We turn to God's Word, to the Gospel according to John. John Chapter 15. John Chapter 15, and let's read this chapter. John 14, 15, and 16 all go together. Jesus gives the promise of the Spirit when he leaves the disciples and ascends up into heaven. We'll simply read John 15 for now. I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends. For all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain And that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own. But because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin. But now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But now have they both seen and hated both me and my father. But this cometh to pass, that the world might be fulfilled, that the word might be fulfilled, that is written in their law, they hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me, and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. Thus far, we read God's holy and inspired word. The Heidelberg Catechism bases its instruction from this text and others in Lord's Day 52. Lord's Day 52. And this morning, we're simply going to consider question and answer 127. Next week, the Lord willing, we'll consider the final two questions and answers. Let's simply read question and answer 127 this morning. concerning the final petition of the Lord's Prayer, which is the sixth petition. Lord's Day 52, 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, and besides this, since our mortal enemies, the devil, the world, and our own flesh 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 but constantly and strenuously may resist our foes till at last we obtain a complete victory. And we'll stop our reading there. Beloved congregation, in our Lord Jesus Christ, John 14, 15, and 16 are very touching and comforting words that Jesus spoke to his disciples the night before he would be crucified. Very helpful, encouraging, and comforting words for the disciples and for all the church. Jesus, to give the context, Jesus and the disciples are either still in the upper room where Jesus has administered the final Passover and then instituted the Lord's Supper. They are either still in the upper room or they have now made their way out of Jerusalem, walking through the streets of Jerusalem, going to the Garden of Gethsemane. Either way, Jesus now speaks these words to his disciples in John 14, 15, and 16. Knowing that they were sad in the previous chapter, Jesus says to them in John 14, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. Jesus also speaks of his always remembering the disciples, even though he knows their sorrow, that he must go away. And yet He will comfort them with the presence of His Spirit. And then further Jesus speaks of His love for the disciples here in John 15 verse 13, greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. And Jesus is not only then speaks these words of love to His disciples but then He also addresses the love that His disciples have for Him. So that in the previous chapter, 14, 23, if a man loved me, he will keep my words and my father will love him. And we will come unto him and make our abode with him. And then in chapter 15, verse 16, those who love the Lord Jesus Christ that they would go forth and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. And so you have here words of love from Jesus to his disciples and to all the church, and then also Jesus acknowledging and setting forth the duty of his disciples who love him. But now this relationship between Jesus and His disciples, a relationship of love, and especially on our part, whereby we love and devote ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is going to provoke a certain response from the world. And that reaction from the world will be one of hatred and persecution. Verses 18 and 19 of John 15. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore doth the world, the world hateth you. And then verse 20, if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And that's a brief summary and a synopsis of the life of the child of God in the midst of this world. It tells us what the Christian life is all about. In so far as we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ and we live in him. The world will see that. The world notices that. They will hate us and they will persecute us. We may not experience that persecution the hard physical way that many others in the history of the world have and that God's people in other places of the world even right now experience it. But nonetheless, even in our present day and at bottom, the world hates you and they hate you because they first hate the Lord Jesus Christ and knowing that you are united to Him, you and I become the object of their hatred and the world will do everything to entice you and to seduce you away from the Lord Jesus Christ and unto the world. In the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus now gives us important instruction concerning our life in the world. In the first place, Jesus teaches us to see that our life is a life of warfare, unrelenting warfare. As a Christian, you and I have enemies, the catechism describes these as our mortal enemies, enemies that are determined to not only inflict injury, spiritual injury upon you and me, but even our spiritual destruction And these enemies are unrelenting in their assault upon us so that it becomes the way of life for every Christian that we must strenuously resist these enemies and stand in this warfare. And then in the second place, though our life is a life of warfare, at the same time, Jesus teaches us to view our Christian life as a life of victory. And Jesus gives that assurance to the disciples. An encouraging word, really, in all of John 14 and 15 and 16. My disciples, don't be sad. I am coming back. I will grant you the