Matthew 4

1 Then Jesus was led up of the
spiint into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil.

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

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
chai’ge concerning thee: and in their 1

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 exceeding high mountain, and
sheweth 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
full 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 slmlt thcu serve.

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

The jfirst event in our Lord’s ministry which St. Matthew records after His baptism, is His temptation. This is a deep and mysterious subject. There is much in the history of it which we cannot explain. But there lie on the face of the history plain practical lessons, to which we shall do well to take heed.

Let us learn in the first place, what a real and mighty enemy we have in the devil. He is not afraid to assault even the Lord Jesus Himself. Three times overlie attacks God’s own Son. Our Saviour was “tempted of the devil.”

It was the devil who brought sin into the world at the beginning. This is he, who vexed Job, deceived David, and gave Peter a heavy fall. This is he, whom the Bible calls a “murderer,” a “liar,” and a “roaring lion.” This is he, whose enmity to our souls never slumbers and never sleeps. This is he, who for nearly 6000 years has been working at one work, to ruin men and women, and draw them to hell. This is he, whose cunning and subtlety pass man’s understanding, and who often appears “an angel of light.”

Let us all watch and pray daily against his devices. There is no enemy worse than an enemy who is never seen and never dies, who is near to us wherever we live, and goes with us wherever we go. Not least let us beware of that levity and jesting about the devil, which is so unhappily common. Let us remember every day, that if we would be saved, we must not only crucify the flesh, and overcome the world, but also “resist the devil.”

Let us learn in the next place, that we rmist not count temptation a strange thing, ‘’ The disciple is not greater than his master, nor the servant than his lord.” If Satan came to Christ, he will also come to Christians.

It would be well for all believers, if they would remember this. They are too apt to forget it. They often find evil thoughts arising within their minds, which they can truly say they hate. Doubts, questions, and sinful imaginings are suggested to them, against which their whole inward man revolts. But let not these things destroy their peace, and rob them of their comforts. Let them remember there is a devil, and not be surprised to find him near them. To be tempted is in itself no sin. It is the yielding to the temptation, and giving it a place in our hearts, which we must fear.

Let us learn in the next place, that the chief weapon we ought to use in resisting Satan is the Bible. Three times the great enemy oiFered temptations to our Lord. Three times his offer was refused, with a text of Scripture as the reason, “it is written,”

Here is one among many reasons, why we ought to be diligent readers of our Bibles. The Word is the sword of the Spirit. We shall never fight a good fight, if we do not use it as our principal weapon. — The Word is the lamp for our feet. We shall never keep the king’s highway to heaven, if we do not journey by its light. — It may well be feared, that there is not enough Bible-reading amongst us. It is not sufficient to have the Book. We must actually read it, and pray over it ourselves. It will do us no good, if it only lies still in our houses. “We must be actually familiar with its contents, and have its texts stored in our memories and minds. Knowledge of the Bible never comes by intuition. I-t can only be got by hard, regular, daily, attentive, wakeful reading. Do we grudge the time and trouble this will cost us? If we do, we are not yet fit for the kingdom of God.

Let us learn in the last place, what a sympathizing Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ is. “In that he himself hath suff’ered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” (Heb. ii. 18.)

The sympathy of Jesus is a truth which ought to be peculiarly dear to all believers. They will find in it a mine of strong consolation. They should never forget, that they have a mighty Friend in heaven, who feels for them in all their temptations, and can enter into all their spiritual anxieties. Are they ever tempted by Satan to distrust God’s care and goodness? So was Jesus. — Are they ever tempted to presume on God’s mercy, and run into danger without warrant? So also was Jesus. — Are they ever tempted to commit some one great private sin for the sake of some great seeming advantage? So also was Jesus. — Are they ever tempted to listen to some misapplication of Scripture, as an excuse for doing wrong? So also was Jesus. — He is just the Saviour that a tempted people require. Let them flee to Him for help, and spread before Him all their troubles. They will find His ear ever ready to hear, and His heart ever ready to feel. He can understand their sorrows.

May we all know the value of a sympathizing Saviour by experience! There is nothing to be compared to it in this cold and deceitful world. Those who seek their happiness in this life only, and despise the religion of the Bible, have no idea what true comfort they are missing.

MATTHEW IV. 12 — 25.

12 Now when Jesus had heard that i
John was cast into prison, he departed
into Gahlee;

13 And leaving Nazareth, he came
and dwelt in Capernaum, which is
upon the sea coast, in the borders of
Zabulon and Nephthalim:

14 That it might be falfllled which
was spoken by Esaias the prophet,
Baying,

15 The land of Zabulon, and the
laud of Nephthalim by the way of
the sea, beyond Jordan, Galileo of
the Gentiles;

16 The people which sat in darkness
saw great light; and to them which
sat in the region and shadow of death
light is sprung up.

17 From that time Jesus began to
preach, and to say, Repent: for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.

18 And Jesus, walking by the sea

of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon
called Peter, and Andrew his brother,
castin,^ a net into the sea; for they
were iisher.s.

