2. CHRIST AND THE CHRISTIAN
TEMPTED TO DISTRUST DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
"And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He
was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If
Thou be the Son of God, command 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 proceeds out of the mouth of God."-Matt. iv. 2-4.
Such was the first temptation of our Lord. And the
intelligent reader will not fail to trace a striking analogy with the
temptation presented to our first parents: both temptations having to do
with appetite, both springing from the same source, and both
involving an indictment of God: the one, impeaching the Divine veracity; the
other, the Divine goodness. "When the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was pleasant to the eye, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat." And so listening to
the declaration of the serpent-"Ye shall not surely die"-and
yielding to the temptation, she ate of the fruit, and brought death into our
world and all our woe. And thus in both cases-that of the First and that of
the Second Adam-the temptation took the form of an appeal to appetite.
"And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an
hungered."
Satan, with an intelligence and cunning peculiarly his
own, knows how to shape his assault to the time and circumstance of the
assailed. In no instance were his knowledge and subtlety more conspicuous
than now, and in no instance was his shaft leveled at so illustrious a mark.
It was of the physical condition of our Lord that Satan now took
advantage. Forty days and forty nights’ abstinence from food-while the fact
on the one hand demonstrated His Deity, on the other it confirmed His
Humanity-must have produced an effect upon His bodily frame, intensely
exhausting. How natural, yet how artful, that Satan, availing himself of
this peculiarly trying position of Christ, should select from his quiver an
arrow so singularly appropriate and so precisely aimed! And in this
particular we trace a close parallel of the Christian’s temptation to
Christ’s. In both instances the enemy adroitly adapts his temptation to the
individual circumstances of his victim. Seizing upon our physical, mental,
and spiritual condition-the infirmity of the body, the depression of the
mind, and the spiritual phases of the soul-he selects the most fitting
shaft, and with the accuracy of an eye that never misses, hits the very
centre of his mark. The appeal of Satan, as we have remarked, was to the
physical feeling of hunger-the most natural and powerful of all the
animal conditions of our nature. It has exerted and vindicated its
all-potent and stern authority in instances where intellect the most
commanding, and genius the most brilliant, and heroism the most
lion-hearted, and even piety the most fervent, have acknowledged its
supremacy and kissed its scepter. And now came the battle! Availing himself
of this physical infirmity-the painful, gnawing, cravings of nature-the
subtle Foe thus approaches with his battery-"When the Tempter came to Him
he said, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
How suitable and subtle this form of temptation! His first step is to
place in a questionable light the Divine Sonship of our Lord: "If Thou be
the Son of God." He does not-and he dare not-deny it; but investing the
fact with a thin transparent veil of reality, he would fain throw upon our
Lord the proof of His Divine Messiahship. Full well, and despairingly, did
the wily Demon know that Christ was the Son of God! Listen, my reader, to
the reluctant yet honest confession: "The unclean spirit cried out, saying,
What have I to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? I know Thee who Thou
art, the Holy One of God." "And devils (demons) came out of many, crying out
and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God." Satan delights in a shining
mark! The loftier the position and the holier the employment, the greater is
his malignity and the more artful and persevering his assault. Oh, were ever
before, or since, his barbed arrows hurled at such a being as Christ? Such
is the form in which he often moulds his temptation of the Christian. He
will set you doubting your sonship and questioning your saintship, and then
set you upon a line of unscriptural and questionable proof, which will but
give countenance to his charge, and involve the fact of your conversion in a
yet more impenetrable mystery. An important truth confronts us here-viz.,
that the devils never absolutely denied, but invariably acknowledged, the
Deity of our Lord. It was left for man-fallen, sinful man-to do what demons
never attempted-to pluck the diadem of Divinity from His brow, and trail it
in the dust!
And now, mark the subtle form of the temptation: "If Thou
be the Son of God-or, as the original would sustain the rendering, ‘Seeing
Thou art the Son of God’-command that these stones be made bread."
How natural and plausible the temptation! Jesus was enduring the torturing
pangs of hunger: how natural and how easy to have proved His Divinity by
thus supplying the pressing needs of His Humanity! That He could by a single
volition have converted the stones into bread, Satan himself did not doubt.
But would it have been morally right? Would He not thus have brought His
miraculous power into collision with Divine providence? Most assuredly! He
would have performed a miracle at the expense of His Father’s glory. And how
does our Lord quench this flaming dart of Satan? With what weapon does He
foil His subtle foe? It is with "The Sword of the Spirit, which is the
Word of God." "He answered and said, it is written, Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God." The meaning of these words is obvious.
Our Lord, as man, lived as much a life of faith on the
Father as we. We too much overlook this fact. He could not in all points
have been tempted like as we are had this not been so. Oh, I love to trace
this life of faith which my Lord and Savior lived! And when I am
tempted and tried-when the ‘cruse of oil and the barrel of meal’ are
well-nigh exhausted, oh it is blessed to recall the moment when He who bore
my sins in His own body on the tree, was an hungered and thirsted; and as
Man, poor, needy, and often dependent upon the bounty of others-for the holy
women ministered unto Him of their substance-He trusted in the providence
and promise of His God. It was the taunt of His murderers when writhing in
agony upon the cross-"He trusted in God: let Him deliver Him now, if He
will have Him." Little thought they to what a blessed fact in our Lord’s
history they were unwittingly testifying-the faith of Christ in His Father!
