Ministration of Angels

IN this light we can understand the temptation of Jesus by the devil, as recorded in Matt. 4:1-11: "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil," etc. Satan well understood the mission of Christ; he had come for the purpose of wresting from him his usurped dominions. All the powers of darkness were astir. Jesus must be tempted and overcome. Satan takes the work into his own hands. He had overcome Eve by appealing to her appetite. Now Jesus is exceedingly hungry; so as his first effort, Satan tries him on this point. But Jesus is firm, and Satan fails. He now tries another plan: he tempts Jesus to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple. Here the devil appealed to Jesus' pride; but he failed again.

After all these temptations had failed, Satan tries the following one as his last chance of success; hence we may well know that it is the greatest temptation that could be brought to bear upon the Son of God. It is this: "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth 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." Or, as Luke states it, "All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Luke 4:6-8.

Here Satan offers all this world to Jesus if he will worship him. "But," says one, "this is only the devil's testimony, and he is a notorious liar. It does not prove that the world belonged to him just because he said so." Very true; but this offer is said to be a temptation to Jesus. How is this? If the world belonged to Christ, and the devil was lying to him about it, did not Christ know it? Certainly he did. Then we would like to know how it was a temptation to him?

To illustrate: Mr. A. owns a large farm, well stocked, teams, wagons, etc. Mr. B., a poor vagabond, who owns nothing, comes to A.'s house, and says to him, "If you will sign a note of five hundred dollars with me, I will give you this house and farm, and all that is on it." Would that be any inducement to A. to sign the note? None at all. He would say to B., "Why, sir, this all belongs to me now; why do you insult me in this way?" But reverse this affair: Suppose A. should offer B. half his farm if he would burn a certain man's house, or commit some crime, would not this be a temptation? It most certainly would.

So with Jesus and Satan. If the kingdoms of this world were already in the hands of the Lord, this offer would be no temptation to Jesus. As it is, however, we see that Satan first exhausts all his other temptations, and then tries this as his masterpiece, his last chance of success. This indeed would be a mighty temptation, the strongest that could be set before Jesus. He could save his life, and yet gain the dominion of the world. Perhaps Satan presented it thus: "This world is now in my possession; before you can redeem it, you will have to lead a life of poverty, shame, and ignominy, and at last suffer a cruel death. But if you just bow down to me, I will give all the world into your hands, and you need not suffer and die for it." But Jesus resisted him, and said, "Get thee behind me, Satan."

Soon after this Jesus said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Matt. 8:20. This does not look much as though he owned all the kingdoms of this world. To his followers, Jesus said, "Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." John 15:19. These testimonies are sufficient to establish, beyond dispute, the fact that this world was not in the hands of Jesus when he was here, but that he came to take it out of the hands of the usurper, Satan.

Paul mentions it as one of the mighty conquests of Jesus, that he spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Col. 2:15. Jesus baffled all the devil's arts, resisted his temptations, conquered him, and will soon come to take his usurped dominions from him. Thus Paul says, "In whom [Christ] also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." Eph. 1:13,14. What is the "purchased possession" which will be the saints' "inheritance" when it is "redeemed"? Surely, it is not Heaven; for that has never been purchased, neither can it be redeemed until it has been lost. By the Scriptures we learn that the saints will inherit the earth. "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." Matt. 5:5. In Dan. 7:27, we read thus: "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High."

Then this earth is to be given to the children of God; but it was once held by Satan, and is still in his hands. How is this change to be accomplished? I answer that Jesus has "purchased" it with his blood, and will "redeem" it when the "times of the restitution of all things" shall come. In this light we can understand what Paul means by saying that the Holy Spirit is the "earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession."

Thus we see that through Jesus the earth is to be brought back from the dominion of Satan, and restored to the children of men.

REDEMPTION OF MAN.

