Rescue Us from the Evil One

[Read Matthew 6:9-13]

I’ve mentioned before how much I love reading about and studying history. I love being able to dive deep and try to put myself in the shoes of those who have gone before us—trying to understand and comprehend what it was like to experience the things they experienced. I especially love doing this with the history of my family. 

I’ve also mentioned before that my great-grandpa and his brothers all served in WWII. So, I’ve done a lot of study and research on WWII over the years. It’s incredible when you begin to comprehend the death toll of that war. I came across this statement the other day, ”World War II was the largest and most violent military conflict in human history. Official casualty sources estimate battle deaths at nearly 15 million military personnel and civilian deaths at over 38 million.” That’s 53 million deaths over six years. Take a moment to let that number sink in, then imagine what it was like to fight in that battle. My great-grandpa and great-uncle were part of the D-Day invasion, where 150,000 troops made a major push on the beaches of Normandy. My great-grandpa landed on Omaha Beach, which had the highest casualties. I’ve seen pictures of the aftermath of that event—dead bodies lying everywhere—and I try to imagine what it would have been like to have been there, in that battle, in that chaos, watching people die left and right. It’s overwhelming. 

Yet, I came across this quote from one of the early church fathers. His name was John Chrysostom and he lived in the late fourth century. He describes a picture of war like I just described D-Day, but then he says this, “Do not imagine I am exaggerating or think that because we are shut up in this body like a prison and can see nothing of the invisible world, what I say is overstated. You would have seen a much vaster and much more terrifying conflict than this, if you had been able to see with these material eyes the devil’s battle-line and its furious onset. It has no bronze or steel, no horses or chariots or chariot wheels, no flames or missiles. It has none of this visible equipment, but other engines of war far more terrifying than these. Enemies of this sort have no need of breastplate or shield, sword or spear. No, but the very sight of that accursed host is enough to make a man’s heart fail him, unless it is mighty stout and has the benefit of God’s special providence, even more than its own courage. If it were possible to strip off this body, or even to keep it on and see clearly and undismayed with the naked eye the devil’s whole battle-line and the warfare he wages against us, you would see no torrents of blood, no dead bodies, but so many spiritual corpses and such horrible wounds that you would think all that picture of warfare which I have just described to you was mere child’s play, and sport rather than war, so many there are every day who perish.” (On the Priesthood, John Chrysostom p. 158). 

Don’t be fooled into thinking we’re not in the midst of a battle right now. Just because you don’t always see it with your eyes, doesn’t mean that battle isn’t happening. The catechism places this reality right in front of us when it reminds us that, “And our sworn enemies—the devil, the world, and our own flesh—never stop attacking us.” (HC Q&A 127). That’s us right now. Right now, you are under attack and this attack will not stop. These enemies will keep coming after you over and over and over and over again, trying to destroy you. Satan will keep on attacking you. The world will keep on attacking you. Your own flesh—your sinful nature and sinful heart—will keep on attacking you. This is a real battle. 

I think we’re most aware of the attacks that come from the world. Jesus said, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19, ESV). He told us that the world would hate us and persecute us. The world will attack us. This is part of the battle that we recognize the most because we can see most of these attacks with our eyes. Yet, these aren’t the only attacks that come our way. 

We’re attacked by Satan and his spiritual forces. Paul says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV). This wrestling match—this battle that we’re in—includes cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil. You can’t always see this with your eyes but they are there, waging war against you, seeking to destroy you. 

Yet, it’s not just Satan and the world that are attacking you. Your flesh—your sinful nature and sinful heart—are also relentlessly attacking you, trying to destroy you. Listen to this struggle by the Apostle Paul and tell me if it sounds familiar:  “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing…For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:18–25, ESV). Every single person in this room has been there. Anyone who has ever struggled with addiction has been there. But, to be more honest, anyone who has ever struggled with sin in their life—which is every one of us in this room—has been there. We feel this battle going on inside of us, part of us wants to follow Christ, yet we continually struggle to do it and continually fall back into destructive behavior and habits. Our own sinful nature and sinful hearts are constantly waging war against us, trying to destroy us. 

