Scripture With Scripture
‘Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.'”‘ Matthew 4:7
Christ is our example in all things. Here we see how He responded to temptation and gained the victory. 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 enemy.
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 spent time studying the Scriptures and had His heart filled with the precious words so that when He needed them they were ready.
If we would be ready to meet the assaults of the tempter, we must have our quiver filled with the polished shafts of Scripture. We must have the words of God stored in reserve in our hearts, so that at the most sudden call we may use them.
Another lesson from what Jesus said is: “It is written again.” We must always compare scripture with scripture to be sure of the will of God. A single text taken by itself may not give us the will of God or the whole mind of the Spirit on any subject; it may be necessary to take other passages, presenting other phases of the truth 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. God indeed 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. 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.