_CHRIST IN THE WILDERNES[1]_ ‘Jesus … was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil.’ Luke 4:1 [1] In the volume on Matthew, twenty-four pages are devoted to the Temptation. It seems convenient, therefore, that Luke’s account should be treated more briefly. Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
_TEMPTED THROUGH THE BODY_ ‘And in those days He did eat nothing.… Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ Luke 4:2 I. TEMPTED THROUGH THE BODY.—Each one of us has a body, and our body has its natural desires, yet most of our temptations to evil come through them. Sometimes... [ Continue Reading ]
_TEMPTED THROUGH THE WORLD_ ‘If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine.’ Luke 4:7 I. THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD.—When our Lord was offered the kingdoms of the world in return for an act of homage, in His mind the proposal would assume the aspect of an expedient for advancing His Kingdom... [ Continue Reading ]
_TEMPTED THROUGH PRESUMPTION_ ‘And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple.… Jesus answering said … Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’ Luke 4:9 I. THIS TEMPTATION CAME TO CHRIST WHEN HE WAS ON A HIGH AND HOLY PLACE.—He was tempted to presume on God’s protection.... [ Continue Reading ]
_PROPHECY FULFILLED_ ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’ Luke 4:21 Jesus had returned to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. It was now some months since He had left His home to go away to Jordan’s side, where John was baptizing. Now He returned alone. In the meantime many th... [ Continue Reading ]
_FAITH AND GRACE_ ‘And He said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is acceptable in his own country. But of a truth I say unto you, There were many widows … and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath.… And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE POWER BEHIND_ ‘His word was with power.’ Luke 4:32 Christ’s word was with power, and it was the consciousness of this that enabled the first Christians, with all their knowledge of human weakness and moral evils, to aim so high, and yet to go forward so hopefully, so triumphantly, into the s... [ Continue Reading ]