WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.280 As the pandemic goes on, it raises lots of difficult questions about suffering and about evil. 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:12.759 How do we make sense of a world where there are such things as viruses that take lives? 00:00:13.339 --> 00:00:17.300 And not only that, things like this pandemic lead to economic collapse, 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:21.839 ramifications that will span years and years and years. 00:00:22.580 --> 00:00:24.240 How do we make sense of these kinds of things? 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:26.019 You know, what is evil? 00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:28.519 And how do we respond to evil? 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:29.939 There's a lot being written about that. 00:00:30.019 --> 00:00:31.480 A lot of people are wondering about that. 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:34.380 And so this is something that we're going to talk about this morning. 00:00:34.579 --> 00:00:38.340 We've been looking at the Lord's Prayer over the past few weeks, 00:00:38.379 --> 00:00:42.759 which is a prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples and through them he gave to us. 00:00:43.259 --> 00:00:46.159 And this is not just a prayer, as we've been saying, 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:50.659 but Jesus gave it to us to orient us and to ground us, 00:00:51.120 --> 00:00:55.719 to give us something to hold on to and to help us make sense of the world that we live in, 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:00.619 to know how to live in this world and to know how to have a relationship with the God who made this world. 00:01:00.619 --> 00:01:02.719 So that's why we've been looking at this prayer. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:04.659 And this week we come to the petition, 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:09.379 Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 00:01:10.140 --> 00:01:13.739 So we're going to talk about what this petition means, 00:01:13.739 --> 00:01:18.939 and we're going to talk about this question of what is evil and how do we respond to it. 00:01:18.939 --> 00:01:24.359 And we'll primarily be looking at James chapter 1, which is what I read a moment ago. 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:27.799 But I'm going to be jumping around a lot this week, 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:31.539 and that's partly to do with the fact that this is such a huge topic. 00:01:31.659 --> 00:01:34.299 It's way beyond what we can fully address today. 00:01:34.539 --> 00:01:37.239 But we're going to try to get a good start at least. 00:01:37.579 --> 00:01:38.079 Let's pray. 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:41.159 Lord, we thank you so much for your word, 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:44.319 and we thank you that we can trust you to speak to us, 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:48.479 and that when we encounter mysteries and things that go beyond our understanding, 00:01:48.479 --> 00:01:52.279 we can also trust you, Lord, because you're God and we're not. 00:01:52.659 --> 00:01:57.780 So we pray that as we come to you with our questions and with our doubts and with our fear and with our pain, 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:00.879 we pray that you would meet us through your word as you promised to do. 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:04.479 We pray this in the name of the living word, Jesus Christ. Amen. 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:08.500 So first of all, what is evil? 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:12.479 You know, there are a lot of different ideas about evil out there. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:15.899 You ask 10 different people, and you're likely to get 10 different answers. 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:21.099 And most people tend to have a kind of distorted view of evil. 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:24.659 They have an unbalanced view of evil. 00:02:24.959 --> 00:02:29.239 And what you'll find is if you don't have a clear understanding of what evil is, 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.179 you're not going to know how to deal with it, how to respond to it. 00:02:32.780 --> 00:02:37.299 And so the first thing we want to do is to clarify what do we mean when we talk about evil, 00:02:37.299 --> 00:02:40.719 or more importantly, what does the Bible mean when it talks about evil? 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:48.479 The first thing about evil that we see in Scripture is this, that evil is both personal and systemic. 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:51.539 It's both personal and systemic. 00:02:52.219 --> 00:03:02.219 See, some people, I think maybe people on the right, tend to emphasize and focus on personal evil and personal holiness. 00:03:02.219 --> 00:03:09.939 You hear language about preserving traditional values and focus on things like sexual purity. 00:03:10.699 --> 00:03:18.939 And so people that have this kind of focus are really focused on personal holiness and resisting personal evil in our lives. 