well knew the covetous dispositions of Judas, and of Ananias and Sapphira : when therefore he wanted the one to betray his Master, and the others to bring discredit on the Christian name, he wrought upon their natural propensities, and instigated them with ease to the execution of his willa. Thus he stimulates the proud or passionate, the lewd or covetous, the timid or melancholy, to such acts as are most congenial with their feelings, to the intent that his agency may be least discovered, and his pur- poses most effectually secured.
Much craft is also discoverable in the seasons which he chooses for making his assaults. If a general knew that his adversaries were harassed with fatigue, or revelling and intoxicated amidst the spoils of vic- tory, or separated from the main body of their army, so that they could have no succour, he would not fail to take advantage of such circumstances, rather than attack them when they were in full force, and in a state of readiness for the combat. Such a general is Satan. If he finds us in a state of great trouble and perplexity, when the spirits are exhausted, the mind clouded, the strength enervated, then he will seek to draw us to murmuring or despair. Thus he acted towards Christ himself when he had been fasting forty days and forty nights ; and again, on the eve of his crucifixion. The former of these occasions afforded him a favourable opportunity for tempting our blessed Lord to despondency b, to pre- sumption0, to a total alienation of his heart from Godd : the latter inspired him with a hope of draw- ing our Lord to some act unworthy of his high cha- racter, and subversive of the ends for which he came into the world6. Again, if we have been elevated with peculiar joy, he well knows how apt we are to relax our vigilance, and to indulge a carnal security. Hence, immediately on Paul's descent from the third heavens, the paradise of God, Satan strove to puff
a John xiii. 2, 27. Acts v. 3. b Matt. iv. 2, 3.
c Matt. iv. G. d Matt. iv. 8, 9.
e John xiv. 30. Luke xxii. 44, 53.