β. It disposes the soul for prayer, and the mind for meditation. γ. It makes reparation for past offences. (Jonah iii. 5-10.) δ. It is meritorious, being one of those three works of which Christ has said that it shall be openly rewarded. (Matt. vi. 18.) _And when the tempter came to Him, he said._ Here note— I. α. The devil is called tempter, as one who builds is called a builder, and one who paints is called a painter: from the work upon which he is constantly engaged. β. The devil probably came in human form, as angels when appearing to men assumed human forms. It seems likely that Satan had not fathomed that mystery, which angels desired to look into, the mystery of the Incarnation, and that he did not know that Christ was Incarnate God: yet was he filled with vague alarm. γ. Christ’s temptations came from without; they could not proceed from within, as His nature was sinless. II. We also learn— 1. That solitude is not freedom from temptation, but rather a time for it. 2. That Satan expends the whole force of temptation on those who are leading a life of high vocation. 3. That Satan suits his temptation to the occasion. 4. That if Christ endured temptation, no man must expect to escape it. 5. That if Christ suffered Satan to approach Him with temptation, He will not reject us drawing nigh unto Him in prayer. 6. That temptations come to us in disguise: the evil one seldom presenting himself to us in his naked deformity. _If Thou art the Son of God._ Here note— Satan had heard the voice from Heaven, proclaiming Christ to be the beloved Son of God; but he may have considered Him as a son in some sense as Adam, who was called a son of God. That he could have grasped the mystery of the hypostatic union is impossible. Sin produces blindness, and Satan could not have seen and comprehended God’s purposes. Had he believed Christ to be very and eternal God, it is inconceivable that he should have thought it possible to tempt Him into sin, unless the eyes of his understanding were so obscured by his pride that he had lost belief in all good, that he actually could imagine the Godhead to be peccable, just as a prostitute disbelieves in the purity of the most spotless virgin. _If Thou art._ Note— I. That Satan tempts even by that little word _if_; implying a doubt whether God had meant what He said when the voice came from Heaven; by this word _if_ Satan endeavoured to drive Him into—