Page images
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]

the grand adversary succeeded in overthrowing the faith of Eve in the divine testimony. Which being accomplished, she in course adopted the advice of her crafty and malignant seducer, (for what other fruit can be expected from unbelief than disobedience) she took of the fruit of the fatal tree, and did eat;' and she gave to her husband,' and he, by her persuasion, 'did eat also.' Some think that Adam was not deceived, but that love for Eve determined him never to be severed from her in weal or woe. And it is thought the Apostle's language favours this sentiment, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression.' But we think that the Apostle means not to deny that Adam was deceived, but to affirm that he was not first and immediately deceived by the devil. The truth seems to be, that the same arguments which prevailed over Eve, together with the persuasion of one he so tenderly loved, made a conquest of Adam.

Thus was the great transgression finished, and

"Earth trembled from her entrails, as again

"In pangs, and nature gave a second groan;

"Sky lour'd; and muttering thunder, some sad drops, "Wept at completing of the mortal sin

Original.

We will conclude this subject with an observation or two.

1. We may learn from the subject we have considered, the certainty of the existence of evil

spirits, and what is their character:

[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

admitted by all that the tempter of our first parents was not a mere serpent. Who then could it be but as the sacred oracles teach, one of those angels who kept not their first estate?' Either, therefore, this must be admitted, or the inspiration of the scriptures must be denied.-The latter, notwithstanding evidence which is ever accumulating, many choose to do. But what do they expect to effect or gain by their infidelity? Will their unbelief make the word of God of none effect? No! verily they will be obliged in due time to confess that the Bible is the word of the living God; they will find there is a world to come, and beings, apostates from God, of a superior nature to man; and whether believed or not, that these will be the fearful companions and tormentors of the finally impenitent and unbelieving. Fearful companions, indeed, considered not merely in respect of their nature physically, but in respect of their character morally. What a soul petrifying portrait of the craft and destitution of pity, of the cruelty, malice, and mischievousness of evil spirits, does the transaction before us exhibit! O my God, gather not my soul with such sinners!

2. We have said Eve should have staid by her husband, and kept away from the fatal tree. Allow me a little farther in the way of improvement of the subject to insist on this thought. There are few inspired petitions of greater importance than this-Lead us not into temptation'. And both

Eve's seduction and Satan's subtilty and devices evince how important is the counsel implied in this petition, namely to avoid, as far as practicable the occasions of being entangled in the snare of this hellish fowler.' To do which in short is so indispensible, that either we must keep off Satan's ground, or, after Eve's so fatal and so affecting example, we must expect to be taken in his net. To cure us of the folly of thus tempting evil spirits to tempt us, or challenging them to this rencountre, let us be admonished by the case before us how fatally throwing ourselves in the way of temptation may end, how certainly Satan is waiting for so favourable an opportunity to do us an injury—and how.undoubtedly he will take advantage of such sinful simplicity. "Is not Satan waiting at the forbidden tree? Again then we say, come not near it-whenever we may, let us keep out of evil company-let us shun those places where. Satan is likely to be present or in a word, as we said, avoid as far as practicable, the occasion of temptation. For, O remember, what we have so much reason to believe was the fact. How often did Eve say while the big tear of anguish rolled down her faded cheek-would that I had kept away from the tree! Nor less oft, nor with less anguish said Adam,

"Would thou hadst hearken'd to my words and staid
"With me, as I besought thee, when that strange
"Desire of wandering this unhappy morn,

"I know not whence possess'd thee; we had then

"Remain'd still happy, not as now, despoil'd

"Of all our good; `sham'd, naked, miserable !”—

3. We here see what a dreadful sin is unbelief. Why were not our first parents able to stand against the wiles of the devil?' Because they surrendered the shield of faith, wherewith they would have been able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Clearly the richly fraught vessel was wrecked through the pilot's steering by Satan's compass instead of God's.. Did not Eve give credit to what the devil saith, and reject God's word and commandment? What is this but unbelief. To unbelief, therefore, is mainly attributable the entrance of sin, with all its innumerable train of unspeakable woes. How dreadful a sin then is unbelief, or a disposition not to yield implicit credence to the declarations of God! Moreover this sin is of a character the more fearful, as there is not a person in a natural state who is not living beneath the reigning power of it, while such are notwithstanding, totally ignorant that this is the case. For what do men, untaught by God's Spirit, know of the nature of the sin of unbelief; how common is it even for persons very religious in their formal and pharisaical way, to believe the · scriptures as a whole, and yet to deny the most important doctrines therein revealed; still not having the most distant suspicion of their being unbelievers. But unquestionably he who disbelieves the principal truths of christianity is an unbeliever. He, therefore, who disbelieves the testimony of

God respecting the total depravity of human na-· ture, the necessity of the saving operations of the Holy Spirit, the impossibility of salvation by. works, and the absolute necessity of a divine faith in the Deity and righteousness of Christ, is an unbeliever, for these and such like are the most peculiar and fundamental doctrines of the divine word. It is, however, of the nature of unbelief to reject these truths, especially to reject Christ, as he is set forth in the Scriptures, hence, as it rejects the only way in which a sinner can escape the wrath to come,' unbelief is so dreadful a sin that it binds the curse of the law upon us, and so places us in jeopardy of dying beneath the double vengeance due to such as are not only breakers of the law, but also despisers of the gospel.

4. The subject we are improving should teach us to consider tempters to sin, of whatever description, as our greatest enemies. Especially, we are here taught that in this light we should by all means view such, who (acting as Satan did with Eve) endeavour to discredit, in our esteem, the word and ways of the Lord. We now more particularly, in the way of caution refer to those unhappy persons or their usual practices, who either question or deny the inspiration of the Bible, which they do, they say, because the evidence (which few of them have ever examined,) on which we build our faith on the divinity of the Scriptures, is not satisfactory. In the mean time, those persons, if they have any religion of their own, find no diffi

« PreviousContinue »