And the Tempter is Satan, the prince of the power of the air, he that
now ruleth in the children of disobedience; he is an enemy to GOD and
goodness, he is a hater of all truth: Why else did he slander GOD in
paradise? Why did he tell _Eve_, “You shall not surely die?” He is full
of malice, envy, and revenge: for what reasons else could induce him to
molest innocent man in paradise? The person that tempts ye, my brethren,
is remarkable for his subtilty: for having not power given him from
above, he is obliged to wait for opportunities to betray us, and to
catch us by guile: he, therefore, made use of the serpent to tempt our
first parents: and to lie in wait to deceive, is another part of his
character. And though this character is given of the devil, if we were
to examine our own hearts, we should find many of the tempter’s
characters legible in us.
Do not many of you love to make a lie? And if it is done in your trade,
you therefore look on it as excusable; but whether you believe it
or not, it is sinful, it is exceedingly sinful. Though you may value
yourselves as fine rational creatures, and that you are noble beings;
and you were so, as you first came out of GOD’s hands; but now you are
fallen, there is nothing lovely, nothing desirable in man; his heart is
a sink of pollution, full of sin and uncleanness: Yet, though a man’s
own heart is so desperately wicked, he is told by our modern polite
preachers, that there is a fitness in men, and that GOD seeing you a
good creature, gives you his grace; but this, though it is a modern,
polite, and fashionable way of talking, is very unscriptural; it is
very contrary to the doctrines of the Reformation, and to our own
Articles. But however contrary to the doctrines of the Church of
_England_, yet our pulpits ring of nothing more, than doing no one
any harm, living honestly, loving your neighbour as yourselves, and
do what you can, and then CHRIST is to make up the deficiency: this is
making CHRIST to be half a saviour, and man the other part; but I say,
CHRIST will be your whole righteousness, your whole wisdom, your whole
sanctification, or else he will never be your whole redemption. How
amazing is it, that the ministers of the church of _England_ should
speak quite contrary to what they have subscribed! Good GOD! if these
are the guides of the ignorant, and esteemed to be the true ministers
of JESUS, because they have a great share of letter-learning; when at
the same time they are only the blind leaders of the blind; and without
a special Providence, they both will fall into the ditch.
No wonder at people’s talking of the fitness and unfitness of things,
when they can tell us, that the Spirit of GOD, is a good conscience,
and the comforts of the Holy Ghost are consequent thereupon. But this
is wrong; for it should be said, the Spirit of GOD, are the comforts of
the Holy Ghost, and a good conscience consequent thereupon. _Seneca_,
_Cicero_, _Plato_, or any of the heathen philosophers, would have given
as good a definition as this; it means no more than reflecting we have
done well.
But let these modern, polite gentlemen, and let my letter-learned
brethren, paint man in as lovely colours as they please, I will not do
it: I dare not make him better than the word of GOD does. If I was to
paint man in his proper colours, I must go to the kingdom of hell for
a copy: for man is by nature full of pride, subtilty, malice, envy,
revenge, and all uncharitableness; and what are these but the tempers
of the devil? and lust, sensuality, pleasure, these are the tempers of
the beast. Thus, my brethren, man is half a beast, and half a devil,
a motley mixture of the beast and devil. And this is the creature,
who has made himself so obnoxious to the wrath of GOD, and open to his
indignation, that is told, that he must be part his own saviour, by
doing good works, and what he cannot do CHRIST will do for him.
This is giving the tempter great room to come in with his temptation;
he may press a soul to follow moral duties, to go to church, take the
sacrament, read, pray, meditate; the devil is well content you should
do all these; but if they are done in your own strength, or if you go
no farther than here, you are only going a smoother way to hell.