Spirit, and He will lead you and guide you into all truth as you live in the midst of this world. And Jesus says of the Spirit in John 16, verse 8, that the Spirit will even reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Well we too, we seek our victory through the Holy Spirit in this our life of constant warfare and struggle against our enemies. And as the Catechism says, do thou therefore preserve and strengthen us by the power of thy Holy Spirit and in that very last phrase, till at last we obtain a complete victory. Draw your attention to the sermon we take as our theme, Deliver Us from Evil, the words of the Sixth Petition. Deliver us from evil in the first place. Make us holy. Secondly, keep us from temptation. And then lastly, give us the victory. Deliver us from evil. The particular spiritual blessing of salvation that we ask God for in this sixth petition is that spiritual blessing known as sanctification. And therefore, we are petitioning God to make us holy. that sanctification is the blessing that we are asking God for is evident from the catechism's explanation. In the first place, catechism, we are so weak in ourselves that we cannot stand for a moment. And that's not speaking of physical weakness, though we do seek our physical strength in God. But this is, speaking of spiritual weakness, we petition God for spiritual strength, that we may stand spiritually. And then in the second place, we're asking God that he would preserve and strengthen us by the Holy Spirit. Further, that we ask God for grace in this life to constantly and strenuously resist our foes, and they are spiritual foes, and to fight against them. And so you put all of that together, and we are coming to God, petitioning Him, oh God, we are weak in the face of our enemies. We ask that thou wilt preserve and strengthen us by thy Holy Spirit, and by the same Spirit enable us to fight against our enemies. And at bottom, what is that? But a prayer for sanctification. Sanctification is God's deliverance of us from the power of sin, from the power of sin. Now there are two ways that sin attacks us. In the first place, there's the guilt of sin that renders us worthy of punishment. Death now and death eternally. That's the guilt of sin. But secondly, the other aspect of sin is its power. The power of sin. An actual, real, spiritual, dominating force in the life of an individual that keeps that person in cruel bondage. You think of the power of sin and how miserable that is to live in that sin. As a picture, you think of the Israelites in the land of Egypt. Those taskmasters were the masters and the Israelites had to do the bidding of their masters. That was cruel, miserable bondage. Now God's deliverance or salvation of us from the guilt of sin, that's the first thing I mentioned, deliverance from the guilt of sin, that's justification. And that's God's declaration, I find you not guilty, I declare you innocent on the basis of the obedience of Jesus Christ. And that's the petition that we brought to God last Lord's Day in the previous petition, forgive us our debts, which is in essence a petition for justification, justify us. This petition, the sixth petition, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil is a request on our behalf that God would deliver us from the other aspect of the power of sin, of the attack of sin which is the power of sin in our lives. That we would no longer be under the power of sin and have to obey its rule in our lives. The sixth petition then of the Lord's Prayer, a request for sanctification. And when God sanctifies us, he delivers us from the power of sin, not removing sin altogether in our lives, but delivering us from the power and the bondage of sin so that you and I no longer have to bend the knee to sin, but that we bend the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. that this is the blessing we ask for in the sixth petition, the petition itself makes plain, we ask God, lead us not into temptation. And we'll examine that more in the second point of the sermon, what this temptation is all about, but now I draw your attention to this, that we all know very well what would happen if God would lead us into temptation, if God should find it necessary to lead me into temptation, then the result is going to be that I'm going to yield to that temptation and I'm going to fall for that sin. That was the case with Peter. God was leading Peter into temptation when Peter was boasting and bragging that even though all the other disciples would forsake Jesus and yet not I, and that he would never abandon Jesus, God was leading Peter into temptation. And the result was that Peter committed gross public sin. He denied Jesus three times. Well then if God does not lead me into temptation then the result will be that I will not yield to temptation and I will not commit that deed to which otherwise I would commit. And similarly in the sixth petition we ask God to deliver us from evil, deliver us from evil. What if God doesn't deliver us from evil and if he doesn't deliver us from the power of sin? Well then evil is going to conquer us at least for a time at that point in our lives evil then is going to flood our mind with wicked thoughts, evil is going to take over for a while so that we would pursue a course of wickedness, evil is going to control our tongue so that we would say something wicked but if God delivers us from evil then that speaks of a life whereby you and I are constantly saying no to sin and yes to God. It's a life whereby we love the things of the kingdom of heaven and we distance ourselves more and more from the things of the world. And when we pray, deliver us from evil, then God answers that prayer by giving unto us the Holy Spirit. And the Heidelberg Catechism calls our attention to this great