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Summary:

We come to the last petition of the Lord's Prayer on Pentecost Sunday, the Sunday that we remember the gift of the Spirit to lead and to guide the church. How appropriate then that we pray in this last petition, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil", for as you trace the indwelling of the Spirit through the life of Christians in the Old Testament epoch and through the life of Jesus and his church it is apparent that it is the Spirit that leads not into temptation. When we consider Jesus, it is apparent that Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness and safely through it even with the minefield of temptations by the Tempter. Jesus goes through this wilderness of temptation and delivers us from evil on the cross. So, though it all, we pray "Lead and deliver us!" and this is done by the gift of the Spirit and the work of Jesus!

Transcript:

So now as I read this and I'm not gonna say whether or not this actually happened what I read was that this happened.

Okay, so there's this Christian singer who Had rented out a recording studio. She was going to record some new songs and so she went into this recording studio. And as you might imagine the tech person, you know, the version of Chris there has set everything up. It takes a long time to get everything in place. Just right, right? He sets up all the mics and you know done the sound stuff and making sure that everything is right.

So she begins performing in her very first song for this new album. And the tech person's like now this sounds so good. And he's just listening  along. But then about 30 seconds into this first song right when she's halfway through the first verse she stops and she throws her hands up in the air and says “He's not here. He's not here. We need to stop.”  The tech guy says  “What are you who are you talking about? I'm here. You're here. The other musicians are here. What's going on?”

She says “The Holy Spirit, He is not here”. So what she does she gets on the phone. She calls some of her friends. Hey, come on over We need to pray.” So they all show up at this recording studio and they just start praying.They lay their hands on everything and what I read was that they also took anointing oil and just started like touching everything with it and Praying and she said, okay, let's let me try it again/

So she starts singing her next song her song again  and recording it and she stops again and says “I can't do this. He is not among us.”

And so the praying posse all gathers together again, and they lay their hands and they pray and they pray in the pray. So she does it again and she stops again and they pray again and then and she gets going and as she's just about to start playing and the sound guy sees her reverb isn't on and going to her monitor. He thinks  “I’d better put that on.” So he turns it on and she starts playing and she immediately proclaims “He showed up he showed up. The the Holy Spirit's among us.”

What I read quote the sound text simply did not have the heart to say to her No, ma'am. That was the reverb. And I tell you that to say that there is no small amount of confusion with regards to the Holy Spirit.

Can we just get an amen for that? Amen, right, and it's Pentecost Sunday and It's a lovely Sunday and we have the we have the promise of our Lord Jesus that the Spirit of God is is among us Reverb or not he is with us. And we're in this little series on the Lord's Prayer that we started right after Easter And we're gonna do one more sermon on it next week, and then we're gonna be in the summer for the Psalms for the summer.

But we're at this final petition of the Lord's Prayer, which is “Lead us not to temptation. But deliver us from evil.” And as much confusion as there is maybe around the Holy Spirit, I think actually this little petition lead us not to temptation But deliver us from evil helps us have at least a little clarity with regards to the spirit in our lives.

So I've said a couple times that the Lord's Prayer is often divided in half by scholars and sort of the breaking point is on earth as in heaven. So the first three petitions are heavenward directed. You know, “Thy kingdom come. thy will be done – Godward, that kind of stuff and then the latter three are sort of earthward. Towards us give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts lead us not to temptation.those things.

Another interesting thing that somebody's pointed out is that these earthward ones are temporarily oriented. So give us this day our daily bread is sort of present - be with us now and provide for what we have we need now and forgive us our debts has to do with what we've done sort of past. Then Lead us not to temptation to sort of forward orienting. Go with us as we go into what's ahead

But I think that just begs the question like where are we going? Where are we headed? Right, if you're leading us,what's the space into which we are living and walking and being and I want to suggest to you this: the Bible assumes that we live in a minefield.

