any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. It is impoffible to describe the various arts, under which temptations affault us. The young and the old have their particular temptations; the rich and the poor. Our different tempers, our paffions, and appetites, are all furrounded with different temptations fuited to them: nay, our very reafon often takes a part in deceiving us; our confciences often lofe their feeling; nay, the temptation fometimes comes clothed, like the devil's temptation of our Saviour, in falfe gloffes upon the word of God itfelf. So ready are our paffions, and appetites, to take shelter under authority;-fo ready are we at endeavouring to reconcile our duty, and our darling fins, and dividing ourselves between, God and Mammon.

الله

These remarks do not affect the profligate, abandoned finner; he fins without any thought, but to obtain the object he defires: they are directed to the lukewarm chriftian, who never fins without endeavouring to find fome excufe for his fin-fome reason, or fome piece of fcripture, which may leffen the offence at leaft, if not remove it.

Again, we may learn from our bleffed Saviour's temptation, the method in which we

ought

ought to repel temptations. Our Saviour, we observe, to every temptation replied in the words of fcripture. When the Tempter faid, If thou be the Son of God, command these ftones to be made bread: Jefus replied from fcripture, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Again, when the Tempter faid, If thou be the Son of God, caft thyfelf down: Jefus again replied from scripture, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And to the last temptation he replied in the same manner: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only fhalt thou ferve.-What then are we to learn from this, but to oppofe the authority of God to the wicked fuggeftions of the devil? St. Paul calls the fcripture the word of the Spirit; intimating, with it we are to fight all our fpiritual battles. In the word of God, we find fuch full and plain directions to keep us steady in our duty, that if we would attend to them, we should be a match for all the wiles of temptation. The Tempter might difplay all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them: we may answer, We have a treafure in heaven, a far more eternal weight of glory referved for us. Is our faith affaulted by the fpecious arguments of unbelievers?

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lievers are we tempted to deny the Lord, who bought us with a price?-let us recollect that awful fentence, Whosoever fhall deny nie before men, him will I alfo deny before my Father which is in heaven. Are we tempted into the paths of forbidden pleasure ?-What, know ye not that your bodies are the members of Chrift? Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghoft? If any man defile the temple of God, him fhall God destroy. Are we tempted to do an act of injuftice-to steal-to pilfer-to wrong one another in any shape; what fays the word of God? Let no man defraud his brother in any matter, for the Lord is the avenger of all fuch. Are we, in the fecrecy of night, removed from

the eye of man, or in the deep receffes of our own thoughts, tempted to do, or meditate fome wicked action;-are we then in private? Is there not a God, who is about our path-about our bed, and Spieth out all our ways? A God, with whom the night is as clear as the day?Lastly, are we tempted through the oppreffion of bad men, or the frowns of the world, in any fhape to tranfgrefs our duty ?-let us confider, that all the fufferings of this prefent time, the buffets of the world, and the threatenings of

man,

man, are not to be feared in comparison of Him who can caft both foul and body into hell. Thus, I fay, we may oppofe every temptation by the fword of the Spirit. The fcripture furnishes us with threatenings, with promifes, with rules, and precepts fufficient, on every occafion that can arise; hence therefore we may conceive of what great ufe it is, for all forts of people to be converfant in scripture—to read it-to ftudy it, especially the practical parts of it; and lay it up in their memory. And this can be no difficulty to thofe who have a defire to learn. Every man has time enough to read his Bible, and lay up in his memory a stock of fuch knowledge as may be thus drawn out on every occafion, and preferve him in the hour of temptation. Without this fword of the Spirit, we fight unarmed, and there is no wonder if we are overcome: but when thus accoutred, we are always under arms; we are always upon guard; and may prevent a thousand surprizes, and withstand a thousand affaults, which may overcome those who are not thus provided.When a temptation arifes, fome apt piece of scripture will always arife with it; and one should hope, the word of God would always become fupe

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fuperior. This is imitating our bleffed Saviour in a point of the utmost confequence; and repelling temptation, in a manner in which he hath taught us.

Let us now, in the last place, learn from our Lord's temptation, the comforts which arise from overcoming temptation: Then the devil leaveth him; and behold angels came and miniftered unto him. Whatever difficulty there may be in oppofing temptation, when it is oppofed, and overcome, it is certainly the fource of great happiness. There is fomething agreeable to the human mind in making a fuccefsful ftruggle in any thing-in getting the better of any difficulty; and the greater and more excellent the thing is, the greater the fatisfaction which arifes from the conqueft. Getting the better, therefore, of the temptations which affault our virtue, must of all things be the most happy, because it is of all others the greatest conqueft: we feel the comfort of it in our hearts, the nearest of any thing we can conceive, to good angels miniftering unto us. For ought we know, this comfort may arife from good angels miniftering unto us. It is, in fact, what the fcriptures call," the joy and com"fort of the Holy Spirit of God abiding in us."

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