you are his, and his for ever! What will that lead to? Are you determined to make the experiment for yourself? Are you resolved to know, by your own experience, how Satan torments in the next world those whom he has tempted and enslaved in this? God forbid; fly then, I conjure you, Oh! fly to the open, the beseeching arms of that Almighty Saviour, who alone can rescue you from the tempter's grasp; alone preserve you from the tempter's hell. But fly immediately, this day, this hour, this moment, with humbled penitence for the past, and grateful faith for the future. Yes, this moment, lest this night thou shouldst know, as the eternally lost alone can know, what is fully meant by "the worm that cannot die, and the fire that can never, never, be quenched."

SERMON III.

THE SAVIOUR'S TEMPTATION.

[CONTINUED.]

ST. LUKE iv. part of 4th verse.

"And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written."

In resuming the consideration of the deeply interesting subject of our blessed Lord's temptation, (and may the Holy Spirit make it profitable, as well as interesting, to us, or our time this day will be worse than wasted,) we would observe:-1st, the scene of the temptation:-2nd, the temptations themselves :-and 3d, the weapon which the Redeemer wielded só victoriously in this conflict with Satan.

I. The scene of the temptation. It was one which must have been particularly trying to the human nature of our Lord-a bleak howling wilderness, whose dreary waste was only diversified by dark and dismal mountains, and tenanted only by wild, ravenous beasts. Here, alone, unwit

nessed by human eye, uncheered by a human voice, unsupported by human sympathy, did the Son of God encounter the prince of hell, when his body was weakened by fasting and fatigue, and his spirit depressed by the horrors of the surrounding

scenery.

From this we may learn that solitude supplies no security from temptation; that wherever we are, whether alone or in society, in the wilderness as well as in the world, the tempter is at hand; that some of his most dangerous suggestions are whispered to us in the season of retirement, the secrecy of our chamber; that the imagination is the channel through which Satan conveys his most insidious snares, by conjuring up before its view dazzling or seductive visions of splendour or enjoyment, arrayed in such attractive loveliness, that the infatuated gazer, bound by the fatal spell which the tempter has flung over him, deems no sacrifice, no risk, too great, for the attainment of objects, which, when viewed in visionary prospect, kindle such overpowering desire, and promise such intense delight; and often these visions of imaginary beauty and bliss derive increased attractiveness, and, therefore, danger, from the dreariness of the scenes by which, in real life, the gazer is encompassed! Hence we learn the necessity of watching the workings of the imagination in solitude, and entrusting its guidance and control to the Holy

Spirit, for if we allow Satan to direct its movements, he will make it one of his most powerful engines to work our eternal woe!

II. We now come to the temptations themselves.

1. Our Lord was an hungered; Satan urges him to relieve His hunger by a miracle. By His refusal the Redeemer teaches us that, if we are indeed His followers, we must not supply any wants however pressing, or relieve ourselves from any difficulties however embarrassing, or any sufferings however acute, by such methods as Satan suggests, and our God condemns; nor must we seek to obtain the indulgence of desires however in themselves innocent, or gratifications however intrinsically lawful, by any means on which we cannot consistently ask and hope for the blessing of our God; no, not though the agony which the selfdenial would inflict were so intense, that in the struggle life itself, the bodily life, should fall a sacrifice on the shrine of duty; because our real life, the life of the soul, our eternal life, depends not on bread, on anything which can administer to the body's wants, or the body's gratifications, but "on every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

2. Baffled in his attempt to lead the Son of God to despair of His Heavenly Father's protection, Satan next endeavours to lead Him to presume on

D

it! How does this harmonize with our own experience! How often, when Satan has plied us with one temptation, and it has failed, does he seek to seduce us into the opposite! How easy does he make the transition from strong faith to presumption, or from deep humility to despair! He placed our Lord on a pinnacle of the temple, and urged Him to cast Himself down thence, perverting a passage of Scripture to accomplish his purpose, by quoting as much of it as suited his design; a plan, alas! that has been too frequently adopted since, by all determined system makers in theology. By our Lord's answer to this temptation we are taught that, though at the call of duty, which is the command of God, we ought fearlessly to walk into the burning fiery furnace, or rush into the lion's den, for this is to trust the Lord our God, we are not to venture, unbidden by him, into scenes of dangerous trial or temptation, in an ostentatious display of the strength of our faith, or the assurance of His favour, for this is to tempt the Lord our God. One observation on this point is of the last importance; whatever trials God brings us into by His guidance, He will bring us through by His grace; but woe unto us if, seduced by the solicitations of passion from the path of duty, we plunge into trials of our own seeking! In confirmation of this truth, look at Joseph in Potiphar's house; into what a fiery trial did God,