00:03:18.939 --> 00:03:24.379 But there can be a tendency to ignore or downplay the fact that there is systemic evil, 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:30.379 that evil exists in institutions and in policies and in legislation. 00:03:30.579 --> 00:03:32.699 Those things can also be forms of evil. 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:36.219 Now, you see the exact opposite with people on the left. 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:39.919 People on the left tend to focus on systemic evil, 00:03:40.079 --> 00:03:46.359 things like systemic oppression or racism that's been codified in some of our policies. 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:55.840 And those things are true, but people that have this focus tend to de-emphasize or ignore the need for personal holiness. 00:03:56.600 --> 00:04:01.340 And so the idea is essentially that people can live however they want. 00:04:01.380 --> 00:04:07.180 And the most important thing that we can do is to love and support and validate people, 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:09.380 no matter what choices they're making. 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:16.120 And so what we see in Scripture, the truth is that it's a little more complicated than either of those views, 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:19.800 that evil is actually personal and systemic. 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:26.819 God continually says to His people throughout Scripture in places like 1 Peter 1, verse 16, 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:29.579 be holy for I am holy. 00:04:30.060 --> 00:04:36.019 And part of what He has in mind there is absolutely your conduct, the way you live your life, 00:04:36.100 --> 00:04:37.259 the choices that you make. 00:04:37.420 --> 00:04:38.860 Be holy for I am holy. 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:41.740 So personal evil and personal holiness matter. 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:46.000 But God also, all throughout Scripture, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, 00:04:46.580 --> 00:04:53.680 calls His people to do justice and to care for the oppressed and the poor and to love mercy. 00:04:54.379 --> 00:05:00.879 And the Bible has a lot to say about how we handle and distribute wealth and land. 00:05:01.080 --> 00:05:05.120 The Bible has a lot to say about how masters should treat their servants. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:13.420 It has a lot to say about race relations and how we relate to and view people from different cultures and backgrounds. 00:05:13.540 --> 00:05:15.040 The Bible has a lot to say about this. 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:19.939 And so what we see in Scripture is that we're called not just to personal holiness, 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:29.199 but to structural holiness, to systemic holiness, to advance and promote legislation and to build institutions 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:36.120 and establish governments that promote justice and wholeness for everyone. 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:38.500 And so both exist in Scripture. 00:05:39.500 --> 00:05:45.720 The second thing we want to see about evil is that it is both natural and supernatural. 00:05:46.220 --> 00:05:49.040 Evil is both natural and supernatural. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:54.720 So irreligious people tend to think of evil only in naturalistic terms, 00:05:54.840 --> 00:05:59.280 meaning they reject the whole idea of supernatural evil. 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:02.860 They see that as being primitive or backwards or superstitious. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:10.420 And the view of suffering is essentially that that's part of what it means to live in a universe that is meaningless and chaotic. 00:06:10.540 --> 00:06:13.860 If bad things happen to you, it's simply a bad roll of the dice. 00:06:13.860 --> 00:06:21.580 Now, on the other end of the spectrum, there are some religious people that tend to over-spiritualize evil. 00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:25.480 And that's weird for a person like me to say that, but it's definitely out there. 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.639 There are some people that kind of see demons everywhere. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:31.939 If I'm feeling sad in the morning, that's a demon. 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:35.759 If the basement flooded because it rained last night, that's a demon. 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:40.720 If something like coronavirus comes along, that's definitely a demon. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:47.640 And so this can kind of lead to a kind of paranoia almost where we're seeing demons everywhere. 00:06:48.320 --> 00:06:56.620 And again, a biblical view holds these two things together, natural evil and supernatural evil. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:00.840 So on the one hand, not every negative emotion is demonic. 00:07:01.580 --> 00:07:06.140 Sometimes we're simply sad, but that's part of how we're designed. 