"NEVERTHELESS HE LOVED THEM FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE, THAT HE MIGHT MAKE HIS POWER TO BE KNOWN." Ps. CVI. 8. (Continued from page 279). Second, His temptation. That the God of all power and might should be tempted, afflicted, and tried by the rage, power, and enmity of the old serpent the devil, is a most astonishing and startling truth: yet this was an important part of his sufferings here below, that he might be enabled to enter sympathetically into the feelings of the children of God, and administer to them in their troubles. "For in that he himself hath suffered-being tempted-he is able to succour them that are tempted" (Heb. ii. 18); hence we come to a most blessed conclusion, concerning the matter, knowing that he who has the care of us, and "whose ear is ever open to our cry," that he can sympathise with us in all our trouble, feel for us in all our temptations, and intercede most feelingly for us in every trial. "For we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. xiv. 15). Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens-Jesus the Son of God, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. xiv 16), and woe be to that man who has no ་་ need to come. We read of the illustrious Jesus, that "when he was baptized, he went up straightway out of the water: and lo! the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him, and lo! a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. iii. 16, 17); and immediately after this did his great temptation in the wilderness commence. Here may the believer view a strong feature in the salvation of his own soul, by the conquering power of Jesus. Suppose for a moment that the devil had but succeeded in one small portion of his temptation, and what would be the effect? The whole church of God would sink to ruin. Herein depends the safety of the church-in the conquering power of Jesus; and had it been possible for the devil to succeed in any one point, the ruin of the church would surely follow. But no, this could not be; the serpent's way was here upon a Rock, and he could make no impression. Christ's purpose and power was too firm, and Satan could not alter it. The Lord's purpose was just the opposite to Satan's. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John iii. 8). And shall not the Lord's purpose stand? Hear his own declaration-" The Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" (Isaiah xiv. 27). But although the devil could gain no power over the Lord Jesus Christ-so far as overthrowing his kingdom went-yet his temptation was no trifling matter to our overcoming Jesus, for he is said to suffer, being tempted." Aye, the Lord of life and glory to suffer from the temptations of one of his fallen creatures; and for the salvation and good of other of his fallen creatures-what an astonishing thought! and what a great fact! Let us then for a moment muse on his suffering in "being tempted." It is said of the Son of God, that "he was led up of the Sprit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil" (Matt. iv. 1), and not only so, but that he was solitary, roaming about in the great desert for forty days and forty nights, "and was with the wild beasts" (Mark i. 13); after he had thus spent forty days and forty nights, fasting the whole time, "he was afterward an hungred" (Matt. iv. 2), and then, yea then, "the tempter came to him" (v. 3). And what does the tempter come with after so solitary a forty days, and so trying a fast? why it is this, “if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread" (v. 3); as much as to say, if you are the Son of God, as you affirm you are (though I myself don't believe anything about it); but if you are the Son of God, and you have been here forty days and forty nights without food, and are now "an hungred," why dont you prove your sonship and your godhead by turning these stones, at the command of your word, into bread-thus, by one act, both satisfying your craving hunger, and proving to me your divinity? Now, what a cutting temptation must this be to our suffering and incarnate God? and how forcible and tempting must it enter into his sacred breast? and when we consider that he could have done all this at his word-oh! how trying it must prove! But shall Satan overcome and so prove the final fall of the church of God? No! Our blessed Lord stood too firm, trying as the temptation might be, and so proved his own words to be a great truth, that "the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John xiv. 30); he then flies "to the law and to the testimony" (Isaiah viii. 20), holding up the shield of faith and rebuffing the temptation of the enemy, by saying, "It is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. iv. 4). But the Lord did not do all this without suffering; he suffered the hunger, and be suffered the temptation; he suffered his own weakness, and he suffered the enemy's power. Who would ever think that he would condescend to suffer like this-and to do it all for us? Let us ever remember that not only was our Saviour tempted, but that in that temptation "he suffered" (Heb. ii. 18), and that not only did he suffer, but that he suffered for us (1 Pet. ii. 21). 66 Much we talk of Jesu's blood, That their weight is fully known. But though the devil could not succeed in tempting our illustrious Redeemer this first time, yet he would not give it up, if he made him suffer then he had accomplished part of his object- and would carry it still further and make him suffer more; if he afflicted him, he would do it again, and as severely as he could too; and if his hellish power was felt in the holy breast of Jesus, he would make him feel it more. Not a link in the devil's chain, but must here be stretched to the full; not an arrow in his quiver, but must be thrown into the heart of this man of sorrows;" all hell engaged in pushing on their master to conquer the "holy child Jesus " (Acts iv. 27); and every invention that the infernal pit could devise was to be used against our incarnate God; but though he was "meek and lowly of heart" (Matt. ii. 29), yet he conquered by "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. vi. 17). Now notice the cunning device of Satan in this second temptation. He found how effectually the Lord Jesus conquered him by referring to the word of God in the first case, hence he thought that his next temptation should be backed up with a Scripture, and so he comes with his old story, If thou be the Son of God;" and after he had set him on the pinnacle, he says, "Now show thy godhead-make clear your divinity, and cast thyself down, for it is written (here the crafty foe uses Scripture in order to conquer Jesus), he shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in their hand they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone (Matt. iv. 6). Now could not the