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The Temptation of Christ.
After the baptism of Jesus in Jordan, he was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness, to be tempted of the evil. When he had
come up out of the water, he bowed upon Jordan's banks, and
plead with the great Eternal for strength to endure the conflict
with the fallen foe. The opening of the heavens and
the descent of the excellent glory attested his divine character.
The voice from the Father declared the close relation of Christ
to his Infinite Majesty: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased." The mission of Christ was soon to begin. But
he must first withdraw from the busy scenes of life to a desolate
wilderness for the express purpose of bearing the three-fold
test of temptation in behalf of those he had come to redeem.
Satan, who was once an honored angel in Heaven, had been ambitious
for the more exalted honors which God had bestowed upon his
Son. He became envious of Christ, and represented to the angels,
who honored him as covering cherub, that he had not the honor
conferred upon him which his position demanded. He asserted
that he should be exalted equal in honor with Christ. Satan
obtained sympathizers. Angels in Heaven joined him in his rebellion,
and fell with their leader from their high and holy estate,
and were therefore expelled from Heaven with him.
The Creation. God, in counsel with his Son, formed the
plan of creating man in his own image. Man was to be placed
upon probation. He was to be tested and proved; if he should
bear the test of God, and remain loyal and true through the
first trial, he was not to be beset with continual temptations,
but was to be exalted equal with the angels, and made, thenceforth,
immortal.
Adam and Eve came forth from the hand of their Creator in the
perfection of every physical, mental, and spiritual endowment.
God planted for them a garden, and surrounded them with everything
that was lovely and attractive to the eye, which their physical
necessities required.
This
holy pair looked upon a world of unsurpassed loveliness and
glory. A benevolent Creator had given them evidences of his
goodness and love in providing them with fruits, vegetables,
and grains, and in causing to grow out of the ground every variety
of trees for usefulness and beauty.
The holy pair looked upon nature as a picture of unsurpassed
loveliness. The brown earth was clothed with a carpet of living
green, diversified with an endless variety of self-perpetuating
flowers. Shrubs, flowers, and trailing vines, regaled the senses
with their beauty and fragrance. The many varieties of lofty
trees were laden with delicious fruit of every kind, adapted
to please the taste and meet the wants of the happy Adam and
Eve. This Eden home God provided for our first parents, giving
them unmistakable evidences of his great love and care for them.
Adam was crowned king in Eden. To him was given dominion over
every living thing that God had created. The Lord blessed Adam
and Eve with intelligence such as he had not given to any other
creature. He made Adam the rightful sovereign over all the works
of his hands. Man, made in the divine image, could contemplate
and appreciate the glorious works of God in nature.
Adam and Eve could trace the skill and glory of God in every
spire of grass, and in every shrub and flower. The natural loveliness
which surrounded them reflected like a mirror the wisdom, excellence,
and love, of their Heavenly Father. And their songs of affection
and praise rose sweetly and reverentially to Heaven, harmonizing
with the songs of the exalted angels, and with the happy birds
who were caroling forth their music without a care. There was
no disease, decay, nor death. Life was in everything the eye
rested upon. The atmosphere was filled with life. Life was in
every leaf, in every flower, and in every tree.
LABOR
A BLESSING.
Labor a Blessing. The Lord knew that Adam could not be
happy without labor; therefore, he gave him the pleasant employment
of dressing the garden. And, as he tended the things of beauty
and usefulness around him, he could behold the goodness and
glory of God in his created works. Adam had themes for contemplation
in the works of God in Eden, which was Heaven in miniature.
God did not form man merely to contemplate his glorious works;
therefore, he gave him hands for labor, as well as a mind and
heart for contemplation. If the happiness of man consisted in
doing nothing, the Creator would not have given Adam his appointed
work. Man was to find happiness in labor as well as in meditation.
Adam could take in the grand idea that he was created in the
image of God, to be like him in righteousness and holiness.
His mind was capable of continual cultivation, expansion, refinement,
and noble elevation; for God was his teacher, and angels were
his companions.
THE
TEST OF PROBATION
The Test of Probation. The Lord placed man upon probation,
that he might form a character of steadfast integrity for his
own happiness and for the glory of his Creator. He had endowed
Adam with powers of mind superior to any other creature that
he had made. His mental powers were but little lower than those
of the angels. He could become familiar with the sublimity and
glory of nature, and understand the character of his Heavenly
Father in his created works. Amid the glories of Eden, everything
that his eye rested upon testified of his Father's love and
infinite power.
The first moral lesson given to Adam was that of self-denial.
The reins of self-government were placed in his hands. Judgment,
reason, and conscience, were to bear sway. "And the Lord God
took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it
and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die."
Adam and Eve were permitted to partake of every tree in the
garden save one. There was a single prohibition. The forbidden
tree was as attractive and lovely as any of the trees in the
garden. It was called the tree of knowledge because, in partaking
of that tree of which God had said, "Thou shalt not eat of it,"
they would have a knowledge of sin, an experience in disobedience.
Eve went from the side of her husband, viewing the beautiful
things of nature, delighting her senses with the colors and
fragrance of the flowers, and admiring the beauty of the trees
and shrubs. She was thinking of the restrictions which God had
laid upon them in regard to the tree of knowledge. She was pleased
with the beauties and bounties which the Lord had furnished
for the gratification of every want. All these, said she, God
has given us to enjoy. They are all ours; for God has said,
"Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat
of it."
Eve had wandered near the forbidden tree, and her curiosity
was aroused to know how death could be concealed in the fruit
of this fair tree. She was surprised to hear her queries taken
up and repeated by a strange voice. "Yea, hath God said, Ye
shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Eve was not aware
that she had revealed her thoughts in audibly conversing with
herself; therefore, she was greatly astonished to hear her queries
repeated by a serpent. She really thought that the serpent had
a knowledge of her thoughts, and that he must be very wise.
She answered him, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the
garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of
the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall
ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman,
Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye
eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be
as gods, knowing good and evil."
Here the father of lies made his assertion in direct contradiction
to the expressed word of God. Satan assured Eve that she was
created immortal, and that there was no possibility of her dying.
He told her that God knew that if she and her husband should
eat of the tree of knowledge, their understanding would be enlightened,
expanded, and ennobled, making them equal with himself. And
the serpent answered Eve that the command of God, forbidding
them to eat of the tree of knowledge, was given to keep them
in such a state of subordination that they should not obtain
knowledge, which was power. He assured her that the fruit of
this tree was desirable above every other tree, in the garden
to make them wise, and to exalt them equal with God. He has,
said the serpent, refused you the fruit of that tree which,
of all the trees, is the most desirable for its delicious flavor
and exhilarating influence. Eve thought that the serpent's discourse
was very wise, and that the prohibition of God was unjust. She
looked with longing desire upon the tree laden with fruit which
appeared very delicious. The serpent was eating it with apparent
delight. She longed for this fruit above every other variety
which God had given her a perfect right to use.
Eve had overstated the words of God's command. He had said to
Adam and Eve, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die." In Eve's controversy with the serpent,
she added " Neither shall ye touch it ." Here the subtlety of
the serpent appeared. This statement of Eve gave him advantage;
he plucked the fruit and placed it in her hand, using her own
words, He hath said, If ye touch it, ye shall die. You see no
harm comes to you from touching the fruit, neither will you
receive any harm by eating it. Eve yielded to the lying sophistry
of the devil in the form of a serpent. She ate the fruit, and
realized no immediate harm. She then plucked the fruit for herself
and for her husband. "And when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof,
and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he
did eat."