00:07:06.139 --> 00:07:14.699 And we even see in Jesus, who was absolutely not oppressed or possessed by demons, we see that sometimes Jesus was sad. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:19.279 Sometimes Jesus felt and struggled with negative emotions, not necessarily demonic. 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:24.339 Sometimes basements just flood because it rains and you don't have good drainage around your house. 00:07:25.159 --> 00:07:30.019 And so on the one hand, we need to recognize that we simply live in this kind of world. 00:07:30.099 --> 00:07:33.539 The world is broken and sometimes hardship comes. 00:07:33.599 --> 00:07:35.139 It's not necessarily always demonic. 00:07:35.139 --> 00:07:46.459 And yet, on the other hand, the Lord's Prayer, when you literally translate this petition, we are called to pray, deliver us from the evil. 00:07:47.259 --> 00:07:50.539 And I think a better way to translate this is the evil one. 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:52.459 Deliver us from the evil one. 00:07:52.860 --> 00:08:01.439 The Bible is absolutely clear on the fact, as it says in places like Ephesians chapter 6, that our ultimate struggle is not against flesh and blood. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:03.439 It's not against natural enemies. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:03.459 It's not against natural enemies. 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:07.839 That the struggle is actually against supernatural forces. 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:11.439 It's against a supernatural evil. 00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:22.540 That there is actually a spiritual, malevolent embodiment of evil that we refer to as the accuser or the tempter or the Satan. 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:33.460 And, you know, when we see things like this past week, when we see militants storming a maternity ward in Kabul and slaughtering 24 people, 00:08:33.460 --> 00:08:41.500 killing women who are in labor, killing new moms, killing babies, killing medical professionals, 00:08:41.800 --> 00:08:55.000 when we see something like that, we have to recognize that there is a kind of evil behind that that goes beyond the sum total of what human beings are capable of. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:56.960 That there is a malevolence there. 00:08:57.059 --> 00:08:59.419 There is a darkness there that is demonic. 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:03.519 It's a supernatural evil driving that kind of thing. 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:09.399 And I think it's extremely important that we have the language and to be able to name those kinds of things for what they are. 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:10.620 That is evil. 00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:16.600 So evil is both personal and systemic. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.559 It's both natural and supernatural. 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:21.720 The third is definitely the most complex. 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:30.720 When the Bible talks about evil, we're talking about something that is both opposed to God and subject to God's sovereignty. 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:33.019 Now, I know that's complicated. 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:37.840 It's opposed to God, and yet it exists under God's sovereignty. 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:44.720 Some people tend to think of good and evil as sort of equal and opposed forces, right? 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:46.680 You have God and the angels on one side. 00:09:46.680 --> 00:09:49.759 You have the devil and the demons on the other side, and they're battling it out. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:51.659 Good versus evil, light versus dark. 00:09:52.319 --> 00:09:58.039 And so when bad things happen, we say, well, evil won this round, and God must have lost this round. 00:09:58.179 --> 00:10:00.259 And we think that they're on equal terms. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:03.879 Now, other people go in the other direction. 00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:06.120 They're so focused on God's sovereignty. 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:13.759 They're so focused on God controlling every aspect of our lives that it almost becomes a kind of fatalism or determinism. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:21.240 And when it comes to suffering, we say that any and all suffering, if I'm suffering, it must be because God wants me to suffer. 00:10:21.580 --> 00:10:23.379 God is willing that I suffer right now. 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:29.960 And again, as we've seen again and again and again, a biblical view is more nuanced. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:31.720 And it's more complex. 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:38.779 On the one hand, the Bible affirms again and again and again that God is absolutely sovereign. 00:10:39.460 --> 00:10:46.399 And essentially what that means is that God is free to do whatever God chooses to do, and nothing can impede him in doing that. 00:10:46.500 --> 00:10:47.940 God is in absolute control. 