The Twin City star. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1910-19??, 1912-02-24


and after His return to heaven He
called Himself "Jesus Of Nazareth
(Acts xii, 81, yet Nathaniel said, "Can
there any good thing come out Of Naz-
areth? 2" afterward acknowledging that
out of Nazareth came "the Son Of God,
the King Of IsraeP' John i, 46, 49).
He came to Jordan, river Of judgment,
yet there was nothing in Him to be
Judged. Others were baptized of John,
confessing their sins, but He had no
sins to confess. We do not wonder
that John said to Him, II have need
to be baptized Of Thee, and contest
Thou to me?" But our Lords "Suner
It to be so now has helped many
humble follower to submit to seeming
~ unnecessary things that the right
eousness of God might be seen In them
and others won to Him. This and
that other saying, about My Fathers
business" His two first recorded ut
terances, are good for all Of us in our
daily life. AS He came up out of the
water something happened from the
skies-the heavens were opened, ana
the Father testified, "Thou art My be-
loved Son, in whom I am well pleased"
At the same time the Spirit Of God de-
scended in bodily shape like a dove
upon Him. The Father had told John
that it would be so, and John bare rec
ord that He was the Son Of God John
1, 33, 34. The one who sent John also
testified that the one on whom the
Spirit would descend and remain would
Himself baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Then what binders us thus to be bap-
tized? Luke tells us that Jesus was
praying when the heavens were open
ed. He seems to have prayed always
and about everything and sometimes
all night. He tasted too. Is that
where we fail? Consider the other
six places where we read Of the heav-
en- being opened and always see Him
self Consider well every place where,
as here, the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit are seen or mentioned, as in
Matt. xviii, 10; II Cor. Kill, IA;
Heb. tx, II. See in John xiv, II, %,
how the Spirit and the Father and
the Son make the bodies Of believers
their abode or mansion and to their
"Whom shall I send, and who will 60
for usT' Let us gladly answer, "Here
am I; send me-" remembering His
words, "As My Father hath sent Me,
even 80 send I you" lisa. vi, 8; John
Xxx, Ply.
When Spirit filed we may then ex
pect to be specially attacked by the
devil. AS our representative He was
led by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted Of the devil. Both Mark
and Luke say that He was forty days
tempted of the devil. Matthew and
Luke say that He tasted forty days
and forty nights; that He did eat moth
Ing. Thus did Moses on two occasions
and Elijah once, and these three we
find on the Mount Of TRANSPORTATION,
and we hear them speak Of the devils
most awful piece Of work, the death Of
Jesus. He is the fearful adversary OF
God and man and has been at work
as such ever since he deceived and
conquered Adam and Eve, and he will
not cease till he shall be shut up In the
pit for 1000 years As the devil tempt
ed Eve on the line Of the lust Of the
flesh, the lust Of the eyes and the pride
Of life q John II, 49, and won the day,
40 he tempted the Lord Jesus, but was
defeated. Eve had everything that
the Lord saw that she needed, yet she
ate the forbidden fruit. The Lord Je-
sus, having tasted forty days and be-
ing hungry, yet overcame by the
words, "Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word Of God"
luke iv, A.. The devils ambition to
be as God conquered Eve lisa. xiv, IA;
Gen. iii, 81. but the Lord Jesus con-
quered by the words, "Thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God" Adam and
Eve had been given dominion over all
things Gen. 1, 1928, but they lost It
by giving heed to this great enemy,
and he has ever since been the god Of
this world Oh Cor. iv, ~. The Lord
Jesus, the last Adam, knew that some
day He would restore the dominion to
man, and the kingdoms of this world
will be His kingdom Rev. II, 10. So
he could say to the great adversary,
"Get thee hence, Satan" It Is written,
"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and Him only shalt thou serve" We
read In Luke that "when the devil had
ended all the temptation he departed
from Him for a season." and Matthew
and Mark tell us that angels came
and ministered unto Him." We must
remember that the same great adver-
sary is still going about seeking whom
he may devour. But with the armor
provided for us and by the sword and
the blood Of the Lamb we, too, may
be overcomers, seeking nothing for our
selves, walking humbly with our God
and worthy of the kingdom and glory
to which we are called Eph. vi; Rev.
Xii, III. If we resist the devil he will
fee from US, for God IL with us.