And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Christ answered Satan on the pinnacle of the temple by refusing to throw Himself down to prove His sonship and force His Father to rescue Him. To tempt God is to put His care and protection to a needless trial by deliberately entering peril God has not called one to face and demanding that He display His power to prove something. Such presumption is not faith, for true faith trusts God unwaveringly through trial without experimenting on His providence or requiring Him to work a miracle for self-chosen danger. He would not use divine power to save Himself or gain display before His bitterest foe, because He had agreed to meet temptation as a human being and humanity's representative. His steadfast refusal broke Satan's claimed dominion and won as man's substitute a victory that makes it possible for fallen people to conquer in His name through the divine strength He gives to all who seek it.
Setting of Temptation
The saying belongs to the threefold testing of Christ in the wilderness, a neglected yet most important subject that teaches temperance and carries out the plan of salvation and redemption. It came at the beginning of His public ministry, after His baptism when He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness before His mission began, to be tempted by the devil on behalf of those He came to redeem. There He endured forty days and nights of long fasting, prayer, physical suffering and buffeting with His will submitted to the Father, truly feeling the keenest pangs of hunger as surely as He suffered death on the cross, and afterward angels ministered strength to Him. His victory there shows that those held in bondage by appetite are not hopeless but can overcome through strength from Him, and it stands as an example of self-denial and of divine power joined with humanity gaining victory for humanity.
The words were the answer in the temptation at the holy city on the pinnacle of the temple, where Satan had power to carry Him and place Him on high. There Satan took advantage of Christ's perfect trust and, quoting the promise that angels would bear Him up lest He dash His foot against a stone, dared Him unbidden to cast Himself down as further proof of dependence, sonship and confidence in the Father. Christ refused the challenge to throw Himself down to prove He was the Son of God, answering that God must not be tested. Another scene recalled with this resistance is Satan offering worldly power, wealth and glory in exchange for worship, which Christ would not gain by yielding His integrity.
Satan concealed his real character, coming clothed as an angel of light and as a Heaven-sent friend, and by every device sought to overcome the Redeemer by offering an easier way than the path of trial and suffering He had entered. He brought powerful, subtle temptations with every artifice and force to allure Christ from allegiance and rob Him of integrity as the Son of the Infinite. His urging Christ to cast Himself down from the dizzy height was presumptuous, malicious and intended to destroy Him, the same unsleeping malice that later hunted Jesus from place to place unto Calvary. It was the decisive contest for Satan's empire, dominion, power and prosperity, for he knew by prophecy that Christ's kingdom would embrace all kingdoms of the world and cause his power and glory to cease and bring retribution for sin and misery, so everything concerning his prosperity depended on success in the wilderness. The destiny of the human race and the salvation of man hung on that trial, with Satan seeking through success to win victory over all humanity and establish his own life and kingdom, while God's angels watched with intense interest whether Satan or the Redeemer would prevail.
Faith Not Presumption
Trust in God never means putting His care and protection to a needless trial by deliberately entering danger or recklessly placing oneself in peril to demand rescue. Jesus refused at Satan's urging to imperil His life or throw Himself unbidden from the temple to prove sonship, to prove faith and confidence in the Father, or to force His Father to prove protecting power and display power to save Him. To do so would have been presumption, not faith, and would have failed to leave a true and perfect example of trust. Firm trust and unwavering confidence in God through trials and perils is the believer's safety, and refusing presumption belongs to that example. He trusted that God would give strength to endure temptation and, if necessary, send an angel to deliver Him, without creating danger to demand intervention.
Perfect faith holds firm trust without presumptuously experimenting on providence or putting the Father's faithfulness, love and mercy to a needless trial. On the pinnacle Satan took advantage of Christ's perfect trust, quoting the promise that angels would bear Him up lest He dash His foot against a stone, and dared Him unbidden to cast Himself down as further proof of dependence and sonship. Christ wavered not from integrity but held firm trust through severe conflict with a powerful foe, even while in the enemy's hands in extreme difficulty and peril. Though God could indeed have borne Him up if required, to fling Himself down at Satan's suggestion and dare would not have shown strength of faith but weakness of human nature and daring presumption, forcing providence to display saving power to rescue Him from self-chosen peril on His own account. In this victory He left a perfect pattern that man's only safety in all trials and perils is firm trust and unwavering confidence in God without presuming upon His mercy. Satan's object was to lead Him into daring presumption and expose human weakness so He would not be a perfect pattern, thinking that if Christ failed there could be no redemption and his power over the race would be complete.
