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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................2

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................3
CHAPTER ONE ......................................................................................5
Persecution .............................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................... 15
Test .........................................................................................................15
CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................. 25
Temptation..............................................................................................25
CONCLUSION...................................................................................... 43
 INTRODUCTION
This book is strictly based on personal study on Matthew 6, and it
is personally directed on answering the question arising from the passage,
that is verse 13; “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil:” And I kept still at “And lead us not into temptation”. For about a
day, I was eager to understand this place and I kept asking myself that can
God lead men, especially His elect into temptation? This spore me to
study. I started digging dip into the study and I meditated around it and I
came to a conclusion that before I can conclude whether God leads men
into temptation or not, I must understand the differences between
persecution, test, and temptation. Immediately I gained clarity, I knew
within me by the Holy Ghost that I have answer to my question.

In this book, I discussed on these three; what they are and who
orchestrated them, the reasons why they happen, their purposes, God’s
plans for us in them and examples from the scriptures. I believe as we read
through it, we will get the understanding of these three better, and we will
have our answer to “can God lead men into temptation?”

Note: that the book is written based on personal study, you can also study
to know, if we get confused in anything there and I would implore us to
read the passages given in this book. And also we can further our
knowledge on the topic, because this is not all that is to the topic.

Check the scriptural passages (Bible reference is taken from the King
James Version, unless otherwise stated).

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 CHAPTER ONE
Persecution
What it is:

It has a specific meaning, i.e. to pursue or to cause to suffer or

afflict because of belief.

The Greek meaning of persecution from the scripture is to make to

run or flee, put to flight, drive away, or in any way whatever to harass,
trouble, molest one.

Persecution is a trial of faith. It is a physical attack over one’s

belief. Persecution is an attack of the devil through a man physical
afflicting or attacking a believer because of his faith, with the purpose of
silencing him concerning it and to renounce it. Persecution is always a
trial of faith. It might be difficult to give the differences between
persecution and temptation. Persecution comes as a physical
confrontation, while temptation might not be, but they both are with the
end of falling out of grace.

From who?

Persecution is not from God but from the devil physically

manifesting assault through a man or men.

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 A believer is not only persecuted by an unbeliever. A believer can
be persecuted by immature believers. Paul faced persecution from fellow
believer, but immature.

Galatians 5:11, And I, brethren, if I yet preach

circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the
offence of the cross ceased.

Paul was persecuted by immature Jews who were believers, who

believed acceptance by Christ is through circumcision. So the devil can
still use immature believers to physically assault a believer. And note, it is
a physical assault and not spiritual one. Any spiritual assault is not a
persecution, it is an attack, and we don’t endure such instead we deal with
it by enforcing our authority in Christ over the kingdom of darkness

Reason:

Persecution is as a result of hatred towards the son of man, Jesus

Christ and a believer because he is not of the world.

Persecution comes because of the world’s hatred towards the son

of God and those that believes in His name

John 15:18, If the world hate you, ye know that it hated

me before it hated you.
 19, If ye were of the world, the world would love his own:
but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you
out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Luke 21:17, And ye shall be hated of all men for my

name's sake.

Every believer is going to face persecution because the world hates

us and he knows you.

Matthew 5:14, Ye are the light of the world. A city that

is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Jesus promised that we will face persecution, we can’t dodge it

John 16:33, These things I have spoken unto you, that in

me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world.

A believer can’t be hidden in this dark world, we are light of the

world. It is not possible for a light not to be easily recognized in a dark
place. So we will definitely face persecution.

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The purpose:

Every persecution is with a purpose of silencing a faith and of

denying ones faith,

We will see places in Acts where the Apostles were persecuted

with a purpose of silencing their voices from being heard preaching in
Jesus’ name.

Acts 4:15, But when they had commanded them to go

aside out of the council, they conferred among
themselves,

16 Saying, WHAT SHALL WE DO TO THESE MEN?

for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them
is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we
cannot deny it.

17 But that it spread no further among the people, LET

US STRAITLY THREATEN THEM, THAT THEY
SPEAK HENCEFORTH TO NO MAN IN THIS NAME.

