Reasons of his propounding this unto them; whereof one is, Lest Satan should get advantage of them; for, had the man miscarried, under any Rigour of the Sentence continued upon him, after his Repentance, 'tis well if the Church itself had not quickly fallen to pieces thereupon; besure, the Success of the Gospel had been more than a little Incommoded. The Apostle upon this Occasion, intimates, That Satan has his Devices; by which word are meant, Artifices or Contrivances used for the Deceiving of those that are Treated with them well, But what shall we do that we may come to this Corinthian Attainment, We are not Ignorant of Satan's Devices? (Non cuivis homini Contingit!)
Truly, the Devil has Mille Nocendi Artes; and it will be impossible for us, to run over all the Stratagems and Policies of our Adversary. I shall only attempt a few Observations upon the Temptations of our Lord Jesus Christ: who was Tempted in all things like unto us, except in our Sins. When we read the Temptations of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Fourth Chapter of Matthew There, Thence, you will understand, what was once counted so difficult; Even, The way of a Serpent upon the Rock. There are certain Ancient and Famous Methods which the Devil in his Temptations, does mostly accustome himself unto; which is not so much from any Barrenness, or Sluggishness in the Devil, but because he has had the Encouragement of a, Probatum est, upon those horrid Methods. How did the Devil assault the First Adam? It was with Temptations drawn from Pleasure, and Profit, and Honour, which, as the Apostle notes, in 1 Joh. 2.16. are, All that is in the World. With the very same temptations it was, that he fell upon the Second Adam too. Now, in those Temptations, you will see the more Usual Methods, whereby the Devil would be Ensnaring of us; and I beseech you to attend unto the following Admonitions, as those Warnings of God, which the Lives of your souls depend upon your taking of.
There were especially Three Remarkable Assaults of Temptations, which the Devil it seems, visibly made upon our Lord; after he had been more invisibly for Forty dayes together Tempting of that Holy One; and we may make a few distinct Remarks upon them all.
§ The first of our Lords three Temptations is thus related, in Mat. 4.3. He was an Hungry; and when the Tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, Command that these Stones be made Bread.
From whence, take these Remarks.
I. The Devil will ordinarily make our Conditions, to be the Advantages of his Temptations. When our Lord was Hungry, then Bread! Bread! shall be all the Cry of his Temptation; the Devil puts him upon a wrong step, for the getting of Bread. There is no Condition, but what has indeed some Hunger accompanying of it; and the Devil marks what it is, that we are Hungry for. One mans Condition makes him Hunger for Preferments, or Employments, another mans makes him Hunger for Cash or Land, or Trade; another mans makes him Hunger for Merriments, or Diversions: And the Condition of every Afflicted Man, makes him Hunger with Impatience for Deliverance. Now the Devil will be sure to suit his Perswasions with our Conditions. When he has our Condition to speak with him, & for him, then thinks he, I am sure this man will now hearken to my Proposals! Hence, if men are in Prosperity, the Devil will tempt them to Forgetfulness of God; if they are in Adversity, he will tempt them to Murmuring at God; in all the expressions of those impieties. Wise Agur was aware of this; in Prov. 30.9. says he, if a man be Full, he shall be tempted, to deny God, and say, who is the Lord? if a man be Poor, he shall be tempted, to steal, and take the Name of God in vain. The Devil will talk suitably; if you ponder your Conditions, you may expect you shall be tempted agreeably thereunto.
II. The Devil does often manage his temptations, by urging of our Necessities. Our Lord, was thus by the Devil bawl'd upon; You want Bread, and you'll starve, if in my way you get it not. The Devil will show some forbidden thing unto us, and plead concerning it, as of Bread we use to say, it must be had. Necessity has a wonderful compulsion in it. You may see what Necessity will do, if you read in Deut. 28.56. the tender and the delicate Woman among you, her eye shall be evil towards the Children that she shall bear, for she shall eat them for want of all things. The Devil will perswade us that there is a Necessity of our doing what he does propound unto us; and then tho' the Laws of God about us were so many Walls of Stone, yet we shall break through them all. That little inconvenience, of our coming to beg our Bread, O what a fearful Representation does the Devil make of it! and when once the Devil scares us to think of a sinful thing, it must be done, we soon come to think, it may be done. When the Devil has frighted us into an Apprehension, that it is a Needful thing which we are prompted unto, he presently Engages all the Faculties of our Souls, to prove, that it may be a Lawful one; the Devil told Esau, You'll dye if you don't sell your Birthright; the Devil told Aaron, You'll pull all the people about your ears, if you do not countenance their superstitions; and then they comply'd immediately. Yea, sometimes if the Devil do but Feign a Necessity, he does thereby Gain the Hearts of Men; he did but feign a Need, when he told Saul, the Cattel must be spared, and the sacrifice must be precipitated, & he does but feign a Need, when he tells many a man, if you do no servile work on the Sabbath-day, and if you don't Rob God of his evening, you'll never subsist in the world. All the denials of God, in the world, use to be from this Fallacy impos'd upon us. It never can be necessary for us to violate any Negative Commandment in the Law of our God; where God says, thou shalt not, we cannot upon any pretence reply, I must. But the Devil will put a most formidable and astonishing face of necessity upon many of those Abominable things, which are hateful to the soul of God. He'll say nothing to us about, the one thing needful; but the petite and the sorry Need-nots of this world, he'll set off with most bloody Colours of Necessity. He will not say, 'tis necessary for you to maintain the Favour of your God, and secure the welfare of your Soul; but he'll say, 'tis necessary for you to keep in with your Neighbours; and that you and yours may have a good Living among them.
III. The Devil does insinuate his most Horrible Temptations, with pretence, of much Friendship and Kindness for us. He seemed very unwilling that our Lord should want any thing that might be comfortable for him; but, he was a Devil still! The Devil flatters our Mother Eve, as if he was desirous to make her more Happy than her Maker did; but there was the Devil in that flattery. Sub Amici fallere Nomen,——to Salute men with profers to do all manner of Service for them; and at the same time to Stab them as Joab did Abner of old; this is just like the Devil, and the Devil truly has many Children that Imitate him in it. Some very Affectionate Things were spoken once unto our Lord; Lord, be it far from thee, that thou shouldest suffer any Trouble! But our Lords Answer was, in Mat. 16.23 Get thee behind me Satan. The Devil will say to a man, I would have thee to Consult thy own Interest, and I would have Trouble to be far from thee. He speaks these Fair Things, by the Mouths of our professed Friends unto us, as he did by the Tongue of a Speckled Snake unto our Deluded Parents at the first. But all this while, 'tis a Direction that has been wisely given us; When he speaks fair, Believe him not, for there are seven Abominations in his Heart.
IV. Things in themselves Allowable and Convenient, are oftentimes turned into sore Temptations by the Devil. He press'd our Lord unto the making of Bread; Why, that very thing was afterwards done by our Lord, in the Miracles of the Loaves; and yet it is now a motion of the Devil, Pray, make thy self a Little Bread. The Devil will frequently put men by, from the doing of a seasonable Duty; but how? Truly by putting us upon another Duty, which may be at that juncture a most Unseasonable Thing. It is said in Eccl. 8.5. A Wise Mans heart discerns both Time and Judgment. The Ill-Timing of good Things, is One of the chief Intregues, which the Devil has to Prosecute. The Devil himself, will Egg us on to many a Duty; and why so? But because at that very Time a more proper and Useful Duty, will have a Supersedeas given thereunto.
