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were indeed the Son of God, a point, however, which yet remained to be ascertained, to make the nation acknowledge Him in this august character. For by casting Himself down into the court of the temple, where the multitude were assembled to worship God, He would at once be acknowledged as the Messiah, who was expected, according to prophecy, to come suddenly into His temple.90 And moreover, for doing this He had an express warrant in the holy Scriptures, and a promise of Divine support: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Here we may observe the subtilty of the tempter. He first endeavoured to excite in our Lord's mind a distrust of the providence of God; and when he found that His confidence in His heavenly Father was not to be shaken, he attempted to turn it into presumption. Thus he frequently discovers the weakness of mankind, by tempting first to one kind of sin, and if the bait does not take, immediately trying its opposite. If distrust in Divine Providence be not indulged, self-confidence may not be so easily guarded against.

But as Satan misapplied the Scripture to make it answer his purposes, our blessed Sa

90 Malachi iii. 1.

viour foiled him speedily with his own weapon, or with that which he thought to make use of to accomplish his evil designs. By quoting a plain precept, in opposition to a promise which did not apply to the case, He defeated the object of the adversary. It is not possible that Scripture should be at variance with itself, and therefore it was sufficient to appeal to a passage that could not be misunderstood. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. This answer showed, that the assistance of the angels of God was not to be expected, unless the occasion required it; which Satan had avoided referring to in his quotation of the passage. He omitted the words, To keep Thee in all Thy ways.91 It would have been an act of the highest presumption, a going out of His way indeed, to commit so rash a deed in the expectation that God would interfere to prevent the consequences that would naturally ensue from it. Here again also our Saviour showed that obedience to His heavenly Father's laws was more a mark of being the Son of God, than a presumptuous act could possibly be. The path of duty is the path of safety; and while we are walking in it, we may look for the interference of Divine Providence in our behalf, to preserve us from the dangers

91 Psalm xci. 11.

wherewith we are encompassed. But if we run into danger of our own accord, we shall find that the natural course of events will not be altered in order to gratify us in following the devices and desires of our own hearts, and our presumptuous self-confidence. Happy is the man that feareth alway9 to walk contrary to the express and plain commands of God.

Satan having failed in these two assaults on our blessed Saviour; not having been able to prevail upon Him to turn the stones into bread to satisfy His hunger; nor to cast Himself down from the battlements of the temple in presumptuous self-confidence, under the specious pretence that the admiration of the people, would be so greatly excited, that they would acknowledge Him at once to be the Messiah; but which the adversary hoped would cause Him to be dashed to pieces on the pavement below; resolved still to try another method to effect his object. 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. Having pointed out to Him all the beauty and fertility of the surrounding country, as far as the eye could reach, in the different kingdoms or governments into which the land before them was at that time divided, he now no longer appeared

92 Proverbs xxviii. 14.

to question our Lord's character of being the Son of God. But as he knew that it had been said of the Messiah, He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end ;93 he promised to put Him in possession of His kingdom without delay; and saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Here we see the presumption and boldness of the arch-fiend, in making such a lying promise, which he was unable to perform; and which he had no intention of performing if he had been able. He claimed the kingdoms of the world as being under His sovereign authority, and at His disposal, and pretended that he was willing to allow a person of such eminence as Jesus appeared to be, to exercise dominion over them, provided the homage which belonged to the lord paramount were paid to him.

But here the enemy of mankind was as far mistaken in the character of the Person whom he addressed, as he had before shown himself to be. He had found this temptation to succeed with multitudes, when other devices had not prospered. For, alas! how many in all ages

93 Luke i. 32, 33.

have been seduced by worldly prosperity! How many are to be tempted by the riches or the honours of this world, as well as by its pleasures. How effectually does Satan succeed in this kind. of temptation with multitudes of the children of men. How many are persuaded by him to seek all their happiness in the things of this life, and led to believe that felicity consists in the attainment of them! Even repeated disappointment does not make them give over wearying themselves for very vanity; but they pursue one object after another in vain, without suspecting that vanity and vexation of spirit are written upon all sublunary enjoyments.

Our blessed Lord knew with whom He had to deal, and therefore in reply to the monstrously wicked proposal of His tempter, then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him Here the devil found that

only shalt thou serve.

his real character was known; and that all his false pretences were of no avail. The word of God was wielded against him with effect, to his dismay and confusion. This reply showed the arrogance of his pretensions. No created being is an object of Divine worship. It is the greatest impiety to offer to any creature the homage and honour that is due to God only. And those who seek for any temporal benefits whatever, independently of God, by a denial or a renun

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