4. With respect to Christ himself, that he might be an exact pat- tern of obedience to God. The obedience is little worth, which is car- ried on in an even tenor, when we have no temptation to the contrary, but is cast off as soon as we are tempted to disobey : James i. 12, * Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.' And Heb. xi. 17, ' By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac : and he that had received the promises offered up his only-begotten son.' Now Christ was to be more eminent than all the holy ones of God, and therefore, that he might give an evidence of his piety, constancy, and trust in God, it was thought fit some trial should be made of him, that he might by example teach us what reason we have to hold to God against the strongest temptations.
III. The good of this to us. It teacheth us divers things, four I shall instance in.
1. To show us who is our grand enemy, the devil, who sought the misery and destruction of mankind, as Christ did our salvation. And therefore he is called o ex6po<i, the enemy ; Mat. xiii. 39, ' The enemy that sowed them is the devil.' And he is called also 6 irovvpo^, the wicked one, Mat. xiii. 19, as the first and deepest in evil. And be- cause this malicious cruel spirit ruined mankind at first, he is called 'a liar and murderer from the beginning,' John viii. 44. A liar, because of his deceit ; a murderer, to show us what he hath done and would do. It was he that set upon Christ, and doth upon us, as at first to destroy our health, so still to keep us from our medicine and recovery out of the lapsed estate by the gospel of Christ.
2; That all men, none excepted, are subject to temptations. If any might plead for exemption, our Lord Jesus, the eternal Son of God, might ; but he was assaulted and tempted ; and if the devil tempted our Saviour, he will be much morebold with us. The godly are yet in the way, not at the end of the journey ; in the field, not with the crown on their heads ; and it is God's will that the enemy should have leave to assault them. None go to heaven without a trial : ' All these things are accomplished in your brethren that are in the flesh,' 1 Pet. v. 9. To look for an exempt privilege, or immunity from temptation, is to list ourselves as Christ's soldiers, and never expect battle or conflict.
3. It showeth us the manner of conflict, both of Satan's fight and our Saviour's defence.
[1.] Of Satan's fight. It is some advantage not to be ignorant of his enterprises : 2 Cor. ii. 11, ' Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.' Then we may the better stand upon our guard. He assaulted Christ by the same kind of tempta- tions by which usually he assaults us. The kinds of temptations are
2G4 Christ's temptation. [Ser. I.
reckoned up : 1 John ii. 16, ' The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life.' And James iii. 15, ' This wisdom descend- eth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.' With these temptations he assaulted our first parents : Gen, iii. 8, ' When the woman saw that the tree was good for fruit, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.' And with the same temptations he assaulted Christ, tempting him to turn stones into bread, to satisfy the longings of the flesh ; to fall down and worship him, as to the sight of a bewitching object to his eyes ; to fly in the air in pride, and to get glory among men. Here are our snares, wliich we must carefully avoid.
[2.] The manner of Christ's defence, and so it instructeth us how to overcome and carry ourselves in temptations. And here are two things whereby Ave evercome : —
(1.) By scripture. The word of God is ' the sword of the Spirit,' Eph. vi. ] 7, and 1 John ii. 14, ' The word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.' It is good to have the word of God abide in our memories, but chiefly in our hearts, by a sound belief and fervent love to the truth.
(2.) Partly by resolution : 1 Pet. iv. 1, ' Arm yourselves with the same mind,' viz., that was in Christ. When Satan grew bold and troublesome, Christ rejects him with indignation. Now the conscience of our duty should thus prevail with us to be resolute therein ; the double-minded are as it were torn in pieces between God and the devil : James i. 8, * A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.* Therefore, being in God's way, we should resolve to be deaf to all temptations.