Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Matthew 6
Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

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Lead Us Not Into Temptation

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one….

Matthew 6:13

We arrive in our consideration at what is a rather difficult phrase to understand. It is difficult because we understand the character of God and that He does not induce us to sin. How are we to understand this phrase since it seems to be a direct appeal to God not to ‘lead’ us into temptation to sin? If it did not refer to such a circumstance, the second part, which refers to ‘the evil one,’ would not make sense. The answer to this lies elsewhere in Scripture. In I Cor 10:13 we read, ‘There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ This helps us understand the request which Christ teaches us to make in the Lord’s prayer. By praying, ‘Lead us not into temptation,’ we are asking God to do what is in accordance with His Holy Character. We are, in essence, asking Him to not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able and to provide the way of escape to which I Corinthians 10:13 refers. We see an illustration of this in the book of Job where God set definite limits upon what He allowed Satan to do to induce Job to sin. We are praying that God would set those same limits upon Satan in regard to us. We need such preservation. Our own natural depravity and the luring of Satan will overwhelm us if God does not preserve us. Hence we pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Our most Kind and Gracious God,
we praise You that You have, thus far, upheld us.
We rejoice that by Your Spirit,
You shall continue to preserve us unto Your Heavenly Kingdom.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
The Enemy Within

The Enemy Within

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The Enemy Within

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one….

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.…

Matthew 6:13; James 1:13-14

In order for us to understand what Christ is teaching us to pray, we ought to look at other passages of Scripture which help shed light on the subject of temptation. We have considered the role of the evil one thus far. What are we to make of the phrase ‘lead us not into temptation?’ Before we consider what it does mean, we ought to establish what it does not mean. The second text which appears above helps us here. James declares, ‘Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.’  Here we see that God Himself does not tempt us to sin. James lays the responsibility for our sin at the foot of our own depravity. This brings us to the place of repentance without any attempt to shift the blame off on someone else. Adam shifted the blame for his sin off on the woman, and included God by implication. Eve shifted the blame off onto the serpent, or Satan. Unpleasantly, this continues to be a common practice. Very often, we find that it is much easier to blame God, or Satan, or someone else, rather than to own that our own depravity has been at the root of our sinful behavior. We may and should pray, as Christ has taught us, ‘lead us not into temptation.’ Having said that, when temptation comes, and especially when we sin, we ought to take the responsibility for how we got there. There are, in fact, many temptations from which He does preserve us. Hence, ‘lead us not into temptation’ is a prayer He answers.

Our Great and Mighty Deliverer,
we praise You that You understand us thoroughly.
We rejoice that You do deliver us from the evil one
and preserve us from falling to temptation.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Preparing For Worship

Preparing For Worship

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9:30am Worship Service

10900 Huron Street

Northglenn, CO

Scripture:  Matthew 6:5-15

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do : for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 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. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Sermon:  Your Kingdom Come – Tomm Tice

  1.  Christ is the King.
  2. Christ has a Kingdom.
  3. Christ’s Kingdom is advancing.

Catechism:  Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #23

What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?

Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.

1 Deuteronomy 18:18. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. Acts 2:33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. Acts 3:22-23. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Hebrews 1:1-2. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds
2 Hebrews 4:14-15. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 5:5-6. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
3 Isaiah 9:6-7. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. Luke 1:32-33. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. John 18:37. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 1 Corinthians 15:25. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

Worship:

Bless the Lord Oh My Soul

Be Thou My Vision

Show us Christ
Forgiveness Given and Received

Forgiveness Given and Received

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Forgiveness Given and Received

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:12, 14 & 15

As Christ teaches us to pray, He adds a postscript to the text we have been considering for the past days. He declares, ‘For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’ Herein lies a condition for our receiving forgiveness ourselves. We confess that the experience of many of us is that others have done us much harm. They have abused and mistreated us perhaps for many years. How can we come to terms with that? In the larger context, Christ shows us how, by His further commentary upon the subject of forgiveness and by His Own behavior. When our offenders repent, we have the moral and spiritual obligation to forgive them. If they have not yet repented, we ought, like Christ, to stand open-handed, and utterly disposed to forgive, should they repent. We should intercede for them, and appeal to God the Father to deal with them in His Own time, even as Christ did for His crucifiers. In this way we follow His Divine pattern. If they repent, we must forgive them, because when we repented, Christ forgave us. If we refuse to forgive a repentant soul, we give evidence that we have not truly repented ourselves. This enables us to both give and receive forgiveness without perverting the natural course of justice. When we come to pray, ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,’ we are asking a large thing of a large God.

Our Kind and Forgiving God,
we rejoice that You extend Your forgiveness to us.
We praise You that Christ our Savior has
shown us both how to pray and how to forgive.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
The Lesson Learned

The Lesson Learned

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The Lesson Learned

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Matthew 6:12; Acts 7:60

The disciples of Christ learned from Him. They ‘caught’ what He ‘taught’ by seeing Him in action. As He did, so they learned to do. Stephen, the first recorded martyr of the New Testament era of the church had preached powerfully and in doing so, had aroused the hatred of the highly religious organizers of the execution of Christ. These self-righteous religionists were so violent in their opposition to the preaching of Christ that they stoned Stephen to death. Stephen, for his part, demonstrates the same spirit of forgiveness as had Christ, his example. He is entirely disposed to forgive. He prays for these who are stoning him, and as Christ did, refers them to God the Father to address. He does not subvert the process of repentance and faith, but demonstrates the same spirit as Christ demonstrated. This is good for us to see and to understand. By observing Christ, and those who caught His spirit, we may come to understand how we ourselves may learn to do. Under all circumstances and conditions we learn our patterns of behavior from Christ and from those who most closely imitate Him. All of these lessons stand us in good stead in our praying and in our practice. They are included in the thoughts with which we approach the Throne of Grace. So we pray, ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’

Our Gracious Living Savior,
we rejoice that You have clearly taught us
by Your Own Great Example.
We praise You that You have given us grace, thus far,
to live and that You will give us grace to die.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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