Horatio Palmer wrote one of the most well known hymns on
the topic of temptation. “Yield Not to Temptation” has now been sung by
churches for over 150 years. The message
is still as vital today as when it was first composed. The world, the flesh and the devil surround
us and increasingly intrude in our lives.
Still, we have a Savior who was tempted in all ways such as we and was
yet without sin.
Matthew and Luke record the wilderness temptation of
Jesus. Following His baptism and filling
with the Holy Spirit, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. There He fasted and prayed for 40 days and
was then tempted by devil in the areas of lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes
and pride of life. For our sake He
endured the sore trial of fasting and for our salvation He remained steadfast
in temptation.
Palmer charges us to follow in this same frame of
life. “Yield not to temptation, for
yielding is sin; each victory will help you some other to win; fight manfully
onward, dark passions subdue, look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you
through.” In subsequent verses Palmer
warns the believer to avoid those places and situations that lead to
temptation. He also constantly points
the believer to the help he will only find in Jesus Christ. “Look ever to Jesus, He will carry you
through.”
The night in which He was betrayed Jesus told His
disciples to watch and pray that they might not enter into temptation. That advice has not changed in two thousand
years. Jesus taught His disciples to
pray, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” That prayer has
not changed for His people for two thousand years either. We look to Him who has overcome. We flee from the temptations that are clearly
seen. We have a victor, a great Champion
in Jesus Christ who has overcome and will help us to overcome. God’s grace is poured out to us in times of
temptation to resist if we will. His
throne of grace is open to us in time of temptation and need. It is a throne of grace we need to avail
ourselves of more and more that we might reveal the grace of our Savior to
world more clearly each day.
The
Friday Benediction
Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop
you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in
the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be
enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend. Amen
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