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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadWilliam Burkitt Notes and Observations - Matthew 4:5 - 4:5
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That is, Satan, by God's permission, took up his body and carried it in the air, and set it upon one of the battlements of the temple.
Learn hence, 1. What a mighty power evil spirits have over our bodies, if God permits them to excute and exercise their power upon them.
2. That it is owing to the gracious care, and watchful providence of God over us, that we are not hurried away bodily by Satan.
Thanks be to God, though the devil's malice be infinite, yet his power is limited and bounded: and as he cannot do all the mischief he would to the bodies and souls of men, so he shall not do all he can. Question But why is the holy city and holy temple chosen by Satan to be the scene of this temptation?
Answer I cannot tell, unless he apprehended (as he might) that the holiness of the place would aggravate the sin. No place so sacred, no duty so holy, as to protect us from Satan's assaults. This enemy pursues us even to the horns of the altar.
Lord! How ought we at all times and in all places, to be upon our watch and guard, especially in thy presence, because then and there Satan is most active and busy, and most desirous to draw us into sin.