To tempt the Lord is to demand that God display His power to give proof of sonship, to settle a dispute, to obtain victory over enemies, or to convince Satan, when God would not be directly honored and glorified thereby. Christians when tempted or when rights are disputed should bear it patiently and not call upon the Lord to display His power for victory unless God can be directly honored and glorified by a special purpose. Jesus would not cast Himself from the pinnacle to prove He was the Son of God, for none would have witnessed it but Satan and God's angels, and it would not have glorified His Father or His work. It would have displayed divine power to His bitterest foe, condescended to and yielded to the one He came to conquer, presumed upon the Father's mercy, and risked life before the appointed mission was fulfilled. That risk would have risked the plan of salvation which Satan hoped to overthrow.
Jesus refused to use miraculous power to escape difficulty or to make a bold display of divine power to save Himself from peril by relying on His Father to keep Him from harm. Faith in God's protection does not justify rashly placing oneself in danger or demanding a miracle. Doing so would have broken His agreement and commitment with His Father to live as a probationer on behalf of the human race and to meet temptation as a human being and humanity's representative.
God's promises of angelic protection do not protect those who presume on them by needlessly choosing peril God has not called them to face. Faith and obedience do not excuse rashness, presumption, breaking nature's laws, or disregarding reason, prudence, sound judgment and the judgment God has given. God is not bound to perform a miracle or send angels to rescue those who recklessly put themselves in danger and expect rescue from self-chosen danger. Claiming protection in such circumstances is presumption, not genuine faith, and meditation and prayer help believers avoid dangerous situations that give Satan advantage. Christians are to depend humbly on providence, reject presumptuous temptations, and use Scripture to resist Satan.
The tempter could urge Christ toward presumption but could not force Him to sin or turn Him from the Father's will. Jesus refused to imperil His life to answer Satan's challenge or to put God to the test through a reckless act to prove His care and faith. He wavered not from integrity and would not depart from that will.
Victory Won for Humanity
Christ overcame as humanity's representative, with divine power joined to His humanity gaining an infinite victory in man's behalf that raised humanity in moral value with God. His long fast and trial in the wilderness on the point of appetite was left as an example of self-denial for man to copy, to convict men of the sinfulness of the indulgences professed Christians enjoy and to show the sinfulness of the very things men take pleasure in. If He conquered appetite there was hope for man to overcome, while defeat would have left man bound by appetite in chains of indulgence without moral power to break free, for His humanity alone could never have endured the test. His victory elevated man in the scale of moral value and supplies power for temperance and sanctification, so that through His name, strength, and merits those enslaved to liquor and tobacco can break the slavery of habit and become victors, proving that people can overcome temptation. Those who understand the mystery of godliness and the atonement and realize that victory was gained for them turn in disgust from church gatherings for pleasure and indulgence of appetite, for socials, festivals, picnics that tempt appetite to over-indulgence and amusements that lead to levity and forgetfulness of God find no sanction in His example, and He as the world's Redeemer is the only safe pattern to copy in order to overcome as He overcame.
His victory reversed Adam's failure and disgrace, for He passed over the ground where Adam fell and defeated every temptation, enduring severe physical suffering and resisting the tempter without yielding. Standing in the sinner's place He endured temptation a hundredfold stronger than any temptation ever brought or to be brought upon the human race, bearing the pressure of Adam's guilt and that of his posterity without failing and coming off more than conqueror of the powers of evil. His victory where Adam failed made it possible for people to overcome through faith in Him, not by their own strength, and the forty days of fasting and prayer show that resisting temptation involves suffering and steadfast effort. As the tried stone bearing every test imposed on Him, He proved He never disappoints those who trust in Him and can endure all burdens and griefs laid upon Him in perfect safety, so that in His strength people can resist the enemy's assaults.
