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warnings, none of his merciful dispensations put off or slighted with the hopes and expectation of another season, by a foolish promising whereof unto themselves, men ruin their souls every day.

Secondly, It is unalterable and irrecoverable. When the provocation of unbelief comes to this height, there is no space or room left for repentance, either on the part of God or the sinner. For men, for the most part after this, they have no thought of repenting. Either they see themselves irrecoverable, and so grow desperate, or become stupidly senseless, and lie down in security. So those false worshippers in the Revelation, after time was granted unto them no longer, but the plagues of God began to come upon them, it is said, "They repented not, but bit their tongues for anger, and blasphemed God." Instead of repenting of their sins, they rage against their punishment. And if they do change their mind in any thing, as Esau did when he saw the blessing was gone, it is not by true repentance, nor shall it be unto any effect or purpose. So the Israelites finished their sin by murmuring against the Lord upon the return of the spies, and said, they would not go up into the land, but would rather return into Egypt, Num. xiv. But after a while they changed their minds," and they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo we be here, and we will go up into the place which the Lord hath promised," ver. 40. But what was the issue? Their time was past, the Lord was not amongst them," and the Amalekites and the Canaanites that dwelt in that hill, smote them and discomfited them unto Hormah," ver. 45. Their change of mind was not repentance, but a new aggravation of their sin. Repentance also in this matter is hid from the eyes of God. When Saul had finished his provocation, Samuel denouncing the judgment of God against him, adds, "And also the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent," 1 Sam. xv. 29. God firms his sentence, and makes it irrevocable, by the engagement of his own immutability. There is no change, no alteration, no reprieve, no place for mercy, when this day is core and gone, Ezek. xxi. 25.

Let persons, let churches, let nations take heed lest they fall unawares into this evil day. I say, unawares to themselves, because they know not when they may be overtaken by it. It is true, all the danger of it ariseth from their own negligence, security and stubbornness. If they will give ear to previous warnings, this day will never come upon them. It may not therefore be unworthy our inquiry, to search what prognostics men may have of the approach of such a day. And

First, When persons, churches or nations have already contracted the guilt of various provocations, they may justly fear

that their next shall be their last. You have, saith God to the Israelites, "provoked me these ten times," that is, frequently, as hath been declared; and now your day is come. You might have considered before, that I would not always thus bear with you. Hath God then born with you in one and another provocation, temptation, backsliding, take heed lest the great sin lie at the door, and be ready to enter upon the next occasion. As God told Cain, Gen. iv. 7. if thou dost not do well, nxon nnas pa, peccatum ad ostium cubat, sin lies down at the door,' as a beast ready to enter on the next occasion, the next opening of it. After former provocations, so lieth that which shall fill the ephah, and have the talent of lead laid upon it. Take heed, grey hairs are sprinkled upon you, though you perceive it not. Death is at the door. Beware lest your next provocation be your last. When your transgressions come to three and four, the punishment of your iniquities will not be turned away. When that is come, you may sin whilst you will or while you can, God will have no more to do with you, but in a way of judgment.

Secondly, When repentance upon convictions of provocations lessens or decays, it is a sad symptom of an approaching day, wherein iniquity will be completed. Useful repentance, that is, that which is of any use in this world for the deferring or retarding of judgment, is commensurate unto God's dispensations of patience. When the fixed bounds of it (as it hath fixed bounds) are arrived at, all springs of repentance are dried up. When therefore persons fall into the guilt of many provocations, and God giving in a conviction of them by his word or providence, they are humbled for them according to their light and principles; if they find their humiliations upon their renewed convictions, to grow weak, decay and lessen in their effects, they do not so reflect upon themselves with self-displicency as formerly, nor so stir up themselves unto amendment, as they have done upon former warnings or convictions, nor have in such cases their accustomed sense of the displeasure and terror of the Lord; let them beware, evil is before them, and the fatal season of their utmost provoking is at hand, if not prevented.

Thirdly, When various dispensations of God towards men have been useless and fruitless; when mercies, judgments, dangers, deliverances, signally stamped with a respect unto the sins of men, but especially the warnings of the word, have been multiplied towards any persons, churches or nations, and have passed over them without their reformation or recovery; no doubt but judgment is ready to enter, yea if it be into the house of God itself.

Is it thus with any, is this their estate and condition? let

them please themselves while they please, they are like Jonah asleep in the ship, whilst it is ready to be cast away on their account. Awake and tremble; you know not how soon a great, vigorous, prevalent temptation may hurry you into your last provocation. And this is the first head of sin instanced

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Secondly, They are said also to have tempted God. "In the temptation, when your fathers tempted me." Wherein their provocation did consist, and what was the sin which is so expressed, we have declared. We must now inquire what was their tempting of God, of what nature was their sin therein, and wherein it did consist. To tempt God is a thing frequently mentioned in the Scripture, and condemned as a provoking sin. And it is generally esteemed to consist in a venturing on or an engaging into any way, work or duty, without sufficient call, warrant or rule, upon the account of trusting God therein; or in the neglect of the use of ordinary means in any condition, desiring, expecting or trusting unto any extraordinary assistances or supplies from God. So when men seem rashly to cast themselves into danger, out of a confidence in the presence and protection of God, it is said that they tempt God. And sundry texts of Scripture seem to give countenance to this description of the sin of tempting God. So, Isaiah vii. 11, 12. when the prophet bid Ahaz ask a sign of the Lord in the depths or in the heights above, he replied, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord." That is, I will rest in what thou hast said, and not tempt God by seeking any thing extraordinary. And so when Satan tempted our Saviour to shew his power by casting himself down from a pinnacle of the temple, which was none of his ways, Mat. iv. 7. he answers him by that saying of Deut. vi. 16. "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." To venture therefore on any thing unwarrantable, trusting unto God for protection, is to tempt him. And this is usually and generally allowed as the nature of this sin, and sense of this expression.

