Satan likes to get God’s saints on a pinnacle. It is a dangerous place fora mortal man to occupy. Few stay there long. Falls frequently follow being on high elevations. If we need grace for trials, we need a double supply for prosperity. Who does not like prosperity? But how few can bear it. Yet what we all like naturally is our greatest danger spiritually. It is not every saint of God who, being on a pinnacle, straightway goes on his knees and takes the place of dependence on God. The spirit of prayer is the only security in the day of prosperity.
Satan, in the temptation, took our Lord into the holy city, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and, when there, quoted Scripture to Him, and bade Him cast Himself from oft that edge, in order to see how true the Scripture was. But Jesus said unto him, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Whether our Lord, being hungry, was tempted to leave the path of dependence by the exercise of His own power to satisfy His hunger; or whether, being on the pinnacle, He was tempted―and by misapplied Scripture, too―to leave the path of dependence by casting Himself down in order to test God’s power, He was perfect in dependence. In Him we see the perfect Man absolute in His obedience to the Scriptures.
Satan knows how to bring misapplied Scripture to the saint who is on a pinnacle. And it is frequently the case that God’s people, when elevated spiritually, accept misapplied Scripture. We met with one not long since who was assured of salvation and enjoyed peace before God. Such was the joy of this grace that that soul got on a pinnacle, outside the temple, and began to say, “I live without sinning.” Sometimes the very fact of God, in His sovereign grace, blessing the work of one of His servants will set that servant on a pinnacle. The truth is, the believer needs God at all times, but nevermore deeply than when he is in prosperity, and especially in spiritual prosperity.