Satan Departing, Angels Ministering

Satan Departing, Angels Ministering

(No. 2326)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1893.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST
15, 1889.

"And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him
for a season." Luke 4:13.

"Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto
Him."

Matthew 4:11.

BELOVED Friends, we have very much to learn from our Lord's temptation.
He was tempted in all points, like as we are. If you will study the
temptation of Christ, you will not be ignorant of Satan's devices. If
you see how He worsted the enemy, you will learn what weapons to use
against your great adversary. If you see how our Lord conquers
throughout the whole battle, you will learn that, as you keep close to
Him, you will be more than conqueror through Him that loved you. From
our Lord's temptation we learn, especially, to pray, "Lead us not into
temptation." Let us never mistake the meaning of that petition! We are
to pray that we may not be tempted, for we are poor flesh and blood and
very frail. It is for us to cry to God, "Lead us not into temptation."
But we also learn a great deal from the close of our Lord's great
threefold trial. We find Him, afterwards, peaceful–ministered unto by
angels–and rejoicing. That should teach us to pray, "But, if we must
be tempted, deliver us from the evil," or, as some render it, and very
correctly, too, "Deliver us from the Evil One." First, we pray that we
may not be tempted at all and then, as a supplement to that prayer,
yielding the whole matter to Divine Wisdom, "If it is necessary for our
manhood, for our growth in Grace, for the verification of our Graces
and for God's Glory, that we should be tempted, Lord, deliver us from
the evil, and especially deliver us from the impersonation of evil, the
Evil One!"

With that as an introduction, for a short time, tonight, let me call
upon you to notice in our text, first, the devil leaving the tempted
One–"Then the devil left Him." Secondly, we shall keep to Matthew's
Gospel and notice the angels ministering to the tempted One after the
fallen angel had left Him. And then, thirdly, the limitation of the
rest which we may expect–the limitation of the time in which Satan
will be gone–for Luke puts it, "When the devil had ended all the
temptation, he departed from Him for a season," or, as some put it,
"until a fit opportunity," when he would, again, return, and our great
Lord and Master would once more be tried by his wicked wiles.

I. First, we have as the subject for our happy consideration, THE DEVIL
LEAVING THE TEMPTED ONE.

When did the devil leave our Lord? When he had finished the temptation.
It must have been a great relief to our Divine Master when Satan left
Him. The very air must have been more pure and fit to be breathed. His
soul must have felt a great relief when the evil spirit had gone
away–but he went not, we are told, until he had finished all the
temptation. So Luke puts it–"When the devil had ended all the
temptation, he departed from Him for a season." Satan will not go till
he has shot the last arrow from his quiver. Such is his malice that as
long as he can tempt, he will tempt. His will desires our total
destruction, but his power is not equal to his will. God does not give
him power such as he would like to possess–there is always a limit set
to his assaults. When Satan has tempted you throughout and ended all
his temptation, then he will leave you. You have not yet undergone all
forms of temptation, so you may not expect absolutely and altogether to
be left by the arch-enemy.

It may be a long time, when you are suffering from his attacks, before
he will hold his hand, for he will try all that he possibly can to lead
you into evil and to destroy the Grace that is in you. Still, he does
come to an end with his temptations sooner than he desires, for, as God
has said to the mighty sea, "Until this time shall you come, but no
further; and

here shall your proud waves be stayed"–and so says He to the devil.
When He permitted Satan to try the Graces of Job and to prove his
sincerity, He let him go just so far, but no farther. And when he asked
for a further stretch of power, still there was a limit. There is
always a limit to Satan's power and when he reaches that point, he will
be pulled up short–he can do no more. You are never so in the hands of
Satan as to be out of the hands of God. You are never so tempted, if
you are a Believer, that there is not a way of escape for you! God
permits you to be tried for many reasons which, perhaps, you could not
altogether understand, but which His infinite wisdom understands for
you. But He will not suffer the rod of the wicked to rest upon the lot
of the righteous. It may fall there, but it shall not rest there. The
Lord may let you be put into the fire, but the fire shall be heated no
hotter than you are able to bear. "When the devil had ended all the
temptation, he departed from Him."

