T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
1056
v. 12, Tempt the Lord thy God. To tempt God is to put Him to the proof, to demand evidence of His power and of "His will to fulfill His promises in stead of waiting patiently .and trusting in Him.—Mansel. v 13 Departed from Him for a sea son.' Temptation was now abandoned but was to be resumed again on a fitting opportunity. The reference is Probably to the closing scenes of our Lord s life, when He was again assailed.— Critical Com. The three assaults here bring to mind the three conflicts in the nt rethsemane As He was strength ened by tTe angel after His temptation so angels ministered to Him after the conflict of Gethsemane.— Sel. As in tne wilderness, by every allurement of Dleasure, so in the garden and on the cross, by every avenue of Pain. dl^ t'^® devil seek to shake the second Adam from His steadfastness.— Burgon. PI Jesus Overcomes Temptation. Luke 4' Memory Vers®.— “ Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God.” Luke 4:8. Approach.— Draw quickly on board a Serpent in the form of letter S. Wha is this the picture of? A snake. How many would like to have a real live snake as a pet -to BEGINNERS Play with? No’ we AND PRIMARY do not like snakes, Mabel L. Merrill for many of them are dangerous and their bite is poisonous, and so we stay away from them and let them alone. Now, what letter of the A-B-C does this make? Yes, the letter S. Now, over a little ways from this letter S, I am going to make the letter N. SN does not spell any word, #does it? Can any of you tell me a letter to put in be tween the S and N which will spell a word that most of you can read? Yes, the letter I. Now, all together, say the letters as I point to them: S-I-N. This spells sin, which is such a little word, but a terrible thing which is so big that our world is full of sin today. All over the world we have officers of the law and just lots and lots of police-
false. Satan has a certain limited power assigned to him. The world is under his power, not absolutely or per manently, hut actually. Hence he is called the prince of this world (Jn. la . 31) Worldly glory is within his power, since he may use it for tempting and snaring men.—Ruskin. He claimed this power as Satan and as delivered to him, not by the Lord but by the kings and peoples of this world, who gave their power and honor to the devil (Eph. 2*2). Hence he is called the god of this world and the prince of this world. It was promised to the Son of God that He should have the heathen for ms inheritance (Ps. 2 :8 ). “ Why,” says the devil, “ the heathen are my subjects and votaries. However, they shall be thine. X will give them , to you upon condition that you worship me and say they are rewards which I have given you, and consent "to have and hold them under me.”—Henry. v. 7. All shall he thine. He offers Him universal empire without delay or struggle. He proposes a. short road to redemption. He can save Himself a deluge of blood and tears by one Pas^nS homage to the usurper’s crown. The Gospel so brought in would have been a curse and not a blessing. He seized upon the compromise and crushed it to atoms in the right hand of obedience. —Vaughan. v. 9. Cast thyself down. Satan prompts Jesus to display His suprem acy by challenging the celestial pow ers to do Him the homage of their pro tection. He would not presume to trifle with danger, trusting in an u*Plef Se<* protection.— Pope. The moment trust in God presumes to break any one, even ¿he least of the laws of God, and then expects God to save it from the conse quences of its disobedience, it is not trust but presumption.— Barrett. Satan may tempt us to sin but he cannot make us sin. He may persuade us to cast ourselves down but he cannot cast us down.—Wordsworth, v. 10. It Is written. The devil can quote Scripture and he still uses it to lead men astray.— Garry. After Satan s failure to tempt the Lord away from the Word, he seeks to tempt Him by it. He, however, misquotes by the omis sion of the words, “ in all thy ways (Ps 91’ l l ) The Lord’s ways were those marked out for Him in Perfect dependence upon His Father s will (Heb. 10i:7, 9),— Scofield.
- . . « M m m r v 1
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker