1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Lord, Keep Me from Evil

Satan will cast himself into your face in the most bizarre ways. Bruce Wilkinson shares in the Prayer of Jabez a plane flight after he had been busy ministering and experiencing God’s blessings. After such great moments with the Lord, Satan pulls out his best offers to tempt God’s children. He was praying, “Please, keep evil from me today.” Bruce had been assigned the middle seat on the plane. Even before take off the man on his left pulled out a pornographic magazine. “Lord, I thought we had a deal here!” and Bruce looked the other way. The other man, to his right, in the direction he was now looking, opened up his briefcase and pullout his porno magazine.

“At that moment, I didn’t have it in me to ask them to change their reading material. I closed my eyes. “Lord,” I prayed, “I can’t cope with this today. Please chase evil far away!”

“Suddenly, the man on my right swore, folded up his magazine, and put it away. I looked at him to see what had prompted his action. Nothing, as far as I could tell. Then the man on the left looked at him, swore loudly, and closed up his magazine, too. Again, I could find no apparent reason for his decision.”

Somewhere over Indiana “I began laughing uncontrollably. They both asked me what was so funny.”

“Gentlemen,” I said, “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you!” (p. 66).

God has a great spiritual investment in you. He wants to protect it at all costs. Remember, it cost Him His Son to redeem you and me. He is not going to keep back anything from His children who want the same thing He wants.

When you enjoy the abundant life in Christ you never want to go back to the old apathetic, anemic, carnal life style. It is like the fragrance and taste of new wine that Jesus provided at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.

Moreover, God is completely aware of every individual who needs His blessing through you today. Because He is an omniscient and omnipotent God He will bring you to that person at exactly the right time and place so He can bless them through you. As you make yourself available to Him you become His feet to go at His bidding, His hands to give a gentle touch of compassion and care, His eyes to see a world lost in sin and unbelief, His heart of love and tongue to speak His redemptive message of truth. He will empower you to be that messenger.

The important thing is that we decide now to make ourselves available to God at all times regardless of what He wants do with, in and through us.

This little one sentence prayer of an obscure Jewish man is a concise outline of what God desires to do in and through you and me to reach this world for His honor and glory. 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 reads:

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain.” Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested.

WAKE UP!

With spiritual success come opportunities for failure.

Modern church history is strewn with Christian leaders who have fallen into sin and dropped out of the ministry. The integrity crisis lingers on through every generation.

Spiritual success can make us vulnerable to pride and set us up for failure if God does not keep His hand constantly upon us. I think that with every blessing and extension of our ministry there comes a greater need for us to depend upon the Lord for His sustaining grace and power. Spiritual pride spells disaster for the Christian and it is probably the greatest temptation for growing Christians who are eager to serve Christ.

Another area which we have already addressed in this series is the independent, I can do it all by myself attitude which God will never honor and bless.

The temptations become greater and more intense as God gives us greater opportunities to extend His kingdom. The reason is because we are on Satan’s turf. He is losing ground.

A mission leader told me one day as we were going through the bitter blows of spiritual warfare if Satan can’t get to you he will work on your family. He is always a lion seeking whom he may devour.

Satan is in a bloody all out battle with every believer in Jesus Christ. He is vicious and he fights dirty and he is out to get you. If you think that is paranoid, it is something worth getting paranoid about. The vast majority of Christians do not take Satan and the battle of the kingdoms seriously.

Definition of sin

Satan works overtime to lead us into sin. We would never think of shaking our fist in the face of God, but that is what the word “transgressions” means. King David cried, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Ps. 51:3). He saw his sins as violent rebellion, shaking his fist in the face of God and saying let’s fight. It is self against God’s will. He pled, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (v. 2). He saw himself as sheep wandering out of the narrow pathway. Sin is a twisting of moral standards, perversion. It is also a missing of the mark or goal that God has set for us. Sin in the life of the Christian is always serious business with God. That is why we need Him to blot out our iniquities and create a clean heart within us (v. 9).