Now, at this point, I need to clarify something, because when most people hear about this warfare—this battle that is raging—they only think about difficulties and trials. They can think about moments when the world has attacked them. They can think about moments when Satan has attacked them and made them feel worthless and unforgivable. They can think about moments when their internal desires caused them to do something they regretted. However, most people don’t think about how this battle is raging in the midst of their prosperity. That’s just as dangerous of a battle, but we don’t often think about it that way. Think about all of the sins in the Bible that can be committed from a place of prosperity: Gluttony, Greed, Selfishness, Love of Money, Self-reliance… Think about how many times God’s people became prosperous, then turned away from Him thinking they could handle things on their own. 

Prosperity can destroy you just as quickly as hardships and difficulty. That’s why Calvin says, “These temptations are both on the right hand and on the left. On the right, when riches, power, and honours, which by their glare, and the semblance of good which they present, generally dazzle the eyes of men, and so entice by their blandishments, that, caught by their snares, and intoxicated by their sweetness, they forget their God: on the left, when offended by the hardship and bitterness of poverty, disgrace, contempt, afflictions, and other things of that description, they despond, cast away their confidence and hope, and are at length totally estranged from God.” (Institutes, 3.20.46).

The only way to fight this battle is to completely rely on God and pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13, ESV). That’s what we saw Paul pray, when he was attacked by his sinful nature, right? He said, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:18–25, ESV). Who will deliver him from evil? Only God through Jesus Christ. Nowhere else can we be delivered from this battle, and I mean NOWHERE. 

This battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil has a way of bringing out our pride. We don’t like to admit that we can’t fight this battle on our own. So, we pretend like we’ve got it all under control. We get attacked by the world and we don’t want to seem weak, so we pretend like we can handle it on our own. We get attacked by our sinful nature—find ourselves tempted to sin—and we don’t want to seem like we’re “weak-willed,” so we pretend like we’re strong enough to stand against any temptation. We even think we’re strong enough and smart enough to stand against Satan’s attacks on our own. Yet, the catechism has some bad news for us. It bursts our prideful bubble, saying, “By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment.” (HC Q&A 127). You’re not strong enough. If it was up to you and your own strength, you would completely collapse in a moment. You are not even strong enough to hold yourself up in this battle for a breath—let alone a second. We don’t like that, but it’s true. 

And because we’re so prideful and because we think we’re stronger than we are, we find ourselves regularly losing the battle. We read in 1 Corinthians, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12, ESV). Those who think they have it all together, who think they are strong enough to stand on their own, who think they are strong enough to fight this battle in their own strength, will fall. They will regularly find themselves losing the battle because they thought they were stronger than they were. Pride comes before the fall. 

I think this is what happened with the Apostle Peter when he denied Jesus. Remember what happened? “Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night…” Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.” (Matthew 26:31–35, ESV). Peter said, “I’m strong enough to fight this battle on my own. That will never happen. I won’t let it happen. I’m strong enough.” Pride eventually led to his fall. He did what he thought he would never do because he never thought he would do it. If he had realized his weakness, and admitted that it was possible that he would deny Jesus, he would have been better off because he would have stopped relying on himself and relied on Jesus. 

That’s what this prayer is about. It’s ultimately about admitting our weakness, our frailty, and our inability, then casting ourselves completely into God’s hands and trusting him to deliver us from whatever temptations come our way—whether from difficulty or prosperity and whether they come from the world, the flesh, or the devil. We admit that we cannot deliver ourselves from these things, so we cry out to God saying, “Deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13, ESV).

And He will do it. That’s the beautiful and amazing part of all this. We are so weak and incapable of fighting in this battle, yet, when we turn to our God, cry out for deliverance, he does it and we’re strengthened in the midst of the battle. That’s why the catechism says, “And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle…” (HC Q&A 127). And when we pray that, he does it. He upholds us. He makes us strong with the strength of the Holy Spirit. He prevents us from being defeated. He gives us exactly what we need when we need it. 

