98. “When Tested, Do It Like Me”

Matthew 6:13, Luke 11:4, 1 Corinthians 10:12-13, 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, Hebrews 4:14-16, James 1:13-18

Key Verse: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

In James 1:13, James, the brother of Jesus, tells us, “When tempted, no one should say,…God is tempting me…for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone;” If this is the case, then what could Jesus possibly mean by, “lead us not into temptation?”

Let’s try substituting a different word to see if the meaning can be made more clear. Instead of the word, “tempted,” what if we used the word, “tested.” Now, let’s try this simple illustration to see if we can understand Jesus’ meaning even better.

Let’s take a bridge as an example. The engineers that designed the bridge have assured the investors that the bridge can hold one hundred tons of weight. Now, should the investors just trust the engineer’s professional declaration? Well, if they did, they may never know for sure that the bridge will hold. Instead, for peace of mind, they will load one hundred tons of weight on that bridge, tempting it to break. They are testing the bridge, pushing it to its limit, tempting it to fail, but hoping that it won’t. When the test is over and the bridge has proven itself, the investors can be confident in promoting the use of that bridge because it did what its designer said it could do.

You may not wish to hear this, but the truth is, as your engineer, and creator, God has created you to endure. God said to satan in Job, “Have you considered my servant Job?” When satan approaches God concerning you, God replaces Job’s name with yours when He brags to satan about you. God knows what stuff He made you out of and he knows how he will support you to endure. Satan may not believe it, and God will allow satan to prove what God already knows to be true, but God will not allow you to be tested beyond what He designed you to bear.

Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 4:8-9 that, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Why? Because the life of Jesus is in us.

In Hebrews we are told, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin.” (Heb. 4:15) When Jesus instructs us to pray, “lead us not into temptation,” or more directly, “don’t let us be tempted beyond what we can bear," He knows what He is talking about. I doubt that the three temptations that we read about in the wilderness were the only ones that Jesus faced during His ministry here on earth. I’m sure that there was discouragement and a sense of being overwhelmed as He walked among the masses of humanity who were trapped in sin and its consequences.

Bottom line, this prayer for being led is not expressing the fear that if we don't ask, then God may actually lead us into temptation. It is more an expression parallel to "give us this day our daily bread" acknowledging that we are still and always will be dependent upon God for protection and deliverance because we can't find our own way without him in us and in front of us.

Jesus knew, however, that there was always a means of escape and I’m sure that Jesus found that way in His prayer life. Instead of being overcome by the evil around Him, He turned to His heavenly Father, in prayer, to be restored, refreshed and renewed. In prayer, Jesus was delivered from evil. In this prayer, Jesus teaches us that we can do the same.

Hymn: “Yield Not To Temptation”

Here’s another version:  Yield Not to Temptation  Variety! The spice of life!