The destiny of the human race and the salvation of man hung on that trial, for Satan sought through success to win a victory over all humanity and establish his own life, kingdom, and power. It was the decisive contest for Satan's empire over the world, for he knew through prophecy that a Saviour was predicted whose kingdom would embrace all the kingdoms of the world, would cause Satan's power and glory to cease, and would bring his retribution for the sins he introduced and the misery he brought upon man, and knowing that everything concerning his prosperity depended on success or failure in overcoming Christ he brought every artifice and force of powerful temptation to allure Him from allegiance. Christ was firm where man is weak in moral power and refused to yield on a single point although brought to great physical suffering and although the most flattering inducements of honor, riches and glory were presented to bribe Him, so the salvation of the race depended on His steadfastness. His steadfastness unmasked the great deceiver, uprooted him from the affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe, and broke his claimed dominion, with the fallen chief leaving the wilderness a conquered foe while joy filled heaven. This victory is the foundation of the plan of salvation and gives fallen man the key whereby in Christ's name he may overcome, though those who indulge appetite at the expense of health and enfeebling of intellect, and who enjoy gatherings of gaiety, pleasure and feasting, cannot appreciate the conflict and lose the infinite victory He achieved for them.
Those battles were fought and won on behalf of humanity to make it possible for fallen people to conquer in Christ's name through divine grace and strength He gives to all who seek it. His wilderness temptation after the forty-day fast broke the power of appetite and won a victory for humanity that makes it possible for people, with divine help and by their own choice, to resist the slavery of perverted appetite and passion. The benefit comes only when each person personally gains the victory, for all remain exposed to the very same temptations Christ overcame and His victory does not benefit them unless each person also gains victory. Satan may distress and cause agony but cannot control the will, contaminate, or force sin without consent, for the tempter has no power to control the will or force the soul to sin, he can cause agony but not defilement. Christ's conquest therefore gives His followers courage to fight manfully the battle against sin and Satan.
That earlier conquest of the arch-enemy shows Jesus is stronger than Satan and explains His calm authority over unclean spirits, for the same evil spirit that tempted Him in the wilderness later met Him in another form in the possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum, where Jesus again faced His enemy and wrested the captive from Satan's grasp by freeing him. Satan keeps the same identity while assuming another form and seeks his object by various devices, also possessing the wicked Jews who rejected Christ and there assuming an air of piety and learning to deceive them about their real motives in refusing the Saviour. After withdrawing from the wilderness Satan turned to strategies through human agents to oppose Jesus during His ministry, and planned to try his schemes against Christ again. That victory prepared Him to face the same enemy again in the return for the last conflict in Gethsemane, in the renewed temptation as He set out for Jerusalem to give His life in obedience, and in the suffering hunted life ending at Calvary where pent-up envy, malice, hatred and revenge burst forth while heaven gazed in silent horror.
Example for Believers
The wilderness victory teaches Christian temperance by long fasting and self-denial, showing that appetite and its power can be denied, resisted, and overcome with divine help drawn from Christ, so that those held in bondage by appetite are not hopeless. The same victory met the leading tests of appetite, love of the world, and love of honor and display on humanity's behalf, forming a righteous character for those who could not form it themselves. Appetites and passions must be brought under control because indulgence weakens mental and moral powers, enfeebles intellect, and turns people from eternal things toward gaiety, feasting, and forgetfulness of God.
Every assault was met with Scripture alone, answering It is said rather than with human words, arguments, or reasons, while enduring a weak and suffering human condition. He gave Satan no opening word to use against Him and no lodgment for attack, though the assaults were severe, and thus proved the power of the word. To resist by relying on God's word rather than circumstances or human weakness is to stand on solid, immovable rock, where what is written carries its own proof and Scripture unlocks Scripture. That same answer refuses to test God or treat Him presumptuously, and shows Christ possessing power for His commission to preach the gospel to all nations, with lack of power on hearts coming not from weakness in the word but from men choosing disobedience and from God's people failing.
