making God the author of their sin, and offering the deepest insult to his justice and his love.

But it is thus we blind our own eyes, and fall into the snares and the destruction which, but for our foolishness, we might have escaped. We are continually imposing on ourselves. We transfer the blame from the insincerity and depravity of our own hearts, to the circumstances, or the society in which we are placed; to something external; in fact, to any thing, but to the real cause and origin of our sin. For "from within," from the deceitfulness and wickedness of our hearts, (if we will not refuse to believe the testimony of Him who has created and redeemed us) proceed all evil thoughts and words and actions'. The spring it is that is bitter and polluted, whilst we are imputing its unwholesome and poisonous qualities to the soil and channel through which it may happen to flow.

And let us here observe how inconsist

1 Mark vii. 21.

ent such excuses are. The same individuals, when pressed with the rebukes and warnings of the Gospel, will perhaps declare, that they see nothing remarkably bad in their conduct; that they cannot perceive that they are worse than their neighbours and then, when driven from this subterfuge, they will plead the peculiarity of their case, and their being placed in circumstances of danger and difficulty, to which others are not exposed. They will, at such a moment, excuse themselves on the ground, that they have not the same strength of mind as others, the same decision and resolution; that they cannot help giving way to temptations which would be no trial to other men; that they have constitutional difficulty in overcoming their worldly dispositions and evil tempers, which few experience but themselves; that they find it almost impossible to fix their attention for any length of time on serious and eternal concerns and yet at the very time, when all this unsteadiness and frailty are adduced to palliate their disobedience to God and to their own con

science, these very same persons will defer and put off all religious considerations, and all honest applications for divine grace and assistance, under the notion, that, at some future time, they will certainly repent and turn to God; and that whenever they feel that this must be deferred no longer, they will have no difficulty in doing what they now find impracticable. Just as if perseverance in sin diminishes the difficulty of repentance; as if the farther men depart from God, the easier they find it to

return.

But the words of our text were not addressed merely to those nominal Christians, who, while they partake in all the rights and privileges of the Church of God, will profanely sell the glory and happiness of their birthright for the momentary and sordid gratification of sin. The Apostle designs to encourage and console those sincere and humble minds, who at times are liable to be amazed and terrified, and to lose sight of that gracious protection which is never withheld from them for a moment. "With this intention he makes the distinct

and positive statement in the text: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." I have already endeavoured to show you that our temptations are not surprising: that a general course of trial in this life ceases to be surprising when we take into account our destiny here and hereafter; that the particular trials we have to bear are the same as those to which the whole human race are exposed; that, besides this, they are at least not more severe than those which have afflicted the most eminent servants of God in all ages; and above all, that we are called to look even beyond this cloud of witnesses which encompasses us, to that Chief Captain of our salvation who was tempted in all points as we are, and who for the love He bore to our souls, and the crown of eternal joy proposed to Him, overcame all our enemies, and endured, without shrinking or impatience,

such agony of mind and body as we have neither strength to sustain nor faculties to comprehend. We further observed, that it was necessary to recollect, that our temptations are always less severe than they might be, and less severe than we deserve in fine, that, however successfully we may now deceive ourselves, an hour is approaching when the voice of truth shall be heard; when the decision of the last day, the irrepressible testimony of our consciences, and the agony of everlasting shame and remorse, will for ever vindicate the justice, the faithfulness, and the mercy of our Heavenly Father.

To those of us, however, who are really desirous to serve God, and to follow our blessed Redeemer, even though the gate be, as He has said, strait, and the path narrow, which leadeth to eternal life, there are other considerations calculated to console and encourage our spirits. Our warfare is not a contest without hope of victory. Ancient history informs us, that a

1 Matt. vii. 13.