human appearance, as one that desired to inquire further into the evidences of his mission,) said, If thou art the Son of God in such an extraordinary manner as thou hast been declared to be, and art indeed the promised Messiah who is expected under that character, command that these stones become loaves (of bread,) to relieve thy hunger, for in such a circumstance it will undoubtedly be done. But Jesus answered and said unto him, It is written in the sacred volume, [Deut. viii. 3.] "Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word proceeding out of the mouth of God, or by whatever he shall appoint for the preservation of his life." He can, therefore, support me without bread, as he fed the Israelites in the wilderness; and, on the other hand, even bread itself, if these stones were turned into it, could not nourish me without his blessing, which I could not expect were I to attempt a miracle of this kind, merely in compliance with thy suggestions, without any intimation of my Father's will. Then, as the devil found it was in vain that he had tempted Christ to a distrust of providence, he was for trying to persuade him to presumption; and, to this end, he taketh him along with him to Jerusalem, which, being a place where God dwelt in so distinguishing a manner, was commonly called the Holy City, and there he setteth him on one of the battlements of the temple, which, in some parts of it, and particularly over the porch, was so exceeding high, that one could hardly bear to look down from it. And, as he stood upon the brink of this high precipice, the tempter saith unto him, If thou art, indeed, the Son of God, cast thyself down courageously from hence, and mingle with those that are assembled for the worship of God in yonder court. The sight of such a miracle will undeniably convince them of the truth of thy pretensions; and thou canst have no room to doubt for thy safety, for thou well knowest it is written, [Psalm xci. 11, 12.]" He shall give his angels a charge concerning thee to keep thee, and they shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou shouldest, by any accident, dash thy foot against a stone." And surely the Son of God may depend upon a promise which seems common to all his saints. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is also written, to prevent the ungrateful abuse of such gracious promises as these, [Deut. vi. 16.]Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," by demanding farther evidence of what is already made sufficiently plain, as my relation to God is by the miraculous and glorious testimony he hath so lately given me. Again, the devil being resolved once more to attack him by the most dangerous temptation he could devise, taketh him up into a mountain in those parts, which was exceeding high, and from thence, in a moment of time, sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. And, with the most egregious impudence and falsehood, the devil said unto him, All this extensive power, all these splendid things will I give thee, and all the glory of them, which thou hast now before thee, (for it is all delivered to me who am the prince of this world, and I give it to whom I please); and, great as the gift is, I am so charmed with that wisdom and magnanimity which I have now observed in thee, that I propose to give it thee upon the easiest terms thou canst imagine, for all that I desire is, that thou shouldest pay me homage for it; if, therefore, thou wilt but fall down and worship me, upon thy making this little acknowledgment to me, all these things shall be thine. Then Jesus, moved with indignation at so blasphemous and horrid a suggestion, answered and said unto him, with becoming resentment and abhorrence, Get thee hence, Satan, and begone out of my sight, for I will no longer endure thee near me; for it is written as a fundamental precept of the law, [Deut. vi. 13.] "Thou shek devils are acquainted with the scriptures is evident from the citation which we find the tempter making out of the Psalms, on this occasion. Besides, they might be com firmed in their opinion by the general expectation of the Messiah, with which all the east was now filled. If, therefore, they had any how received intelligence of the wonderful things which accompanied the birth of Christ, or, if having been witnesses to the descent of the Spirit upon him at his baptism,' some of them had heard the voice from heaven, declaring him the Son of God, they could not but have a strong curiosity to know whether he was really the great personage so long expected by men. The resolution of this point was, undoubtedly, of the greatest moment to them, because the part they were afterwards to act, in carrying on their own projects for destroying the human race, depended, in a great measure, upon it. Wherefore, all the time Jesus was in the wilderness, the chief of the evil spirits, as being best qualified for the undertaking, beset him with a multitude of temptations, in order, if possible, to discover who he was. The form in which two of his temptations run, seems to favour this conjecture. If thou be the Son of God, command that this stone be made bread. If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence. Besides, unless the tempter had been in doubt as to the character of Jesus, it is not to be imagined that he should have attempted to seduce him at all. A difference of opinion has been obtained respecting the way in which Satan exhibited to our Lord all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. It is pretty generally thought that this was done only in vision; but Dr. Macknight assigns the following reasons for a contrary judgment. "That this temptation was founded on a real, not an imaginary sight, or vision of the kingdoms of the world, is evident from the devil's carrying our Lord up into an exceeding high mountain to view them. For had it been either a delineation of the kingdoms in a map, or a visible representation of them in the air, or a vision of them in an extacy, or a sight of them in a dream, or a view of them by being carried round the globe in a moment of time, that is meant, might have been done anywhere, as well as on a high mountain. Nevertheless, a real sight of all the kingdoms of the world, from any high mountain whatsoever, may seem impossible, and therefore must be considered particularly. It is said, Deut. xxxiv. 1..3, And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho; and the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan. Gilead was the country beyond Jordan, and Dan was the boundary northward. Moses, therefore, on the top of Nebo, saw it to its utmost limits on every hand. And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm-trees, unto Zoar. Naphtali was the most northern part of the land of Israel on this side Jordan; Ephraim was the middle region; Judah was the southernmost tribe; the utmost sea was the Mediterranean; the south was the country between Palestine and Egypt; and the plain of the valley of Jericho unto Zoar was that which extended from Jericho to Zoar, encompassing Asphaltite lake, on the southern shore of which Zoar stood. From the top of Nebo, therefore, Moses saw, not only the country beyond Jordan, but the whole region on this side of the river, from north to south, and westward as far as the Mediterranean sea. This mountain of Nebo, over against Jericho, whence Moses had the prospect of the whole land, may have been that from which the devil shewed our Lord all the kingdoms of the world, that is to say, the whole land of promise, for so the word is used in the literal sense, at least, of Rom. iv. 13, The promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his sced through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. The land of promise, in its largest signification, P |