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And the Spirit of God descending like a dove, in a bodily shape,

And lighting upon Him:

And lo! there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son,

In whom I am well pleased.

And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age.

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And being full of the Holy Ghost, Jesus returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred: And when the tempter * came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

* In this account of the Temptation, the Evil spirit is called by the three names which characterise him as the Destroyer of men. First, devil; that is, accuser or traducer: secondly, Satan, which means the Enemy: and, finally, the Tempter. And here it may be well to reflect upon the temptation of the first Adam in the garden of Eden, compared with this far sorer temptation of the second Adam in the wilderness. The sin and fall of our first parents consisted in their violation of the known will of God. There was in it unbelief of God's word, and trust in the devil's. There was in it discontent with their then present state, though full of peace and plenty. There was in it pride in their own merits; ambition of the honour that comes not from God, and indulgence of the appetites of the body. How lively a contrast does each of these several ways, in which they gave place to the devil, (and yielded to the lust of the eye and of the palate in eating the forbidden fruit,) present to the lowly obedience of our sinless Saviour, though famishing with hunger, and able by a word both to supply himself with needful food and to triumph over the adversary, by performing the miracle proposed as a test of his divinity! But he forbore, and possessed his soul in peace and patience, because it was His meat to do the will of his Father, and not the bidding of the devil.

THE TEMPTATION.

And Jesus answered him, saying,
It is written, That

Man shall not live by bread alone,

But by every word

that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

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Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Jesus answering said unto him, It is written again,
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, in a moment of time. And the devil saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, all this power and glory will I give thee, for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it, if thou wilt worship me; if thou wilt fall down and worship me, all shall be thine. Jesus answered and said unto him,

Get thee behind me, Satan :

For it is written,

Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,

and Him only shalt thou serve.

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Then the devil leaveth him when the devil had ended all the temptation *, he departed from him for

.

* Christ being tempted, endured all the temptation till it was ended, and resisting the devil to the end, he departed. We must do the same. The devil still goeth about; trials and temptations still abound, but "he that endureth to the end shall be saved."

a season.

And He was with the wild beasts; and

behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

rene

THANKSGIVING.

We praise THEE O God, we acknowledge
Thee to be the Lord!

O Lord, who for our sake didst fast forty
days and forty nights; give us grace to use
such abstinence, that our flesh being subdued
to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly
motions in righteousness and true holiness,
to thy honour and glory; who livest and
reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
one God, world without end. Amen.

Questions on Section II.

Why did the wise men come from the East to Jerusalem? How did they behave to the infant Jesus, and why did they not return to Herod as he had desired? Why did Herod murder the children that were in Bethlehem? How was the child Jesus saved from that slaughter? How was the prophecy that " He shall be called a Naza" fulfilled in Jesus? What remarkable incident is related of Jesus when he was twelve years old? Seeing that Jesus was very God of very God, how can it yet be truly said that he "increased in wisdom?" How did John the Baptist begin his preaching? What did John say to the Pharisees and Sadducees when they came to him to be baptized? What said he to the people, what to the publicans, and what to the soldiers, on the same occasion? For whom were the people in danger of mistaking John Baptist, and how did he set them right? What sensible manifestation of the presence of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, took place when Jesus was baptized by John in Jordan? How and where was Jesus tempted by the Devil?

TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

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SECTION III.

From the Testimony of St. John the Apostle concerning Christ, to the Imprisonment of John the Baptist by Herod.

PRAYER.

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity; we beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us steadfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities; who livest and reignest one God, world without end. Amen.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it

not.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

That was the true that cometh into

Light, which lighteth every man the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but

Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him.

THE RECORD OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

*

And this is the record of John: when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou ? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. him, What then? Art thou Elias?

I am not. Art thou that prophet?

And they asked

And he saith,

And he an

swered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

He said,

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord,

as said the prophet Esaias.

*Preserved and transmitted to us by Saint John the Apostle.

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