ENTER NOT INTO
TEMPTATION,
BUT BE DELIVERED FROM EVIL
MF Blume
June 28,
1998 pm
Isai 59:19 So shall they fear the
name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun.
When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift
up a standard against him.
Exod 14:5-28 And it was told
the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his
servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this,
that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot,
and took his people with him: And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and
all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the
LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the
children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses [and] chariots of Pharaoh,
and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside
Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of
Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them;
and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
And they said unto Moses, Because [there were] no graves in Egypt, hast thou
taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with
us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? [Is] not this the word that we did tell
thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For
[it had been] better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die
in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still,
and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for
the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for
ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And the
LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children
of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out
thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go
on dry [ground] through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden
the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me
honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his
horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have gotten
me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the
angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind
them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood
behind them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of
Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness [to them], but it gave light by night
[to these]: so that the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses
stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go [back]
by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry [land], and the
waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the
sea upon the dry [ground]: and the waters [were] a wall unto them on their
right hand, and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after
them to the midst of the sea, [even] all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and
his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked
unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud,
and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And took off their chariot wheels,
that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from
the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the
waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their
horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned
to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against
it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the
waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, [and] all the
host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so
much as one of them.
Reve 12:3-16 And there appeared
another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads
and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third
part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon
stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her
child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was
to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto
God, and [to] his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she
hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand
two hundred [and] threescore days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And
the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the
power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which
accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell
in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil
is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath
but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth,
he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man [child]. And to the woman
were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness,
into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a
time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth
water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away
of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth,
and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
We have entitled this sermon
so, taken from a phrase in the Lord's prayer, "Lead us not not temptation,
but deliver us from evil" (Matt 6:13).
- What it means to not enter
temptation, is to not fall into the snare of yielding to the temptation we
face.
- We may face a temptation
to steal.
- But we do not yield to
it and we are victorious.
- So we can say we did not
ENTER the temptation.
- We were DELIVERED from
the evil of committing the temptation.
- This is our subject tonight.
In Isaiah 59, God said that He
would lift up a standard against the enemy when the enemy would come in like
a flood against us.
- We read in Revelation where
the enemy SENT A FLOOD after the woman.
- And the story in Revelation
is a perfect parallel with the Story of the Exodus.
- The dragon is like Pharaoh.
- The Woman is like Israel.
- And when the woman fled
into the desert, the dragon followed her like Pharaoh followed the Israelites.
- Israel was trapped by the
Red Sea as Pharaoh came close behind.
- But God gave Israel eagle's
wings (Ex. 19:4)
Exod 19:4 Ye have seen what I did
unto the Egyptians, and [how] I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you
unto myself.
Reve 12:14
And to the
woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness,
into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a
time, from the face of the serpent.
- The Lord gave the woman
eagle's wings and when Pharaoh sent out his army to get her, the earth opened
up and helped her by swallowing the flood when the dragon sent it out to
drown her.
When the enemy comes in like
a flood, God lifts up a standard against it.
- Standards are flags that
armies used to carry before their marching forces to show what Kingdom they
belonged to.
- Satan has an army that
would attack God's people.
- But God has a kingdom.
- And God's Standard depicting
His Kingdom is raised against any flood of an army the devil's kingdom might
launch against us.
- And God never loses.
We read of John's revelation
of Jesus.
- But we must understand something
about John, also.
Reve 1:9 I John, who also am
your brother,
and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus
Christ,
was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony
of Jesus Christ.
John was exiled
onto Patmos island because he would not stop standing for Jesus Christ and
preaching the Gospel.
- John was
tempted to fall, and threatened with exile, but WOULD NOT ENTER TEMPTATION.
- We read,
in the midst of the chapter speaking about the rising of the BEAST, words
that tell us THEN is the time we will need the same PATIENCE and FAITH that
John held, which kept him standing for God in the midst of TEMPTATION.
- THEN will
be a great temptation for the saints.
- THEN they
must not enter temptation.
Reve 13:10 He that leadeth into
captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be
killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Next we read of the thought of
those who take the mark of the beast...
Reve 14:9-12 And the third
angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast
and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The
same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without
mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire
and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the
Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and
they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and
whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the
saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith
of Jesus.
We are told that when the mark
is before us and we are TEMPTED to take it, WE MUST AT THAT TIME HAVE THE
PATIENCE AND FAITH that Jon also had in Rev. 1:9.
Notice two parallel scriptures:
- Matt 6:13 And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever. Amen.
