The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1890-02-20
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON FOR SUNDAY. FEB. 20.
1.-THE Temptation of Jesus" Luke iv., L.
13-Golden Text: Hebrews IL. IS
Notes and Comments.

Holy Spirit upon Him in the form Of n dove.
We might, with much profit, stop TO speak Of
the Jordan divided for the millions Of Israel
TO pass over into the promised land, when the
Ark-type OF the same Lord Jcsus.-stood in
the midst on the priests shoulders till every
one had passed over; divided again for Elijah
and Elisha, and third time for Elisha, but
both the Ark OF the Covenant and the priests
who bare IL, Elijah and Elisha, and all the
prophets, as well as all the Bible and the his
tory contained in IL, Ioint us to Him whom,
in this lesson, we see returning from Jordan,
filed with the Spirit. II the lith verse of
the chapter was included in our lesson, we
would then say that the lesson begins and
ends with n record of Jesus returning from
certain places filed with the Spirit, first to
be tried and then to minister; and II we are
not willing to be filed with the Spirit for
trial, can we expect that God will fill us with
His spirit for service,
l. q "And WINS led by the spirit into tho
wilderness, being forty days tempted Of the
devil" We have seen the Holy Spirit in the
birth OF Christ, and at His baptism, and now
we see Him filling the leading Christ. and,
whether we see Christ preaching, teaching,
working miracles, offering Himself sacri-
fee or rising FROM the dead, It Is the Spirit
In Him that does IL all.
And In those days He did eat nothing;
and when they were ended, lie afterward
hungered.n The forty days fast reminds US
of the fnstingsof the two men who after
wards appeared with Him on the Mount Of
Trausiguration or Moses il is written. in
reference 20 both periods Of forty days and
nights when he was in the mount with God
that he did neither eat bread nor drink
water Dcut. tx, q, lsl, and of Elijah IL is
written that he went In the strength of that
meal (which the angel had prepared forty
days and forty nights unto lloreh the Mount
God Il. Kings XIX, -. There Is no doubt
more in the forty days fast Of Theses won
derfu three than we have yet seen or shall
sec till the kingdom comes; but we shall do
well day by day tO see no mau ave Jesus
only Matt. xvii, s..
/ 3. "If Thou be the Son Of God command
this stone that il bc made bread The ia
ther Of lies inSinuutes that perhaps He is not
the Son of God, but only mere man. just
poor carpenter from Nazyeth, making pre-
tensions OF being some great one, and thnt
He had better return 20 His humble home or
else give some token Of His power. Il i5 n
poor thing for the Son of God to he hungry
when he can. by word, turn stones into
bread. Let Him satisfy His hunger. Does
not the reader ~ he or she he Christian
recognize in this tempter the Same one who
has often whispered To you: "lf you were n
child of God, would He let you want for this
or that which you certainly need Can He
really love YOU as YOU think lC does and
deny you the very ncccssaries of life, on keep
from you this little qualification" Thus the
tempter OF Eve and of Christ still seeks To
/ overcome the children of God 10y leading
them to question the love Of God on to doubt
that they are His children.
4. Tits written that man shall not live "
broad alone, but by every word ut Cod
This is the reply of Christ Ia the tcmpter.
The outward Indications were that God had
failed him, but Jesus places the word of God
against all other evidences and rests un-
moved ON what is written. Believing is bet
ter than seeing.
f.g.
all shall be Thine" The statements Of these
verses that the devil took Him 10 an high
mountain and showed Him all the Kingdoms
! of the world In moment Of time, cannot bc
/ understood or explained 10y us but can he re-
! ceiyed, on the authority of the holy Spirit,
, who, through the servant Of God, wrote
| these things and implicitly believed The
| full power of the devil we are not familiar
! with nor do we want 90 bul. nor Is 10 tullyIr-
! vealcd Jesus elsewhere calls him the prince
of this world, and Paul speaks of him as the
prince OF the power of the air and the god Of
! this world while John, IA Revelation speaks
| Of time when the dcSil Will gave to Anti
! christ that which in our lesson lee offered a.
! Christ. 50 that his Uoast III his temptation
does not seem 10 have been altogether vain
! one. This world is the Lords by creation. lie
gave it 10 Adam. but Adam. by his sin. gave
the devil a claim toit which he ms not failed {,
| make use Of and II ,a true today that "'Ihc
whole world licth in the evil one Il John y,
10, X. ". This statement !, true not only oi
| heathendom hut also Of thrl,trndom, and
in some measure Of the Christian church. II
the manifest works ~ In" devil indicate his
propeIty, tncn that which he docs not con
trol is a small section of cartt and smsl
number of people But Daniel saw in vision
the kingdom and dominion under the whol'
heaven given 10 the Son of Man and 20 th,
saints of the Most High dan. vii. ~, a.
27 aud this temptation was To obtain 10y
short cut aud apart from suffering that whicl
in due time viii be all His. tSer Rev. II.
| 10 lSl.
s. Get thee behind me Satan, for It is writ
ten, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy fod
and Him only shalt thou serve Again JcSu
is victor. aud the sword nl the Spirit Is thl
successful weapon The Word of God is NOR,
10 Jesus than all the glory of all the kingdom
OF this world, and eagcrness 20 do the will %
God crowds out all else.
| Oil "If Thou be the Son Of God cast thy
self down from hence" The conflict Is nov
in Jerusalem, the Holy City, and ON It pin
nacle of the temple and IN presenting thl
temptation the adversary also s'ells tu wlel,
the sword Of the Spirit, but he did n 30 many
do to-day, quoted only the part OF the pnSsa2
which seemed tu suit his purpose, omlttnl
that which would have condemned him. Tn
words quoted are given in the Psalm r. Nci.
9-i;A as the result Of making the Lord, tE
Most High, ones Refuge and ilnhtatiOu. i,
do as the devil suggested would surely he
ceasing 20 abide under the shadow of the Al
mighty. or 10 make the Most High ones hnhi
tation, and therefore, the conditions brin'
broken, the promise would bc forfeited
Abiding in Christ aud in the love of God W
need fear no evil but are perfectly saio il
His keeping.
IL. "And jesus, answering, said unit
him, II is said Thou shall not tempt b.,
Lord thy God Again the sword of In,
Spirit flashes, and this time It is "a wore
from Deut. vi, lG, the context OF which IS
"Ye shall diligently keep the command
ments of the Lord your God, anC
thou shalt do that which is right and good II
the sight of the Lord.' II we would not b
guilty of tempting the Lord, let us keep Iii
commandments and do right IN His sight
Listening to any other voice but His, even e
the voice of the best Of mon, we are apt to b'
led astray.
l3. "And when the devil had ended all the
temptation, he departed from Him for sea
son.h Matthew and Mark add that angel
came and ministered unto Him. Although
no human eyes witnessed this ConnlCt, who
can tell what hosts of angels, good and bad,
were present: the bad IN tull sympathy with
their leader and eager for his victory, the
good In full sympathy with Christ, but COM
PEELED TO stand aside till the enemy was van
| uuishcd With ioyful hearts they now re