It is a well-known psychological fact that evil cannot exist apart from Personality--whether it be bad laws, bad books, bad town, or a bad house. Whence comes all this audacious, undermining insult to the whole sweep of God's plan for saving the world? Whence comes all this preaching about righteousness which places the crown on man, and robs the Cross of its glory? The righteousness being sounded in double diapason and angelus keys is _the righteousness of the Devil_. Bear in mind it is _Righteousness_, and a high type of it, he demands; he wants the offering of Cain to cover up all the needs of the soul--cheat the blood of its merit--insult God, and lead the race through a bowery of flowers, fruits, and music on to its ruin. Anything to cheat the depositum of the Gospel--that which gives a title to heaven--the precious Blood. The righteousness that leaves out the Blood is the "way of Cain"--"the righteousness of the Devil." XVIII THE WORLD'S TEMPTER "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and sayeth unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."--_Matthew iv. 8-9._ Temptation is a seduction: meaning to allure or entice one to evil. It is submitting a proposition which carries with it inducements of pleasure or gain. The mind that accedes readily and willingly to an act is not tempted. A temptation is a clash of wills, one being superior to the other if the contest results in a yielding. The word embodies the idea of an elastic--"stretched to the snapping point." If there is no response, no struggle against desire--it is not a temptation. The Master was very man as well as very God; yet strange as it may seem--_He was really tempted_, and just as we are. Our purpose in this discussion is not to analyze the different phases of our Lord's temptation--the tests to which He was subjected,--but we wish to emphasize one thing: He was _tempted_. The appeals came from His old time enemy; His rival for supremacy. He was not taken unawares; the facts were clearly before Him, just who and what it all meant--yet He was tempted. The diabolical assault did not cease until His threefold nature was "stretched to the snapping point." It came from an inferior being, and for sake of illustration, had the scheme succeeded, the Sun of righteousness would have gone down forever. Not only would the great plan of human redemption have proved abortive, but Satan would have snatched the sceptre from the hand of the Anointed One and shouted his victory in the face of God. We are amazed to think of the only Begotten being near the yielding point in the presence of the fallen Lucifer, but the Book says He was tempted.