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fruits of this one and final conquest which Christ has achieved over the world, the flesh and the devil. By rely ing upon it, its reality becomes ours in union and fellowship with Him. Before every assault of the enemy we simply hold up the cross and by this sign we conquer. Jfe v. 1. Jesus , . . full of the Holy Ghost. ¡When God gives armor He soon puts it to the proof, and so the strength given at the baptism is now to be tested in the wil- GOMMENTS PROM derness.—Nicoll. MANY SOURCES Returned from Keith Ii. Brooks Jordan. It is always on the eve of an especially bright and joy ous experience that Satan needs most vigilant attention. It was just after the victory of Carmel that Elijah was found under the juniper tree. Landels. Bed by the Spirit. The moment of loftiest resolution and clear est testimony is immediately succeeded by Satan’s fiercest assault. Note well that it was the Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. The temptation was a nec essary preparation for our Saviour’s work— just as necessary as the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Heb. 2:17,18; 4:15,16.) We may wonder why God suffers us to be tempted and tried as we are. It is that we may be fitted for the larger work He has for us to do.— Torrey. He leads Him out, not to attack the enemy but to sustain the enemy’s attacks on Him. The tempta tions were all skillfully directed to try the question whether Jesus was so thoroughly one with the Father as He professed to be and as it was necessary He should be.— Blaikie. v. 2. Tempted of the devil. If the devil was not a distinct personality," Jesus’ temptation* was subjective—He was tempted from within, not without. If so, Jesus had evil in Him, was not sinless, could not be sinless in action, was sinful in nature, was not conceived of the Holy Ghost, was not virgin born, was not the Son of God, cannot be the Redeemer. If Jesus was personal, the devil was also personal.— Bishop. The account must have come from the Lord Himself. It is the only instance in which our Lord breaks through His reticence as to His personal history on
earth, giving us a glimpse of what had passed within His own breast.— Latham. v. 3. The devil said. Compare Jesus’ temptation with that of the first Adam. Satan applies the three, tempta tions with which he seeks to ruin the race— the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life (Gen. 3 :6 ).— Haldeman. If thou he Son o f God. It was His Sonship, His very might and strength, on which His temptation fastened, and so it is on the strong side of every good Christian man that his chief danger lies in that which is best and most vigorous in his nature, in his peculiar endowment of excellence. The liability to temptation does not lie merely, as people say, on the weak side.— Beck. Command this stone. The stones, to the eyes of this hungry man, had the shape of loaves, and one word would have turned them to food. Why was it not spoken? Because He would have undone His incarnation by draw ing^ back from the lot of the race with which He had identified Himself. He would have shown a want of trust in the divine providence that was able to feed Him without using any miraculous energy.—Nicoll. Christ’s power to work miracles was given Him to con firm His mission and do good to men, not to relieve Himself.— Scott. v. 4. Answered, It Is written. Every one of our Lord’s citations was from the same book— Deuteronomy. No wonder the devil hates that book and has stirred up the critics to assault it as almost no other book in the Bible.— Torrey. This is our Lord’s first minis terial utterance.— Comp. Bible. We see how to meet the tempter so as to conquer him. He used His Bible as a quiver and he drew from it sharp ar rows which He hurled successfully against His opponent. The lesson lies for us on the very surface.—Miller. Shall not live by bread alone. God is able to give sustenance in other ways if He sees fit to do so.— Stalker. v. 5. A high mountain. Some re gard this as proof that all that passed was in the region of which the spirit and not the senses takes cognizance. No mountain commands a survey of all the kingdoms of the earth.^Plumptre. It is enough that the. thoughts of temptation of earthly despotism and earthly glory were presented to the mind of Jesus.— Carr. v. 6. All this power will I give. We cannot say this statement is absolutely
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