we are able." And " he is not a man that he fhould lye, or as the fon of man that he fhould repent." Numb. xxiii. 19. And yet as man, and as the fon of man, is he made by the favourers of this loofe fcheme; which is, at the bottom, built on a fecret diftruft, that God will not, in fome sharp and prefling inftances, be as good as his word; but will leave us to be worsted, where he has promised to affist and strengthen us. Nothing can be plainer, than that he commands us, throughout his gofpel, to reject temptations; to live above "the lufts of the flesh, the lufts of the eye, and the pride of life; to be perfect, even as he is perfect, and pure, even as he is pure. To this point, all the various applications there made to our hopes and fears, all his threatenings and encouragements tend.

:

But now, if at the time that he lays, and thus earnestly preffes, thefe precepts upon us, he knows it is not in our power to obey them if he invites, if he wooes, and befeeches us to do that, which he hath before-hand fo contrived us, as to make it utterly impoffible for us to do, he deals not as fincerely and fairly with us, as he hath obliged us under the penalty of eternal wrath, to deal one with another. That be far from thee, O Lord; that be far from thee to do; and as far from any of us to think, or fay! No; God is not infincere, when he commands, urges, perfuades us not to comply with finful folicitations; Man only is infincere, when he pretends he hath not ftrength enough to mafter them.

Let us therefore place the odious reproach, where it ought to lic.-Let us give honour to the VOL. III.

I

divine

divine truth and uprightness in laying these commands upon us, by confeffing our own infincerity and falfenefs, in endeavouring to paliat and excufe our deviations from them. "Let God be true, and every man a lyar," Rom. iii. 4.

Thus much for the confirmation of this truth. It remains that I fhould,

III. Thirdly, Apply it, in a few plain words of exhortation and reproof, fuch as the argument naturaly fuggefts, and the time will permit me to make use of.

And first, there is matter of mighty comfort and encouragement arifing from hence to the fincerely good and virtuous; who may now walk on chearfully in the paths of virtue, under these reflexions and affurances; fatisfied, that no Conflict fhall happen to them in the course of their spiritual warfare, in which their great adverfary fhall be too hard for them; and, on that account, eafy, and at reft in their mind, with regard to the various trials and evils of life, that may, or may not befall them. They fhall not "be afraid of evil tidings, nor dejected at the "thought of approaching dangers: Their heart "is ftablifhed, and fhall not fhrink; it ftandeth "faft, and believeth in the Lord," Pfal. cxii. 7,18.

Many are frighted from a brave and refolute practice of their duty by confidering before-hand, that fuch and fuch inconveniences may poffibly atrend it, which they know not whether they fhall be able to grapple with. But "why are ye "fearful, O ye of little faith !" Mat. viii. 36. Is

not

not He that is with you, ftronger than he that is against you? And hath he not promised, that his ftrength fhall be employed to fupport your weakness?" Hath he faid it, and fhall he not "make it good!" Numb. xxiii. 19. Therefore, 86 why are ye troubled! O ye of little faith!" Were we all thoroughly perfuaded of this important truth, that God" will not fuffer us to "be tempted above what we are able;" were our minds conftantly poffeffed with a lively and vigorous apprehenfion of it. there are no circumftances of life fo fad, no evils fo frightful, no trials fo fharp, but that we might look down upon them with indifference, and in the midst of what either we expect or endure, of felt or fancied dangers, take to ourselves words of holy affurance with the pfalmift, and fay, "I will not "be afraid for ten thousands of temptations, that "have fet themselves against me round about:" Pf. viii. 6. "Yea, though I walk through the "valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no "evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy "staff comfort me," Pf. xxiii. 4.

Secondly, Here is ample matter of reproof alfo to the hypocrite, and the profane perfon: both which, from a principle oppofite to the great truth of the text, would fain juftify, or extenuate, their finful compliances. Let not the hypocrite then allow himself in a favourite fin with the flight hope, that "in this thing the Lord will pardon "his fervant," 2 Kings v. 18. and that one fmall fault will be overlooked among a crowd of other good qualities. Let him not pretend impotence, in a particular cafe, and expect to be believed when

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when he fays it, because he doth his duty fincerely, and ftands his ground firmly, upon other occafions. This is all but pretence: God, who cannot lie, hath affured us, that no temptation should overtake us, but what we fhould be enabled to bear: and when he faid no temptation, he made no allowance for a darling infirmity.

Let the profane and diffolute person cease to affront God and man by his impious and abfurd reafonings! Let it be enough, that he refolve, at any rate, to be impure and lawlefs; but let him not go on to defend his impurities, by reproaching and vilifying human nature, and under that, the wife Author and contriver of it! If he is determined to live a life of fenfe, and to obey his lufts, yet let him not boldly and openly juftify it, by faying, that it is neceffary for him to act as he does; and that all men are, in many points, though not perhaps in the very fame, juft as he is; as impotent every whit, and utterly disabled. For this is defending one fin with another, and a much greater than the first. It is a malicious design of representing every body to be wicked, that he may appear innocent. The perfons that reafon thus, fometimes pretend to have an high regard for the liberties and juft freedoms of human nature in civil matters, and are mighty uneafy and impatient under any restraint of them. If they are fuch friends to freedom, in God's name, let them affert it there, where it will be of most importance to them, in the caufe of virtue and religion. Let them remember themfelves to be, not only freeborn Englifhmen, but freeborn Chriftians: Let them be jealous of their spiritual, liberty,

liberty, as well as their temporal; and not tye their own hands, and deliver themselves up (as ic were) bound and fettered to the imperious fway of their lufts and paffions. This is to make man a flave, and God a tyrant: and is by no means of a piece with their scheme, nor becoming those who plead for the rights and liberties of human

nature.

Wherefore, laying afide these shifts and excufes, let us all fet ourselves in good earnest to refift all manner of temptations: let us put out all the ftrength which we naturally have to this purpose, and beg of God fupernaturally to fupply us with what we have not. Especially at this folemn time, fet apart to commemorate the great conflict of our Saviour with the tempter in the wilderness, and to prepare and qualify us for fuch fpiritual encounters. Let us look up to the example of Chrift, and remember how victorious he was over those fierce affaults of Satan; and whit affurance he hath given us, that they who tread in his fteps, and refolutely fight the good fight, And whilft we refift,

fhall be alike victorious.

as he did, let us be fure to ufe the fame means of resistance, that he used, "Fafting and prayer :" For there is no kind of temptation, but.may, by the joint force of thefe, be caft out.

To these therefore let us fly. These let us lay hold of, bending our knees often in private, during this feafon of devotion, and applying ourfelves to the throne of grace, in thofe excellent words of the church, which comprehend in fhort whatever hath in this difcourfe been more largely delivered.

"O