The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 12: The Temptation
This chapter is based on Matt. 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13;
Luke 4:1-13.
"And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from
Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." The words of Mark
are still more significant. He says, "Immediately the Spirit driveth Him
into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of
Satan; and was with the wild beasts." "And in those days He did eat
nothing." {DA 114.1}
When Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted, He was
led by the Spirit of God. He did not invite temptation. He went to the
wilderness to be alone, to contemplate His mission and work. By fasting and
prayer He was to brace Himself for the bloodstained path He must travel. But
Satan knew that the Saviour had gone into the wilderness, and he thought this
the best time to approach Him. {DA 114.2}
Mighty issues for the world were at stake in the conflict
between the Prince of light and the leader of the kingdom of darkness. After
tempting man to sin, Satan claimed the earth as his, and styled himself the
prince of this world. Having conformed to his own nature the father and mother
of our race, he thought to establish here his empire. He declared that men had
chosen him as their sovereign. Through his [115]
control of men, he held dominion over the world. Christ had come to disprove
Satan's claim. As the Son of man, Christ would stand loyal to God. Thus it
would be shown that Satan had not gained complete control of the human race,
and that his claim to the world was false. All who desired deliverance from his
power would be set free. The dominion that Adam had lost through sin would be
recovered. {DA 114.3}
Since the announcement to the serpent in Eden, "I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed"
(Genesis 3:15), Satan had known that he did not hold absolute sway over the
world. There was seen in men the working of a power that withstood his
dominion. With intense interest he watched the sacrifices offered by Adam and
his sons. In these ceremonies he discerned a symbol of communion between earth
and heaven. He set himself to intercept this communion. He misrepresented God,
and misinterpreted the rites that pointed to the Saviour. Men were led to fear
God as one who delighted in their destruction. The sacrifices that should have
revealed His love were offered only to appease His wrath. Satan excited the
evil passions of men, in order to fasten his rule upon them. When God's written
word was given, Satan studied the prophecies of the Saviour's advent. From
generation to generation he worked to blind the people to these prophecies,
that they might reject Christ at His coming. {DA 115.1}
At the birth of Jesus, Satan knew that One had come with a
divine commission to dispute his dominion. He trembled at the angel's message
attesting the authority of the newborn King. Satan well knew the position that
Christ had held in heaven as the Beloved of the Father. That the Son of God
should come to this earth as a man filled him with amazement and with
apprehension. He could not fathom the mystery of this great sacrifice. His
selfish soul could not understand such love for the deceived race. The glory
and peace of heaven, and the joy of communion with God, were but dimly
comprehended by men; but they [116] were well known to Lucifer, the
covering cherub. Since he had lost heaven, he was determined to find revenge by
causing others to share his fall. This he would do by causing them to
undervalue heavenly things, and to set the heart upon things of earth. {DA 115.2}
Not without hindrance was the Commander of heaven to win the
souls of men to His kingdom. From the time when He was a babe in Bethlehem, He
was continually assailed by the evil one. The image of God was manifest in
Christ, and in the councils of Satan it was determined that He should be
overcome. No human being had come into the world and escaped the power of the
deceiver. The forces of the confederacy of evil were set upon His track to
engage in warfare against Him, and if possible to prevail over Him. {DA 116.1}
At the Saviour's baptism, Satan was among the witnesses. He
saw the Father's glory overshadowing His Son. He heard the voice of Jehovah
testifying to the divinity of Jesus. Ever since Adam's sin, the human race had
been cut off from direct communion with God; the intercourse between heaven and
earth had been through Christ; but now that Jesus had come "in the likeness
of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3), the Father Himself spoke. He had before
communicated with humanity through Christ; now He communicated with
humanity in Christ. Satan had hoped that God's abhorrence of evil would
bring an eternal separation between heaven and earth. But now it was manifest
that the connection between God and man had been restored. {DA 116.2}
Satan saw that he must either conquer or be conquered. The
issues of the conflict involved too much to be entrusted to his confederate
angels. He must personally conduct the warfare. All the energies of apostasy
were rallied against the Son of God. Christ was made the mark of every weapon
of hell. {DA 116.3}
Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as
having no special bearing on their own life; and for them it has little
interest. But within the domain of every human heart this controversy is
repeated. Never does one leave the ranks of evil for the service of God without
encountering the assaults of Satan. The enticements which Christ resisted were
those that we find it so difficult to withstand. They were urged upon Him in as
much greater degree as His character is superior to ours. With the terrible
weight of the sins of the world upon Him, Christ withstood the test upon
appetite, upon the love of the world, and upon that love of display which leads
to presumption. These were the [117] temptations that overcame Adam
and Eve, and that so readily overcome us. {DA 116.4}
Satan had pointed to Adam's sin as proof that God's law was
unjust, and could not be obeyed. In our humanity, Christ was to redeem Adam's
failure. But when Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the effects of sin
were upon him. He stood in the strength of perfect manhood, possessing the full
vigor of mind and body. He was surrounded with the glories of Eden, and was in
daily communion with heavenly beings. It was not thus with Jesus when He
entered the wilderness to cope with Satan. For four thousand years the race had
been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth; and
Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could He
rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation. {DA 117.1}
Many claim that it was impossible for Christ to be overcome
by temptation. Then He could not have been placed in Adam's position; He could
not have gained the victory that Adam failed to gain. If we have in any sense a
more trying conflict than had Christ, then He would not be able to succor us.