18 And they called them, and COMMANDED THEM

NOT TO SPEAK AT ALL NOR TEACH IN THE NAME
OF JESUS.
 They wanted to silence them so that the name of Jesus would not
spread because they undoubtedly saw the miracle that happened, but they
wanted to silence the name.

And again, persecution is with the end point of renouncing faith.

Revelation 2:13, I know thy works, and where thou

dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast
my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days
wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain
among you, where Satan dwelleth.

God commended on how they have kept the faith and have not
renounced it, and Jesus testified about Antipas who kept the faith to the
point of him losing his life.

Immunity:

Is there immunity against persecution? Yeah, God does deliver us

from evil,

Yes, there is and I will explain this and give examples from the scriptures

Prayer: a believer can’t pray not to face persecution, but a believer

can pray to endure it and be delivered from it. Because we are in this
world, so it will keep coming because we still have the prince of this world

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in charge and we are not of this world, so he is going to show hatred
towards us, as far as we are in this world.

The first thing prayer does is that it supplies endurance to face

persecution and go through it

2Thessalonia 1:4, So that we ourselves glory in you in the

churches of God for your patience and faith in all your
persecutions and tribulations that ye ENDURE:

2Timothy 3:11, Persecutions, afflictions, which came

unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what
persecutions I ENDURED: but out of them all the Lord
delivered me.

Romans 5:3, And not only so, but we glory in tribulations

also: knowing that tribulation worketh PATIENCE;

When we are persecuted, what prayer does first is that it create

endurance and patient till it is over.

And secondly, God does deliver us from persecution when we

pray.

2Thessalonian 3:2, And that we may be delivered from

unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not
faith.
 Romans 15:31, That I may be delivered from them that
do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I
have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;

Philippians 1:19, For I know that this shall turn to my

salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the
Spirit of Jesus Christ,

The third thing prayer does in the face of persecution is to supply

boldness to go through it without being shaken in our Christian walk

Acts 4:29, And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant
unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

The forth thing prayer does is by prayer we secure strength of faith

for the season knowing that persecution is primarily a trial of faith, Jesus
prayed that peter’s faith will not fail. By prayer, we build up our faith in
the midst of persecution.

James 1:1, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus

Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,
greeting.

2, My brethren, count it all JOY when ye fall into divers

temptations;

3, Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh

patience.

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 4, But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be
perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

not the temptations of Satan, or temptations to sin; for these cannot be

matter of joy, but grief; these are fiery darts, and give a great deal of
uneasiness and trouble; but afflictions and persecutions for the sake of the
Gospel, which are so called here and elsewhere, because they are trials of
the faith of God's people.

Act 5:40, And to him they agreed: and when they had
called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded
that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let
them go.

41, AND THEY DEPARTED FROM THE PRESENCE

OF THE COUNCIL, REJOICING THAT THEY WERE
COUNTED WORTHY TO SUFFER SHAME FOR HIS
NAME.

42, And daily in the temple, and in every house, they

ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

When we are persecuted, it produces joy. We should count it all joy when
we face persecution.

God’s part during persecution is that he makes us endure it,

supplies boldness, He makes the persecution to strengthen our faith which
produces joy in us and to deliver us and makes us come out victorious
even by prayer.

Examples:

Peter was persecuted

Luke 22:31, And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold,

Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as
wheat:

If we are to see the statement Jesus made, it shows that the devil
was after his faith. This wouldn’t be a temptation or test, but this is a test
of faith. Because if we are to see the scene that played out after this, it was
a test of denial of him ever knowing Christ. It was a physical
confrontation. And as I said we can’t pray not to face persecution, but we
pray to endure it and have our faith intact. I believe if possible, Jesus would
have tried to pray that it doesn’t happen if it were not a persecution. But
Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith should be intact after he had gone through
the persecution.

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An example of a man who faced persecution was Paul. He was persecuted
severally too.

Galatians 5:11, And I, brethren, if I yet preach

circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the
offence of the cross ceased.

2Corinthians 11:23, Are they ministers of Christ? (I

speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in
stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in
deaths oft.

24, Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save

one.

25, Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned,

thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been
in the deep;

Paul was persecuted amidst believers (immature believers) and also

outside the church, but Paul endured everything and came out victorious.
 CHAPTER TWO
Test
What it is?

There is no word ‘test’ in the scriptures, but they used a synonym

of ‘test’ which is ‘prove’. The Hebrew word for ‘prove’ is ‘nâsâh’ which
appear in the Old Testament 36 times, which means to test, which is also
used replaceable with ‘to tempt with evil’, but we are not talking about
temptation but test. While in the New Testament, the Greek word is
‘dokimazō’ which appear in the New Testament 22 times, which means to
test. But there was not much distinction to ‘prove’ and ‘tempt with evil’
in the Old Testament because they both have same Hebrew word ‘nâsâh’.
But in the New Testament, there are two different words used for both
prove and tempt with evil in the original Manuscript which was written in
Greek and not as in the Old Testament, prove is ‘dokimazō’, while tempt
is ‘peirazō’ So the word prove was used in the scripture, which is the
synonym of test. We see some examples in the scriptures that can be
likened to a man tested and from such instances, we could observe that
test is often a trial of obedience. But what differentiates this from
persecution and temptation is that it would not be sin when someone fails
it, rather someone would be deprived of certain benefits.

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From who?

From God’s word, we saw God did that to his children. God test
His children.

Genesis 22:1, And it came to pass after these things, that

GOD DID TEMPT Abraham, and said unto him,

Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

‘God did tempt’. The word ‘tempt’ here has the Hebrew word
‘nâsâh’ which is used for ‘prove’, synonym of the word ‘test’ and also ‘to
tempt with evil’. God can never tempt us.

James 1:13, Let no man say when he is tempted, I AM

TEMPTED OF GOD: FOR GOD CANNOT BE
TEMPTED WITH EVIL, NEITHER TEMPTETH HE
ANY MAN:

So it was not a temptation but test, because God will never tempt
any man, but he can test His children, so also he tested Abraham. I will
explain this when I explain temptation. So God himself tested Abraham,
but if Abraham had failed the test, it wouldn’t have been a sin, rather he
would be deprived of the blessing that the nations would be blessed
through him. It was a trial of obedience for Abraham from God.
 Genesis 22:16, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith
the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and
hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17, That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying

I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as
the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies;

He would have missed the blessings.

Reason:

As I said test is a trial of obedience. Anywhere God test a man, it

is to show whether the man will obey him or not. I always say this
jokingly, that if it were the writer of Job that wrote Genesis (and I think
Moses actually did), he would have made us know what transpired in
heaven and made us know the primary intent of God before he asked
Abraham to sacrifice. But we could see from the action of the event, God
wanted to see if Abraham feared him, and would obey him. God test the
obedience level which is relative to the fear of him in a man.

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 Exodus 20:20, And Moses said unto the people, Fear not:
for God is come TO PROVE YOU, and THAT HIS FEAR
MAY BE BEFORE YOUR FACES, that ye sin not.

Exodus 16:4, Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I

will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall
go out and gather a certain rate every day, THAT I MAY
PROVE THEM, WHETHER THEY WILL WALK IN
MY LAW, OR NO.

It is a test of obedience to see if the fear of the lord is in their heart.

Purpose:

Deuteronomy 13:3, Thou shalt not hearken unto the

words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the
LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your
soul.

The Lord tested them to see if they will love him, by them obeying
His word. Every trial of obedience is always targeted towards our love for
God. God does test us to see if we love him and we have a reverential fear
to obey His commands.
 John 14:15, If ye love me, keep my commandments.

The way the Lord vets our love for him is that he tests our obedience to
His word.

Example:

Abraham

God tested Abraham to see if he fears him and would obey his
word (with the purpose to see if he loves him).

Genesis 22:1, And it came to pass after these things,

THAT GOD DID TEMPT ABRAHAM, and said unto
him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah;
and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the
mountains which I will tell thee of.