Adam and Eve should have been perfectly satisfied with their
knowledge of God derived from his created works, and received
by the instruction of the holy angels. But their curiosity was
aroused to become acquainted with that of which God designed
they should have no knowledge. It was for their happiness to
be ignorant of sin. The high state of knowledge to which they
thought to attain by eating of the forbidden fruit, plunged
them into the degradation of sin and guilt. 12
PARADISE LOST
Paradise Lost. Adam was driven from Eden, and the angels
who, before his transgression, had been appointed to guard him
in his Eden home, were now appointed to guard the gates of paradise
and the way of the tree of life, lest he should return, gain
access to the tree of life, and sin be immortalized.
Sin drove man from paradise; and sin was the cause of the
removal of paradise from the earth. In consequence of transgression
of God's law, Adam lost paradise. In obedience to the Father's
law, and through faith in the atoning blood of his Son, paradise
may be regained. "Repentance toward God," because his law has
been transgressed, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, as
man's only Redeemer, will be acceptable with God. Notwithstanding
man's sinfulness, the merits of God's dear Son in his behalf
will avail with the Father.
Satan was determined to succeed in his temptation of the sinless
Adam and Eve. And he could reach even this holy pair more successfully
through the medium of appetite than in any other way. The fruit
of the forbidden tree seemed pleasant to the eye and desirable
to the taste. They ate and fell. They transgressed God's just
command and became sinners. Satan's triumph was complete. He
then had the vantage-ground over the race. He flattered himself
that, through his subtlety, he had thwarted the purpose of God
in the creation of man.
Satan made his exulting boasts to Christ and to loyal angels
that he had succeeded in gaining a portion of the angels in
Heaven to unite with him in his daring rebellion, and now that
he had succeeded in overcoming Adam and Eve, he claimed that
their Eden home was his. He proudly boasted that the world which
God had made, was his dominion; that having conquered Adam,
the monarch of the world, he had gained the race as his subjects,
and should now possess Eden, making that his head-quarters,
and would there establish his throne, and be monarch of the
world.
But measures were immediately taken in Heaven to defeat
Satan in his plans. Strong angels, with beams of light like
flaming swords turning in every direction, were placed as sentinels
to guard the way of the tree of life from the approach of Satan
and the guilty pair. Adam and Eve had forfeited all right to
their beautiful Eden home, and were now expelled from it. The
earth was cursed because of Adam's sin, and was ever after to
bring forth briers and thorns. While he lived, Adam was to be
exposed to the temptations of Satan and was finally to pass
through death to dust again.
PLAN OF REDEMPTION
Plan of Redemption. A council was held in Heaven, the result
of which was that God's dear Son undertook to redeem man from
the curse and the disgrace of Adam's failure, and to conquer
Satan. Oh, wonderful condescension! The Majesty of Heaven, through
love and pity for fallen man, proposed to become his substitute
and surety. He would bear man's guilt. He would take the wrath
of his Father upon himself, which otherwise would have fallen
upon man because of his disobedience.
The law of God was unalterable. It could not be abolished,
not yield the smallest part of its claim, to meet man in his
fallen state. Man was separated from God by transgression of
his expressed command, notwithstanding he had made known to
Adam the consequences of such transgression. The sin of Adam
caused a deplorable state of things. Satan would now have unlimited
control over the race, unless a mightier being than was Satan
before his fall, should take the field, conquer him, and ransom
man.
Christ's divine soul was exercised with infinite pity for the
fallen pair. As their wretched, helpless condition came up before
him, and as he saw that by transgression of God's law they had
fallen under the power and control of the prince of darkness,
he proposed the only means that could be acceptable with God,
that would give them another trial, and place them again on
probation. Christ consented to leave his honor, his kingly authority,
his glory with the Father, and humble himself to humanity, and
engage in contest with the mighty prince of darkness, in order
to redeem man. Through his humiliation and poverty Christ would
identify himself with the weakness of the fallen race, and by
firm obedience show that man might redeem Adam's disgraceful
failure, and by humble obedience regain lost Eden.
The great work of redemption could be carried out only by the
Redeemer taking the place of fallen Adam. With the sins of the
world laid upon him, he would go over the ground where Adam
stumbled. He would bear a test infinitely more severe than that
which Adam failed to endure. He would overcome on man's account,
and conquer the tempter, that, through his obedience, his purity
of character and steadfast integrity, his righteousness might
be imputed to man, that, through his name, man might overcome
the foe on his own account.
What love! What amazing condescension! The King of glory
proposed to humble himself to fallen humanity! He would place
his feet in Adam's steps. He would take man's fallen nature,
and engage to cope with the strong foe who triumphed over Adam.
He would overcome Satan, and in thus doing he would open the
way for the redemption from the disgrace of Adam's failure and
fall, of all those who would believe on him.
Angels on probation had been deceived by Satan, and had
been led on by him in the great rebellion in Heaven against
Christ. They failed to endure the test brought to bear upon
them, and they fell. Adam was then created in the image of God
and placed upon probation. He had a perfectly developed organism.
All his faculties were harmonious. In all his emotions, words,
and actions, there was a perfect conformity to the will of his
Maker. After God had made every provision for the happiness
of man, and had supplied his every want, he tested his loyalty.
If the holy pair should be obedient, the race would, after a
time, be made equal to the angels. As Adam and Eve failed to
bear this test, Christ proposed to become a voluntary offering
for man.
Satan knew that if Christ was indeed the Son of God, the world's
Redeemer, it was for no good to himself that the Lord had left
the royal courts of Heaven to come to a fallen world. He feared
that his own power was thenceforth to be limited, and that his
deceptive wiles would be discerned and exposed, and his influence
over man would be weakened. He feared that his dominion and
control of the kingdoms of the world were to be contested. He
remembered the words which Jehovah addressed to him when he
was summoned into his presence with Adam and Eve, whom he had
ruined by his lying deceptions,
"I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel." This declaration contained the
first gospel promise to man.
But these words, at the time they were spoken, were not fully
understood by Satan. He knew that they contained a curse for
him, because he had seduced the holy pair. And when Christ was
manifested on the earth, Satan feared that he was indeed the
One promised who should limit his power, and finally destroy
him.
Satan had peculiar interest in watching the development
of events immediately after the fall of Adam, to learn how his
work had affected the kingdom of God, and what the Lord would
do with Adam because of his disobedience. The Son of God, undertaking
to become the Redeemer of the race, placed Adam in a new relation
to his Creator. He was still fallen; but a door of hope was
opened to him. The wrath of God still hung over Adam, but the
execution of the sentence of death was delayed, and the indignation
of God was restrained, because Christ had entered upon the work
of becoming man's Redeemer. Christ was to take the wrath of
God which in justice should fall upon man. He became a refuge
for man, and, although man was indeed a criminal, deserving
the wrath of God, yet he could, by faith in Christ, run into
the refuge provided, and be safe. In the midst of death, there
was life if man chose to accept it. The holy and infinite God,
who dwelleth in light unapproachable, could no longer talk with
man. No communication could now exist directly between man and
his Maker.
God forbears, for a time, the full execution of the sentence
of death pronounced upon man. Satan flattered himself that he
had forever broken the link between Heaven and earth. But in
this he was greatly mistaken and disappointed. The Father had
given the world into the hands of his Son for him to redeem
from the curse and the disgrace of Adam's failure and fall.
Through Christ alone can man now find access to God. And through
Christ alone will the Lord hold communication with man.
