Doct. 2. Observe, — the greater the faith, the gre^iter the trial.
Abraham is put to offer his only son. Look, as Jacob drove, as the little ones were able to endure, Gen. xxxiii. 14 ; such is' the conduct of providence : God proportions our trials as he hath given in strength of grace : 2 Cor. x. 13, ' There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man ; for God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able,' God doth not love to put an angel's work upon a mau, nor a man's work upon children, nor the work of strong faith upon a weak behever ; but still, according to our particular strength, he proportions our work. We count him a cruel man that overdrives or overlades his beast ; and will the gracious and wise God seek to crush you ? His trials are not that he may destroy, but that he may prove. But then, on the other side, strong faith must look for. strong trials ; and after God hath richly furnished us with comfort and the graces of the Spirit, God will put us upon expense. When he hath laid in much there will be a time of laying out. Satan's rage is against the be.st : Heb. x. 32, ' After ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of aifflictions.' When the castle is victualled, then he suffers the devil to lay siege ; when God hath provided us with a stock of grace and of the comforts of the Holy Spirit, he calls us to a time of trial. As Paul, after his rapture, had his buffetings : 2 Cor. xii. 7, ' Le.st I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.' It is notable, in the story of Christ's own life, when he received a voice from heaven, Mat. iii. 17, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleavSed.' Then he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil,' Mat. iv. 1 ; and Luke iv. 1, ' Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.' So when we have the highest assurances of God's love, and are feasted with the comforts of his Spirit, we must look for trials and exercise.
Use. Let not the weakest despond and be discouraged, and let not the best be secure. Let not the weakest despond : there is a proper-
360 SKUMO.XS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeU. LII.
(ion between your j^-races and afflictions ; when God bath fitted you, be will call you out to battle, and not before. Let not the best be secure ; Satan's rage is most against you, Satan labours mightily to regain his hold — ' He hath desired to sift thee as wheat,' Luke xxii. 31. He is very jealous of his kingdom, and he loves to foil God's champions. He had a special spite against Job, and therefore he moved the Lord fi gainst liim. Has qiurrit dejicere quos videt stare, saith Cyprian. The devil doth not look after those tliat are tottering and falling of their own accord ; but when he sees God's champions, for his cause, honour, and truth, his spite is against them.
SEEMON LIL
By faith Ahra]Lain,iulien he loas tried, offered iqo Isaac : and he that had received the promises, offered iip his only begotten son, of whom it loas said, That in Isaac shall thy seed he called : account- ing that God luas able to raise him up, even from the dead ; from lohence also he received him in a figure. — Heb. xi. 17-19.
Obs. God hath a hand in all our trials. ' It came to pass, after those things, God tempted Abraham,' Gen. xxii. 1. He tempts no man by way of solicitation to sin, but for trial of our integrity and obedience. How doth God tempt? He doth not tempt now by extraordinary command as before in the time of the old testament. When the people of God were confined within a narrow corner of the world, then God tried them by extraordinary command ; then they were not called to martyrdom, nor to suffer exqui.site torment for the name of God, to put faith and patience to trial ; then they were not scattered among wolves, <as they now are.
In the new testament we are often put to the trial, whether we will love our lives unto the death.
But wliat hand hath God in temptation now?
1. Sometimes he withdraws his grace that he may try us : 2 Chron. xxxii. 31, ' God left Hezekiah to try him, and that he might know all that was in his heart.' God tries some to discover their graces, and he tries some by withdrawing grace, that he may discover their own nersonal weakness, without his concurrence, as well as the strength of ins own grace. When we grow proud and secure, God takes away the staff and stay, and then the poor creature falls to the ground ; or, as the nurse withdraws her hand and lets the child take a knock, so God leaves us that he may prove and try us, and show what is in our heart.