pleasures to take them down a path they will regret later. They’ve developed the idea that they can’t find happiness unless they travel to far away places, do exciting things, get expensive stuff, and rub shoulders with the rich and famous. They call it “getting ahead”. But they keep coming up short.

Rather than being content where they are with what they have they are always looking for something else. Solomon tried to warn us when he said “all is vanity”, but hardly anyone listens. Paul spoke about abiding with God in whatever situation we are in ( 1 Cor. 7:20-24), but the flesh resents that idea. Perhaps we ought to consider the example of Christ. Vance Havner gave us this food for thought:
“Wouldn’t you think that Jesus, with only three years to go, would have visited Rome and Athens, would have sought all available publicity, would have called on celebrities and appeared at forums and symposiums, would have rushed from dawn to midnight, making every moment count, would have held public debates and put on healing exhibitions? Instead, He stayed in an obscure little Roman province, talked with a few individuals, mingled with ordinary people, exasperated His brothers by not performing in Jerusalem. It is all so foreign to our American way of doing things. Maybe we had better learn the gait of Galilee!”

I realize that we live in a different time than the days of Christ, but we would be wise to keep our priorities in the proper order. So let’s keep first things first ( Matt. 6:33). Redeem the time and invest your life in that which pays eternal dividends. As the British Missionary C. T. Studd said, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” Do not be distracted by the pleasures of this world, nor discouraged by its problems. Stay focused on what matters most. As the old song says, “It will be worth it all”. -HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.“- Acts 4:13

A little child was thinking about the unseen Christ to whom she        prayed, and came to her mother with the question, “Is Jesus like anybody I know?”
       
The question was not an unreasonable one — it was one to which the child should have received the answer of “Yes.” Every true disciple of Christ ought to be an answer — in some sense, at least — to the child’s inquiry. Every little one ought       to see Christ’s beauty mirrored in its Christian mother’s face. Every Sunday-school teacher’s character, should reflect some tracings of the Eternal Love on which the scholars may gaze. Whoever looks upon the life of any Christian, should see in it at once the reflection of the beauty of Christ. (copied)

Every Christian should and could become more like Christ, but we must realize that it doesn’t happen as a result of changes we make. The Holy Spirit is the change agent. He transforms us as we keep our focus on Christ. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18 –  HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346