α. Whether we love ourselves better than Him. β. Whether we love our souls better than our bodies. γ. Whether we love our present corruptible bodies better than our future incorruptible bodies. δ. Whether we love to obey the Church better than to follow our own wills. 4. Christ endured temptation from the devil— α. That He might prove the force of every temptation by which we are assailed. β. That He might show us how to meet temptation. γ. That He might break the force of temptation. δ. That He might teach us to expect temptation. _And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights._ Note that Christ fasted, though there was no need for Him to mortify His body, in that His body was free from sin. _Forty days and forty nights._ Here note— 1. That forty represents the law as amplified by the Gospel, 10 × 4. α. Forty days did the rain descend to flood the world. (Gen. vii. 4.) β. Forty days were corpses dressed with aromatic herbs before consigning them to the grave. (Gen. l. 3.) γ. Forty years did Israel wander in the wilderness. δ. Forty days did Moses spend, on two occasions, in the mount. (Exod. xxiv. 18; xxxiv. 28.) ε. Forty days did Goliath defy the armies of the living God. (1 Sam. xvii. 16.) ζ. Forty days did Ezekiel bear the iniquities of the children of Israel. (Ezek. iv. 6.) η. Forty days did Elijah fast in the desert. (1 Kings xix. 8.) θ. Forty days did Nineveh afflict itself in sackcloth and ashes. (Jonah iii. 4.) ι. Forty days was Christ with His Apostles after the resurrection. (Acts i. 3.) 2. We keep forty days of Lenten fast— α. That we may represent in the Christian year the fasting of our Lord, as we also represent His birth, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. β. That we may appease God’s wrath against us; making satisfaction to the best of our power for our fallings short during the rest of the year. γ. That we may practise and test our strength, so as to be able to exert it when temptation arises. δ. That we may fulfil Christ’s words, _When the Bridegroom is taken away, then shall ye fast in those days_. ε. That we may worthily prepare for the great solemnity of Easter, suffering with Christ that we may also be glorified together. 3. The advantages of fasting are,— α. It keeps the body under, and brings it into subjection; giving us the habit of obtaining a mastery over our appetites.