Rockingham post-dispatch. [volume] (Rockingham, N.C.) 1917-1965, 1920-10-07

LESSON TExT-Matthew 81; A:i1.
GOLDEN TEXT-This - my beloved
Son. In whom I am well pleased. Matt.
sat.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL--Iaike I'll;
i:13: Heb. 2:1S; l:15,
PRIMARY ToP1c-Jesus Pleasing the
Heavenly Father.
ton Of Jesus.
INTERMEDIATES AND SENIOR TOPIC
Jesus Overcoming Temptation.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Victory Over Appetite. PRIDE and Ann
bition.
I. The Baptlsm Of Jeeus l3:13-1T.
While the forerunner was discharg-
Ing his Office. the King emerged from
his seclusion at Nazareth and de-
manded baptism at4John's hands. The
incongruity OF this with the purpose
Of baptism brought from John q pro-
test but Jesus explanation was salts
factory, SO John baptized him. Touch
ing Christ's baptism. note:
/. Its significance. (1) Negatively.
ta) II did mot mean his own obedi-
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. undecided. separate from
sinners This separation was % c0m-
plete that even the devfi could ilnd no
occasion against him (JOhn 14:80).
t2y Positively It's significance d
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. K
2. Approval from the opened
heavens wv. 16, ~. Immediately
following his conservation to his work,
the heayens 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 him),
and approval (words from the Fa-
ther).
n. The Temptation Of Jesus t4:1-
~. A.
This temptation was the opening
battle of the dreadful conflict between
Christ and Satan. In this struggle.
note:
/. The combatants. az Jesus Christ.
the Divine Man, now entering upon
his mediatorial work. he went imme-
diItely from the place Of anointing
and heavenly recognition as the Son
Of God to meet the arch-enemy Of the
race. ~ The devil. Heswas a real
person filled with cunning and malice.
@ 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 bare
wilderness and gloriously triunphed.
3. The method of attack. Since as
our Redeemer Christ sustains three
fold relationship. Son of Man, Son Of
God and as Messiah, each one was
made a ground of attack. ~ AS Son
Aof Man. This was test of the reality
of his humanity to demonstrate as to
whether the humanity which he OBJ.
tanned 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 q craving APP
petite. While the appetite was not
sinful, to have satisfied 1t In a wrong
I way would have been sin. ~ Son OF
God. 1t was to test as to whether
this personality which had taken upon
itself humanity. was divine. The
devil quoted from Messianic Psalm
to get him to presume upon Gods
care. God does care for his own, but
to neglect common precaution-to do
the uncaIled for thing just to put
Gods promise to a test is to sin and
fall. (3) AS Messiah. Christ's mis-
sion as Messiah was to recover this
world from the devil. Now the devil
offers to surrender to him on the sim
pie condition that he adopt his
method, thus obyiating the necessity
OF the cross. The kingdoms were
really Christ's. and be knew that they
would ultimately become his. The
inducement was to get immediate pos
session Without tho sptfeFipgs ef ne
cross. s8
4. The defense -the Word OF God
Christ met the enemy eaeh time and
repuIsed him with "It is written"
Each time he quoted from Deufer'
onony, the book which the higher
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