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him that hath not shall be taken away even what he feemeth to have. That which he feemeth to have! Nay, if he only feems to have it, it is impoffible it fhould be taken away. None can take away from another what he only feems to have. What a man only feems to have, he cannot poffibly lofe. This difficulty may at first appear impoffible to be furmounted. It is really fo; it cannot be furmounted, if the common tranflation be allowed. But if we obferve the proper meaning of the original word, the difficulty vanishes away. It may be allowed that the word cox does (fometimes, at leaft in fome Authors) mean no more than to frem. But I much doubt whether it ever bears that meaning, in any part of the infpired Writings. By a careful confideration of every text in the New Teslament, wherein this word occurs, I am fully convinced, that it no where leffens, but every where ftrengthens the sense of the word to which it is annext. Accordingly doxx, does not mean, what he feemeth to have; but on the contrary, what he affuredly hath. And so ; dexãv éçávai, not he that feemeth to stand, or he that thinketh he ftandeth. But he that affuredly ftandeth; he who ftandeth fo faft, that he does not appear to be in any danger of falling he that faith, like David, I fhall never be moved: thou, Lord haft made my hill fo ftrong. Yet at that very time, thus faith the Lord, Be not high-minded, but fear. Elfe fhalt thou be cut off: elfe fhalt thou also be moved from thy ftedfaftnefs. The ftrength which thou affuredly haft, fhall be taken away. As firmly as thou didft really ftand, thou wilt fall into fin, if not into hell.

3. But left any fhould be difcouraged by the confideration of those who once ran well, and were afterwards overcome by temptation; left the fearful of heart fhould be utterly caft down, fuppofing it impoffible for them to ftand, the Apostle fubjoins to that ferious exhortation, these comfortable words, There hath no temptation taken you, but fuch as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not fuffer you to be VOL. X.

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tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation alfo make away to efcape, that ye may be able to bear it.

I. 1. Let us begin with the observation which ushers in this comfortable promife, There hath no temptation taken you, but fuch as is common to man, Our tranflators feem to have been fenfible that this expreffion, common to man, does by no means reach the force of the original word. Hence they substitute another word in the margin, moderate. But this feems to be lefs fignificant than the other, and farther from the meaning of it. Indeed it is not eafy to find any fingle word in the English tongue, which anfwers the word ago. I believe the fenfe of it can only be expreffed by fome fuch circumlocution as this: "Such as is fuited to the nature and circumftances of man: fuch as every man may reasonably expect, if he confiders the nature of his body and his foul, and his fituation in the prefent world." If we duly confider thefe, we fhall not be furprifed at any temptation that hath befallen us feeing it is no other than fuch a creature, in such a fituation, has all reafon to expect.

2. Confider first, the nature of that body with which your foul is connected. How many are the evils, which it is every day, every hour liable to? Weaknefs, ficknefs and diforders. of a thousand kinds, are its natural attendants. Confider the inconceivably minute fibres, threads abundantly finer than hair, (called from thence capillary veffels) whereof every part of it is compofed; confider the innumerable multitude of equally fine pipes and, ftrainers, all filled with circulating juices! And will not the breach of a few of these fibres, or the obftruction of a few of thefe tubes, particularly in the brain, or heart, or lungs, deftroy our eafe, health, ftrength, if not life itfelf? Now if we obferve that all pain implies temp, tation, how numberlefs muft the temptations be, which will befet every man, more or lefs, fooner or later, while he dwells in this corruptible body?

3. Confider,

3. Confider, Secondly, the prefent ftate of the foul, as long as it inhabits the house of clay. I do not mean in its unregenerate state, while it lies in darknefs and the fhadow of death; under the dominion of the prince of darknefs, without hope, and without God in the world. No: look upon men who are raised above that deplorable ftate. See those who have tafted that the Lord is gracious. Yet ftill how weak is their understanding? How limited its extent? How confufed, how inaccurate are our apprehenfions, of even the things that are round about us? How liable are the wifeft of men to mistake? To form falfe judgments? To take falfehood for truth, and truth for falfehood? Evil for good, and good for evil? What ftarts, what wanderings of imaginations are we continually fubject to? In how many inftances does the corruptible body prefs down the foul? And how many are the temptations which we have to expect, even from these innocent infirmities?