Christ volunteered to maintain and vindicate the holiness
of the divine law. He was not to do away the smallest part of
its claims in the work of redemption for man, but, in order
to save man, and maintain the sacred claims and justice of his
Father's law, he gave himself a sacrifice for the guilt of man.
Christ's life did not, in a single instance, detract from the
claims of his Father's law, but, through firm obedience to all
its precepts, and by dying for the sins of those who had transgressed
it, he established it immutability.
After the transgression of Adam, Satan saw that the ruin
was complete. The human race was brought into a deplorable condition.
Man was cut off from intercourse with God. It was Satan's design
that the state of man should be the same as that of the fallen
angels, in rebellion against God, uncheered by a gleam of hope.
He reasoned that if God pardoned sinful man whom he had created,
he would also pardon him and his angels, and receive them into
his favor. But he was disappointed.
The divine Son of God saw that no arm but his own could
save fallen man, and he determined to help man. He left the
fallen angels to perish in their rebellion, but stretched forth
his hand to rescue perishing man. The angels who were rebellious
were dealt with according to the light and experience they had
abundantly enjoyed in Heaven. Satan, the chief of the fallen
angels, once had an exalted position in Heaven. He was next
in honor to Christ. The knowledge which he, as well as the angels
who fell with him, had of the character of God, of his goodness,
his mercy, wisdom, and excellent glory, made their guilt unpardonable.
There was no possible hope for the redemption of those
who had witnessed and enjoyed the inexpressible glory of Heaven,
and had seen the terrible majesty of God, and, in presence of
all this glory, had rebelled against him. There were no new
and wonderful exhibitions of God's exalted power that could
impress them so deeply as those they had already experienced.
If they could rebel in the very presence of glory inexpressible,
they could not be placed in a more favorable condition to be
proved. There was no reserve force of power, nor were there
any greater heights and depths of infinite glory to overpower
their jealous doubts and rebellious murmuring. Their guilt and
their punishment must be in proportion to their exalted privileges
in the heavenly courts.
SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS
Sacrificial Offerings. Fallen man, because of his guilt,
could no longer come directly before God with his supplications;
for his transgression of the divine law had placed an impassable
barrier between the holy God and the transgressor. But a plan
was devised that the sentence of death should rest upon a substitute.
In the plan of redemption there must be the shedding of blood,
for death must come in consequence of man's sin. The beasts
for sacrificial offerings were to prefigure Christ. In the slain
victim, man was to see the fulfillment for the time being of
God's word, "Ye shall surely die." And the flowing of the blood
from the victim would also signify an atonement. There was no
virtue in the blood of animals; but the shedding of the blood
of beasts was to point forward to a Redeemer who would one day
come to the world and die for the sins of men. And thus Christ
would fully vindicate his Father's law.
Satan watched every event in regard to the sacrificial
offerings with intense interest. The devotion and solemnity
connected with the shedding of the blood of the victim caused
him great uneasiness. To him, this ceremony was clothed with
mystery; but he was not a dull scholar, and he soon learned
that the sacrificial offerings typified some future atonement
for man. He saw that these offerings signified repentance for
sin. This did not agree with his purposes, and he at once commenced
to work upon the heart of Cain, to lead him to rebellion against
the sacrificial offering which prefigured a Redeemer to come.
Adam's repentance, evidenced by his sorrow for his transgression
and his hope of salvation through Christ, shown by his works
in the sacrifices offered, were a disappointment to Satan. He
hoped forever to gain Adam to unite with him in murmuring against
God, and in rebelling against his authority. Cain and Abel were
representatives of the two great classes. Abel, as priest, in
solemn faith offered his sacrifice. Cain was willing to offer
the fruit of his ground, but refused to connect with his offering
the blood of beasts. His heart refused to show his repentance
for sin, and his faith in a Saviour, by offering the blood of
beasts. He refused to acknowledge his need of a Redeemer. This,
to his proud heart, was dependence and humiliation.
But Abel, by faith in a future Redeemer, offered to God
a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. His offering the blood
of beasts signified that he was a sinner, and had sins to put
away, and that he was penitent and believed in the efficacy
of the blood of the future great offering. Satan is the parent
of unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion. He filled Cain with doubt
and with madness against his innocent brother, and against God
because his sacrifice was refused, and Abel's was accepted.
And he slew his brother in his insane madness.
The sacrificial offerings were instituted to be a standing
pledge to man of God's pardon through the great offering to
be made, typified by the blood of beasts. Through this ceremony
man signified repentance, obedience, and faith in a Redeemer
to come. That which made Cain's offering offensive to God was
his lack of submission and obedience to the ordinance of his
appointment. He thought that his own plan, in offering to God
merely the fruit of the ground, was nobler, and not as humiliating
as the offering of the blood of beasts, which showed dependence
upon another, thus expressing his own weakness and sinfulness.
Cain slighted the blood of the atonement.
Adam, in transgressing the law of Jehovah, had opened
the door for Satan, who had planted his banner in the midst
of the first family. He was made to feel, indeed, that the wages
of sin was death. Satan designed to gain Eden by deceiving our
first parents; but in this he was disappointed. Instead of securing
to himself Eden, he now feared that he would lose all he had
claimed out of Eden. His sagacity could trace the signification
of these offerings, that they pointed man forward to a Redeemer,
and, for the time being, were a typical atonement for the sin
of fallen man, opening a door of hope to the race.
The rebellion of Satan against God was most determined.
He worked, in warring against the kingdom of God, with perseverance
and fortitude worthy of a better cause.
APPETITE AND PASSION
Appetite and Passion. The world had become so corrupt through
indulgence of appetite and debased passion in the days of Noah
that God destroyed its inhabitants by the waters of the flood.
And as men again multiplied upon the earth, the indulgence in
wine to intoxication, perverted the senses, and prepared the
way for excessive meat-eating and the strengthening of the animal
passions. Men lifted themselves up against the God of Heaven;
and their faculties and opportunities were devoted to glorifying
themselves rather than honoring their Creator. Satan found easy
access to the hearts of men. He is a diligent student of the
Bible, and is much better acquainted with the prophecies than
many religious teachers. He knows that it is for his interest
to keep well informed in the revealed purposes of God, that
he may defeat the plans of the Infinite. So infidels frequently
study the Scriptures more diligently than some who profess to
be guided by them. Some of the ungodly search the Scriptures
that they may become familiar with Bible truth, and furnish
themselves with arguments to make it appear that the Bible contradicts
itself. And many professed Christians are so ignorant of the
word of God, through neglect of its study, that they are blinded
by the deceptive reasoning of those who pervert sacred truth,
that they may turn souls away from the counsel of God in his
word.
Satan saw in the typical offerings an expected Redeemer
who was to ransom man from his control He laid his plans deep,
to rule the hearts of men from generation to generation, and
to blind their understanding of the prophecies, that when Jesus
should come, the people would refuse to accept him as their
Saviour.
God appointed Moses to lead out his people from their
bondage in the land of Egypt, that they might consecrate themselves
to serve him with perfect hearts, and be to him a peculiar treasure.
Moses was their visible leader, while Christ stood at the head
of the armies of Israel, their invisible leader. If they could
have always realized this, they would not have rebelled, and
provoked God in the wilderness by their unreasonable murmurings.
God said to Moses,
"Behold,
I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to
bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him,
and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon
your transgressions; for my name is in him."
When Christ, as the guiding, guarding angel, condescended to
lead the armies of Israel through the wilderness to Canaan,
Satan was provoked, for he felt that his power could not so
well control them. But as he saw that the armies of Israel were
easily influenced and incited to rebellion by his suggestions,
he hoped to lead them to murmuring and sin which would bring
upon them the wrath of God. And as he saw that his power was
submitted to by men, he became bold in his temptations, inciting
them to crime and violence. Through Satan's devices, each generation
was becoming more feeble in physical, mental, and moral power.
