really the last petition, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And when we think of prayer, we think particularly of this model of the Lord's prayer that he's given us. You cannot help but come away impressed and challenged and convicted. about the centrality of prayer in the Christian's life. Prayer is like breathing. You know, a baby is a living baby when it comes out and breathes. And a Christian who doesn't pray is a stillborn baby. It's not a life thing. Christians pray. And this model is beautiful. This model of prayer is beautiful. In fact, our Lord has given us in this prayer the perfect blueprint for communion with God. And really, when you look at it, this model prayer covers the anatomy of the Christian life from start to finish. I mean, let's think about what we've looked at already. In verse 9a, our Father in heaven. That deals with faith. Verse 9b, hallowed be your name. That deals with worship. In verse 10a, may your kingdom come. That deals with expectation. Expectation. In verse 10b, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That deals with submission. And then if you look at verse 11, give us our daily bread, that deals with petition. We're bringing our petitions to God. Verse 12, forgive us our debts, confession. Verse 12b, just as we have forgiven those who are indebted to us, that's compassion. And now verse 13, don't let us be led into temptation. We're dealing with the subject of dependence. The subject of dependence. And so this is the second petition that deals with the soul. With the well-being and the salvation of the soul. The first one was forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us. This is the second one that deals with the soul. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. And this petition, beloved, is really rooted in the fact that we are frail as human beings. This really is a petition that highlights the impotency, the powerlessness of the flesh in the light of the spiritual battle that we are all part of. in terms of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Temptation is a universal struggle. We cannot endure temptation in our own strength. We cannot face it alone. Now, to be sure, temptation itself is not sin, but it is the road to sin. I appreciate it very much what Martin Luther said when he spoke about the difference between temptation and falling into temptation or walking into temptation with your eyes wide open. He said this, temptation is like the birds flying above. You can't stop them from flying over your head. But entering into temptation is like the birds nesting in your head. You can stop them from nesting in your head, but you can't stop them from flying over your head. And so God promises to deliver us or rescue us from evil when we look to him and when we trust him and when we depend upon him and we walk with him daily. And we need to recognize that temptation is not, is common to all. It's not unique. I don't think when it comes to temptation, we should necessarily think that temptation is a sign of God's displeasure. Now there are instances where we are foolish and we put ourselves in the way of temptation and we ought not to do that. But everyone is tempted and that is not a sin to be tempted. Whatever the case may be, Temptation comes to us all and we need to know how to think about it verbally. We need to know how to think about it verbally. We need to know how to think through it verbally. So let's consider this petition. First we're going to consider its danger, the danger of temptation. Then we're going to consider in this text a prayer for protection. And then the third thing we're gonna consider is deliverance from the evil one. So those will be my three headings. Let's ask the Lord to help us in prayer. Our Father, thank you that we can come to you, humble ourselves in your presence and ask you to help us. Oh Lord, whatever the state of our mind is, whatever the state of our being is, we thank you that you're able to do for us immeasurably more than we can imagine or think of. So Lord, in spite of the fact that we might have full bellies, we might be inclined to drift away. We pray for your spirit's empowering presence to be alert and to be ready to receive your word and to listen to your voice and to be led by your voice. We pray that the word of God would truly impact our hearts and our lives would be transformed. Father, we look to you, for in you alone is all our hope. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're going to consider this afternoon, beloved, temptation's terrible danger. That's the first thing we're going to consider. And I want to talk something about the nature of temptation. I want to look at this issue of the nature of temptation. What do we mean by temptation? Well, temptation comes to us in many different forms. But when we think of the true nature of temptation, we must go back to where we first identified temptation, and that is in the Garden of Eden. And one thing that we are very clear about as we look at that is that This temptation was very subtle and subversive. This is the hiss of the serpent. Look at how Adam and Eve were tempted. In Genesis 3, verse 1, it says, Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? So let's be clear. Temptation is evil. This is Satan coming and questioning and casting doubt into the mind of the believer about the validity of God's Word and God's command. Temptation by its nature is subtle and it is a persistent threat to the soul. That is why the Lord Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 41, watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. Now in his commentary on the Lord's prayer, Thomas Watson put it this way, he said, temptation is a sly serpent that winds itself into the heart. It is Satan's chess game, moving piece by piece to checkmate the soul unless God's grace intervene. That's a very good description of temptation. And hence, if I may say, it's one of the reasons why we are no match for temptation without God. It is subtle and deceptive, and the subterfuge involved in temptation is beyond our ability. It is cunning. As one person said, it is cunning. It is a multifaceted assault on the soul, both a trial permitted by God and for our good, and a lure from Satan to our ruin. It is subtle, persistent, and tailored to exploit our weakness, often disguised as harmless or enticing. One of the things that I appreciate so very much about the Puritans is they spent a great deal of time thinking about temptation and its deadly effects. One of them, Richard Sibbes, said this, temptations are like the waves of the sea, ever beating upon the rock of our souls. Yet, he said, they break themselves, not us, if we stand in Christ. They come with violence, but also with deceit promising ease, where there is peril. And you think about it, beloved, is that not one of the greatest dangers for us as Christians, is to fall asleep to take the foot off the pedal, to take it easy, to hit cruise control. And so that's something of the nature of temptations, it's deceptiveness, it's subtlety, it's cunning multifaceted assault on the soul. But what about our vulnerability? One thing to look at, at the deceptive nature, the deceitfulness of temptation. But what about our vulnerability? You see, the deceitfulness and the deceptiveness of temptation would not be as bad if it wasn't for the fact that we are extremely vulnerable. We are beset by many dangers. And what makes those dangers truly perilous is that we are susceptible from within. We have indwelling sin. We are frail. Our wills are weak. And the world in which we live in is like a bonfire. It's like a huge fire blazing while we have gasoline, while we are soaked in gasoline. Without God's divine aid, without God's help, we are defenseless against temptation because temptations often come tailored in their attacks. And we are prone to stumble at the slightest provocation. In fact, James says this, but each one is tempted when he is drawn away. How? By his own desires and enticed. The religion that says the devil made me do it is a false religion, beloved. There is nothing further from the truth. The devil cannot make you do it. But the problem is you are so weak. Your desires are so carnal and remaining sin weakens you. Beloved, let's think about the nature of temptation and of our vulnerability. And we must ask ourselves, if we were to go into a doctor's room today and diagnose ourselves, if we were going to go to a doctor to say, doctor, we need a spiritual analysis. We need you to help us to think through the dangers. What kind of questions would that doctor ask? Well, first of all, the doctor would ask, what makes temptation so dangerous to the soul? How would you answer that? What does the Bible teach us? The Bible says that temptation is so dangerous to the soul because it is relentless, deceptive in its nature, and it targets our frail, our frailest moments. It hits us when we are weakest. It hits us when we're asleep and we're at ease. In his book on temptation, John Owen said this, the soul of a believer is never safe one hour from temptation unless it be kept by the power of God through faith. Temptation is a continual enemy, lying in wait at all times, ready to assault us when we are weakest. And that's why in those times of prosperity, And those times of blessing in our souls, those are the times when we are most vulnerable. But here's another question that the doctor might ask us. Not only what makes temptation so dangerous to the soul, but the next thing that the doctor would ask us is why can't we trust ourselves to stand alone? And the reason we cannot trust ourselves to stand alone is because we have remaining sin. And our desires are corrupt unless they are renewed in Christ. And they are weak and they often betray us. One pastor said, I remember a man from Yorkshire, and he had this thick Yorkshire accent, and he was preaching a sermon, and he was talking about sin, and he said, he said, our hearts are slippery things. His thick Yorkshire accent. Our hearts are slippery things. They're like eels. Kids, you've been ever played with snakes or slippery fish when you've caught them and you've taken them out and try to handle them and maybe the fish has squirmed out of your hand and you've got the hook stuck in your finger. Our hearts are slippery. We have this remaining sin that deceives us. The heavenly doctor Richard Sibbes says, our hearts are a powder house and one spark of temptation may set them ablaze unless the spirit of God quenches. So think about these questions. What makes temptation so dangerous to the soul? Why can't we trust ourselves to stand alone? And thirdly, how does this petition protect us? Why did Jesus give us this petition? What value does it have? Well, great value. Look at what the petition does for us. Look at what it's setting before us. Look at what it's inviting us to do. It's inviting us to plead for God's strength where ours failed. Beloved, the danger of temptation lies in its constancy. Temptation is constant. It is relentless. And only God's keeping saves us. And very often the safest route when it comes to temptation, especially with sexual sin, is to flee. Don't hang around. Don't think you can manage it. Flee from it. This petition presses upon us the need to be real with God. These questions probe us to examine our hearts daily, to know our weakness, and cry to God daily to protect us from falling. Do you remember what we read from the Apostle Paul in Hebrews chapter three, verse 12? Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you what? An evil heart leading you to fall away from the living God. evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. We need to think about these things. We need to meditate upon God's word, beloved. Well, let me move on from the dangers of temptation to discuss with you the prayer for protection, the prayer for protection. Have you ever wondered as you've looked at this petition, Why, Jesus says, lead us not into temptation. Why lead us not? Well, let me say, first of all, this is a plea for God to steer and direct our foot from temptation's overwhelming power, acknowledging our weakness in God's sovereignty. But we pray this way. because of the relentless nature of temptation and the nature of our own brokenness. We pray this way because we are so easily deceived that even a blessing from God that he gives to us, we can so easily turn it into a means of temptation. We've just seen that with the Corinthians, right? Paul begins that epistle by commending them that they were a church that was richly endowed and blessed by God. but they took the blessings of God in that context and they turned them into weapons that ended up harming their souls. And so we have so many flaws and weaknesses in our souls. We're so prone to pride, we're so prone to trusting in the flesh. That's why the scripture tells us categorically we are to take every thought captive. We have to take every thought captive. Our feelings, oh friends, think about this. How many Christians make such tragic errors based on the way they feel? Our feelings are not a safe rule to go by. Sentiment is not a safe rule to go by. That's why we need the objective standard of God's word and the spirit of God to lead us. James is clear, God doesn't tempt us to be sure, but he does permit us to go through trials for our good to produce character in us and so that we may plead with him to spare us and to perfect us. And even when God allows us to go through trials to say to him, Lord, please don't let our trials overwhelm us. First Corinthians chapter 10, 13, the apostle says this. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. I never preach on this or mention this text without seizing the opportunity to say to you, brethren, that that way of escape is Christ. Put on Christ Jesus and give no provision for the flesh. Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. Peter says it this way, in 2 Peter 2 verse 9, the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. Let's come to our questions again, sitting in the doctor's office, diagnosing the spiritual condition. Let's ask some questions regarding this text. Let's make this as practical as we can. And the first question I want to ask is this, why do we? And why should we fear temptations approach? Beloved, you heard me right. It is foolish of you. to think that you can handle temptation. You should flee temptation. You should avoid it at all costs. And the question that we must ask is, why do we, why should we fear temptations approach? Let me ask you, I wonder how many of you in this congregation have peanut allergies. I'm sure there's some that have some kind of allergy that you have to use some kind of shot to protect you from any kind of reaction to some allergy. Would any of you purposely go and look for peanuts to eat to try and see how effective that EpiPen is? No, that would be absolute foolishness. And yet how often is it not the case? that Christians are foolish, they think they can stand, and they think they can come as close to the edge as possible without falling off, and it becomes a thing of bravado for them. I remember one guy saying to me, many years ago as a young Christian, I knew that down on the beach was a no-go, especially for young men, and he thought, oh, I could do it, no problem, it doesn't bother me. He was lying. He was lying, what a fool. Stay away, and the question is, why do we, and why should we fear temptation's approach? Because it is a power. Its power is great, and it very easily overwhelms us in our weakness. That's why our Lord Jesus instructed his disciples, pray that you enter not into temptation. Avoid it. Flee from it. Pray for God to steer your feet away from it. Don't even begin down the path. Don't for a moment think you can handle it because you can't. So that's why. That's why we should fear its approach. But the second question that we need to ask concerning that is, what is at stake? What is at stake if God does not lead us? What is at stake if God gives us over to our temptation? What are we dealing with? We are dealing with our soul's shipwreck. We are dealing with our soul's shipwreck. Do you want to go to the edge? To be in a position where your soul could be shipwrecked? where your faith could be ruined, where your life can be marred forever? Why would you want to do that? How would you even put yourself in that pathway? Oh, well, you know, I'll probably escape. I may lose an arm or a leg. No, you may be completely swept away. How do you know? Are you that arrogant? Paul says this in 1 Timothy 1 verse 18-20, This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you do what? You wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. Love it, don't play with fire. You will get burned. It's not a question of if. You will get burned. And if you have that in your nature and your character that is always playing and pushing the edge, you are in a very dangerous place. You are full of pride. You are full of arrogance. And you need to humble yourself and stay as far away from that edge as you can because many have ruined their lives playing that very game. So what is at stake if God does not lead us? Our souls, the shipwreck of our faith. But