The Tempter

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 16, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 33.

The Tempter.—"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." Matt. 4:8, 9.

The Lost Dominion.—God created the earth for the home of man, to be ruled in righteousness. Man, created upright but free to choose, was given dominion over the beautiful world. In an evil hour, to that fair home, came the tempter. Our first parents listened, argued, parleyed with him, and fell. The dominion held by the prince, Adam, was yielded to Satan. Yielding himself to Satan's power, man yielded all under him, and Satan became ruler de facto, tho not ruler de jure. Tho ruler in fact, he is not ruler by right. He is a usurping satrap, under the sentence of condemnation by the Suzerain Lord of the entire realm, who waits that all may choose, and that righteousness may be seen to be life, and that sin and rebellion and departure from God may be seen to be death.

The Means of Restoration.—Man fell by sin; sin became incarnate. Man could maintain his rule only by righteousness; for in righteousness only is life and continuance. He can regain the lost ground only in righteousness. But as he himself had sinned and had become the bond-servant of Satan, through self and sin, it is manifest that never of himself nor in himself could he conquer the usurper and win back his own. God saw the pitiable condition into which man had brought himself and his posterity, and He "so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The Son of God gave Himself. God became incarnate in the flesh where sin was incarnate. The battle was fought in the flesh between the lusts of the flesh inherent through sinful birth, and the Spirit of God inhering through faith, and the Spirit won; man's liberty was assured.

“All these things will I give Thee if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

The Temptations.—The Son of God became Son of man. He took all man's limitations, infirmities, weaknesses, temptations, that by faith He might win for man all victories. He was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." "It behooved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted." "Wherefore also He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through Him."

The Temptation, the Weapon.—Christ was the Tempted for all; He is the Saviour for all. The victim of hellish hate and temptation for all becomes the Victor over all satanic power for all. He met and vanquished the enemy with the same weapon we must use—the simple Word of God. Satan presents the glory of the world and authority to rule. He tells the Second Adam that He need not take the hard way of rejection by His own, of persecution, of

Gethsemane, of the blood-stained cross, of the closed sepulcher; he asks not pain and toil and crucifixion, only an act of homage, "and all shall be Thine." Jesus met him with: "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Jesus, the Loyal, could not crucify one principle of righteousness; He could not sever one single fiber which bound Him to the Father’s throne, to save Himself from eternal death. And right was might, tho right met the death of the cross for our sakes.

The Lesson.—Not for the sake of Jesus personally was this temptation recorded, but for all who follow. When power, position, wealth, fame, honor are offered to a soul at the cost of the sacrifice of one principle of right, Satan is making the offer; and that soul who yields the principle bows in worship before the prince of evil. As Satan came to Christ, so he comes to the church of Christ. He came to the persecuted church in the early centuries, offered her ease, wealth, emolument, if she would but yield just a little of the Word of God, that she more readily might win the heathen; and she yielded. The result was the heathening of the church, the union of Church and State, and all its fearful harvest of crime and death of the Dark Ages. Satan is before the professed Protestant churches to-day. He is offering wealth, culture, influence, power. He says: "You may have power through politics. You may control caucuses. If necessary, you may fill the ranks of the armies of the world with Christian men. Thus you may conquer the world. True, to do these things will be a departure from the Word of God, from the simplicity and purity of the Gospel, from faith in your professed Master, Jesus, from following in His example. But here are the glories of earth, the splendor of magnificence, the plentitude of power; only fall down and worship before me, and all shall be thine." And, O, the sad, pitiful thing is, the once sweetly pure and beautiful church is yielding, yielding, oftentimes without shame; oftentimes "Her shame is her boast and pride."

The One Way.—Reader, there is but one way to meet the devil, the straightforward, unyielding, uncompromising course of righteousness as revealed in Jesus Christ. It is the way of the cross. It is not the way of the world. "What would Jesus do now?" you ask. He would do now just what He did when He met the tempter, when He walked the hills of Judea, when He prayed under the somber shadows in the paschal moonlight. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them from the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth." O, for a worldless church, filled with the Word of God, the heavenly life! But, reader, whatever others may do, let us stand with Jesus Christ. X.