p. 6 | TAKEN UNAWARES by G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 9, 1901

TAKEN UNAWARES.

By G.

Not long ago a storm in a mountain region of Scotland laid low a large section of fir trees. An eye-witness says the trees were all laid in one direction. He also states the reason why they all gave way to the fury of the storm. It was in a region where the prevailing winds come from a certain quarter. Even storms, which are not by any means rare, nearly always come in the course of the prevailing winds. But this storm which caused such destruction of trees came in just the opposite course, and the strong denizens of the forest, which had so long withstood the blasts from the usual direction, gave way and were uprooted.

Trees that are subjected to much wind grow strong in root, and take firm hold in the ground. If the winds come from different directions, the tree becomes strong all around, rooted and grounded against sudden blasts from any quarter. But the particular trees which we have noted as having been suddenly destroyed were only fortified on the one side. They were not prepared for attack from an unusual source. They had not been subjected to the trials that would have strengthened and braced their stays on all sides. Hence their downfall.

There is a lesson in the fate of these trees. We have an enemy who is keen to discern our weak points, and if there is any side of us not thoroly fortified by the Word of God, this enemy will be sure to attack us from that quarter; and he will be sure to take us unawares. Many of the trials and bitter experiences thru which men pass are necessary to test them and to strengthen them in the faith, that they may be “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.”

Satan tempted our Saviour especially on the point of getting through this life easily; and of accomplishing his purpose without trial and hardship. He found the anointed One weak, emaciated, and suffering from hunger in the wilderness. At once comes the suggestion that all this suffering is unnecessary. As tho Jesus had overlooked the easy manner of relief, the tempter says, “If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” What a simple, easy way out of the dilemma—not only for that occasion, but for all time! What harm to make bread for Himself out of any available material, when He, the Provider for the world, was dying of hunger? Had He not, thru Moses, called water from the rock for His people? and had He not miraculously given them bread from heaven forty years in the wilderness? Humanly speaking, the suggestion was opportune. Who of us would starve in the wilderness if we had the power to make bread of the stones that lay about us in abundance?

But the Son of God was anchored on that side of the proposition to seek an easy way to success. He had lived a temperate life in the faith of His mission of temptation and suffering in this sinful world; and He knew the consequences of the first Adam’s failure to resist the unlawful demands of appetite at the suggestion of this same tempter. So He withstood the sudden attack by means of the strong stay of the Word of God,—“It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

But the tempter artfully attacked Him from another side. Jesus desired to convince the world that He was the Son of God; why not avoid the hard way He had marked out, and at once convince the one who held the dominion of the world? Would not that be a royal success? So “the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and seteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto Him, 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.” But the Saviour of sinners was anchored on that side also by another strong root of the infallible Word,—“It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God.” The Son of God had witnessed the failure of too many acts of presumption to be overthrown by that means; and His experience and example are “written for our learning.”

After this victory, however, Jesus was suddenly set upon from another quarter. His mission was to establish His kingdom in the earth, and eventually to redeem the dominion from the hand of the usurper. Now the tempter suggests an easy way to accomplish this object, a way in which all conflict or controversy would be avoided: “Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto Him, all these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.” What an opportunity for Christ to win the world for Himself! Here is the arch-opponent, from whom He expects to wrench the dominion by means of suffering and death, voluntarily proposing to give it up at the very outset of the campaign! But the condition? O, that was merely nominal, just a little formality, only one act of formal worship in return for so great a concession!

Christian, has the tempter never offered you a glittering advantage for just a trifling compromise of principle on your part? Have you never been tempted to depart just a little from known duty in order to make a large gain for the benefit of the cause?

This was the last and the crowning temptation that came to Jesus. But He was anchored on this side also. In short, He was “rooted and grounded” on all sides. No matter from which point the storm came, He stood fast. His last reply to the temptation to seek a flowery path to victory over sin and its results, was of the same character as His former replies: “Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” And herein lay His victory over temptation,—He obeyed that which “is written” in the Scriptures of truth, instead of the flattering promises of an easier way, which so often come to those who start out to serve God.

There is but one easy way to success in the race for eternal life, and that is the way which Christ made easy for us by His own great trials and suffering in our behalf. There is naught but failure and death in the proposals of the world. The Master says: “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Only by walking in His footsteps—in “the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus”—can we become so “rooted and grounded in love” for the truth that the enemy never can take us unawares. “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Eph. 6:11. G.