Lord Jesus do this without harm if he chose? Yes, he could, but he would not thus give way to Satan, and thereby acknowledge his power. No, this would not do; his church is too near his heart for all this, and therefore he put "his hand in his bag and took thence a stone, and slung it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead " (1 Sam. xvii. 49.), so that his church is safe yet, and he stands his ground still. Thus far did our precious Saviour overcome the wicked one, and thus far the church is safe; but the battle is not over even now-the enemy has still another dart to throw, and all the while he has one he will not fail to make use of it; he has still another link in his chain; and this is to be made as good a use of as possible, and therefore he tries a third stratagem to conquer our illustrious God, but does not come with his old story, "If thou be the Son of God." No, this story was worn out, and therefore a fresh scheme is devised; if one thing will not answer bis purpose, another is to be tried. We may depend upon it that the devil is at no loss for tools to do his work with, and if he deserves a Scripture name at all it is surely" a cunning workman " (Is. xl. 20); he therefore now comes leaving his old story behind, and comes out boldly with the whole temptation, of which the two former were but parts, telling our blessed Lord that he would give him "all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them" (Matt. iv. 8), if we would but "fall down and worship him" (9 v.) Thus proving the truth of our Lord's own words, "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it" (John viii, 44), for neither the world nor the glory of it is in the power of the devil to give-for neither belongs to him; but the whole belongs to that Lord whom he was here addressing in this temptation, for "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein" (Psalm xxi. 1). Thus did this lying devil try his last scheme upon his Maker and his God, but all without effect. Jesus again held forth the "sword of the Spirit," and triumphed over this arch fiend of hell with, "It s written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matt. iv. 10). So did our blessed Saviour overcome the wicked one, and triumph over his enemy; and so will he continue to do until the end of time ; "For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet" (1 Cor. xv. 25). After Satan had thus cast his last dart, and tried his last scheme, "then he leaveth him" (Matt. iv. 11), but not till then. He will go as far as he dare both with the Head of the church as well as with the body; and he is the same devil now as he was then; he is quite as ready to tell a poor trembling believer now that he is not a child of God (Eph. i. 5), whatever the Bible may say to the contrary, as he was to tell our blessed Lord that he was not the "Son of God." Depend upon it, he as much now stretches his chain to the last link in these days as he did afore time; and "as a roaring lion walks about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter, v. 8); and in fact the devil is honest enough to own this to be his employ, for when "the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them; and the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it" (Job i. 6, 7). And how did Satan serve poor Job just after this? Why he got leave of God to touch all that Job had (Job i. 11). Well, he did it to his utmost, but he could do no more; he could not do a thing more than the Lord permitted: the command was, " Upon himself put not forth thine hand now, nd touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face" (Job ii. 4, 5). Well, the Lord gave him another link to his chain, and says, "Behold, he is in thine hand' (6 v.) Well, what sort of treatment does poor Job get while he is in the devil's hand? We read, “Satan smote Job with sore boils, from the sole of his foot unto his crown; and he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes" (7 and 8 v.) And why did not the devil tell him right out now? It was for the same reason, that he did not touch his body before-because he did not dare; the Lord had said "Save his life" (Job ii. 6), and he could not overstep this bound. So that Satan cannot go one step beyond what God orders -not one link beyond that his chain permits. His power on the Head of the church was great, and his power on the body is great still, and he is permitted to go a great way, but here the decree stands, "Save his life" (Job ii. 6), and "Hitherto shall thou come, and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed" (Job xxxviii. 11). He may try and tempt the church of God; but he cannot hurt or damn her; his bound is, "Save her life;" and he might as well try to tear God from his throne, as to damage or effectually hurt his church. ; I feel an inclination here to write a little upon the temptations with which the devil sometimes tries the children of God; but this would be too great a digression from our subject. 1 will now leave it, and, if the Lord will, at some future time speak a little upon the next head-viz., "Our Lord's enduring hardships for his people." Leaving this in the Lord's hand, to do with as seemeth good, H CEPHAS. MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. THE angelic host above, who are ever basking in unbeclouded presence of the Sun of righteousness, partake not of an affinity so close, nor a relationship so inseparable, as the fallen race of man. What angels have been, is far beyond the pale of the narrow intellect to grasp or tell; nor would a knowledge of the constitution of that sacred body be profitable for us to know, or revelation would have unfolded it—but on it it is silent ; shall nor we, whose plastic' minds are moulded finite and earthy, be enlightened on the subject, until they themselves shall welcome our entrance, and escort us through the portals of their own blissful habitation. Our ignorance of their nature, their origin, and their being, is far more than counterpoised, by the knowledge that, notwithstanding their holy state, and the glory that surrounds them, their divine Lord was affianced, and blended less with them than with us. Can we appreciate the amount of love the Saviour, the immortal Christ of God, had for such ruined, undone, worthless worms as we, that he should leave the holy courts of bliss, where archangels and seraphs attuned their diapason choirs to his glory-where the echoes never cease to redound to his honour, and descend to dwell with apostate man; such condescension, such profound humiliation, that thus He, the mighty God, the great ancient of days underwent, petrifies our souls, and bewilders our thoughts; nor did he come to dwell with man simply-he came to suffer, bleed, and die for him; not for angels, but for man; not for archangels or cherubims, but for sinful man-he that had devoted his |