Okay, it's just the Bible assumes we live in a minefield. You live in a place 2here the temptations of the world and the flesh and the devil are just everywhere. The Bible assumes this. There's the temptation to grab the forbidden fruit.There's the temptation to deny the goodness and the reality of God his benevolent authority. There's the temptation to cower to the fears of this world to give in to the temptations of lust and bodily desire. There's that there's a temptation to look around and see the death of loved ones or a war ravaged world and the hoarding of guns and all this violence and to think where is God?

What I'm suggesting is that the Bible assumes we live in a minefield in the minefield is a minefield of temptation. All over temptations not to find our identity in God Father Son and Holy Spirit but in how, as Henry Nouwen and puts it, how relevant we are. How astute we are, how insightful. Those are temptations particularly for pastor kind of folk. How abreast we are of current issues and how much we care about social issues

Anything other than the identity first and foremost of God Father Son and Holy Spirit. I mean that's this is the world we live in and the Bible assumes this that we live in a minefield of these kinds of temptations.

So as you pray lead us not to temptation but deliver us from evil the answer that the Bible gives is that you might actually make it through the minefield. You might actually make it through the minefield as you are led by the very Spirit of God. And you're actually delivered from evil by the reality of the cross of Christ.

Here's what I want to do this morning. I want to give you a very brief overview of the idea that the Spirit is in the people of God mostly through the Old Testament, okay.  Whatr I want you to see is that there's this reality of the Spirit of God in dwelling the people of God through the Old Testament. But when that phrase is mentioned or when filled with the Spirit or in the Spirit is there the Spirit is leading the people of God through a minefield of temptation and guarding them through that.

So first, Joseph. Many of you will know who Joseph is in the book of Genesis. Genesis 41 for of all people says this speaking as though it was the reality though of Joseph. He says can we find a man like this in whom is the Spirit of God.

If you're familiar with the story of Joseph what you will remember and what you will have learned is that Joseph doesn't give into sexual temptation. He is actually guarded against that minefield of sexual  temptation from Potiphar's wife.

You've learned that he would have used his wisdom and his insight not actually just for his own good, as in to say “look at me,” but for the blessing of this place where he inhabited.  Egypt and their long-term well-being. He was placed there and he loved that place and he gave his wisdom and his insight for the blessing of that place.

What I'm suggesting to you is that phrase that we first find there that Joseph is said to have the Spirit of God in him. The Holy Spirit Is guarding him from these temptations that we actually find all around leading Joseph through these minefields of temptation and delivering him from evil.

Anyone know who the second person in the Bible is said to be have the Spirit of God. I'm looking at you Ted, but the man is  Bazalel. Bazalel is actually the first person in the Bible specifically to be said to be filled with the Spirit, but he has the Spirit of God. He's not the first person. Joseph is the first person to be said to have the Spirit of God in him, but Bazalel is the first person to be said to be filled with the Spirit of God

This is what we read about Bazalel in Exodus 31. He was the son of Uri the son of her which I think means he is a dwarf, certainly a character in the Lord of the Rings. But this is actually what we read “and I filled him with the Spirit of God with ability and intelligence with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs to work in gold silver and bronze in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood to work in every craft.”

He's a sculptor. Yes, And what you learn is that he's an amazing one, He's the one who's in charge of sculpting all these things for the tabernacle, the place of worship. And the temptation, here's what I want to say is the temptation is whenever you're that good at something The temptation is to say hey, Look at me, Check me out, right? It is the great sin of celebrity culture. This is what it is look at how absolutely gifted I am.

And yet it seems as though this man though  pectacularly gifted was led through this minefield of temptation because he had the very Spirit of God within him. Because he has the very Spirit of God within him. God first defines him.

The third person is Joshua. Maybe notice near the end of the book of Numbers. We actually got that a little when Chuck read for us that little passage which I bet some of you are like why in the world did we read two random verses in Numbers.

here's why I wanted you to hear = How when Joshua is commissioned as the successor to Moses. The text specifically says so the Lord said to Moses take Joshua the son of none a man in whom is the spirit. He is indwelt by the Spirit of God, he's filled with the very Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is in Joshua.