This gave him courage to think that he might succeed in his
warfare against Christ in person when he should be manifested.
A few in every generation from Adam resisted his every
artifice and stood forth as noble representatives of what it
was in the power of man to do and to be, while Christ should
co-operate with human efforts, to help man in overcoming the
power of Satan. Enoch and Elijah are the correct representatives
of what the race might be through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Satan was greatly disturbed because these noble, holy men were
untainted amid the moral pollution surrounding them, perfecting
righteous characters, and accounted worthy for translation to
Heaven. As they had stood forth in moral power, in noble uprightness,
overcoming Satan's temptations, he could not bring them under
the dominion of death. He triumphed that he had power to overcome
Moses with his temptations, and that he could mar his illustrious
character and lead him to the sin of taking to himself glory
before the people which belonged to God.
Christ resurrected Moses, and took him to Heaven. This
enraged Satan, and he accused the Son of God of invading his
dominion by robbing the grave of his lawful prey. Jude says
of the resurrection of Moses,
"Yet
Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed
about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing
accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee."
When Satan succeeds in tempting men whom God has especially
honored to commit grievous sins, he triumphs; for he has gained
to himself a great victory and has done harm to the kingdom
of Christ.
BIRTH AND LIFE OF CHRIST
Birth and Life of Christ. At the birth of Christ, Satan
saw the plains of Bethlehem illuminated with the brilliant glory
of a multitude of heavenly angels. He heard their song, "Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward
men." The prince of darkness saw the amazed shepherds filled
with fear as they beheld the illuminated plains. They trembled
before the exhibitions of bewildering glory which seemed to
entrance their senses. The rebel chief himself trembled at the
proclamation of the angel to the shepherds, "Fear not; for behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David,
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." He had met with good success
in devising a plan to ruin men, and he had become bold and powerful.
He had controlled the minds and bodies of men from Adam down
to the first appearing of Christ. But now Satan was troubled
and alarmed for his kingdom and his life.
The song of the heavenly messengers proclaiming the advent
of the Saviour to a fallen world, and the joy expressed at this
great event, Satan knew boded no good to himself. Dark forebodings
were awakened in his mind as to the influence this advent to
the world would have upon his kingdom. He queried if this was
not the coming One who would contest his power and overthrow
his kingdom. He looked upon Christ from his birth as his rival.
He stirred the envy and jealousy of Herod to destroy Christ
by insinuating to him that his power and his kingdom were to
be given to this new king. Satan imbued Herod with the very
feelings and fears that disturbed his own mind. He inspired
the corrupt mind of Herod to slay all the children in Bethlehem
who were two years old and under, which plan he thought would
succeed in ridding the earth of the infant king.
But against his plans, Satan sees a higher power at work.
Angels of God protected the life of the infant Redeemer. Joseph
was warned in a dream to flee into Egypt, that in a heathen
land he might find an asylum for the world's Redeemer. Satan
followed him from infancy to childhood and from childhood to
manhood, inventing means and ways to allure him from his allegiance
to God, and overcome him with his subtle temptations. The unsullied
purity of the childhood, youth, and manhood, of Christ which
Satan could not taint, annoyed him exceedingly. All his darts
and arrows of temptation fell harmless before the Son of God.
And when he found that all his temptations prevailed nothing
in moving Christ from the steadfast integrity, or in marring
the spotless purity of the youthful Galilean, he was perplexed
and enraged. He looked upon this youth as an enemy that he must
dread and fear.
That there should be one who walked the earth with moral
power to withstand all his temptations, who resisted all his
attractive bribes to allure him to sin, and over whom he could
obtain no advantage to separate from God, chafed and enraged
his satanic majesty.
The childhood, youth, and manhood of John, who came in
the spirit and power of Elijah to do a special work in preparing
the way for the world's Redeemer, were marked with firmness
and moral power. Satan could not move his integrity. When the
voice of this prophet was heard in the wilderness, "Prepare
ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight," Satan was
afraid for his kingdom. He felt that the voice, sounding forth
in trumpet tones in the wilderness, caused sinners under his
control to tremble. He saw that his power over many was broken.
The sinfulness of sin was revealed in such a manner that men
became alarmed; and some, by repentance of their sins, found
the favor of God, and gained moral power to resist his temptations.
He was on the ground at the time when Christ presented
himself to John for baptism. He heard the majestic voice resounding
through Heaven and echoing through the earth like peals of thunder.
He saw the lightnings flash from the cloudless heavens, and
heard the fearful words from Jehovah,
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
He
saw the brightness of the Father's glory overshadowing the form
of Jesus, thus pointing out in that crowd the One whom he acknowledged
as his Son with unmistakable assurance. The circumstances connected
with this baptismal scene had aroused the most intense hatred
in the breast of Satan. He knew then for a certainty that unless
he could overcome Christ, from thenceforth there would be a
limitation of his power. He understood that the communication
from the throne of God signified that Heaven was more directly
accessible to man.
As Satan had led man to sin, he had hoped that God's abhorrence
of sin would forever separate him from man, and break the connecting
link between Heaven and earth. The opening heavens, in connection
with the voice of God addressing his Son, was like a death-knell
to Satan. He feared that God was now to unite man more fully
to himself, and give power to overcome his devices. And for
this purpose Christ had come from the royal courts to the earth.
Satan was well acquainted with the position of honor Christ
had held in Heaven as the Son of God, the beloved of the Father.
And that he should leave Heaven, and come to this world as a
man, filled him with apprehension for his safety. He could not
comprehend the mystery of this great sacrifice for the benefit
of fallen man. He knew that the value of Heaven far exceeded
the anticipation and appreciation of fallen man. The most costly
treasures of the world, he knew, would not compare with its
worth. As he had lost through his rebellion all the riches and
pure glories of Heaven, he was determined to be revenged by
causing as many as he could to undervalue Heaven, and to place
their affections upon earthly treasures.
It was incomprehensible to the selfish soul of Satan that
there could exist benevolence and love for the deceived race
so great as to induce the Prince of Heaven to leave his home
and come to a world marred with sin and seared with the curse.
He had knowledge of the inestimable value of eternal riches
that man had not. He had experienced the pure contentment, the
peace, exalted holiness, and unalloyed joys of the heavenly
abode. He had realized, before his rebellion, the satisfaction
of the full approval of God. He had once a full appreciation
of the glory that enshrouded the Father, and knew that there
was no limit to his power.
Satan knew what he had lost. He now feared that his empire
over the world was to be contested, his right disputed, and
his power broken. He knew, through prophecy, that a Saviour
was predicted and that his kingdom would not be established
in earthly triumph and with worldly honor and display. He knew
that ancient prophecies foretold a kingdom to be established
by the Prince of Heaven upon the earth, which he claimed as
his dominion. This kingdom would embrace all the kingdoms of
the world, and then his power and his glory would cease and
he would receive his retribution for the sins he had introduced
into the world, and for the misery he had brought upon man.
He knew that everything which concerned his prosperity was pending
upon his success or failure in overcoming Christ with his temptations
in the wilderness. He brought to bear upon Christ every artifice
and force of his powerful temptations to allure him from his
allegiance.
It is impossible for man to know the strength of Satan's
temptations to the Son of God. Every temptation that seems so
afflicting to man in his daily life, so difficult to resist
and overcome, was brought to bear upon the Son of God in as
much greater degree as his excellence of character was superior
to that of fallen man.
