St. Tammany farmer., 1901-05-04

fast. Hunger must have agonized every
fiber of the body and gnawed on ths
stomach with teeth of death. The
thought OF morsel Of bread or meat
must have thrilled the body with some.
thing like ferocity Turn out pack OF
men hungry as Christ was a-hungered
and if they had strength with one
yell they would devour you as 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
bel" 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
monarch Of darkness. o We tempted
ones! Christ was tempted. We are
told that Napoleon ordered a coat-of.
mail made, but he was not quite GER
tain that it was impenetrable, SO he
said to the manufacturer of the coat
of-mail: "Put it on now yourself and
let us try it." And with shot after
shot fired from his own pistol the en-
peror found that it was just what it
pretended to be, good coat-of-mail
Then the man received large reward
/ bless God that the same coat-of-
mail that struck back the weapons OF
temptation from the head of Christ
we may now all wear, for Jesus 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. / shall see you
through all trials, and shall see you
through all temptation"
"But," says Satan still further to
Jesus, 'come, and 1 will show you
something worth looking att And
after half days journey they came to
Jerusalem and to the top of the tenn
pie. just as one might go up in the
tower of Antwerp and look of upon
Belgium, so Satan brought Christ to
the top of the temple. Some people at
a great height feel dizzy and a strange
disposition to jump. So Satan comes
to Christ in that very crisis. Stand
ing there at the top of the temple, they
looked off. A magnificent reach OF
country. Grain fields, vineyards, olive
q owes, forests and streams, cattle in
the valley, flocks on the hills and vii
ages and cities and realms. "Now,
says Satan, 'Tll make bargain. just
jump OF. I know it is a great way
from the top of the temple to the val
ley, but if you are Divine you can fly.
Jump of. It won'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 "A temptation it must
have been!
Go tomorrow morning and get in an
alteration with some wretch crawl
ing up from a gin cellar in the lowest
part of your city. NO." you say. II
would not bemean myself by getting
into such a contest" Then think of
what the King of Heaven and earth en-
dured when He came down and fought
the great wretch OF hell and fought
him in the wilderness and on top of
the temple. But bless God that in the
triumph over temptation Christ gives
us the assurance that we also shall tri-
umph. Having Himself been tempted,
He is able to succor all those who are
tempted.
The third installment paid for our
redemption was the agonizing prayer
in Gethsemane. AS sat in that gar
den at the foot of an old gnarled and
twisted olive tree the historic scene
came upon me overwhelmingly. These
old olive trees are the lineal descend
ants of those under which Christ stood
and wept and knelt. Have the leaves
of whole botanical generations told
the the story Of our Lords agony to
their successors? Next to Calvary the
solemnest place in Palestine is Geth-
semane. While sitting there it seemed
as il I could hear our Lords prayer,
laden with sobs and groans. Can this
be the Jesus who gathered fragrance
from the frankiEcense brought to His
cradle end from the lilies that flung
their sweetness into His sermons and
from the box of alabas ster that broke
at his feet? Is this Jesus the COM
forter of Bethany, the resurrector at
Main, the oculist at Bethsaida? Is
this the Christ whose frown is the
storm, whose smile is the sunlight. the
spring morning His breath, the thun-
der His voice, the ocean drop on the
tip Of His finger, Heaven sparkle on
the bosom OF His love, the universe the
dust of His chariot wheel? Is this the
Christ who is able to heal a heart
break or hush a tempest or drown .
world or flood immensity with His
glory? Behold Him in prayer, the
globules of blood by sorrow pressed
through the skin of His forehead!
What an installment in part payment
of the greatest price that was ever
paid!
The fourth installment paid for our
was the Saviour's sham
trial. I call it a sham trial-there has
never been anything so indecent or
unfair in any criminal court as was
witnessed at the trial Of Christ. Why,
thew hustled him into the courtroom
at two o'clock in the morning. They
rave Him no time for counsel They
gave him no opportunity for subpce-
naing witnesses. The ruffians who
were wandering around through the
of course they saw the ar
rest and went into the courtroom. But
Jesus friends were sober men, were
men, and at that hour, two
o'clock in the morning, of course they
were at home asleep: Consequently
Christ entered the courtroom with the
rufians.
Oh. look at Him! No one to speak a
word for Him. I lift the lantern un-
til /. can look into His face, and as my
heart beats in sympathy for this. the
loe< friend the world ever had. Him.