ruly. Secondly, he lulls him on to a proud conceit of himself, by persuading him that by eating he should be like God. Thirdly, he sheweth the fruit, which was pleasant. So in Christ's temptation: first, he would have brought Him to murmur against God; secondly, to presume; and thirdly, to commit idolatry; all which are set down in the first of Corinthians, the tenth chapter, and seventh, ninth, and tenth verses. And under these three heads come all temptations.

Exod. 16. 2; 17. 2.

1. &c. 21.

To some of these extremes will the devil seek to drive one. 7; 32. 6. First, by distrust he will seek to drive us to use unlawful Num. 16. means for the obtaining of necessary things, as bread is when 4, 6. a man is hungry. Or if we be in no such want, that that temptation cannot take place, then through superfluity he will tempt us to wanton and unnecessary desires, as to throw ourselves down that the Angels may take us up; and having prevailed so far, then he carrieth us to the devil and all. "All this will I give Thee:" there is his "all." "Fall down and worship me:" there is the devil with it. So that in this respect it may well be said, that "the way of a serpent is over Prov. 30. a stone." He goeth so slily that a man seeth him in, before he can tell what way or how he got in. First he wraps himself in necessity and thereby winds himself in unperceived, then he brings us to make riches our god.

19.

Now let us see his darts. The first is, of making stones bread this may well be called the hungry temptation. The stream of the doctors make Adam's offence the sin of gluttony, but Bucer thinks that this temptation is rather to be [Enar. in referred to distrust and despair. There is small likelihood Mat. iv.] that one should sin in gluttony, by eating bread only. The devil's desire was only that the stones might be turned into bread, and that after so long a fast; and then, if the temptation had been to gluttony, Christ's answer had been nothing to the purpose, the devil might well have replied against the insufficiency of it. For gluttony is to be answered by a text willing sobriety, whereas this text which Christ answereth by containeth rather an assertion of God's providence, and therefore our Saviour should have seemed very unskilful in defending Himself. The temptation therefore is to dis

trust.

This standeth well with the devil's cunning in fight; for

k k

II.

1 Joh. 5. 4.

SERM. by this he shooteth first even at the throat, and at that which is the life of a Christian, to wit, his "faith”—as a man would say, Jugulum petit-even at that which "overcometh the world.” He tempted Him to such a distrust as was in the Israelites, Ex. 17.7. when they asked if God were with them or no? So he made Adam think, God cared not for him; so here the devil premiseth a doubt to shake His faith, wherein Christ made no doubt, Si Filius Dei es.

Indeed You heard a voice say, You were the "beloved Son" of God, but are You so indeed? or was it not rather a delusion? You see You are almost starved for want of bread: well, would God have suffered You so to be, if You had been His Filius dilectus? No, you are some hunger-starved child. So, Luke the twenty-second chapter, and thirty-second verse, Christ prayed that Peter's "faith might not fail:" it was 1 Pet. 5. 8. that the devil shot at. He is He is a "roaring lion, seeking to 1Thes.3.5. devour" us, whom we must resist by faith. It is our faith that he aims at; for having overthrown that, disobedience soon will follow. Having abolished the establisher of the Rom.3.31. law, the breach of the law must needs follow. He hath then fit time to set us awork about making stones into bread, that is, to get our living by unlawful means. First, shipwreck of faith, then of obedience.

Gen. 12.

10.

Not

The devil here seeing Him in great want and hunger, would thereby bring in doubt that He was not the Son of God: which is not a good argument. For whether we respect the natural tokens of God's favour, we see they happen not to the wisest, and men of best and greatest knowledge, as appeareth in Ecclesiastes, the ninth chapter and eleventh verse, or the supernatural favour of God. We shall see Abraham forced to fly his country into Egypt for famine. So Gen. 26. 1. did Isaac: and Jacob likewise was in the same distress. withstanding that God was called "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," yet were they all three like to be hunger-starved. Yea, not only so, but for their faith many were burned and Heb. 11. stoned, " of whom the world was not worthy." So fared it 1Cor. 4.11. with the Apostles: they were hungry, naked, and athirst. But what do we speak of the adopted sons of God, when as His own natural Son suffered as much, nay, far more? Here we see He was hungry, also He was "wearied" with travel, and

Gen

[Exod. 3.

6.]

38.

oh. 4. 6.

fain to rest; He had no house to hide His head in, whereas Lu. 9. 58. "foxes have holes."