19 And he saith unto them, Follow
me, and I will make you tishers of
men.

20 And they straightway left tJieir
nets, and followed hun.

21 And going on from thence, he
saw other two brethren, James the
son of Zebedee, and John his brother,
in a ship with Zebedee their father,
mending their nets; and he called
them.

22 And they immediately left the
ship and their father, and followed
him.

23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and
preaching the Gospel of the kingdom,
and healing all manner of gicknesa
and all mauuer of disease among the
people.

24 And his fame went throughout
all Syria; and they brought unto him
all sick people that were taken with
divers diea8es and torments, and
those which were possessed with
devils, and those which were lunatic,

and those that had the palsy; and he
healed them.

25 And there followed him great
multitudes of people from Galilee,
and//w;i Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judsea, and from,
beyond Jordan.

We have in these verses the beginning of our Lord’s ministry among men. He enters on His labors among a dark and ignorant people. He chooses men to be His companions and disciples. He confirms His ministry by miracles, which rouse the attention of ‘’ all Syria,” and draw multitudes to hear Him.

Let us notice the, way in which our Lord commenced His mighty work. “He began to preach.”

There is no office so honorable as that of the preacher. There is no work so important to the souls of men. It is an office which the Son of God was not ashamed to take up. It is an office to which He appointed His twelve apostles. It is an office to which St. Paul in his old age specially directs Timothy’s attention. He charges him with almost his last breath to “preach the word.” It is the means which God has always been pleased to use above any other, for the conversion and edification of souls. The brightest days of the Church have been those when preaching has been honored. The darkest days of the Church have been those when it has been lightly esteemed. Let us honor the sacraments and public prayers of the Church, and reverently use them. But lot us beware that we do not place them above yreaching.

Let us notice the first doctrine which the Lord Jesus proclaimed to the world. He began to say “repent.”

The necessity of repentance is one of the great foundations, which lie at the very bottom of Christianity. It needs to be pressed on all mankind without exception. — High or low, rich or poor, all have sinned and are guilty before God; and all must repent and be converted, if they would be saved. And true repentance is no light matter. It is a thorough change of heart about sin, a change showing itself in godly sorrow and humiliation, — in heartfelt confession before the throne of grace, — in a complete breaking off from sinful habits, and an abiding hatred of all sin. Such repentance is the inseparable companion of saving faith in Christ. Let us prize the doctrine highly. It is of the highest importance. No Christian teaching can be called sound, which does not constantly bring forward “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts xx. 21.)

Let us notice tJie class of men whom the Lo7’d Jesus chose to be His disciples. They were of the poorest and humblest rank in life. Peter, and Andrew, and James, and John, were all ^’fishermen.”

The religion of our Lord Jesus Christ was not intended for the rich and learned alone. It was intended for all the world, — and the majority of all the world will always be the poor. Poverty and ignorance of books excluded thousands from the notice of the boastful philosophers of the heathen world. They exclude no one from the highest place in the service of Christ. Is a man humble? Does he feel his sins? Is he willing to hear Christ’s voice and follow Him? If this be so, he may be the poorest of the poor, but he shall be found as high as any in the kingdom of heaven. Intellect and money are worth nothing without grace.

The religion of Christ must have been from heaven, or it never could have prospered and overspread the earth as it has done. It is vain for infidels to attempt to answer this argument. It cannot be answered. A religion which did not flatter the rich, the great, and the learned, — a religion which oiFered no license to the carnal inclinations of man’s heart, — a religion whose first teachers were poor fishermen, without wealth, rank, or power, — such a religion could never have turned the world upside down, if it had not been of God. Look at the Roman emperors and the heathen priests with their splendid temples on the one side! Look at a few unlearned working men with the Gospel on the other! Were there ever two parties so unequally matched .? Yet the weak proved strong, and the strong proved weak. Heathenism fell, and Christianity took its place. Christianity must be of God.

Let us notice in the last place the general character of the miracles by which our Lord confirmed His mission. Here we are told of them in the mass. Hereafter we shall read many of them described particularly. And what is their character? They were miracles of mercy and kindness. Our Lord “went about doing good.”

These miracles are meant to teach us our Lord’s power. He that could heal sick people with a touch, and cast out devils with a word, is “able to save to the uttermost all them that come unto God by Him.” He is almighty.

These miracles are meant to be types and emblems of our Lord’s skill as a spiritual physician. He before whom no bodily disease proved incurable, is mighty to cure every ailment of our souls. There is no broken m

heart that He caanot heal. There is no wound of conscience that He cannot cure. Fallen, crushed, bruised, plague-stricken as we all are by sin, Jesus by His blood and Spirit can make us whole. Only let us go to Him, These miracles not least are intended to show us Christ’s heart. He is a most compassionate Saviour. He rejected no one who came to Him. He refused no one, however loathsome and diseased. He had an ear to hear all, and a hand to help all, and a heart to feel for all. There is no kindness like His. His compassions fail not.

May we all remember that Jesus is “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever V High in heaven at God’s right hand. He is not in the least altered. He is just as able to save, just as willing to receive, just as ready to help, as He was 1800 years ago. Should we have spread out our wants before Him then? Let us do the same now. He can “heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”