Satan did not depart from Christ, however, until he had also failed in
every temptation. When the Lord had foiled him at every point–had met
every temptation with a text of Holy Scripture and had proved His own
determination to hold fast His integrity and not let it go–it was not
till then that the enemy departed. Oh, Brothers and Sisters, if you can
hold out, if you can stand against this and then, against, that. If you
are protected against frowns and protected against flatteries. If you
are protected against prosperity and against adversity. If you are
protected against sly insinuations and open attacks–when you have won
the day, as by God's Grace you will do, even as your Master did–then
the enemy will depart from you! "Well," says one, "I wish that he would
depart from me, for I have been sorely troubled by him," to which I say
most heartily, "Amen."

Let us think, for a minute or two, about when Satan will depart from
the child of God, as he did from the great Son

of God.

I have no doubt that he will do that when he finds that it is necessary
for him to be somewhere else. Satan is not everywhere and cannot be,
for he is not Divine. He is not Omnipresent, but, as one has said,
although he is not everywhere present, it would be hard to say where he
is not, for he moves so swiftly, he is such an agile spirit, that he
seems to be here and there and everywhere. And where he is not in
person, he is represented by that vast host–the legions of fallen
spirits who are under his control. And even where they are not, he
carries out his evil devices so that he leaves the leaven to work, the
evil seeds to grow when he, himself, has gone elsewhere. Yet it is,
probably, not many times in one's life that any man is actually called
into conflict with Satan, himself, personally. There are too many of
us, now, for him to give all his time and strength to one–he has to be
somewhere else. Oh, I long to be the means of multiplying the number of
God's people by the preaching of the Word of God, that the Gospel of
the Grace of God may fly abroad and bring in myriads–that the devil
may have more to do and, therefore, not be able to give so much of his
furious attention, as he does in one direction and another, to the
children of God!

He also leaves God's people very quickly when he sees that they are
sustained by superior Grace. He hopes to catch them when Grace is at a
low ebb. If he can come upon them when faith is very weak, when hope's
eyes are dim, when love has grown cold–then he thinks that he will
make an easy capture. But when we are filled with the Spirit as the
Master was, (God grant that we may be), he looks us up and down and he
presently leaves. Like an old pirate who hangs about on the lookout for
merchant vessels, but if he meets with ships that have plenty of guns
on board and hardy hands to give him a warm reception, he goes after
some other craft not quite so well able to resist his assaults. Oh,
Brothers and Sisters, be not merely Christians, only barely Christians,
with just enough Grace to let you see your imperfections, but pray to
God to give you mighty Grace, that you may "be strong in the Lord, and
in the power of His might," so that, after the devil has tested you and
found that the Lord is with you, that God dwells in you, then you may
expect that, as it was with your Master, so it will be with you–Satan
will leave you.

Sometimes I think, however, that Satan personally leaves us because he
knows that not to be tempted is, to some men, a greater danger than to
be tempted! "Oh," you say, "how can that be?" Brothers, Sisters, do you
know nothing of carnal security, of being left, as you think, to grow
in Grace and to be very calm, very happy and, as you hope, very useful
and to find beneath you a sea of glass with not a ripple on the wave?
"Yes," you say, "I do know that experience and I have been thankful for
it." Have you never found creeping over you, at the same time, the idea
that you are somebody, that you are getting wonderfully experienced,
that you are an eminent child of God, rich and increased in goods? And
have you not said, like David, "I shall never be moved"?

Possibly you have looked askance on some of your friends who have been
trembling and timid and crying to God, from day to day, to keep them.
You have been Sir Mighty–you have been Lord Great-One and everybody
must bow down before you! Ah, yes, you have now fallen into a worse
condition than even those are in who are tempted of Satan! A calm in
the tropics is more to be dreaded than a tempest! In such a calm
everything gets to be still and stagnant, the ship scarcely moves. It
is like a painted ship on a painted sea and it gets to be in something
like the state described by Coleridge's Ancient Mariner–

"The very deep did rot– Alas, that ever this should be! And slimy
things with legs did crawl Over the slimy sea."