another question that we need to ask is how does God answer this prayer? God answers this prayer by guiding us away, by bringing us to Christ, by bringing us to the scriptures. God answers this prayer by putting His children around us who are there to walk with us and exhort us, who are there to watch with us and pray with us. God answers this prayer in many, many ways. But we must pray, we must lay hold of God, we must lay hold of His promises, and we must flee. We pray because our ruin is sure without God, beloved. Our ruin is sure without God. Let's talk about watching and praying because that's a very important aspect of this petition. I think it's important for us to recognize that Jesus shows us by giving us this petition, that watchfulness and prayer are spiritual exercises that are critical to the well-being of our souls, and that they flow out of communion and fellowship with God through Christ. Perhaps maybe you've experienced it, and I hope you have. But as you draw near to God in prayer, And as you read the scriptures, there's a great sense of trepidation that may come over your soul because God begins to open your eyes and show you the dangers that lie about you. And the more of the dangers you see, the more you cling to Christ. The more of the dangers you see, the more you pray to the Lord. Oh, Lord, hide me beneath the shelter of your wings. Oh, Lord, keep me in the hollow of your hands. Beloved, I want to remind you that when Peter spoke of temptation and Satan, he spoke of him as a roaring lion. A roaring lion is generally a lion who's very hungry. And a hungry lion is very serious about getting food. And if you're going to expose yourself, the lion will pounce, and the lion will rip you to shreds. And it is a terrible thing to be in the mouth of the lion, in the jaws of the lion. We must be vigilant in seeking God. We must be vigilant in calling upon him. Prayer alone is not enough. We must pair it with eyes, with wide open alertness. We must be watchful. We must be diligent. We must be vigilant. Temptation is like An assassin that sleeps, that slips under the cover of darkness when we're asleep. We must have the centurions of our soul guarding us. We must be praying. We must be amongst God's people being watchful together. Prayer is our battle cry for reinforcements. It's not enough for us to just, oh, I'll pray I won't enter into temptation. No, you do everything in your power to avoid that temptation and you make yourself accountable to your brethren so that they can help you, so that they know what's going on, so that they can pray with wisdom and knowledge of what's going on in your life. It was John Flavell in the Mystery of Providence who said this, this prayer is our confession that we are children, weak and apt to wander into danger, needing our father's hand to lead us safe. What's the point of this, beloved? One Puritan put it this way, we are to twist the key of prayer and keep our hand on the lock, we are to stay awake. We are to stay awake. Why must we pray this daily? Why is this a petition that needs to be continually before the Lord? Because of the nature of the enemy we face. because of the nature of the slipperiness of our own souls, the slipperiness of our own hearts, because of the deceptive nature of our own remaining sin, but also because of the enemy we face. Satan is a robber. He is a prowler. And beloved, if you let your God down, he will be through your defenses. He will slip through your window. He is a liar. He is a thief. And even worse, he is a murderer. And he has come to do what? Steal, kill, and destroy. What happens if you neglect this watchfulness? Well, you are tempting Satan. Did you hear what I said by saying that, beloved? You are tempting Satan. You're actually putting yourself out there and you are making yourself a target if you are not watchful. and if you are careless. And what a terrible thing if Satan comes. What a terrible thing if Satan comes. Think about it for a moment. Every predator known to man targets the weak and the vulnerable. And there is no greater weakness than to be prayerless and to be careless towards your soul. No greater weakness. and to be foolish and unwise and put yourself into situations where you are exposing yourself to that ravenous line. Brethren, let me encourage you to pray, but let me encourage you to watch these two things are so important. Vigilant watching keeps your ability to discern and to detect the enemy's subtle attacks. Prayer calls in the artillery. Watchfulness, you can see the enemy coming. Prayer calls in the artillery to rain down on the enemy. and to put an end or to buffet his fiery darts against your soul. Charles Ferguson said this, watch and pray for the flesh is a traitor within the gates and Satan a besieger without. Neglect either and you'll find the city of your soul set before dawn. Praying without watching or prayer without watching is presumption and watching without prayer is pride. Both are your ruin. Do you understand what I'm saying here, beloved? You can pray all day long and yet purposely put yourself in a place of weakness. and be very easily overcome by Satan. And then think to yourself, why didn't God hear my prayers? Because you were a fool. Because you put yourself in range of that danger. And because you were arrogant enough to think just by virtue of your prayer that you could stand. No, beloved, you cannot stand unless you're standing in Christ. And to be standing in Christ is to be as far away from that evil as possible. But let me move on. This petition touches the danger of temptation, the prayer for protection, but it speaks of deliverance from the evil one. I want to talk about Satan's role in temptation. Satan is the enemy of our souls. And it