As I have said, the word ‘tempt’ here has the Hebrew word ‘nâsâh’
which is used for ‘prove’, synonym of the word ‘test’ and also ‘to tempt
with evil’, and I have said that God never tempt with evil, God is not a
tempter, so it would mean God tested Abraham

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 God told Abraham to take his only son whom he loved and offer
him as a burnt offering. Humanly speaking, this is not easy to do, but
Abraham obeyed God because he has a reverential fear for God.

Genesis 22:12, And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the
lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: FOR NOW I
KNOW THAT THOU FEAREST GOD, seeing thou hast
not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

Genesis 22:18, And in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed; BECAUSE THOU HAST OBEYED MY
VOICE.

He obeyed God and this afforded him blessing. He passed the test,
and he received blessings. What if he had not passed the test? It wouldn’t
lead to sin, but denial of blessing, and we know what happens where there
is absence of blessing.

Let us see an example from the New Testament about test

The Gospel entrusted to us is a test:

1Thessalonia 2:4, But as we were allowed of God to be

put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as
pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
The word ‘trieth’ has same Greek word as test, dokimazo. This is the only
direct reference to God testing (dokimazo) in the New Testament. After
we were saved, God gave us the ministry of reconciliation to preach the
good and wonderful work that Christ has done for all mankind. The
preaching of the Gospel is a way that God test our love for him. God
entrusted us with the gospel and as I said failing a test is not sin but
deprivation of certain blessing. There is a reward for preaching the gospel.

1Corinthians 9:23, AND I DO THIS FOR THE SAKE

OF THE GOOD NEWS (THE GOSPEL), IN ORDER
THAT I MAY BECOME A PARTICIPATOR IN IT AND
SHARE IN ITS [BLESSINGS ALONG WITH YOU].

24, Do you not know that in a race all the runners

compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your
race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it
yours.

25, Now every athlete who goes into training conducts

himself temperately and restricts himself in all things.
They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we
[do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that
cannot wither.

26, Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite

aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking
without an adversary.

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 27, But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly,
discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that
after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things
pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [NOT
STAND THE TEST, be unapproved and rejected as a
counterfeit].

Amplified version

Paul likened the preaching to a race that at the end if run lawfully,
will receive a reward. And if not run lawfully, such person does not stand
the test of the race, such person is disqualified from getting the reward.
Paul was not talking about getting out of faith here, but about missing the
reward of preaching the Gospel. Let us know this that a man not preaching
the gospel does not bring him out of faith, instead it disqualifies him from
the reward of getting men saved, and it deprives him of the blessing too.

1Corinthians 9:27, I beat my body to make it do what I

want it to do as slaves obey their masters, in order that,
after I have proclaimed God's message to others, HE
WILL NOT SAY THAT I DO NOT DESERVE TO
RECEIVE A REWARD.

T4T version
Let me give this example, a man that was preached to on is sickbed and
received the life of Christ, will he be cast away from eternal because he
was not privileged to preach? No, he will just be cast away from the
reward.

Or the thief that was crucified with Jesus that Jesus promised eternal life,
will he be cast away from eternal life? No, he will only be cast away from
the reward of men that preached the gospel.

1Corinthians 3:8, Now he that planteth and he that

watereth are one: and EVERY MAN SHALL RECEIVE
HIS OWN REWARD ACCORDING TO HIS OWN
LABOUR.

14, IF ANY MAN'S WORK ABIDE WHICH HE HATH

BUILT THEREUPON, HE SHALL RECEIVE A
REWARD.

15, If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer

loss: BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; YET SO
AS BY FIRE.

So this was what Paul meant by being disqualified, to be

disqualified from getting reward for his labor. This is a test from God to
vet our love for him, which is obedience to His command of Go ye

Preaching of the Gospel is a test to us believers. So preach so that

you won’t be a cast away from all these blessing on the day of reward.

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 CHAPTER THREE
Temptation
Temptation is from the Greek word ‘peirasmos’, which means a
putting to proof by evil or good experience. The definition I will give to
temptation (from the scriptural inference below) is a putting to proof by
evil, because we saw it together while I was explaining test, that God
doesn’t tempt, he is not a tempter.