Satan himself quoted Scripture in a subtle, misleading attempt to overthrow Christ, and that misuse was answered with Scripture. Such quotations can be made to serve a specious temptation, disguising evil as something good and making the tempter appear as humanity's friend. This is how Scripture can be presented to deceive people.
God's Word is the firm, sufficient defense, and believers are to learn its lessons, hang them in memory's hall, and commit Scripture in spare time instead of foolish reading. When the enemy besets, they are to meet temptation with It is written, answering from memory and speaking words in season to those around them, because arguments and reasons are useless against Satan. That alone is the weapon that repulses him, and by thus meeting temptation with words of Scripture they are strengthened unto perfect characters prepared for transfer to future immortal life where there will be no danger of being overcome.
Following the pattern means meeting temptation without parleying with the enemy, which helps escape defeat. It means rejecting the enemy's suggestions and bribes immediately, keeping from impulsive speech when feelings are stirred or a question provokes, and answering as Jesus did with God's word so as to give Satan no advantage. It means depending humbly on providence, rejecting presumptuous temptations, using Scripture to resist, and refusing to rush needlessly into danger expecting miraculous protection. His victory where Adam failed made it possible to overcome through faith in Him and not by one's own strength, through suffering and steadfast effort shown in forty days of fasting and prayer, and His resistance in appetite, love of the world, and presumption strengthens weak purposes and resolve.
His example teaches followers to resist Satan's devices and find victory over Satan through Christ, showing how they may overcome temptation. He was buffeted and tempted for forty days with His will fully submitted to the Father, tempted in every way and more strongly than His disciples will ever be, yet never yielding for a moment. When He had resisted, Satan left Him for a season and angels ministered to Him with food, strength, grace from God, and the Father's blessing resting on Him. In the same way His followers will be buffeted for a season, and if they resist they will receive grace and strength from God imparted by His angels commissioned to minister to those under assault.
Christ answered Satan on the pinnacle of the temple by refusing to throw Himself down to prove His sonship and force His Father to rescue Him. To tempt God is to put His care and protection to a needless trial by deliberately entering peril God has not called one to face and demanding that He display His power to prove something. Such presumption is not faith, for true faith trusts God unwaveringly through trial without experimenting on His providence or requiring Him to work a miracle for self-chosen danger. He would not use divine power to save Himself or gain display before His bitterest foe, because He had agreed to meet temptation as a human being and humanity's representative. His steadfast refusal broke Satan's claimed dominion and won as man's substitute a victory that makes it possible for fallen people to conquer in His name through the divine strength He gives to all who seek it.
Setting of Temptation
The saying belongs to the threefold testing of Christ in the wilderness, a neglected yet most important subject that teaches temperance and carries out the plan of salvation and redemption. It came at the beginning of His public ministry, after His baptism when He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness before His mission began, to be tempted by the devil on behalf of those He came to redeem. There He endured forty days and nights of long fasting, prayer, physical suffering and buffeting with His will submitted to the Father, truly feeling the keenest pangs of hunger as surely as He suffered death on the cross, and afterward angels ministered strength to Him. His victory there shows that those held in bondage by appetite are not hopeless but can overcome through strength from Him, and it stands as an example of self-denial and of divine power joined with humanity gaining victory for humanity.
The words were the answer in the temptation at the holy city on the pinnacle of the temple, where Satan had power to carry Him and place Him on high. There Satan took advantage of Christ's perfect trust and, quoting the promise that angels would bear Him up lest He dash His foot against a stone, dared Him unbidden to cast Himself down as further proof of dependence, sonship and confidence in the Father. Christ refused the challenge to throw Himself down to prove He was the Son of God, answering that God must not be tested. Another scene recalled with this resistance is Satan offering worldly power, wealth and glory in exchange for worship, which Christ would not gain by yielding His integrity.