should not surprise us to understand that or to hear that, because when we think of our Lord Jesus, straight after He was baptized into us, as it were, the first thing He did was He went. And He faced the devil. He faced the devil. And beloved, we know from Scripture that Satan is that roaring lion. hungry for souls. He wants nothing more than to destroy the souls of God's children. He wants nothing more than to defile them and to tie them up and to twist them about and to crush them with guilt. He is the architect of temptations, darkest designs. This is what Paul says to us in Ephesians 6, 12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Beloved, don't for a moment think that Satan's attacks are not personal. They are very personal. Take a look at the church in Smyrna. Our Lord Jesus speaks to the angel of the church of Smyrna, the messenger of the church in Smyrna. And you know what he says to this church? Revelation 2 verse 10. Do not fear any of those things of which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful until death. and I will give you a crown of life. So you follow Christ, you stand for Christ, you preach Christ and Him crucified, and the enemy will come and make temptation very personal for you. To even the point that you may lose your life. Satan has his methods. And he has his schemes and he knows how to ensnare the godly. Satan studies and knows our temperaments. He watches our weaknesses and he sets his traps. He sets his lures. He is a very crafty hunter. He is a skilled fisherman. He knows what lures to use. He knows where to place those lures. He is very effective at what he does. You cannot outsmart him, but you can stand in Christ. You can hide in God. By the shield of faith, you can extinguish those flaming arrows and those insinuations and those lies. God is faithful. And the second thing under this heading I want us to consider is God's faithful deliverance. When I say these things to you, beloved, there is a sense in which if you have a sensitive conscience, you may be led to think this is a dreadful situation to be in. Pastor, what should I do with such dreadful dangers that lie here and there and everywhere? What should I do? Cling to Christ, hide in God, great hope is found in God. He is the only hope. This petition tells us that God is the one that provides us with all his power in Christ. Having done all to stand, stand, stand firm in Christ. Second Thessalonians chapter three, verse three says, but the Lord is faithful. I wonder what it must have been like for the Apostle Paul at the end of his life, where so many of his friends could not even be with him. Even his most trusted companion, Luke, was far away and couldn't get to him. And Timothy wasn't able to be there. And there were people who he trusted and people who were his closest companions who actually denied him and betrayed him. And beloved, Paul gives us these words that are a great encouragement to every one of us, because even though every one of your brothers may fail you, David said, though my father and my mother may forsake me, the Lord will take me in. This is what Paul says in 2 Timothy 4, 18. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. And that is why I want you to be encouraged to make sure you're trusting in the Lord. Because sometimes we can have misplaced trust and faith in people and people will let us down. Even the most fervent support of us will let us down because the scripture tells us even the best of men are men at best. People will let you down, beloved. Even those you love very deeply will let you down. But God will never let you down. Even Paul in the midst of this, he says, may the Lord not hold it against him. Some of them fled, some of them were afraid. And they fled and Paul was all alone, but he wasn't alone. Christ stood by his side. Beloved, I want to tell you right now there is one that sticks closer than a brother. And though you may fear standing for the Lord and you may appear to lose much by standing for the Lord, trust the Lord. He will vindicate you. He will deliver you. He will stand with you. Look at those four friends of Daniel. They would not bow their knee to that pagan deity. They would not bow their knee to Nebuchadnezzar and worship him. They worshiped the living God and they said, whether he spares us or whether we perish, we will trust the Lord. No one ever trusted the Lord and was put to shame, beloved. No one ever trusted the Lord and was put to shame. And what about the words of our Lord Jesus in his prayer? in his great high priestly prayer. You know, we can speculate about what somebody would pray for us. We can think about what my father prayed for me, or my mother prayed for me, or this person prayed for me, or this great person prayed for me. And there's no comfort in that. There's no comfort in what men can pray for you. But listen to what the Lord Jesus prayed for you. