The Portland daily press., 1892-07-02

ty-three GAYS Iney had nOtnlng TO eat.
But this sufferer had tasted a month
and ten days before he broke fast.
Hunger must have agonized every fiber
of the body and gnawed on the stom-
ach with teeth of death. The thought
of morsel of bread or meat must
have thrilled the body with something
like ferocity. Turn out pack of men
hungry as Christ was ahungered, and if
they had strength with one yell they
would devour you as lion a kid. 1t
was in that pang of hunger that Jesus
was accosted, and Satan said: ''Now
change these stones, which look like
bread, into an actual supply of bread"
Had the temptation come to you and
me, under those circumstances, we
would have cried: BREAD it shall be!'
and been almost impatient at the time
taken for mastication; but Christ with
one hand beat back the hunger, and
with the other hand beat back the mon
arch of darkness 0, we tempted ones.
Christ was tempted. We are told that
Napoleon ordered a coat of mail made;
but he was not quite certain that it was
impenetrable so he said to the manu-
facturer of the coat of mail: Put it on
yourself and let us try it;' and with
shot after shot from his own pistol, the
emperor found that it was just what it
pretended to be-a good coat of mail.
Then the man received large reward.
| 1 bless God that the same coat of mail
that struck back the weapons of temp
tation from the head of Christ we may
now all wear, for Jesus now comes and
says: 81 have been tempted, and [
know what it is to be tempted. Take
this robe that defended Me- and wear
it for yourselves.eI shall see you through
all trials and shall see you through all
temptation"
But" says Satan, still further to
Jesus, "Come, and I will show you
something worth looking at" and after
half days journey they came to Jeru-
salem, 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
temple. Some people at great height
feel dizzy, and a 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
nifcent 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, 'I'll 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 won't hurt you
Angels will catch you. Your Father
will hold you. Besides, I'll make you a
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, rll
give you Britain, I'll give you all the
world" What temptation it must
| have been!
Go tomorrow morning and get in an
alteration with some poor wretch
crawling up from a gin cellar in the
lowest part of your city. NO" you
say, 81 would not bemean myself by
| getting into such a contest" Then
think what the King of Heaven and
earth endured when He came down and
fought the great wretch of hell, and
fought him in the wildern ess and on
top of the temple. But bless God that in
the triumph over temptation Christ gives
the assurance that we also shall tri-
umph. Having Himself been tempted He
is able to succor all those who are tempt
ed. In violent storm at sea the mate
told boy-for the rigging had become
| 10 clo OF he CT n
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 I 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;ahd Chris
,tian man said to him, "Why do you go
down in the forecastle before you
went up?'' "Ah!' said the boy.
s'I went down to pray. My mother
always taught me before 1 undertook
anything great to pray" ''What is
that you have in your vest?" said the
man. ''Oh! that is the New Testa-
ment, he said; / thought would carry
it with me if 1 really did go overheard. :"
How we'll the boy was protected. I
care not how great the height or how
vast the depth, with Christ within us
and Christ beneath us and Christ above
us and Christ all around us, nothing
can befall US in the way of harm:
Christ Himself having been in the tenn
pest 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 Saviour's sham trial.
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 court room at o'clock in
the morning. They gave Him no time
for counsel. They gave Him no oppor-
tunity for subpenaing witnesses. The
ruffians who were wandering around
through the midnight, of course they
saw the arrest, and went into the court
room. But Jesus friends were sober
men, were respectable men, and
| at that hour Q O'clock in the