Christ was tempted in all points like as we are. As man's
representative, he stood the closest test and proving of God.
He met the strongest force of Satan. His most wily temptations
Christ has tested and conquered in behalf of man. It is impossible
for man to be tempted above what he is able to bear while he
relies upon Jesus, the infinite Conqueror.
THE
TEMPTATION
The Temptation. In the desolate wilderness, Christ was
not in so favorable a position to endure the temptations of
Satan as was Adam when he was tempted in Eden. The Son of God
humbled himself, and took man's nature, after the race had wandered
four thousand years from Eden, and from their original state
of purity and uprightness. Sin had been making its terrible
marks upon the race for ages; and physical, mental, and moral
degeneracy prevailed throughout the human family.
When Adam was assailed by the tempter in Eden, he was
without the taint of sin. He stood before God in the strength
of perfect manhood. All the organs and faculties of his being
were equally developed, and harmoniously balanced.
Christ, in the wilderness of temptation, stood in Adam's
place to bear the test he failed to endure. Here Christ overcame
in the sinner's behalf, four thousand years after Adam turned
his back upon the light of his home. Separated from the presence
of God, the human family had been departing, each successive
generation, farther from the original purity, wisdom, and knowledge,
which Adam possessed in Eden. Christ bore the sins and infirmities
of the race as they existed when he came to the earth to help
man. In behalf of the race, with the weaknesses of fallen man
upon him, he was to stand the temptations of Satan upon all
points on which man could be assailed.
Adam was surrounded with everything his heart could wish.
Every want was supplied. There was no sin, and no signs of decay
in glorious Eden. Angels of God conversed freely and lovingly
with the holy pair. The happy songsters carolled forth their
free, joyous songs of praise to their Creator. The peaceful
beasts in happy innocence played around Adam and Eve, obedient
to their word. Adam was in the perfection of manhood, the noblest
of the Creator's works. He was in the image of God, but a little
lower than the angels.
What a contrast the second Adam presented as he entered
the gloomy wilderness to cope with Satan single-handed. Since
the fall, the race had been decreasing in size and physical
strength, and sinking lower in the scale of moral worth, up
to the period of Christ's advent to the earth. In order to elevate
fallen man, Christ must reach him where he was. He took human
nature, and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race.
He who knew no sin became sin for us. He humiliated himself
to the lowest depths of human woe, that he might be qualified
to reach man, and bring him up from the degradation in which
sin had plunged him.
"For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom
are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the
captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."
"And being made perfect, he became the author of
eternal salvation unto all them that obey him."
"Wherefore in all things it behooved him to to be
made like unto his brethren; that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered,
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all
points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
Satan had been at war with the government of God, since he first
rebelled. His success in tempting Adam and Eve in Eden, and
introducing sin into the world, had emboldened this arch foe;
and he had proudly boasted to the heavenly angels that when
Christ should appear, taking man's nature, he would be weaker
than himself, and that he would overcome him by his power. He
exulted that Adam and Eve in Eden could not resist his insinuations
when he appealed to their appetite. The inhabitants of the old
world he overcame in the same manner, through the indulgence
of lustful appetite and corrupt passions. Through the gratification
of appetite, he had overthrown the Israelites. He boasted that
the Son of God himself, who was with Moses and Joshua, was not
able to resist his power, and lead the favored people of his
choice to Canaan; for nearly all who left Egypt died in the
wilderness; also, that he had tempted the meek man, Moses, to
take to himself glory which God claimed. David and Solomon,
who had been especially favored of God, he had induced, through
the indulgence of appetite and passion, to incur God's displeasure.
And he boasted that he could yet succeed in thwarting the purpose
of God in the salvation of man through Jesus Christ.
In the wilderness of temptation, Christ was without food
forty days. Moses had, on especial occasions, been thus long
without food. But he felt not the pangs of hunger. He was not
tempted and harassed by a vile and powerful foe, as was the
Son of God. He was elevated above the human, and especially
sustained by the glory of God which enshrouded him.
Satan had succeeded so well in deceiving the angels of
God, and in ruining noble Adam, that he thought he should be
successful in overcoming Christ in his humiliation. He looked
with pleased exultation upon the result of his temptations,
and the increase of sin in the continued transgression of God's
law, for more than four thousand years. He had worked the ruin
of our first parents, and brought sin and death into the world,
and led to ruin multitudes of all ages, countries, and classes.
By his power, he had controlled cities and nations, until their
sin provoked the wrath of God to destroy them by fire, water,
earthquakes, sword, famine, and pestilence. By his subtility
and untiring efforts, he had controlled the appetite, and excited
and strengthened the passions, to so fearful a degree that he
had defaced, and almost obliterated, the image of God in man.
His physical and moral dignity were in so great a degree destroyed
that he bore but a faint resemblance in character, and noble
perfection of form, to the dignified Adam in Eden.
At the first advent of Christ, Satan had brought man down
from his original, exalted purity, and had dimmed that golden
character with sin. The man whom God had created a sovereign
in Eden, he had transformed into a slave in the earth groaning
under the curse of sin. The halo of glory, which God had given
holy Adam to cover him as a garment, departed from him after
his transgression. The light of God's glory could not cover
disobedience and sin. In the place of health and plenitude of
blessings, poverty, sickness, and suffering of every type, were
to be the portion of the children of Adam.
Satan had, through his seductive power, led men to vain
philosophy, to question, and finally disbelieve, the divine
revelation, and the existence of God. He looked abroad upon
a world of moral wretchedness, and a race exposed to the wrath
of a sin-avenging God, with fiendish triumph that he had been
so successful in darkening the pathway of so many, and had led
them to transgress the law of God. He clothed sin with pleasing
attractions, to secure the ruin of many.
But his most successful scheme in deceiving man has been
to conceal his real purposes and his true character, by representing
himself to be man's friend--a benefactor of the race. He flatters
men with the pleasing fable that there is no rebellious foe,
no deadly enemy that they need to guard against, and that the
existence of a personal devil is all a fiction; and while he
thus hides his existence, he is gathering thousands under his
control. He is deceiving many, as he tried to deceive Christ,
telling them that he is an angel from Heaven, doing a good work
for humanity. And the masses are so blinded by sin that they
cannot discern the devices of Satan, and they honor him as they
would a heavenly angel while he is working their eternal ruin.
Christ had entered the world as Satan's destroyer, and
the Redeemer of the captives bound by his power. He would
leave an example in his own victorious life for man to follow,
and thus overcome the temptations of Satan. As soon as Christ
entered the wilderness of temptation, his visage changed. The
glory and splendor which were reflected from the throne of God
and his countenance, when the heavens opened before him, and
the Father's voice acknowledged him as his Son in whom he was
well pleased, were now gone. The weight of the sins of the world
was pressing his soul, and his countenance expressed unutterable
sorrow, a depth of anguish that fallen man had never realized.
He felt the overwhelming tide of woe that deluged the world.
He realized the strength of indulged appetite and unholy passion,
which controlled the world, and had brought upon man inexpressible
suffering. The indulgence of appetite had been increasing and
strengthening with every successive generation since Adam's
transgression, until the race was so feeble in moral power that
they could not overcome in their own strength. Christ, in behalf
of the race, was to overcome appetite, by standing the most
powerful test upon this point. He was to tread the path of temptation
alone, and there must be none to help him --none to comfort
or uphold him. Alone he was to wrestle with the powers of darkness.
