Mt.6:9-13, Jam1:12-18, Pray like this 5 (Trials and Glory)

Mt.6:9-13, Jam1:12-18, Pray like this 5 (Trials and Glory)
 Today, we will listen to the words of the Lord's Prayer about "Do not let us be tempted, glory to the Father.“
 
1. Do not let us be tempted. 

 A man, unable to find a parking space, circled around and ended up parking in a no-parking zone. So he wrote a note on his window: “I’ve circled this zone 10 times and still can’t find a spot. If I don’t park here now, I’ll lose my job.” He also wrote down a Bible verse: “Forgive us our sins.” When he came out of work, there was a parking ticket on his car. The note read: “I’ve been patrolling this spot for 10 years. If I don’t give this ticket, I’ll lose my job.” Then it added: “Do not let us be tempted.” This world we live in is like a spiritual minefield. Dangerous objects like mines are everywhere. Even we who believe in Jesus cannot be exempt from this temptation. Even Jesus, who was without sin, wrestled with temptation until the very end. Satan pursued Jesus and tempted him. Satan came to the places where Jesus fasted and prayed and tempted him. Satan invaded the places where Jesus preached and taught the word. Even when Peter confessed about Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of God,” he harassed Him. He came to Him when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and when He was carrying the cross. We cannot imagine how persistent he was. He tempted Jesus like this, so how can he leave us alone? The more we try to believe in Jesus and pray more, the more persistently Satan attacks us. He is struggling and setting traps everywhere, trying to devour us. That is why our Lord tells us to pray, “Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

1) First, there are three types of tests.
 
 There are tests and trials that are beneficial to us. And there is temptation, which causes us to fall into bad places. One of the words we hate the most is ‘test.’ However, we must pass tests well to go up. We grow and mature. God asked Abraham, the father of faith, to offer up his only son, Isaac, as a test. Job, who lost his wealth, children, and health, was also tested.
 Job 23:10, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Job passed the test well and became a person who was refined like gold. He did not just hear God with his ears, but saw Him with his eyes. There are also tests and temptations that the devil uses to make us fall into sin and turn us away from God. That is why the prayer, “Do not lead us into temptation,” is a prayer that says, “Do not let us fall into the temptations of Satan.” There are so many temptations in the world. There are temptations of the opposite sex, temptations of honor, temptations of greed, and temptations of possessions. There are temptation of popularity, temptation of power, temptation of idols, temptation of human recognition, temptation of laziness, temptation of anger, and temptation of lies. None of us are free from temptations. They can come at any time. We can encounter them in our daily lives, at every moment. That is why God tells us to pray so that we can overcome temptations and not fall into them. The more we try to do God’s work diligently and the more we try to believe in Jesus, the more the devil tempts us. Do you think that the devil goes away from those who pray a lot? Do you think that if you have good faith, Satan will never tempt you? The more you pray, the more persistently Satan harasses you. The better your faith, the more the devil is waiting to devour you.
 1 Peter 5:8-9, “Be sober-minded; be vigilant. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith.” The devil visits us every day to devour us. Do you know how diligently zealous heretics visit us to devour us? The devil is hiding and waiting, setting traps everywhere. We must always pray and stay awake so that we do not fall into temptation. The life of faith is like a fierce battle. We must always stay awake and stay alert until we go to heaven. When the devil comes, he does not announce, “I will tempt you, I will test you.” They don’t come with a sign that says, “I am Satan.” Rather, they come disguised as angels of light. Therefore, we must have spiritual discernment. We must have eyes that can see the devil’s temptations as temptations. We must know that temptations are dangerous. We must not fall into them and avoid them. Those who have a problem with possessiveness should not make too many credit cards, right? Those who need to diet should not go to ice cream shops often, right? Yes. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. There are painful weaknesses that cannot be told to others. This is called the Achilles heel.
 This is a story from Greek mythology. A woman had a baby. She wanted the baby to grow up healthy and smart, so she went to Zeus and asked him, “Please give this baby a strong body that can withstand any sword, spear, or arrow, a body like iron so that he can become a great warrior and succeed greatly.” Zeus agreed and said, “Then take the baby to the Thebes River, hold the baby by the ankles, dip the baby in the river, and then take it out. Then, the whole body will become strong like iron, and no arrow or sword will be able to hit him.” When the mother heard this, she named the baby Achilles. She took him to the Thebes River, held his ankle, dipped him in the water, and then pulled him out. His body grew as strong as iron. However, he went to war and died after being hit by a poisonous needle in his ankle. Why was that? The mother pulled him out by holding his ankle, but the water did not get on the part where she held his ankle, so that part was weak. The enemy aimed for that very ankle and shot Achilles with a poisonous needle and killed him. Yes. No matter how strong a human being is, there is a weak part like Achilles' heel. The devil uses this Achilles' heel to tempt us.
  Jam.1:14-15, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire &enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;&sin, when it is full- grown,brings forth death.” Therefore,I hope that we trust God more because we are weak& overcome.

2) Save us from evil.

 Here, evil refers to the devil. The devil is the strongest spiritual being among God’s creatures. This is a prayer after being tested. It is a prayer asking for the strength to overcome temptation. We cannot overcome the power of the devil with our will, human education, or human faith. The devil has more power than any human being. We cannot be saved from evil with our own strength. It is possible only when we hold on to God and His Word. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we can overcome the power of the devil.

 Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Samaria, and in all Judea, and to the ends of the earth.” The power that the Holy Spirit gives is the power to overcome the devil. In order to receive this power, we must pray earnestly to God. Why is that? Prayer is the power that connects my weak life to the power of the Almighty God. We can overcome evil only with this spiritual power. The devil sometimes tempts us with tribulation or persecution, and sometimes tempts us when we are at peace. However, it is difficult to overcome the temptation in times of tribulation or peace. The characteristic of the temptation that the devil tempts us in times of tribulation is fear. It is so, so scary. If tribulation and persecution were to hit us all around today, it would be difficult to find the excitement of gathering together and worshiping on Sunday. The temptation of tribulation is extremely scary. On the other hand, the temptation that comes in times of peace is not scary. Its characteristic is sinister and cunning. Whether it is a scary temptation or a sinister and cunning temptation, it is difficult for us to deal with it. We do not have the ability to handle it. Therefore, the Lord tells us to pray. We must pray, ‘Lord, please free us from this devil and evil.’ A person cannot live without the Bible, the Word of God, which is the instruction manual for life. If we live fully in the Word of God, we will be saved from evil.

 Jer.2:19, “Your wickedness will punish you; your rebellion will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.”
 Yes. Not fearing the Lord is evil and bitter. Not following the word of God is evil. Being busy without God is also evil. Toiling and struggling without God is sin. There is a sculpture called <Mr. Lee>. It captures Mr. Lee running hurriedly with his bag while his tie is blown away by the wind. The sculpture itself describes modern people well. How many people are busy today? They drive to work every day, a distance that would have taken several days on foot in the past. They run around busily from morning to evening. Think about why we are so busy, whether God is in my busy life, and what relationship my busy life has with God, and pray that you will be saved from evil.

3) Pray that you will mature through trials.

 James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” You can mature through trials. I hope that you will become blessed people who are perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No trial has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the trial will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Abraham passed many trials and matured, becoming the father of faith. When he was asked to sacrifice his only son Isaac, it must have been a life-threatening pain. However, Abraham passed this trial as well. That is why God gave Abraham a passing grade.
 Gn.22:16-18, “And he called Abraham and said, ‘By myself have I sworn, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will bless you and greatly multiply your descendants as the stars of the sky and as the sand which is on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. And in your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.’” Dear saints, please pray that you will not fall into trials and temptations. Even if the devil visits like a roaring lion, seeking those to devour, you must not fall into them. Even if temptations come, you must break the bonds of Satan. Even if temptations come, I hope that you will be free from sin and overcome in the Holy Spirit.

2. Glory to the Lord alone! Amen!

 The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer is “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” This was an important confession of faith and prayer in the worship of the early church. It teaches us a lesson.
 "For" means "reason." That is, it explains the reason why we should pray boldly. "The reason we pray this Lord's Prayer is because the kingdom, the power, and the glory belong to the Father." We receive strength only through God when we pray. "Everything belongs to God. When we ask, God can give us all these things. 'Everything belongs to God.' This is our confession of faith and praise. This doxological prayer tells us three things. The kingdom and power come from God. The glory also belongs to the Lord. And it teaches us the assurance (Amen) that what we believe and ask for will be received.
 
1) First, the 'kingdom' and 'power' belong to the Father forever.

 This is the second petition, 'Your kingdom come.' "The kingdom of God." It is the kingdom ruled by God.
① It is a prayer to rule spiritually with the Word and the Holy Spirit.
② It is a prayer to ask God to rule.
③ It is a prayer to ask for heaven to come after death. We believe that God created this world. We believe that He still rules over everything. We pray, "The power and ability belong to the Father forever." Almighty God does everything. He made it possible for us to cross the Red Sea and the Jordan River as if it were dry land. Joshua fought against the five kings of the Amorites. God also stopped the sun and moon in the battle of Gibeon(Josh.10:1-14). Jesus also healed the sick, raised the dead, and fed five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fish. God can do all things. He showed this through the history of the Old Testament and the ministry of Jesus. This sovereignty and power belongs to God forever. Let us all boldly pray to this God.

2) Glory belongs to the Father forever.

 This means the presence of God. For example, those who were healed by Jesus "gave glory to God." This is what God did. God has sovereignty and power. David also offered this prayer of praise to God before his death. 1 Chr.29:11-13, “11.Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head over all. 12.The riches and the riches come from you, and you rule over all things. In your hand is power and might. In your hand is greatness and strength. 13.Now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.“ Yes, God is the sovereign who rules over all things. Therefore, when you pray to the Lord, I hope you will have the confidence that you will receive whatever you ask for.

3. The Lord tells us to end our prayers with “Amen.”

 After praying the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “Amen” at the end. “Amen” means “I believe,” “truly so,” and “I agree.” So why do we say “Amen” at the end of our prayers? There are two purposes. One is to earnestly desire to receive what we have asked for. The other is to have the confidence that our prayers will definitely come true. Jesus said, “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23).

 Now, let us pray these six prayers, asking for the assurance of the answer. 1) Let us pray for the glory of God. “Father, may your name be hallowed and glorified.” 2) May your kingdom come. 3) May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 4) “Give us this day our daily physical and spiritual bread.” 5) “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” 6) “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” We must pray these six prayers every day, and we must desire for these prayers to be fulfilled. And we must believe that God will surely hear these prayers. I pray that all of you will become blessed saints who meet the good God and have beneficial experiences by praying the Lord’s Prayer. Amen.
 
 Dear saints, let us also end all our work with a hymn that returns the kingdom, power, and glory to the Father God. At the beginning of the service, it's a hymn, at the end, it's a hymn. Our beginning, middle, and end are all with God.

 Let's all offer up the prayer that the Lord taught us as praise to the Lord. It's hymn #635. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, give us this day our daily bread, forgive us all our great sins, lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil, most of all your kingdom, your power, your glory, forever and ever. Amen!“