And what does Joshua do. He actually leads the people of God into the promised land. You'll remember that when Moses brought the people of God to the promised land 40 years prior They were so filled with fear and they thought “there's no way we can do this.God may be for us, but they're against us” and Joshua says “no no no no no no.” There's a great temptation to think that if something that big is against you then God can't do it and Joshua who has the Spirit of God within him says no we're going to do this. We are not going to be defined by these fears of this world. But we're going to be defined by the reality that we follow the Lord.  

So the Spirit of God leads them through these minefields of temptation which are so common especially with leaders, right, who  say we' actually can't do that. And he says no God is with us. We're going to go forward into this promised land now.

I'm going to summarize this together,.But the next group of people in the Bible is said to be filled with the Spirit are some of the judges in the book of Judges which were leaders of God's people once they entered into the promised land.

Okay, so some of the judges of Israel that are said to be filled with the Spirit of God are

Othniel, Ehud, Gideon, and Samson. and the thing that if you read through these passages what you notice is these people -They have great strength just like physical ability and they command other people and and they're great leaders. The temptation is of strength is most often to use it in the domineering way. And a self-serving way in a demanding way.

But actually what we see at least of some of these leaders for the most part is the Spirit of God is leading them away from these kinds of temptations and Bringing them into a place where they can lead the people of God as they ought to.

The Spirit of God again is leading through these minefields of temptations. Finally. What I want you to see is the character David. Now what you you some of you might know that Saul actually is said to be have the Spirit of God and then actually to Have it taken from him. I mean that’s is an interesting thought, but David, in first Samuel 16, we read that Samuel anoints David and when he did the Spirit of God rushed upon David

Some of you might know this this is sort of an odd detail and I'd be Tell me if you tell me after the service, don't raise your hand if you notice, but you know 2hat was said right before the Spirit of God rushing upon him. That David was ready and had beautiful eyes and was a handsome man.

And you know what there is a great temptation, there's a huge temptation to think that your physical presence just totally defines you. That you can get what you want take what you want from your physical presence or there's a there's a temptation frankly to look at other people and think they have such-and-such because of their physical presence or whatever

There's a huge temptation in the world then in our world now towards what we look like how we present ourselves. The Bible again assumes that we live in this minefield of temptations. David actually unlike Saul and unlike his own son Solomon, who was also handsome was led by the Spirit in such a way that he wasn't overcome by those sort of physical things? David wasn’t overcome by sexual desire and sexual lure or what he could get from his own body.

Here's my real simple point - the Bible assumes that we live in this minefield of temptation and the answer to actually making our way in life and not being given over to the temptations of the world and the flesh and the devil is the very reality of the Spirit of God within us. And that's the only answer. That's the answer that's given in the Bible time and time and time again.

Now I will say this, because some of you are theologians of sorts, the Spirit of God does in the Bible give us new life. That's true. That's what we see in Ezekiel 11 and Ezekiel 36 or Jeremiah 31 or other places. But what we often see in the Bible is the reality of being indwelt by the Spirit of God is for a certain task that we are given. And the Spirit guarding us from the temptations that are associated with that task

Okay, that is a big part of what it means to have the Spirit of God dwell within us. So the Spirit leads his people people like Joseph and Bazalel and Joshua and You and I through temptations of thinking our insight is gonna make us, our power and our strength is going to get us through our physical appeal Guards us against the temptations of power and of sex and lust of celebrity of look at me. Serving ourselves and grabbing at power.

The Spirit of God does lead us through this and he will deliver us. The Spirit of God leads us. The Spirit of God delivers us.