"If Thou be the Son of God," &c. The heathens have observed, that in rhetoric it is a point of chiefest cunning, when you would outface a man or importune him to do a thing, to press and urge him with that which he will not or cannot for shame deny to be in himself: as by saying, If you have any wit, then you will do thus and thus; If you be an honest man, or a good fellow, do this. So here the devil, not being to learn any point of subtlety, comes to our Saviour saying, "If Thou be the Son of God,"-as it may be doubted, You being in this case-then "make these stones bread." No, no, it follows not; a man may be the son of God, and not shew it by any such art. So when Pilate asked who accused Christ, they answered, "If He had not been a male- Joh.18.30. factor, we would not have brought Him before thee." They were jolly grave men, it was a flat flattery: and in John the twenty-first chapter and twenty-third verse there is the like. This ought to put us in mind, when we are tempted in like manner, that we take heed we be not outfaced.

In the matter itself, we are to consider these points: first, the devil sets it down for a ground that, follow what will, bread must needs be had. Therefore Christ first closeth with him. Admit He had bread, were He then safe? No, We live not "by bread only;" so that bread is not of absolute necessity. Well, what follows of that? Bread You must needs have, You see Your want, God hath left off to provide for You. Then comes the conclusion: Therefore shift for Yourself as well as You can. First, he soliciteth us to a mutinous repining within ourselves, as Hebrews the third chapter and eighth verse: "Harden not your hearts, as in the day of temptation," &c. whereby he forceth us to break out into such like conceits as, Psalm the one hundred and sixteenth and eleventh verse, "I said in my distress that all men be liars ;" and, Psalm the thirty-first, and twenty-second verse, "I said in my haste, I am cast off." Thus closely he distrusted God, in saying His prophets prophesy lies, till at last we even open our mouths against God Himself, and say, "This evil cometh from the Lord: shall I attend on the 2 Kings 6. Lord any longer?" hunger and shame is all we shall get at

33.

II.

SERM. God's hands. And so, casting off God, betake themselves to some other patron, and then the devil is fittest for their turn. For when we are fallen out with one, it is best serving his enemy, and to retain to the contrary faction. Then we seek 1 Sam. 28. a familiar (with Saul) to answer us.

7, 19.

But what did the devil then tell him? did he bring comfort with him? No: he tells him that to-morrow he and his sons should die. So here doth the devil bring a stone with him. Mat. 7. 9. "What father," saith Christ, "if his son ask him bread, would give him a stone?" Yet the devil doth so; Christ was hungry, and the devil shews Him stones.

Here is the devil's comfort. Here be stones for Thee: if Thou canst devise any way to make these stones bread, Thou art well. Whereas we do not use to make bread of stones, but of wheat, to work it with the sweat of our brows; to get it so, we learn from Genesis the third chapter and nineteenth verse.

By extortion and usury we may make stones into bread— that is the devil's alchemistry; or haply we may make bread Gen.43.12. of nothing, when a man gets a thing by another's "oversight.” Or else, what and if we can overreach our brother in subtlety, 1 Thes. 4. and go beyond him with a trick of wit or cunning? "Let no man defraud or oppress his brother in any matter; for the Prov.4.17. Lord is avenged of all such." The one is called "the bread of violence" and oppression; the other, "the bread of deceit."

6.

Prov. 20. 17.

They are indeed both made of stones, for they still retain their former property, as the event will declare. For though in the beginning such bread be pleasant, yet after, his mouth is but filled with gravel. After which will consequently follow gnashing of teeth.

SEVEN SERMONS

UPON THE

TEMPTATION OF CHRIST IN THE

WILDERNESS.

SERMON III.

MATTHEW iv. 4.

But He answering said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

[Qui respondens dixit, Scriptum est, Non in solo pane vivit homo, sed in omni verbo quod procedit de ore Dei. Lat. Vulg.]

[But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Eng. Trans.]

9.

It was a good service that Elisha did, to tell the king of 2 Kings 6. the trains laid for him, when they lay in ambush against him. And even this is the first use that we have of our Saviour's temptations.

It warns us aforehand of the devil's coming, so that we may have time to prepare ourselves accordingly. For as at that time the devil came upon Christ when hunger pinched Him, so where we are in any distress we are to look for temptations.

This temptation hath two parts: first comes Si, a distrust; secondly follows unlawful means. Having laid this foundation, that bread is necessary to be had when one is hungry, he inferreth that God helpeth not nor supplieth the want: