to himself and God; and these will continue till sin is wholly destroyed. It was to believers that the apostle Peter gave the following earnest exhortation, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." Those, therefore, who maintain that there is no such warfare, after a man is born from above, do not judge according to truth.

4. The Devil tempts to evil from the time a man turns to God, to the time when he is called to his reward, in a better world. I have been short upon the former particulars, that I might enlarge upon this; but, to keep up the design of this work, we shall refer our remarks upon Satanic temptations to the next discourse. In the mean time let us carefully guard against the world and the flesh. "Happy (says Jortin) is he who is engaged in controversy with his own passions, and comes off superior; who makes it his endeavour that his follies and weaknesses may die before him, and who daily meditates on mortality and immortality."

Encouragement to the Tempted.

SERMON XX.

JAMES i. 12.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

IN a former discourse upon this subject we considered, briefly, the temptations of the world and the flesh; in this we shall consider more largely the temptations of the devil.

That there is such an invisible wicked. spirit, who has access to the minds of men, and who is continually seeking their ruin, appears clearly, both from scripture and experience. He is called, The Tempter, and is represented as using devices to gain advantage of us. In the days of Job, he confessed, when interrogated by the Almighty, that he went to and fro in the earth, and walked up and down in it. The apostle Peter points out his business in walking about our world: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the

devil, as a roaring Lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." It is no serious objection that we cannot explain how he works upon the human mind, there being many facts even in the visible world which cannot be explained. Some, perhaps, have ascribed too much to his agency. The blame of all their abominations has been laid upon him; when it has been evident that the guilt of the whole rested upon themselves.

He can tempt men without their consent; but without their consent he cannot overcome. Punishment, therefore, is properly inflicted upon sinners, though he might entice them to sin. It was no excuse for Eve that the serpent beguiled her to eat.-Let us now consider some temptations, of this infernal spirit, as they are suited to the different states of a religious life.

The first thing in a religious life is the illumination of the understanding, by which a sinner discovers his fall from God, and his multiplied transgressions of that law which is "holy, just, and good." This discovery produces a godly sorrow. The awakened sinner weeps and mourns, and like the jailor at Philippi, trembles in the presence of a just God. Then the tempter comes and suggests that he is mistaken with himself; that his sins have been fer and of a trifling nature; that his state, upon

the whole, is very good; and that if he perish, few indeed can be saved. Those who yield to this temptation lose their convictions, and become self-righteous. They say "We are rich, and have need of nothing," though in reality they are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." If the mourning penitent overcome this temptation, his sorrow for sin increases; his soul is humbled in the dust; and he is pared for the mercy of an offended God.

pre

The subtle enemy finding it impossible to lead the penitent to presumption, endeavours now to drive him to despair. Hence the next temptation insinuates that his sins are too many to be forgiven; that he has sinned against the Holy Ghost; that his nature is as black as hell, and cannot be renewed; and that nothing remains for him but “a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." It is the duty of ministers to comfort his soul under these dreadful apprehensions; by directing him to Jesus, who "is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." They repeat the kind invitations of Jesus, and the promises which are made to such as "labour and are heavy-laden." Encouraged by these, hope springs up in his breast; he sees the sufficiency of Christ to save; he

ventures upon him; and is reconciled to God through the blood of the cross.

There is another temptation which is often presented when a man first feels the awakening influences of the blessed Spirit of God; namely, that religion will make him melancholy; that it is only fit for the aged, the sick, and the dying; and that it will be more prudent to put it off to old age, than to live like a criminal, in perpetual dread of execution. This temptation too often succeeds. But that it may be resisted and overcome, the penitent must be informed that his present sorrow will give place to pure joy; that when he is reconciled to God his soul will be filled with sweet consolation; that religion is the happiness and honour of man in all conditions; and, that he who for the sake of present sinful indulgences, puts it off to old age, may not then find the door of mercy open.

We shall now consider the attacks of Satan upon a child of God.-When this high privilege is obtained, by faith in Christ Jesus, the child of God is so filled with peace and joy, and his confidence in the Redeemer so strong, that he thinks himself out of the reach of temptation, especially from the wicked one; but he soon finds himself mistaken. He is soon tempted to doubt the reality of his faith to