Definition of temptation

The word "tempted" means to entice to do wrong by a promise of pleasure or gain.  It is synonymous with to seduce, to allure into evil, to persuade. It is soliciting to do evil. We see this graphically illustrated in Genesis 3:6-7. The temptation may be position, power, people, and prestige. It centers on I, me and mine. Temptation knows no barriers and no one is an exception. It is inevitable in our daily lives. Even for the believer the old nature has not been eradicated. However, we do have a choice (Rom. 6:11).

One of the most difficult trials is when we get caught tightly in the grip of temptation. When that grip is broken by the power of the Holy Spirit it is a time of great triumph, and a period of spiritual growth. But experience teaches us, as does God's Word that this is also a time to draw close to our Lord because we become vulnerable to another attack. It is always present in our lives. It is not a matter of if, but when. The timing is never convenient for us, but always perfect timing for our old nature. When we are tempted we are seduced, persuaded or allured into evil. Bonhoeffer wrote,

In our members there is a slumbering inclination towards desire which is both sudden and fierce. With irresistible power desire seizes mastery over the flesh. All at once a secret, smoldering fire is kindled. The flesh burns and is in flames. It makes no difference whether it is sexual desire or ambition or vanity or desire for revenge or love of fame and power or greed for money.

The prayer of Jabez is not about the “health and wealth” cult. Jabez left God’s blessings up to God to decide what He would do when, where and how. Don’t let for one moment God’s blessings be manipulated by Satan to desire more money, fame, power, possessions and position. 

The more God blesses you and uses you in His kingdom the more you need to be prepared for spiritual conflicts. You become Satan’s target. Don’t let him deceive you.

Keep your spiritual vision clear. Ask God to enlarge your life so you can make a greater impact for Him. God will open doors of opportunities and bring people into your path.

As I am preparing this message the secretary from another church in town called and asked if I could make an emergency hospital visit since their pastor was not available. God blessed me and I let Him interrupt my busy schedule to minister to a young man near death. Lord Jesus, here am I. I make my available to You to be at Your disposal and command. Enlarge my opportunities to serve You today. Lord keep Your hand on me and give me the words to speak to this young man and his mother. Our words become empty and vain in moments like this if God does not have His hand upon us. “Without Me, you can do nothing,” Jesus said. Just like with me today seeking God’s direction in this study, God wants to bless you so you can reach out and touch someone with His love and mercy.

Don’t be tempted to think this prayer is a hocus-pocus magic formula or ritualistic prayer. It is not some mantra in the Christian life. However, God does want to bless you so He can use you in His kingdom.

BE PREPARED

Our greatest temptations come after we have just experienced a great spiritual success and God has blessed us abundantly. I can look back on every time when God has had His hand on my life and blessed me in a most unusual manner and His kingdom has been extended and there follows an awful spiritual oppression, temptation or assault on my personal life by Satan. This is not a rationalization; it is honest observation. Satan is not very pleased that the omnipotent God is blessing you. He can’t get your soul and you cant’ lose your salvation, but He will work hard at destroying your testimony and ministry. He stands utterly opposed to everything you do for Christ. It is a deadly warfare.

The attitude of our heart must constantly be, “Lord, keep me from evil, keep me from temptation, keep me from hurt.” If there are no spiritual struggles and battles you are not in the center of God’s will. You are not in the battle; you are somewhere else. You have gone AWOL (Absent Without Leave). We must pray as Jabez did because we are at the center of a great spiritual battle and the warfare is intense.

Every believer in Christ is in the battle. You are winning or Satan has you in a rout. Who is winning in your battle? We already know who has won the war. Christ did that at the cross and His resurrection proves it. The consummation of the kingdom will come when Christ returns. However in the meantime Satan is a wounded tyrant and we must fight him with all God’s might.

Ounce of prevention

Avoid temptation at all cost. Flee temptation; don’t play around with it. “The only thing that can break the cycle of abundant living is sin, because sin breaks the flow of God’s power,” admonishes Wilkinson (p. 85). The best strategy for defeating Satan is to stay out of the lion’s den. Lord, keep me from evil. We need God’s divine help to keep us from temptation. Keep your head out of the den. Keep your hand out of the trap. Don’t put your hand in the fire.

Avoid temptation

In Matthew 6:13, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” That is the best admonition we can ever receive.

