So from the Circumstance of time , when this Command was laid upon Abraham , I come to the Phrase or Form of Speech in which the Action of God therein is expressed , He tempted Abraham . Thus Moses coming to set down this History , expresseth the Action of God , that we might not be surprized and startle at the strangeness of the thing , when we read or hear it . But how is this affirmed of God , James 1.13 . that he Tempted Abraham ? St. James saith , Let no man say , when he is tempted , I am tempted of God ; for God cannot be tempted with evil , neither tempteth he any man . For reconciling Moses and the Apostle , we must distinguish of Temptations . A Temptation may either be of Seduction or of Trial . A Temptation of Seduction is proper to Satan and his Instruments ; and 't is that whereby they Seduce to Evil , or endeavour to Seduce ; and this Seduction is twofold , either into Error , or into Sin : Of this kind of Temptation , St. James speaks when he saith , God cannot be tempted with evil , neither tempteth he any man . A Temptation of Trial is that whereby the Servants of God are proved or tried ; and in this sense is God said to have tempted Abraham : By a most difficult Command laid upon him , he proved or made trial of his Faith and Obedience .

But here again , that we run not into a mistake , and frame unmeet notions and conceptions of God , and such as are not agreeable to the Perfection of his Nature , we must still remember that God is Omniscient ; all things are naked and opened unto his eyes ; Heb . 4.13 . neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight . He searcheth the heart , and trieth the reins . Jer . 17.10 . Psal . 139.2 . He understandeth our thoughts afar off . Wherefore 't is impossible that he should by any trial or experiment he makes of us , come to know any thing in us , or concerning us , that he was before ignorant of . Thus indeed we prove and try one another , that we may , if we can , find out and discern that which we were uncertain of before ; but for us to have such thoughts of God , were unworthy of him , and infinitely below his Perfections . This were to make him like our selves , as dimsighted and defective in knowledge as we are . In short therefore , God proves and tries men , not to inform himself of what he knew not , but to inform the Persons whom he tries , and others ; he proves them , to the end that what lay hid in them , not only from other men , but from themselves also , may be discovered to them and others . He knew the measure and strength of Abraham's Faith before ; How is it possible that he should be ignorant of it , who knows all things , and who had wrought and cherished that Grace in him , who had infused it into his Soul , preserved it , and fed it there , who had both planted and watered it , given it both its being and all its increases ? But that Abraham himself might better understand what God had wrought in him , what strength of Faith he had endowed him with ; and that others also might understand it , God makes an high experiment upon him , he lays a most strange and difficult Command upon him , that might exert , call forth , and discover all the strength of Faith which he had bestowed on him . And what hath been said of tho trial of his Faith , the same also may be said concerning his Obedience .

But it may be here further Objected , That we read in the 2 Chron . 32.31 . concerning Hezekiah , that in the business of the Embassadors of the princes of Babylon , God left him to try him , that he might know all that was in his heart , Which words seem to imply , that God therein designed his own information rather than Hezekiah's , or as well as Hezekiah's .

I Answer , That those words ought not to be understood , cannot be understood in a proper sense ; 't is a figurative speech , in which God speaks of himself after the manner of men : Because men try one another that they may know how they stand affected , which way they incline , what in such or such cases and circumstances they will do , and the like ; therefore God useth the same form of speech concerning himself when he tries men : He said , Of which I have elsewhere spoken , namely , in my Discourse on the 2 Chron . 32.31 . [ This is sitted for the Press . ] that he left Hezekiah to try him , that he might know all that was in his heart ; but his meaning only is , that he might make known and discover all that was in his heart . Though God be pleased so far to condescend , as to represent himself and his actions , sometimes in such a manner , and in such language , as might seem to make him like us , subject to the same passions , infirmities , and defects , as we are ; yet we must take heed , that however we still frame our thoughts and conceptions of God suitably to his Nature and Perfections as near as we can . If we should take whatever in Scripture is said of God in a proper and literal sense , we should have such Notions of him , and of his Nature , as would divest him of his Attributes and Deity : Here that Rule must ever be observed , Quod Deo tribuitur {αβγδ} intelligendum {αβγδ} . Whatsoever is attributed unto , or spoken of God in way of conformity unto , or compliance with the manner , passions , or affections of man , must be so understood as may carry a congruity unto , and condecency with the Nature and Perfections of God .

