Temptation

“And the devil, taking Him tip into an high mountain, showed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world hi a moment of time” — Luke iv. 5.

The tempter had tried the Son of Man through the power of depression; he now tries Him by the power of exaltation. He had sought to vanquish Him by the scourge of poverty; he now seeks to overcome Him by the vision of plenty. He had brought Him down into the valley and had tempted Him by the dangers of humiliation; he now carries Him up to the mountain and tempts Him by the dangers of elevation. And so the tempter has unwittingly been teaching my heart a lesson. I thought in the days of old that temptation belonged to certain circumstances; I blamed my cross for my sins. I said within myself that if I could only get a changed cross I would immediately get a changed life, that if I could be freed from the burden and heat of the day I would be freed from the sin that so easily besets me. I did not know that I did not get my sin from my circumstances, but that I gave my sin to my circumstances. Why was the Son of Man superior to all circumstances? It was only because He was superior to all sin. Had there been sin in His heart the valley would have had the same chance as the mountain. The sinful heart will incarnate itself in everything, and will find in everything a temptation. It will be tempted by poverty and it will be tempted by wealth; it will be in danger from the stones of the desert, and it will be in danger from the kingdoms of the world and their glory. But the sinless heart will be free from temptation everywhere. It will neither be seduced by the exigencies of the valley of humiliation nor by the allurements of the mountain of elevation; it will not turn the stones into bread to avoid the famine, it will not bow the knee to Baal to purchase a crown.

0 Thou Divine Spirit, that hast proved Thy strength alike over the valley and over the mountain, let me find my strength in Thee.

I need Thee, that I may be strong everywhere. I long to be independent of all circumstances, alike of the cloud and of the sunshine. I want a power to keep me from being depressed in the vale and to prevent me from being giddy on the height; to save me from sinking in despondency and to rescue me from soaring in pride. I want both a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud; a refuge from the night of adversity and a shield from the day of prosperity. I can find them in Thee. Thou hast proved Thy power both over the night and over the day; Thou hast vanquished the tempter in the valley and Thou hast conquered the tempter on the hill. Come into my heart, and Thy power shall be my power. The earth shall be mine and the fulness thereof. I shall be victorious, over all circumstances, at home in all scenes, restful in all fortunes. I shall have power to tread upon scorpions, and they shall do me no hurt; the world shall be mine when Thy Spirit is in me.