00:10:48.180 --> 00:10:51.519 He's absolutely sovereign, and no one can thwart God. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:52.480 So there's no battle. 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:56.120 There's no evil that stands equal to God's power. 00:10:56.259 --> 00:10:58.180 There's nothing that comes close to God. 00:10:58.180 --> 00:10:59.519 He's incomparable. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:00.819 He's sovereign. 00:11:02.079 --> 00:11:10.759 And yet, and this is the mysterious part, I don't even pretend to fully understand this, and I don't believe anybody can fully understand this. 00:11:11.319 --> 00:11:27.439 In some mysterious way that I don't fully understand, God allows or permits things to happen and evil to exist that stands opposed to his will, to his desire for us and for this world. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:39.640 He somehow withdrew and allowed or permitted Adam and Eve the freedom to choose to sin against him, which is what broke the world and us. 00:11:40.140 --> 00:11:42.240 And this is not because God is powerless. 00:11:42.420 --> 00:11:46.140 It's not because there's a realm over which God is not sovereign. 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:47.580 He's absolutely sovereign. 00:11:47.580 --> 00:12:03.460 He, in a way, actively permits or actively chooses to withdraw and allow things to happen that run contrary to his will, contrary to that which he states as his desire for us and the world. 00:12:03.460 --> 00:12:10.720 And yet, somehow, even those things exist under his sovereignty, and ultimately, they serve his purposes. 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:13.320 And so, we see examples of this in Scripture. 00:12:13.460 --> 00:12:14.860 The Bible's full of examples like this. 00:12:14.940 --> 00:12:20.340 People like Joseph in Genesis, who's sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.460 People like Esther, who's forced into a Persian harem. 00:12:24.900 --> 00:12:29.280 Now, in both cases, those things that happen to these people are evil. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:34.459 They run against God's desire for how he desires that people treat one another. 00:12:35.319 --> 00:12:40.539 And yet, somehow, these acts of evil serve God's purposes. 00:12:40.779 --> 00:12:43.980 They lead, in both cases, to the saving of countless lives. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:47.860 Now, I don't pretend to be able to understand this. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:50.480 It is breathtakingly complex. 00:12:51.059 --> 00:12:55.799 And trying to understand this would be like a single-celled organism trying to understand quantum mechanics. 00:12:55.799 --> 00:13:01.299 I think, to a point, we just have to admit, I'm human, and God's ways are above and beyond mine. 00:13:01.379 --> 00:13:04.219 But here's what we're saying to kind of bring this together. 00:13:05.599 --> 00:13:10.620 Behind all of the evil in the world, both personal and systemic evil, 00:13:11.099 --> 00:13:14.579 there is a malevolent spiritual being, 00:13:15.419 --> 00:13:20.319 a kind of embodiment of everything in this world that stands opposed to God, 00:13:20.659 --> 00:13:23.620 the tempter, the accuser, the Satan. 00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:28.379 And even though that being exists under God's sovereignty, 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:31.980 it stands opposed to God and God's people. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:36.720 Now, once we recognize this, and we're talking about evil, this is what we're talking about. 00:13:36.820 --> 00:13:40.399 Once we recognize this, the question then becomes, how do we respond? 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:42.060 How do we respond? 00:13:42.500 --> 00:13:44.820 And this is why we pray in the Lord's Prayer, 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:47.500 lead us not into temptation. 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:52.419 Because temptation is one of the main weapons that the tempter uses, 00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:55.700 or the accuser uses, to oppose God and his people. 00:13:56.220 --> 00:13:59.059 Temptation is one of the main ways he does that. 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:03.240 Listen to what James says in the passage that we just read in verse 13. 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:04.019 James says, 00:14:04.019 --> 00:14:20.559 Now, the Greek word for temptation, pyrosmos, has two meanings, actually. 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:22.659 And it's very ambiguous. 00:14:22.980 --> 00:14:26.240 It's the same Greek word can either mean a test or a trial, 00:14:26.659 --> 00:14:29.980 or it can mean temptation like James is talking about here. 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:32.679 It can mean both, and it really depends on the context. 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:37.139 That first meaning, test or trial, 00:14:37.439 --> 00:14:41.679 this is something that we see God doing all the time in the lives of his people. 