As in his human strength man could not resist the power
of Satan's temptations, Jesus volunteered to undertake the work,
and to bear the burden for man, and overcome the power of appetite
in his behalf. In man's behalf, he must show self-denial, perseverance,
and firmness of principle, paramount to the gnawing pangs of
hunger. He must show a power of control stronger than hunger
and even death.
When Christ bore the test of temptation upon the point
of appetite, he did not stand in beautiful Eden, as did Adam,
with the light and love of God seen in everything his eye rested
upon; but he was in a barren, desolate wilderness, surrounded
with wild beasts. Everything around him was repulsive. With
these surroundings, he fasted forty days and forty nights, "and
in those days he did eat nothing." He was emaciated through
long fasting, and felt the keenest sense of hunger. His visage
was indeed marred more than the sons of men.
Christ thus entered upon his life of conflict to overcome
the mighty foe, in bearing the very test which Adam failed to
endure, that, through successful conflict, he might break the
power of Satan, and redeem the race from the disgrace of the
fall.
All was lost when Adam yielded to the power of appetite.
The Redeemer, in whom both the human and the divine were united,
stood in Adam's place, and endured a terrible fast of nearly
six weeks. The length of this fast is the strongest evidence
of the great sinfulness of debased appetite, and the power it
has upon the human family.
The humanity of Christ reached to the very depths of human
wretchedness, and identified itself with the weaknesses and
necessities of fallen man, while his divine nature grasped
the Eternal. His work in bearing the guilt of man's transgression
was not to give him license to continue to violate the law of
God; for transgression made man a debtor to the law, and Christ
himself was paying this debt by his own suffering. The trials
and sufferings of Christ were to impress man with a sense of
his great sin in breaking the law of God, and to bring him to
repentance and obedience to that law, and through obedience
to acceptance with God. He would impute his righteousness to
man, and so raise him in moral value with God that his efforts
to keep the divine law would be acceptable. Christ's work was
to reconcile man to God through his human nature, and God to
man through his divine nature.
As soon as the long fast of Christ commenced, Satan was
at hand with his temptations. He came to Christ, enshrouded
in light, claiming to be one of the angels from the throne of
God, sent upon an errand of mercy to sympathize with him, and
to relieve him of his suffering condition. He tried to make
Christ believe that God did not require him to pass through
the self-denial and sufferings he anticipated; that he had been
sent from Heaven to bear to him the message, that God only designed
to prove his willingness to endure.
Satan told Christ that he was to set his feet in the blood-stained
path, but not to travel it, that, like Abraham, he was tested
to show his perfect obedience. He also stated that he was the
angel that stayed the hand of Abraham as the knife was raised
to slay Isaac, and he had now come to save his life; that it
was not necessary for him to endure this painful hunger and
death from starvation; and that he would help him bear the work
in the plan of salvation.
The Son of God turned from all these artful temptations,
and was steadfast in his purpose to carry out in every particular,
in the spirit and in the very letter, the plan which had been
devised for the redemption of the fallen race. But Satan had
manifold temptations prepared to ensnare Christ, and obtain
advantage of him; if he failed in one temptation, he would try
another. He thought he would succeed, because Christ had humbled
himself as a man. He flattered himself that his assumed character,
as one of the heavenly angels, could not be discerned. He feigned
to doubt the divinity of Christ, because of his emaciated appearance
and unpleasant surroundings.
Christ knew that, in taking the nature of man, he would
not be equal, in appearance, to the angels of Heaven. Satan
urged that, if he was indeed the Son of God, he should give
him evidence of his exalted character. He approached Christ
with temptations upon appetite. He had overcome Adam upon this
point, and he had controlled his descendants, and through indulgence
of appetite, had led them to provoke God by iniquity, until
their crimes were so great that the Lord destroyed them from
off the earth by the waters of the flood.
Under Satan's direct temptations, the children of Israel
suffered appetite to control reason, and they were, through
indulgence, led to commit grievous sins which awakened the wrath
of God against them, and they fell in the wilderness. He thought
that he should be successful in overcoming Christ with the same
temptation. Satan told Christ, that one of the exalted angels
had been exiled to the earth, that his appearance indicated
that, instead of his being the king of Heaven, he was the angel
fallen, and that this explained his emaciated and distressed
appearance.
He then called the attention of Christ to his own attractive
appearance, clothed with light and strong in power. He claimed
to be a messenger direct from the throne of Heaven, and asserted
that he had a right to demand of Christ evidences of his being
the Son of God. Satan would fain disbelieve, if he could, the
words that came from Heaven to the Son of God at his baptism.
He determined to overcome Christ, and, if possible, make his
own kingdom and life secure. His first temptation to Christ
was upon appetite. He had, upon this point, almost entire control
of the world, and his temptations were so adapted to the circumstances
and surroundings of Christ, that his temptations upon appetite
were almost overpowering.
Christ could have worked a miracle in his own behalf;
but this would not have been in accordance with the plan of
salvation. The many miracles in the life of Christ show his
power to work miracles for the benefit of suffering humanity.
By a miracle of mercy, he fed five thousand at once with five
loaves and two small fishes. Therefore he had the power to work
a miracle, and satisfy his own hunger. Satan flattered himself
that he could lead Christ to doubt the words spoken from Heaven
at his baptism. If he could tempt him to question his sonship,
and doubt the truth of the word spoken by his Father, he would
gain a great victory.
He found Christ in the desolate wilderness without companions,
without food, and in actual suffering. His surroundings were
most melancholy and repulsive. Satan suggested to Christ that
God would not leave his Son in this condition of want and suffering.
He hoped to shake the confidence of Christ in his Father, who
had permitted him to be brought into this condition of extreme
suffering in the desert, where the feet of man had never trod.
Satan hoped that he could insinuate doubts as to his Father's
love, which would find a lodgment in the mind of Christ, and
that, under the force of despondency and extreme hunger, he
would exert his miraculous power in his own behalf, and take
himself out of the hands of his Heavenly Father. This was indeed
a temptation to Christ. But he cherished it not for a moment.
He did not for a single moment doubt his Heavenly Father's love,
although he was bowed down with inexpressible anguish. Satan's
temptations, though skillfully devised, did not move the integrity
of God's dear Son. His abiding confidence in his Father could
not be shaken.
Jesus did not condescend to explain to his enemy how he
was the Son of God, and in what manner as such he was to act.
In an insulting, taunting manner Satan referred to the present
weakness and the distressed appearance of Christ in contrast
with his own strength and glory. He taunted Christ with being
a poor representative of the angels, much less of their exalted
Commander, the acknowledged King in the royal courts, and that
his present appearance indicated that he was forsaken of God
and man. He said that, if Christ was indeed the Son of God,
the monarch of Heaven, he had power equal with God, and he could
give him evidence of this and relieve his hunger by working
a miracle, by changing the stone just at his feet into bread.
Satan promised that, if Christ would do this, he would at once
yield his claims of superiority, and that the contest between
himself and Christ should there be forever ended.
Christ did not appear to notice the reviling taunts of
Satan. He was not provoked to give him proofs of his power,
but meekly bore his insults without retaliation. The words spoken
from Heaven at his baptism were precious evidence to him that
his Father approved the steps he was taking in the plan of salvation,
as man's substitute and surety. The opening heavens, and descent
of the heavenly dove, were assurances that his Father would
unite his power in Heaven with that of his Son upon the earth,
to rescue man from the control of Satan, and that God accepted
the effort of Christ to link earth to Heaven, and finite man
to the infinite God.