Satan concealed his real character, coming clothed as an angel of light and as a Heaven-sent friend, and by every device sought to overcome the Redeemer by offering an easier way than the path of trial and suffering He had entered. He brought powerful, subtle temptations with every artifice and force to allure Christ from allegiance and rob Him of integrity as the Son of the Infinite. His urging Christ to cast Himself down from the dizzy height was presumptuous, malicious and intended to destroy Him, the same unsleeping malice that later hunted Jesus from place to place unto Calvary. It was the decisive contest for Satan's empire, dominion, power and prosperity, for he knew by prophecy that Christ's kingdom would embrace all kingdoms of the world and cause his power and glory to cease and bring retribution for sin and misery, so everything concerning his prosperity depended on success in the wilderness. The destiny of the human race and the salvation of man hung on that trial, with Satan seeking through success to win victory over all humanity and establish his own life and kingdom, while God's angels watched with intense interest whether Satan or the Redeemer would prevail.
Faith Not Presumption
Trust in God never means putting His care and protection to a needless trial by deliberately entering danger or recklessly placing oneself in peril to demand rescue. Jesus refused at Satan's urging to imperil His life or throw Himself unbidden from the temple to prove sonship, to prove faith and confidence in the Father, or to force His Father to prove protecting power and display power to save Him. To do so would have been presumption, not faith, and would have failed to leave a true and perfect example of trust. Firm trust and unwavering confidence in God through trials and perils is the believer's safety, and refusing presumption belongs to that example. He trusted that God would give strength to endure temptation and, if necessary, send an angel to deliver Him, without creating danger to demand intervention.
Perfect faith holds firm trust without presumptuously experimenting on providence or putting the Father's faithfulness, love and mercy to a needless trial. On the pinnacle Satan took advantage of Christ's perfect trust, quoting the promise that angels would bear Him up lest He dash His foot against a stone, and dared Him unbidden to cast Himself down as further proof of dependence and sonship. Christ wavered not from integrity but held firm trust through severe conflict with a powerful foe, even while in the enemy's hands in extreme difficulty and peril. Though God could indeed have borne Him up if required, to fling Himself down at Satan's suggestion and dare would not have shown strength of faith but weakness of human nature and daring presumption, forcing providence to display saving power to rescue Him from self-chosen peril on His own account. In this victory He left a perfect pattern that man's only safety in all trials and perils is firm trust and unwavering confidence in God without presuming upon His mercy. Satan's object was to lead Him into daring presumption and expose human weakness so He would not be a perfect pattern, thinking that if Christ failed there could be no redemption and his power over the race would be complete.
To tempt the Lord is to demand that God display His power to give proof of sonship, to settle a dispute, to obtain victory over enemies, or to convince Satan, when God would not be directly honored and glorified thereby. Christians when tempted or when rights are disputed should bear it patiently and not call upon the Lord to display His power for victory unless God can be directly honored and glorified by a special purpose. Jesus would not cast Himself from the pinnacle to prove He was the Son of God, for none would have witnessed it but Satan and God's angels, and it would not have glorified His Father or His work. It would have displayed divine power to His bitterest foe, condescended to and yielded to the one He came to conquer, presumed upon the Father's mercy, and risked life before the appointed mission was fulfilled. That risk would have risked the plan of salvation which Satan hoped to overthrow.
Jesus refused to use miraculous power to escape difficulty or to make a bold display of divine power to save Himself from peril by relying on His Father to keep Him from harm. Faith in God's protection does not justify rashly placing oneself in danger or demanding a miracle. Doing so would have broken His agreement and commitment with His Father to live as a probationer on behalf of the human race and to meet temptation as a human being and humanity's representative.
God's promises of angelic protection do not protect those who presume on them by needlessly choosing peril God has not called them to face. Faith and obedience do not excuse rashness, presumption, breaking nature's laws, or disregarding reason, prudence, sound judgment and the judgment God has given. God is not bound to perform a miracle or send angels to rescue those who recklessly put themselves in danger and expect rescue from self-chosen danger. Claiming protection in such circumstances is presumption, not genuine faith, and meditation and prayer help believers avoid dangerous situations that give Satan advantage. Christians are to depend humbly on providence, reject presumptuous temptations, and use Scripture to resist Satan.