- Reve 3:10 Because thou hast kept
the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
We are KEPT, or PROTECTED (definition
of "kept"), from the hour of temptation.
- This does not mean we will
be taken FROM the TIME period of temptation.
- The term HOUR in this context
has to do with EXPERIENCING a thing.
- The EXPERIENCE of entering
TEMPTATION is what is said here.
John 12:27 Now is my soul troubled;
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause
came I unto this hour.
- Jesus did not seek to entirely
miss a certain TIME PERIOD, when He said, "Save me from this hour."
- He was saying He did not
want to EXPERIENCE the suffering.
- But He knew it was for
that experience of suffering that He came to the world.
- So when Rev. 3:10 says
we will be kept from the HOUR of temptation, He meant to be protected
from the experience of falling into temptation.
- We will always be tempted
in this world.
- The Spirit, in fact, led
Jesus to be tempted of the devil (Matt 4:1).
- But we are not to fall
into the experience of evil and yield to the temptation.
2Pet 2:9 The Lord knoweth how
to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the
day of judgment to be punished:
If you KEEP the word and you
TRUST, and stand for God when the enemy is coming at you like a flood, God
said, "I WILL PROTECT YOU!"
God said, "STAND BY ME, AND I
WILL STAND BY YOU!"
In Revelation 12 we read of a
certain "THEY" who overcame by the blood of the lamb, their word of testimony
and their lack of love for their lives to the point of accepting death.
- We read about a woman.
- We read about a manchild
borne of the woman.
- And we read about a dragon.
- BUT WHO ARE "THEY"?
THEY are the people of God.
- The blood of JESUS was spilled
in death instead of the believers having to die because of sin.
- And they apply that experience
to themselves and claim it as their deaths by faith, and thus they MAKE IT
THEIR TESTIMONY.
- Jesus greatest testimony
is His death, burial and resurrection.
- And that was done IN OUR
PLACES, so we can make it OUR TESTIMONY.
- He really did die in our
places, so we can say that we died.
- But we must BELIEVE THAT.
- We must really believe
we are as good as having died and having paid the penalty of sin - death.
- And we must SPEAK THIS
WORD OF TESTIMONY, because it is OUR'S!
- My mother believed God
for this, but now I must believe it for myself.
- I must make this my testimony.
- And when the devil comes
at me like a flood, and tempts me, I must SPEAK THIS WORD OF TESTIMONY THAT
I AM DEAD TO SIN, and God has promised to DELIVER me out of temptation so
I do not fall to it!!!
- CAN WE SEE THIS?
- THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!
The manchild ascended safe and
away from the dragon's devouring mouth.
- AND WE ARE RISEN WITH HIM!
Ephe 2:5 Even when we were dead
in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
- IT IS OUR TESTIMONY that
we are risen, because Jesus is ascended and we ascended with Him!
- Without knowing this truth,
you will not speak the testimony that defeats the devil and keeps you standing
in front of an approaching army of temptation, so that God can deliver you
as He promised.
- When the flood comes, the
Lord lifts up a standard against it, and defeats its purposes by delivering
us from temptation ONLY IF WE STAND IN FAITH.
God told Israel, when the enemy
came like a flood, to stand still and see the salvation of the lord.
- THAT TAKES FAITH!
- You must truly believe
God will deliver you when the trial approaches you and you feel tempted to
give in.
- You must truly believe
that God will deliver you, when you face a terrible crisis and you know you
are finished unless a miracle happens!
- It takes FAITH to stand
still.
- It takes a faith in the
testimony that you are ascended above all powers with Jesus, and therefore
THEY CANNOT DEFEAT YOU, so you STAND STILL, expecting your enemies to be made
your footstool!
1Pet 5:8-11 Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking
whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that
are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle [you]. To him [be] glory and dominion for ever
and ever. Amen.
The devil sought to devour the
manchild as soon as it was born.
- He failed because the manchild
ascended.
- That was Jesus Christ.
- And he seeks to devour
us, too, as with Jesus, and he fails with us, too, because we have the testimony
that we are ascended with Jesus, and have the same deliverance Jesus had!!
- What is Jesus' victory
is out victory!
- That is what Revelation
12 is trying to tell us in picture form.
Ezek 22:25 [There is] a conspiracy
of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring
lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the
treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst
thereof.
- The devil seeks to devour
your soul.
- Your emotions and trust
and faith.
Daniel was literally thrown into
a lion's den.
- But in the midst of temptation
to abandon hope for life, DANIEL STOOD.
- And He was not swallowed
or devoured!
- AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD
CAME TO BABYLON!!!
The King of Babylon said:
Dani 6:26 I make a decree, That
in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel:
for he [is] the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom [that]
which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion [shall be even] unto the end.
Notice in Revelation
12, after the people of God held their faith and stood, and were delivered,
we read:
Reve 12:10
And I heard
a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of
our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
- Just as
in Daniel's experience, THE KINGDOM OF GOD COMES WHEN YOU STAND AND DO NOT
ENTER TEMPTATION.
Why do we pray,
"LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL?"
- The answer
is the very next line in the PRAYER!:
- FOR THINE
IS THE KINGDOM....
- We pray
to not be led into temptation, because IF WE STAND BY FAITH, AND GOD DELIVERS
US FROM EVIL, THEN GOD'S KINGDOM COMES TO THAT PLACE!
- After Daniel
stood by faith and was delivered, GOD'S KINGDOM CAME and the King of Babylon
ANNOUNCED THAT DANIEL'S GOD MUST BE FEARED BY ALL.
Wow!!!
Satan's headquarters
was always BABYLON, while God's was JERUSALEM.
- The ULTIMATE
INSULT TO SATAN, AND THE ULTIMATE DEFEAT OF THE DEVIL WAS FOR THE KING OF
HIS HEADQUARTERS ON EARTH TO CONFESS THAT THE ONE TRUE GOD IS GOD!
This is the kind
of victory God wants to bring to our cities.
- But it takes
people who will overcome and stand by faith before temptation and see the
Kingdom COME!
Shadrach, Meschech
and Abednego were tempted to bow to an idol.
- But they
stood by faith and would not bow.
- They were
thrown into a furnace.
- But they
were DELIVERED BY GOD!
- And once
again, the KING OF BABYLON CONFESSED GOD AS THE TRUCE GOD!
- ONCE AGAIN,
THE KINGDOM OF GOD CAME!
Dani 3:29
Therefore
I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any
thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be
cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is
no other God that can deliver after this sort.
And to add insult
to insult against the devil, the king of his headquarters in earth, king of
Babylon, STEPS UP TO DANIEL AND ASKS HIM FOR THE PEN, AND WE NOW HAVE
AN ENTIRE CHAPTER IN THE BIBLE (DANIEL CHAPTER 4) WRITTEN TO GOD'S GLORY BY
A CONVERTED KING OF BABYLON!!!!
Dani 4:1-2 Nebuchadnezzar
the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth;
Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders
that the high God hath wrought toward me....
The devil sends
out a flood of lies from his mouth.
Reve 12:15
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after
the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
- The only
thing that can stand against a flood from the enemy is GOD'S STANDARD.
- STANDARDS
DEPICT KINGDOMS.
- THIS IMPLIES THAT GOD'S KINGDOM MUST COME!
- And the
reason we see the flood defeated by the earth openings and swallowing it,
helping the woman, is found in the hint that the opening of the earth by the
RED SEA opening up, speaks to us of BAPTISM INTO JESUS' DEATH.
- They were
BAPTIZED to Moses in the Sea that opened up and swallowed the Egyptians (1
Cor 10:1-2).
- The devil
sends HIS LIES to us from HIS MOUTH, like a flood, and we CONFESS and TESTIFY
that we are dead with Jesus Christ and were buried with Him, thus removing
any right the devil-Pharaoh has over us, and THE FLOOD FALLS RIGHT DOWN INTO
THAT GRAVE OF BAPTISM.
- All that
the devil has power over is our old man, and the old man was crucified and
BURIED with CHRIST!
- So al it
can do is be swallowed up by that grave.
1Cor 15:54
So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have
put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory.
The swallower
is swallowed!
The saint of
God sings, "I believe Jesus saves, and his blood washes whiter than
snow."
- And the
devil is defeated.
Reve 12:11
And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives unto the death.
A flood of LIES
from the devil's mouth is swallowed up BY TRUTH of our deaths and burials
and ascensions with Jesus Christ!
Use this testimony
of Jesus as YOUR OWN!
- FOR YOU
DIED, TOO!
- YOU TOO
WERE BURIED!
- AND BEST
OF ALL, YOU TOO ARE ASCENDED ABOVE ALL SPIRITS OF HELL.
- LET THE
KINGDOM COME BY STANDING BY FAITH THAT GOD WILL DELIVER.
Reve 12:10
And I heard
a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:
- He ACCUSES with a flood
of LIES from his mouth.
- But he is CAST DOWN and
his LIES are not accepted by us!