rist's, He would have been no nearer His heart's
desire.

The temptation was not only to fling away the ideal of His kingdom, but
to reverse the means for its establishment. Neither temptation could
originate within Christ's heart, but both beset Him all His life. The
cravings of His followers, the expectations of His race, the certainty
of an enthusiastic response if He would put Himself at their head, and
the equal certainty of death if He would not, were always urging Him to
the very same thing.

'There is nothing weaker,' says an old school-man, 'than the Devil
stripped naked.' The mask is thrown off at last, and swift and smiting
comes the gesture and the word of abhorrence, 'Get thee hence,
Satan,'--now revealed in thy true colours. Jesus still couches His
refusal in Scripture words, as if sheltering Himself behind their broad
shield. It is safest to meet temptation, not by our own reasonings and
thoughts, but by the words which cannot lie. As He had held unmoved, by
His filial trust and His filial submission, now He clings to the
foundation principle of all religion,--the exclusive worship and service
of God. His kingdom is to be a kingdom of priests; therefore to begin it
by such an act would be suicide. It is to be the victorious antagonist
of Satan's kingdom, because it is to lead all men to worship God alone;
therefore enmity, not alliance, is to be between these two. Christ's
last words are not only His final refusal of all the baits, but the
ringing proclamation of war to the death, and that a war which will end
in victory. The enemy's quiver is empty. He feels that he has met more
than his match, so he skulks from the field, beaten for the first time
by having encountered a heart which all his fiery darts failed to
inflame, and dimly foreseeing yet more utter defeat.

The last temptation teaches us both the nature of Christ's kingdom and
the means of its establishment. It is a rule over men's hearts and
wills, swaying them to goodness and the exclusive worship and service of
God. That being so, the way to found it follows of course. It can only
be set up by suffering, utter self-sacrifice, gentleness, and goodness.
Christ is King of all because He is servant of all. His cross is His
throne. His realm is of hearts softened, cleansed, made gladly obedient,
and growingly like Himself. For such a king, weapons of force are
impossible, and for His subjects the same law holds. They have often
tried to fight f