I wanted to share this with you and I think I'm gonna make it through this just fine. Last night, somebody who I loved very much and loved me very much died actually yesterday morning in Washington State.This woman was my mom's dearest friend. I Met her first when I was three one of her sons is one of my closest friends who's in our wedding and this  friend of mine I remember about 12 years ago called me up and said my mom's not able to follow a recipe. Well, and she's forgetting my kids names and she was just 60 years old.
And so this woman spent the last 12 years suffering with Alzheimer's and has been slowly dying. In fact, she just weighed 70 pounds this week. And she was cared for by her loving husband Bill. He actually retired from Delta flying for Delta early so that he could care for his wife. All the things that you might dream of doing in your 60s and 70s they haven't done because she was homebound and he was homebound alongside with her and I I wanted to share that with you partly because it's good to share in one another sorrows but the other thing is that I wanted to share with you just how an unbelievably sad and broken our world is ot is just a very deeply broken and sad world that we live in.

And of course that brokenness that sadness invites us into some of these very temptations just to grab things just try to control things or try to take pleasure when we can because it's so fleeting. But some of this brokenness is also the very temptation in some ways to give up on God. I mean to look at this world and to see how deeply sad it is and part of the heart of Christian faith is the goodness of God how much he loves us? The temptation is to to give up on the reality of God

Here's another thing I wanted to mention, and that's this. that the world is not just broken that just seems too passive. The world is actually filled with evil. That's part of what the Bible tells us the world is filled with evil. Our bodies don't work well, that's true. But think about this there are more school shootings this year than there have been days of the year so far. And here's the temptation even in sharing that statistic that we want to just say oh, it's all over there.

It's not true. Our hearts, as Calvin said, are idle factories. It's not just something over there for the person with mental disease and social anxiety somehow gets hold of a gun. But our own hearts desire evil, we promote it.

When we pray deliver us from evil some commentators point out this, that the evil there, it hard to pinpoint. Of course, you've probably heard it said “deliver us from the evil one” and that might be right that the prayer is referring to a person. But it certainly isn't clear. It could be referring to Satan or it could be referring to an evil person or an evil situation.

Or it's just actually it's just neutral, so it could just be the reality of evil. The Bible affirms all three of those things and I think partly the lack of clarity is in fact, maybe the point. Jesus wants you to pray for all of it and to be delivered and taken away the effects of evil and the promulgation of evil the evil in our own hearts or the evil of other people.

There are a few temptations For how we engage with evil. Let me list a few for you. Some of us and I think we're all maybe tempted maybe at times do this I know I am To have the approach that we just want our heads to be in the sand. You know like Just let's not pretend let's pretend it isn't there. Or if it is there like it, let's not call it evil. Let's not name it too much. That might be giving it too much power. Let's try really hard To not think about it, it's just gonna work itself out anyway. And I read one person said the house may be on fire but if you just take your coat off and drink some ice-cold water everything might work out. All right, like let's just not think about it. Put your head in the sand.

The second option and it's sort of the absolute opposite of that kind of approach. Is that we just see it everywhere? We're just cognizant of it all the time everywhere. We see demons behind every bush. Or we just feel utterly consumed and overwhelmed with how yucky things are.

Third option again, I think all these Unfortunately speak probably to each one of us at different times and a third option is often to just be really self-righteous about evil. sort of just mention this but Evil is definitely out there,but it's just the other people. Whatever you want to call that other people the Republicans or the Democrats or target or whoever. It's other people were the self-righteous holy ones doing battle and it doesn't touch us and we don't push it forward at all.

So what do you do with evil? What do you do with it? Well what Jesus tells us as we says ask the Lord to lead you not temptation but to deliver you from evil ask the Lord to deliver you from evil.  The Spirit of God will lead you and the Spirit of God will deliver you.

Now here's the thing, all of the the Lord's Prayer points us to Jesus. Now you're like wel,  Peter you normally end with Jesus in a sermon. That's true. But I hope what you've seen is that in each actually section each petition of the Lord's Prayer What we are invited into is the life of Christ, seeing Jesus

So I want you to think about this with me. Okay, the combination of temptation being led not into temptation, but be delivered from evil. So in Matthew chapter 4 we read that the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness -to what? Not just to be tempted but to be tempted by the devil okay, that's actually very important little phrase there. He was tempted with the temptations that we are tempted with. Power and control, and relevance, and the spectacular and the grand.