James 1:13, Let no man say when he is tempted, I AM

TEMPTED OF GOD: FOR GOD CANNOT BE
TEMPTED WITH EVIL, NEITHER TEMPTETH HE
ANY MAN:

Temptation is a trial of the divine nature in a believer with the

end of a failed faith. It is the conflict of two natures in a believer: the divine
nature and the nature of sin.

Romans 7:25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our

Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God;
but with the flesh the law of sin.

Romans 8:2, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ

Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

It is a warfare between the law of righteousness that is in our spirit

and the law of sin and death in our flesh. When we received the life of
Christ, our spirit was born again and not our mind, nor our flesh. We walk

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out the salvation of our mind (soul) with fear and trembling (Philippians
2:12); let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus
(Philippians 2:5); And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2). We
work out the salvation of our soul and make it yield to the promptings of
our spirit, but the flesh wages war against the spirit, to make the mind yield
to its biding

Galatians 5:17, For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,

and the Spirit against the flesh: AND THESE ARE
CONTRARY THE ONE TO THE OTHER: so that ye
cannot do the things that ye would.

And that is where temptation comes in, which is a trial of the divine
nature in our spirit by making us to yield to the desires of the flesh by the
devil. Temptation is directed by the devil to make us fall short of the divine
nature of God that is in us.

James 1:14, But every man is tempted, when he is drawn

away OF HIS OWN LUST, and enticed.

1Peter 2:11, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers

and pilgrims, ABSTAIN FROM FLESHLY LUSTS,
WHICH WAR AGAINST THE SOUL;
From who?

Obviously, temptation does not come from God, but from who?

James 1:14, But every man is tempted, WHEN HE IS

DRAWN AWAY OF HIS OWN LUST, and enticed.

The first thing that instigate temptation is our lust, the desire of the
flesh (law of sin and death in the flesh). And this lust can be likened to
weaknesses, because they can easily beset us.

Hebrew 12:1, Wherefore seeing we also are compassed

about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside
every weight, AND THE SIN WHICH DOTH SO
EASILY BESET US, and let us run with patience the race
that is set before us,

As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who

encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound
that has pierced us and THE SIN WE SO EASILY FALL
INTO. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race
with passion and determination, for the path has been
already marked out before us.
[The passion translation
(TPT)]

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 As we know that lust means a craving, or having an intense desire.
And from the passages above, they easily beset us because we are weak to
some of these fleshy desires, so we easily fall into them. These were the
lust James was talking about, that these things entices us and that is where
temptation comes in, whereby there is a compromise of the divine nature
in the spirit and we fall into them, yielding to the desires of the flesh (law
of sin and death).

The devil is the tempter,

Matthew 4:3, And when THE TEMPTER came to him,

he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread.

5, Then THE DEVIL taketh him up into the holy city, and
setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

10, Then saith Jesus unto him, GET THEE HENCE,

SATAN: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve.

They called Satan, the devil a tempter, because if God wouldn’t

tempt us, then the devil obviously does.
 He lay holds on these weaknesses (it is not easy to control them)
and use them against us by deploying them as a weapon to deceive us.

1Corinthians 7:5, So don’t continue to refuse your spouse

those rights, except perhaps by mutual agreement for a
specified time so that you can both be devoted to prayer.
And then you should resume your physical pleasure SO
THAT THE ADVERSARY CANNOT TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF YOU BECAUSE OF THE DESIRES
OF YOUR BODY. [The passion
translation (TPT)]

So don't refuse sex to each other, unless you agree not to

have sex for a little while, in order to spend time in prayer.
THEN SATAN WON'T BE ABLE TO TEMPT YOU
BECAUSE OF YOUR LACK OF SELF-CONTROL.
[Contemporary English version (CEV)]

Hebrew 3:13 … lest any of you be hardened through the

deceitfulness of sin.

He would come in his craftiness to deceive us, because he studies

us and he knows what sin easily beset us. Same way he did in the Garden
of Eden, he was more subtle than anything. So with temptation comes
craftiness

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 Luke 20:23, But he PERCEIVED THEIR
CRAFTINESS, and said unto them, WHY TEMPT YE
me?