But it will do man no good to redeem for him the earth which he has lost, unless he himself can also be redeemed, be brought out of the grave. To illustrate: take the case of the brothers who lost their farm, and were cast into prison. Their brother came over and redeemed the farm. If he had done nothing more for them, if he had gone home, had left them in prison, he would not have benefited them at all; for they could never have got themselves out of prison. So with the human race; they have lost their farm (the earth, Gen. 1:26; Heb. 2:8), and Jesus has purchased that back. Eph. 1:13,14. But they have also lost their liberty (Rom. 6:16; 2 Pet. 2:19), and are shut up in prison (the grave). Now it must be evident to all, that, unless man can be rescued from his prison, all that Jesus has done in regaining his possession will do him no good, as he himself is lost.

Then did Christ do anything toward getting man out of the grave? Yes; that was one part of his mission. Speaking of the fall of man, Paul says, "But now we see not yet all things put under him; but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." Heb. 2:8,9. John bears a similar testimony. "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." 1 John 4:14. Paul says, "We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men." 1 Tim. 4:10. Paul states most positively that Jesus will effect a resurrection from the dead, of every man of the race of Adam. "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. 15:21,22.

God "sent him to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Isa. 61:1. He immediately proceeds to execute his commission. Speaking of the devil and his kingdom, Jesus said, "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." Luke 11:21,22. As we have seen, Satan was indeed a "strong man armed," but Christ was a "stronger than he." So when Jesus comes, Satan's "palace" (the grave) and "goods" (the dead), which before were kept securely, are in danger. Of this Jesus said, "No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house." Mark 3:27. The strong man (Satan) kept his house (the grave); and his goods (the dead) were secure till the stronger man (Jesus) came. Now did Jesus enter Satan's house and disturb his goods? Let Paul answer: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried." 1 Cor. 15:3,4. Yes, Jesus did enter the grave, the prison-house of the devil. Christ died and was buried, says Paul.

Now the all-important questions are, Is he able to come out again? Can he break the bands of death and of the grave? Is he stronger than the strong one? Satan has triumphed thus far; none have ever been able themselves to break his bolts and free themselves from his prison. Now the Son of God is in there; can Satan hold him? If he does, all is lost—man, the earth, and all. Jesus had said that he would be buried, and would rise again the third day. Now the critical moment has come; now comes the trial of strength. The devil has triumphed over poor, feeble man; but now he must measure strength with the Son of God! Satan assembles all his forces to hold the Saviour in the grave. The first day passes silently away, and Satan yet holds the power of death in his own hands. The second day rolls slowly by, and he still reigns supreme monarch of the grave. As the third day begins to dawn, Satan, with a hellish grin, flourishes the keys of death and the grave, and his sentries shout, "All's well, All's well; the Son of God yet sleeps! Another day, and we are safe!!" But hold! what is that? A blaze of light, like lightning, flashes upon them; a deafening noise like a peal of loudest thunder rends the air and makes the earth tremble. Satan and his host forget their charge, and flee in terror and dismay. The rocks rend, the earth quakes, the grave opens, and the Son of God comes forth! With horror and confusion the devils seek their home, while through Heaven and earth the glad tidings ring, "Jesus has risen from the dead!"

"And did he rise? Hear, O ye Nations! hear it, O ye Dead! He rose! He rose! He burst the bars of death. Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates! And give the King of glory to come in."

"Oh, the burst gates! crushed sting! demolished throne! Last gasp of vanquished death! Shout earth and Heaven! This sum of good to man whose nature then took wing, and mounted with him from the tomb."

With a triumphant smile he looks upon the grave, and exclaims, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [hades, the grave] and of death." Rev. 1:18. Jesus entered the prison-house of Satan and came forth triumphant, bringing the keys of the grave with him. The devil once had the keys of the grave, that is, the power of death; but Christ, by his death and resurrection, broke the power of Satan, and took the keys of the grave into his own hands. Says Paul, "That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. The devil had the power of death, but has not now, for Jesus took it from him.