The tokens received from his Father were inexpressibly
precious to the Son of God through all his severe sufferings,
and the terrible conflict with the rebel chief. And while enduring
the test of God in the wilderness, and through his entire ministry,
he had nothing to do in convincing Satan of his power, and that
he was the Saviour of the world. Satan had sufficient evidence
of his exalted station. His unwillingness to ascribe to Jesus
the honor due to him, and to manifest submission as a subordinate,
ripened into rebellion against God, and shut him out of Heaven.
It was not part of the mission of Christ to exercise his
divine power for his own benefit, to relieve himself of suffering.
This he had volunteered to take upon himself. He had condescended
to take man's nature, and he was to suffer the inconveniences,
ills, and afflictions of the human family. He was not to perform
miracles on his own account; he came to save others. The object
of his mission was to bring blessings, hope, and life, to the
afflicted and oppressed. He was to bear the burdens and griefs
of suffering humanity.
Although Christ was suffering the keenest pangs of hunger
he withstood the temptation. He repulsed Satan with the same
scripture he had given Moses to repeat to rebellious Israel
when their diet was restricted, and they were clamoring for
flesh-meats in the wilderness,
"Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God."
In
this declaration, and also by his example, Christ would show
man that hunger for temporal food was not the greatest calamity
that could befall him. Satan flattered our first parents that
eating the fruit which God had forbidden them, would bring to
them great good, and would insure them against death, the very
opposite of the truth which God had declared to them. "But of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat
of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die." If Adam had been obedient, he would have known neither
want, sorrow, nor death.
If the people who lived before the flood had been obedient
to the word of God, they would not have perished by the waters
of the flood. If the Israelites had been obedient to the words
of God, he would have bestowed upon them special blessings.
But they fell in consequence of the indulgence of appetite and
passion. They would not be obedient to the words of God. Indulgence
of perverted appetite led them into numerous and grievous sins.
If they had made the requirements of God their first consideration,
and their physical wants secondary, in submission to God's choice
of proper food for them, not one of them would have fallen in
the wilderness. They would have been established in the goodly
land of Canaan, a holy, happy people with not a feeble one in
all their tribes.
The Saviour of the world became sin for the race. In becoming
man's substitute, Christ did not manifest his power as the Son
of God; but ranked himself among the sons of men. He was to
bear the trial of temptation as a man, in man's behalf, under
the most trying circumstances, and leave an example of faith
and perfect trust in his Heavenly Father. Christ knew that his
Father would supply him food when it would be for his glory.
He would not in this severe ordeal, when hunger pressed him
beyond measure, prematurely diminish one particle of the trial
allotted to him, by exercising his divine power.
Fallen man when brought into straightened places could
not have the power to work miracles on his own behalf, to save
himself from pain or anguish, or to give himself victory over
his enemies. It was the purpose of God to test and prove the
race, and give them an opportunity to develop character by bringing
them frequently into trying positions to test their faith and
confidence in his love and power. The life of Christ was a perfect
pattern. He was ever, by his example and teachings, learning
man that God was his dependence, and that in him should be his
faith and firm trust.
Christ knew that Satan was a liar from the beginning,
and it required strong self-control to listen to the propositions
of this insulting deceiver, and not instantly rebuke his bold
assumptions. Satan was expecting that the Son of God would,
in his extreme weakness and agony of spirit, give him an opportunity
to obtain advantage over him by provoking him to engage in controversy
with him. He designed to pervert the words of Christ and claim
advantage, and call to his aid his fallen angels to use their
utmost power to prevail against and overcome him.
The Saviour of the world had no controversy with Satan,
who was expelled from Heaven, because he was no longer worthy
of a place there. He who could influence the angels of God against
their Supreme Ruler, and against his Son, their loved commander,
and enlist their sympathy for himself, was capable of any deception.
Four thousand years he had been warring against the government
of God, and had lost none of his skill or power to tempt and
deceive.
Because man fallen could not overcome Satan with his human
strength, Christ came from the royal courts of Heaven to help
him with his human and divine strength combined. Christ knew
that Adam in Eden with his superior advantages might have withstood
the temptations of Satan and conquered him. He also knew that
it was not possible for man out of Eden, separated from the
light and love of God since the fall, to resist the temptations
of Satan in his own strength. In order to bring hope to man,
and saved him from complete ruin, he humbled himself to take
man's nature, that with his divine power combined with the human
he might reach man where he is. He obtained for the fallen sons
and daughters of Adam that strength which it is impossible for
them to gain for themselves, that in his name they might overcome
the temptations of Satan.
The exalted Son of God in assuming humanity draws himself
near to man by standing as the sinner's substitute. He identifies
himself with the sufferings and afflictions of men. He was tempted
in all points as man is tempted that he might know how to succor
those who should be tempted. Christ overcame on the sinner's
behalf.
Jacob in the night vision saw earth connected with Heaven
by a ladder reaching to the throne of God. He saw the angels
of God, clothed with garments of heavenly brightness, passing
down from Heaven and up to Heaven upon this shining ladder.
The bottom of this ladder rested upon the earth, while the top
of it reached to the highest Heavens, and rested upon the throne
of Jehovah. The brightness from the throne of God beamed down
upon this ladder, and reflected a light of inexpressible glory
upon the earth. This ladder represented Christ who had opened
the communication between earth and Heaven.
In Christ's humiliation he descended to the very depths
of human woe in sympathy and pity for fallen man, which was
represented to Jacob by one end of the ladder resting upon the
earth, while the top of the ladder, reaching unto Heaven, represents
the divine power of Christ, grasping the Infinite, and thus
linking earth to Heaven, and finite man to the infinite God.
Through Christ the communication is opened between God and man.
Angels may pass to and fro from Heaven to earth with messages
of love to fallen man, and to minister unto those who shall
be heirs of salvation. It is through Christ alone that the heavenly
messengers minister to men.
Adam and Eve in Eden were placed under most favorable
circumstances. It was their privilege to hold communion with
God and angels. They were without the condemnation of sin. The
light of God and angels was with them, and around about them.
The Author of their existence was their teacher. But they fell
beneath the power and temptations of the artful foe. Four thousand
years had Satan been at work against the government of God,
and he had obtained strength and experience from determined
practice.
Fallen men had not the advantages of Adam in Eden. They
had been separating from God for four thousand years. The wisdom
to understand, and power to resist, the temptations of Satan
had become less and less, until Satan seemed to reign triumphant
in the earth. Appetite and passion, the love of the world, and
presumptuous sins were the great branches of evil out of which
every species of crime, violence, and corruption grew. Satan
was defeated in his object to overcome Christ upon the point
of appetite. And here in the wilderness Christ achieved a victory
in behalf of the race upon the point of appetite, making it
possible for man, in all future time in his name to overcome
the strength of appetite on his own behalf.
But Satan was not willing to cease his efforts until he
had tried every means to obtain victory over the world's Redeemer.
He knew that with himself all was at stake, whether he or Christ
should be victor in the contest. And in order to awe Christ
with his superior strength he carried him to Jerusalem and set
him on a pinnacle of the temple, and continued to beset him
with temptations. He again demanded of Christ that if he was
indeed the Son of God to give him evidence by casting himself
from the dizzy height upon which he had placed him. He urged
Christ to show his confidence in the preserving care of his
Father by casting himself down from the temple.
In Satan's first temptation upon the point of appetite
he had tried to insinuate doubts in regard to God's love and
care for Christ as his Son, by presenting his surroundings and
his hunger as an evidence that he was not in favor with God.
He was unsuccessful in this. He next tried to take advantage
of the faith and perfect trust Christ had shown in his Heavenly
Father, to urge him to presumption.