Purpose:

The reason why temptation comes is because of our weaknesses,

and subjection to the flesh. But a believer has been saved and delivered
from the authority of the flesh, and its desires doesn’t control us, but its
desires are still in our flesh but we should take dominion over it.

The purpose of temptation firstly is to wage war against our divine

nature with the end of trying our faith. When I was discussing persecution,
I said persecution and temptation are somehow similar, but their mode of
operations and the initial purposes differentiate them. Persecution is a
physical confrontation while temptation is a luring to sin. The initial
purpose of persecution is to silence them to mention Christ, while the
initial purpose of temptation is to confront and fight the nature of God.
The similarity between persecution and temptation are to the end that the
believer’s faith is affected

1Thessalonia 3:5, At last, when I could not wait any

longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I
hoped that Satan had not tempted you and made all our
work useless.
 Paul sent Timothy to the church in Thessalonica to see if their faith
is still intact and has not been tampered with by the tempter. So the major
purpose of temptation is to tamper with the believer’s faith.

Immunity:

There is surely immunity for temptation. As we know that what

births forth temptation is our craving and the devil lays hold on this to
deceive us.

The first immunity that we have when we face temptation is:

 Temptations are conquerable

1Corinthians 10:13, There hath no temptation taken you but

such as is common to man: but God is faithful, WHO WILL NOT
SUFFER YOU TO BE TEMPTED ABOVE THAT YE ARE
ABLE;

Every temptation that happens, many have undergone them and

they have a clean records of victory over them. So we can overcome them,
but from studies I discovered that it is not by human strength, and that is
where we get it wrong. Jesus assist us to overcome temptation.

Hebrew 4:15, For we have not an high priest which

cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but

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 was in all points tempted like as we are, YET WITHOUT
SIN.

Jesus was tempted in all ways but did not sin; He never knew sin.

Hebrews 2:18, For in that he himself hath suffered being

tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

He who was tempted and knew no sin can help us when going through
temptation and will not make us sin. Jesus helps us to overcome
temptation.

 There is always a way of escape:

1Corinthians 10:13, There hath no temptation taken you but

such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not
suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
TEMPTATION ALSO MAKE A WAY TO ESCAPE, that ye may
be able to bear it.

God usually creates a way of escape for us out of temptation and

this makes temptation bearable, and the only way we can escape in
temptation is through God’s word. He made a provision for deliverance
for us in His word.

Psalm 107:20, He sent his word, and healed them, and

delivered them from their destructions.
Let’s see how the word delivers us.

 God’s word: God’s word is a sure weapon against temptation, no

matter how weak the person is.

Ephesians 6:18, And take the helmet of salvation, and THE

SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD:

The word of God is our attack system against the devil, and that is
why a lot of believers falter because they don’t have the word of God
richly in them.

Psalms 119:11, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I

might not sin against thee.

Luke 8:13, They on the rock are they, which, when they
hear, receive the word with joy; AND THESE HAVE NO
ROOT, which for a while believe, and in time of
temptation fall away.

The word they heard didn’t have root in them, didn’t penetrate into
their inner being, and when temptation came they lose faith, and fall away.
So God made a provision for us to stand against the wiles of the devil, and
that’s His word.

We would see this in Jesus’ temptation.

Matthew 4:4, But he answered and said, It is written…

7, Jesus said unto him, It is written again…

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 10, Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for
it is written…

Jesus used God’s word to fight the devil in His temptation. In the
first temptation, Jesus was truly hungry, and the devil came tempting Him
with what he knew was a weakness to Him at the time. But we saw Jesus
responded with God’s word despite how He was weak in the flesh.

Going back to the question I asked at the introductory part of this

article, “can God lead His children into temptation?” let’s see what the
scripture says.

The scripture said:

Matthew 6:13, And lead us not into temptation, but

deliver us from evil

The best way we can understand that verse is to know the evil God
is delivering us from, this will let us know how God does not lead us into
temptation.

