November 20

Matthew iv. - 1. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

2. And, when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

3. And, when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

4. But he answered and said, It is written, Man, shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

5. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6. And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: 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.

7. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

8. Again, the devil taketh him up into an ex-

ceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

10. 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.

11. Then the devil leaveth him; and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Hebrews ii. - 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

17. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren; that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

18. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.

The manner of this temptation it is not easy to determine, - whether there was a literal appearance of the tempter in a bodily form; whether, in the company of the tempter, Jesus actually went up to Jerusalem, and mounted to the roof of the temple; whether the tempter led him to this point or that, in imagination, by the proposals that he made to him; or whether the whole series of temptations took place within the mind of Jesus, by suggestions from the tempter. Each of these views has something in its favor, and there are likewise difficulties in each.

If Satan appeared in a human form, then Jesus might well have questioned the warrant of a mere man for making such lavish proposals. If he appeared in some strange supernatural form, this must have startled Jesus, and have put him upon his guard; for, throughout the scene, Jesus is represented simply as a man, though with a dawning consciousness of divine Sonship. How could an utter stranger, appearing in any form, have persuaded Jesus to accompany him to Jerusalem, two days distant, upon the preposterous advice to cast himself down from the top of the temple, many hundred feet into the valley below? Moreover, could they have mounted to the roof of the temple, on such an errand,

without attracting notice? Certainly not, if there had been any thing peculiar in the appearance of Satan. But, if Satan did appear in bodily shape, his suggestions could become temptations only as they might act upon the mind of Jesus. Hence the better view of the temptation is that which regards it as a mental scene: these three suggestions, artfully woven into the words of Scripture, were presented to the mind of Jesus in such a way that he knew them to proceed from the Devil.

But, whatever view we take as to the form of the temptation, the lessons from the fact are the same. It teaches us that Christ had a human nature in all things like our own, yet without sin. It teaches us that sin does not consist in a nature susceptible to temptation, but in yielding to temptation by an act of will. It shows us how to resist temptation by the word and the grace of God, and gives us reason to believe that good spirits are helping us when evil spirits are seeking our hurt. And, above all, it teaches us that Christ can sympathize with us in our temptations, and, by his experience of like trials, is qualified to help us with grace in every time of need. With such a helper, we have no excuse for being overcome with evil.

APPROPRIATE HYWN.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 86, 183.

Saviour of sinners! we look to thee. O Thou who hast died that we might live! help us to live to thee alone. Redeemed with the precious blood of the Son of God, may we walk as children of heaven! Help us, O Lord! in our inward conflicts with doubts and fears and sins; help us in our conflicts with the temptations and evils of the world; and, oh! help us in our wrestlings with unseen powers of evil, with the great Adversary of our souls. O Lord! increase our faith. Our hope is in thee; our strength is from thee alone: dwell in us by thy grace; fill us with thy Spirit. This very day may we gain new victories over evil! May we resist temptations in business to swerve from the truth, to take advantage of others, to act

dishonorably, to be covetous and unjust! May we resist temptations in society to envy and evil-speaking, to worldliness and frivolity! May we in all things do that which is right in the sight of God! [May these children grow up, dear Saviour, in thy strength and love, safe from the power of evil!]

We thank thee for another night of rest, another day of mercy and of hope. Bless all dear to us; our friends and neighbors. Succor, O Lord! the poor and needy, the sick, the tempted, the dying. O Lord Jesus! be with us in our last conflict, and make us more than conquerors over death; and to thy name be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.