Thus we have seen in what sense God is said to have Tempted Abraham , and how Moses and St. James are accorded and reconciled : as likewise how God is said to have left Hezekiah to try him , that he might know all that was in his heart .

And now I shall here , upon occasion of what is said concerning God's tempting Abraham , discourse a little more largely and fully concerning this Subject .

Shewing , 1. How , in what manner , and in what ways God is wont to Tempt men . 2. To what ends he Tempts men . 3. How , and wherein his Temptations differ from Satan's . 4. Answer some Objections . 5. Make some Application .

I begin with the first of these , endeavouring to shew how , in what manner , and in what ways God is wont to Tempt men . Deut . 13.3.4.34.7.19.29.3 . And here we shall be able much better to apprehend positively how God tempts men , if we first understand negatively how he doth not tempt them . Negatively therefore ,

1. God doth not tempt any man , by infusing any evil , any corrupt Principle , or malignant Quality into him , whereby he is inwardly disposed or inclined to Sin .

2. Neither doth he inwardly hurry him on , impel , or thrust him forward into Sin .

3. Neither doth he excite , stir up , incline , allure , intice , persuade , or encourage any man to Sin . 't is upon several accounts absolutely impossible that God should any of these ways tempt any man .

For ( 1. ) This would make him the Author of Sin , which is directly contrary to the Purity of his Nature , and utterly inconsistent with his Holiness . Hab. 1.13 . He is of purer eyes than to behold evil , any the least Evil with approbation , and much more then to infuse into man's heart any Malice , any evil Quality , or sinful Principle , or to impel him , and thrust him forward into Sin , or to become the Author of man's Sin in any of the other ways before-mentioned .

( 2. ) This were inconsistent with his Justice in punishing Sin : For how could he justly punish Sin in the Creature , if he should thus Efficiently contribute to it , and promote it ?

( 3. ) It were also as inconsistent with his Goodness thus to promote the Sin , and consequently the Misery and Ruin of his Creatures . For he that in any of the ways before-mentioned , either impels or draws a man into Sin , makes way for his destruction .

( 4. ) 't is no less inconsistent with his Sincerity , to dehort and dissuade men from sin , and by terrible Threatnings to seem to deter them , and scare them off from it , and yet to thrust them forward , or draw them into it . I say , upon all these accounts 't is utterly impossible that God should efficiently further man's sin in any of the ways above recited .

4. Neither doth God by any Eternal Act of his lay upon man such a necessity of sinning as takes away or infringeth his liberty therein . If he did , it must be either by his Foreknowledge , or Decree . But neither his Foreknowledge of sin , nor his Decree concerning it , do lay any such fatal necessity of sinning upon any man .

1. As to his Forknowledge of sin , that toucheth not the Will of man , to incline or dispose it one way or other , much less doth it offer any force to it , impelling it , or thrusting it forward into sin , but leaves it every way as free as if no such Foreknowledge had been . If I could certainly foreknow what you would do in some particular business that lies before you , would my Foreknowledge of what you will do , take away your liberty ? As long as I only foreknow what of your own accord and free choice you will do , neither impelling , nor urging , nor as much as persuading , nor any way endeavouring to dispose or incline you to do it , when you do it , is not your Action as free and voluntary , as if I had not at all foreknown it ? Add hereunto , That God's Foreknowledge is such , as it respects and takes in not only the Matter or Substance of what he foreknows , but also the Manner , and all the Circumstances thereof . He doth not only foreknow what you will do , but how you will do it . As he foresees that a man will in such or such a matter offend , so he foresees that he will freely do it . Thus he did not only foresee , that Adam , left to the liberty of his own Will , would fall , but that he would voluntarily fall : so far is God's Foreknowledge of sin from laying any such necessity upon any man , as that he must sin , and cannot but sin , whether he will or no . His acts of sin , though foreknown of God , are not only as voluntary and spontaneous as if they had not been foreknown , but they are therefore voluntary , because God foreknew they would so be . I mean not , that his Foresight is the cause of their being voluntary , no more than of their being ; but only , that 't is so far from hindering the Spontaneousness or Voluntariness of them , that 't is a certain Argument and Demonstration thereof .

