The Morris County chronicle., 1906-01-30

Chriet's Temptatiun-Co1
Jesus in the wilderness Us. ~
l. Fhen Immediately after His
baptism. Such are the violent altefna-
tions Of human experience; baptized
and tempted; approved Of God and
handed over to the devil Led up"
Our lives are SO ordered that we are
carried into places where the metal Of
our religion is tried. Temptation -
part Of the divine scheme. The deyb
is under the control OF God. Open the
page Of history where you will and
you can hardly find the story OF any
great, noble soul, that has not had 1fs
hour of battle with the powers Of dark
ness. of the spirit" Luke says He
was "full of the Holy Chost;s Mark
says, THE spirit driveth Him" A dl-
vine influence led Him on. Into the
wilderness Tradition has fixed upon
high ridge called Quarantania. near
Jericho. TO be tempted Christ be-
gins His work with a personal eneolln-
ter with Satan To tempt is, literally,
to stretch out, to try the strength Of.
Temptation is the testing Of person.
The three temptations Of Christ were
typical ones. comprehending all the
forms Of temptation by which humanY
the same ground as s.the lust OF the
flesh, the lust Of the eyes, and The
pride of lifes q John 2:16). 'sThe dey-
Ill" "Diabolos, always in the singu-
lar and with the definite article.
Q Forty days. Moses, Elijah
and our Lord could fast forty days be-
cause they were in communion with
God and living a heavenly life. Luke
says He was tempted during the whole
forty days "Afterward an hungred."
After the forty days were ended the
reaction came with terrible force.
H. The first temptation tvs. 3: 81.
g. THE tempter came How Satan
appeared to Christ we do not know,
but if he came in bodily form it must
have been as an angel of light. II
Thou be- Beware Of temptation that
comes with an ''if'' in It's mouth 's1'he
Son Of God The consciousness OF
His divine Sonship may now in "
measure have been withheld. Alone
in the wilderness and weak and worn
from fasting, Satan saw. his chance.
"St0nes- bread ? You are hungry;
now if You are the Son of God use the
power You have to supply Your neces-
sites and thus prove Your divinity
4 1T is written See Deut. S:3.
In each case Jesus answered and de-
feated Satan by a proper use Of the
word of God A man who has scrip
ture hid in his heart has a sharp sword
to fight the devil with. Not live by
bread alone" Human support depends
not on bread, but upon Gods unfailing
word Of promise and pledge Of all need
fnl providential care
III. The second temptation Tvs J-0-
The order of the Temptations Is differ
ent in Luke, but this is immaterial. as
there is no statement that insists on
any particular order s.. HTaketh
Him. SO far as the necessities Of the
trial required yet with no power OF
violence or contamination. our Lords
person was in his hand. How else did
Satan take Him to the temples sum-
init or to the mountain top? Into the
holy city Whedon believes that His
person was transported with the
quickness of a thought, SO that He is
not to be conceived as on His way at
any intermediate point There seems
little reason to doubt that Jesus actu-
ally went with Satan to the pinnacle
of the temple "Pinnacle" Probably,
the royal porch built by Herod, over
looking the Cedron.
6. IF Thou be- etc. Satan presses
his point. In His first reply to the
devil Jesus had shown His unbounded
confidence in God. Now Satan takes
Him at that very point and assumes
that If He did not cast Himself down
1t would show that He lacked faith in
God and that His claim to divine Som
ship was unfounded "Cast Thyse
down" Show your faith in God.'
AL the world will wonder at so grand,
an exploit. Prove at once that You
are the Son OF God. ut is written''!
In Psalm Gill, 12. The devil has a
Bible, but he misquotes and misapplies.|
This was temptation to presump-'
ton. Z. 1T is written again In
Deut. GIG There is always danger IN
using isolated texts. One text ex-,
plains and moditieS another. The Bible
is often perverted by wicked men
Not tempt" To tempt God is to put,
Him to the proof--to demand evidence.
of His power and of His will to fulfil
His promises, instead Of waiting pa
tiently and trusting. This Is mani
festly wrong The first temptation ap-
peaied TO the animal appetites. This,
one rises to the higher sentiment. the
love OF show-the qualification Of adj
miration
1N Inc third temptation Tvs. SILL.
8 Exceeding high mountain" Some.
high mountain IN Judea where a gen
erai view could be had of the country.
'Sheweth kingdoms OF the world
The root of the third temptation lav hi
the supposition that the Kingdoms Of,
the world were the devils Kingdoms
and that he could dispose of them. 8.
"All-giye Thee. BY this Satan eyi-
IDENTITY meant thst he would withdraw
his opposition to Christ and make Him
great earthly ruler. If worship
me-. Here the devil appears ii his
true character Christ was tempted tol
ldolatry. which is the root of all evil
10 Get thee hence. Jesus parieygl
with him no longer, but with authority
commands him to go to his own place.
II. Devil leaveth Him. Satan,
mad made the strongest effort Of which
he was capable and had been baffled at
every point Angels Heavenly.
messengers; spiritual beings OH d high
er order than man. Aflnistored y,
Supplied Him with necessary food to
support nature.