THE account we have of this transaction hath been thought by many an allegory, or sacred fable: though I see not for what reason. It is introduced as a plain fact, in a plain history, without any intimation that it is otherwise. It is connected also, as a real fact, with many parts of this history*. It carries the connection still farther; and very naturally unites the Old Testament with the New. The former shews us, how the devil foiled the first Adam-the latter, how

* See 2 Cor. xi. 3.-1 Tim. ii. 14.-Thess. iii. 9.-Heb. iv. 15.-Heb. ii. 18.-Rev. xii. 9.-Rev. xx. 2, &c.

himself

himself was foiled by the second. The substance of this relation is to the following effect:

After our blessed Saviour had sustained a long fast in the wilderness, the devil was permitted to tempt him; and first makes an application to the necessities of nature: If thou be the son of God, command these stones to be made bread. Jesus gave him an answer, implying, that bread was not so necessary to man, as the spiritual food of religion, and truth. On this answer, the devil forms his second temptation. If thou thus trustest in the mercies of God, let us see what the power of God will do for thee: throw thyself down from this height*, and try whether that God, in whom thou trustest, will sustain thee from harm. Jesus answered him by a passage from Moses: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God:thou shalt not try any unnecessary experiments of God's power to preserve us; it is enough to trust God in all the unavoidable difficulties of life.

The devil being thus foiled in these two temptations, makes his next attempt upon the

* It is rather probable, that the devil, who is styled prince of the air, should form an appearance like the temple, than that he should carry Jesus to Jerusalem.

passions

passions of our blessed Saviour; and endeavours to find out, whether there is any secret inclination in him to ambition, covetousness, vanity, or pleasure; which he well knew was fatal ground to the sons of men. Look round, said he, from this lofty stand; see all the kingdoms of the earth spread before thee-all their wealth-all their glory, and all their pleasures: all is mine; and shall be thine, if thou wilt give up thy allegiance to God, and put thy trust in me.—This was more than the blessed Jesus could bear. He rebuked the devil with authority, and sent him away on which we read, that good angels came and ministered unto him.

There is no doubt but this, and all other parts of Scripture, are recorded for our improvement: nor can we suppose the devil was permitted to assault our blessed Saviour, but for wise ends; and particularly for our instruction. Let us then see what instruction it affords.

In the first place, one great design of our blessed Saviour's having been tempted, was, we

*It is probable, that this view of all the kingdoms and glory of the world was, like the former, only a visionary scene, produced for the purpose. The expression, in a moment of time, seems to imply this-one scene following another.

may

may suppose, to encourage all good Christians to withstand bravely those temptations, with which their Lord had been assaulted before. If we say, that Christ's resisting temptation is no encouragement to us, because his nature was divine, we do not consider the case. It is true, if man was left entirely to himself, he could not be able to resist the temptations of sin. And in this case, undoubtedly, Christ's resisting temptation, would be no encouragement to him. But we know this is not the case we know, that it is every where the doctrine of Scripture, that we are not left to ourselves; but that our sincere endeavours will be assisted by the Holy Spirit of God. And when we are assured that our blessed Lord was tempted like as we are, we cannot but have encouragement to hope, that he will kindly assist us in the same circumstances; especially when we endeavour to support those temptations for his sake. Our reason our natural feelings, encourage us to hope, that he will thus assist us. But these hopes become certainty, when we read in the word of God, that Christ having been tempted, is able to succour those who are tempted.

Another great use of our Saviour's temptation is, to convince us that we must all expect

VOL. IV.

E

to

No man,

to meet our trials, in some shape. even of the most exalted goodness, can hope to live free from temptations: they meet us in every part of our passage through this world. In the cottage in the palace-in company-in solitude; still temptation, in some form, is ready to meet us. Temptations, we know, are God's means, in this world, to try and prove our religion. If there were no temptations, there could be no goodness. Our good works consist chiefly in conquering the world, the flesh, and the devil. We must consider our temptations therefore in this light; and manfully strive against them, whatever they are; nay, the apostle James bids us count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations: but that is, on a supposition we overcome them; because, as he goes on to tell us, these are trials of our faith, which, like gold that is purified in the fire, comes out more pure. For what reason, think you, are we so frequently told, that the life of a Christian is like the life of a soldier? We are ordered to fight the good fight to put on the armour of God—to wrestle against principalities and powers: for what, but to give us fair warning of the dangers we are to expect? Frequent action, constant danger, alarms,