September 21

Ninth Saturday after Trinity

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, Angels came and ministered unto Him. S. Matthew 4:10, 11.

OBSERVE our blessed Lord does not answer the tempter with human arguments, there is no stopping to converse with him, as our first parents did; but the Scripture, which is open to the humblest believer, is all that wisdom requires. They that are tempted may flee into this as a tower of refuge and are safe. And blessed are they who answer the tempter by the language of their lives, whose only wish is to avoid these his manifold insinuations, in whatever shape they occur, and to worship and serve God only. Our dear Lord refused to listen to Satan, but waited patiently upon God; and God, in His own good time, ministers by Angels to His wants. Our Lord's temptation is of all things in the world the matter of greatest concern to us, so is there nothing more worthy of our deep consideration; for it is calculated to impress upon us beyond anything the reality of our own state of probation as connected with the fall of our first parents, of that enemy with whom we have to contend, and of our restoration in Christ. Further, as the declaration of His Sonship from heaven, preceding His temptation, seems to say to us all who partake of His Baptism, "My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation," fasting is the best means of preparation, and our only safety under temptation is a strict obedience to God's Word, for

They who would in Jesus sleep Must in life with Jesus keep.