Matthew 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
I read in a short feature on "deliverance:, that certain Christian ministers
practice what they call a “deliverance ministry” (referring to the activity of cleansing a person of demons and evil spirits in order to address problems manifesting in their
life as a result of the presence of said entities and the root causes of their
authority to oppress the person), but true biblical deliverance
is better defined in terms of today’s verse, which, of course, is the last
petition in the prayer that Christ taught His disciples to pray (aka the Lord’s
Prayer). Deliverance is defined as: 1. Release from captivity, slavery,
oppression, or any restraint. 2. Rescue from danger or any evil. True deliverance
is deliverance from evil, whatever form that evil might take, and preservation
until God’s kingdom comes. Let us observe several scriptural accounts of true
deliverance.
Note that the Greek word for
deliverance (“rhyomai”) has the connotation of “rescue,” and this is its first
occurrence in the New Testament; that makes its usage here especially
significant. That the Lord will indeed provide such deliverance, if we pray for
it in sincerity, is affirmed in many testimonies and promises. Burdened with
the problems of his old sin nature, the Apostle Paul cried out, “O wretched man
that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” But then
the answer comes: “I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24-25). Even as his
anticipated martyrdom was approaching, Paul could still testify, “The Lord shall deliver me from every evil
work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:18).
The Apostle Peter also assures
us that “the Lord knows how to deliver
the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of
judgment to be punished” (2 Peter 2:9). He is able to deliver
His people from all the evils of this present evil world, to keep them and
prepare them for the glory and the power of His coming kingdom, for He Himself
is the Deliverance.
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