The Raymer enterprise., 1920-10-07

heavenly Father
JUNIOR ToPIc-Baptism and Tempta-
ton Of Jesus.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
Jesus Overcoming Temptation.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Victory Over Appetite. Pride and AM
hilton.
!. The 6aptisin Of Jesus (3:13-17).
While the forerunner was discharg.
ing his Office. the King emerged from
bis seclusion at Nazareth and de-
manded baptism at Johns hands. The
incongruity Of this with the purpose
Of baptism brought from John pro-
test but Jesus explanation was salts
factory, so John baptized him. Touch
Ing Chrlst's baptism. note:
l. Its Significance. (1) Negatively.
ta) 1t did not mean his own obedl-
ence to the commandment OF God. be-
cause his entire life had been lived
entirely within the will Of God. Not
a moment In his entire life but what
was lived entirely In accordance with
the Fathers will. (b) Not because he
had sin. for he was absolutely sinless,
harmless, undefiled. separate from
sinners. This separation was so com.
plete that even the devil could find no
occasion against him (John IA :3O).
~ Positively. Its significance Is
found In harmony with the central
purpose Of his coming into the world,
which was to secure for his people
salvation through death, burial and
resurrection.
2. Approval from the opened
heavens tvv. 10. ~. Immediately
following his conservation to his work,
the heavens were opened and the
Spirit came and abode upon him. fol.
lowed by words Of approval from the
Father. These all were essential for
the work upon which Christ now en-.
tered-revelation (heavens opened).
Inspiration (dove abode upon hlm),
and approval (words from the Fa.
ther).
u. The Temptation Of Jesus AL.
1D.
This temptation was the opening
battle Of the dreadful conflict between
Christ and Satan. In this struggle,
note:
l. The combatants. (1) Jesus Christ,
the Divine Man. now entering upon
his mediatorial work. he went imme.
diately from the place Of amounting
and heavenly recognition as the Son
Of God to meet the arch.enemy Of the
race. t2) The devil. He was a real
person filled with cunning and malice.
2. The battle ground-the Wilder
ness Of Judea. The first man was
tempted In a garden with the most
pleasant surroundings and failed: the
second man was tempted in a bare
wilderness and gloriously triumphed.
3. The method of attack. Since as
our Redeemer Christ sustalns a three
fold relationship. Son of Man. Son Of
God and as Messiah. each one was
made ground of attack. t1) As Son
OF Men. This was a test Of the reality
Of his humanity to demonstrate as to
whether the humanity which he OBJ.
tsined through the Virgin birth was
real. The appeal was made to the
instinct Of hunger. Hunger is nat.
ural and sInless. Having been forty
days and nights without food. as a
normal man, Christ had a craving ap-
petite. While the appetite was not
sinful. to have satisfied It In wrong
way would have been sin. t2) Son Of
G6d. II was to test as to whether
tlHs personality which had taken upon
itSelf humanity. was divine. The
ddvil quoted from n Messianlc Psalm
to- get him to presume upon Gods
care. God does care for his own. but
to neglect common precautlon--to do
the uncalled for thing just to put
Gods promise to test is to sin and
fall. t3) As Messiah. Christ's mis-
si3n as Messiah was to recover this
w3rld from the devil. Now the devil
offers to surrender to him on the sim.
pie condition that he adopt his
method, thus obviatlng the necessity
of the cross. The kingdoms were
reS!ly Christ's. and he knew that they
Would ultimately become his. The
lnducement was to get immediate pos.
session without the sufferings Of the
crass.
4. The defense-the Word Of God.
ChtIst met the enemy each time and
reRulsed him with at is written"
Each time he quoted from Denter-
onomy. the book which the higher
critics would dlscredlt as reliable.
q. The issue-the enemy Is com.