But our Saviour took humanity, with all its liabilities. He took the nature of
man, with the possibility of yielding to temptation. We have nothing to bear
which He has not endured. {DA
117.2}
With Christ, as with the holy pair in Eden, appetite was the
ground of the first great temptation. Just where the ruin began, the work of
our redemption must begin. As by the indulgence of appetite Adam fell, so by
the denial of appetite Christ must overcome. "And when He had fasted forty
days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred. 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 proceedeth out of the mouth of God." {DA 117.3}
From the time of Adam to that of Christ, self-indulgence had
increased the power of the appetites and passions, until they had almost
unlimited control. Thus men had become debased and diseased, and of themselves
it was impossible for them to overcome. In man's behalf, Christ conquered by
enduring the severest test. For our sake He exercised a self-control stronger
than hunger or death. And in this first victory were involved other issues that
enter into all our conflicts with the powers of darkness. [118] {DA 117.4}
When Jesus entered the wilderness, He was shut in by the
Father's glory. Absorbed in communion with God, He was lifted above human
weakness. But the glory departed, and He was left to battle with temptation. It
was pressing upon Him every moment. His human nature shrank from the conflict
that awaited Him. For forty days He fasted and prayed. Weak and emaciated from
hunger, worn and haggard with mental agony, "His visage was so marred more
than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." Isaiah 52:14. Now
was Satan's opportunity. Now he supposed that he could overcome Christ. {DA 118.1}
There came to the Saviour, as if in answer to His prayers,
one in the guise of an angel from heaven. He claimed to have a commission from
God to declare that Christ's fast was at an end. As God had sent an angel to
stay the hand of Abraham from offering Isaac, so, satisfied with Christ's
willingness to enter the bloodstained path, the Father had sent an angel to
deliver Him; this was the message brought to Jesus. The Saviour was faint from
hunger, He was craving for food, when Satan came suddenly upon Him. Pointing to
the stones which strewed the desert, and which had the appearance of loaves,
the tempter said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be
made bread." {DA 118.2}
Though he appears as an angel of light, these first words
betray his character. "If Thou be the Son of God." Here is the
insinuation of distrust. Should Jesus do what Satan suggests, it would be an
acceptance of the doubt. The tempter plans to overthrow Christ by the same
means that were so successful with the human race in the beginning. How
artfully had Satan approached Eve in Eden! "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall
not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3:1. Thus far the tempter's
words were truth; but in his manner of speaking them there was a disguised
contempt for the words of God. There was a covert negative, a doubt of the
divine truthfulness. Satan sought to instill into the mind of Eve the thought
that God would not do as He had said; that the withholding of such beautiful
fruit was a contradiction of His love and compassion for man. So now the
tempter seeks to inspire Christ with his own sentiments. "If Thou be the
Son of God." The words rankle with bitterness in his mind. In the tones of
his voice is an expression of utter incredulity. Would God treat His own Son
thus? Would He leave Him in the desert with wild beasts, without food, without
companions, without comfort? He insinuates that God never meant His Son to be
in such a state as this. "If Thou be the Son of God," show Thy power
by [119]
relieving Thyself of this pressing hunger. Command that this stone be made
bread. {DA 118.3}
The words from heaven, "This is My beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17), were still sounding in the ears of
Satan. But he was determined to make Christ disbelieve this testimony. The word
of God was Christ's assurance of His divine mission. He had come to live as a
man among men, and it was the word that declared His connection with heaven. It
was Satan's purpose to cause Him to doubt that word. If Christ's confidence in
God could be shaken, Satan knew that the victory in the whole controversy would
be his. He could overcome Jesus. He hoped that under the force of despondency
