WEBVTT

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Well, sir, I left you so quickly the last time

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I was in your home, and we were right in the

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middle of having a little heart -to -heart talk

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regarding the second temptation of Jesus. It

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just seems like some days the clock goes a little

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faster than other days. And I got the shock of

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my life when I looked up, and, yon and behold,

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I had to quickly say, I'll see you next time.

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Bye. And I had to leave you. So today I'll begin

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exactly where I left the last time I was in your

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home. I hope you have brought your Bibles along

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with you because we're discussing the fourth

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chapter of Matthew. And we're in the fifth verse

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of that fourth chapter. It's the second temptation

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of Jesus. Then the devil taketh him. That is

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immediately following the first temptation. The

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devil took Jesus up into the holy city. That's

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Jerusalem. And I still contend that the enemy

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took Jesus to Jerusalem because he knew how sentimental

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Jesus was. over Jerusalem. Oh, beloved, do you

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remember the incident how he wept when Jerusalem

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refused to hear him and turned from him? Great

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tears of compassion and love flowed down the

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face of Jesus. He loved Jerusalem. He was very

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sentimental over the city, over the temple. Think.

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of the months. Think of the time that Jesus spent

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in the temple of Jerusalem. And the enemy knew

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that if he could take Jesus to the place where

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he was most sentimental, taking him into Jerusalem,

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to the temple, and there attack him in the most

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subtle way possible. And he saith unto him, If

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thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down. For

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it is written. And here's the old scoundrel quoting

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scripture. And he's still quoting scripture today.

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The same old devil is still quoting scripture.

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I believe that he knows. Scripture better, he

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can quote it better than the greatest saint living

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this very hour. He knows Scripture. He uses it.

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He quotes it. And he had the nerve to quote Scripture

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to Jesus. And he was correct in quoting it. And

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this is what he quoted. He shall give his angels

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charge concerning thee, and in their hands they

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shall bear thee up, thou dash thy foot against

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a stone. Now, wherein was the temptation? Pause

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a minute. Having endeavored to seduce Jesus from

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his position of unswerving loyalty to the will

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of 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, namely his perfect

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confidence in God. He had the audacity to attack

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the Son's perfect trust, perfect confidence in

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his heavenly father now listen to the suggestion

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hear his actual proposal cast thyself down cast

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thyself down it is a direct attempt to try to

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force jesus to act upon that principle of trust

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which has been ministered to by the selection

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of this particular place in the city of the great

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king in the house devoted to his worship at its

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most awe -inspiring point exercise trust in him

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by causing thyself to be cast from this great

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height. What was behind this suggestion? It was

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a suggestion that trust most perfectly expresses

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itself in bearing something unusual out of the

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common to be heroic. It was as if the enemy had

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said to Jesus, there's no necessity for... you

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to cast thyself down. It does not come in the

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ordinary line of duty, but so much the greater

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opportunity for a venture of faith. Trust in

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God most perfectly expresses itself in the doing

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of extraordinary things for God. The enemy suggested

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that the trust of Jesus should be put to the

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test and proven by being placed outside the realm

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of the commonplace. He's saying if you really

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want to show to the whole world how much you

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really trust God the Father, Then do the extraordinary.

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Do that which is not commonplace. Do the heroic.

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Stand before the whole world. Cast thyself down

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to the ground. And by that heroic deed, you prove

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to all mankind your perfect trust. in the Heavenly

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Father. Do you want to know something? That is

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still the great danger in the life of the Christian

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today. There is a thin line between trust and

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presumption. There's a thin line between faith

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and presumption. And great is the danger in our

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lives when we substitute presumption for trust

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and for faith. Watch something. Watch. Many a

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time in healing the physical body, we have substituted

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presumption for faith. Many a time in the building

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of some great edifice or the performing of some

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great heroic deed, we have substituted presumption

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for trust. For faith. There is a scripture that

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I may give you as an example. And it's so very

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often misused. Especially among the brethren

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who are fanatical and have gone out into fanaticism.

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Sure it's scriptural. It's in the 16th chapter

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of Mark. They shall take up serpents. And if

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they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt

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them. And there have been those who have used

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that, thinking they were exercising faith and

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trust. And they have deliberately picked up serpents,

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expecting those snakes not to harm them or bite

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them because they have used the scripture. that

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the Bible said they shall take up serpents and

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they shall drink any deadly thing and it shall

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not hurt them. And they were bitten. And they've

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made a fool of themselves. And they have brought

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a reproach on the things of God. When, beloved,

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that was not faith, that was not trust, that

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was presumption. But I... have the trust the

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faith to believe that if I went to Macau as a

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missionary and was in the will of God and going

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there and after doing everything in the world

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that I could to protect myself if during the

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night I was bitten by a scorpion, I believe that

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God would undertake in my behalf. I believe that

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I could call on the mercy of God. I believe that

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I could go to a foreign country and plead for

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God's protection. If I did something ignantly

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or innocently because of my Because I was innocent

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in what I did. But because of my trust in Him,

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I believed that He would take care of me. But

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if I deliberately did it to try to prove something

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to the whole world, I cannot ask His divine protection.

