The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1906-02-02

thon, Thermopylae, Waterloo, Gettys-
burg, will never lose their interest.
Greater than all these are the moral
battles against wrong. the contest for
truth and religion and righteousness
which have been fought by prophets
and martyrs and unselfsh leaders
throughout the worlds history. No
where have there been greater deeds
of heroism, of self-sacrifice, of courage,
of nobility of soul.
Equally great and decisive battles
have been fought on the battlefields OF
the heart. in the individual soul. For
to all time "he that ruleth his spirit is
greater than he that taketh a CITY,"
Our lesson to-day is the story of
The Greatest Battle and the Most De-
cisive Victory in the Worlds His
tory.
The Battlefield.-V. /. Then was
Jesus led up of the spirit" THE di-
vine Spirit has to do with our darker
experiences as well as our bright, joy
Gus ones. He is with the sons of God
in their conflicts with doubt, not less
than in their moments of noble inn
pulse and heroic resolve.
Gods Spirit is never more with man
than in his spiritual struggles. Exp.
Greek Test. Into the wilderness"
The wild. barren, mountainous regions
northeast of Jerusalem. ITO be tempt
ed" Not the motive for Jesus for go
ing. but the purpose for which the
Gf,frff TN, sntn hA ,tsfII
He probably went to fight out by him
self the great battle with conflicting
questions and doubts. and settle once
for all what he ought to do and wheth-
er he would do it.
The Issues at Stake were world
wide and eternal On his choice de-
pended the salvation of the world. To
choose the first way would be to lose
the battle, to give up the real saliva
ton of men and the new heavens and
the new earth.
In order to be the Savior of tempted
mankind, it was necessary that he
himself should be tempted in all
points like as we are, yet without sin
(Heb. 4:15). He must fight the battle
to show us how to gain the victory.
we having the same helps that he had.
The Assailant.-"To be tempted OF
the devil" "diabolos" Devil means
calumniator. slanderer. accuser, one
who seeks by vile. false means to in
jure others by slandering God, misrep-
resenting the truth. and so leading
men astray.
The Methods of Assault.-In what
form the Tempter came to Jesus we do
not know. but we do know that he was
tempted ike as we are" AS in our
temptations, the tempter must have
come to Jesus in plausible. deceptive
forms. Temptations to sin are daZ-
cling with light and beauty. Tempta.
tons to intoxicating drink comes with
sparkling wine, social joys and exal-
tation of spirit.
Campaign. Not Single Battle. 2
"And when he had tasted forty days"
The real spirit of fasting lies in being
so intensely absorbed that one does
not feel the sensation of hunger. Je-
sus was so intent on settling the great
questions that confronted him-wheth-
er he was the Son of God. in what way
he should accomplish his mission, in
prayer for guidance. in seeking light.
in deciding on duty-that he was UNI
conscious of hunger; and in his lonely
place there was no food to be OBJ
tanned.
I. The First Battle with Tempta-
tion.-Vs. 3. L. The Insidious Attack.
The attack was made when The reac-
ton from his long fast had begun Sa-
tan still watches his time. and attacks
us when weary. sick. troubled. dis
heartenad. nervous and weak.
The Weapon OF Attack. 3. IF thou
be the Son of Cod" II you really are
the Messiah, sent to redeem the world.
Settle the question now by exercising
the miraculous power which must be-
long to the Son of God. and command
that these stones be made" become"
be changed into bread" The tempta.
tion to do this was through intense
hunger
But why was 1t wrong TO do this?
For unless IL was wrong there was no
temptation. however desirable the act.
Hunger is innocent The desire TO be
sure that be was the Son of God was
innocent. Jesus accepted food. later.
from the angels ". ID and he could
not fulAl his mission without IT, The
wrong would have been In doing II at
the expense of higher things The
yielding would have destroyed his
power and mission as a Savior OF men.
lie could not then be tempted like as
we are, IL he used his supernatural
power to save himself from hunger,
for we have no such power. II would
thus have been the giving up of his
mission as the Redcemer for the sake
of something to eat. selling his SOUL
and all souls. for a mess of pottage.
The Armor of Defense. 4. 1T Is
written" in Deut. S:3, quoted from the
Greek translation. Man shall not live
by bread alone" By food for the body.
God, by his Word. could give other
kinds of food in his own time and way.
Jesus meant ~ that God could feed
him in other WAYS than by his doing