[3.] He doth not seek to move him by naked words, but by the sight of the thing itself. Objects move the senses, senses draw away the mind ; nor are they the porters of the soul so much as the cor- rupters : Ps. cxix. 37, ' Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way.' If we let loose our senses without a guard, we soon contract a deadness of heart. There is nothing so soon led away as the eye, it is the broker between the heart and the object; the eye gazeth and the heart lusteth ; this is the window by which Satan hath crept in, and all manner of taint hath been con- veyed into the soul. In the first sin, Eve was corrupted this way : Gen. iii. 6, * And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, &c., she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.' Gazing on the fruit with delight, her heart was ensnared. We read of Potiphar's wife, ' She cast her eyes on Joseph,' Gen. xxxix 7; Achan, Josh. vii. 21, 'When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them.' First he smu, then he coveted, then he took them, then he Jikl them, then Israel falls, and he is attached by lot. So it is said of Shechem and Dinah : Gen. xxxiv. 2, ' He saw her, and
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took lier, and lay with her, and defiled her.' So of Samson : Judges xvi. 1, ' He went to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.' David was ensnared by his eyes : 2 Sam. xi. 2, ' From the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.' Naboth's vineyard was ever in Ahab's eye, as being near his palace, therefore he is troubled and falls sick for it, 1 King xxi. 1, 2. Now, because so many have been betrayed by their senses, the devil taketh this way to tempt Christ, as knowing this is the next way to the heart,
[4.] He taketh him into an high mountain, that he might look far and near, and see the more provinces, cities, and kingdoms, to move him the more. The devil was sensible that small things were not to be offered to Christ, and therefore dresseth out the temptation in as glorious a manner as he can. The chapman of souls is grown thirsty of late, he doth not offer all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory thereof, he knoweth that we will accept of less with thanks. The devil buyeth many at a very easy price ; he needeth not carry them so high as the mountain ; they are contented with a little gain that is got by a fraudulent bargain in the shop. If we stand in our win- dow, or at our doors, we meet with temptations enough to carry us away. He needeth not come with kingdoms, or with the glory of all the world : thirty pence, the price of a slave, is enough to make Judas betray his master, Mat. xxvi. 15 ; and the prophet telleth us of some that will transgress for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, Ezek. xiii. 19. And those pretended prophets, too, making God the author and maintainer of their lies and deceits. And, again, of those that respect persons, whether magistrates or ministers : Prov. xxviii. 21, ' To have respect of persons is not good, for for a piece of bread will that man transgress, ' And another prophet telleth us of those that ' sell the poor for a pair of shoes,' Amos ii. 6, and viii, 6. Those will take any price. And the apostle saith of Esau, Heb, xii. 16, ' For one morsel of meat he sold his birthright.' So that the devil may abate a great deal of what he offered Christ. He need not say to such, You shall have ' all these things.' Nay, hold you ! You shall have this petty gain, that slight pleasure and carnal satisfaction. It is a wonder to consider what small things make up a temptation to many, yea, to most. The world is so corrupt that they will violate conscience with a small hire. We are not tempted with great things, less will serve the turn. But the devil knew that small matters were no temptation to Christ, therefore he carrieth him to the mountain, that he might see the glory of all the earth, to make the temptation the more strong.
[5.] He showeth him the kingdoms of the world, ev ariy/xfi ')^p6i>ov, Luke iv. 5, in a moment of time, — that circumstance is not to be passed over. When many objects and glorious come together of a sudden, they do the more surprise us. Therefore, the more to afi'ect Christ with the splendour of these things, and on a sudden to prevail upon him, which otherwise he was not likely to do, he did not repre- sent the glory of these kingdoms of the world to Christ that he might see them one after another, but all together, that there might be less time for consideration, that so his mind might be the more blinded by the appearing splendour of the tempting object, and his heart the