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which is ready to yield and give confent to it; fo that it is our own confent, and treachery to ourselves, that makes any temptation matter of us, and without that we are not to be overcome: Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own luft, and enticed. It is the luft of men complying with the temptations which are offered to us, which renders them effectual, and gives them the victory over us.

In the handling of this argument, I fhall from thefe words of the Apostle, observe to you these two things.

1. That as the Apoftle doth here acquit God from any hand in tempting men to fin, fo he does not afcribe the prevalency of temptation to the devil.

2. That he afcribes the prevalency of temptation to the lufts and vitious inclinations of men, which feduce them to a compliance with the temptations that are prefented to them: Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own luft, and enticed. These two obfervations fhall be the subject of my prefent difcourfe.

1. That as the Apoftle doth here acquit God from any hand in tempting men to fin, fo he does not afcribe the prevalency and efficacy of temptation to the devil. That he acquits God, I have fhewn at large in my former difcourfe. It is evident likewife, that he does not afcribe the efficacy and prevalency of temptation to the devil; for the Apostle, in this difcourfe of his concerning temptations, makes no exprefs mention of the devil; he fuppofeth indeed, that baits are laid for men: Every man is tempted, when' he is drawn away of his own luft, and enticed, i. e. when he plays with the baits that are laid for him, and fwallows them. And the fcripture elsewhere frequently tells us, that the devil is very active and bufy to tempt men, and is continually laying baits before them; but their own lufts are the caufe why they are caught by them.

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And

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Mens fins not chargeable on God, Ser. 116.

And I do the rather infift upon this, becaufe men are apt to lay great load upon the devil, in the bufinefs of temptation, hoping thereby either wholly, or at least in a great measure, to excufe themfelves; and therefore I fhall here confider how far the devil by his temptations is the caufe of the fins which men by compliance with thofe temptations are drawn into.

ift, It is certain that the devil, is very active and bufy to minifter to them the occafions of fm, and temptations to it. For ever fince he fell from God, partly out of enmity to him, and partly out of envy and malice to mankind, he hath made it his great bu finefs and employment to feduce men to fin; and to this end he walks up and down the earth, and watcheth all occafions and opportunities to tempt, men to fin; and, fo far as his power reacheth, and God permits him, he lays baits and temptations before them in all their ways, prefenting them with occafions and opportunities to fin, and with fuch baits and allurements as are most fuitable to their tempers, and most likely to prevail with their particular inclinations, and as often as he can, furprising men with thefe at the ear fieft time of accefs, and with fuch circumstances, as may give his temptations the greateft force and advantage. Of this the fcripture affures us in ge neral, when it tells us of thefe wiles and devices. of Satan, and of the methods of his temptations: fo that though we do not particularly discern how and when he doth this, yet we have no reafon to doubt of the thing, if we believe that there is fuch a spirit in the world, as the fcripture particularly tells us there is, that works in the children of difobedience; and. that God, from whom nothing is hid, and who fees all the fecret engines which are at work in the world to do us good or harm, hath in mercy to mankind given us particular warning of it; that we may not be wholly ignorant of our enemies, and their malicious defigns upon us, and that we may be continually upon our guard, aware of our danger, and armed against it.

2dly, The devil does not only prefent to men the temptations and occafions to fin; but when he is permitted to make nearer approaches to them, does ex. cite and ftir them up to comply with thefe temptations, and to yield to them. And this he does, not only by employing his inftruments to folicit for him, and to draw men to fin by bad counfel and example, which we fee frequently done, and probably very of ten by the devil's inftigation; (thofe who are very wicked themselves, and confequently more enflaved to the devil, and under his power, being as it were factors for him to feduce others); but befides this, it is not improbable but the devil himself does many. times immediately excite men to fin, by working upon the humours of their bodies, or upon their imagi nations; and by that means infufing and fuggefting evil motions into them; or by diverting them from thofe thoughts and confiderations which might check and reftrain them from that wickednefs to which he is tempting them; or by fome other ways and means more fecret and unknown to us. For the power of fpirits, whether good or bad, and the manner of their operations upon our minds, are things very fecret, and of which we can give little or no account; but yet for all that, we have many times reafon fufficient to believe a thing to be fo, when we are wholly ignorant of the manner of it.

