The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1931-01-22
4. The Place ". u.

I. The Place ". ~.
The wilderness of Judea. The first
man, Adam, was tempted in a garden
with the most pleasant surroundings.
The second man, Jesus Christ, was
tempted in barren wilderness, sur
rounded by wild beasts mark 1:13).
Adam shamefully failed, involving the
whole race in ruin (Rom. 5:12);
Christ gloriously triumphed, bringing
justification of life as free gift upon
all who believe (Rom. 5:18).
II. The Purpose ". u.
Christ was led into the wilderness
by the Holy Spirit. His temptation
was Messianic. Men today are not
tempted as he was, but the same
methods are employed by the Evil
One. The time had come for the Re-
deemer to enter upon his mediatorial
work. Therefore, he went from the
place of amounting and heavenly rec
ognition as the Son of God to meet
and to spoil the enemy Of God and
men (Heb. 2:14.
/. 1t was not preparation for his
work but rather his first conflict with
the enemy. In his baptism we have
the symbolic act Of the dedication of
himself to the work of redemption
through the work of the cross.
2. 1t was not to see if Christ would
stand fast, as to whether he would fail
under the most crucial test. Being the
eternal Son of God, incorporated with
the perfect humanity, sin and failure
were impossible.
3. It was to exhibit Christ as an
object upon which we may rest our
faith with mistaken confidence. He
came as the second man, the head of a
new race, the very source of its life.
The temptation was, therefore, a DEM
onstration of the inseparableness Of
the divine and human natures in the
incarnation.
Ill. The Method wv. 2-12).
Christ as the worlds Redeemer sus-
tanned a threefold relation-Son Of
Man, Son Of God, and Messiah. There
fore, Satan made each one a ground
Of attack.
1. AS Son of Man wv. 2-4). Satan
made his first assault upon him as a
man by appealing to the instinct of
hunger. Satan urged him to use his
divine power to convert stone into
bread. The temptation was in satis-
flying right hunger in wrong way.
To have yielded in this case though
his hunger was desperate would have
been to renounce the human limita-
lions which he had taken for our sakes.
To do right in wrong way is to sin.
2. AS Messiah wv. $50. Here the
temptation was to grasp his rightful
dominions by false means. The Devil
offered to surrender unto him the
world if he would adopt his methods,
would worship him. The force of this
temptation was in the fact that the
Kingdoms of the world are Christ's by
Gods covenant with him. Satan has
forfeited his right to rule. Gods meth
cd by which Jesus was to possess the
world was his sacrifcial death on the
cross.
8. AS the Son of God wv. 9-12).
Here Satan tries to induce Christ to
presume upon Gods care. He quoted
a Messianic psalm to induce him to
so act. To do the spectacular thing
in order to get notice is to fall into
Satans temptation. For Jesus to have
placed himself in danger in order to
get Gods special help in delivering
him would have been to sin. To test
God as to whether he will keep his
promise is the greatest distrust.
w. christ's Defense wv. 4, s, 12).
1t was the Word of God. He met
and repulsed the enemy with lit is
written" In the most crucial hour Of
the worlds history Christ quoted from
the Book Of Deuteronomy, which the
rationalists Of the day reject as not
being fully inspired.
v. The Issue ". 13).
Satan was vanquished. He could
not stand against Gods Word.