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. Beloved, if you trust him, he will keep you from the evil one. I don't care who prays for me, but at the end of the day, the fact that the Lord prayed for me and has prayed that prayer for me, not to say that the prayers of others are not important, but that's the prayer that really counts. That's the prayer that really counts. That's the one that I can depend on with all my soul because it comes from the lips of the Son of God. So let me ask you, beloved, how does Satan exploit you? Think about this for a minute. Think about what I'm saying. Think about this petition. Well, I want you to remember that Satan is a serpent slithering in the grass and he will always attack you when you're down. He will always attack you when you're down. He attacks from the shadows. He is a sniper picking off the careless with carefully placed shots. But let me encourage you to rely on God. Don't put your trust in men. Don't put your trust in your knowledge. Don't put your trust in your own abilities. One thing you need to understand against this enemy is that you are hopelessly outgunned. By yourself, you are hopelessly outgunned. You are utterly powerless in the face of the vast array of Satan's weaponry and thousands and thousands of years of tempting and honing his craft to ensnare the souls of men. Your only hope is God. And to take his sure word, and to plead his word with him, and to hide his promises in your hearts. That's what Peter says, doesn't he? He tells us that his precious and very great promises, 2 Peter, are able to preserve us and to protect us from the corruption that is in this world because of sinful desires. It's through his word that we become partakers of his divine nature. It's in his word that we have fellowship with him. It's in his word that we discover that his wings are broad and his wings protect us, that the heat will not strike us, that the enemy will not deceive us. So let me ask you, what is the practical outcome of this petition? God delivers us. And he will keep delivering us. And he will plant us firmly on solid ground. Psalm 121 verse seven to eight says this, the Lord shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Our brother Charles Spurgeon said it well, who could testify of Christ preserving grace in times of great trial. He went through great depression. He went through great difficulties. He was maligned in the latter years of his life. He was sickly. And this is what he says in one of his sermons. Deliver us from evil is a prayer that fetches heaven's artillery against hell's hosts. Its outcome is peace in the storm, strength in weakness, and the devil's retreat before God's advance. Pray it, pray it, pray this petition. And you will see Satan's plans unravel. Beloved, as a personal testimony, I can tell you that many times I've seen storms brewing that have terrified me. And I have felt like a leaf trembling in the wind. And all I could do was cry out, Lord, have mercy. Lord, be gracious. Lord, deliver. And I have seen those storms dissipate as though they were just a morning mist. And even if the Lord bid you to go through those storms, think of those disciples in the middle of that sea, two miles out, raging against the world, raging against the winds and the waves. You think of them. They were chilled to the bone. They were certain of, they were sure of certain death. It was a picture of them that would be facing the world. And what happened? Christ came to them. In the midst of that storm, in the third watch of the night, I wait for the Lord. More than the watchman wait for the morning, I wait for the Lord. Oh Israel, trust in the Lord, for with Him there is great hope. There is redemption. Trust in the Lord, beloved. Trust in the Lord. He will deliver you from the evil one. Think about David. Think about how God protected David. Think about how Saul hunted him like he was some kind of a savage beast and he had to go from cave to cave. And he cried, no doubt, he probably prayed these very same words, Lord deliver me from the evil one, because he knew that Saul was captivated by the guile of iniquity and under Satan's control. And God kept David one step ahead. And then when David was tempted in the other way, subtly, here was Saul laying in the cave and his men were saying, come on, David, this is your time. Take his life. God protected him from that subtle temptation that would have ruined his kingship. It would have marred his kingship. The Lord led him and protected him. And one of those glorious things that we read of David is that when he was in Ziklag, and everything had been burnt, and all the people had been taken, and all his gathering armies wanted to kill him, we find this beautiful little verse where it says, and David strengthened himself in the Lord. This is what it means to strengthen yourself in the Lord. Lord, protect me from temptation. and deliver me from the evil one. I need to close with just a few words of application. I want you to think about the fact that temptation is cunning and relentless. Satan appears at times as an angel of light. Sometimes he comes in so subtly and so innocuously, so almost like, how could this hurt me? And yet he is ready to devour your soul and lead you away from Christ and lead you away from his word. He targets your weakness. He panders to your pride. He flatters you and that he reels you in. Grasp the cunning and relentless assault of temptation, but then also face your frailty. Understand that you are weak. What is man that you are mindful of him? The son of man that you care for him. We are, he remembers our frame. He knows that we are dust. He stoops to meet us where we are. This is the one to whom I will reveal myself. He who is humble and who is contrite and who what? Trembles at my word. Oh beloved, love this book. This is the best of books. What if God were to take it away from you? What if God were to snatch the scriptures from you? What if a law were to come? It's not impossible, it can happen. And the Bible is taken away from you. How much of it will you remember? How much of it will you be able to pass on to your children? Love it and live in it. Face your frailty and flee to God's strength. Prayer, relentless prayer, is key with vigilance. Keep praying, keep watching. Lock prayer, this is what one Puritan said, lock prayer and watchfulness together. Neglect either and the door swings wide. And the door swings wide. And finally, anchor your hope in God's power over the evil one. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory. forever and ever. And all of God's people say