worker of deliverance from evil. What do we ask for in the sixth petition? Do thou therefore preserve and strengthen us by the power of thy Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the Trinity, but now the Holy Spirit, especially as he is that third person of the Trinity, given to the Lord Jesus Christ upon his ascension into heaven, and as Jesus pours out his Spirit upon the earth. Do thou therefore preserve and strengthen us by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we are praying for the Holy Spirit. and praying for the Holy Spirit, not for the very first operation of the Spirit in our lives, which is regeneration, that work of the Spirit comes altogether apart from us asking. That is a work of the Holy Spirit alone in the heart of an elect child of God to give Him a new heart without our asking, without our even wanting it. But now the Holy Spirit having regenerated us, the Holy Spirit continues with us and abides with us. And it's that continuing and it's that remaining that we're seeking after and we want more and more of, that the Spirit would preserve and strengthen us all our life long. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit within us Delivering us from the power of sin so that we hate the ways of sin and that we love the ways of God. We know that we are so weak in and of ourselves that we cannot stand for a moment and we desire the power and the strength of the Holy Spirit that we may stand in this spiritual warfare. And when we consider the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then we take note that the Holy Spirit uses means to cause us to stand, to continue to give us that grace to persevere in the battle. And here in John 15, Jesus speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit in John 15 verse 26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." And then in the next chapter, John chapter 16, Jesus continuing to explain the work of the Holy Spirit. In John 16 verse 13, how be it when he, the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall speak, not of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. So the question is, how does the Holy Spirit guide the church into all truth and show us things to come? Well, John 16, verse 13, Jesus speaks of the Spirit as not speaking of himself, but speaking of whatsoever Jesus has given unto him. And the way that the Holy Spirit then speaks to us and speaks to all of the church is through God's Word and through the proclamation of that Word, as that Word comes to us through an ordained minister. The Spirit uses the preaching of the Gospel to give us that strength, to strengthen our faith that we may stand in our life of sanctification. And so people of God, don't look elsewhere in your struggle with all your besetting sins, with all the difficult moments and all your enemies, whether it's pride, whether it's cheating or stealing or lying or mistreatment of husband or wife, some sexual sin, drunkenness. These are all sins that are not foreign to God's people. And sin will tempt us to find comfort and relief in alcohol, in drugs, in movies, in television, in whatever way we would steep ourselves in the life and the culture of this world. But that's not where we find our comfort and deliverance. The spirit of Christ works through the word of God and the preaching of the scriptures. And there are two more things that we can say about the work of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification. In the first place, this work of the Spirit in sanctifying us is a progressive work, which means that the life of the Christian is not stagnant. It's progressive. The Spirit delivers us from evil more and more. Doesn't mean that we'll ever become perfect in this life. And when we find that the power of sin is not very strong, not that way, but nevertheless, there's progress in the Christian life because by the power of the Spirit, we love God. And by the power of the Spirit, our resistance is built up day after day and year after year. We grow wiser and we can spot the temptation and allow it no entrance into our hearts and into our minds. The life of the Christian is a life whereby we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, whereby we grow in the Lord Jesus Christ unto the measure of a perfect man. And then secondly, when the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, then he makes us active in the Christian life. The Holy Spirit does not sanctify us to use the words of the canons of Dort to make us stocks and blocks in our Christian warfare. But the Holy Spirit sanctifies us that we may be active Christian soldiers. as we live in the midst of this world. The Holy Spirit gives us that determination to stand, and we do, to stand against our enemies. We're determined not to give in to temptation. We're determined to glorify God in all of my behavior, at home, at church, in school, wherever we are. And that's implied in resistance. We ask God to deliver us by causing us to resist our enemies. So all of this when we pray the sixth petition, deliver us from evil, we are making a prayer for sanctification and we are petitioning God, make me holy, grant me thy spirit and by that spirit give me strength that I may stand in this spiritual warfare. But now in the second part of the petition, we also ask God that He will lead us not into temptation. Lead us not into temptation. Temptation is the chief weapon that our mortal enemies use in order to overthrow us. These enemies are not only determined but they are very crafty and these enemies do not fight fair, they're not honest but they're deceptive and they use temptation. So who are these mortal enemies who would tempt us? The catechism lists them for us and we know them very well as our threefold enemy, the devil, the world, and