Sermons 2026

Text: Sixth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer
 

Outline
1.    Under attack from enemies (Sin, Fallen world)
2.    Cannot save ourselves, need JC to save us.

Sermon

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation is the Sixth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

And lead us not into temptation.

What does this mean? God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.

Beloved Lambs, I pray that you are doing well this morning. Have you ever had someone who was mean to you? They called you a bad name. What do you do? They push and shove you all the time. They hurt you. What do you do? You could push and shove back, but then you have fallen into temptation. We sign temptation this way because it is like someone dragging you by the elbow while encouraging you to do something. Is it good to push and shove someone? Is it good to call them bad names back? No, it is not. When things get bad, we are tempted to use swords or other objects to protect ourselves. In our text for today, we hear about all the enemies that are against us, the Devil, the World, and our Sinful Nature. How do we combat them? How does Jesus win us the victory? Ponder these questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Under attack from enemies (Sin, Fallen world)

In 1998, Saving Private Ryan, came to theaters. Featuring such popular names as Tom Hanks, Vin Disel, Matt Damon, and many more, it opens with one of the most historically accurate and traumatic scenes in all of history, the US soldiers landing on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Spielberg deliberately opens with silence, which is shattered by sudden gunfire, creating a shock effect that mirrors the soldiers’ disorientation and fear. Within minutes, the audience experiences the overwhelming intensity of battle: explosions, machine-gun fire, and soldiers being wounded or killed. The movie was so well done that WWII veterans described the combat scenes as the most realistic portrayal of their own experiences they had seen; some said they had been unable to watch it due to their traumatic memories.

As graphic and intense as the opening scene is, it pales in comparison to the assault that we face from the enemies assembled against us. Once we have the blessed waters of Holy Baptism, and the Triune name of God, placed upon us, we are placed into a war zone with our very souls at stake.

The enemies arrayed against us are the Devil, the world, and our sinful nature. Their goal is the same, to make us doubt our faith, to steel it away so that we suffer the same fate and destruction that they do. More will be said concerning the Devil when we cover the Seventh petition. For now, let us focus our attention upon the world and our own flesh.

When God made the world, it was perfect. Adam and Eve, our first parents, were perfect. There was no hunger. There was no pain. There were no tears of anguish. There was no decay, no death. Until Adam sinned. Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, which God commanded them not to do. Thus, sin, decay, and death entered the world and our flesh. 

The world is not perfect. Just look around and you will see the smoke as the fires burn across Montana and other states. It does not matter where we live, there are disasters that we will face. There are tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, blizzards, avalanches, and many more “natural” disasters. These are not natural. They are a sign for us that the world is still fallen and decaying. It is still under the condemnation of God, awaiting the new creation to come.

The world is under the control of the prince of the spirit of the air, the Devil. as he has his little season. (1 John 5:19) The Devil entices the world to focus upon itself rather than on the things of God. Since the world is under his sway, the world, and those within it, follow what the Devil desires.  We feel the pressures to follow the ways of the world and Satan daily. Typically, the world is focused upon itself. You can have the best time here and now by putting your own wants and desires above the needs of your neighbor. It appears everyone around us is focused upon getting as much money, possessions, and things as they can. We need to have the best. We deserve it after all the hard work that we do, right? We need the best Television, the best car, the best clothes. We need to look as young and beautiful as we possibly can. Everyone is doing it, why do you not join in? As I am sure your mothers told you when you were younger, “If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you join them?  Yet, we too are often caught up in the ways and pressures of the world, to the point that we forget to focus upon the things of God. 

This is because our own flesh is against us. Because of Adam, our natural inclination is to be against God and to follow the ways of the world and Satan.  Our very minds are tainted with sin. We think horrible thoughts. When we are in a hurry and someone is going slower than a snail on the highway or in the checkout line, is our first thought, “Yay, I am glad that they are here.”? When someone cuts us off on the highway and flips us off, is our first thought, “Thank you for that!” I doubt it. The sinfulness of our minds reflect the sinfulness of our hearts. From them come a host of evil desires, that show itself in thoughts and actions.
Who do we blame for this? Our sinful nature would not lay its blame upon itself. After all, we strive to avoid self-blame as much as we can. We want to justify ourselves and our actions, not blame ourselves. Surely the reason that I am suffering is not because of my own fault, it must be someone else’s fault, or even God’s fault. 

However, it is not God’s fault. As James writes concerning sin in his first chapter, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.” 

We have no one to blame our own desires, thoughts, and actions other than ourselves. As we confess in the general Confession before service:

We are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. 
We are stuck. We are sinners, deserving of present and eternal punishment. We cannot save ourselves from the Devil, the world, or our sinful flesh. What can we do?

1.    Need JC to save us.

We throw ourselves at Jesus’ feet, trusting in His grace and mercy towards us.  Because of His mercy and faithfulness, God kept His promise to Adam and Eve in sending a Savior. That Savior is none other than His own Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was tempted, the same as we are daily tempted. Yet Jesus did not give in. Jesus withstood all temptation of the world, the flesh, and Satan on our behalf.

Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. He perfectly did the will of God, even when it meant going to the Cross. There, Jesus bore the eternal wrath of God for us. He defeated our sins by covering them with His own perfect blood. Jesus defeated the temptations of the world by putting His trust fully in the Father. Jesus focusing His mind on eternal things in heaven, rather than on the temporary fleeting things of the world. On the Third day, Jesus rose again from the dead, destroying the power of death forever. Jesus does all this for you, so that through His words and actions, you get the victory over sin, death, and the devil. 

This victory is yours even today. When we face the temptations of the world. When we wrestle with our own minds, and the temptations to sin both within and without. When we face our own eventual deaths. When pressured and tempted, we run to the blessed Sacraments that our Lord has given to us, the Eucharist especially, that our faith would be strengthened. His Word and Sacraments comfort us with the truth of reality. The victory over sin, the world, and the Devil is yours, despite everything that the world and our flesh say. As we just sang in verse 4 of A Mighty Fortress Is our God, “Take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife, those these all be gone, Our victory has been won, the Kingdom ours remainth.” The Kingdom remains ours because the grace and mercy of God cannot fail. Jesus holds the victory forever for you. 

As you live out your lives, fear not beloved flock. The fallenness of this world will be made new again as God promises. Perfection is given to you because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. You have the victory over sin, death, and the devil. As we sing in hymn 677 For All the Saints  “And when the Fight is fierce, the warfare long, Steals on the ear the distant triumph song, and hearts are brave again and arms are strong. Alleluia. Alleluia!” We fear not the Devil, the pressures of this world, or our own sin-filled flesh, because our Lord has given us the victory forever and ever by His death and resurrection from the dead.

The peace of God, which surpasses al understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.