2. It should breed some confidence and comfort in Christians in their sore straits and difficulties, when all visible help seemeth to be cut off. This invisible ministry of the angels is matter of faith : 2 Kings vi. 16, 17, ' And he answered, Fear not : for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elislia prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open the young man's eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the young man's eyes, and he saw : and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.' These were no other but the angels of God, which were as an host to defend them. Open the eye of faith, you may see God, and his holy angels to secure you.
3. Take we heed how we carry ourselves, because of this honourable presence. In congregations there should be no indecencj^, ' because of the angels,' 1 Cor. xi. 10. In all our ways let us take heed that we do not step out of God's way. Do nothing that is unseemly and dis- honest ; they are spies upon us. And it is profitable for us, that they may give an account of us to God with joy, and not with grief
SEEMON IV.
Jesus said tmto him, It is icritten again, Thou shall not tempt the Lord thj God.—\lxTi. IV. 7.
Here is Christ's answer to the second temptation, where two thmgs are observable : —
First, That Christ answered.
Secondly, What he answered.
First, That Christ answered, Christ answered, the more to con- vince and confound this old deceiver, that he might not think that he was ignorant of his sleights, or that he fainted in the conflict ; as also to instruct us what to do in the renewed assaults of the devil, to \iee^ up our resistance still, not letting go our sure hold, which are the scriptures.
Mat. IV. 7.] Christ's temptation. 287
Secondly, What he answered, * It is written,' &c. But would it not liave been more satisfactory to have said, It is sufficiently manifest to me that I am the Son of God, and cared for by him, and that it is not for the children of God to run upon precipices ?
I answer : It is not for human wisdom to interpose and prescribe to Christ, who was the wisdom and power of God. His answer is most satisfactory, for two reasons : —
1. It striketh at the throat of the cause.
2. Tt doth with advantage give us other instructions.
1. Christ cutteth the throat of the temptation by quoting a passage of scripture, out of Deut. vi. 16, 'Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.' If we must not tempt God, "then it doth not become Christ to tempt his Father's providence for a new proof of his filiation and care over him. Therefore the devil's temp- tation was neither good nor profitable, to put either his sonship or the care of God's providence to this trial ; as if he had said, I shall not require any more signs to prove my filiation, nor express any doubt of his power and goodness towards me, as the Israelites did : Exod. xvii. 7, ' And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?' To which story this prohibition of tempting God alludeth.
2. He doth with advantage give us other instructions ; as,
[1.] That we must not esteem the less of scripture, though Satan and his instruments abuse it ; and that nothing is more profitable to dissolve doubts and objections raised from scripture, than to compare one scripture with another. For scripture is not opposite to scripture ; there is a fair agreement and harmony between the truths therein compared ; and one place doth not cross another, but clear and explain another. One place saith he hath a great care of his people, and useth the ministry of angels for that end and purpose ; but another place saith, ' Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God ; ' they must not seek out dangers, and forfeit their protection by unreasonable pre- sumption.
[2.] It teacheth us that what the scripture speaketh to all, is to be esteemed as spoken to every singular person, for they are included in their universality. In Deuteronomy it is, ' Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God ; ' but Christ accommodateth it to his own purpose, ' Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' He that is not to be tempted by a multitude, is not to be tempted by any one. So Ps. xxvii. 8, 'When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.' God's words invite all, but David maketh ap[)lication to himself.
[3.] Christ subjects himself to the moral law, and did apply the pre- cepts thereof to himself, no less than to us ; and so is a pattern of obedience to us, that we ought to direct and order all our actions according to the law and word of God.