THE TEMPTER UNCLOTHED AND NAKED

THE TEMPTER UNCLOTHED AND NAKED

And the first point of interest is that of a perpetual method, incidentally revealed in his attack upon Jesus. Carefully read the quotations from Scripture in which Jesus replied to his attacks, side by side with the passages in the Old Testament.

In answer to the first He said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matt 4:4) That is a quotation from Deuteronomy. "And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Je­hovah doth man live." (Deut. 8:3)

In answer to the second temptation He said, "Again it is written, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God." (Matt. 4:7) That is a quotation from Deuteronomy. "Ye shall not tempt Jehovah your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah." (Deut. 6:16)

In answer to the third He said, "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." (Matt. 4:10) That is a quotation also from Deuteronomy. "Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; and Him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by His name." (Deut. 6:13)

These answers of Jesus reveal the order of the attacks. First BREAD, then TRUST, and then WORSHIP. If the refer­ences in Deuteronomy are now observed, it will be discovered that they are quoted in opposite order to the way in which they occur in the book. In answer to the temp­tation concerning BREAD Christ uttered words to be found in Deut. 8:3. In replying to the temptation directed against TRUST, His quotation was from Deut. 6:16. While in re­plying to that in the realm of WORSHIP, the quotation is from Deut. 6:13. In the law of God, the order is worship, trust, bread. That order the devil inverted, and his temptations proceeded as to bread, trust, and worship. This is a revelation of the perpetual method of Satan, and also of his estimate of humanity. All attempts to work the ruin of man by the enemy are based upon a low concep­tion of human life, to which he attempts to gain the consent of the tempted. His unfailing plan is to act as though man were less than God has called him to be, while he endeavors to degrade him to the level of his own suggestion. He appeals first to man as being animal only, calling him to satisfy his material appetite, as though that were the sum total of life. God never so appeals to man, even in his fall. In spite of the ruin and  the wreckage of human life, the message of God is always one that calls man first to WORSHIP, and a recognition of his spiritual nature, The Divine plan is always that of recog­nizing the Divinity in man, the magnificence of his spiritual being, ruined magnificence today, and yet  truly magnificent in the ruin, because capable of communion with God. The Word of God is ever, "Seek ye first His kingdom;” (Matt. 6:33) and then He appeals to the TRUST in man, and promises him bread and all things necessary. Satan called this Man to feed His physical life, and endeavored to break down His trust in God, and to divert His worship from the true to the false, and so change His allegiance and His service to bondage and slavery.

Then again notice how the enemy silently confessed his defeat. That is impressively evident by the fact that in each temptation the Master gave him but one reply. No second argument was needed. Looking back on that threefold process, in the wilderness, on the wing of the temple, and on the high mountain, there is seen a Man, on each occasion occupying an impregnable position, standing in a fortress that hell is utterly unable to capture, replying to each attack in one brief sentence. The silence of the enemy after the reply of the Lord was a clear confession of his defeat, and a remarkable proof that he is unable to gain any advantage over those who are content to abide, at whatever cost, in the will of God.

To those who know anything of the devices of Satan, and the persistency of his opposition, his silence with regard to each several temptation after the first reply of Jesus, is evidence at once of the perfection of that reply, and the utter humiliation of the foe.

Yet once again, in this temptation there is an intima­tion of the devil's estimate of the worth of Jesus. After showing Him the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, he declared his conviction that to capture the soul of Christ would be a greater victory than all his conquests. He reckoned this perfect Man to be worth all over which he claimed to have gained authority. "All these"! Said the enemy, and the offer included the result of the dreadful persistency of diabolical endeavor through long centuries, the evolution of evil through tedious processes. The spot­less Son of God was, in the estimate of the devil, of more value than all. In effect the enemy said, I will give to You all that has cost so much, if I may but gain for one moment Your homage. It is a stupendous and startling revelation, the devil's estimate of the worth of Christ.  There are persons who say that they cannot understand the expiatory work of Christ on the Cross, be­cause of the difficulty of believing that the suffering and death of One could possibly be sufficient for the redemption of the world. Those who speak of this diffi­culty evidently hold Christ at lower valuation than did the devil. He, comparing the world with the Master, quietly acknowledged the greater worth of Jesus. Satan evidently reckoned that unless he could bring Christ into subjection, nothing he had, would he be able to hold. He evidently recognized the infinite value of this second Man; and understood, moreover, the relation of that undepreciated value to the redemption of the world.

And yet, moreover, remarkable as is this estimate, from another standpoint the offer of Satan was a piece of in­sufferable and impertinent blasphemy. The kingdoms of the world for this pure soul? It seems at first assuredly a great conception of the Master's value, and yet one day, Jesus, holding the scales of infinite accuracy in His right hand, revealed that any life, even though bruised and broken by sin, was worth more than the entire world. Said He, "What doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?" (Mark 8:36) and yet Satan dared to suggest that the pure and spotless One, heaven's delight and earth's hope, might be purchased for the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.

Thus in these scenes of the testing of the Son of Man, Satan is revealed that men may nevermore be ignorant of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11). The last Adam has dragged him from his hiding-place, and held him to view in the clear shining of the light, so that he is known for a liar, the father of lies, for the traducer, the calumniator; and, moreover, for the foe who is defeated, whose power is broken, and who must at last lose his kingdom.