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:44.439 God tests and tries people all the time. 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:46.539 He tests and tries us all of the time. 00:14:46.959 --> 00:14:51.639 James uses this same word earlier in the chapter in verse 2 when he says, 00:14:52.019 --> 00:14:53.479 Count it all joy, my brothers, 00:14:53.699 --> 00:14:57.699 when you meet trials, same word, trials of various kinds, 00:14:57.699 --> 00:15:02.000 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:07.419 So there are lots of examples in Scripture where God does this. 00:15:07.500 --> 00:15:09.099 God tested Abraham. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:14.239 Peter talks in his letter, 1 Peter, about, he says, 00:15:14.339 --> 00:15:18.699 Do not be surprised when the fiery trials come upon you to test you. 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:20.239 Same exact word, right? 00:15:20.439 --> 00:15:25.120 And we see Jesus enduring this kind of testing and trial in the wilderness. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:28.700 So God tests people regularly. 00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:33.639 And tests like this are times when we are confronted with situations 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:37.460 where obedience to God is going to cost us something. 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:41.899 We're confronted with a situation where to obey God, 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.779 to follow God faithfully, that is going to cost us. 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:50.180 And we have to choose to bear that cost in order to be faithful to God. 00:15:50.419 --> 00:15:51.740 And so those tests are good. 00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:53.919 They can strengthen and refine our faith. 00:15:53.980 --> 00:15:57.580 And I think in many ways our faith can't grow apart from those trials. 00:15:58.340 --> 00:16:04.460 But then James goes on in the section that we read to describe the other meaning of this word, 00:16:04.700 --> 00:16:06.419 what we would translate as temptation. 00:16:07.060 --> 00:16:10.039 And I think this is what Jesus has in mind in the Lord's Prayer. 00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:11.500 Lead us not into temptation. 00:16:11.980 --> 00:16:14.899 Here's how James describes temptation in verse 14. 00:16:14.899 --> 00:16:15.459 He says, 00:16:15.459 --> 00:16:22.579 Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:26.959 Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:31.480 And sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. 00:16:31.579 --> 00:16:34.159 Not just physical death, spiritual death. 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:37.279 This is the anatomy of temptation. 00:16:38.220 --> 00:16:41.799 You start off with a need or a desire. 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:42.639 It could be hunger. 00:16:42.839 --> 00:16:43.459 It could be thirst. 00:16:43.579 --> 00:16:45.079 It could be sexual longing. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:46.139 It could be loneliness. 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:52.799 It could be a desire for security or financial stability or the approval and admiration of other people. 00:16:52.959 --> 00:16:54.359 It could be any of those things. 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:59.159 And the thing that we need to be clear on is these desires by themselves are not evil. 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:01.059 They're just desires. 00:17:01.259 --> 00:17:04.399 They're part of what it means to be human beings. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:24.080 But then, as we have those desires, we come across, either in person or just in our imagination, some way of satisfying that desire that runs contrary to God's will, that is opposed to what God desires for us and this world. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:32.839 So, a classic example from Scripture, think of David out on the roof and looking down and seeing Bathsheba. 00:17:33.639 --> 00:17:41.119 And Bathsheba is a woman who is lovely, but she is married to one of David's best friends, Uriah. 00:17:41.659 --> 00:17:44.419 Now, at this point, there's still no sin. 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:50.559 You have a desire and you're sort of presented with this, in David's case, this person, Bathsheba. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:53.700 But no line has yet been crossed. 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:58.200 At this point, David can turn away and go do something else with his evening. 00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:00.519 At this point, no line has been crossed. 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:04.980 So, at this point, we could reasonably say that this is a test from God. 00:18:05.099 --> 00:18:07.419 God has led David into this situation. 00:18:08.179 --> 00:18:11.700 But then, what happens is we cross the line. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:16.399 We, as James says, we allow ourselves to be lured. 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:19.220 We allow ourselves to be enticed. 00:18:19.220 --> 00:18:21.180 You begin to fantasize. 