2. Neither by any Decree doth he necessitate men to sin whether they will or no .

For 1. God doth only decree to permit sin ; his decree concerning it is only permissive , not effective ; his eternal purpose is only to suffer it to be , not to cause it to be .

2. This his permission of it , is not a giving men leave to sin , or allowing them to sin , but a not hindering them in the use of their liberty , or a pure letting them alone to do as they please , and a not interposing by his restraining or sanctifying Grace , to keep them from sin . Now this kind of permission of sin , including no efficiency on God's part towards it , doth not in the least make God chargeable with man's sin : For we may not think that God is bound to keep and withhold men from sin , as we are to keep and withhold one another from sin as far as we are able . If God were obliged to withhold men from sin , then there never had been , nor could have been any sin in the world . That he wanted not Power to have prevented all sin if he had pleased , cannot be questioned by any man that acknowledgeth his Omnipotency ; and if he were under any obligation to hinder it , then it could not consist with his Holiness to permit it to be . And thus I have shewed , that neither God's Foreknowledge of sin , nor his Decree to permit it , doth lay any such necessity upon the Creature , as to render it less free or voluntary in the Commission of sin . Hence it follows undeniably , that notwithstanding God's foreknowledge of sin as future , and his decree to permit it , the whole blame of man's sin lies at his own door , and there is not the least shadow of reason to impute it to God , either in whole or in part : And consequently , that their plea is both wicked and unreasonable , and such as shall never serve their turn , or stand them in any stead at the day of their trial , who to excuse themselves , or lessen their guilt , lay the blame upon the foreknowledge or decree of God . What will this plea avail them when they come to stand before the Tribunal of Christ , where it shall appear before all the world , before Angels and Men , that no eternal or temporal Act of God did in the least infringe or lessen their freedom and liberty in sinning , and that they sinned as voluntarily as if no such Acts on God's part had ever been ?

So I have shewed Negatively , How God doth not Tempt men .

Positively he Tempts men divers ways .

As 1. By laying difficult Commands upon them ; which sometimes he enables them to obey , as here he did Abraham ; and sometimes being left to themselves , they disobey , as did Jonah , who endeavoured to go to Tarsus , when he had been enjoined to go to Nineveh , and proclaim that Message there which he thought might prove dangerous to him .

2. By laying sore and heavy Afflictions on them , which try their Faith and Patience , as on Job .

3. By heaping much of the world upon them , and giving them a prosperous condition as to outward things , to try how they will bear their Prosperity , and what use they will make of their abundance .

4. By laying objects of an indifferent nature before them , of which they may either make a good use or a bad , as Grace or Corruption prevails .

5. By permitting Satan and his Instruments to tempt them .

6. By substracting his Grace , or suspending the Influences of it , and leaving them to themselves , as in the case of Hezekiah before-mentioned . Now in all this God doth no more than what he may righteously do ; and if the Persons thus tempted do sin , 't is wholly through the Corruption of their own hearts , and the Instigation of Satan or his Instruments .

So you have seen how and in what ways God may be said to Tempt men .

It now follows in the 2d . place , That I shew to what end God Tempts men . That God therein , as in all other his Dispensations , aims at his own Glory , I may take for granted , so as I need not spend time to prove it : That is the great end of all his works , whether of Creation or Providence . But besides this greatest and highest end , there are other inferior and subordinate ends of God's tempting men . In brief , he tempts men to discover them , not to himself , ( for , as hath been shewed , he hath no need of making experiments upon them for his own information ) but to discover them to themselves and to others ; and this , both as to their strength and their weakness .