"Oh," you say, "that is horrible!" Yes, and that is the tendency of a
soul that is at peace with itself and is not emptied from vessel to
vessel. I fear that is often the case with those who believe themselves
to be supernaturally holy. A curious fact can be proven by abundant
evidence, namely, that the boast of human perfection is closely
followed by obscenity and licentiousness! The most unclean sects that
have ever defaced the page of history have been founded by those who
had the notion that they were beyond temptation, that they had ceased
to sin and could never transgress again. "Ah," says Satan, "this notion
does my work a great deal better than tempting a man! When I tempt him,
then he stands up to resist me. He has his eyes open, he grasps his
sword and puts on his helmet. He cries to God, "Lord, help me!' And he
watches night and day–and the more tempted he is–the more he looks to
God for strength. But if I leave him quite alone and he goes to sleep,
well, then, he is not in the battle! And if he begins to feel quite
secure, then I can steal in upon him unawares and make a speedy end of
him." This is one reason why Satan leaves some men untempted. A roaring
devil is better than a sleeping devil–and there is no temptation much
worse than that of never being tempted at all.

Again, I doubt not that Satan leaves us–no, I know that he does–when
the Lord says to him what He said in the wilderness, "Get you hence,
Satan." And He does say that when He sees one of His poor children
dragged about, tortured, wounded, bleeding. He says, "Get you hence,
Satan. I permit you to fetch in My stray sheep; but not to worry them
to death. Get you hence, Satan." The old Hell-dog knows his Master and
he flies at once.

This voice of God will come when the Lord sees that we cast ourselves
wholly upon Him. In my Brother's prayer, he suggested to us, if you
remember, that in casting our burden upon the Lord, we might not be
able to get rid of it. The way was to cast ourselves and our burden,
both, upon the Lord. The best way of all is to get rid of the burden
entirely, to cast yourself, but without your burden, upon the Lord! Let
me remind you of a story that I once told you, of a gentleman who,
riding along in his coach, saw a packman carrying a heavy pack, and
asked him if he would like a ride. "Yes, and thank you, Sir." But he
kept his pack on his back while riding. "Oh," said the friend, "why do
you not take your pack off and put it down in front?" "Why, Sir," he
said, "it is so kind of you to give me a ride that I do not like to
impose upon your good nature, and I thought that I would carry the pack
myself!" "Well," said the other, "but, you see, it makes no difference
to me whether you carry it or do not carry it–I have to carry you and
your pack–so you had better unstrap it and put it down in front."

So, Friend, when you cast your burden upon God, unstrap it! Why should
you bear it yourself when God is prepared to bear it? Beloved, there
are times when we forget that, but when we can come and absolutely
yield ourselves right up, saying, "Lord, here I am, tempted, poor and
weak. But I come and rest in You. I know not what to ask at Your hands,
but Your servant has said, 'Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He
shall sustain you: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.' I
lie at your feet, my Lord. Here I am, here would I be. Do with me as
seems good in Your sight–only deal in tender mercy with Your servant."
Then will the Lord rebuke the enemy! The waves of the sea shall be
still and there shall be a great calm.

So much for the devil leaving the tempted One. He does so, he must do
so, when God commands it.

II. But now, secondly, let us think Of THE ANGELS MINISTERING TO THE
TEMPTED ONE.

The angels came and ministered to our Lord after Satan was gone. Notice
that they did not come while our Lord was in the battle. Why not? Why,
because it was necessary that He should tread the winepress alone, and
because it was more glorious for Him that of the people there should be
none with Him! Had there been any angels there to help Him in the duel
with the adversary, they might have shared the honor of the victory,
but they must stay away till the fight is over. But when the foe is
gone, then the angels come. It has been noted that it does not say that
the angels came very often and

ministered to Jesus, as much as to make us think that they were always
near, that they hovered within earshot, watching, and ready to
interpose if they might. They were a bodyguard round about our Lord,
even as they are, today, about His people, for, "are they not all
ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs
of salvation?" But the moment that the fight was over, then the angels
came and ministered to Christ. Why was that?

I suppose, first, because, as Man, He was especially exhausted. He was
hungry, we are told, and that proves exhaustion. But, besides that, the
strain offorty days' temptation must have been immense! Men can bear up
under a strain, but when it is eased, then they fall. Elijah can do
marvels. He can strike the priests of Baal and behave like a hero, but,
after it is all over, Elijah fails! As Man, our Lord was subject to the
sinless infirmities of our flesh, and it was necessary that angels
should come and minister to Him, even as the angel did in the Garden,
after the agony and bloody sweat.

But it was also because, being Man, He was to partake of the ministry
which God had allotted to man. He has appointed angels to watch over
His own people and, inasmuch as Jesus is our Brother, as the children
were partakers of the ministry of angels, He, Himself, also took part
with the same that He might show how He took our weakness upon Him and,
therefore, needed and received that succor which the Father has
promised to all His children.