…but deliver us from the evil one.’

Tree of life version (TLV)
 The devil by the way of eminence is the evil one and that implies
in KJV that God should deliver us from his power, his snares, his arts, his
temptations.

God delivers us from the evil one, the tempter, the devil. He
rescues us from his hand.

And lead us not into temptation…

Luke 22:40, When he reached the place, He said to them,

“Pray that you will not enter into temptation.”

Jesus told Peter, James and John that they should pray not to enter
temptation, and that is the idea here. Here in Matthew 6:13, we have a
permissive imperative as grammarians term it. Permissive imperative is
the granting of permission which may not be something that the speaker
is happy with; it only signal that he or she has the power to grant it. Which
means God should not grant the devil the permission to tempt us if only
we pray. And this shows that God can grant the devil permission to tempt
us if we don’t pray and God is not happy about it, that is why in the
temptation, he would give us a way of escape, example like Job (we would
see his case as an example). The idea is then: “do not lead us into
temptation”. This phrase, then, must be used in the sense of “permitting.”
do not “suffer” us, to be tempted to sin.

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 So the interpretation to the verse is “do not permit us to be tempted,
by delivering us from the evil one”. The way God does not lead us into
temptation is to deliver us from the evil one.

I have heard people said that it is not possible for a man to live
without temptation, but regardless of people’s opinions, God’s word is
true. People’s opinions changes but God’s word does not.

Jesus told us we can pray not to be tempted and God will deliver
us from the evil one. We even saw from the scripture where Jesus
instructed the disciples to pray not to enter temptation and to be watchful.

Mark 14:23, Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into

temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

To be watchful means to keep alert, be vigilant. A believer can

avoid temptation by being alert and praying that God should deliver him
from the tempter.

We will see two example from the scriptures where God led these
people into temptation (God permitted the tempter to tempt them, He
didn’t deliver them from the tempter).

Examples:
Jesus:

Hebrew 2:18, For in that he himself hath suffered being

tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Jesus was an example e of those who faced temptation and

overcame. Let’s see the story line and see when God permitted the
temptation to happen.

Matthew 4:1, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Jesus was “led up” of the spirit into the wilderness to face
temptation, and from our earlier explanation, we said God leading us into
temptation is God permitting the tempter to tempt us. Jesus gave the
Lord’s Prayer in chapter 6, and he was tempted in 4, which means Jesus
showed us that it is possible for him not to be led into temptation by the
spirit if he had prayed that the father should deliver him from the evil one.
But there was a reason why Jesus didn’t pray not to face temptation and
the father permitted the devil to do so. It is for the purpose that Jesus will
be able to relate with our weaknesses and be a perfect high priest.

Hebrews 4:15, For we have not an high priest which

cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

His temptation was for a reason and as an example that if we find

ourselves in temptation, God is able to make us overcome. The devil was

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feasting on the weaknesses of Jesus. At the time Jesus was hungry that
was the weakness of Jesus at that time, so he used that against him.

Matthew 4:2, And when he had fasted forty days and forty
nights, he was afterward an HUNGRED.

3, And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be

the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread.

And majorly it was a fight against the divine nature of Jesus. Jesus
is the son of God so the devil based his first two temptation on “if thou be
the Son of God”.

Matthew 4:3, And when the tempter came to him, he said,

IF THOU BE THE SON OF GOD…

6, And saith unto him, IF THOU BE THE SON OF GOD,

cast thyself down…

All the temptation was put up to make Jesus fall short of His divine
nature as a son.

Job:

I know a lot of people would think I would have made Job an

example of persecution. But through study, I knew it was a temptation, not
a persecution.
 As we said, God does not tempt us, He is not a tempter but God
can lead us into temptation, how? By permitting the tempter to tempt us,
and that is if we don’t stay alert and pray. And we know that everything
that happened to Job was evil, and God does not tempt us with evil.