And there is reafon, from what is faid in fcripture, to believe that the devil, in fome cafes, hath a more immediate power and influence upon the minds of men, to excite them to fins, and, where he difcovers a very bad inclination or refolution, to help it forward, and to keep men to it; as when it is faid, John xiii. 27. that the devil entered into Judas, to push him on in that ill defign which he had already engaged in, of betraying our Saviour; and Acts v. 3. Satan is faid to have filled the heart of Ananias, to lie to the Holy Ghoft, and to keep back part of the price for which he had fold his eftate; which expreffions do feem to intimate to us fome more immediate power and influence which the devil had upon thofe perfons: But

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But then it is very obfervable, that this, power is never afcribed to the devil, but in the cafe of great and horrid fins, and where men are before-hand notori oufly depraved, and either by the actual commiffion of fome former great fin, or by entertaining fome very wicked defign, have provoked God to permit the devil a nearer accefs to him. For Judas had first taken counsel how to betray Christ, before it is faid the devil entered into him, to pufh him on to the execution of it. And Ananias his covetousnefs had first tempted him to keep back part of his eftate, before. it is faid the devil filled his heart to lie to the Holy Ghoft. So that what power the devil hath over men, they first give it him; they confent to his outward temptations, before he can get within them. Hence it is, that in fcripture great finners are defcribed, as being more immediately under the government and influence of the devil: Eph. ii. 1. 2. where the Apofile fpeaking of thofe, who, from Heathenifm, were converted to Chriftianity, You (fays he) bath he quick ened, who were once dead in trefpaffes and fins wherein in times paft ye walked, according to the courfe of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the fpirit that now worketh in the children of difobedience, or unbelief; του πνεύματος τῷ νῦν ἐνεργῶντος, the spirit that fills acts and infpires the children of unbelief; that is, thofe who continue in their infidelity, and would not believe and obey the gofpel. When men are notoriously wicked and difobedient to the counfels of God, the devil is faid to act and infpire them, which certainly fignifies fome more immediate power and influence which he hath over fuch perfons.

For as it is very probable, that the devil is fometimes permitted to come near good men fo as to tempt them; fo by notorious wickedness and impie ty, men do give admiffion to him, and he is permitted by the just judgement of God to exercife greater dominion over them. By refifting his temptations, we drive him from us. So St James tells us, chap. iv. 7. Refift the devil, and he will flee from you but

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as we yield to his temptations, he continually makes nearer approaches to us, and gains a greater power

over us.

3dly, But for all this, the devil can force no man to fin. His temptations may move and excite men to fin, but that they are prevalent and effectual, proceeds from our own will and confent: it is our own. lufts clofing with his temptations that produce fin. The devil hath more or lefs power over men, accor ding as they give way to him; but never fo much as to force their wills, and to compel them to consent to, and comply with his temptations. The grace of God doth hardly offer this violence to men for their good, in order to their falvation; and therefore much lefs will he permit the devil to have this power over men to their ruin and deftruction. God's com. manding us to refift the devil, fuppofeth that his temptations are not irrefiftible.

4thly, From what hath been faid, it appears that though the devil be frequently acceffary to the fins of men, yet we ourselves are the authors of them. He tempts us many times to fin, but it is we that commit it. His temptations may fometimes be fo violent as to extenuate our fault, but never fo forcible as wholly to excufe us; for we are fo far guilty of fin, as we give our confent to it; and how powerful foever the temptation be to any kind of evil, there is always enough of our own will in it to render us guil ty.

I am far from thinking that the devil tempts men to all the evil that they do. I rather think, that the greatest part of the wickedness that is committed in the world, fprings from the evil motions of mens own minds. Mens own lufts are generally to them the worst devil of the two, and do more strongly incline them to fin, than any devil without them can tempt them to it. It is not to be doubted, that the devil does all the mifchief he can to the fouls of men, fo far as God permits him; and though the number of evil angels be probably very great, yet it is but finite, and every one of them hath a limited power; and though they be very active, yet they can be but

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