WEBVTT

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I shall read from the fourth chapter of the book

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of Matthew and refresh your memory regarding

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the temptations of Jesus. There were three. We

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have already discussed the first. We are now

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beginning the second. And at a later time, we

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will discuss the third of these three temptations.

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Then Jesus was led up of the Spirit. into the

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wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And believe

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me, these temptations were very real. And remember

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again, if it had been impossible for Jesus to

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have yielded to any one of these three temptations,

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then these temptations would have been a farce,

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a mockery. The fact remains that Jesus, in the

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wilderness, could have yielded to any one of

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these three, or he might have yielded to all

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three of the temptations. But had he yielded

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to even one of the three, he could not have been

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in the position where his blood, his shed blood,

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would have made Atonement for our soul. In the

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wilderness, he was as much man as though he were

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not God. He was your representative. He was my

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representative. He was the representative of

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man. In the wilderness, as he was being tempted

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of Satan. That's the reason the scripture could

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say he was... tempted in all points, even as

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you had been tempted, as I had been tempted.

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And yet he came forth sinless, victorious through

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the power of the Spirit. And when he had fasted

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forty days and forty nights, he was afterward

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and hung. And when the tempter came to him, he

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said, If thou be the Son of God, command that

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these stones be made bread. But he answered and

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said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread

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alone, but by every word that proceedeth out

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of the mouth of God. That was the first temptation.

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Now the second. Then the devil taketh him up

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into the holy city. and setteth him on a pinnacle

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of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be

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the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is

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written, He shall give his angels charge concerning

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thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee

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up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against

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a stone. jesus said unto him it is written again

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thou shalt not tempt the lord thy god pause just

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a minute i have just read you a portion of the

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word of god as found in the fourth chapter of

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matthew there is no definite data for determining

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the length of time between these two attacks.

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I cannot tell you definitely whether it was a

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matter of hours, because there's no way to determine

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the length of time between the first and the

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second temptation. In all probability, they followed

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each other in quick succession. This seems to

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be suggested by the word with which Matthew introduces

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the account of the second attack. Because it

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begins by saying, In other words, immediately

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following his first temptation, his first attack

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on Jesus, and seeing that he was defeated in

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the first temptation, he immediately taketh him

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into the holy city. Then the scripture says,

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the devil taketh him into the holy city. So this

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would suggest that it was immediately. He had

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attempted the overthrow of obedience through

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an attack upon the physical nature. We saw that

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in the first attack. In renewing the attack,

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He no longer appeals to the element of weakness

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created by hunger, but to that which was the

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very strength of spiritual life, namely, the

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Master's trust in God, the Son's trust in the

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Heavenly Father. Oh, to me, that... is the slimiest,

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the dirtiest, the smallest thing the devil could

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have done. In this, his second attack upon Jesus,

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he attacked the very strength of spiritual life.

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She tried to attack the simple trust that Jesus

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had in Almighty God. For remember, it's our trust,

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our faith in God that is the very foundation

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for everything else. That's our strength. That

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is man's strength. spiritual strengths. That's

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our stronghold. That's our foundation. Now follow

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the order of the attack. Watch it. In this renewal

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of temptation, the enemy passes to that which

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lies behind the citadel already unsuccessfully

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assailed. Having Never to seduce Jesus from his

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position of unswavering loyalty to the will of

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God, he now flings all the force of his subtle

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art against that which was the strength of his

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abiding in the will of God. In other words, he

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has perfect confidence in God. Jesus had absolute

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confidence in God. He had a perfect confidence

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in his heavenly Father. He came to earth with

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perfect confidence in his father. He had lived

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those years of his life here on earth with perfect

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confidence in his father. There could be no question

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that the element of strength in Christ's steadfastness

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in the will of God was that of his absolute confidence

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in his father. His quiet and perfect trust. It

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was this trust which made him deliberately choose

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to suffer hunger, which lay within the divine

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will, rather than to satisfy that necessity of

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his life by yielding to his own... deity and

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his own power to turn those stones into bread.

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He had perfect trust in his father, knowing that

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it was in the will of father that he fasted those

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40 days. Perhaps he didn't understand why. Perfect

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trust does not have to see a foot ahead. Perfect

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trust. does not demand an immediate answer. Perfect

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trust does not have to see. That's what perfect

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trust is. The enemy, having failed to persuade

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him to turn aside from that pathway, now directed

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his forces against the principle of strength,

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which was the very secret of the previous...