our own flesh. Three spiritual realities. And just because they are spiritual does not make them less than real. They are very real. In the first place, Satan works mightily to tempt us. And if you identify yourself as a member of the body of Jesus Christ and of His body then you are a target of the devil. And that is a very sobering reality. That's something that we ought to keep in mind every day when we wake up. that we wake up in the consciousness that the devil is out to get us and that we will have to struggle with those temptations that he's going to place in our lives because behind the pleasant face that temptations usually confront us with, behind all that supposed pleasantness, behind that temptation is the hideous face of the devil himself. And when the devil sets those traps, And sometimes when you and I fall into that sin, then we do not blame the devil and say, well, the devil made me do it. It's true that the devil knows our weaknesses. He lays traps, but the trap never springs unawares. We spring the trap by yielding to that temptation so that when I fall, and if I do, then I don't blame Satan and say the devil made me do it, but I condemn myself and I am the one to blame. I yielded to the lust. I let it develop in me and that was my fault. The fault lies with me. But that in the first place, the devil is our mortal enemy. Secondly, our enemy is the world. And Jesus speaks of the world in John chapter 15. The world hates me, therefore the world hates you. The world persecutes me, therefore the world persecutes you. And so we have to be on guard against the wickedness of this world. And the world may seem friendly or at best indifferent towards us Christians at times, but this is what the word of God states is that the world does not view you in a neutral way, but the world hates you and the world will beckon to all of you and especially to you young people. The world will say, come, join us. It's an easy life. These are the places that we go. This is the music that we listen to. These are the type of words that we say. These are the kinds of things that we take an interest in and give us pleasure. Come and join us and enjoy the same. And so people of God and young people, don't give into that temptation. Fight against that temptation. You understand that the world doesn't want you to increase in godliness, but they want you to increase in ungodliness. The world is our mortal enemy. And then in the third place, our enemy is our own flesh. And this goes to show how wide the battle is, even when we're confident the devil is not assaulting us, even when we've escaped the spiritual temptations of the world. And yet, even then, in the privacy of my own home and comfort of my own room, we are at war with our own sinful flesh. And that's something that we know very well. when that wicked thought would enter my mind, when that adulterous thought crosses our minds and we're tempted to dwell upon that sin and enjoy that thought when covetousness creeps in. When hatred arises to the neighbor for what they have and what they might have done to me, evil thoughts and all of the rest, and what do we find? That our enemy, our own sinful flesh, is tempting us and out to destroy us. It's our threefold enemy, the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh. And the catechism is right that these are our mortal enemies. These are not neutral enemies that just sling an arrow from a mile away and hope they hit us. But they come close with their swords in their hands, ready to slay and kill. They are our mortal enemies. And these our mortal enemies attack us by way of temptation. Temptations are circumstances in our lives that would have us break God's law with the promise that there will be great pleasure and advantage in breaking God's law. Always there's the attraction of some gain, some advantage. In temptation there's always an allure, there's always that prospect of pleasure or advantage. That's how temptation always presents itself. That's how the devil presented temptation in the very beginning to Eve. The devil used that temptation, yea, hath God said, ye shall not surely die. But the day that you eat, your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as gods. And the temptation that Satan set before Eve and Adam as well, the allure is that you can become as God himself. Who wouldn't want that? And Adam and Eve fell for that trap and that temptation of the devil. We ask God to deliver us from evil by not leading us into temptation. Oh Heavenly Father, lead us not into temptation. Implied is that sometimes it does please God to lead some of His children into temptation, to lead them into temptation not for their eternal fall and destruction, but nonetheless at times it does please God to lead His children into temptation and when God does that, it's like an extreme remedy. something like excommunication. This is reserved for the child of God who is stubborn, leading him into temptation. This is what God does when one does not listen to the Word, does not listen to the rebukes of the elders. This is reserved for that person, man, woman, or child who hears the Ten Commandments every single Sabbath day, but it's in one ear and it's out the other. And the Word of God has no effect for a time in the life of that person and then God leads him into temptation so that God in all his wisdom and providential power arranges the circumstances of that man's life so that temptation is well nigh irresistible and God allows Satan to work in those circumstances and in the corrupt nature of that person and then God withholds, not all of His grace, but God withholds the grace that is necessary to stand in that moment. And because you and I are so weak that we cannot stand a moment in our own strength, that person whom God has