00:18:21.360 --> 00:18:23.839 You begin to indulge the appetite. 00:18:24.120 --> 00:18:25.920 You begin to indulge the desire. 00:18:26.100 --> 00:18:31.360 You begin to do things to kindle your craving, to allow it to become stronger. 00:18:32.100 --> 00:18:37.339 And at this point, James says, once you've crossed that line, God is no longer leading you. 00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:38.339 Right? 00:18:38.420 --> 00:18:43.640 Once you've crossed that line, your own desires are taking over. 00:18:43.779 --> 00:18:47.140 You're allowing your desires to be used against you. 00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:49.280 And then, it's not God who's doing that. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:53.960 This is why we call the evil one the tempter. 00:18:54.100 --> 00:18:54.259 Right? 00:18:54.360 --> 00:18:57.920 Because at this point, it's not God acting in your life. 00:18:58.860 --> 00:19:05.300 And these words, luring and enticing, the Greek words there actually are hunting and fishing terms. 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:09.519 So, imagine a hungry rabbit going along. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:11.899 And the rabbit smells food. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:16.740 It looks over and sees a little bit of food on a pile of leaves. 00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:18.919 And that rabbit is hungry and curious. 00:19:19.159 --> 00:19:21.000 And so, it gets closer and closer. 00:19:21.099 --> 00:19:22.619 It's being lured by the smell. 00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:24.480 Lured by the sight of that food. 00:19:24.639 --> 00:19:27.220 And finally, the rabbit makes the decision to eat the food. 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:28.659 Steps on the pile of leaves. 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:30.279 And the trap is sprung. 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:31.000 Right? 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:33.279 And the rabbit is ensnared. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:33.980 And then, it's trapped. 00:19:34.619 --> 00:19:36.799 And this is exactly what we see with David. 00:19:36.940 --> 00:19:37.859 David is lonely. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:41.279 He's sort of full of desire. 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:42.440 He's out on his roof. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:44.299 And then, he sees Bathsheba. 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:49.599 But instead of turning away, he allows himself to begin fantasizing about her. 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:51.339 Fantasizing about being with her. 00:19:51.819 --> 00:19:54.680 Fantasizing about all that that might be for him. 00:19:54.819 --> 00:19:57.420 And then, he summons her and sends for her. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:59.000 And then, he sleeps with her. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:00.180 And it's just like that rabbit. 00:20:00.180 --> 00:20:02.320 He gets closer and closer and closer. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:03.740 He indulges the desire. 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:04.799 Indulges the fantasy. 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:05.940 And then, he's trapped. 00:20:06.060 --> 00:20:06.940 He's ensnared. 00:20:07.019 --> 00:20:08.519 And this is no fault of Bathsheba. 00:20:08.620 --> 00:20:09.640 It's no fault of God. 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:14.120 This is David allowing himself to be lured and ensnared by his own desire. 00:20:14.580 --> 00:20:16.620 And behind this is the work of the tempter. 00:20:17.779 --> 00:20:23.799 And all of this, of course, leads to David having his best friend Uriah killed just to cover up the affair. 00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:33.500 So, this is the kind of damage that happens when we conceive and give birth to sin in our lives because we allow this kind of thing to happen. 00:20:33.500 --> 00:20:38.339 And so, this is the playing out of James' words. 00:20:38.460 --> 00:20:41.559 Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.960 Then, desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:50.440 So, God does lead us into times of testing to refine our faith. 00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:54.400 But he never leads us to fall to temptation. 00:20:54.600 --> 00:20:57.259 He never uses our desires against us. 00:20:57.319 --> 00:20:59.259 He never coerces us to sin. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:01.740 Whenever that's happening, we can't blame God. 00:21:01.740 --> 00:21:04.079 That's the work of the enemy. 00:21:06.180 --> 00:21:11.059 So, here's the first point I want to make as we look at this petition in the Lord's Prayer. 00:21:12.180 --> 00:21:21.900 Pulling everything that I've just said together, if you want to fight evil, if you want to stand against oppression and injustice, 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:27.980 if you want to fight that fight against evil in the world, that battle has to start in here. 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:30.900 The battle can't start out there. 