The tempter could urge Christ toward presumption but could not force Him to sin or turn Him from the Father's will. Jesus refused to imperil His life to answer Satan's challenge or to put God to the test through a reckless act to prove His care and faith. He wavered not from integrity and would not depart from that will.
Victory Won for Humanity
Christ overcame as humanity's representative, with divine power joined to His humanity gaining an infinite victory in man's behalf that raised humanity in moral value with God. His long fast and trial in the wilderness on the point of appetite was left as an example of self-denial for man to copy, to convict men of the sinfulness of the indulgences professed Christians enjoy and to show the sinfulness of the very things men take pleasure in. If He conquered appetite there was hope for man to overcome, while defeat would have left man bound by appetite in chains of indulgence without moral power to break free, for His humanity alone could never have endured the test. His victory elevated man in the scale of moral value and supplies power for temperance and sanctification, so that through His name, strength, and merits those enslaved to liquor and tobacco can break the slavery of habit and become victors, proving that people can overcome temptation. Those who understand the mystery of godliness and the atonement and realize that victory was gained for them turn in disgust from church gatherings for pleasure and indulgence of appetite, for socials, festivals, picnics that tempt appetite to over-indulgence and amusements that lead to levity and forgetfulness of God find no sanction in His example, and He as the world's Redeemer is the only safe pattern to copy in order to overcome as He overcame.
His victory reversed Adam's failure and disgrace, for He passed over the ground where Adam fell and defeated every temptation, enduring severe physical suffering and resisting the tempter without yielding. Standing in the sinner's place He endured temptation a hundredfold stronger than any temptation ever brought or to be brought upon the human race, bearing the pressure of Adam's guilt and that of his posterity without failing and coming off more than conqueror of the powers of evil. His victory where Adam failed made it possible for people to overcome through faith in Him, not by their own strength, and the forty days of fasting and prayer show that resisting temptation involves suffering and steadfast effort. As the tried stone bearing every test imposed on Him, He proved He never disappoints those who trust in Him and can endure all burdens and griefs laid upon Him in perfect safety, so that in His strength people can resist the enemy's assaults.
The destiny of the human race and the salvation of man hung on that trial, for Satan sought through success to win a victory over all humanity and establish his own life, kingdom, and power. It was the decisive contest for Satan's empire over the world, for he knew through prophecy that a Saviour was predicted whose kingdom would embrace all the kingdoms of the world, would cause Satan's power and glory to cease, and would bring his retribution for the sins he introduced and the misery he brought upon man, and knowing that everything concerning his prosperity depended on success or failure in overcoming Christ he brought every artifice and force of powerful temptation to allure Him from allegiance. Christ was firm where man is weak in moral power and refused to yield on a single point although brought to great physical suffering and although the most flattering inducements of honor, riches and glory were presented to bribe Him, so the salvation of the race depended on His steadfastness. His steadfastness unmasked the great deceiver, uprooted him from the affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe, and broke his claimed dominion, with the fallen chief leaving the wilderness a conquered foe while joy filled heaven. This victory is the foundation of the plan of salvation and gives fallen man the key whereby in Christ's name he may overcome, though those who indulge appetite at the expense of health and enfeebling of intellect, and who enjoy gatherings of gaiety, pleasure and feasting, cannot appreciate the conflict and lose the infinite victory He achieved for them.
Those battles were fought and won on behalf of humanity to make it possible for fallen people to conquer in Christ's name through divine grace and strength He gives to all who seek it. His wilderness temptation after the forty-day fast broke the power of appetite and won a victory for humanity that makes it possible for people, with divine help and by their own choice, to resist the slavery of perverted appetite and passion. The benefit comes only when each person personally gains the victory, for all remain exposed to the very same temptations Christ overcame and His victory does not benefit them unless each person also gains victory. Satan may distress and cause agony but cannot control the will, contaminate, or force sin without consent, for the tempter has no power to control the will or force the soul to sin, he can cause agony but not defilement. Christ's conquest therefore gives His followers courage to fight manfully the battle against sin and Satan.
