February 24

Scripture with Scripture

Jesus said unto him, It is written again. — Matt 4:7

Christ is our example in all things. Here we see how He met the tempter so as to conquer him. We see just what weapons He used in His victorious conflicts. He used His Bible as a quiver, and He drew from it the sharp arrows which He hurled so successfully against His opponent. We notice, too, that He did not have to get down His Bible and search through it to find texts to use in His battle. He drew them from memory. This shows that He had made the Scriptures a study in the quiet days at Nazareth, and had His heart filled with the precious words, so that when He needed them they were ready. The lesson for us lies on the surface. If we would be ready to meet the assaults ot the tempter, we must have our quiver filled with the polished shafts of Scripture. We must have the words of the Holy Book laid away in reserve in our hearts, so that at the most sudden call we may use them.

There is another thought here. Said Jesus, “It is written again.” We must compare scripture with scripure with scripture, so as to be sure of the will of God. A single text taken by itself may not give us the will of God. A single text taken by itself may not give us the whole mind of the Spirit on any subject; it may be necessary to take other passages, presenting other phases of the truth, in order to get the whole truth. Here the case is very plain and very instructive. The devil had quoted a sublime promise, but had distorted it, omitting the qualifying or limiting words in it. It is very true that God gives His angels charge over us, but it is true also that to get this heavenly care and protection we must walk in the ways of obedience and duty; the moment we turn away unbidden into other paths and go where God has not sent us, we forfeit this protection. So we must remember always, when we are tempted to expect God’s care or blessing in any sinful or wilful course of our own, that it is written again “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”