b y J . A llen P e te r s o n
I wonder if you realize that when you were born, you were married, married to a companion who would travel the road of life with you unto the end? Wherever you go in this wide world, this companion will ac company you. Wherever you lay your head to rest at night on any continent, this comrade will be be side you. When you waken in the morning, you will begin another day of association together. This mar riage that God has ordained for you, no man can put asunder. No matter how long you live, you can never abandon or desert it. It will never leave you for rea sons of non-support. You can never sue for separate maintenance. You can never get a divorce. This life long companion is temptation, and it is God's will that you be together until death do you part. Listen to the words of God in James 1:12-16: “ Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren." Verse 14 uses this significant clause: “ Every man is tempted.” That’s true. Everyone is tempted. Temptation knows no strangers. This is an inescap able fact of life. Temptation is the one thing that no one can evade or avoid. If a man is alive, he is tempted. If you have a body in which you live, you will be tempted through that body. If you have a mind through whilh you think, there will be tempta tions through that mind. If you have a social nature by which you enjoy others, there will be temptation through that. Temptation is like the dust; it falls on everyone. It’s like the germs that we carry with us constantly, which attack us when our resistance is low, so that no isolation from people will isolate us from tempta- 40
tion. The priest in the secluded monastery, the hermit in his secret cave, the prisoner in his lonely cell— these have not escaped temptation. Oh, no, it is still their constant companion. There are no exceptions from Adam down to the last man that ever will be born. Temptation is a universal reality. Even Christ Himself was not exempt. As a normal boy and young man, He was tempted. He began His earthly ministry with 40 days of fasting, and in this weakened con dition endured crucial temptations of the devil. Throughout His ministry, this went on. He said to His disciples: “ Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations” (Luke 22:28). No wonder Paul says in Hebrews 2:18 under the inspiration of the Spirit, “ For in that He himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” Also in Hebrews 4:15, we are told that Christ was “ in all points ttempted like as we are, yet without sin.” There was nothing in Him to which Satan could appeal. So He did and could not yield. Now these verses also answer the question wheth er we have fewer temptations after we become Chris tians. No matter how long you have been a Christian, how consistently you walk with Christ, how deep and wonderful is any experience you have with God, you will never be free from temptation. In fact, the more devoted you are to Christ, the more Satan puts forth every effort to make you fall. He will never relax his attention, but will intensify his attacks, because he is determined to undermine and sap our defenses whenever he can. If he cannot do this suddenly, he will seek to wear us out, little by little; but whatever his method of approach, however subtle and insidious, he takes no time off, and is ever alert to every evil opportunity. Temptation is the constant element in which we live. Temptation is a blessing, as well as a battlefield. It’s really a blessing in disguise; it’s an opportunity as well as an obstacle. James declares: “ Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations” (James 1:2). Temptations are our battlegrounds. If there is no war fare, there is no victory. Were it not for frequent- TH E K ING 'S BUSINESS
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