That earlier conquest of the arch-enemy shows Jesus is stronger than Satan and explains His calm authority over unclean spirits, for the same evil spirit that tempted Him in the wilderness later met Him in another form in the possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum, where Jesus again faced His enemy and wrested the captive from Satan's grasp by freeing him. Satan keeps the same identity while assuming another form and seeks his object by various devices, also possessing the wicked Jews who rejected Christ and there assuming an air of piety and learning to deceive them about their real motives in refusing the Saviour. After withdrawing from the wilderness Satan turned to strategies through human agents to oppose Jesus during His ministry, and planned to try his schemes against Christ again. That victory prepared Him to face the same enemy again in the return for the last conflict in Gethsemane, in the renewed temptation as He set out for Jerusalem to give His life in obedience, and in the suffering hunted life ending at Calvary where pent-up envy, malice, hatred and revenge burst forth while heaven gazed in silent horror.
Example for Believers
The wilderness victory teaches Christian temperance by long fasting and self-denial, showing that appetite and its power can be denied, resisted, and overcome with divine help drawn from Christ, so that those held in bondage by appetite are not hopeless. The same victory met the leading tests of appetite, love of the world, and love of honor and display on humanity's behalf, forming a righteous character for those who could not form it themselves. Appetites and passions must be brought under control because indulgence weakens mental and moral powers, enfeebles intellect, and turns people from eternal things toward gaiety, feasting, and forgetfulness of God.
Every assault was met with Scripture alone, answering It is said rather than with human words, arguments, or reasons, while enduring a weak and suffering human condition. He gave Satan no opening word to use against Him and no lodgment for attack, though the assaults were severe, and thus proved the power of the word. To resist by relying on God's word rather than circumstances or human weakness is to stand on solid, immovable rock, where what is written carries its own proof and Scripture unlocks Scripture. That same answer refuses to test God or treat Him presumptuously, and shows Christ possessing power for His commission to preach the gospel to all nations, with lack of power on hearts coming not from weakness in the word but from men choosing disobedience and from God's people failing.
Satan himself quoted Scripture in a subtle, misleading attempt to overthrow Christ, and that misuse was answered with Scripture. Such quotations can be made to serve a specious temptation, disguising evil as something good and making the tempter appear as humanity's friend. This is how Scripture can be presented to deceive people.
God's Word is the firm, sufficient defense, and believers are to learn its lessons, hang them in memory's hall, and commit Scripture in spare time instead of foolish reading. When the enemy besets, they are to meet temptation with It is written, answering from memory and speaking words in season to those around them, because arguments and reasons are useless against Satan. That alone is the weapon that repulses him, and by thus meeting temptation with words of Scripture they are strengthened unto perfect characters prepared for transfer to future immortal life where there will be no danger of being overcome.
Following the pattern means meeting temptation without parleying with the enemy, which helps escape defeat. It means rejecting the enemy's suggestions and bribes immediately, keeping from impulsive speech when feelings are stirred or a question provokes, and answering as Jesus did with God's word so as to give Satan no advantage. It means depending humbly on providence, rejecting presumptuous temptations, using Scripture to resist, and refusing to rush needlessly into danger expecting miraculous protection. His victory where Adam failed made it possible to overcome through faith in Him and not by one's own strength, through suffering and steadfast effort shown in forty days of fasting and prayer, and His resistance in appetite, love of the world, and presumption strengthens weak purposes and resolve.
His example teaches followers to resist Satan's devices and find victory over Satan through Christ, showing how they may overcome temptation. He was buffeted and tempted for forty days with His will fully submitted to the Father, tempted in every way and more strongly than His disciples will ever be, yet never yielding for a moment. When He had resisted, Satan left Him for a season and angels ministered to Him with food, strength, grace from God, and the Father's blessing resting on Him. In the same way His followers will be buffeted for a season, and if they resist they will receive grace and strength from God imparted by His angels commissioned to minister to those under assault.