The Bossier banner., 1892-09-01

was a-hnngered, and if they had
strength, they would devour you as q
lion kid. 1t was in that pang of hum
ger that Jesus was accosted, and Satan
said: Now change these stones, which
look like bread into actual bread" Had
the temptation come to you and me,
under these circumstances, we would
have cried: Bread it shall be"' and
been almost impatient of the time
taken for mastication; lat Christ
with one hand beat -back the
hunger, and with the other hand
beat back the monarch of dark
ness. 0, We tempted ones! Christ
was tempted. We are told that Napole-
on ordered coat of mail made; but he
was not quite certain that it was inn
penetrable, SO he said to the manufac-
turer of the coat of mail: "Put it on
now yourself, and let us try it; and
with shot after shot from his own pis-
tol the emperor found out that it was
just what it pretended to be-a good
coat of mail, Then the man received a
large reward.
bless God that the same coat of mai;
that struck back the weapon of tempta-
tlon from the head of Christ we may
now all wear; for Jesus comes and says:
Il have been tempted, and / know what
it is to be tempted. Take this robe that
defended me, and wear it for your
selves. l shall see you through all
trials and l shall see you through all
temptations" - .ss
But" says Satan still further to
Jesus, Come and l will show you some
thing worth looking att" and after
half days journey they came to Jerusa-
lem, and to the top of the temple.
just as one might go up, in
the tower of Antwerp and look
off upon Belgium, so Satan brought
Christ to the top of the tenn
pie. Some people at great height
feel dizzy, and strange disposition to
jump; SO Satan comes to Christ in that
very crisis. Standing there at the top
of the temple they looked off A mag
nificent reach of country. Grain
fields, vineyards, olive groves, forests
and streams, cattle in the valley, focks
on the hills, and villages and cities and
realms. Now" says Satan, ''rll
make bargain. just jump off.
know it is great way from the top of
the temple to the valley, but if you are
Divine you can fly. Jump off. 1t twon't
hurt you. Angels will catch you. Your
Father will hold you. Besides, I'll
make You large present if you will.
I'll give you Asia Minor, I'll give you
China, I'll give you Ethiopia, I'll give
you Italy, I'll give you Spain, I'll give
you Germany, I'll give you Britain, I'll
give you all the world" What temp
I tation it must have been
Go tomorrow morning and get in an
alteration with some wretch crawling
up from gin cellar in the lowest part
of your city. NO" you say, 81 would
not bemean myself by getting into such
contest" Then think of what the
King of Heaven and earth endured
when He came down and fought the
great wretch of hell, and fought him in
| the wilderness and on top of the
Temple. But l bless God that in the
triumph over temptation Christ gives
US the assurance that we also sh all
triumph. Having Himself been tempt
ed, He is liable to succor all those who
are tempted. In violent storm at sea the
mate told a boy-for the rigging had
become entangled at the mast-to go up
and right it. A gentleman standing on
the deck said: Don't send that boy up;
he will be dashed to death" The mate
said: 81 know what / am about" The
boy raised his hat in recognition of the
order and then rose hand over hand and
went to work; and as he swung in the
storm the passengers wrung their hands
and expected to see him fall. The work
done he came down in safety; and a
Christian man said to him: "Why did
you go down into the forecastle before
you went up?' "Ah!" said the boy: 81
went down to pray. My mother always
taught me before undertook anything
great to pray" ''What is that YOU
have in your vest?" said the man. Oh!
/ that is a New Testament he said: 81
thought / would carry it with me if 1
/ really did go overheard" How well
the boy was protected! I care not how
great the height or how vast the depth,
with Christ within us and Christ be-
meath us and Christ above us and Christ
all around us. nothing can befall us in
the way of harm. Christ Himself hay-
/ ing been in the tempest will deliver all
those who put their trust in Him.
Blessed be His glorious name forever.
The third installment paid for our re-
demption was the Savfour's sham trial.
l call It sham trial-there has never
been anything SO indecent or unfair in
any criminal court as was witnessed at
the trial of Christ. Why, they hustled
Him into the courtroom at two o'clock
in the morniug. They gave Him no time
for counsel. They gave Him no oppor-
tun1ty for subpenaing witnesses. The
ruffians who were wandering around
through the midnight, of course
saw the arrest and went into the court
room. But Jesus friends were sober
men, were respectable men, and at that
hour, two o'clock in the morning, of
| course they were at home asleep. Con-
sequently Christ entered the courtroom
with the ruffians.
| Oh, look at Him. No one to speak a
word for Him. lift the lantern until
can look into His face, and as nay heart
| beats in sympathy for this, the best