The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1936-01-16
IMPROVED
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
CUNDAyI
OcHOOL Lesson
BY REV. p. B. FITZwATER, D. D.
Member of Faculty. Moody Bible
Institute Of Chicago.
@ Western Newspaper Union.
Lesson for January 10
JESUS PREPARES FOR HIS woR

IS6SOS rnGFAhES fOh HIS WORK
LESSON TEXT-Luke 1921, 22; 4:1-1s.
GOLDEN TEXT-Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt
thou serve.-Luke AS.
PRIMARY TOPIC-When Jesus Grew
Up.
JUNIOR ToPIc--when Jesus was
Tempted.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR
TOrIC-Making Right Start for Life.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT
ToPlc-Finding Gods Way for Life.
The statement Of the subject of this
lesson is not quite satisfactory. His
baptism and temptation were not
means OF preparation, but were respec-
lively his formal entrance upon his
work and the first conflict with the
devil, whose works he came to de-
stroy.
]. Jesus Entering Upon His Media.
toriaI Work Uuke 1921, 22).
l. His baptism ". Ply. In his bap-
tism we see the symbolic act of Jesus
dedlcating himself to the work of re-
demption through the cross, or the act
of conservation on his part to the work
OF saving the world through his death
and resurrection. His baptism did not
mean his obedience to the law of God,
but his entrance upon the sacrificial
work which on the cross Of Calvary
made real foundation for full right.
eousness.
2. His amounting ". 22). As he thus
dedicated himself to the task of bring.
ing in righteousness, he was anoint-
with the Holy Spirit.
8. The heavenly recognition ". 22).
This act of devotion to the divine will
was attended by the declaration Of
divine approval. "Thou art my beloved
Son; in thee I am we'll pleased"
II. Jesus First Conflict With the
Devil duke ALB.
Jesus went from the place Of anoint-
ing and heavenly recognition as the
Son of God to meet and to spoil the
arch enemy (Heb. 2:14). Instead of
the temptation, therefore, being
preparation for his messianic work, it
was a demonstration of the insepara.
lures in the incarnation. It is to be
noted that the Holy Spirit, not Satan,
led Jesus into the wilderness to be
tempted.
!. The place ". u. It was in 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, surrounded by
wild beasts mark 1:13).
2. The method wv. 2-12). Christ as
the worlds Redeemer sustained a
threefold relationship: the Son Of man,
the Messiah, and the Son of God.
Therefore, Satan made each one q
ground of attack.
a. AS Son of man wv. 2-4). Satan
made his first assault upon Jesus as
man by appealing to the instinct Of
hunger. Satan urged him to use his
divine power to convert a stone into
bread. Hunger is natural and sinless
Real human life experiences hunger.
The appetite of hunger was normal
and right. The temptation was to sat
isfy a right hunger in a wrong way.
To have yielded in this case, though
his hunger was desperate, would have
been to renounce the human limitations
which he had taken for our sins. To
use divine power to satisfy human
needs would have been to fail as Sa-
vior and Mediator. To do right in
wrong way is to fail.
b. AS Messiah tvv. 5-S). Here the
temptation was to grasp his rightful
dominion by false means. The devil
offered to surrender unto him the
world, if he would adopt his method
worship him. The force of this tempta-
ton was in the fact that the kingdoms
of the world are Christ's by Gods cove
nant with him. Gods method by which
Jesus was to possess the world was
the sacrificial death on the cross. The
temptation which Satan is placing upon
the church today is to get possession
of the world by other means than that
Of the cross.
c. As Son Of God wv. 9-12). Here
Satan tries to induce Christ to presume
upon Gods care. He quotes messi-
anic psalm to induce him so to act.
To do the spectacular thing in order
TO get publicity is to fall into Satan's
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 promise lie the
greatest distrust; 1t Is to sin and fall.
d. Christ's defense wv. 4, 8, 12). 1t
was the Word of God. He met every
onslaught of the enemy with ut Is
written" Our defense Is Gods Word.
May every Sunday School teacher and
believer know how to use it.
e. The issue ". 13). Satan was van
pushed. If we but trust God and use
his Word, we too can overcome the
devil