Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-07-22


He had come to do the will of God;
as the Second Man He delighted in
Gods will; He had not come to do
His own will at all. He had placed
Himself entirely in dependence upon
God. To use His power to supply
His need, unless the Father said so,
would be to do His own will, to de-
clare His. independence of God This
was what the devil wanted Him to
do; this was what He refused to do.
1T is written, He answered (using
the Word of God each time as the
sword of the spirit and the only
weapon that is effective against the
deviD, man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that pro-
ceedeth out of the mouth of God"
Man-man So He was entering
the conflict, not as the Son of God,
but as the new creation, the God
Man. He had emptied Himself and
now refused to use His power be-
cause as Man He was dependent
upon God and was waiting to know
and to do the will of God In 9TH
er words, He said: / am dependent
entirely on God; when He wants me
to eat, He will set the table; until
then | shall wait, not exercising
even the power l have and could
use.
He had won the battle and all 9th
er battles were easy, for He who
walks with God and waits for God
is invulnerabIe
The Second Test
Then the devil attacks from the
second avenue of approach-the lust
of the eyes, something good to look
upon, that which would appeal to
His mind, as the first had appealed
to His bodily needs. He took Him
into the city of David and set Him
on a pinnacle of the temple, and
said: IF Thou be the Son, of Cod
(still casting doubt into lis mind by
suggestion)- "cast Thyself DOWN
and here the devil took up Jesus
cudgel and quoted Scripture; only
he misquoted it! for it is written,
He shall give His angels charge con-
corning Thee; and in their hands
they shall bear Thee up lest Thou
dash Thy foot against a stone"
1t was a terrific appeal to Him,
or would have been had He not been
walking with God and waiting on
Him, and seeking to do only His
will. The appeal lay in this being
in a short cut to the throne. Down
in the court of the temple were
thousands of people. To jump from
the pinnacle and not be hurt would
indeed have a wonderful effect on
them in winning their admiration
and their following. Jesus wanted
that, but not until the Father want
ed Him to have it. Some day at the
name of Jesus every knee shall bow
and every tongue confess that lie
is Lord to the glory of God the Faith
er; but it was not yet Gods time, so
He replied: 1T is written again,
Thou shall not put the Lord tn,
God to the test"
This Man-this, new creation lis
Goldman, born of the virgin Ind
conceived r. the Holy Ghost-was
walking in the way of the will of
God and was waiting to declare His
independence of God; and the sec
ond skirmish was lost by satan.
The Third Test
Then the devil approached Him
through the third avenue of APP
proach--the pride of life. AS the
first had appealed to His physical
life, and the second to His mental
life, so this third one makes its ap-
peal to His spiritual life. The devil
took Him to a high mountain and
showed Him all the kingdom of the
world-of course, therefore, it had
to be done by superhuman power, for
there is no mountain from which all
the Kingdoms of the earth can be
seen; yet this in no wise limits the
reality of the temptation-and said
to Him, ''all these will ! give thee
if thou wilt fall down and worship
me-"
The devil had been defeated in the
two skirmishes attacking with sub
tility; now he comes out in the open
for once and makes an outright prop
osition; he has all along wanted
this; now he says so openly. And
Jesus therefore answers just as
plainly. calling him by His real
name, which He had known all
along: Get thee behind me, Satan"
but He doesn't give up His only
weapon, the Word of God, but adds
"for it is written, Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God and Him only shalt
thou serve"
Then the devil leaveth Him. He
had found more than his match. i
had been easy to subdue Adam and
all his descendants; but now He had
come face to face with a Man who
would not yield to any of his de-
vices because He was protected by
the wall of a will surrendered to the
will of God: a Man who refused to
act apart from God, a Son who wait
ed the Fathers word before He
would take a step.
The first great enga cement had
been lost by Satan. He has lost
every engagement since with this
same man. Therefore when he comes
to tempt us along any of the three
lines Of approach-tne lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of hfe-we may come boldly
to this Man for help, for seeing that
He has been tempted in all points,
without sin. He is able to suCCor
them that are tempted. Since He
has been successful in every combat
with Satan and has come to destroy
the works of the devil, and eventU-
ally hi mthat has the power of death,
why should we try to fight our adj
versary and His, instead of trusting
Him to fight for us?
You may overcome if you trust
Him. You will certainly be overcome
if you try to do it yourself. even