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SERMON XVII.

ON TEMPTATION.-PART II. RESISTANCE.

PROVERBS Xvii. 13.

"The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts."

THE good man, if he be wise withal, will not needlessly expose himself to trials and temptations : though clear principles and long habit may seem to ensure the firmness of his standing, he will still take heed lest he should fall; and, so far as is consistent with the demands of duty, he will keep out of circumstances which would surround him with inducements to transgress the laws of piety, integrity, and benevolence. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity' was the supplication of the Psalmist; lead us not into temptation' was the prayer which Christ taught his disciples to offer; ' avoid even the appearance of evil' was the earnest precept of an apostle. And so long as it is easier to shun than to resist; so long as it is true that

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pride cometh before a fall, and the Lord loveth the humble;' so long as we see in the world that the amount of vice bears a constant proportion to the amount of temptation; so long must this be the path of wisdom and of safety. But it would be a mistake to infer from this doctrine that Christian excellence is nothing more than negative goodness, which could be found in one who should be so situated as from birth to death never to encounter temptation at all. It would be a mistake to suppose that the avoidance of temptation should be a practical principle paramount to the claims upon us of God and truth, of duty to our fellow-creatures and even to ourselves. It would be a mistake to imagine that the temptations which abound in the world are not under the superintendence of Providence; have not their ends to answer, and those important ones, in the moral government of God; and are not essentially necessary as portions of his plan for the ultimate excellence and felicity of his rational creatures. It would be a mistake to suppose that the Christian warrior is not much oftener to fight than to fly; through much tribulation to enter the kingdom of heaven; to bear the cross before he wears the crown; and by successful conflict to lay hold on the promise to him that overcometh, that he shall sit down with the Saviour on his throne of glory. We should preclude these mistakes by coupling with such petitions and pre

cepts as have just been quoted, the doctrine of the text. It teaches us that temptation has its agency, in the providence of God, for the purification of man's heart; that the ways of God with us may be compared with those of the refiner of precious metals. He subjects them to a process which seems destructive, but the result of which is to separate the vile from the valuable, and to bring forth the latter free from debasing alloy, not only uninjured, but the more pure, useful, and resplendent. It is by trial that every faculty is developed ; it is by successful resistance to evil that strength of character is not only exhibited but actually formed; it is by repeated triumphs over perils that character is conducted to maturity and perfection. This sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised withal;' and he hath given it in wisdom and in love; for his glory and for their highest good.

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A character strong in the power of resisting temptation, partakes in a high degree of moral sublimity. What is the charm of that noble sketch of the seraph Abdiel in Milton's Paradise Lost?' It is this principle of resistance. There is nothing imposing in his native dignity. He is surrounded with intelligences of a higher order: thrones, dominations, powers, the nobility of heaven. There is nothing particularly admirable in his conduct, considered apart from his circumstances. He merely

retains his allegiance to Jehovah; he simply preserves gratitude towards goodness, and yields obedience to omnipotence. But he is alone faithful among the faithless. And our admiration is not

mere effect of contrast. That has its effect: but the materials of the contrast were the varied aspects of the temptation. There was example; but he resisted that. There were promise, and threatening, and ridicule; but he resisted them. There was the inducement of associations to which he had been accustomed-of affections which he had cherished-of reverence which he had paid; but he resisted these. There was the appearance of safety, and the hope even of triumph; but he resisted that. And therefore it is that he is more sublime than those gorgeous creations of the poet; than the legions of apostate spirits and their archangel leaders; that they stand abashed before him; and our hearts do him homage as he leaves the rebel camp on his long and lonely path of righteousness. Herein the poet was a theologian and a moralist. By his delineations he makes our feelings and sympathies do intellectual work, and teach us religious truth. His imagination has performed the office of a commentator on the doctrine of the text, that as 'the fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, so the Lord trieth hearts.' He has taught that resist ance to temptation is moral greatness. There can be few more satisfactory certificates of oodness

than the not walking with a multitude to do evil. The description is negative; but it has a large positive implication.

Few minds have ever been richer in moral truth than that of Milton. It was because he was not only one of the first of poets, but one of the best of men. It was eminently true in his case that the heart of the wise teacheth him understanding and giveth learning to his lips.' His own history is that of a series of resistances to temptations; and thus he became the man he was a man for his country to glory in and reverence, through all succeeding generations. His early thoughts and wishes were directed to the church. To minister in the sanctuary was the object of his holy and fervent aspirations. But the door was closed, only to be opened by the profession of a creed. He would not buy the opportunity of influencing others' minds by the voluntary degradation of his own. would not subscribe slave.' Here was resistance to how much, not only without but within; not only of temporal comfort, but of mental enjoyment; not only of selfish ease, but of benevolent aspiration. The next great event of his life was his return from Italy. What strong inducements there must have been for his remaining there! Where is there such a sojourn for a youthful poet? To how many have only its climate and its landscape been bondssilken ones-but which no sense of duty could give

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