which God hates, the only thing which that God, who is love, does hate-sin-that accursed thing which is so full of enmity against the blessed God, that were its power equal to its malignity, it would dethrone-yea, it would annihilate the Holy One, that it might reign with uncontrolled dominion throughout the universe, and make that universe a hell; Oh! is it not blasphemy to insinuate that this abominable, accursed, God-hating, hell-kindling thing, ever darkened with its passing shadow, ever polluted with its passing touch, the soul or the body of the holy, harmless, undefiled Son of God! In considering further this deeply interesting subject, I would on the present occasion draw two inferences from the general view of our Lord's temptations, reserving for our next meeting, if spared, the more detailed consideration of their peculiar character, and the instruction to be thence derived; and may the Eternal Spirit abundantly bless our contemplation of this wondrous theme! The first inference I would draw, for the believer's comfort, is, that to be exempt from temptation is no privilege of the children of God, in this land of their pilgrimage and warfare; and that, therefore, their being exposed to the fiercest assaults, the most horrible suggestions of Satan, is in itself no proof of the divine displeasure or desertion, but may rather, when, through divine grace, faithfully resisted and finally overcome, be regarded as an evidence and exercise of their heavenly Father's love, graciously suited to their peculiar case and circumstances, and mercifully designed to purify their souls in the fiery furnace of trial, and make them to know more by their own experience of their own utter helplessness and sinfulness, and their Almighty Saviour's all-sufficient power, faithfulness, and love, and their consequent need of keeping continually close, in humble dependance, unslumbering watchfulness, and unwearied prayer, to Him who has promised, and is able, to make them more than conquerors over all the assaults of the enemy of their souls! Observe-Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil; and he was thus led, immediately after his baptism, when, we are told, he was full of the Holy Ghost. If then the Father permitted his well-beloved Son to be thus fiercely assaulted by the tempter, can you, Oh! believer, hope to escape? Must not the servant be content to be as his master, and can the disciple complain to be treated as his Lord? Nor fear that the guilt of Satan's temptations, however fierce or frequent, if resisted and overcome, will be laid to your charge; no-it will recoil on the tempter. Take a simple illustration: suppose some vile abandoned characters knock at your door, tempting you to the commission of some sinful act; if, indeed, you parley with them, open the door, admit them, entertain them as your guests, and listen to their sinful proposals, you become a partaker in their guilt; but if, without for a moment parleying with them, you keep the door resolutely barred against them, and escape, as far as possible, out of the reach of their hateful and hated suggestions, how are you answerable for their knocking at your door? Even thus, when Satan comes, accompanied with a train of vile thoughts, and abominable temptations, and knocks at the door of your heart, soliciting admission, if without parleying with the tempter, or voluntarily listening to his accursed suggestions, enticing you to sin, if in your Divine Master's strength, you keep your heart resolutely closed against him, and in your Divine Master's name, with holy indignation, desire him to depart, be assured the guilt of those vile thoughts which you shrink from, and those abominable temptations which you resist, will be charged on him, and not on you; while his baffled attempts will be overruled to your spiritual comfort, by endearing to you still more and more your great and gracious deli verer. The second inference I would draw from the general survey of the subject is this, what a sweet, supporting, comforting, assurance, does this scene afford us, "that we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who was in all points tempted, like as we are," and in that He hath suffered, being tempted, is able also both to sympathize with, and to succour His people, when they are tempted. To attempt by description to convey to any other than a child of God, even the remotest conception of the comfort which this reflection imparts to a real believer under the pressure of temptation, would be as unavailing, as to endeavour, by words, to convey an adequate idea of the beauty of colours to the blind, or the charms of sweet melody to one who cannot hear; but may I not appeal on this point to the experience of every child of God in this congregation? Oh! tell me, you who while trusting simply and unmixedly in the Redeemer's righteousness for acceptance with Jehovah, are sincerely and supremely desirous above all things to glorify the God of your salvation, when you have been fiercely assailed by the tempter, urging you either to disobey or to distrust, to rebel or to repine against your God, when the pressure of temptation from without, and the stirrings of corruption from within, when the consciousness of your own extreme helplessness, and the contemplation of the appalling power of Satan, have all combined to drive you to the very brink of despair, has not your fainting spirit been reanimated, and your drooping courage revived, by the remembrance that the Saviour you have been taught to love and lean upon, can at the same time, as the once tempted Son of Man, sympathize with you in all the tenderness of human sympathy, and, as the now triumphant Son of God, support you with all the strength of divine omnipotence? Was there not a comfort you would not have exchanged for all the riches of the universe, in the thought that on the mount of temptation the Redeemer, in whom you trust and triumph, has by His own experience of the tempter's subtlety and skill, in making his temptations fearfully attractive and ensnaring, contracted a tenderness of sympathy with His people, when tempted, which when combined with His invincible power as the Mighty God, makes Him indeed "such a High Priest as became us ;" inestimably precious beyond all price? Oh! then thou tried and tempted one, thou timid and trembling one; when harassed by Satan's suggestions lift up thine heart and voice to Him, who can both pity and protect thee; who can at once compassionate and save. He has not forgotten His own conflict with the tempter, in the days of His flesh! no! no! "Though now ascended up on high, Our fellow-sufferer yet retains |