Was it not, again, because He was so beloved of the angels and they
were so loyal to Him? They must have been amazed when they saw Him born
on earth and living here in poverty! And when they saw Him tempted of
the enemy, they must have loathed the adversary. How could Satan be
permitted to come so near their pure and holy Master? I think that
Milton could have pictured this scene and that he would have drawn
every seraph there as longing to let his sword of flame find a scabbard
in the heart of the foul fiend that dared to come so near to the Prince
of purity! But they must not interfere. Yet, as soon as they might,
then they joyfully came and ministered to Him.

And does it not also go to show that His was a Nature very sensitive to
the angelic touch? You and I are coarse, hardhearted–

"Myriads of spirits throng the air– They are about us now."

Women are to cover their heads in worship "because of the angels."
There are many acts of decorum in holy worship that are to be kept up
"because of the angels." They are innumerable. They are sent to
minister to us, but we are not aware of them–often we do not perceive
them. But Jesus was all tenderness and sensitiveness–and He knew that
the angels were there, so it was easy for them to come and minister to
Him. What they did in ministering to Him, we cannot tell. I should
certainly think that they sustained His bodily Nature, for He was
hungry and they readily brought food to Him. But they also sustained
His mental and His spiritual Nature with words of comfort. The sight of
them reminded Him of His Father's house, reminded Him of the Glory
which He had laid aside. The sight of them proved that the Father did
not forget Him. He had sent the household troops of Heaven to succor
and support Him. The sight of them must have made Him anticipate the
day of which the poet sings–

"They brought His chariot from above, To bear Him to His Throne–
Clapped their triumphant wings and cried, 'The glorious work is done!'"

Well now, Brothers and Sisters, if we are tempted, shall we have any
angels to succor us? Well, we shall certainly have the equivalent of
angels! Oftentimes, after a temptation, God sends His human messengers.
Many of you can tell how, when you have been hearing the Word after a
bad time of temptation, the Gospel message has been wonderfully sweet
to you. You have sat in your pew and said, "God sent that sermon on
purpose for me." Or, if you have not had a sermon, you have read the
Bible and the Words have seemed to burn and glow on the page! And you
have warmed your soul by their heat. Has it not been so with you often?
Are not all the holy things more sweet after trial than they were
before? Have you not found them so? I bear my willing witness that
never does Christ seem so precious, never do the promises seem so rich
and rare, never does Evangelical Doctrine cling so closely to my heart,
and my heart to it, as after a time of painful trial when I have been
laid aside from holy service and racked with anguish! Oh, then the
angels come and minister to us, in the form of men who preach the Word,
or in the form of the living page of God's written Word!

I have noticed, too, that God sometimes cheers His tempted people with
clear sunshine after rain, by some very gracious Providences. Something
happens that they could not have looked for–so pleasant, so altogether
helpful–that they have had to burst into singing, though just before
they had been sighing! The cage door was set wide open and

God's bird has had such a flight and sung so sweetly, as it mounted up
to Heaven, that the soul seemed transformed into a holy lark in its
ascending music! Have you not found the Lord very gracious to you after
some severe trial, or some strong temptation? I believe that this will
be the testimony of many experienced Christians.

And, as these choice Providences come, so, I do not doubt, there also
come actual angels ministering to us, though we are unaware of their
presence. They can suggest holy thoughts, I doubt not, to bring us
comfort. But, above the angels, far superior to angelic help, is the
Holy Spirit, the Comforter! How sweetly can He close up every wound and
make it even sing as it heals! He makes the bones that God had broken
to rejoice and fills us with a deeper experience of delight than we
have ever known before!

Well now, I suppose that some of you here, tonight, are in this
condition–that Satan has left you and angels are ministering to you.
If so, you are very happy. Bless your God for it! There is a great
calm. Thank God for the calm after the storm. I hope, my Brothers and
Sisters, that you are the stronger for what you have endured, and that
the conflict has matured you, and prepared you for something better.
Now, what did our Lord do after the devil had left Him and the angels
had come to minister to Him? Did He go home and stay there and begin to
sing of His delightful experiences? No, we find Him preaching directly
afterwards, full of the Spirit of God. He went everywhere, proclaiming
the Kingdom of God. He was found in the synagogue, or on the hillside.
Just in proportion as the Spirit of God had enabled Him to overcome the
enemy, we find Him going forth to spend that strength in the service of
His Lord!

