We must remember that we fight not with flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness and spiritual deception (Eph. 6:13). Because the deceptiveness of temptation far exceeds our strength (really, our weakness), there is great danger in underestimating its power lest we give in to temptation, are overcome by it, and so drown in perdition. Therefore, first of all we pray asking that Satan not have freedom to tempt us as much as either he would or could. We also ask that he tempt us only as much as God permits and gives permission (Job 1:12). We pray that our heavenly Father would not cast us off and deliver us to the lust, to the treasons, and to the power of this Tempter. We pray that he would remove and temper the temptation and not allow us to be tempted past that which by his grace and gift we are able to bear (1 Cor. 10:13)….
Now this petition contains a general confession for the weakness and infirmity in this life in the whole Church, that is the children of God. When we pray that we may not give in to temptation nor be overcome by it, we acknowledge and confess that by our own strength we are not able to resist any temptations. We acknowledge that this is the work of God's grace. We acknowledge that after we have received new spiritual strength through our rebirth, God's grace and strength directly follow.
From the Treasury of Daily Prayer, pp. 698-699, Concordia Publishing House, 2008.
Dawn,
There’s an old Latin saying:
“Si Martinus non fuisset,
Martinus vix stetisset.”
Rough translation: If the second Martin had not come along, the work of the first Martin may not have endured.
Not strictly true, perhaps, but it indicates the high regard in which Martin Chemitz was held by those who followed him, especially for his work on the Formula of Concord.