CHRIST the Support of the Tempted.
MATTHEW vi. 13.
_Lead us not into Temptation._
THE great and important duty which is incumbent on christians, is to guard against all appearance of evil; to watch against the first risings in the heart to evil; and to have a guard upon our actions, that they may not be sinful, or so much as seem to be so. It is true, the devil is tempting us continually, and our own evil hearts are ready to join with the tempter, to make us fall into sins, that he thereby may obtain a victory over us, and that we, my brethren, may be his subjects, his servants, his slaves; and then by-and-by he will pay us our wages, which will be death temporal, and death eternal. Our LORD JESUS CHRIST saw how his people would be tempted; and that the great enemy of their souls would lay hold of every opportunity, so he could but be a means of keeping poor sinners from coming to the LORD JESUS CHRIST; hurrying you with temptation, to drive you to some great sins; and then if he cannot gain you over, fall it to a smaller, and suit his temptations time after time; and when he finds none of these things will do, often transform himself into an angel of light, and by that means make the soul fall into sin, to the dishonour of GOD, and the wounding of itself: the LORD JESUS, I say, seeing how liable his disciples, and all others, would be to be overcome by temptation, therefore advises them, when they pray, to beg that they might not be led into temptation. It is so dangerous to engage so subtle and powerful an enemy as Satan is, that we shall be overcome as often as we engage, unless the LORD is on our side. My brethren, if you were left to yourselves, you would be overcome by every temptation with which you are beset.
These words are part of the prayer which CHRIST taught his disciples; and I shall, therefore, make no doubt, but that you all believe them to be true, since they are spoken by one who cannot lie. I shall,
I. Shew you who it is that tempts you.
II. Shall shew, my brethren, why he tempts you.
III. Mention some of the ways and means he makes use of, to draw you over to his temptations.
IV. Let you see how earnest you ought to be to the LORD, that he may preserve you from being led into temptation.
V. I shall make some application by way of entreaty unto you, to come unto CHRIST, that he, my brethren, may deliver you from being tempted.
I. _First_, We are to consider who it is that tempts ye.
And the Tempter is Satan, the prince of the power of the air, he that now ruleth in the children of disobedience; he is an enemy to GOD and goodness, he is a hater of all truth: Why else did he slander GOD in paradise? Why did he tell _Eve_, “You shall not surely die?” He is full of malice, envy, and revenge: for what reasons else could induce him to molest innocent man in paradise? The person that tempts ye, my brethren, is remarkable for his subtilty: for having not power given him from above, he is obliged to wait for opportunities to betray us, and to catch us by guile: he, therefore, made use of the serpent to tempt our first parents: and to lie in wait to deceive, is another part of his character. And though this character is given of the devil, if we were to examine our own hearts, we should find many of the tempter’s characters legible in us.