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triumph of Jesus. He thought to himself, if I

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could just get him to deviate from that perfect

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trust, if I can just sidetrack him just a little,

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then I can cause him to sin. He will no longer

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be the perfect Son of God. Too much emphasis

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can hardly be laid on this thought that I'm giving

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you just now. God's perfect man was perfectly

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victorious. And he was completely victorious

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because his trust in his father was so complete

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that his... relation to the will of God was something

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instantly beyond that of resignation or merely

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a determination when it came to his submission.

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We can only become perfectly and completely submitted

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to one and to the will of that one when we have

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perfect trust in that one. Know that. I can only

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be completely submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ.

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I can only and I do only submit my will, my life

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completely to him because I have perfect confidence

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and perfect trust in him. It's like that. When

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a child ceases to have perfect trust in a parent,

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then that child will no longer submit their will

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to that other parent. When you have lost the

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confidence of your child. When you have lost

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that perfect trust that that child has in you,

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you've lost everything. Everything has been destroyed.

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Here the enemy sees that Jesus has perfect trust

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and perfect confidence in his Father. And he

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says to himself, if I can destroy that, I've

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got him. Oh, I'll tell you something. There it

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is. There it is, beloved. He knew, Jesus knew,

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that he was safer hungry, but hungry in the will

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of God, than he could have been satisfied from

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hunger outside the will of his Father. Oh, if

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you and I could only get to that place, greatest

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experiences of our life. This being the objective

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point, now carefully mark the subtlety of the

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approach of the evil one. I read the scripture

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now. Then the devil taketh him into the holy

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city, and he set him on the pinnacle of the temple,

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and saith unto him, If thou art the Son of God,

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cast thyself down, for it is written. Oh, oh,

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look out. The devil begins quoting Scripture.

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In the first temptation, he did not quote Scripture,

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but Jesus refuted the attack. by saying it is

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written. The devil in the second temptation has

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become so cunning, so subtle, that he begins

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by quoting scripture himself. That's the reason

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I have said to you over and over again, Christians

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are so gullible. Sometimes I think they're the

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most gullible people in the world. They'll accept

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anyone who goes around tooting a Bible. Christians

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are so gullible. If somebody comes to your house,

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and if they have a Bible under their arm, why

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come right on in. Sure, we're so gullible. Sit

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down. Do you want to know something? The devil

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can quote Scripture better than the greatest

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saint that ever lived. The devil knows the Scripture.

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The devil can quote Scripture. And he can quote

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it hard and fast. He had the audacity to literally

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stand before the Son of God and quote Scripture.

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And this is what he said. And it was Scripture.

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It was the Word of God. Nothing had been taken

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from. Nothing had been added to. It was exactly...

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as the scripture itself had been given. For it

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is written, here's the devil quoting, he shall

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give his angels charge concerning thee. He keeps

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right on. On their hands they shall bear thee

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up, lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone.

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The devil is quoting scripture. And it was the

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word of God. Pause a minute. The choosing of

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the place is first evidence of how subtle the

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foe really was. He took Jesus, the scripture

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says, to the holy city. The holy city. and the

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temple in the holy city, and in the temple, the

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pinnacle. How largely the mind is often influenced

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by surroundings. How you and I are very often

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influenced by our surroundings. And the devil

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knew, oh, he knew what that location meant to

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Jesus. He knew this place meant everything in

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the world to Jesus. Everything, for Jerusalem

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was the very center of the deepest life of the

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nation, and all the aspirations of the people

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centered therein. The devout child of Abraham,

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in whatever part of the earth he found himself,

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turned his face towards the city as his heart

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went out to... God in his prayers. And concerning

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it, thousands would join the prayer of the sonnest

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of old when he said, If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,

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let my right hand forget her skill. And believe

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me when I tell you that Jesus of Nazareth was

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no exception to the rule. How he loved that city.

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He came to it over and over again. He was very

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sentimental. over the city of Jerusalem. The

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devil knew it. That is why in his second temptation,

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he took him to the spot where Jesus was most

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sentimental. My goodness, life, I've just looked

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up. I've got to leave you. And don't miss our

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next heart -to -heart talk on the second temptation.

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God bless you.