We can win more battles by avoiding temptation. “The most effective war against sin that we can wage is to pray that we will not have to fight unnecessary temptation. And God offers us His supernatural power to do just that” (p. 68). “Most Christians seems to pray solely for strength to endure temptations—victory over the attacks of our raging adversary, Satan.” Yes, we need His power in the thick of battle! The most effective approach is “to ask God simply to keep us away from temptation and keep the devil at bay in our lives.” Our prayer needs to be, “Lord keep me from temptation.” 

Satan is not very bright. He still uses the same scheme he used in the Garden of Eden. His main strategy is deception. Pray for protection from deception. We need to run, flee from everything that is not from our Lord.

We are a people God-possessed. People possessed of God are those in whom He has taken up His abode. You are a temple of the living God, in whom the Master shines out upon those who are round about. The church is to be a people for God’s own unique possession. What sort of a church would my church be if every church member were just like me?

G. Campbell Morgan said, “Holiness is that character which results from close relationship with God.” When the Holy Spirit brings conviction stop and repent right then. Turn from it. Stop the sinning in its tracts.

I had a deacon in a former pastorate come into my office one morning with a worn out dog look on his face. He was deeply under conviction. God had been dealing with him for years and now he could stand it no more. He said, “Pastor, I am here to turn in my resignation as a deacon. I cannot sit under your kind of preaching and live the kind of life I am living. I am going to divorce my wife and move my membership to a church in another city.” I said, “Wait. Let me hear this again. You cannot sit under the verse-by-verse exposition of the Word of God and live in sin. That’s great. But isn’t God telling you to repent?” He fell for the same deadly deception of Satan in the Garden. He chose lust rather than love. Our failure to respond to God’s leading and guidance not only affects our lives but others as well.

Donald Barnhouse tells a story of an incident in his life as pastor. 

He said one day a young man in his 30's visited him who had a personal problem. He told his story something like this.

“I work for such a company in which I have a private office. Several months ago my secretary was absent and I had to use another lady. One day when she brought the papers for my perusal she got too close and when she leaned over the desk she let her hair trail across my face.  I fought it down but although I am a man and toward the end of the day I put my hand on her and she came right back to be kissed.  Even while kissing her I was visualizing my two children running to meet me, and my wife standing in the door.  I hated what I was doing, but I kept on.  I had the greatest desire to push her from me, but I kept pulling her to me.  My body was doing one thing and my mind was doing another. 

“When I went home that night I hugged my children so hard that one of them cried.  When I got them to laughing I told them that it was because I loved them so much.  I had tears in my eyes and my wife’s eyes were shinning.  We were all clung together in one of those moments indescribable.  My wife was supremely happy because I walked around the house that   evening touching familiar things we   had scrapped to buy.  Expressing my love for the home and for her, and before God I was never more true. 

“The next day the office intrigue began all over again. I was never more miserable in my life.  Before a month had gone by I realized my lust and my love were a terrible battle.  When I came home there was everything I wanted in life, when I went to the office the machine of my body seemed geared to something terrible that was purely mechanical in which I wanted to get out of more than any fly ever wanted to get off fly paper. 

“I heard my wife tell someone that I was becoming more and more a home body, and that all I wanted to do was stay home, and I truly did.  I followed her around the house, worked with her in the kitchen, I watched her as she put the children to bed.   This morning when I left the house she told me that she was the happiest woman in the world because I showed her so much that I loved her alone.  I could hardly talk, in fact, tears came to my eyes and I lifted a lock of her hair to dry them and said to her, I love you more than life itself.  She cried. I crushed her to me until she screamed, and smiled at the same time.   I ran off to my train, but now what shall I do?" 

With the husband's consent Dr. Barnhouse called the wife to his office and told her the story.  Fear leaped to her eyes, but he reassured her. Then they took a taxi and went to the husband's office.  He was expecting then and Dr. Barnhouse stood by as they embraced, and she said, "I know, I know. I understand. It's all right."

