Away with you, Satan! For it is written. Matthew 4:10.

Satan had been defeated in the first temptation. He next took Christ to the pinnacle of the temple at Jerusalem and asked Him to prove His Sonship to God by throwing Himself down from the dizzy height. “If thou be the Son of God,” he said, “cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” But to do this would be presumption on the part of Christ, and He would not yield. “It is written again,” He replied, “thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Again the tempter was baffled. Christ was victor still.

Presumption is a common temptation, and when Satan assails us with this, he gains the victory almost every time. Those who claim to be enlisted in the warfare against evil frequently plunge without thought into temptation from which it would require a miracle to bring them forth unsullied. God’s precious promises are not given to strengthen us in a presumptuous course or to rely upon when we rush needlessly into danger. The Lord requires us to move with a humble dependence upon His guidance. “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” In God is our prosperity and our life…. “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” As children of God, we are to maintain a consistent Christian character.

While you pray … that you may not be led into temptation, remember that your work does not end with prayer. As far as possible you must answer your own prayers by resisting temptation. Ask Jesus to do for you that which you cannot do for yourself. With God’s Word for our guide and Jesus for our teacher, we need not be ignorant of God’s requirements or of Satan’s devices.

“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Then divinity flashed through humanity. “Get thee hence, Satan,” Christ said, “for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Satan did not then present another temptation. He left the presence of Christ a conquered foe.—Youth’s Instructor, December 21, 1899.

From From the Heart

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15.

As Christ’s ministry was about to begin, He received baptism at the hands of John. Coming up out of the water, He bowed on the banks of the Jordan and offered to the Father such a prayer as heaven had never before listened to…. The heavens were opened, and a dove, in appearance like burnished gold, rested upon Jesus; and from the lips of the infinite God were heard the words, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

This visible answer to the prayer of God’s Son is of deep significance to us….

All may find rest and peace and assurance in sending their prayers to God in the name of His dear Son. As the heavens were open to Christ’s prayer, so they will be opened to our prayers….

From the Jordan, Jesus was led into the wilderness of temptation. “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.” …

Adam had failed on the point of appetite, and Christ must conquer here. The power that rested upon Him came directly from the Father, and He must not exercise it in His own behalf…. He met and resisted the enemy in the strength of a “Thus saith the Lord.” “Man shall not live by bread alone,” He said, “but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” …

Christ’s experience is for our benefit. His example in overcoming appetite points out the way for those to overcome who would be His followers.

Christ was suffering as the members of the human family suffer under temptation, but it was not the will of God that He should exercise His divine power in His own behalf. Had He not stood as our representative, Christ’s innocence would have exempted Him from all this anguish; but it was because of His innocence that He felt so keenly the assaults of Satan. All the suffering that is the result of sin was poured into the bosom of the sinless Son of God. Satan was bruising the heel of Christ, but every pang endured by Christ, every grief, every disquietude, was fulfilling the great plan of our redemption. Every blow inflicted by the enemy was rebounding on himself. Christ was bruising the serpent’s head.—Youth’s Instructor, December 21, 1899.

From From the Heart

And the common people heard Him gladly. Mark 12:37.

Christ passed no human being by as worthless and hopeless, but sought to apply the saving remedy to every soul who needed help. Wherever He was found, He had a lesson to present that was the right one for the time and circumstance. He sought to inspire with hope the most rough and unpromising, setting before them the idea that they might become blameless and harmless and attain a character that would be Christlike. They could be the children of God and shine as lights in the world, even though they lived among evil people. This was the reason that so many heard Him gladly. From His very childhood He worked for others, letting His light shine amid the moral darkness of the world. In bearing burdens in His home life and in laboring in more public fields, He showed everyone what the character of God is. He encouraged everything that had a bearing on the real interests of life, but He did not encourage the youth in dreaming of what would be in the future. He taught them by His words and by His example that the future would be decided by the way in which they spent the present. Our destiny is marked out by our own course of action. Those who cherish that which is right, who work out God’s plan though it be in a narrow sphere of action, and who do right because it is right will find wider fields of usefulness….

It is our privilege now to act a part in the work and mission of Christ. We may be laborers together with Him. In whatever work we are called to engage, we may work with Christ. He is doing all that He can to set us free, to make our lives that seem so cramped and narrow reach out to bless and help others. He would have us understand that we are held responsible to do good, and have us realize that in shunning our work we are bringing loss upon ourselves….

Jesus carried the burden of the salvation of the human family upon His heart. He knew that unless men and women would receive Him and become changed in purpose and life, they would be eternally lost. This was the burden of His soul, and He was alone in carrying this load. No one knew how heavy was the weight that rested upon His heart; but from His youth He was filled with a deep longing to be a lamp in the world, and He purposed that His life should be “the light of the world.” This He was, and that light still shines to all who are in darkness. Let us walk in the light which He has given.—Youth’s Instructor, January 2, 1896.

From From the Heart

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? John 1:46.

The first thirty years of the life of Christ were passed in the obscure village of Nazareth. The inhabitants of this village were proverbial for their wickedness, hence the inquiry of Nathanael, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” The evangelists say but very little in regard to the early life of Christ. With the exception of a brief account of His accompanying His parents to Jerusalem, we have the simple statement only, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” …

Children and youth are frequently situated where their surroundings are not favorable to a Christian life, and they quite readily yield to temptations and plead as an excuse for pursuing a course of sin that their surroundings are unfavorable….

Christ placed His feet in the most uneven path that children and youth will ever be called to travel. He did not have allotted to Him a life of affluence and indolence. His parents were poor and dependent upon their daily toil for sustenance; therefore the life of Christ was one of poverty, self-denial, and privation. He shared with His parents their life of diligent industry.

None will ever be called to perfect Christian character under more unfavorable circumstances than that of our Savior. The fact that Christ lived thirty years in Nazareth, from which many thought it a wonder if any good thing could come, is a rebuke to the youth who consider that their religious character must conform to circumstances. If the surroundings of youth are unpleasant and positively bad, many make this an excuse for not perfecting Christian character. The example of Christ would rebuke the idea that His followers are dependent upon place, fortune, or prosperity in order to live blameless lives. Christ would teach them that their faithfulness would make any place, or position, where the providence of God called them, honorable, however humble….

The trials and privations of which so many youth complain, Christ endured without murmuring. And this discipline is the very experience the youth need, which will give firmness to their character and make them like Christ, strong in spirit to resist temptation…. Through daily prayer to God they will have wisdom and grace from Him to bear the conflicts and stern realities of life and come off victorious.—Youth’s Instructor, March 1872.

From From the Heart

And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. Luke 2:47.

They [the rabbis] knew that He was far in advance of them in spiritual understanding and that He lived a blameless life, yet they were angry with Him because He would not violate His conscience by obeying their dictates. Failing to convince Him that He ought to look upon human tradition as sacred, they came to Joseph and Mary and complained that Jesus was taking a wrong course in regard to their customs and traditions. Jesus knew what it was to have His family divided against Him on account of His religious faith. He loved peace; He craved the love and confidence of the members of His family; but He knew what it was to have them withdraw their affection from Him. He suffered rebuke and censure because He took a straightforward course and would not do evil because others did evil, but was true to the commandments of Jehovah. His brethren rebuked Him because He stood aloof from the ceremonies that were taught by the rabbis, for they regarded the word of human beings more highly than the word of God because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Jesus made the Scriptures His constant study; and when the scribes and Pharisees tried to make Him accept their doctrines, they found Him ready to meet them with the Word of God, and they could do nothing to convince Him that they were right. He seemed to know the Scriptures from beginning to end and repeated them in such a way that their true meaning shone out…. They were angry that this child should dare to question their word, when it was their calling to study and explain the Scriptures….

His brethren threatened Him and sought to compel Him to take a wrong course, but He passed on, making the Scriptures His guide. From the time His parents found Him in the temple asking and answering questions among the doctors, they could not understand His course of action. Quiet and gentle, He seemed as one who was set apart. Whenever He could, He went out alone into the fields and on the mountainsides to commune with the God of nature. When His work was done, He wandered by the lakeside, among the trees of the forest, and in the green valleys where He could think about God and lift His soul to heaven in prayer. After a season thus spent, He would return to His home to take up again the humble duties of His life and to give to all an example of patient labor.—Youth’s Instructor, December 5, 1895.

From From the Heart