Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-01-01
Jnternational gessolas.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON n, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN g.

l. "Then was Jesus leu up OF inc Splrll
into the wilderness, to be tempted of the
devil" From the beginning to the end
He was under the guidance and control OF
the Holy Spirit most fully. The Father
having testified to the fact that He was
His beloved, well pleasing Son, the spirit
now leads Him into this great conflict
with the devil, at the very beginning OF
His public work, that He may meet tho
adversary face to face and overcome him
And now, in that He Himself hath suf'
fered, being tempted, He is able to succol
them that are tempted (Hcb. ii, lS). lie
had been subject for 80 years to all tho
temptations of an ordinary human life,
but this is something special, and us DR.
Weston says, has to do with Him as Son
of MAN." Son of God and the Messiah.
Q. <And when He had tasted 10 days
and 40 nights, He was aftcrward an hun
eered." Luke iv, 2, says, In those days
He did eat nothing" This was not Il new
thing on the earth, for Moses passed
through it twice and Elijah once (Dcut
TX, 8, 1S; l Kings xix, 81. On the Mount
of TRANSPORTATION we find the three who
tasted 40 days. There must be some won
drous significance connected with it which
we have not yet had revealed to us In
Mark xi, 12, we read Of another occasion
on which He was hungry, and one of His
last utterances on the cross was, II thirst
John xix, 2S) but what an awful thirst
that must have been
8. And when the tcmptcr came to Him
he said, If thou be the Son Of God. com
mand that these stones be made bread. ,
God had testified, This is My Beloved
Son, but the devil questions it to His
face, with this "if." AS in the garden OF
Eden he questions the word of God with
his "Yea, hath God said" (Gcn iii, ~, and
has ever since been doing the same thing
so he docs not hesitate to face the Son Of
God Himself with his deviliSh doubts
Think it not strange then, If he oft mp
proaches you in this way, but receive not
his doubts; it is better not to listen to him
4. But He answered and said, 1t is
written, man shall not live by bread alone
but by every word that proccedeth out o.
the mouth of God" Not the qualification
of our desires, but the will of God, is tht
great thing Just rs in our words We
show our loved ones our hearts, so God IL
His word has given us His heart for us
and God is love- Shall we be satisfied with
His heart and His way and thus live or
His word, or shall we insist on having nj
things minister to our comfort at all costs
s. "Then the devil takcth Him up into
the Holy City and sctteth Him on pin
nacle of the temple" Up to Jerusalem,
the city of the great king (chapter V, 35)
Do not stop to ask how, but simply believe
and consider the temptation and the vic
tory and ask the Spirit to apply it to youl
own soul The Wilderness, and the hun
ger and the stones suggest the hard and
lonely and commonplace things in daily
life but the Holy City, the temple and g
pinnacle thereof suggest holy things and
the heights thereof not SO common, but
far more dangerous ground because moro
holy.
8. "And saith unto Him, If Thou be thC
Son of God, cast Thysclf down, for it is
written, He shall give His angels charge
concerning Thee and in their hands they
shall bear thee up, lest at any time Thou
dash Thy foot against stone. The devil
can quote Scripture, and sometimes quite
freely and at great length, but never tc
glorify God nor to help Il soul to know
Him. He always pcrvcrts it with the pur
pose of working ruin. The man who
thinks that because he is child of God
and controlled by the Spirit therefore
he cannot sin, nor even make n mistake,
is on pinnacle of the temple listening to
the devil He would do well to consider
fhinl- tc
be something when he is nothing, he de-
ceiveth himself" IF any man think that
he knoweth anything he knowcth moth.
ing yet as he ought to know (Gal. vi, 3;
Cor. viii, g.
z. "Jcsus said unto him, 1t is written
again, Thou shalt not tempt thc Lord thy
God" Scripture never contradicts Scrip
ture, but explains it and instructs us how
to avert its abuse. Jesus quoted it from
the heart to the glory of God, believing
every word, but the devil uses it only
wickedly. We may he said to tempt God
when VIC make self willcd demand for
His help, or in any way claim His prom.
ises for selfish CT Is. Our Lord lived that
the Father Nigh be glorificd, and taught
us that when wt arc willing to live thus
we can ask whaJ we will and receive it.
8. Again the devil takcth Him up into
an exceeding high mountain, and shcwcth
Him all the kingdoms of the world, and
the glory of them" The first temptation
was to satisfy His physical need, to satisfy
Himself, on the ground that He was en-.
titled to it; the second was to show Him.
self and what a great one He was; tho
third was to accept the world without the
way of the cross. The prince of this world
offers it simply on condition that it bc nc,
cepted as from him and that he be thanked
for it.
g. "And saith unto Him, All these
things will give Thee if Thou wilt fall
down and worship me-" The time will
come when the antichrist, the man OF
sin, the beast of Rev. xiii, will accept this
offer Of satan and for a brief period will
do wondrously, but, oh, how brief his do
minion, how fearful his fall and how aw-
full his eternal doom, the lake of fire and
birthstone forever! (Rcv. xix, 2O.)
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" True worshipcrs
worship the rather III spirit and IN truth,
for the Father scckcth such to worship
Him. God is Spirit, and they that wor.
ship Him must worship Him in spirit and
In truth" (John iv, 23 24). The word of
God is the only guide, the Holy Spirit the
only teacher, the Lord Jesus the only way
to God the Father; SO to worship in spirit
and in truth means that in all things
Jesus is acknowledged us Lord to the glory
Of God the Father, and that all is done in
accordance with the word and in the pow.
er of the Spirit.
II. "Thcn the devil leavcth Him, and
behold angels came and ministered unto
Him" Luke iv, l3, says that the devil
departed from Him for season. How
thankful we should be that our Lord did
not conquer satan in what we might call a
miraculous w.y but In such q way as He