OfTEMPTATION,&c. /dent from them, on the other hand. Our Saviour had a little before, informed them, that, that nighthe Should be betray'd, and be delivered up to be rlain; they faw that he was forrowful, andvery heavy, verf. xxxvii.. Nay he told them lainly, that his Soul roar exceeding forromful even entodeath, verfC lxxxiii. and there. ore entreated them to tarry, and watch with him, now hewas dying, and that forthem. In this condition, leaving them but a little fpace like men forfaken of all love towards him, or care of themfelvés, they fall Taft afleep. Even the belt 8f Saints, being left to themfelves, will quickly appear to be Ifs than men, tobe Nothing. All our. own Strength is weaknefs, and all our wifdom folly. Peter be. lag one of them, who but a little before, had with fo muchfelf confidence af- rm'd, that though all men forfook him, yet he never would lb do ; our Saviour xpolalates the matter io particular with him ve f. 40. He faith unto Peter, could t uu not marchwith me one hour ? as if he Should have raid, Art thou he, Peter, who t now boaftedit of thyReColution, never to forfake me ? Is it likely that thou ouldit hold out therein, when thou tanft not watch with me one hour ? is u,is thy dying for me ; to be dead inSecurity, when i am dying for thee ? And indeed it would be an amazing thing, to confider . that Peter Should make fo high a pro brife, and be immediately fo catelefs and remils in the purfuitof it; but that we find the root- of the fame treachery abiding and working in our own hearts, and do fee theEmit of it brought forth' day : the moil noble engagements unto hbedience, quickly ending in deplorable negligence, Rom. vii- r 8. In this elate our Saviour admonifhes them of their condition, their weaknefs, their danger, and flits them up to a prevention of that ruin, which layat the door; faith he, Arife, watch, and prey. I fhall not inll on the particular aimed at here by our Saviour, in this Caution to them that were theta prefent with hsim, the great temptation that wascoming on them, from the fcandal of the Craft, was doubtlefsin his eye t but I fhall con- fider the words as containing a general direction to all the Difciplesof thrift, in their following-of him-thhoughoüt all generations. There are threethings in the words, FirkThe evil cautioned againft rt. Temptation. ,,, Sétomilyi 'The. means,bf its prevalency ; by our entering into it: ';:, Thirdly,rTheway of preventing it, watch and pray. le is noh'In tiny thoughts to handle the common place of Temptation, but only the danger df them in general, with the means of preventing that danger. Yet thatWe may know what weaffirm, and whereof we fpeak, fameconcernments of thegeneral nature of Temptation maybepremifed. FirfI, For the general nature of tempting and temptation, it lies among things indifferent; to try, to experiment, to prove, to pierce a veffel, that the liquor that is in it may be known, is as much as is frgnified by it. Hence God is laid fometime to tempt ; and we are commanded as our duty to tempt, or try, or fearch our Selves, to know what is in us ; and to pray that God would do fo alfa. So temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat, orthe throat of a man ; it maybe his food, or his payroll, his exercifeor hisdeftruftion. Secondly,. Temptation in its fpecial,nature ; as it denotes any evil, is confidered, either aftively, as it leads to evil, or palively as it bath an evil and fuffering iti it, fo temptation is taken for allition, 'yam. i. 2. For in that fenfe, we are re taunt it alljoywhen wefail into temptation, in the other, that we enter not into it. Again, aftively confidered, it either denotes in the temper, a defrgn for the bringing 'aboutof the fpecial end of temptation, namely a leading into evil; fo it is faid, that God tempts no man, yam. i. t 3. with a defign for fin, as fuch : or the general nature, and endof temptation which is trial ; fo God tempted Abraham, vies. inni. 1. And he proveth or tempteth by falfe Prophets, Dent. xrü. 3 How as toGod's tempting of any, two things are tobe confidered, L. The endwhy he dóth it. 2. Theway whereby he cloth it. t. For the lrl, his general ends are two : ( 1.) He cloth it to thew unto man what is inhim, that is, theman himfelf : and that either as to his grace, or to his corruption. (1 fpeak not now of it, as
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