The Signs of the Times, vol. 21

April 4, 1895

“Christ’s Trust in Adversity” The Signs of the Times, 21, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

There is no time when one would naturally feel less that the Lord is with him than when being sorely tempted. But that is the very time when we must know it and confess it. SITI April 4, 1895, page 214.1

The tempted one says: I am bad; is the Lord in me now? I believe he was there in that good meeting, when every one was happy. But here I am alone, and feeling depressed, and everything goes wrong, and the enemy is tempting me, and I feel as though the Lord had left me. By and by when this temptation passes, and I feel better, and as though the Lord was with me, I will confess it then. SITI April 4, 1895, page 214.2

But it is in the trial that we need him with us. It was in the trial that the Saviour confessed the Father. “The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? ... Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me?” Isaiah 50:5-9. SITI April 4, 1895, page 214.3

When Jesus was in the judgment hall, and every one of his disciples had forsaken him, and the soldiers were mocking him and heaping upon him the refinement of insult, who saw in him the Son of God? Not even his own disciples. There was no outward evidence. The priest and soldiers saw no sign that he was the Son of God. “Had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” What evidence had he himself? What fruit of all his labors was there? He had chosen twelve disciples, and one of them had betrayed him, one had denied him with cursing, and all had fled. Of course his enemies would throw this in his face. They doubtless said, “You came making great professions; but where are your followers?” We know that they did mock at his claim to be the Son of God. See Matthew 26:68; 27:39-44. Even the fact of God was hidden from him. SITI April 4, 1895, page 214.4

What evidence did the Saviour have?—The word of God. “I know I shall not be ashamed. He is near.” It is the same in the temptation in the wilderness. Weakened by fasting, his visage “marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men,” a wanderer in the desert, the devil comes to him and says, “You do not look much like the Son of God.” Himself coming as an angel of light, he tries to make out that Christ is an impostor. He says: If you are the Son of God, you created all things. Why don’t you take these stones and satisfy your hunger? SITI April 4, 1895, page 215.1

And Christ knew that he could have done it. He knew that he was the Son of God in the wilderness, just as well as when, at the last supper, he washed the feet of the disciples as an humble one, he knew “that he was come from God, and went to God.” He held to the word of God all through his temptation. He confessed, and declared the name of the Lord, witnessing a good confession. SITI April 4, 1895, page 215.2

That is what it means to confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. It does not mean simply on certain occasions when there seems to be a wave of glory sweeping over the congregation, and we are moved in spite of ourselves. It is so just as much when we are physically helpless. It is just as true when the enemy is pressing us with temptations. It is as much so when afflictions are pressing about us, as when all is pleasant and clear. To confess is to hold the word of God as true continually. And the value of confession is confessing it in the heart. “Believe in thine heart.” “This word shall be in thine heart.” Let not the enemy snatch it away. SITI April 4, 1895, page 215.3

It is only by the fixed knowledge, through his word, that God is with us, that we can ever resist any temptation. So when the enemy comes in like a flood, let the Spirit of the Lord lift up this standard against him in your heart: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Keep “the faith of Jesus,” and the victory is yours. SITI April 4, 1895, page 215.4