Editorial: Fully Tested

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 8
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“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost... was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil.... And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee” (Luke 4:12,13-1412And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Luke 4:12)
13And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. 14And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. (Luke 4:13‑14)).
I recently sent a 40th-birthday greeting to a dear brother in Christ. After a bit of friendly teasing I mentioned, “So it’s 40 is it? Well, on your birthday you will then have been fully tested as a man in this world—and all you will be able to do is say in agreement with God’s estimation of the flesh: ‘In... my flesh dwelleth no good thing’.”
In replying, the brother said, “Fully tested? I was just thinking this morning about being 40 and feeling not much different than 20. Then it came to me that what we are at 40 is the result of the course we set at 20. We don’t suddenly mature and become what we know we should be if we live our youth doing what we want. Now I’m looking ahead to 60, if the Lord leaves us here, and realizing that we will be at 60 what our course is at 40. That is a very searching thought!”
A very probing thought, indeed! While believers have every reason to expect the immediate return of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, it is good to consider where the present course we’re taking will end. In Proverbs 14:1515The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going. (Proverbs 14:15) it is the “simple” (one devoid of godly discernment) who believes all he hears, while the “prudent man looketh well to his going.”
The heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked”; it cannot be trusted! Nor can we believe the world, “for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:1616For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:16)). When the enemy of our soul, Satan, speaks, he “speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own.... He is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:4444Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)).
The “new man” in Christ (Eph. 2:15; 4:2415Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (Ephesians 2:15)
24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)) has the Lord Jesus “the way, the truth, and the life” as his glorious Object. He, ever divine and ever Son from eternity, was “fully tested” as a man in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-131And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said unto him, 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. 7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8And 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. 9And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. (Luke 4:1‑13)), there showing forth in glorious victory the pure meal of His perfect manhood. Every test He faced only proved that He walked a perfect, unwavering path, always obedient and fully pleasing to His God and Father.
Now He has “given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:33According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (2 Peter 1:3)). Thus the only change that the Spirit of God contemplates in the life of a believer is that each should continue to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:1818But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18)).
Ed.