To this particular assault of Satan the Christian is
constantly exposed. We have remarked upon Satan’s wisdom and sagacity in
moulding his temptations to the circumstances of the tempted. In nothing,
perhaps, is this more apparent than in availing himself of times of
difficulty and need to inject distrust of the Divine power and goodness. To
the Christian in temporal embarrassment he will suggest a worldly mode of
relief, compromising the simplicity of his faith and dishonoring the
faithfulness of his Lord. "Command these stones that they be made bread." To
a man in deep and pressing poverty-a true Christian or a worldling-he will
insinuate some scheme of obtaining money of doubtful expediency-the
gambling-table, the turf, the stock-exchange, or some other speculative mode
equally dishonest and dishonorable;-so tempting the bait and so skilful the
angling, as effectually to attract and fatally to ensnare the soul not
conversant with, or suspicious of, his devices. It is but the old policy a
thousand times over-"Command these stones that they be made bread." Oh, let
us ‘resist the Devil, that he may flee from us!’ But, beloved, has
your Heavenly Father ever given you reason to distrust His providence, to
doubt His love? You have often felt the pressure of need; it may be, the
gnawings of hunger, the weight of trouble-has He not as often appeared for
your relief? The temptation, perhaps, has been to set you upon debating the
fact of your Divine sonship, and consequently to distrust your Divine
Father; and thus doubting your filial relation to God, and calling in
question the reality of your conversion to Christ, you have equally doubted
God’s paternal care of you. Satan, well knowing that he has shorn the locks
of your strength, has lessened your moral power, and weakened the only and
all-powerful motive to a loving, childlike reliance upon the providential
care of your Heavenly Father, thus setting you upon the vain,
God-dishonoring task of satisfying the gnawings of hunger by converting
stones into bread!
But how are you to resist the temptation and foil the
tempter? With the weapon wielded by your Lord-"The Sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of God." "But He answered and said, it is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God." It is an interesting fact that the only offensive part
of the Christian armor is the "Sword of the Spirit"-all other parts of the
panoply are defensive. With this we are to oppose, and with this
vanquish, our foe. Faith grasping the weapon-"It is written"-renders the
soul invulnerable to the most flaming darts, and the weakest combatant
invincible to the most subtle foe. We have nought to lean upon but the naked
Word of God-nor want we more. Our blessed Lord summoned no angels to His
rescue, neither did He draw upon the infinite resources of His Godhead-both
He might have done. But, to teach His saints in all ages, and under all
temptations, that by the Word of God alone they were to conquer, He
met and repulsed every assault of Satan by the words, "It is written." Are
we tempted to distrust the providence of God in a time of pressing need?
Prompted by atheistical unbelief, are we resorting to unscriptural and
unlawful means-commanding the stones that they be made bread? Oh, let us
pause in our folly and sin, and fix the eye upon those Divine, magic
words-"It is written." Dwell upon them for a moment. Are you in
trouble? It is written-"Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will
deliver thee." Are you in want? It is written-"My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Are we cast down
with overwhelming care? It is written-"Be careful for nothing, but by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving, make known your requests unto God." Are
you painfully conscious of the power of indwelling sin? It is written-"Sin
shall not have dominion over you." Are you assailed by the ungodly world? It
is written-"In this world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I
have overcome the world." Measuring the faithfulness of God by the
inconstancy of man, are you tempted to believe that the Divine faithfulness
and power and love of God will finally fail you? It is written-"Let your
conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye
have; for He has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we
may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man shall do
unto me." Are your sins many and as scarlet: your sense of guilt heavier
than you can bear? It is written-"The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son,
cleanses us from all sin!" In a word-Are you in pressing need-wanting bread,
pinched with hunger? It is written-"He shall dwell on high: his place of
defence shall be the munitions of rock: bread shall be given him; his water
shall be sure." Enough! It is written-"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but
My words shall not pass away." But, oh infinitely beyond the wants of the
body are the needs of the soul! It is written-"Man doth not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God doth man
live." This is the bread by which we really live-Christ Jesus, the
bread of life. "I am the bread of life" Oh, ye who are striving and toiling
for the bread that perishes, remember the words of God-"Man doth not live by
bread alone." This is not your life-this not your true bread. The
body will resolve itself into its original element, and "earth to earth,
ashes to ashes, dust to dust," will be its final condition; but the soul,
immortal as its Sire, will live on through the endless cycles of eternity.
For this, our present and future state, God has provided by the gift of His
beloved Son-the bread that comes down from heaven, which gives life to the
world. By this bread alone you really live! The soul has needs that God only
can meet-hunger that Christ alone can supply-yearnings that eternity alone
can compass. Oh, starve not your soul for the body-rob not your higher,
nobler, and more enduring nature to meet the appetites and demands of a
nature fleeting, transient, and perishing, and which soon will perish! It is
written-"What will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his
own soul?" Oh, feed not your soul on ashes; turn from the husks of worldly
wealth, carnal delight, human ambition, political place and power,-and heed
the wants, and respond to the claims, and satisfy the yearnings and
aspirations of the soul-destined to live in Heaven or Hell for ever!
"Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of
the mouth of God doth man live." Bend your ear to His gracious but most
solemn words-"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eats My flesh
and drinks My blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last
day." Lord! evermore give me this bread.
"Bread of Heaven! on Thee I feed,
For Thy flesh is meat indeed!
Evermore my soul be fed
With this true and living Bread!
Day by day with strength supplied
Through the life of Him who died.
"Vine of Heaven! Thy blood supplies
This vast cup of sacrifice.
’Tis Thy wounds my healing give;
To Thy cross I look and live.
Thou my life! oh let me be
Rooted, grafted, built on Thee!"