Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

nothing."whatever."laws of His humanity. At His birth itwas proved by miracles that He was theMessiah. He proved it by His workswhen He began His public ministry.There is no evidence that He used otherthan human power between these times.The Key to a Perfect LifeWhen Jesus spoke of His Father'sbusiness, He used a phrase that any Jewmight have used, for theycalled Godtheir Father. Serving God, doing His will,performing the duties that belong toHis kingdom, this was the key to Hisearly life, and always. Perfect obedience.Jesus was subject to His parents. Helearned the carpenter trade in Hisfather's shop. He was a good carpenter.It is evident that Joseph had been deadfor some time when Christ began Hisministry. Those who did not know Himpersonally, knew His work. He was thecarpenter. His teachers in Jerusalem,if they learned of His trade, and theywould of course, might have said, "Iwould like to have a chair He made. Itwould be comfortable and would notbreak down."When Mary met an embarrassing situation at the wedding in Cana, it was toJesus that she turned. She knew thatshe could depend on Him. Once she haddoubted Him. He asked if she did notknow that He would be in His properplace. Mary laid that up in her heart.She would never doubt Him again.The Development of the Mind and BodyWe are told so little, and yet so much,about the growing years of Jesus. Whatwe are told suggests the normal development of a normal lad, who performsperfectly the tasks that are his. It ispossible that the Rabbis had outlineda course of study that the average boycould master by diligence. Jesus had notonly mastered the prescribed course,but was reaching out into new fields ofknowledge.With the little we are told about Him,we know that whatever He did He gaveit His best effort, as unto the Lord. IfHe did not play with other children, ormingle with other men, that would markHim as unsocial, and would not lead tofavour with men. We are told in verse40, that the child "grew." The wordrefers to natural growth that requiresno effort on the part of the child. Inverse 52,"increased"is a differentword, with a different meaning. It suggests a purposeful effort. Like any otherchild,Jesus'first growth was withouteffort. Later, He must use the strengthof bodyand mind that had been givenwithout His effort. In His humanity, Jesus fulfilled every law that God gaveto man. In this, He set us a perfect example. We should follow the example ofthe perfect man.186The test of conduct, "What would Jesus do?" is misleading, unless we canclearly differentiate between the conduct of His human nature and His divine nature. We stand with mourners atthe grave; What would Jesus do? Heraised Lazarus from the dead. That wasby His divine power. That power is notgiven to us. In His humanity, Jesusshowed sympathy. That is His exampleto us.In His humanity, Christ was a perfectchild and by ordinary methods of application and obedience, He increased inknowledge and in favor with God andman. Before He revealed himself in Hisdivine nature, it is likely that He hadsome enemies. The verypresence of agood person is a rebuke to the wicked,and is likely to breed hatred. To saythat a man has no enemies is not alwaysa compliment. At a neighbor's funeral,his pastor spoke repeatedly of the man'speaceful life, and that he had no enemies. We had just passed through theprohibition campaign in Pennsylvania.This man, a Christian, and an elder,with no public vice,(save smoking,)took no part in the work for prohibition.It might have been better for his boys ifhe had made a few enemies.Christ set a perfect example to youngpeople, by perfect obedience in thehome, and by perfect application to thetask of growing into a perfect citizenof God's kingdom. This was in His humanity. There was no increase in HisDivine Nature.PRAYER MEETING TOPICOctober 12, 1955"PRAYER AGAINST TEMPTATION."Psalm:Matt. 6:13a; Ps. 19:13Rev. P. D. McCracken, D.D.81:9-12, page 19951:7-10, page 13119:1, 8, 9, page 42119:1-3, page 306aReferences: Matt. 26:41; II Chron. 32:31; I Cor. 10:13; II Cor. 12:8; Ps. 119:37; 101; James 1:13, 14; Luke 21:34;Gal. 5:17; Prov. 4:26,27; I Pet. 5:8.COMMENTSIn the study of this subject it willbe well first to turn to the ShorterCatechism, Question 106(See Constitution Book), and to the Larger Catechism, Question 195. In the latter, especially, you will find a full and detailedstatement as to what we pray for inthe sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer, (Lead us not into temptation, butdeliver us from evil) and around thirtyfiveBiblical references to back it up.For those of you who have access toBlue Banner Faith and Life, you willfind on pp. 108-114 of Vol. 4, No. 3(July-Sept. 1949) an interesting andhelpful commentary on the LargerCatechism Statement.The familiar word"temptation" isused in two very different senses in theBible. For example in Gen. 22:1 we read"That God did tempt Abraham"; andagain in James 1:2 "My brethren, countit all joy when ye fall into divers temptations."In both of these passages, theword temptation is used in what maybe called a good sense.Temptation used in this way means"trial"and has for its end and purposethe testingand manifestation of spiritual strength and moral integrity thatwould not otherwise be shown ordeveloped. "The furnace tests ortempts the true gold. The storm testsor tempts the rooted tree. And 'diverstemptations'test and strengthen thefaithful and patient soul, making it perfect and entire, wanting(Whyte). God, the all-wise Creatorknows perfectly what is in man, andin order to developand strengthen andpurify, He uses these proofs and trialsand tests of faith. Remember Job.But the bad sense in which the word"temptation"is used is more familiar,and this is the way it is used in theLord's Prayer. Here it means an enticing to sin, and in this respect Godtempts no man. "Let no man say whenhe is tempted, I am tempted of God:for God cannot be tempted with evil,neither tempteth he any man: but everyman is tempted, when he is drawnaway of his own lust, and enticed("James 1:13, 14).Dr. John Owen defines temptation inits evil sense as follows: "Temptationis any thing, state, way or condition,that upon any account whatever, hatha force or efficacy to seduce or draw themind and heart of a man from its obedience which God requires of him, intoany sin, in any degree of it"A temptation, then, may be goodor evil, may be for salvation or destruction,according to circumstances,according to the intention with which itis sent, and according to the spirit inwhich it is met. A temptation may leadthe unwary soul into the chambers ofdeath, or it may put a man in the wayof gaining for himself the crown of eternal life. A tempted man may come outof his temptations a stronger, holier,happier man; in Job's words, when he istried he may come forth like gold; or,on the otherhand, he may "crumbleto dust beneath the tempter's dart"; hemay come forth of the refiner's fire likereprobate silver. And it is just becauseweak and corrupt men come, for themost part, so ill out of their temptations, that theyare taught to makeCOVENANTER WITNESS