"If
thou be the Son of God cast thyself down; for it is written,
He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their
hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy
foot against a stone.
" Jesus promptly answered, "It is written again, Thou
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
The sin of presumption lies close beside the virtue of perfect
faith and confidence in God. Satan flattered himself that he
could take advantage of the humanity of Christ to urge him over
the line of trust to presumption. Upon this point many souls
are wrecked. Satan tried to deceived Christ through flattery.
He admitted that he was right in the wilderness, in his faith
and confidence that God was his Father under the most trying
circumstances. He then urged Christ to give him one more proof
of his entire dependence upon God, one more evidence of his
faith that he was the Son of God, by casting himself from the
temple. He told Christ that if he has indeed the Son of God
he had nothing to fear, for angels were at hand to uphold him.
Satan gave evidence that he understood the Scriptures by the
use he made of them.
The Redeemer of the world wavered not from his integrity,
and showed that he had perfect faith in his Father's promised
care. He would not put the faithfulness and love of his Father
to a needless trial, although he was in the hands of an enemy,
and placed in a position of extreme difficulty and peril. He
would not a Satan's suggestion tempt God by presumptuously experimenting
on his providence. Satan had brought in Scripture which seemed
appropriate for the occasion, hoping to accomplish his designs
by making the application to our Saviour at this special time.
Christ knew that God could indeed bear him up if he had
required him to throw himself from the temple. But to do this
unbidden, and to experiment upon his Father's protecting care
and love, because dared by Satan to do so would not show his
strength of faith. Satan was well aware that if Christ could
be prevailed upon, unbidden by his Father, to fling himself
from the temple to prove his claim to his Heavenly Father's
protecting care, he would in the very act show the weakness
of his human nature.
Christ came off victor in the second temptation. He manifested
perfect confidence and trust in his Father during his severe
conflict with the powerful foe. Our Redeemer, in the victory
here gained, has left man a perfect pattern, showing him that
his only safety is in firm trust and unwavering confidence in
God in all trials and perils. He refused to presume upon the
mercy of his Father by placing himself in peril that would make
it necessary for his Heavenly Father to display his power to
save him from danger. This would be forcing providence on his
own account, and he would not then leave for his people a perfect
example of faith and firm trust in God.
Satan's object in tempting Christ was to lead him to daring
presumption, and to show human weakness that would not make
him a perfect pattern for his people. He thought that should
Christ fail to bear the test of his temptations there could
be no redemption for the race, and his power over them would
be completed.
The humiliation and agonizing sufferings of Christ in
the wilderness of temptation were for the race. In Adam all
was lost by transgression. Through Christ was man's only hope
of restoration to the favor of God. Man had separated himself
at such distance from God by transgression of his law that he
could not humiliate himself before God in any degree proportionate
to the magnitude of his sin. The Son of God could fully understand
the aggravating sins of the transgressor, and, in his sinless
character, he alone could make an acceptable atonement for man,
in suffering the agonizing sense of his Father's displeasure.
The sorrow and anguish of the Son of God for the sins of the
world were proportionate to his divine excellence and purity,
as well as to the magnitude of the offense.
Christ was our example in all things. As we see his humiliation
in the long trial and fast to overcome the temptation of appetite
in our behalf, we are to learn how to overcome when we are tempted.
If the power of appetite is so strong upon the human family,
and its indulgence so fearful, that the Son of God subjected
himself to such a test, how important that we feel the necessity
of having appetite under the control of reason. Our Saviour
fasted nearly six weeks, that he might gain for man the victory
upon the point of appetite. How can professed Christians, with
enlightened consciences, and with Christ before them as their
pattern, yield to the indulgence of those appetites which have
an enervating influence upon the mind and body? It is a painful
fact that habits of self-gratification at the expense of health
and moral power are, at the present time, holding a large share
of the Christian world in the bonds of slavery.
Many who profess godliness do not inquire into the reason
of Christ's long period of fasting and suffering in the wilderness.
His anguish was not so much from the pangs of hunger as from
his sense of the fearful result of the indulgence of appetite
and passion upon the race. He knew that appetite would be man's
idol, and would lead him to forget God, and would stand directly
in the way of his salvation.
Our Saviour showed perfect confidence that his Heavenly Father
would not suffer him to be tempted above what he should give
him strength to endure, but would bring him off conqueror, if
he patiently bore the test to which he was subjected. Christ
had not, of his own will, placed himself in danger. God had
suffered Satan, for the time being, to have this power over
his Son. Jesus knew that, if he preserved his integrity in this
extremely trying position, an angel of God would be sent to
relieve him if there was no other way. He had taken humanity,
and was the representative of the race.
Satan saw that he prevailed nothing with Christ in his second
great temptation. "And the devil, taking him up into an high
mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a
moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power
will I give thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered
unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou therefore
wilt worship me, all shall be thine."
In the first two great temptations, Satan had not revealed
his true purposes or his character; he claimed to be an exalted
messenger from the courts of Heaven, but he now throws off his
disguise. In a panoramic view he presented before Christ all
the kingdoms of the world in the most attractive light, while
he claimed to be the prince of the world.
This last temptation was the most alluring of the three.
Satan knew that Christ's life must be one of sorrow, hardship,
and conflict. And he thought he could take advantage of this
fact to bribe Christ to yield his integrity. Satan brought all
his strength to bear upon this last temptation; for this last
effort was to decide his destiny as to who should be victor.
He claimed the world as his dominion, and that he was the prince
of the power of the air. He bore Jesus to the top of an exceeding
high mountain, and then in a panoramic view presented before
him all the kingdoms of the world that had been so long under
his dominion, and offered them to him in one great gift. He
told Christ that he could come into possession of all these
kingdoms without suffering or peril. Satan promises to yield
his scepter and dominion, and to make Christ the rightful Ruler,
for one favor from him. All he requires in return for making
over to him the kingdoms of the world that day presented before
him, is that Christ shall do him homage as to a superior.
The eye of Jesus for a moment rested upon the glory presented
before him; but he turned away, and refused to look upon the
entrancing spectacle. He would not endanger his steadfast integrity
by dallying with the tempter. When Satan solicited homage, Christ's
divine indignation was aroused, and he could no longer tolerate
his blasphemous assumption, or even permit him to remain in
his presence.
Here
Christ exercised his divine authority, and commanded Satan to
desist. "Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
Satan,
in his pride and arrogance, had declared himself to be the rightful
and permanent ruler of the world, the possessor of all its riches
and glory, claiming homage of all who lived in it, as though
he had created the world and all things that were therein. Said
he to Christ, "All this power will I give thee, and the glory
of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I
will I give it." He endeavored to make a special contract with
Christ, to make over to him at once the whole of his claim,
if he would worship him.
This insult to the Creator moved the indignation of the Son
of God to rebuke and dismiss him. Satan had flattered himself
in his first temptation that he had so well concealed his true
character and purposes that Christ did not recognize him as
the fallen rebel chief whom he had conquered and expelled from
Heaven. The words of dismissal from Christ. "Get thee hence,
Satan," evidenced that he was known from the first, and that
all his deceptive arts had been unsuccessful upon the Son of
God. Satan knew that if Jesus should die to redeem man, his
power would end after a season, and he would be destroyed. Therefore
it was his studied plan to prevent, if possible, the completion
of the great work which had been commenced by the Son of God.
If the plan of man's redemption should fail, he would retain
the kingdom which he then claimed, and if he should succeed,
he flattered himself that he would reign in opposition to the
God of Heaven.
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