4. Confider, Thirdly, what is the prefent fituation of even those that fear God. They dwell on the ruins of a difordered world, among men, that know not God, that care not for him, and whose heart is fully fet in them to do evil. How many are constrained to cry out, Wo is me, that I am conftrained to dwell with Mefech: to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar, among the enemies of God and man! How immensely out-numbered are thofe that would do well, by them that neither fear God nor regard man. And how ftriking is Cowley's obfervation! If a man that was armed cap-a-pie, was clofed in by a thousand naked Indians, their number would give them fuch advantage over him, that it would be fcarce poffible for him to escape. What hope would there be for a naked, unarmed man to escape, who was furrounded by a thousand armed men! Now this is the cafe of every good man. He is not armed either with force or fraud, and is turned out naked as he is, among thousands that are armed with the whole armour of Satan, and provided with all the weapons which the prince of this world can fupply out of the armoury of hell.

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If then he is not deftroyed, yet how must a good man be tempted in the midst of this evil world?

5. But is it only from wicked men that temptations arise to them that fear God? It is very natural to imagine this: and almost every one thinks fo. Hence how many of us have faid in our hearts, "O! if my lot were but caft among good men, among thofe that loved or even feared God, I fhould be free from all these temptations." Perhaps you would probably you would not find the fame fort of temptations, which you have now to encounter. But you would furely meet with temptations of fome other kind, which you would find equally hard to bear. For even good men in general, though fin has not dominion over them, yet are not freed from the remains of it. They have fill the remains of an evil heart, ever prone to depart from the living God. They have the feeds of pride, of anger, of foolish defire; indeed of every unholy temper. And any of thefe, if they do not continually watch and pray, may, and naturally will fpring up, and trouble not themselves only, but all that are round about them. We must not therefore depend upon finding no temptation, from those that fear, yea, in a meafure, love God. Much lefs muft we be furprised, if fome of those who once loved God in fincerity, should lay greater temptations in our way, than many of those that never knew him.

6. "But can we expect to find any temptation from those that are perfected in love? This is an important question, and deferves a particular confideration. I anfwer, firfl, You may find every kind of temptation, from thofe who fuppofe they are perfected, when indeed they are not: and fo you may, fecondly, from thofe who once really were fo, but are now moved from their ftedfaftnefs. And if you are not aware of this, if you think they are ftill what they were once, the temptation will be harder to bear. Nay, thirdly, even those who fland faft in the liberty wherewith Chrift has made them free, who are now really perfect in love, may fill be an oc

cafion of temptation to you. For they are ftill encompast with infirmities. They may be dull of apprehenfion: they may have a natural heedlefsnefs, or a treacherous memory: they may have too lively an imagination: and any of these may caufe little improprieties, either in fpcech or behaviour, which though not finful in themselves, may try all the grace you have. Efpecially if you impute to perverfenefs of will (as it is very natural to do) what is really owing to defect of memory, or weakness of understanding: if thefe appear to you to be voluntary mistakes, which are really involuntary. So proper was the answer which a Saint of God (now in Abraham's bofom) gave me fome years ago, when I faid, Jenny, furely now your Mistress and you, can neither of you be a trial to the other, as God has faved you both from fin: "O Sir, faid fhe, if we are faved from fin, we ftill have infirmities enough to try all the grace that God has given us."

7. But befides evil men, do not evil fpirits alfo continually furround us on every fide? Do not Satan and his angels continually go about, feeking whom they may devour? Who is out of the reach of their malice and fubtlety? Not the wifeft or beft of the children of men. The fervant is not above his Mafter. If then they tempted Him, will they not tempt us also? Yea, it may be, fhould God fee good to permit, more or lefs to the end of our lives. No temptation therefore hath taken us, which we had not reason to expect, either from our body or foul, either from evil fpirits or evil men, yea, or even from good men, till our Spirits return to God that give them.

[To be continued.]

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