1. He tempts or tries them to discover them to themselves , to discover their weakness and their strength to themselves . And here two things in this dispensation , are implied and supposed ; That they are in part ignorant of themselves ; And that 't is of concernment and beneficial to them , to know themselves better , or to be better informed concerning their estate .

1. All men , even the best , the most knowing Persons , even such as study themselves , and commune with their own hearts most , are but in part acquainted with themselves . They may be much weaker than they think they are , and sometimes and some ways 't is possible they may be stronger . Hezekiah did not think there had been so much Pride and Vanity in his heart , as was discovered when God had left him to himself to try him ; no doubt he did not apprehend himself so weak as that trial discovered him to be . And on the other side , 't is not improbable but that Abraham found himself stronger : It was not easy for him to believe that he had that measure of Spiritual strength which he had , unless God by that great and strange trial had given him proof of it , and discovered it to him .

2. 't is of great concernment to men to know themselves better .

1. To know their own weakness .

( 1. ) That they may be more humble , and think more soberly of themselves , not over-valuing themselves , or rating themselves above what they are , as did the Church of Laodicea , that thought she was rich , Rev. 3.17 . and increased with goods , and that she had need of nothing ; and knew not that she was wretched , and miserable , and poor , and blind , and naked .

( 2. ) That they may have less confidence in themselves , and in their own supposed strength , and rely more entirely on God , and live more dependently on him . This benefit , no doubt , Peter had by the discovery of his weakness to him , when carnal fear so far prevailed with him , that he denied his Master ; before , out of the abundance of his self-confidence he durst affirm , That if all men should deny Christ , yet would not he We may be assured that ever after that his sad experience of his weakness , discovered by his shameful fall , he was less confident of his strength , and more careful to place his confidence in God .

( 3. ) That they may be more watchful over themselves , and more heedful to avoid all Temptations . 't is a man's want of better acquaintance , with his weakness , that makes him bold to venture upon Temptations .

( 4. ) In short , That they may be more diligent in the use of all good means , whereby they may be preserved from falling into sin .

( 5. ) That they may be more tender and compassionate towards others that have fallen .

( 6. ) That having had such experience of their weakness when God leaves them , they may give him the Glory of their strength at other times . Did God never leave them to themselves , and let them have experience of their weakness , they would think they stood by their own strength , and that they needed not his supporting hand to uphold them .

All these benefits and advantages accrue to them from the knowledge of their defects , and their acquaintance with their weakness .

2. 't is also beneficial to them to know their own strength several ways .

( 1. ) It furthers their thankfulness to God for that strength which he hath bestowed on them . Unless they know what they have received , How can they be thankful for it ?

( 2. ) It relieves them against those fears , misgivings of heart , and discouragements which they are subject unto , from the contemplation of those sore trials and temptations which they may meet with before they dye . The experience of the strength which they have had in former trials , makes them less distrustful , less anxious and solicitous in reference to future evils , the prospect whereof is wont to disturb and fright them .

2. God tempts or tries men , to discover them to others also , both as to their weakness and their strength . And 't is beneficial to others , that their weakness should sometimes be discovered to others .

( 1. ) That they may not think too highly of them . This is our temper , when we have good thoughts of a man , we are apt to over-value him , and to give him too high a room in our hearts . To correct this error of our judgment , and excess of our affections , God oftentimes in great wisdom tries such a Person some way or other , and so far leaves him to himself , as that his weakness is discovered . This discovery of his weakness abates that excess of esteem and value that others had for him , and brings it down to a just moderation .