We read elsewhere that he was tempted in every way just as we are and yet he's without sin. Here's what you need to know. The Spirit did not do the tempting. The Spirit led him into the wilderness. He's tempted by the devil. Okay, the tempter is what he's called there in Matthew chapter four. But Jesus, unlike our first Adam and unlike you and I,  is perfectly led by the Spirit and he does not fall to any temptation.He is led perfectly through the minefield.and goes through unscathed and is perfectly righteous.

He continues that journey, being tempted actually even to give up - in the garden - long ago, right? He says “but not my will but yours be done”  and He goes the way all the way to the cross where he might deliver us perfectly from evil.

In fact John tells us in 1st John chapter 3 the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. The reason was to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus perfectly is led by the Spirit perfectly through temptation. He is the perfect second  Adam for us.  He goes to the cross that we might be delivered from evil, and to destroy the works of the devil, and do away with Satan sin and death. To destroy the powers of the temptations of the world of flesh and the devil.

Now I want to end with a very simple illustration. This is from John' Stott and He actually says he gets it from William Temple. I want you to think about this because the message that we have on Pentecost and this is what Jesus tells us in the upper room that we heard part from in the Gospel reading. What Jesus tells us is that you have the very Spirit of God in you that Jesus had. That just as the Spirit of God led Jesus through the temptation and he was led through it perfectly and did not fall totemptation. You have the Spirit of God within you. That just as the Spirit of God led Jesus and he conquered Satan sin and death. He was delivered from evil the Spirit of God does live in you and Jesus tells you to ask that you would be led not to temptation but delivered from evil.

So this is John's Stotts illustration.
 “It's no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear and telling me to write a play like that. He's saying I can't just decide to like copy some play and make a good play. He says Shakespeare could do it. I can't It's no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it. I can't.
But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me then I could write plays like his. If the Spirit of Jesus could come and live in me then I could live a life like his.

This is what we celebrate in Pentecost. I mean you can say the good news in all kinds of different ways, but brothers and sisters part of the good news is that the very Spirit of God dwells within you if you're in Jesus the Spirit of God is within you and when you cry out to the Lord leave me not to temptation but deliver me from evil God says, “ yes, Gladly. Its what I've been doing from the beginning with Joseph and Bazalel and all the rest, gladly. I'll lead you not temptation because of the work of Christ. I will deliver you from evil.”

I haven't said this I don't think in one of these sermons but there's that the tthe earliest teachings of the disciples - the second generation that the generation right after the disciples wrote a little book called the Didache. “Didache” simply means “ the teachings of the twelve.”

We're not sure that they actually came from the twelve disciples, but it's the earliest text that we have from the early church. Its from the early second century

There's one little section on prayer and all it says is Pray the Lord's Prayer three times a day. And I remember reading the Didach, you know, I had some had to read some of it in seminary and I remember thinking “how disappointing. That's all the instruction you're gonna give me on the life of prayer.”

But I'm telling you brothers and sisters as we devote ourselves to Lord's teaching on prayer that we devote ourselves to this. He will answer it. Will give us our daily bread. He will forgive us our debts and He will honestly help us to forgive our debtors things that we think we could never forgive.

We are forgiven with the power of God, and the Lord because of the gift of the Holy Spirit, will lead you through this mind field of temptation and He will deliver you from evil. Jesus says “It's finished. I've done it and the Spirit of God lives within you.

Let me pray for us. Lord in heaven this Holy Pentecost Sunday we remember this reality of God with us. Spirit of God, please descend upon us and In the midst of a life like ours where we are so inclined to treating people by how they look by living a life that is full of sexual desire, by grabbing for power by controlling narratives. I pray that you'd lead us not in temptation but deliver us from evil. Lord. Please Holy Spirit do this work that you have done in your people from the beginning that you did perfectly in our Lord Jesus. Do it in us God show your power among us. Holy Spirit

We ask this in Jesus name. Amen

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