Chapter 156—Unequaled Test
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:15
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After His baptism, the Son of God entered the dreary wilderness, there
to be tempted by the devil.... For forty days He ate and drank nothing.... He
realized the power of appetite upon man; and in behalf of sinful man, He
bore the closest test possible upon that point. Here a victory was gained
which few can appreciate. The controlling power of depraved appetite, and
the grievous sin of indulging it, can only be understood by the length of the
fast which our Saviour endured that He might break its power.... He came
to earth to unite His divine power with our human efforts, that through the
strength and moral power which He imparts, we might overcome in our own
behalf.
Oh! what matchless condescension for the King of glory to come down
to this world to endure the pangs of hunger and the fierce temptations of a
wily foe, that He might gain an infinite victory for man. Here is love without
a parallel....
It was not the gnawing pangs of hunger alone which made the sufferings
of our Redeemer so inexpressibly severe. It was the sense of guilt which had
resulted from the indulgence of appetite that had brought such terrible woe
into the world, which pressed so heavily upon His divine soul....
With man’s nature, and the terrible weight of his sins pressing upon
Him, our Redeemer withstood the power of Satan upon this great leading
temptation, which imperils the souls of men. If man should overcome this
temptation, he could conquer on every other point.
Intemperance lies at the foundation of all the moral evils known to man.
Christ began the work of redemption just where the ruin began. The fall of
our first parents was caused by the indulgence of appetite. In redemption, the
denial of appetite is the first work of Christ. What amazing love has Christ
manifested in coming into the world to bear our sins and infirmities, and to
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