741
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
December 1926
women under his sway, to do his bid ding; a stranger to mercy,' giving no quarter, he is indeed a hard, harsh, cruel tyrant, the unchangeable foe of God and man. (1) THE TEST OF APPETITE, vs. 1 - 4 . “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread,” v. 8. Satan appeared probably in the role of an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), his most subtle manifestation. His first suggestion is, “Satisfy your hun ger. Your desire for bread is natural and legitimate. Show your power as the S o n of God. Make bread of stones.” This is the test of His Deity—“If thou be the Son of God.”- This paral lels the first attack upon Eve. The appeal is to the lust of the flesh, "As sert yourself; use your power.” He was hungry. The power was His. Jesus answers him with the Word of God. He could have answered for Himself, but He answers as a man— the representative Ma n—using t h e Sword of the Spirit and a message pregnant with meaning (Deut. 8:3): «A n d h e hum bled th ee, nnd enR ered th ee to h un ger, and fe d th ee w ith m anna, w h ich th o a k a ew e e t n ot, n eith er did th y fa th e rs k n ow ; th a t he mflffht make ta ea to k n ow th a t m a i d oth a o t l i f t b y b rea d o a ly , but b y e v e ry w o rd th a t »roooed etB ou t o f th e m ou th o f th e L ord d oth How marvellously the Word was ap plied! Humbled, hungry, He waited upon God for food. He is the servant of Jehovah, and the servant does not command but obeys. He will not take Himself out of the will of God. He has power but He will not use it. He multiplies loaves and fishes, but will work no selfish miracle. He has con quered with the unanswerable Word of God. I (2) THE TEST OF AMBITION, vs. 5-8. “It thou wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” From a high mountain Satan gives Him a vision of the kingdoms of the earth and proffers them for His wor ship. This was an appeal to the king- ship of JesuB. The world kingdoms do belong to Satan, else there is no test here. Jesus bo recognizes them. This corresponds with Eve’s last temptation—the lust of the eye. This is the most searching of all. All is Satan’s. All may belong to Jesus, if He wills to bow to Satan. If He refuses, He must set Himself against all the powers of the king doms and against their head; begin a line of warfare and die an ignomin ious death. But the Lord Jesus proves His real kingship by spurning the offer, and gives the final thrust from the Scripture (Deut. 10:20): «T h o a ahalt fe a r th e t e r t *hy God» h im eh alt th o a se rv e , a a d to h im sh a lt th o a cle a v e , a a d iw e a r b y h is aasM . James tells us (Jas. 4:7), "Resist the devil and he will flee from you,” and this tells the story of our Lord’s wonderful victory .and points plainly to the path of victorious living for us. (3) T H E T E S T OF ASSUMPTION, vs. 9-12. “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down,” v. 9.
hours spedt reading His Word, and communing with Him, will send us forth refreshed and strengthened. See Him in Oethsemane. There are seas ons in human experience when noth ing avails but prayer. J e s u s was human as well as divine, and He poured o u t His sorrowful a n d op pressed soul in prayer. Boys and girls are facing big problems and tempta tions in school today. They need the help of morning prayer to prepare them for the work and play of the day. As the body must be made clean, and strengthened with food for the day, so the soul needs strengthening through prayer. "Lord, teach -us to pray.” It is essential to remember that while Jesus is truly God, it is as man He was tested in this combat, though a man “apart from sin.” Great violence can be done to our Lord if we fail to emphasize the words “apart from sin," as it should be rendered in Heb. 4:16. Forty is the period of probation and corresponds to the forty y e a r s of Israel’s testing in the wilderness. Moses and Elijah fasted to meet God, but Christ fasts to meet Satan (Deut. 8:3). The fast strengthens Him in spirit, but weakens Him in body. The battle occurs at the close of the fast when hunger is heavy upon Him. The lesson will lose its significance if the doctrine of Satan is not clearly understood. In fact, the whole Bible is a riddle impossible of solution if the personality and power of Satan are not recognized. Satan’s Personality. The names and acts ascribed to S a t a n in Scripture commence with “Abaddon” and end with “the Wicked One." All sorts of acts are ascribed to him. He walks, talks, fights, oppresses, binds, tempts, etc. His personality is proven by such passages as Gen. 3:1; Job 1:6; Luke 10:18; Acts 6:8; 1 Pet. 6:8. Satan’s Position. He is the acknowl edged ruler of this world (John 12: 31; 14:30; Matt. 12:24, 26). The prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). He is called the “Dragon" (Rev. 12:7); god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4). These four titles are very suggestive as to the scope of his authority. Satan’s Power. As ruler of earth and air, and having access into the heavenlies, Satan has power second only to God Himself. This power must be wrested from Him by the Man whom God has sent into the world. Satan walks up and down over his kingdom, the earth (Job 1:7). He stands in the presence of Ood (Zech. 3:1). He binds on earth (Luke 13:16). He exercises power over man (Acts 26:18). He works with signs and lying wonders (2 Thess. 2:9). He deceives the whole world (Rev. 12:9). Humanity is in his grip. He lords it over the children of men. He drives like a taskmaster. With the forces of air and earth, with demons and fallen angels and wicked men and
School; active in her church and Sun* day School, rushing from one duty to another, with but a few hurried mo ments for prayer. Three weeks later the same girl s a i d , "Prayer h a s changed my life; and oh, I’m so happy.” One of the greatest needs of the Christian today Is to get alone with Ood. There is no phase of the spiritual life that Satan so delights to attack persistently, and If possible in terrupt, as our quiet time with Ood. Will you permit him to spoil yours? Lesson: As we study Christ’s earth ly life, we find He spent much time in prayer, alone with the Father. Fre quently He rose up a great while be fore day to pray. The early morning Golden Text: “In that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able also to succor t h e m t h a t are tempted.” Hebrews 2:18. Lesson Text: Luke 4:1-18; 1 Cor. 10:12, 13. Devotional Reading: Romans 8: 31-39. Additional Material for Teachers: 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Phil. 4:11-18; Heb. 3: 14-18; 4:14-16. O BEYING—John 14 :B »SERVING—Josh. 1:7, 8 VEROOMING—1 John 5:4 Lesson Outline: (1) The Test of Appetite, vs. 1-4. (2) The Test of Ambition, vs. 5-8. (3) The Test of Assumption, vs. 9- 13. Introduction: The portion of Scripture chosen by the Lesson Committee for this lesson projects us into a crucial crisis in the life of our Lord—the beginning of His battle with the prince LESSON of this world. In 1 EXPOSITION John 3:8 we are told: T. O. Horton "For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” To redeem a lost world He must be able to overcome Satan. The conflict is to be continual until the enemy is bound in prison. The scepter was put into Adam’s hand and he was earth’s ruler, God’s representative on earth. Satan came and through subtlety won his heart from God, and the scepter passed from Adam to Satan. When Jesus, the second Man and the last Adam, is accredited as God’s Son, He proceeds to challenge Satan in his own stronghold—the wilderness—with the wild beasts (Mark 1:13). This was the essential opening of the campaign which was to decide who was to be the ruler of this world. Only by victory over Satan can Jesus vindicate God’s character and His own claims.
Jlfe. Jlfe. «Ar j t i
M JANUARY 30, 1927 THE CHRISTIAN OVERCOMING TEMPTATION LUKE 4 il-lS | 1 CORINTHIANS 10»12, IS
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker