ori. th;e , Lordis"'Prayer. to bt: Liars; but it is- Devilijh when .it is eirher b,y Suajion unro thar which is EVil; thus th~ Wborifo Woman tempted the Toung Fool, Prov. 7· 18. 'Or wirh a Ddign to en. nap or dnw ~my into Dangt:r ; thus the Old Prophet tempted the lOung Prophci, being \'tXt that God ihould Honour him wi~h f~ impo~ran~ .a M:e1Tagc whiUl . he:, waS pa!fed by, and knowing that God would nor fuffcr hiS Drlobedrence ro go unpunlf!ted, 1 Kings •l· 18. And fuch was the WICked Plot laid by the Pharifecs, Luke 20. 23. when they came and aske~ our Saviour whether Jt w~s Lawful to pay fribure t(} Ca:far or not? Which ifhe bad affirmed, would have letlened hiS Repute among "the' People, and made them tO fall off fromhim, becaufe they looked UpOn c~;;lr bur as an Ufurper and groaned for De.llverance from thF Roman Yoke of Bondage; yea.; and many of rbem hoped and expeEled that this wou i)Ve been elfeEled by our Sa. viour; or if be had denied1 ir would have brought him nto Danger ·of his I:.ife as an Enemy unto Cajar, as af{erwards he was accufed to be. St:condly, There is a Way a[ Temptation whereby~ Man ttmpts himR:lf, and that· is Praife-wonhy, when it is only by Exploration aod Trial of his own Hearr ro find_ out what Graces and what Corruptions lodge there : ThuS we fiad the Saints in Scripture oiten examining and provjng .themfel.ve!; and every Chri!tian is cam· manded exprefiy fo to do, 2 Cor. Zj . $ .. Examine your fe!vo whether yoa be itJ rhe Faith, proveyour ownf~lves; but it}s Wicked and ~inf~l !n Two ·Cafes. . • Firlt, Then a Man wtckedly and Jmfully tempts hrmfell, when by prefummg upoo his own Strength he unnecdfanly runs mto D,mgcr, and venrares upo·n the next Oc... Cafions of finning) for this is toco~e within .the Vev~"l's Purliau~ a~d . jf any fuch bCf made his rrey they mu(! rhank~hOJr own Venruroufnefs and Folly. ' Thus we umpt ouifelves to the Comm.Hfion of thofe Sins w_hich · we beforehand know fuch Company, or fuch EmRloymenrs, or other like Cir<u~!lanees, will piom~( us to comm1t. . . . ~ · . .) .: ' ·· ~~ ,_ .\' 1 -1. Secondly, AMan is fa id to telllpt himfelf, ;mben' bt it draum-ajide~y bir or.in H;irl and enlictd1 James 1. 14. For whenfoeVer any p'arricular, -finful,. Object is propoun4J ed) it i~ this Luft that excites the Heart·to cloH: W"ir.h it, and--embraco ir; this is ·ind~ed the great Tempter, without which other Temptmions to·.Evil would ·be but we.ik ana inefleE\ual; and though poffibl,y they' t)lig~r · proyail through the innate Libetty ofone Wills, yet were it not for our_Corru.ptionS!tbat cleave unto us, Temptations would have no more Advantage upon us rhan our own free Choice, and..1·we might as eafity rejc8: as confent unto them. . Thirdly, There is a Temptation by which we are faid to tempt God; for the Scrip· ture frt:quently wicneifeth thar God is temptedby us, Exod. 12. 2. Mofis chiding the Peopl" olljrad, expoftulares with them, Wherefore do you tempt the Lord? And Go<! himtdf complains of it, Numb. 10.-22. That they had rempredhim Tmtimes, Mab 3· 1 5· Ji{[s 1 5· 10. and divers otb.er Places. God is therefOre rempred by -~s, not as wt: are unto Evil ; for this the Apofi!e exprefly denies, Jamu 1 . r3. God cannot he tempted to Evil. But, ~ · brft, Tempting ofOod is fomerimes taken for a ptefumptuous trying of the Provid~nce of God,when we have no Warrant nor Nc:ceffity to caft ourfelves upon the ex~ traordinary E£fe£tsof h: Thus Cbrift anfwers theD~vil, tempting him to precipitate him.:: felf from the Pinacle of the Temple, upon Confidence of an Extraordinary and Mica~ ~ulcus Support fro~ God, It is wrilfen, fays he, Thou (hair not ~empt thC Lordthy God., ldatth. 4 · 7· That ts, we muft not put God opon workmg of Mrraclu for our DeliVer~ ance, when we may bep ourfelves_from the Danger in an ordinary proviO.emial "!ay~ Secondly, Tempting ofGod isohemimesthe famewirh provoking him; and therefore 'We find them pur together, Pfal. 95· 8. lis in tbe Provocation, and in the /)ay of Temp .. ·I at ion in the Wildernefs: And therefore look .howGod '1'•~ be fa id to he provoked, fo he may be fa1d to be remp ttd ; rhar ts, both tn Condefcent1on to out Capacities and ·in Rettrence to the Effe8:s of it ; fOr as a Man that is provoked is tempted td take Revenge upon him that bath done him the Injury, foGod exprelferh himfelfas provoked by our Sins, and rernpred thereby to infii8: Wrath and Vengeance upon us for them . but this is only Figuratively : As for any proper Tentptation by any New Motion o; Inclination wrought in the DivineWill by the Prefence of any New ObjeU fo God cannot without Blafphemy be fa id to be tempted. ' Fourthly, There is a Temptation whc:reby God 'is fa id to tempt us. now this is always Holy and Juft, and it is only 2 Temptation of TriO/and Prob;tion. fome~ times it is to difcover his Peoples Graces; and fo he tempted ilbra,am, that his Obe· OoQ ~~~
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