But yet I must needs say, that upon the consideration of all the places where mention is made of tempting the Lord, I am forced to embrace another sense of the meaning of this expression, which if it be not utterly exclusive of that already mentioned, yet it is doubtless more frequently intended, and doth more directly express the sin here condemned. Now this is, a distrust of God whilst we are in any of his ways, after we have received sufficient experiments and instances of his power and goodness, to confirm us in the stability and certainty of his promises. Thus to do is to tempt God. And where this frame is found in any, they are said to tempt him; that is to provoke him by their unbelief. It is not barely and nakedly to disbe

lieve the promises, it is not unbelief in general, but it is to disbelieve them under some peculiar attestation and experience obtained of the power and goodness of God in their pursuit, and towards their accomplishment. When therefore men are engaged into any way of God according to their duty, and meeting with oppositions and difficulty therein, if they give way to despondencies and unbelief, after they have received any signal pledges of his faithfulness in former effects of his wisdom, care, power and goodness, they tempt God, and are guilty of the sin here branded and condemned. The most eminent instances of tempting God in the Scripture, and which are most frequently mentioned, are these of the Israelites in the wilderness. As they are here represented in the story, so they are called over again, both in the Old Testament and the New. Psal. lxxviii. 41." Yea they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel." And 1 Cor. x. 9. they tempted Christ.' And wherein did this temptation consist? It was in this and no other. They would not believe nor trust God when they were in his way, after they had received many experiences of his power and presence amongst them. And this is directly expressed, Exod. xvii. 7. "They tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?" They doubted of and questioned his presence, after all the pledges and tokens which he had given them of it. And this sin of theirs the psalmist at large pursues, shewing wherein it did consist, Psal. lxxviii. 22, 23, "They believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation; though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven; ver. 32. for all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works: ver. 41, 42. they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel; they remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from their enemies." Thus plain doth he make the nature of their sin in tempting of God. It was their distrust and disobeying of him, after they had received so many encouraging evidences of his power, goodness and wisdom amongst them. This and this alone is in the Scripture called tempting of God. For that of our Saviour, Matt. iv. 7. "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," it is taken, as was observed, from Deut. vi. 16. where the following words are," as thou didst tempt him in Massah." Now this tempting of God at Massah, was that which we have declared; namely, the disbelieving of him after many evidences of his power and faithfulness. And this directly answers the end for which our Saviour made use of these words, which is to shew that he was so far satisfied of God's presence with him, of his being the Son of God, that he would not tempt him, by desiring other experiments of it; as though what he had already were not sufficient.

And the reason why Ahaz said he would not tempt the Lord in asking a sign, was no other but because he believed not, either that he would give him a sign, or that he would deliver; and therefore he resolved to trust to himself, and with his money to hire the Assyrians to help him, which he did accordingly, 2 Kings xvi. 7-9.

And this sin is called tempting of God, from its effect, and not from its formal nature. They tempted God, that is, by their unbelief they provoked him and stirred him up to anger and indignation. And from the discovery of the nature of this sin, we may observe, that

Obs. XVIII. To distrust God, to disbelieve his promises, whilst a way of duty lies before us, after we have had experiences of his goodness, power and wisdom in his dealing with us, is a tempting of God, and a greatly provoking sin.-And a truth this is, that hath 192 7, meat in its mouth,' or instruction ready for us, that we may know how to charge this aggravation of our unbelief upon our souls and consciences. Distrust of God, is a sin that we are apt upon sundry perverse reasonings to indulge ourselves in, and yet is there nothing wherewith God is more provoked. Now, it appears in the proposition laid down, that sundry things are required that a person, a church, a people, may render themselves formally guilty of this sin: as,

1. That they be called unto, or engaged in some special way of God. And this is no extraordinary thing. All believers who attend unto their duty, will find it to be their state and condition. So were the Israelites in the wilderness. If we are out of the ways of God, our sin may be great, but it is a sin of another nature. It is in his way's that we have his promises; and therefore it is in them, and with reference unto them, that we are bound to believe and trust in him; and on the same account in them alone can we tempt God by our unbelief.

2. That in this way they meet with oppositions, difficulties, hardships, temptations; and this, while Satan and the world continue in their power, they shall be sure to do. Yea, God himself is pleased oft-times to exercise them with sundry things of that nature. Thus it befel the people in the wilderness. Sometimes they had no bread, and sometimes they had no water; sometimes enemies assaulted them, and sometimes serpents bit them. Those things which in God's design are trials of faith, and means to stir it up unto a diligent exercise, in their own natures are grievous and troublesome, and in the management of Satan, tend to the producing of this sin, or tempting of God.

3. That they have received former experiences of the goodness, power and wisdom of God, in his dealings with them. So had this people done; and this God chargeth them withal, when

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