I won’t be giving much references from the scripture about Job,

but we all knew the story on how God permitted the devil to tempt Job.
And as we know, temptation won’t happen if a man does not have a
weakness. Let’s see what weakness Job had in the scripture below:

Job 3:25, For the thing which I greatly feared is come

upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

Job said his fear, what he was afraid of before the temptation came
upon him. He had a weakness in his heart, it was fear. Fear can’t be seen
in God, fear is part of the work of the flesh, to be fearful.

Revelation 21:8, But the FEARFUL, and unbelieving,

and the abominable…shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.

He had a fear, which was a weakness to him. What was the fear?

Job 3:26, I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither

was I quiet; yet trouble came.

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 He believed he was not secured even as he made his way pleasing
to God. He feared that trouble would come one day even at the time he
had peace. And the devil lay hold on this his weakness and worked
affliction in his life. And again, if he had prayed to God, he would have
been delivered. Instead Job lamented and complained until God delivered
him from the evil one.

And the purpose of the temptation was for Job to curse his integrity
i.e. to curse his honesty, his sincerity to God. To compromise his state with
God and to fall short of position with God. The tempter was after Job’s
integrity.

Job 2:3, And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou
considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in
the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth
God, and escheweth evil? and STILL HE HOLDETH
FAST HIS INTEGRITY…

9, Then said his wife unto him, DOST THOU STILL

RETAIN THINE INTEGRITY? curse God, and die.

Job 27:5, God forbid that I should justify you: TILL I DIE
I WILL NOT REMOVE MINE INTEGRITY FROM ME.

Job 31:6, Let me be weighed in an even balance, THAT

GOD MAY KNOW MINE INTEGRITY.
 Job would have rebelled against God if he had cursed his integrity.
God kept him throughout the temptation. Jesus made us know that we can
pray not to be led into temptation by God delivering us from the evil one.
So if Job had prayed, he would have been delivered at the instance he
prayed.

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 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, God cannot lead us into temptation. I believe we
have better understanding from what we’ve studied. And we’ve seen it
together that God does not tempt anybody with evil, he is not a tempter,
instead he delivers us from it, and guard us through His word to overcome
it.

To Matthew 6:13, the way God does not lead us into temptation
is God delivering us from the tempter, the devil, the evil one. And we saw
this in the temptation of Jesus that he being led was he being permitted to
be tempted of the devil. So God will not lead us into temptation by
delivering us from the evil one which is the tempter by us praying. And
this means God can grant the devil permission (permissive imperative)
permission to tempt us if we don’t pray and God is not happy about it,

Luke 17:1, Teachings about Forgiveness and Faith One

day Jesus said to his disciples, "THERE WILL ALWAYS
BE TEMPTATIONS TO SIN, BUT WHAT SORROW
AWAITS THE PERSON WHO DOES THE
TEMPTING!

2, IT WOULD BE BETTER TO BE THROWN INTO

THE SEA WITH A MILLSTONE HUNG AROUND
YOUR NECK THAN TO CAUSE ONE OF THESE
LITTLE ONES TO FALL INTO SIN.

New Living Translation (NLT)

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It isn’t His joy when the tempter comes to tempt His children. That is why
when we find ourselves in temptation, he would still give us a way to
escape it which is our alibi to overcome it which is His word. Jesus
overcame His temptation by THE WORD OF GOD.

Wherever the bible uses the word test and it is attributed to the
devil, it is a persecution or temptation. Percussion is a physical
confrontation, while temptation is a luring away and this start by having a
lust or craving or weakness within. Temptation works with a man’s fleshy
desire that looks so appealing for the satisfaction of the flesh, but
persecution is physical and you don’t have to have a weakness.

Peter’s strength, zeal and sincerity of heart for Jesus couldn’t

sustain him through persecution, but prayer prayed by Jesus did. Do more
of praying during persecution.

Peter fell through the persecution, but Jesus prayer went ahead of
him to make sure that while he fell, still his faith does not fail. Prayer can
save a man that has fallen in persecution already. It will make such man
faith not to fail.

Strong men in the kingdom are measured by the posture they

take in the days of adversity. Strong men take up the posture of prayer
in the days of adversity.

In view of the above, I will be dropping my contact here in case

you have contributions or questions to me personally, +2347069123659