A Would-be Giver

 In his fourth chapter Matthew tells how Satan proposed to give the world to Christ, a great offer and fitting in a sense but one our Lord could not accept on the terms stated or from this would-be giver. How could he receive a gift from Satan without being subordinated to him? How can a Christian¹ do this same thing without change of character and loss of life?

 

Were Christ to receive the world as a gift from Satan he would still need to save it from sin if a redeemed² world is what he wants. Satan cannot give what he does not possess. But whatever his right of ownership 5 his offer was not intended to aid our Lord but to tempt³ him to betray His trust.

 

Matthew thinks Satan proposed to give only as a last resort and after other means had failed. Giving appears to be the hardest thing for him to do or he may regard it as the climax⁴ of his appeal. He was in the presence of Christ but he proposes to give his own gift in his own way to further his own ends. Satan remains⁵ Satan in the presence of Christ, unchanged and unchangeable.

 

Satan requests Christ to fall down and worship him while Christ replies, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God.” Satan has no disposition⁶ to follow the example of the Wise Men or to adopt their order of procedure. He asks our Lord to accept his gift and then worship him in acknowledgement of his supremacy⁷. He offers temporal things for spiritual service, earthly greatness for divine recognition.

 

Unlike the Wise Men Satan is unlike God also, who sends his rain upon the just and the unjust. God’s giving springs from his love, is measured by it and is the expression of it. God so loved the world that He gave His Son. His giving is a real bestowment and not a deceptive⁸ deal. He gives according to his nature and men receive according to their ability.

 

6

Well we know that God can give

Knowledge of the way to live.

Give he will and give he must

Unto all who in him trust,

Right thru things that lie between

God can give while yet unseen.

But God gives ministry⁹ instead of mastery. “It is the most fantastic of all dreams,” says Newman Hall, “that a man can cut his being into two portions, call one of them religious and the other mundane¹⁰, and administer them on directly opposite principles.” As Christ was not deluded¹¹, divided and directed by Satan neither can Christians¹² be if they are to remain Christians.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

3 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。

4 climax   

n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点

参考例句：

• The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
• His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

7 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

8 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

11 deluded   

v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't be deluded into thinking that we are out of danger yet. 不要误以为我们已脱离危险。
• She deluded everyone into following her. 她骗得每个人都听信她的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。