O tempted one, have you a respite? Spend that respite for Him who gave
it to you! Is it calm, now, after a storm? Go, now, and sow your fields
with the good Seed! Have you wiped your eyes and are the salt tears
gone? Go sing a Psalm, then–sing unto your Well-Beloved–and go down
into His vineyard and take the foxes, and prune the vines, and dig
about them–and do necessary work for Him who has done so much for you!
Listen! You have been set free! There are many under bondage to
Satan–not as you are, fighting against him–but his willing slaves.
Oh, come, my Brothers and Sisters–your God has set you free–go after
them! Go after the fallen woman and the drunken man. Go, seek and find
the most debauched, the most depraved. Specially look after any of your
own house who have played the prodigal–

"Oh, come, let us go and find them! In the paths of death they roam–
At the close of the day 'twill be sweet to say, 'I have brought some
lost one home!'" And it will be right to say it, if the Lord has dealt
so well with you.

III. Now, I have to close by reminding you of the third point, which is
a searching truth, namely, THE LIMITATION OF OUR REST. Satan left
Christ "for a season," or until a fit occasion.

Did the devil assail our Lord again? I am not sure that he personally
did, but he did so in many ways by others. I notice that, before long,
he tried to entangle Him in His speech. That is a very easy thing to do
with us. Somebody, tonight, can take up something that I have said,
twist it from its connection, and make it sound and seem totally
different from what was meant by it. You know how the Herodians, the
Sadducees, and the Pharisees did this with our Lord–they tried to
entangle Him in His speech. In all of that, Satan led them on. Satan
also actively opposed Christ's ministry and Christ opposed Satan–but
Jesus won the day, for He saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven!

A more artful plan, still, was that by which the devil's servants, the
demons that were cast out of possessed persons, called Jesus the Son of
God. He rebuked them because He did not want any testimony from them.
No doubt the devil thought it a very cunning thing to praise the
Savior–then the Savior's friends would begin to be suspicious of Him
if He was praised by the devil. This was a deep trick, but the Master
made him hold his peace. You remember how He said on one occasion,
"Hold your peace, and come out of him"? It was something like this,
"Down dog! Come out!" Christ is never very polite with Satan–a few
words and very strong ones are all that are necessary for this
arch-prince of wickedness!

Satan tempted our Lord through Peter. That is a plan that he has often
tried with us, setting a friend of ours to do his dirty work. Peter
took his Lord and rebuked Him, when He spoke about being spit upon and
put to death. And then the Lord said, "Get you behind Me, Satan!" He
could see the devil using Peter's tenderness to try to take Him off
from His Self-sacrifice. Oh, how often has Satan tempted us that way,
entangling us in our speech, opposing us in our work, praising us out
of wicked motives to try to deceive us and then setting up some friend
to try to take us off from holy self-denial!

There were also occasional heart-sinking in our Lord. Thus we read in
John 12:27, "Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father,
save Me from this hour?" He seems to have been very heavy in heart at
that time. But the deepest soul-sinking was when, in the Garden, His
soul was "exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death." Satan had a hand in
that sore trial, for the Lord had said, "The Prince of this world
comes," and He said to those who came to arrest Him, "This is your hour
and the power of darkness." It was a dreadful season. Our Lord's
ministry began and ended with a fierce onslaught from Satan. He left
Him after the temptation, but only for a season.

Well now, dear Friends, if we have peace and quietness tonight, and are
not tempted, do not let us become self-secure. The devil will come to
us, again, at a fit opportunity. And when will that be? There are a
great many fit opportunities with you and with me. One is when we have
nothing to do. You know Dr. Watts' lines–

"Satan finds some mischief stiil, For idle hands to do."

He will come and attack us when we are alone. I mean, when we are sad
and lonely, and are sitting still, and moping by ourselves.

But Satan also finds a very fit occasion when we are in company,
especially when it is very mixed company–a company of persons,
perhaps, who are superior to ourselves in education and in station–but
who do not fear God. We may easily be overawed and led astray by them.
Satan will come then.