and extreme hunger, Christ would lose faith in His Father, and work a miracle
in His own behalf. Had He done this, the plan of salvation would have been
broken. {DA 119.1}
When Satan and the Son of God first met in conflict, Christ
was the commander of the heavenly hosts; and Satan, the leader of revolt in
heaven, was cast out. Now their condition is apparently reversed, and Satan
makes the most of his supposed advantage. One of the most powerful of the
angels, he says, has been banished from heaven. The appearance of Jesus
indicates that He is that fallen angel, forsaken by God, and deserted by man. A
divine being would be able to sustain his claim by working a miracle; "if
Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread." Such an
act of creative power, urges the tempter, would be conclusive evidence of
divinity. It would bring the controversy to an end. {DA 119.2}
Not without a struggle could Jesus listen in silence to the
arch-deceiver. But the Son of God was not to prove His divinity to Satan, or to
explain the reason of His humiliation. By conceding to the demands of the
rebel, nothing for the good of man or the glory of God would be gained. Had
Christ complied with the suggestion of the enemy, Satan would still have said,
Show me a sign that I may believe you to be the Son of God. Evidence would have
been worthless to break the power of rebellion in his heart. And Christ was not
to exercise divine power for His own benefit. He had come to bear trial as we
must do, leaving us an example of faith and submission. Neither here nor at any
subsequent time in His earthly life did He work a miracle in His own behalf.
His wonderful works were all for the good of others. Though Jesus recognized
Satan from the beginning, He was not provoked to enter into controversy with
him. Strengthened with the memory of the voice [120] from
heaven, He rested in His Father's love. He would not parley with temptation. {DA 119.3}
Jesus met Satan with the words of Scripture. "It is
written," He said. In every temptation the weapon of His warfare was the
word of God. Satan demanded of Christ a miracle as a sign of His divinity. But
that which is greater than all miracles, a firm reliance upon a "Thus
saith the Lord," was a sign that could not be controverted. So long as
Christ held to this position, the tempter could gain no advantage. {DA 120.1}
It was in the time of greatest weakness that Christ was
assailed by the fiercest temptations. Thus Satan thought to prevail. By this
policy he had gained the victory over men. When strength failed, and the will
power weakened, and faith ceased to repose in God, then those who had stood
long and valiantly for the right were overcome. Moses was wearied with the
forty years' wandering of Israel, when for the moment his faith let go its hold
upon infinite power. He failed just upon the borders of the Promised Land. So
with Elijah, who had stood undaunted before King Ahab, who had faced the whole
nation of Israel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal at their
head. After that terrible day upon Carmel, when the false prophets had been
slain, and the people had declared their allegiance to God, Elijah fled for his
life before the threats of the idolatrous Jezebel. Thus Satan has taken
advantage of the weakness of humanity. And he will still work in the same way.
Whenever one is encompassed with clouds, perplexed by circumstances, or
afflicted by poverty or distress, Satan is at hand to tempt and annoy. He
attacks our weak points of character. He seeks to shake our confidence in God,
who suffers such a condition of things to exist. We are tempted to distrust
God, to question His love. Often the tempter comes to us as he came to Christ,
arraying before us our [121] weakness and infirmities. He
hopes to discourage the soul, and to break our hold on God. Then he is sure of
his prey. If we would meet him as Jesus did, we should escape many a defeat. By
parleying with the enemy, we give him an advantage. {DA 120.2}
When Christ said to the tempter, "Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,"
He repeated the words that, more than fourteen hundred years before, He had
spoken to Israel: "The Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the
wilderness. . . . And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger,
and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know;
that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."