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In exactly the same way, we come to the praying

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for the Savior. Somebody comes and said, Miss

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Kuhlman, we want this miraculous healing so that

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our godless members of our family can know the

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reality of the power of God. We want to prove

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to our family our faith, our trust, and the power

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of God through this healing. That is not... The

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right attitude. God does not have to prove himself

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to any man, any woman. He does not have to prove

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himself to your godless husband through some

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miracle. That godless husband of yours has the

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word of God. That's proof enough. That godless

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husband of yours knows within himself there is

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a god. And upon the strength of that, he needs

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to have enough manhood, enough common sense to

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accept God. and to accept the way of salvation

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through Jesus Christ, his only begotten son.

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For it is written, and God has given proof of

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himself to the inner man of that husband of yours.

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He doesn't have to have somebody to do some great

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heroic deed or give proof of his person and power

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by performing some great miracle. I don't have

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to give some outward proof of my trust in the

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Lord by performing some heroic deed. No, beloved.

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My daily consistent life is proof enough. What

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was the sin in that sin? second temptation. It

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was the sin of presumption. And Jesus saw it.

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Cast thyself down. But Jesus said, I don't have

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to cast myself down to prove my trust. my faith

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in my Heavenly Father. If thou art the Son of

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God, this is the challenge Satan makes the second

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time. It's the same argument used in the previous

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temptation, but almost certainly with a different

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emphasis. In the first, in all probability, it

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lay upon the word art, if thou art the Son of

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God. Here it seems as though it must have been

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upon the word God. If thou art the Son of God,

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the emphasis would be upon the nature of God.

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In the first temptation, he has proved the fact

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of his relationship, but now the appeal is to

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that relationship. He's prepared to enlarge upon

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the goodness of God and the care that he bestows

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upon such as put their trust in him. Oh, look

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how subtle. Foiled and boomed at the first by

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the master's use of the weapon of the word, he

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now makes use of the selfsame weapon. Behold

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the very sword of Christ in the hands of the

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devil. flashes before us, and he says, it is

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written. Endeavoring to appeal to the principle

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of trust, the devil made use of scripture. Jesus

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had declared that man lived not by bread alone,

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but by words proceeding from the mouth of God,

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and in an attempt to urge him to a new exercise

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of trust, the devil quotes the word of God. He

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now accepts Christ's definition of human life

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as something more than animal. He acknowledges

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that it is the spiritual life that needs to be

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strong for the exercise of trust, and moreover,

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that spiritual life is only strong as it feeds

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upon the Word. So he attempts to minister to

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him in the realm of that very spiritual nature.

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And it's startling. Pauline. As he begins to

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quote scripture, he shall give his angels charge

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over thee, lest thou haply dash thy foot against

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a stone. Watch. He took that from the portion

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of the word of God. The psalm that begins, he

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that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most

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High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

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This is the description of the perfect safety

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of the trusting soul. Oh, it's beautiful. You

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and I have clung to that, of course, the word

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of God. Our trust. A place of perfect safety

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in him. But there was a day when the devil himself

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used that which is very precious to our heart.

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Turn now to the answer of Jesus. And what weapon

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did he use on the devil? The same weapon, the

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word of God. And Jesus begins with again. Watch

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it. Again it is written. In the first temptation,

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Jesus said, it is written. In the second, he

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said, again it is written. And in the use of

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the word again, we have a revelation of our Lord's

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perfect mastery of the weapon. In comparison

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with Christ, the devil was a poor swordsman.

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Oh, believe me, when he attempted to use the

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sword of the Spirit, he was a mighty poor swordsman.

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It would seem as though with quiet and yet mighty

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movement of his strong arm, Jesus just wrested

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the sword right from the hand of Satan. The force

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of the again lies in the fact that it is an answer

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to Satan's it is written. Jesus does not deny

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the correctness of the satanic question, but

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he replies to it by saying again. can it is written

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that is to say there must be proper use made

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of the words of god you cannot take a portion

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of the word of god out of its setting and use

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it to prove a point The word of God must be kept

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in its context before it can be properly used.

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Until our next heart -to -heart talk, God bless

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you good.