8
THE KING’S BUSINESS
means. Then after a few years, we can talk to them in a language they can understand.” Now, some one made this reply, and it struck me as very forcible, “ My dear friend, you go down to the slums o f Boston where your settlement work is, and preach Jesus Christ for forty five minutes and they will know more about the Fatherhood o f God than they can learn from your life in twelve years!” I believe he spoke the truth. When you have seen Christ you have seen the Father; and when you have par taken of the nature of Christ,’ you have partaken of the nature of the Father. We have received the Spirit of Christ, that expresses itself towards the Father in the familiar language of the nursery. Again, Sonship and Heirship. “ If a son, then an heir o f God through Christ.” It seems to me that is rather stable. The heirship depends upon the sonship, and the sonship is abso lutely immutable—once a son always a son. You can never unson a man. You can do a great many other things to him, but if you make anything de pend upon his sonship that is his for surety. “ If sons, then heirs.” And if I am certain that I am a son I am just as certain of heaven as if I was there. Possession and Expression—sonship and heirship rejoicing together. That brings us to a study of the Temptation o f Jesus as a Testing of the Incarnation. Shall we read a few Scriptures out of which our study will come? You will find them, o f course, in Matthew 4 ; then in Mark 1 and Luke 4. In Matthew 4 : “ Then was Jesus led up o f the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. And when He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was afterward an hungered. And when the Tempter came to Him he said, ‘ If thou be the Son of God, com mand that these stones be made bread.’ But He answered and said,
‘It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the Devil taketh him up into the holy city and setteth Him on a pinna cle o f the temple and saith unto Him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thy self 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. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the Devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain and showeth Him all the kingdoms o f 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. Then saith Jesus unto Mim, ‘Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the Devil leaveth Him; and, behold, angels came and minis tered unto Him.” As a vestibule to our study, let us read some verses from Mark 1: 10-12, “ And straight way coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him, and there came a voice from heaven say ing, Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And im mediately the Spirit, driveth Him into the wilderness.” Satan cometh (1 read between the lines) was summoned to this confer ence, and he came reluctantly. Back in the Garden of Eden he had defeat ed the first Adam, when everything was in his favor; and now he is sum moned to meet the last Adam in the wilderness when everything will be against him. I am quite certain that Jesus went to this conflict shrinkingly. It was a crisis in the history of the human race. Great battles always mark crises. The battles of Yorktown and Gettysburg
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker