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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks About the Tempter (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 050. The One Aim in Temptation
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The One Aim in Temptation
But—blessed ever be the Name of Jesus—He never flinched. He felt the pain, He felt the shame. None ever realized and felt so keenly all that was heaped upon Him. But He obeyed. He despised the shame. We men can't take in the depth of meaning of St. Paul's sentence, "becoming obedient, even unto death, yea, the death of the cross." (Phil.) 2:8.) All the malice of hell, all the devilish malignity and hatred of the tempter, all the simple, steady obedience of Jesus, our Lord, to the Father, all the matchless love of the heart of God, are covered by that little three-lettered "yea."
Here lies the core of all temptation, to make us disobey, to ensnare us away from the Father's plan. Under every sort of device and cunning this is the one thing being aimed at in temptation. Through confusing our thoughts, through blurring our conceptions of what is right, through mixed standards of right and wrong, through compromise of some sort, by rush and grip of passion, by lure and glare of ambition, by sudden sweep of storm, by sly sneaking of the snake through the tall pretty grass—under every sort of approach this is the one thing aimed at—to lead us to break, by little or by much, the Father's common plan for human life, or His particular plan for each life.
And here, too, lies the one simple pathway trodden by our Lord, obedience to the Father's plan, regardless of consequences. It is the pathway for us to tread, in the strength of our Lord's victory. His footprints are big and clear and sharply outlined. We are to place our feet where He trod. He has made the way easy. Keen ears to hear, clear eyes to see, under those a sturdy will to follow—then comes and stays the one simple standard of right, and yet better the grace and strength to stick to that standard; that is the unfailing road to victory over every temptation.
God has given us in His Word these great temptations, pictured out in clear outline, that we may know the wiles of the tempter and the wisdom of our Victor. We want to look a bit at two of these. Eden reveals how the tempter works. It should make us keener in watching. The Wilderness shows us how our Lord resisted him. It should make us keener in praying. Just now, a look at Eden.