A Praflical Expofition We are now come umo the Sixth and Loft Petition of this mofi: Excellem and DivinePray_er, which fame divide in_ro Two,maki.ng the other Negative, Lead us not into Temptatron, and the other Pofinve, But Deliver us from Evil. But the Matter being not great whether they be One or Two I fhall nor contend about. it. And here before I come ro !peak of the Petition itfelf I fha\1 (as I have done in the former) fpeak fometbing concerning the Reafon and Wifdom of its Otder and Method. And tht: only Thing that 1fhall remark, is, that whereas ir immediately follows ·upon tha&: Petition, wnerein we beg the Pardon of our Sins, that we may nor be frd into Temptation, this ought to Teach us that it lhould be our Care not only to feek for the Pardon of our patt Sins) ~ut tO endeavour the Prevention of Sin for the future. And therefore~ as whtn our SaviOur cured the Impotent JUan that had lain a long 1ime at the l'ool ofBel!Jejda without Relief he gives him this Caution, 'John)· 14 • Behold theu art mad~ whole, Sin no more, left a worfc Tbing•come unlo tbt•c · fO when God bath healed thofe Mortal Wounds that Sin bath made in our Souls by ~is pardon. ing Grace, it highly conceo:ns us, with our mail exaft Circumfi)eaion, to beware that we:: be not agam entangled in Guilt, and with our rnoft fervent AffeS:ions to pray that we may not bt: expofed m the Fie1y Darts of the Devil to Wound us anew: lfor Relapfes and Recidivations are always rnofi Dangerous and Fatal; and new Wounds Jeceived upon old Scars mofi difficult to be ·healtd. And indeed without this pre· venting Grace of God all his pardoning Grace would be but in vain: It would be fruitle1s to forgive:: Sins, it God did not withal fecure us for the fur:ne from running upon the Score ~i.th his Juftice; fOr fucb is the Force and Fraud of the Tempter, and the Corruption of our own Natures fo prone to comply with whatfoever he offers and ii.Jggelts to us, that did not God as well give us a Swck to live upon, as forgive us our fOrmer Debu, we fhould foon run our felves as deep in Arrears as ever and make our !elves liable to be Seized on by Jullice, and Condemned ro the Inferna't Prifon. And therefore that God's Grace in fo rgiving our Trefpaffi:s may not be in vain our Saviour ha rh Taught us to fubjoin this Requeft, Lead us not inlo 'Temptation, bu; Deliver UI from u;vil. And thus much ·for the Conncxion of this P~tilion with the foregoing. . . . . . . . . . The 1-'elltion nfelf contams m 1t Two Branches, ~he one agat~ft Tcmpfattom, the other againft the Prevalency of them: L~11dus not znto Tempta/ron.; fuHer us not ro be Al!ilUlted and Bu£fened by the Wicked One : Or if; 0 Lord, thou !halt in thy All. wife Counfel and Purpofe permit us to be Tempted, yet Deliver us from the Evil to which we are Tempted. Let us endur~ Temptations as our AfHiElion, but let us not confent to them, and make them our Sms. It istheformerofthefe that! lball flrfl fpeak to, and therein I fhall endeavour to !hew, · Firft What Temptations are. And, Seco~dly_, How God may be fa id to Lead us inra Tnnptation, for that is fuppofed when we Pray he would not do fo. Firft What Temptations are. Temptation, according to the proper fignification of the Wo~d, is no other but a Trial or Probation. And this may be of Two Kinds, Exploratory, or Suafory- . . . Firft, There is an Exploratory Temptation, to fearch out and to dtfcover what 1s in Man, what his Graces and Corrupuo~s.are. . • . Secondly There is a Suofory or Entmng Temptatzon, that euchnes the Will and Afle8:ions :o clofe with what is prefemed eo them. Now in general we may obferve Five feveral Sorts of Temptations, whereoffome are of the former, others of the latter, kind. Firjl Some whereby one Man Tempts another. Seco;dly, Some whereby we Tempt our felves. Thirdly, Some whereby we Tempt God. FourtbfJ, Some whereby God Tempts us. And, Fifthly Some whereby the Devtl Tempts us. Firft, There are fome Temp! ations whereby one Man Tempts anot~er: ~nd fuch Tem rations may be faultletS, when they come only by Exploration, either to find pour Mens great Excellencies: Thus the Queen of Sbcba came to Tempt. or to Prove Solomon with bard !!._uefizonr, 2 Chron. 9· 1. to know whether h1s ~1fdom was anfwerable to the Fame that went of it: Or elfe to find .out and dtfcover their Rottenoefs and Hypoctifie; and thus the Church of Epbcfus tS commended for tempting or trying thofe who fa id they were Apoftles, and were not, findmg the~
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