Episode 6

Deliver us from Evil

Why would Jesus tell us to pray that God would not lead us into temptation? I mean, why would God do that? Besides, we can usually find our way into temptation ourselves, right?

And what does it mean to pray, "deliver us from evil"?

This is what we explore in this last episode about the Lord's prayer.

Transcript
Speaker:

Microphone (ZOOM P4 Audio): All right.

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We have come to the very

last phrase of the prayer.

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So this is the prayer.

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It's our father in heaven.

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Hallowed be your name.

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Your kingdom come.

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Your will be done on

earth as it is in heaven.

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Give us this day, our

daily bread and forgive us.

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Our debts as we also have

forgiven our debtors.

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And lead us, not into temptation.

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But deliver us from the evil one.

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And so now we get to the final phrase

and lead us not into temptation,

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but deliver us from the evil one.

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And the question here is why would

Jesus instruct us to pray that God

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would not lead us into temptation?

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I mean.

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why would God lead me into temptation?

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Yeah, we can usually

find our own way there.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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It seems simple enough, but also.

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Why would God lead this?

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To do something wrong.

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Yeah.

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And I think it helps to remember.

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Well, it's crucial to remember here.

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That there's a word in the Greek language

translated temptation here, but could just

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as easily be translated trial or testing.

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Actually.

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The Hebrew word.

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in the old Testament also

has those three meetings.

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It can mean temptation

or trial or testing.

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Okay.

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And you kind of have to determine

from the context which has met.

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We are told.

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That in the book of James, for example,

that God cannot be tested with evil

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and will not test anyone with evil.

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So obviously.

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The idea of temptation as a

solicitation to get someone

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to sin is not what's involved.

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But rather.

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It has the idea of.

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trials or testing.

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And so we kind of see something here.

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That's very important

to us is that God will.

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Allow us to fall into certain

trials or testings in this world.

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And yet he also has

veto control over them.

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And part of that.

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we influenced by our prayers.

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So that's a very.

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Profound thought.

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Yeah, that's really helpful so far.

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So this is not saying God, please.

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Don't.

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Test me by.

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Trying to solicit me tape.

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Sin.

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Yeah, you don't have to pray that.

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in that sense, but it is, Hey, I know

that there are a lot of challenges of

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life and a lot of temptations, so it's

almost, it's almost, Hey, can I have.

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Some grace here, because life is hard.

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Yes.

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So lead me, not into temptation, but

recognizing, but in part of that,

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recognize that sometimes God does

lead into that trial or testing.

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Or at least lets us be led into that.

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Okay.

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So we have an evil one

and we have an evil world.

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So he says.

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deliver us from the evil one.

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I believe he's referring to.

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Satan there.

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Not evil in more general sense.

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So that word is another word that has

kind of different shades of meaning.

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It can be either evil or evil one.

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Right?

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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And again, part of the challenge

here is we're speaking English.

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But Jesus was speaking.

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Probably Aramaic.

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And then it was written in Greek,

which is very similar language or

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maybe he was speaking in Greek,

but it wasn't English, so yeah.

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Our words are not one-to-one

corresponding here.

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Yeah.

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But the idea, I mean, That God

can deliver us from evil or

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deliver us from the evil one.

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I mean, there's nuance in.

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Both of those, but yeah.

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General.

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Similar vibe.

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Sure there is.

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Yeah.

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And I think.

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The best way to look at this

is that in this world, The

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fact is we are going to face.

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Problems at sufferings and difficulties.

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And that these will

each make us vulnerable.

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Towards choosing certain kinds of evil.

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And that's why I believe these

words have so much overlap

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because the testing or trial.

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Can become a way an avenue in

which we choose a wrong way.

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An evil way.

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But in the same trials and

testings that we face in this life.

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They can also be something.

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That we find God's grace and God's help.

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And that got ultimately

uses for our own good.

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And I think that's at the heart of this.

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I heard a story that kind of

illustrates this very well.

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There was a group of women.

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At a previous time, I believe.

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Who were.

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Reading their Bible state together.

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And they came across.

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The versa, Malakai three, three

that says he will sit as a

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refiner and purifier of silver.

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Of his people.

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So that week.

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The woman who was leading it.

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Called a silver Smith and made

an appointment to watch him work.

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She didn't mention anything about

the reason for her interest.

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Beyond her curiosity, seeing how

the process of refining silver work.

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And as she watched the silver Smith, he

held a piece of silver over the fire.

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And let it heat up.

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And he explained that in refining silver.

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When needed to hold a

silver in the middle.

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Of the fire, where the flames were

hottest to burn away the impurities.

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But when we thought about God

holding us in such a hotspot.

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And then she thought

again about the verse.

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It says, he said since refiner

and purifier of silver, So she

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asked the silversmith, if it was

true, if he had to sit there in

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front of the fire the whole time.

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With the silver was being refined.

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And the man said yes.

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He not only had to sit there

and holding the silver.

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I had to keep his eyes on the silver

the entire time it was in the fire.

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If the silver was left a moment too long

in the flames, it would be destroyed.

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The woman was silent for a moment.

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Then she asked the silver Smith.

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How do you know when the

silver is fully refined?

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And he smiled at her and answered.

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Oh, that's easy.

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When I see my face in this reflection.

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And the process, God allows

us something like this.

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He allows testing.

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We turned to God for help.

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And we find his help in some way.

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And that song says, sometimes he calls

the storm and sometimes he calms us.

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And I draw closer to God.

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And I'm quest my impurities.

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So I look more like who he is.

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So basically.

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This whole last part of the

prayer is the attitude of a man

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or woman who knows their frail.

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They're not self deluded into

thinking they can handle anything

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that life throws at them.

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They know that they can't.

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They understand They're like a bridge

with the posted weight limit and

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their prayer is recognizing this

and asking God to either keep in

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over the weight limit truck off.

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Or to increase the weight limit.

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Yeah, it seems to me that.

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That the flow of this.

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Prayer.

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Is for us to see God more

for who he is and for his.

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Goodness.

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And his love.

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Even though we're in this challenging

situation where we lack daily

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bread sometimes where we have

temptations and trials and testings.

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But even in the midst of that Context.

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To move us.

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Into trusting him more.

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Yes.

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So it sounds like not being led into

temptation and being delivered from the

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evil one or two sides of the same coin.

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I wonder if you can speak to what

it means to be delivered from the

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evil one, then a little bit more.

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Sure.

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We have to remember that the goal of

God is different than the goal of Satan.

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They will both allow or bring certain.

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trials or testing to do our live.

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God allows trials in order to refine this.

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Say Tim brings trials and temptations.

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In order to defile us.

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And when we're praying to God

to deliberate, this is for

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asking that not to happen.

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Satan's goals really?

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Our to separate us from God.

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To separate us from each other.

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And to separate us from our true life.

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Our God created destiny.

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That's what he did for the first

couple representing us and all mankind.

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The sin was merely.

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The method to get to the goals.

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And since separated mankind from God.

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As they cannot now be in his presence.

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The sense, separated them from each other.

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Has that been blamed the wife in

it, and in the very next chapter

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brother killed his brother.

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It's separates them from life.

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Certainly they had an animal

life in a body, similar to

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the animals after the fall.

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But their spirit life

was now gone in some way.

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For that can only come for the

connection with the spirit of God.

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Those are the goals of the evil

one, the tools he uses are these.

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Lies.

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Temptations in condemnation.

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Usually in that order.

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He lies to eat.

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You won't die.

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It's holding out on you.

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That gave force to the

temptation to disobey God.

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And follow the suggestion of the evil one.

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The lies get force temptation

temptation, given it to leads.

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Not only to the sin separates,

but also the condemnation.

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That keeps us from coming to God.

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And receiving all that he is

have desires to do for us.

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I view it this way.

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We're going to fall into various troubles

and trials and testings in this world.

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I believe that part of that

is just part of the natural.

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Bent of this imperfect world.

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But the evil one will walk to

use those for his own goal.

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So his goal will be to

separate us from God.

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Primarily through deceiving us.

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Getting us to commit sin.

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And then condemning us.

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When we know.

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That we are deceived.

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When we know that we

disobeyed God is Stan.

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And feel condemned before him.

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We are turning away

from him at that point.

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And the schools are accomplished.

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The way then that I believe

this last part of the prayer.

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Works.

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Is that we pray that whatever trials

we're testing, we followed to.

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Are not so strong that those

things happen, but the God

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intervenes and brings grace.

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And that if we do fall or we did

send you to some degree, Then we

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come to him and forgiveness and ask.

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For that grace and their

forgiveness to be renewed.

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And when that happens.

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We actually are more inflamed In our

heart for Scott for his mercy forgiveness

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and that he would cleanse us again.

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And again.

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And that way we actually

draw closer to God.

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So the same.

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Trial the same testing.

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I can lead us away from God.

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Which is what people one wants, or

we can be delivered from his plans.

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And given the gods.

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Bye.

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Bye.

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We just talked about.

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So I believe that's at the heart of this.

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Yeah, it seems like there's this whole.

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Perspective here and the prayer

to help us see God for who he is.

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And.

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To have his name be exalted

and his plan be realized.

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There are prayers and in our lives.

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And in doing that, we're move to

trust for our star greatest spiritual

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need, which is forgiveness, our

physical needs of daily bread.

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And here recognizing.

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That we're frail.

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And that we have a lot of needs That

God would protect us and develop us.

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It is lab.

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Yeah, exactly.

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And, I think all of that Just

remembering that God is a loving father.

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No.

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Has in mind what's best for us.

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And there's no.

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Limitation toward his

good intention for us.

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It just really makes this

prayer attractive to Bray.

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Right.

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To take these things

into pray in this way.

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God, please.

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Provide for my physical needs.

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Provide for my spiritual needs.

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Help me forgive others helped

me not be led into temptation.

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And, and give into temptation

way that separates me from you.

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But.

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To be delivered from evil or

delivered from the evil one.

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And what a good prayer of trust.

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Yeah.

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And isn't it beautiful.

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How.

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Simple Christ makes it

really, when we understand.

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Yeah.

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We don't have to be great.

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We don't have to be perfect.

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We just have to choose two.

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Simply cover father.

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In these ways.

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And that's enough.

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