The Temptation
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It was in the time of
greatest weakness that Christ was
assailed by the fiercest temptations.
Thus Satan thought to prevail. By
this policy he had gained the victory
over men. When strength failed, and
the will power weakened, and faith
ceased to repose in God, then those
who had stood long and valiantly for
the right were overcome. Moses was
wearied with the forty years’
wandering of Israel, when for the
moment his faith let go its hold upon
infinite power. He failed just upon
the borders of the Promised Land. So
with Elijah, who stood before the
King Ahab, who had faced the whole
nation of Israel, with four hundred
and fifty prophets of Baal at their
head. After that terrible day upon
Carmel, when the false prophets had
been slain, and the people had
declared their allegiance to God,
Elijah fled for his life before the
threats of the idolatrous Jezebel.
Thus Satan has taken advantage of the
weakness of humanity. And he will
still work in the same way. Whenever
one is encompassed with clouds,
perplexed by circumstances, or
afflicted by poverty or distress,
Satan is at hand to tempt and annoy.
He attacks our weak points of
character. He seeks to shake our
confidence in God, who suffers such a
condition of things to exist. We are
tempte4d to distrust God, to question
His love. Often the tempter comes to
us as he came to Christ, arraying
before us our weakness and
infirmities. He hopes to
discourage the soul, and to break our
hold on God. Then he is sure of his
prey. If we would meet him as Jesus
did, we should escape many a defeat.
By parleying with the enemy, we give
him an advantage.
When
Christ said to the tempter, “Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God,” He repeated the
words that, more than fourteen
hundred years before, He had spoken
to Israel: “The Lord thy God led
thee these forty years in the
wilderness with manna, which thou
knowest not, neither did thy fathers
know; that He might make thee know
that man doth not live by bread only
but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of the Lord doth man
live.” Deuteronomy 8::2,3. In
the wilderness, when all means of
sustenance failed, God sent His
people manna from heaven; and a
sufficient and constant supply was
given. This provision was to teach
them while they trusted in God and
walked in His ways He would not
forsake them. The Savior now
practiced the lesson He had taught to
Israel. By the word of God succor had
been given to the Hebrew host, and by
the same word it would be given to
Jesus. He awaited God’s time to
bring relief. He was in the
wilderness in obedience to God, and
He would not obtain food by following
the suggestions of Satan. In the
presence of the witnessing universe,
He testified that it is a less
calamity to suffer whatever may
befall than to depart in any manner
form the will of God.
“Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word of God.” Often the
follower of Christ is brought where
he cannot serve God and carry forward
his worldly enterprises. Perhaps it
appears that obedience to some plain
requirement of God will cut off its
means of support. Satan would make
him believe that he must sacrifice
his conscientious convictions. But
the only thing in our world upon
which we can rely is the word of God.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and His righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto
you.” Matthew 6:33. Even in this
life it is not for our good to depart
from the will of our Father in
heaven. When we learn the power of
His word, we shall not follow the
suggestions of Satan in order to
obtain food or to save our lives. Our
only question will be, What is
God’s command? And what His
promise? Knowing these, we shall obey
the one, and trust the other.
In the
last great conflict of the
controversy with Satan those who are
loyal to God will se every earthly
support cut off. Because they refuse
to break His law in obedience to
earthly powers, they will be
forbidden to buy or sell. It will
finally be decreed that they shall be
put to death. See Revelation
13:11-17. But to the disobedient is
given the promise, “He shall
dwell on high: his place of defense
shall be the munitions of rocks:
bread shall be given him; his waters
shall be sure.” Isaiah 33:16. By
this promise the children of God will
live. When the earth shall be wasted
with famine, they shall be fed.
“They shall never be ashamed in
the evil time; and in the days of
famine they shall be satisfied.”
Psalms 37:19. To that time of
distress the prophet Habakkuk looked
forward, and his words express the
faith of the church: “Although
the fig tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be in the vines;
the labor of the olive shall fail,
and the fields shall yield no meat;
the flock shall be cut off from the
fold, and there shall be no herd in
the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the
Lord, I will joy in the God of my
salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17,18.
Of all
the lessons to be learned from the
Lord’s first great temptation
none is more important than that
bearing upon the control of the
appetites and passions. In all ages,
temptations appealing to the physical
nature have been most effectual in
corrupting and degrading mankind.
Through intemperance, Satan works to
destroy the mental and moral powers
that God gave to man as a priceless
endowment. Thus it becomes impossible
for men to appreciate things of
eternal worth. Through sensual
indulgence, Satan seeks to blot from
the soul every trace of the likeness
to God.
The
uncontrolled indulgence and
consequent disease and degradation
that existed at Christ’s first
advent will again exist, with
intensity of evil, before His second
coming. Christ declares that the
condition of the world will be as in
the days of the Flood, and as in
Sodom and Gomorrah. Every imagination
of the thoughts of the heart will be
on evil continually. Upon the very
verge of that fearful time we are now
living, and to us should come home
the lesson of the Savior’s fast.
Only by the inexpressible anguish
that Christ endured can we estimate
the evil of unrestrained indulgence.
His example declares that our only
hope of eternal life is through
bringing the appetites and passions
into subjection to the will of God.
In our
own strength it is impossible for us
to deny the clamors of our fallen
nature. Through this channel Satan
will bring temptation upon us. Christ
knew that the enemy would come to
every human being, to take advantage
of hereditary weakness, and by his
false insinuations to ensnare all
whose trust is not in God. And by
passing over the ground which man
must travel, our Lord has prepared
the way for us to overcome. It is not
His will that we should be placed at
a disadvantage in the conflict with
Satan. He would not have us
intimidated and discouraged by the
assaults of the serpent. “Be of
good cheer, He says; “I have
overcome the world.” John 16:33.
Let him
who is struggling against the power
of appetite look to the Savior in the
wilderness of temptation. See Him in
His agony upon the cross, as He
exclaimed, “I thirst.” He
has endured all that it is possible
for us to bear. His victory is ours.
Jesus
rested upon the wisdom and strength
of His heavenly Father. He declares,
“The Lord God will help Me;
therefore shall I not be confounded:
… and I know that I shall not be
ashamed…. Behold, the Lord God
will help Me.” Pointing to His
own example, He says to us, “Who
is among you that feareth the
Lord,…that walketh in darkness,
and hath no light? Let him trust in
the name of the Lord, and stay upon
his God.” Isaiah 50:7-10.
“The
prince of this world cometh,”
said Jesus, “and hath nothing in
Me.” John 14:30. There was
in Him nothing that responded to
Satan’s sophistry. He did not
consent to sin. Not even by a thought
did He yield to temptation. So it may
be with us. Christ’s humanity
was united with divinity; He was
fitted for the conflict by the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And He
came to make us partakers of the
divine nature. So long as we are
united to Him by faith, sin has no
dominion over us. God reaches for the
hand of faith in us to direct it to
lay fast hold upon the divinity of
Christ that we may attain to
perfection of character.
And how
is this accomplished, Christ has
shown us. By what means did He
overcome in the conflict with Satan?
By the word of God, Only by the word
could He resist temptation. “It
is written,” He said. And unto
us are given ‘exceeding great
and precious promises: that by these
ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption
that is the world through lust.”
2 Peter 1:4. Every promise in
God’s word is ours. “By
every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God” are we to live.
When assailed by temptation, look not
to circumstances or to the weakness
of self, but to the power of the
word. All its strength is yours.
“Thy word,” says the
psalmist,” have I hid in mine
heart, that I might not sin against
Thee.” “By the word of Thy
lips I have kept me from the paths of
the destroyer.” Psalm 119:11;
17:4.
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