Then he called the other lady into the office. The scene that followed typified the mortal struggle between the flesh, and the spirit. Both were striving for the mastery of that body. But the wife was not striving. She knew that the mind, soul and heart of her husband had never been away from her. She understood the glandular warfare of his body, and that his lust had sprung to life in response to the war of strange flesh.  She looked at him with complete understanding and love.  The secretary stood there speechless.  Barnhouse said to her, "She knows all about it.  She loves him and he loves her completely and he has never had any thought toward you except one of animal lust.  You were never wanted except physically, and you are not wanted at all from now on.   Do you understand?  You stand outside in the hall while I pray with the couple.”  And then he went out and saw the secretary dabbing at the eyes and talked to her about her need of Jesus Christ. 

I wish that all stories on lust ended like that.

You don’t need a pastor like Dr. Barnhouse. You don’t need another individual to intercede. You already have the Master and He will do it.  But you have to present yourself as an instrument of righteousness to Him and just say no.  And He will come to your rescue. 

WHERE IS GOD WHEN YOU FAIL?

Accept the fact that you will fail at times. If you are like me you will fail many times. We will not experience perfection in life or service to God until we stand holy and complete before the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. Decide now how you will respond to Him when you stumble badly.

Where was God when you failed? He is in the same place He has been all along with the same vital interest in your Christian life.

The Bible tells me my “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

Does God intervene and direct in your life? He certainly does if you are His chosen vessel. Will He put a hedge of protection around you and protect you from evil? He certainly will if you are His child. But what about when I fail Him?  Even when you and I fail Him He is there ready to draw us to Himself. God is there watching and waiting and He is already at work in your heart and your circumstances. He is ready to intervene if you are ready to trust Him. He is still saying, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” This becomes one of those great moments in our lives when we step out by faith and trust His wonderful grace and mercy and grow spiritually.

That is when He dusts us off, lifts us to Himself for cleansing, prunes back our wild foliage and blesses us so we can learn from this experience and bless others through it. God can sanctify our failures and use even them for His glory. God brought healing to King David and He still blesses us and teaches us through David’s awful experiences. He will intervene in your life if you will respond to Him.

Failure is not permanent with God

When we fail we must let the Spirit of God intervene and let Him reestablish the direction in which He is leading. All we need to do is walk hand in hand with Him.

“But pastor, you don’t know how many times I have failed. I fail again and again.” The important thing is not how many times you fail but how you respond to God when you fail.

God can use multiple failures to make you mature as His servant. I thank God everyday that He is not a legalist. He is a holy and righteous God who lavishes His grace upon us. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us” (Eph. 1:7-8a). Paul strains to find the right words to express his thoughts. God “lavishes,” pours His grace out upon us, over and above, superfluous, more than enough. It is superabundantly over-sized grace! His grace overflows its boundaries like a river.

How many times does God forgive?  Seventy times seventy is only the beginning. No matter how many times you have failed, God is still there waiting and longing for you to come to him. The last time you failed did you return to the Lord? How many times will He welcome you back? He will forgive, cleanse and renew as many times as you return to Him and ask Him.

God takes our failures and teaches us through them, and then He takes us with a fresh sense of His presence, and uses those experiences of failure to encourage others who are going through similar experiences.

What is your attitude toward multiple failures in your life? Don’t allow Satan to use that as an excuse to get you outside of the will of God. Satan will camp on your unwillingness to forgive yourself, or some legalist with similar attitudes, and use it to his advantage and advance further failure on your part.

The Father knows right where you are

The Father knows where you are right now and He has been there all the time. He knows all about your failure. He knows where you are when you succeed and when you fail. He is deeply involved in your Christian life and has a deep personal commitment to you and the quality of your Christian life. God intervenes in our worst failures, and He is the reason for our most glorious successes.

Return to the Father just as soon as you are aware of sin, or missed opportunities, or lack of faith when He is leading you. Make a resolve now that when you fail the next time you will return immediately to Him and allow Him to renew your spiritual walk with the freshness of His divine presence.

Respond God’s way to sin and failure

What do you do when you have failed? How you choose to respond tells you about your spiritual maturity and character.

Please keep in mind we are not addressing salvation, but service. Your salvation was secured when you repented and put your faith in Christ as your Savior. We are not talking about losing your salvation, which is impossible even if you fail a thousand times. Don’t allow Satan to manipulate you outside of the will of God because you have stumbled badly and fallen.