Deuteronomy 8:2, 3. In the wilderness, when all means of sustenance failed, God
sent His people manna from heaven; and a sufficient and constant supply was
given. This provision was to teach them that while they trusted in God and
walked in His ways He would not forsake them. The Saviour now practiced the
lesson He had taught to Israel. By the word of God succor had been given to the
Hebrew host, and by the same word it would be given to Jesus. He awaited God's
time to bring relief. He was in the wilderness in obedience to God, and He
would not obtain food by following the suggestions of Satan. In the presence of
the witnessing universe, He testified that it is a less calamity to suffer
whatever may befall than to depart in any manner from the will of God. {DA 121.1}
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
of God." Often the follower of Christ is brought where he cannot serve God
and carry forward his worldly enterprises. Perhaps it appears that obedience to
some plain requirement of God will cut off his means of support. Satan would
make him believe that he must sacrifice his conscientious convictions. But the
only thing in our world upon which we can rely is the word of God. "Seek
ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall
be added unto you." Matthew 6:33. Even in this life it is not for our good
to depart from the will of our Father in heaven. When we learn the power of His
word, we shall not follow the suggestions of Satan in order to obtain food or
to save our lives. Our only questions will be, What is God's command? and what
His promise? Knowing these, we shall obey the one, and trust the other. {DA 121.2}
In the last great conflict of the controversy with Satan
those who are loyal to God will see every earthly support cut off. Because they
refuse [122]
to break His law in obedience to earthly powers, they will be forbidden to buy
or sell. It will finally be decreed that they shall be put to death. See
Revelation 13:11-17. But to the obedient is given the promise, "He shall
dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread
shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." Isaiah 33:16. By this
promise the children of God will live. When the earth shall be wasted with
famine, they shall be fed. "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time:
and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied." Psalm 37:19. To that
time of distress the prophet Habakkuk looked forward, and his words express the
faith of the church: "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall
fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall
yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no
herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my
salvation." Habakkuk 3:17, 18. {DA 121.3}
Of all the lessons to be learned from our Lord's first great
temptation none is more important than that bearing upon the control of the
appetites and passions. In all ages, temptations appealing to the physical
nature have been most effectual in corrupting and degrading mankind. Through
intemperance, Satan works to destroy the mental and moral powers that God gave
to man as a priceless endowment. Thus it becomes impossible for men to
appreciate things of eternal worth. Through sensual indulgence, Satan seeks to
blot from the soul every trace of likeness to God. {DA 122.1}
The uncontrolled indulgence and consequent disease and
degradation that existed at Christ's first advent will again exist, with
intensity of evil, before His second coming. Christ declares that the condition
of the world will be as in the days before the Flood, and as in Sodom and
Gomorrah. Every imagination of the thoughts of the heart will be evil
continually. Upon the very verge of that fearful time we are now living, and to
us should come home the lesson of the Saviour's fast. Only by the inexpressible
anguish which Christ endured can we estimate the evil of unrestrained
indulgence. His example declares that our only hope of eternal life is through
bringing the appetites and passions into subjection to the will of God. {DA 122.2}
In our own strength it is impossible for us to deny the
clamors of our fallen nature. Through this channel Satan will bring temptation
upon us. Christ knew that the enemy would come to every human being, to take
advantage of hereditary weakness, and by his false insinuations to ensnare all
whose trust is not in God. And by passing over the ground which [123]
man must travel, our Lord has prepared the way for us to overcome. It is not His
will that we should be placed at a disadvantage in the conflict with Satan. He
would not have us intimidated and discouraged by the assaults of the serpent.
"Be of good cheer," He says; "I have overcome the world."
John 16:33. {DA 122.3}
Let him who is struggling against the power of appetite look
to the Saviour in the wilderness of temptation. See Him in His agony upon the
cross, as He exclaimed, "I thirst." He has endured all that it is
possible for us to bear. His victory is ours. {DA 123.1}
Jesus rested upon the wisdom and strength of His heavenly
Father. He declares, "The Lord God will help Me; therefore shall I not be
confounded: . . . and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
. . . Behold, the Lord God will help Me." Pointing to His own
example, He says to us, "Who is among you that feareth the Lord,
. . . that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in
the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." Isaiah 50:7-10. {DA 123.2}
"The prince of this world cometh," said Jesus,
"and hath nothing in Me." John 14:30. There was in Him nothing that
responded to Satan's sophistry. He did not consent to sin. Not even by a
thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us. Christ's humanity was
united with divinity; He was fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit. And He came to make us partakers of the divine nature. So long as
we are united to Him by faith, sin has no more dominion over us. God reaches
for the hand of faith in us to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of
Christ, that we may attain to perfection of character. {DA 123.3}
And how this is accomplished, Christ has shown us. By what
means did He overcome in the conflict with Satan? By the word of God. Only by
the word could He resist temptation. "It is written," He said. And
unto us are given "exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye
might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is
in the world through lust." 2 Peter 1:4. Every promise in God's word is
ours. "By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" are we
to live. When assailed by temptation, look not to circumstances or to the
weakness of self, but to the power of the word. All its strength is yours.
"Thy word," says the psalmist, "have I hid in mine heart, that I
might not sin against Thee." "By the word of Thy lips I have kept me
from the paths of the destroyer." Psalm 119:11; 17:4. {DA 123.4}
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"The Victory"
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