( 2. ) The discovery of a man's defects and weakness to others is of good use and great advantage to them , in that it gives them warning to look to themselves , lest they also be tempted , and in the time of trial discover the same infirmity which such a Person hath discovered , or greater . And this is one great reason why so many of the frailties and falls of God's Children are left upon record in Scripture , and transmitted to Posterity ; Their infirmities , and sometimes their fouler miscarriages are our admonitions and cautions . If many of those eminent Persons who seemed to be so strong , bewrayed such weakness in the hour of temptation , What other lesson may this teach us , but that of the Apostle , Let him that thinketh he standeth , 1 Cor . 10.12 . take heed lest he fall ? This is a clear and natural inference , which we are all concerned to make .

't is likewise very useful and advantageous that a man's strength should sometimes be discovered , and appear to others , as well as his weakness . And this

( 1. ) To preserve and keep up in their hearts that just esteem of him which is due to him , and which cannot without injury be denied him .

( 2. ) To give them an occasion of acknowledging the Goodness of God to him , and of Blessing him for what he hath wrought in him , and bestowed upon him .

( 3. ) To humble them in reflection upon themselves , and in consideration of their own great weakness in comparison of that strength which they observe in another .

( 4 ) To provoke them to an holy emulation , and a more zealous endeavour after that strength which they see another hath attained , but come far short of themselves .

Thus I have shewed for what ends God Tempts men ; which was the second thing to be spoken to .

3dly . As touching the difference between God's tempting men , and Satan's tempting them ; this may easily be gathered from what hath been spoken . They widely differ in respect both of the manner and the end .

1. They differ in the manner . For God never Tempts men by impelling , persuading , or enticing them to Evil , but only by proposing such things to them , and laying such things before them as their corruption abuseth , and from whence they take occasion of sinning . But Satan directly impels , persuades , and enticeth to sin ; so that he is most properly the Author of it : Not indeed the sole Author of it , but the Author of it together with the Actors ; and sometimes as the Circumstances of sin are , he is more the Author of it than the Actors themselves .

2. They also differ as much in respect of the end . For God in Tempting men after that manner as he doth , hath most Wise , Just , Holy , and Gracious ends ; he therein designs his own Glory , the Benefit of those who are Tempted , and of others , as hath been shewed . But Satan , as he Tempts in a far other manner than God doth , so likewise to far different ends : In his Temptations he aims at the Dishonour of God , the Destruction of the Tempted , and the Ruin or Prejudice of others . This is so clear from the foregoing Discourse , that 't is needlefs to add any thing by way of further confirmation thereof . I go on therefore to the

4th . Thing propounded , which was to Answer some Objections against what hath been delivered concerning the manner of God's Tempting men . The Objections are taken from several passages of Scripture , which seem to ascribe more unto God in the evil Actions of men , than what hath been now declared concerning that matter .

Obj. 1. We read in the Holy Scriptures of God's stirring up men , of his moving them , and inclining them to Evil , and turning their hearts that way . It was wickedly done of Hadad and Rezon , that they made such opposition against Solomon , and created such trouble to him and his People ; and yet 't is said , that the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon , Hadad the Edomite , 1 Kings 11.14 . And that God stirred him up another adversary , Rezon the Son of Eliadah , v. 23. of the same Chapter . In like manner we also read in the 1 Chron . 5.26 . that the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria , and the spirit of Tiglah Pilneser king of Assyria , who carried them away captives . And yet these Assyrian Kings sinned greatly in so doing . So again in 2 Chron . 21.16 . 't is said that the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines , and of the Arabians . And thus we read Psal . 105.25 . that God turned the heart of the Egyptians , to hate his people , and to deal subtilly with his servants . So it was David's sin to Number the People , for which he and they were severely dealt with , and yet 't is said that the Lord moved David thereunto , 2 Sam . 24.1 . Lastly , David prayed Psal . 119.36 . Incline my heart unto thy testimonies , and not to covetousness . And Psal . 141.4 . Incline not my heart to any evil thing , to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity . In which places David's praying that God would not incline his heart to Covetousness , or to any evil thing , may seem to imply that God may , and sometimes doth incline mens hearts to evil .