led into temptation falls deeply into sin. perhaps even publicly, falls with all kinds of hurt and shame and sorrow. That's what happened to David. That's what happened with Peter, boastful, proud, arrogant Peter. I will never deny you. I'll lay down my life for you, Jesus. And Peter was relying upon his own strength. But we know what happened. God has to teach Peter the hard way. God withdrew the grace that was necessary for Peter to stand and Peter denied Jesus three times. And the purpose of God with leading Peter into temptation is so that his erring, stubborn child would come to his senses, repent of that sin, and seek and trust in God for all his strength and all his salvation. Now, for all of us, We don't want God to deal with us in the way that he dealt with Peter by leading him into temptation. We want to be delivered from evil, but not that way. And so we beseech God with humble, true, and genuine hearts. Oh God, don't lead us into temptation. Lead me out of temptation. and when the devil lays all of these traps then do thou give me the power of thy spirit and through thy word and prayer so that over against these temptations I may stand fast and that I may enjoy the victory that thou dost give unto me. And that finally obtaining the victory when we pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We are praying that God will give us the victory. And the catechism expresses so much in answer 127 that we constantly and strenuously may resist our foes till at last we obtain a complete victory. And that language of our confessions is deliberate, till at last we obtain a complete victory. And what's implied is that in this life in which you and I now live, we currently have the victory. Jesus Christ resisted temptation. Jesus has delivered us from the power of the evil one so that the devil cannot accomplish our destruction and that we have to obey the devil. The victory is ours. We are right now more than conquerors through Him who loved us. But the victory isn't complete. That victory will be complete when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again on the clouds of glory. the victory will be complete. But in this life, we do enjoy the beginning of that victory. And we enjoy that victory even as we constantly and strenuously fight against our enemies. Because that fighting and warfare on our part means that we're not the servants of Satan anymore. We're not under that bondage of sin anymore. When we fight against the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh, then that is evidence that we are regenerated children of God and that we have the new man. Because if we didn't have that new man, we wouldn't be engaging in this struggle at all. If Paul, the apostle Paul didn't have the new man, than he never would have recounted for us in Romans chapter 7, the great struggle that he yet had in his flesh. The good that I would I do not and the evil that I would not that I do. And he recognizes this internal struggle and that internal struggle is present because he has the Holy Spirit. And so we are victorious. Christ has given us the victory The victory isn't complete. We're not home yet. There's still danger, mortal danger, and therefore we pray to God, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. So beloved, let's pray this petition with urgency. Let's pray it meaningfully. when you and I recognize the temptations that there are in our lives and let's pray it every day and let us pray it in confidence that to me is given the Spirit of Jesus Christ and that in the power of His Spirit I do stand and I do fight And I do strenuously resist all these foes and let us be confident that the day will come when God will give us the complete victory. And in that day, there will be no more need for this petition because temptation will be gone, evil will be abolished, and we will enjoy the complete victory in the glory of heaven forever and ever. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, we thank thee for thy word. Preserve us in our spiritual warfare. We confess, Father, that we are weak. So many temptations, so powerful, so alluring they are. and by thy grace and spirit give us strength to stand, to fight, to show ourselves to be valiant men and women and children of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we would put off that old man and put on the new man, and that we would walk a new life with thee. And so preserve and strengthen us and all of thy church And give us the enjoyment of the victory now and the hope of that complete victory in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask all these things in His name alone, amen. We sing Psalter number 385. Psalter number 385, versification of Psalm 140, deliver me from evil, preserve me Lord from wrong, against the foes that gather, be thou my helper strong. Let's sing the three stanzas, all three, Psalter number 385. ♪ The ever-young hero ♪ ♪ Preserved beyond compare ♪ ♪ Amidst the rose-like banner ♪ ever strong. From low to high, to high or deep, and spread their treacherous spear, return me, Lord, and give me safe guard in my care. I have confessed thee to be my God, O Lord. O hear my supplication, and be thy mercy shown. ♪ Killed the wayward strife ♪ ♪ And fought the wayward trial ♪ ♪ Who fought against my life ♪ My people, my people, when trials there overflow, the needy and the flittered, the Lord will help, I know. My saints, redeemed from evil, their thanks to thee shall build. The righteous and the upright shall live thy presence build. O speak, O Lord, our Father's God, eternal King, King of Kings, who all the ages see his great and glorious name forevermore on earth, and let his glory fill the earth from shore to shore. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be and abide with you all. Amen.