There is this short story in 2 Corinthians that speaks directly to this prayer. Pay close attention to what the Apostle Paul says, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.” (2 Corinthians 1:8–11, ESV). Now, he actually doesn’t say if this was an attack from the world, the flesh, or the devil, or all three. Typically, it’s a combination of all three. Either way, this was such a difficult trial that he thought he would die. But then he says that it happened so that he would stop relying on himself and rely on the God who raises the dead. When they stopped relying on themselves and started relying on the God who raises the dead, he delivered them. Now they have hope that He will continue to deliver them. This is powerful stuff. 

I also want to make sure we don’t miss one important aspect of this battle that is raging around us. For many people, they desire that God will simply protect them from the battle and uphold them in the midst of the battle. Yet, we’re told that there’s more to this battle than simply holding on for dear life, hoping that we don’t die. The catechism says, “And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we…may firmly resist our enemies.” (HC Q&A 127). When we cry out to God for deliverance, it must not be solely for the purpose of deliverance. We cry out for deliverance so that we can continue the battle—so that we can live to fight another day. We ask God to deliver us from temptation to sin so that we can continue to fight against sin in our lives. We ask God to deliver us from the world and Satan so that we can continue to firmly resist them and defeat them. 

You know, I’ve studied Spiritual Warfare a lot—a lot more than most Reformed pastors I know. I’ve read numerous books on the topic from many different denominational leaders. There’s one aspect of this spiritual warfare that is often missed in these books. For many people, they assume that our primary weapon in spiritual warfare is prayer because prayer is a spiritual weapon. In some ways, I think that’s true. However, Scripture gives us a different weapon in this warfare. We’re given, “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…” (Ephesians 6:17, ESV). That’s our primary weapon in this spiritual battle—the Word of God, which is our spiritual sword. 

I’m not trying to downplay prayer in any way. What I’m trying to do is elevate our understanding of the role of the Word of God in this spiritual battle. We know this. What weapon did Jesus use in his battle with Satan in the desert? He used the Word of God. What weapon did the Apostles use when attacked by the world? They used the Word of God. What weapon are we told to use on our sinful hearts and sinful nature? The Word of God. This is our primary weapon in this battle. This is our primary weapon as we firmly resist attacks from the world, the flesh, and the devil. We must cry out to God to deliver us from evil, then grab hold of the Word of God and use it as a weapon in this spiritual battle. When tempted with greed or gluttony, we cry out for God’s deliverance, then grab hold of God’s word. We say, “Father, deliver me from this. I know that it will kill me because you’ve told me in your word.” When facing difficulties and attacks from the world or from Satan, we cry out, “Father, deliver me from this. You’ve told me that you will never leave me nor forsake me.” That’s the only way you will stand. Not in your own strength, not with your own weapons. You will only stand in God’s strength with God’s weapons. 

And then we get this great promise from 2 Peter: “…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials…” (2 Peter 2:9–10, ESV). The Lord knows how to deliver us from any of these trials, temptations, or difficulties in this life. Not only does he know how to do it, he WILL do it. That’s why the catechism also reminds us that our prayer is, “And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit…until we finally win the complete victory.” (HC Q&A 127). The Lord knows how to rescue us from trials and he will do it over and over and over again until we finally win the complete victory. That complete victory will eventually happen in this world; it will eventually happen in our lives; and it will eventually happen over Satan and his kingdom. 

This is a beautiful reminder for all of us in the midst of this battle. We often feel worn out, weak, and weary from this battle. We’re tired of struggling against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Sometimes we’re so tired of it all that we want to give up and throw in the towel—to stop fighting. Some days we wonder if it’s worth it all or if we’ll ever make any progress in this life. But then we’re reminded that God always finishes what he starts. We read, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6, ESV). God started a work in you and He will finish it. One day, he will completely deliver you from evil through Jesus Christ. It will happen—not because you are strong or because you’ve used your own weapons, but because you’ve trusted in your God, relied on Him, and relied on His weapons. 

And we need to keep that in mind now—in the midst of the battle. In the midst of our current struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil, we must live and endure and fight like those who will obtain complete victory through Jesus Christ. We don’t live as defeated people, but as those who will win. So, we keep on trusting in our God, keep on relying on Jesus Christ, keep on crying out for deliverance, and keep on grabbing hold of the Word of God. Eventually, God will bring it all to completion and bring us complete victory.