4. It is, as the apostle expresseth it, 1 Tim. vi. 9, g/Aff/Vrs/i', " to fall into temptation," as a man falls into a pit or deep place where are gins or snares, wherewith he is entangled ; the man is not pre- sently killed and destroyed, but he is entangled and detained, — he knows not how to get free or be at liberty. So it is expressed again to the same purpose, 1 Cor. x. 18, "No temptation hath taken you;" that is, to be taken by a temptation and to be tangled with it, held in its cords, not finding at present a way to escape. Thence saith Peter, 2 Epist. ii. 9, " The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations." They are entangled with them; God knows how to deliver them out of them. When we suffer a temptation to enter into us, then we " enter into temptation." Whilst it knocks at the door we are at liberty; but when any temptation comes in and parleys with the heart, reasons with the mind, entices and allures the affections, be it a long or a short time, do it thus insensibly and im- perceptibly, or do the soul take notice of it, we " enter into temptation."
VOL. VI. 7
98 OF TEMPTATION.
So, then, unto our entering into temptation is required, — ■
(1.) That by some advantage, or on some occasion, Satan be more earnest than ordinary in his sohcitations to sin, by affrightments or allurements, by persecutions or seductions, by himself or others; or that some lust or corruption, by his instigation and advantages of outward objects, provoking, as in prosperity, or terrifying, as in trouble, do tumultuate more than ordinary within us. There is a special act- ing of the author and principles of temptation required thereunto.
(2.) That the heart be so far entangled witli it as to be put to dis- pute and argue in its own defence, and yet not be wholly able to eject or cast out the poison and leaven that hath been injected; but is surprised, if it be never so little off its watch, into an entanglement not easy to be avoided : so that the soul may cry, and pray, and cry- again, and yet not be delivered ; as Paul " besought the Lord " thrice for the departure of his temptation, and prevailed not. The en- tanglement continues. And this usually falls out in one of these two seasons :^ — ■
[1.] When Satan, by the permission of Grod, for ends best known to himself, hath got some peculiar advantage against the soul ; as in the case of Peter, — he sought to winnow him, and prevailed.
[2.] When a man's lusts and corruptions meet with peculiarly provoking objects and occasions, through the condition of life that a man is in, with the circumstances of it ; as it was with David : of both which afterward.
In this state of things, a man is entered into temptation ; and this is called the " hour of temptation," Rev. iii. 10, — the season wherein it grows to a head : the discoveiy whereof will give farther light into the present inquiry, about what it is to " enter into temptation;" for when the hour of temptation is come upon us, we are entered into it. Every great and pressing temptation hath its hour, a season wherein it gi'ows to a head, wherein it is most vigorous, active, operative, and prevalent. It may be long in rising, it may be long urging, more or less ; but it hath a season wherein, from the conjunction of other occuiTonces, such as those mentioned, outward or inward, it hath a dangerous hour; and then, for the most part, men enter into it Hence that very temptation, which at one time hath little or no power on a man, — he can despise it, scorn the motions of it, easily resist it, — at another, bears him away quite before it. It liath, from other circumstances and occurrences, got new strength and efficacy, or the man is ener- vated and weakened ; the hour is come, he is entered into it, and it prevails. David probably had temptations before, in his younger days, to adultery or murder, as he had in the case of Nabal; but the hour of temptation was not come, it had not got its advantages about it, and so he escaped until afterward. Lot men look for it that
WHAT THE " HOUR OF TEMPTATION " MEANS. 99
are exposed unto temptations, as who is not? They will have a sea- son wherein their solicitations will be more m'gent, their reasonings more plausible, pretences more glorious, hopes of recovery more ap- pearing, opportunities more broad and open, the doors of evil made more beautiful than ever they have been. Blessed is he who is pre- pared for such a season; without which there is no escaping. This, as I said, is the first thing required to entering into temptation ; if we stay here, we are safe.
Before I descend to other particulars, having now entered hereon, I shall show in general, — 1st. How or by what means commonly any temjjtation attains its hour; 2,dly. How we may know when any temptation is come to its high noon, and is in its hour.