I have known him frequently come and find an occasion against the
children of God when we are sick and ill, the old coward! He knows that
we would not mind him when we are in good health, but sometimes when we
are down in the dumps through sickness and pain–then it is that he
begins to tempt us to despair.

So will he do with us when we are very poor. When a man has had a great
loss in business, down comes Satan and insinuates, "Is this how God
treats His children? God's people are no better off than other people."

Then, if we are getting on in the world, he turns it the other way, and
he says, "Does Job fear God for nothing? He gets on by his religion."
You cannot please the devil and you need not want to please him! He can
make a temptation for you out of anything!

I am going to say something that will surprise you. One time of great
temptation is when we are very spiritual. As to myself, I have never
been in such supreme danger as when I have led some holy meeting with
sacred fervor and have felt carried away with delight in God. You know
that it is easy to be on the Mount of Transfiguration and then to meet
Satan at the foot, as our Lord did when He came down from that hill.

Another time of temptation is when we have already done wrong. "Now he
begins to slip," says Satan. "I saw him trip. Now I will have him
down!" Oh, for speedy repentance and an earnest flight to Christ
whenever there has been a grave fault, yes, and before the grave fault
comes, that we may be preserved from falling!

And Satan finds a good occasion for tempting us when we have not
sinned. After we have been tempted and we have won the day and stood
fast, then he comes and says, "Now, that was well done on your part,
you are a splendid saint!" And he who thinks himself a splendid saint
is next door to a shameful sinner, depend upon it! And Satan soon gets
the advantage over him.

If you are successful in business or successful in holy work, then
Satan will tempt you. If you are not successful and have had a bad
time, then Satan will tempt you. When you have a heavy load to carry,
he will tempt you. When that load is taken off, then he will tempt you
worse than ever! He will tempt you when you have obtained some blessing
that you have been thinking was such a great gift, just as, in the
wilderness, when they would cry for flesh and said that they must have
flesh, God gave them their heart's desire–but sent leanness into their
soul. Just as you have secured the thing that you are seeking, then
comes a temptation–to which all I have to say is this–"Watch."

"What I say unto you, I say unto all," said Christ, "Watch. Watch and
pray, that you enter not into temptation." And by the conflict and the
victory of your Master, go into the conflict bravely and expect to
conquer by faith in Him, even as He overcame!

But what shall I say to those who are the slaves and the friends of
Satan? The Lord have mercy upon you! If you desire to escape, there is
only one way! There is the Cross and Christ hangs upon it. Look to
Jesus! He can set you free. He came on purpose to proclaim liberty to
the captives. Look and live! Look, now, and live, now! I implore you,
do it for His dear sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: LUKE 4:1-15.

Verse 1. And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from Jordan,
and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. "Full of the Holy
Spirit." And then, led "into the wilderness" to be tempted. You would
not expect that. Yet it is a sadder thing to be led into a wilderness
when you are not filled with the Spirit, and a sadder thing to be
tempted when the Spirit of God is not resting upon you. The temptation
of our Lord was not one to which He wantonly exposed Himself. He "was
led by the Spirit into the wilderness." The Spirit of God may lead us
where we shall have to endure trial. If He does so, we are safe, and we
shall come away conquerors even as our Master did.

2. Being forty days tempted of the devil. Six weeks of temptation! We
read the story of the temptation, perhaps, in six minutes, but it
lasted for nearly six weeks. "Forty days tempted of the devil."

2. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He
afterward was hungry. It does not appear, therefore, that Jesus was
hungry while He was fasting. He was miraculously sustained during that
period. After fasting, one looks for deeper spiritual feeling and more
holy joy. But the most prominent fact, here, is that, "He afterward was
hungry," Think not that you have lost the benefit of your devout
exercises when you do not at once feel it. Perhaps the very best thing
that can happen to you, after much prayer, is a holy hunger. I mean not
a natural hunger, as it was with our Lord, but a blessed hungering
after Divine things. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled."

