Victory
95
faith must let go its hold upon Christ, before Satan can exercise his
power upon us. But every sinful desire we cherish affords him a
foothold. Every point in which we fail of meeting the divine standard
is an open door by which he can enter to tempt and destroy us. And
every failure or defeat on our part gives occasion for him to reproach
Christ.
When Satan quoted the promise, “He shall give His angels charge
over Thee,” he omitted the words, “to keep Thee in all Thy ways;” that
is, in all the ways of God’s choosing. Jesus refused to go outside the
path of obedience. While manifesting perfect trust in His Father, He
would not place Himself, unbidden, in a position that would necessitate
the interposition of His Father to save Him from death. He would not
force Providence to come to His rescue, and thus fail of giving man an
example of trust and submission.
Jesus declared to Satan, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt
the Lord thy God.” These words were spoken by Moses to the children
of Israel when they thirsted in the desert, and demanded that Moses
should give them water, exclaiming, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
[126]
Exodus 17:7
. God had wrought marvelously for them; yet in trouble
they doubted Him, and demanded evidence that He was with them.
In their unbelief they sought to put Him to the test. And Satan was
urging Christ to do the same thing. God had already testified that Jesus
was His Son; and now to ask for proof that He was the Son of God
would be putting God’s word to the test,—tempting Him. And the
same would be true of asking for that which God had not promised. It
would manifest distrust, and be really proving, or tempting, Him. We
should not present our petitions to God to prove whether He will fulfill
His word, but because He will fulfill it; not to prove that He loves us,
but because He loves us. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him:
for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6
.
But faith is in no sense allied to presumption. Only he who has
true faith is secure against presumption. For presumption is Satan’s
counterfeit of faith. Faith claims God’s promises, and brings forth
fruit in obedience. Presumption also claims the promises, but uses
them as Satan did, to excuse transgression. Faith would have led
our first parents to trust the love of God, and to obey His commands.
Presumption led them to transgress His law, believing that His great