SERMON XXVII.

PROVIDENCE.

THE TEMPTATION AND FALL.

GENESIS iii. 1-6.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened: and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw, that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

In the last discourse, I considered the situation of our first parents in the state of trial, in which God was pleased to place them; and the conditions of the law, or covenant, under which they were placed. These, I endeavoured to show, were just and reasonable; and such, as clearly spoke the benevolence of God.

In the text, we are informed of the result of this trial; viz. that they transgressed the law, fell from their original purity, forfeited the favour and blessing of God, and were condemned to suffer the penalty of the law.

In this remarkable passage of Scripture, four things especially

claim our serious attention:

I. The Character of the Tempter:

II. The Manner of the Temptation:

III. The Character, and Circumstances, of the Persons Templed: and,

IV. The Consequences of the Temptation.

I. The Character of the Tempter demands our attention.

The Tempter is exhibited to us, here, by the Name of the Serpent: or, as in the Hebrew, that Serpent. This phraseology naturally leads us to imagine, that a part of this discourse, as originally written, has been lost; altered, perhaps, by Moses, according to the commands of God; or, afterwards, by some prophet, according to the same command; because the passage had answered the end intended by it, and was not henceforth a necessary part of the canon of Scripture. Or, perhaps, it was originally differently written; and the present language is owing to some mistake of a transcriber. Of this Serpent, St. John deelares, that he was Satan; the head, or leader, of those angels who kept not their first estate, but revolted from God, and threw off their subjection to his government.

This exalted being, unsatisfied with his dignity and glory in heaven, appears to have aspired to a station still higher, and to have chosen to hazard the loss of all which he possessed, rather than to continue in that, in which he was placed; a station, not improbably, the first in the created Universe. In thus aspiring, he fell from this height to the lowest depth of degradation, guilt, and misery; and completely verified the declaration of Christ, that such as have been first will, in various instances, be last in the great kingdom of God.

After his fall, the evil passions, which began to influence him in heaven, appear to have gained an entire ascendency. All his purposes have, since that event, been evil, mischievous, and abominable; and the means, by which he has laboured to accomplish

them, have been base, grovelling, and suited to the nature of the purposes.

That, upon which he now entered, was probably as base, as hateful, as unjust, and as cruel, as was ever formed; and will, perhaps, be more remembered with horror, hereafter, than any other; unless we are to except the Rebellion, to which he successfully solicited his companions in heaven, and the Crucifixion of the Redeemer.

The motives, by which he was influenced to this work of death and destruction, were probably such as these.

His Envy was naturally and highly provoked at the sight of so humble a race of beings, as Men, possessing a character, and lot, plainly superior to his own; because they were immortal and holy, and consequently happy also; because they stood higher in the approbation of God, and the estimation of Angels; and because they were, in prospect, the heirs of immortal life and endless enjoyment.

His Resentment against God, which fired his rebellious spirit at all times, now saw, and seized, what he thought an advantageous opportunity, to disappoint his great ENEMY of his favourite design; to overcast the face, and glory, of his new creation; to dishonour his name; to disturb again the peace of his kingdom; and to frustrate purposes, which seemed to be near, if not nearest, to his heart.

His Pride, also, was, doubtless, greatly gratified with the prospect of being able to disappoint his Maker; to counteract his designs; and to prove, that his wisdom was not so great, as to secure him from being thwarted, and vanquished, by this sagacity of his enemy.

Nor was his Malevolence probably less concerned in this enterprize. He had now become the professed, habitual, and eternal enemy of God, and of his Creation. Good he regarded, wherever he saw it, with an evil and malignant eye, and an aching heart. That others were happy, was, to his debased feelings, a certain source of misery. The only emotions, which resembled happiness, in his mind, were now those, which, in the true fiend-like manner, exulted in overcoming others, in destroying or lessening their enjoyments, and in reducing them to the same level of defor VOL. I.

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mity and wretchedness with himself. These emotions could not but be strongly excited by the prospect of ruining a world of happy beings; such as were, and were to be, our first parents and their offspring.

For the gratification of these abandoned dispositions, he was prepared to employ any means. Accordingly he chose rather to inhabit, and animate, a serpent, and ally himself to the brutes, than to fail of his design. In the body of this serpent he approached, and accosted, Eve; doubtless expecting, what actually took place, that both himself and his purposes would, in this way, be effectually concealed.

II. The Manner of the Temptation was remarkably distinguished by art and subtlety.

He accosted the general Mother of Mankind, when she was alone, and of course most unguarded. Had Adam been present, it seems unquestionable, that both would have assisted each other; and that their mutual strength might have resisted, with success, the insidiousness, which was sufficient to prevail over

one.

He began his address to her, with a question, which involved in it, apparently, not impiety, but surprise; and which was calculated, in the highest degree, to excite her attention and curiosity, without raising in her mind any alarm, or even suspicion. Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? "Can this be possible? What end can it answer? For what purpose were these fruits created, but to be eaten, and eaten by you? Whence then the prohibition? Or is it possible, that such a prohibition should exist ?"

Had he directly opposed God, it is probable, that the honest mind of Eve would have revolted at the conduct; and fled from the temptation, with horror. But, now, he said just enough to awaken her curiosity, and no more. Hence she was prepared to listen to him, to go on with him in his sentiments; and, in the end, to imbibe them all. The Question, in a manner not naturally seen, nor suspected, by her, awakened a train of thoughts, in themselves dangerous, and leading easily to a fatal issue.

Eve, in the native simplicity and integrity of her heart, replied, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the