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:33.620 It has to start in here. 00:21:33.940 --> 00:21:38.660 Because the truth is, if you are driven only by your desires and your appetites, 00:21:39.380 --> 00:21:43.500 if you're driven only by your desires and your appetites, then you are no threat to the enemy. 00:21:44.420 --> 00:21:47.620 In fact, more than likely, you belong to the enemy. 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:50.259 You've been ensnared by the enemy. 00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:51.780 You're a slave to the enemy. 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:58.420 And, you know, you might be thinking, well, I don't think temptation is a big deal in my life. 00:21:58.420 --> 00:22:01.000 I've never really struggled against temptation. 00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:02.880 I don't think it's as powerful as you're saying. 00:22:03.140 --> 00:22:06.840 I would suggest that's probably because you've never really tried to resist your temptation. 00:22:07.100 --> 00:22:10.080 It's because you give in so quickly that you've never felt that struggle. 00:22:10.180 --> 00:22:13.140 That's something that C.S. Lewis says in one of his writings. 00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:22.120 That it's only the people who really try to resist temptation, the people who try to struggle against it, only those people really understand how powerful it can be. 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:30.099 So there are many people who are out fighting the good fight for this cause or that cause, all noble causes in the world. 00:22:30.239 --> 00:22:33.139 But those people are enslaved to their own desires. 00:22:33.139 --> 00:22:40.059 They're slaves to food or sex or their need to make a difference or their need for approval or their need for meaning. 00:22:40.419 --> 00:22:42.599 And these things have enslaved them. 00:22:43.959 --> 00:22:45.759 So the caution is simply this. 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:51.720 Don't focus so much on winning battles out there that you lose the war in here. 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:55.519 But the good news is this. 00:22:56.220 --> 00:22:58.019 Here's the good news of this petition. 00:22:58.339 --> 00:23:08.819 If you do find that you're a slave to your desires, if you do find that you feel ensnared and can't find your way out and you're longing for freedom, the prayer goes on. 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:13.339 Deliver us from evil or deliver us from the evil one. 00:23:13.339 --> 00:23:15.899 See, ultimately, we need a deliverer. 00:23:16.439 --> 00:23:21.659 Ultimately, we need someone outside of ourselves to come and deliver us. 00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:24.439 And the gospel says that such a person has come. 00:23:25.419 --> 00:23:31.659 On the one hand, we can do all that we can in this fight. 00:23:31.699 --> 00:23:34.500 And there's a lot that we can do to not allow ourselves to be enticed. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:37.699 But ultimately, we need someone to come and rescue us. 00:23:38.019 --> 00:23:39.679 And that deliverer has come. 00:23:39.879 --> 00:23:41.199 And his name is Jesus Christ. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.340 Right? 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:47.200 So when we look at Jesus, he is the ideal deliverer. 00:23:47.259 --> 00:23:52.400 Because on the one hand, Jesus knows exactly what it's like to be in our shoes. 00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:55.319 Just like us, Jesus faced temptation. 00:23:55.580 --> 00:23:59.360 Not just when he was in the wilderness, but all throughout his life. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:06.860 From his earliest memories, all the way through his death and resurrection, Jesus was continually assaulted by temptation. 00:24:06.859 --> 00:24:16.199 And yet, as Hebrews 2, verse 18 says, because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 00:24:16.539 --> 00:24:19.919 So we have a deliverer who can empathize with our condition. 00:24:20.059 --> 00:24:21.500 He doesn't judge us. 00:24:21.679 --> 00:24:23.899 He doesn't judge us for our appetites and desires. 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:27.299 He doesn't judge us for all of the times that we fail the test and we give in. 00:24:27.859 --> 00:24:29.639 He knows what it's like to be us. 00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:33.820 And yet, unlike us, he never gave in. 00:24:35.060 --> 00:24:38.500 Unlike us, he was never taken in by temptation. 00:24:38.700 --> 00:24:40.140 He never failed that test. 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:42.940 Unlike us, Jesus always overcame it. 00:24:42.940 --> 00:24:52.620 And just as we believe that evil is real, so we believe that Jesus' victory over evil is real. 00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:53.480 It is real. 00:24:53.640 --> 00:24:54.400 It is objective. 00:24:54.600 --> 00:24:55.240 It exists. 00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:56.100 It is true. 00:24:56.480 --> 00:25:01.940 And what we see is that Jesus Christ was able to overcome temptation. 