are come."--In like manner he
forewarned the Hebrews against discontent and covetousness,[27] by
drawing a _general_ lesson from a _special_ promise made to Joshua; and
then exhorts every Christian to apply it to himself personally, by
employing the language which he puts into their mouths, "The Lord is my
helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me."

In the same way, when our Lord repeatedly says, "Have ye not read?" and,
"Thus it is written," he gives us obvious indications of the importance
of the duty of thus preparing for temptation, by the application of our
lessons from Scripture. They are each and all of them examples of
practical lessons derived from knowledge formerly acquired, and now
employed in the way of application, to connect that knowledge with
corresponding circumstances as they occur in ordinary life. The lesson,
it will be observed, and as we formerly explained, is always made the
connecting link which unites the two; and without which there is no such
thing as the bringing of knowledge and its use together, when that
knowledge is required. In other words, without the lesson, knowledge is
_useless_; and, without the application of the lesson, knowledge is
_never used_. Both therefore are necessary, and both should be rendered
familiar to the young. It is only necessary here to observe, that in
teaching the children to _draw_ the lessons, the teacher proceeds
forwards from the knowledge communicated, and, by deducing the lesson,
prepares the child for the events in life when they shall be
necessary;--but in _applying_ the lessons, he proceeds backwards, from
the events, through the lesson to the knowledge from which it is
derived. We have a beautiful example of this in the recorded temptations
of our Lord. He was tempted to turn stones into bread; here was the
event which required a knowledge of the corresponding duty; and he
immediately applied the lesson that "we should not distrust God," and
through this lesson, though not expressed, he went directly back to the
source from which it was drawn, by saying, "Thus it is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." When in like
manner he was tempted to throw himself from the temple, he immediately,
through the lesson "that we should not unnecessarily presume on the
goodness of God," went to the passage of Scripture from which it was
drawn;--and, in the same way, when tempted to worship Satan, there was
precisely the sa