God will not let His child cover up his sin and be spiritually prosperous at the same time. He will have nothing to do with the cheapened view that you can live any way you please now that you are a Christian. If we choose to do so He will treat us like He did King David when he committed adultery and murder. He will increase the pressure on us until we confess the sin to Him and repent. God will not let one of His children live in sin. He will chastise and punish you until you repent. Like David we will cry out, “I have sinned against Thee and Thee only!”

Acknowledge and confess sin immediately

The very moment you become aware of sin in your life acknowledge it to God and confess it to Him. Don’t put it off. Do so immediately right where you are. Keep your lines of communication clear with God. He wants fellowship with us. Sin puts up a barrier between a holy God and us, but when we confess to Him He cleanses us of all sin.

I acknowledged my sin to You,

And my iniquity I did not hide;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;

And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah (Ps. 32:5).

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity

And cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,

And my sin is ever before me.

Against You, You only, I have sinned

And done what is evil in Your sight,

So that You are justified when You speak

And blameless when You judge (Ps. 51:2-4).

There is nothing like the refreshing sense of having all your sins under the blood of Jesus Christ. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:9-10).

Repent

Repentance breaks the cycle of sin. In other words, stop it! If you are living in sin, get out of it. Repent is a change in mind that results in a change of behavior. You are going in one direction, walking and living in sin, and you stop, turn around and go in the other direction walking by faith in God. It is a deliberate choice we make.

Rebuild your altar before God

Get back into God’s Word. Read and meditate on a portion of scripture every day. Write down a verse or two on a card and put it in your shirt pocket, or under the glass on your work desk, on the bathroom mirror, dashboard of your car, etc. Pull it out and read over it when you have a few seconds during the day. Pray silently that God will make it real in your life today. Ask Him to bless you, stretch your tents of ministry, keep His hand on you and keep you from evil.

Rebuild the altar of your heart where you can return to Him all during the day. Do you find yourself talking to Him throughout the day? Why not? Sometimes I talk out loud to Him. If I am in a meeting, or public place I talk to Him silently. I give Him a chance to speak to me and break in upon my conscious presence any time He so chooses.

Do I hear voices? No. Do I see illusions? No. I do have it together. However, there is that awesome sense of His presence. Sometimes it is so real if it were humanly possible I could reach out and touch Him. I want to let Him break in upon me anytime He so chooses throughout the day. Go back to the altar and let God speak to you through His Word, in prayer, His Spirit, His chosen servants, your circumstances, etc. You can be aware of God’s presence in whatever circumstances you are in throughout the day. “Man, do you know where I work?” Yes, that is probably why He placed you there.

The Lord is pursuing an intimate, love relationship with you. That is the most important agenda He has with you. Everything else God does depends upon your fellowship with Him. If that fellowship is not right He cannot invite you to join Him in what He is doing. He can’t bless you abundantly.

There can be no spiritual prosperity when we try to cover up our sins. But He extends His tender mercy to those who confess and forsake their sins.

No matter how many times you have failed God, He is still there waiting and longing for you to come to Him.

SOME ABIDING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Do I really want to be a holy person?

God uses clean vessels. He uses vessels that are separated to Him for His service. Abe Vander Puy said one day, “You can be as holy as you choose to be.”

I didn’t say sinless perfection. I have never met a person who is sinless, and those who think they are you really don’t want to be around. Am I set apart for God’s use alone? Am I a vessel that He can shape and form into an instrument of His grace? Am I available to Him?

Do I want to be an instrument of God?

Has the Holy Spirit placed a hunger in your heart to be used of God? Has He put a desire within your heart to be a blessing to a lost and dying world? Are you praying that He will bless you so you can be a blessing to others in need? Have you asked Him to expand your horizons of ministry and lengthen your tent pegs?

When was the last time you earnestly prayed Lord keep me away from temptation?

Do you pray, “Lord, keep me at a safe distance from evil” as often as you pray “God bless me so I can be a blessing to others”? “Without temptation, we would not sin.” Why stick your hand in the fire and then ask God to heal you? Why not keep it out of the fire? There is plenty of temptation around without going out and looking for it. Avoid temptation at all costs. Ask God to give you strength to go in the opposite direction from temptation. How strange that we try to keep one foot in temptation and one in heaven.