"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."--_Matt. 4:7._
OUR Lord Jesus had come into the world to conquer the Devil, to whom
Eve had given power over it when she ate the fruit.
So He went up into a lonely place in the wilderness, that He might meet
the Devil, and stand up against all the temptations that had led Eve
astray. He was there forty days, with nothing to eat; and the Devil
came and said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be
made bread." But He would not do it at Satan's word; and so as Eve fell
by eating, He stood by resisting hunger.
[Illustration: THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS.--Matt. 4:10, 11.]
Then the Devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory
of them, in one moment of time, and said, "All these things will I give
Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me." But though Eve had been
tempted by seeing the beauty of the fruit, our Lord was not led astray
by all the glory and beauty of this world. So He conquered again.
Then He stood with Satan on the top of a high wall, with a precipice
below; and Satan tempted Him to cast Himself down, so that the angels
should come round and bear Him up, and all might see He was the Son of
God. It was just as Satan had told Eve, that she would be like a God if
she ate the fruit; and He said, "It is written, thou shalt not tempt
the Lord thy God."
Satan left Him then for a time, and the angels came and waited on Him.
That was the beginning of His victory over Satan and sin. And every
one of us must fight our battle too. Whenever we are inclined to be
naughty, Satan is tempting us, but we must try to be strong and drive
him away; and our Lord Jesus will help us if we only try, and will
drive him away.