Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil
Written by Joseph T. Lee
Part 1
We live in a nation which is rampant with evil and perverse practices. As Christians, we are surrounded by temptations and an evil that is so dark, that it comes straight from the pit of Hell. Even in the day when Christ Jesus walked physically on this earth and practiced His ministry, those were very evil and perverse days. Jesus said as recorded in Mark 8:38, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Jesus said over 2000 years ago, that his generation was adulterous and sinful. No wonder in our current society, our nation is as adulterous and sinful as it were in the time that Jesus said this. We live in a society where pornography is rampant on the internet, in printed magazines, in movies, on DVD’s, on cable television, in commercials (soft porn), and in television programs (soft Porn). Our nation is being saturated with it coming from all directions and as a Christian, we are being bombarded.
I chose to call this “Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil” because of the last verse in the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus taught us “The Lord’s Prayer” as recorded in Matthew 6:9-13.
9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one. (NKJV)
Let us focus on verse 13. In this translation of the Bible, Do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil or the evil one. The evil or the evil one is Satan and his demons.
Jesus wants the forgiven to pray this petition so that they will trust God and not just trust themselves. In Matthew 4:1, Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit and he was to be tested and tempted by the devil. Just as Jesus was tempted, our Heavenly Father may allow us to be tempted . According to Scripture, He will not allow us to be tempted beyond capacity. See 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Now look at James 1:12-13, “12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He himself tempts no one.”
So we know that the temptation comes directly from the evil one, Satan and his demons. We know this because it is written in the Word of God. These temptations are saturating the members of our churches to the point that many are addicted to pornography because they have succumbed to these temptations. Pornography addiction can be as strong as any drug or alcohol addiction.
I am going to share some facts about how pornography has and still is affecting the Church and it’s leaders and pastors. The following are the results of research studies conducted by the Barna Group and Covenant Eyes. This information was found the Mission Frontiers website and will be credited at the bottom of the article in the references. Here are the results of these studies:
- Over 40 million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites. The average visit lasts 6 minutes and 29 seconds.
- There are around 42 million porn websites, which totals around 370 million pages of porn.
- The porn industry’s annual revenue is more than the NFL, NBA, and MLB combined. It is also more than the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC.
- 47% of families in the United States reported that pornography is a problem in their home. Pornography use increases the marital infidelity rate by more than 300%
- 11 is the average age that a child is first exposed to porn, and 94% of children will see porn by age 14.
- 56% of American divorces involve one party having an “obsessive interest” in pornographic websites.
- 70% of Christian Youth Pastors report that they have had at least one teen come to them for help in dealing with pornography in the past 12 months.
- 68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view porn on a regular basis. Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76% actively search for porn.
- 59% of pastors said that married men seek help for porn use.
10. 33% of women aged 25 and under search for porn at least once per month.
11. Only 13% of self-identified Christian women say they never watch porn—87% of Christian women have watched porn.
12. 55% of married men and 25% of married women say they watch porn at least once a month.
13. 57% of pastors say porn addiction is the most damaging issue in their congregation. 69% say porn has adversely impacted the church.[1]
As one can see, we have literally a pandemic going on in our nation with pornography addiction being the illness which is causing sexual sin in the lives of millions of people. In my last article on porn, I mentioned that when men and women seek pleasure and pleasuring themselves through the use of these pornographic images, they have in fact committed fornication by proxy as well as committed adultery by proxy. By proxy, I mean that they have used a visual means and fantasized of having sexual intercourse with the person in the image, instead of having marital sexual relations with their wife or husband. They used the pornography and masturbation as a replacement or substitution of the actual act of sexual intercourse with their wife or husband. To support this, read Matthew 5:28, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Jesus is saying that just by looking at a woman, with lustful thoughts, including wanting to have sex with her, has committed adultery with her. Can you imagine that by viewing pornography and hundreds of images, one has committed adultery already in their heart’s multiple times? And if they act on those images and masturbate, that is where I coined the term adultery by proxy, using those images and a substitute for one’s husband or wife. Although, the previous description is graphic in nature, it must be discussed so that we know what the root problem is and be able to discuss how to overcome pornography addiction, which is rampant in our churches and across our community.
This is the end of Part 1. We will be discussing this epidemic in the coming days ahead. Please consider subscribing to this blog for Part 2 and other articles.
References:
Mission Frontiers Website
[1] Mission Frontiers, Retrieved August 29, 2022, (November 01, 2020 by Kingdom Works Studios https://conquerseries.com/15-mind-blowing-statistics-about-pornography-and-the-church/) Mission Frontiers – 15 Mind-Blowing Statistics About Pornography And The Church
Kingdom Works Studios
https://conquerseries.com/15-mind-blowing-statistics-about-pornography-and-the-church
Barna Group
Covenant Eyes
Photo Credit:
TextArt.com
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