3. And the devil said unto Him, If You are the Son of God, command this
stone that it be made bread. Satan met the hungry Man and suited the
temptation to His present pangs, to His special weakness at that
moment–"If You are the Son of God, command this stone that it be made
bread." The devil suspected and I think he knew that Jesus was the Son
of God, but he began the temptation with an, "if." He hissed into the
Savior's ear–"If You are the Son of God." If you, Believer, can be led
to doubt your sonship and to fear that you are not a son of God, Satan
will have begun to win the battle. So he begins to storm the royal fort
of faith–"If You are the Son of God." Our Lord is the Son of God, but
then He was suffering as our Substitute–and in that condition He was a
lone and humble Man. What if I call Him, "a common soldier in the
ranks"? Satan invites Him to work a miracle of an improper kind on His
own behalf, but Jesus worked no miracle for Himself. Now, it may be
that the devil is trying some of you, tonight. You are very poor, or
business is going very awkwardly, and Satan suggests that you should
help yourself in an improper manner. He tells you that you can get out
of your trouble very easily by some action which, although it may not
be strictly right, may not be so very wrong after all. He said to
Jesus, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone that it be made
bread."

4. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written. That is Christ's
sword. Look how swiftly He drew it out of its sheath! What a sharp
two-edged sword is this to be used against Satan! You also, Believer,
have this powerful weapon in your hand–let no man take it from you.
Believe in the Inspiration of Scripture. Just now there is a fierce
attack upon the Book of Deuteronomy. It is a very curious thing that
all the texts Christ used during the temptation were taken out of
Deuteronomy, as if that was to be the very armory out of which He would
select this true Jerusalem blade with which He should overcome the
tempter, "It is written," "It is written," "It is said."

4. That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God.
"God can sustain Me without My turning the stone into bread. God can
bring Me through my trouble without My saying or doing anything wrong.
I am not dependent upon the outward and visible." If you can feel like
that. If you can appropriate the promise of God and quote it to Satan,
saying, "It is written," using it as Christ did, you will come off
conqueror in the time of temptation even as He

did!

5. And the devil. Now he tries Him again. There is wave upon wave
trying to wash the Son of Man off His feet.

5. Taking Him up into an high mountain, showed unto Him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. Skeptics have asked how that
could be done. Well, they had better ask him who did it! He knows more
about them and they know more about him than I do! But he did it. I am
sure, for here it is written, that he "showed unto Him all the kingdoms
of the world in a moment of time."

6. And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give You, and the
glory of them: for that is delivered unto and to whomever I will I give
it. Does not he talk proudly in the presence of his Lord and Master?
What an audacious dog he must

have been to howl, thus, in the Presence of Him who could have
destroyed him by a look or a word, if He had wished to do so!

7, 8. If You therefore, will worship me, all shall be Yours. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Get you behind Me, Satan. The temptation
annoyed Him–it was so foreign to His holy Nature it vexed His gracious
spirit–so He cried out indignantly to the tempter, "Get you behind Me,
Satan."

8. For it is written. Here flashed forth the sword again.

8. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
Then let us pay no reverence, no worship to any but God! Consciences
and minds are made for God, alone–before Him let us bow–and if all
the world were offered to us for a moment's idolatry, let us not fall
into the snare of the tempter!

9. And he brought Him to Jerusalem. Satan now takes Christ to holy
ground. Temptations are generally more severe there.

9. And set Him on a pinnacle of the Temple. The highest point of all.
Elevated high above the earth.

9-11. And said unto Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down
from here, for it is written, He shall give His angels charge over You,
to keep You: and in their hands they shall bear You up, lest at any
time You dash Your foot against a stone. Now Satan tries to quote
Scripture, as he can do when it answers his purpose, but he never
quotes it correctly. You young Brothers who go out preaching, mind that
you do not imitate the devil by quoting part of a text, or quoting
Scripture incorrectly! He did it, however, with a purpose–not by
misadventure or from forgetfulness–he left out the very necessary
words, "In all Your ways." "He shall give His angels charge over You,
to keep You in all Your ways." Satan left out those last four words,
for it was not the way of a child of God to come down from a pinnacle
of the Temple headlong into the gulf beneath!

12. And Jesus answering, said unto him, It is said, You shall not tempt
the Lord your God. Do nothing presumptuously. Do nothing which would
lead the Lord to act otherwise than according to His settled Laws which
are always right and good.

13, 14. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed
from Him for a season. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit
into Galilee. He had not lost anything by the temptation, "the power of
the Spirit" was still upon Him.

14,15. And there went out a fame of Him through all the region round
about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. He
became popular. The people resorted to Him and were glad to hear Him.
He who has had secret temptation and private conflict is prepared to
bear open success without being elevated by it. Have you stood foot to
foot with Satan? You will think little of the applause or of the
attacks of your fellow men!