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:12.460 And he was willing to go to the cross because there was something vastly more important to him than his comfort or his satisfaction or even his own life. 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:15.140 And that is you. 00:25:16.220 --> 00:25:18.360 You mattered so much to him. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:24.559 He loves you so much that you were worth more than any of those other things. 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:32.759 That is part of what enabled him to overcome all of the temptation and the fear that he had to face. 00:25:33.419 --> 00:25:40.179 And the truth is that when Jesus died and then when he rose from death, that signaled the ultimate defeat of evil. 00:25:40.819 --> 00:25:49.200 That signaled, that guaranteed, that one day this victory will be enacted all across the world, in all of our lives. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:51.779 So that temptation will no longer even exist. 00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:57.720 There will no longer even be a question of the existence of evil because evil itself will be eradicated. 00:25:58.319 --> 00:25:59.640 That's what the cross means. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:02.799 So what does all this mean for us? 00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:05.360 To kind of draw all this together. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:17.240 Well, in times of such uncertainty and suffering, when there's so much that we're being bombarded by day in and day out, 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:21.519 the death and the horrors that are happening around the world, 00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:24.960 if you try to take all of that on yourself, 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:30.839 if you try to take upon yourself the sufferings of the world as you're reading the news and all of that, 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:33.779 it's going to end up dulling your senses. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:37.240 Compassion fatigue is going to set in. 00:26:38.859 --> 00:26:40.299 You're going to want to care. 00:26:40.660 --> 00:26:43.500 You know, you read about these horrible things happening and you want to care. 00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:48.819 But it's as though that part of you that does care, that does respond to tragedy, is simply overwhelmed. 00:26:49.059 --> 00:26:50.960 And it's beginning to shut down. 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:56.500 And so your compassion will begin to be replaced with a kind of numbness, a kind of dullness. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:00.759 And that is not because you're a bad person. 00:27:01.019 --> 00:27:02.960 It's not because you're not a loving person. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:04.519 It's because you're a human being. 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:11.079 And by design, we were never meant to bear the sufferings and the sorrows of the world on our shoulders. 00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:12.579 It's simply too much for us. 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:16.740 The good news is Jesus Christ can. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:19.099 Jesus Christ can. 00:27:19.199 --> 00:27:21.039 And that's why Jesus came. 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:27.839 Jesus is the only one who is able to take the sufferings and the sorrows of the world entirely on himself. 00:27:28.599 --> 00:27:33.439 He's the one who is able to suffer with those who suffer in ways that we never can. 00:27:33.659 --> 00:27:39.240 He's the one who's able to offer empathy and compassion in ways that we'll never be able to offer. 00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:46.599 And he's the one who's able to confront and overcome evil in ways that we can only hope to achieve. 00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:48.500 And that's actually the promise of Scripture. 00:27:48.859 --> 00:27:56.640 That one day, because of Jesus' suffering and death, suffering and death themselves will be no more. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:58.960 Evil will be no more. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:07.920 And so our part in this battle and struggle against evil and temptation is simply this. 00:28:08.020 --> 00:28:11.860 Number one, Lord, lead us not into temptation. 00:28:11.859 --> 00:28:24.839 Lord, give us the strength to do that. 00:28:24.839 --> 00:28:34.639 And then we pray with certainty that Jesus will one day deliver us and deliver this world from evil once and for all. 00:28:35.679 --> 00:28:36.220 Let's pray. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.720 Lord, we thank you for this truth and we pray that you would embed it deep in our hearts. 00:28:42.179 --> 00:28:46.619 We pray that you would encourage us through this petition and remind us of our limits, Lord, 00:28:46.659 --> 00:28:50.819 and remind us where our true hope lies in our deliverer, Jesus Christ. 00:28:50.819 --> 00:28:52.220 And it's in his name that we pray. 00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:52.960 Amen.