Katechismus

Question 127

The sixth and seventh petitions together may be paraphrased in the following words: Do not lead us into a testing of our faith that is beyond our endurance, but when testing does come, deliver us from the Evil One and his purposes. TDNT

The eighth sentence is a petition respecting our weakness--"Bring us not into temptation." It teaches us that we are liable, at all times, to be led astray, and fall. It instructs us to confess our infirmity, and beseech God to hold us up, and not allow us to run into sin. We ask Him, who orders all things in heaven and earth, to restrain us from going into that which would injure our souls, and never to allow us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear. (1 Cor. 10:13.)

The ninth sentence is a petition respecting our dangers--"deliver us from evil." We are here taught to ask God to deliver us from the evil that is in the world, the evil that is within our own hearts, and not least from that evil one, the devil. We confess that, so long as we are in the body, we are constantly seeing, hearing, and feeling the presence of evil. It is about us, and within us, and around us on every side. And we entreat Him, who alone can preserve us, to be continually delivering as from its power. (John 17:15.) J. C. Ryle

This solemn petition--perhaps the most solemn one of the whole prayer--would appear a natural and impressive consequence of the preceding one for forgiveness. In the contemplation of that petition, the mind was necessarily led into a deep and grave consideration of sin in its various forms, and of the confession of sin in its minute detail, and of the forgiveness of sin in its daily renewal.

Passing from that theme, it would seem as if the next utterance of the wakeful, tremulous heart would be, "Lord, lead me not into temptation. If such is sin; if such the sore penitence to which its commission leads, and such the humiliating acknowledgment in which it results, and such the costly pardon--the price of blood--which its guilt demands, Lord, keep me, fence me, surround me; that, having been washed every whit clean, I may tread no path, be placed in no position whereby I may be exposed to the power of temptations which I cannot evade, whose strength I cannot resist, and thus relapse from my high and holy walk with You. You have given me absolution from sin, but no indulgence to sin. I would be as free from the tyranny as from the condemnation of sin, and would find my most precious, powerful, and persuasive motive to seek after the attainment of holiness in Your full, and free, and most loving forgiveness. Having washed my feet, how shall I defile them!"

TWO OBJECTS He thus seeks to accomplish. The first is the unfolding of His own character in the eyes of His people. God remembers that, even at best, how limited is our knowledge of Him; but how much smaller the measurement that is not gauged by the test of trial. ...

Thus, in all our temptations and trials, we trace His wisdom in ordaining, His sovereignty in permitting, His power in controlling, His faithfulness in directing, and His love in soothing us. And Jesus, the tried Stone, becomes better known, and more intensely endeared, in one fiery temptation, in one severe trial, than, perhaps, in all the passing events of our history combined.

The second object God would compass is, our personal benefit. Our personal religion advances in the same ratio with our spiritual and experimental acquaintance with God in Christ Jesus.

By this process, also, the work of moral purification advances--the alloy is consumed, the vile is eliminated from the precious, and the believer emerges from the season of temptation--tried, purified, and made white.

Two remarks seem necessary to its clearer understanding. The first is, that entire exemption of the believer from temptation would be entire exemption from some of the greatest blessings of his life. This, therefore, cannot be included in the prayer. ... We cannot, therefore, suppose that this petition is a prayer for exemption from what all the saints of God, and the Son of God Himself, have more or less passed through. This would be, as I have remarked, to exempt us from some of the deepest instruction and holiest blessings of our spiritual history.

Our second remark is that, we are not to infer from the petition that God can solicit men to evil. This seems to require no argument; and yet the Holy Spirit has met the idea--"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man."

But the petition is a prayer that God would, by His providence, keep His child out of the way of temptation.

It is a prayer, also, that God would either weaken the power, or remove entirely all existing temptation.

It is a petition, also, that God would not withdraw His restraining check from the believer. ... When, then, you pray, "Lead me not into temptation," you ask of God to withdraw not those divine restraints, to remove not those salutary checks by which, as in the case of David, you may be kept from falling into a snare. "I kept you," says God, "from sinning against me." So may God keep us!

And does not this petition involve a prayer to be preserved from the great tempter? Not only preservation from the evil that is in the world, but preservation from the Evil One of the world, should be our daily prayer. Octavius Winslow

Question 128-129

Is the closing phrase “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” genuine, that is, actually part of what Matthew originally recorded? Majority Text and Textus Receptus (Byzantine family) say yes, more ancient Sinaiticus and Vaticanus along with critical texts NA27, UBS 4 say no as does the Vulgate. Most common reason given for the difference: material from 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 was added during liturgical use in order to flesh out and complete the prayer, which changes crept into the canon as it was copied.

Everything contained in the conclusion is implied in the body of the prayer. We are praying to the King of the Kingdom who has paid the ultimate price to redeem his subjects; it only stands to reason he will do what is necessary for their protection and well-being. Nor does he lack the power (δυναμις) to accomplish his ends; this reminder serves to confirm our faith, our confidence that the one to whom we pray can answer our prayer and nothing we have asked is too difficult for him.

Perhaps the most important segment of the triad is the sum of the summary – that everything we ask and everything our heavenly Father does is for his own glory. Thus there is a sense in which our intent in everything we request of God should be that by answering our prayer God would bring glory to himself. That his greatness and majesty would be magnified, his perfections displayed, his name honored.

Regarding the Amen –

“In the Bible it is used as an affirmation indicating trust at the end of a statement or prayer.” Nelson's New Christian Dictionary

“Amen appears in the other NT writings at the close of prayers and doxologies, strengthening and confirming them.” New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology

“ˆma, in Hebrew, signifies true, faithful, certain.” Biblical and Theological Dictionary, Richard Watson

To close a prayer with Amen is to say “I really mean this, let it be done” and at the same time to express confidence that the true and faithful God will hear and answer our prayer.

// posted by sundoulos @ 8:57 AM 0 comments