is difficult to conceive that he could be ignorant of it; his object in tempting him must have been solely to annoy and distress him. And this view of his temptation accords with the description of his character, to which reference has already been made ;—“ a roaring lion, going about, seeking whom he may devour."

From the many temptations with which Satan assails the children of God in particular, the following are selected as being some of the prin

cipal:

:

First, He tempts them to unbelief.

Unbelief

both suspends our enjoyments, and corrupts our character. It suspends our enjoyments by cutting off the channel through which they flow to us. All the enjoyments realized by us as Christians, flow to us through the medium of faith. Our peace of conscience, resulting from an assurance of acceptance with God, flows through an implicit and abiding reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation; the influence by which we subdue our disorderly passions, and thus realize inward tranquillity, flows through our yielding ourselves to God, in belief of, and obedience to, his command; a sensible enjoyment of the Divine fa

vour, which can be better conceived than expressed, and which is generally realized in the exercise,of prayer, flows through our praying in faith; ease respecting the affairs of this life, in seasons when our circumstances tend especially to produce disquietude, flows through our casting all our cares on Him who careth for us; and the high-born felicity of being enabled, with the apostle, to exclaim, "Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is;" flows through our being able, by a spirit of adoption, which is a spirit of faith, to call God, " Abba, Father." By faith we realize all the promises which are recorded for our encouragement and support, and which are exactly suited to our circumstances; by faith we appropriate all the blessings of the New Covenant; by faith we receive directly from the inexhaustible fulness of Christ, even grace for grace: so that, if, as it is sometimes our privilege to do, we rejoice with a joy unspeakable, and full of glory, it is exclusively by the exercise of faith. How completely, then, must unbelief interrupt our enjoyments.

But unbelief corrupts our character, as well as suspends our enjoyments. It does this indirectly, by discontinuing, as it necessarily must do, those gracious influences by which alone the purity of our character is preserved. "It is not in man that walketh," we are informed, "to direct his steps;" again, "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord;" but the influence which thus orders his steps is communicated through faith ; hence the apostle affirms, "Thou standest by faith." If the influence whereby we preserve the purity of our character be thus communicated through faith, unbelief must necessarily discontinue it; and when this influence is discontinued, we are secure against no species of corruption. Unbelief directly, and by itself, corrupts our character. The indulgence of it is in direct opposition to the express command of God, and is thus a direct act of disobedience to him, and rebellion against him. God has expressly enjoined on us the exercise of implicit and constant faith in him; every instance of unbelief, therefore, is an act of rebellion against him. It is the nature of all sin to corrupt the subject of it.

We are, to a very considerable extent, prone to

unbelief; and that too by the infirmity of our nature, and the depravity of our hearts. Faith is the abstraction of the mind from objects of sense, and the absorption of it in spiritual objects. It is well described by the apostle as the looking not at the things which are seen, which are temporal, but at the things which are unseen and eternal. But as creatures of sense, readily influenced by the objects that are around us, it requires mental and moral energy to abstract our minds, and fix them on spiritual and unseen objects, which we cannot always command. The spirit, indeed, is frequently willing to soar away to objects, and in regions congenial to its nature; but the flesh, whose influence it cannot at all times surmount, prevents its flight. Hence, we so much more readily trust in an arm of flesh for protection, than in an almighty arm; we so much more readily flee to human resources for comfort in distress, than to those which are Divine; and we are so much more anxious to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, than treasures in heaven. This tendency of the infirmity of our nature is considerably strengthened or abetted by the depravity of our hearts. Faith, while it is a purely spiritual exercise, is a virtuous

act. It is a recognition of the authority of God over us, which, in our unrenewed condition, we, in the most unqualified manner, resist; and even in our renewed condition, we do not universally submit to it, our renewal being but partial. The depravity which still remains in us, will frequently operate to the prevention of our implicit trust and confidence in God.

Satan has thus a special inducement to tempt us to unbelief. If he wish to annoy us, he cannot more effectually attain his object than by tempting us to the indulgence of this disposition, it depriving us, as we have seen it does, of our enjoyments; if he wish to corrupt us, he can effect our corruption in the same way. And, from our propensities to unbelief, he tempts us with the greatest prospect of success.

That Satan is influenced by the inducements thus existing to him to tempt the children of God to unbelief, is evident from the fact, that unbelief is the sin most frequently, and to the greatest length of time, committed by them. Unreasonable as their unbelief frequently appears even to themselves, after they have indulged it, they continue to indulge it, and in circumstances