Evening journal., 1910-01-08
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BIBKEaH STUDIES

Matthew 3:1317j 41-January
ain himself hath He
that emPed"rtIebrews 2:1s


Johns baptism, as we saw In a previous
study, was intended merely as a sign of
reformation There is no intimauon that
the 'Israelites indeed" made use of it.
Nothing in the Jewish Law required it.
John objected to our Lords being bap-
tized, because he was not a sinner. He
was 'holy. harmless, undehled and sep
arate from sinners
Our Lords baptism, therefore, as inti-
mated in his reply to John. was a new in
stitution. which he did not explain at the
time, but which, later on, he showed was
a symbol OF his conservation unto death,
not as a sinner, but as sin-offering. He
thus consecrated as soon as,he was thirty
years Of age, the legal age at which a
priest could offer sacrifice. The language
Of his heart is told us by st. Paul, 10, 1
come, as in the volume OF the Book it IS
written Of me, to do thy will, o God"
CHeb. 10:O. There, declares the. Apostle,
he began to set aside the typical sacrifices
of the Law Covenant by beginning the
''better sacrifces'-the antitypes.
In symbol our Lord declares that his
perfect human will and all his earthly
rights and powers were fully consecrated,
even unto death, and that he was trust
ing the Fathers promise that such an
obedience would result in his resurrection
from the dead to the spirit plane which
he left, in order to become mans Re
deemer.
The three temptations experienced by
our Lord illustrated all the temptations
of his followers as New Creatures. TIC
! -. III frtfr ftra ne VA arr
Vet without SIM" He was not tempted
as a father, as a mother, as a drunkard,
as a gambler-and neither are these the
tests OF his followers. Their testing is not
along those lines, even as his were not.
proper understanding Of our Lords three
temptations reveals to US that they are
the same as those by which his spirit
begotten dlsciptes are tested.
Temptation J. Hungry after his long
fast. our Lords flesh cried out for nour-
ishment, and the Tempter, affecting a
kindly interest in his welfare, suggested
that. having received the Holy Spirit he
now possessed the power Of miracles and
should use it 10 transform the stones into
food Our Lord subsequently used this
power in feeding multitudes. but it would
have been sinful for him to use It upon
himself-to sustain the human life which
he had already consecrated to death.
Obedience 10 the Divine will IS para
mount eevry way, and holy privileges of
the church in spiritual matters must not
be bartered FOR earthly advantage. The
wrong course is symbolically prefgured
in Esau's selling his birth-right for a
mess OF pottage O5eb. 12:16). Every temp
tation TO sacrifice spiritual privileges or
violate spiritual responsibilities for the
attainment of earthly advantages would
be a yielding 20 this form of temptation.
Temptation II. II is not necessary 10
suppose that our Lord went to Jerusalem
and 10 the pinnacle OF the Temple In per-
son 10 experience his temptation. On the
contrary he was all the while in the wild
erness and went 10 the Holy city merely
mentally, guided there by Satan's sugges-
tion that he could bring himself and his
glorious mission quickly to the attention
Of all the people by performing a stupen-
dous miracle-by leaping from the pin
nacle Of the temple into the chasm below
and then arising unhurt. He could then
explain 10 the multitude his heavenly er-
rand and awe them TO faith. Satan sup
ported the temptation with a text OF Scrip
ture-"For he shall give his angels charge
over thee. TO keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up I'm their hands,
lest thou dash thy foot against a stone -
Pisa. 91:11. u.
Our Lord promptly discerned the fallacy
OF the argument and the misapplication
Of the Scripture, which really belongs to
tho feet members OF the Body Of Christ,
which is the Church, IN this very lime IN
which We are living, when stumbling
blocks to Christian faith are in tho way
and when God is providing special lisht