66 revelations in the unseen world had made him a partaker in those things which the angels desire to look into." His knowledge, it seems, was to be gathered from tokens and intimations given to mankind; as, the vision and song of the heavenly host at His birth, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, with the Father's voice at Jordan. And here he came to put all this to the test, and to elicit something more. He came seeking a sign; and that sign, first of all, was a miracle, to be wrought by Christ upon the stones of the wilderness, to stay His hunger. But He who had compassion on the faintness of the multitude would not regard Himself. They had been with Him only three days, and He had fasted forty; but He would not outrun His Father's time, or change His Father's way. He knew, it would seem, that in the end of His temptation, when He had borne it all, and accomplished the mysterious conflict, there should come ministering angels to His succor. But my object is not so much to enter upon the detail of this temptation, and to explain its circumstances, as to use it for our own instruction. It may be taken as a sample of a class of temptations to which some of us are especially liable. In our Lord's hunger we may see a type of the straits and necessities into which we sometimes fall in our worldly condition; and in the temptation of Satan an example of the unlawful and indirect ways in which men are tempted to escape from them. In one word, it may be taken as a sample of the temptations which beset those who have the part of Martha, who live in the world, charged with its temporal duties and cares, who have to provide for their own living, and for the support of others who belong to them. Our Lord's conduct is an example of trust in the providential care of God, and of the duty of abstaining from all unsanc tioned ways of providing for ourselves. We will go on to consider this subject somewhat more fully. 1. And first of all, this shows us the sin of seeking our livelihood in any unlawful ways. This is a subject on which the consciences of men are sometimes strangely blind. The pressure of want, the encumbrances and difficulties of an embarrassed fortune, the needs of others that depend on them, are very strong and urgent reasons for great and laborious efforts to obtain a maintenance in the world. And these are often much increased in the case of those who are, or have been, richer, whose birth lifts them above the lower kinds of employment and of temptation, and over whom the habits and expectations of society cast a powerful influence. What is more strongly felt and declared than that-" A man must live: I cannot afford to throw away any means of subsistence, or any office of emolument. If I could do so in my own person, I cannot for the sake of others. If I had nobody to think of but myself, I might withdraw from this, or abandon that, employment. Besides, the Bible tells us, 'If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.'* It is not more a duty of reason than of religion." Let it be observed, I am not speaking of acts of direct robbery, stealing, fraud, peculation, nor of the ruder or more naked forms of dishonesty by which needy men are often tempted to seek their living in unlawful ways; nor of gambling and living by chance, and the like:—all these are self-evidently wicked; but of a finer class of temptations. Sometimes men of a high-toned profession in life allow themselves to participate in trades, speculations, undertakings, which are perhaps connived at by those who * 1 Tim. v. 8. execute the laws of the land, though they are forbidden by the laws themselves; or they consciously suffer profits to be made over to them which they know are not their due. They let others make mistakes against themselves without setting them right; they leave them under false impressions of the value of things which pass between them by way of sale; they let mistaken notions, arising from their own words, remain uncorrected: or by acts they imply, in matters of business, what they would not say. They are willing to be parties, if it so happen, to unequal bargains; or they are not considerate of the quality of those they treat with, or of their ability to protect themselves; or they conceal knowledge which would change the whole intention of those they deal with, while they themselves act upon it. Many of these things have no distinct names. They are practised-I will not say, permitted-in commerce and trade by a sort of lax interpretation of duty; and though not pronounced to be fair, are nevertheless treated as if they were the necessary fortunes of offensive and defensive warfare, which the buyers and sellers, and merchants, and money-changers, and traffickers of this world are compelled to carry on and to submit to. The market, and the exchange, and the receipt of custom, are perilous places having an atmosphere of their own; and in it things are strangely refracted precepts and obligations are often seen edgeways, or sideways, or inverted altogether. Or, again, the finer forms of integrity are dimly seen, and treated as visionary, unpractical, inapplicable to the affairs of the world; and a peculiar sort of character is formed, which is long-sighted, far-reaching, ready, sharp, dexterous, driving, successful. All things seem to turn in their direction ; and they are prepared for every fluctuation, reaction, and change. Now it is very seldom that such men persevere in strict integrity. The temptations to make great gains by slight equivocations, and the manifold and complex nature of the transactions they are engaged in, give so many facilities for turning things unduly to their own advantage, that many fall. The same may be said, also, of those who obtain the means of life by compromises of opinion and of principle, by slight suppressions of conscience, and tampering with their own sincerity. All these are so many forms of commanding stones to be made bread. They are a withdrawal of trust in the providence of God, who never forsakes those who look simply to Him, and persevere in their own pure intention of heart, in spite of golden opportunities and alluring offers of gain. We read in the book of Proverbs, "He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent."* And why, but because a precipitate following of wealth makes men bold, speculating, unscrupulous? They are not nice in their measures if there seems a chance of success. They follow up their points with an urgency that leaves them too little time to scrutinize the means: indeed, the means seem to force themselves upon their hands. Many a great fortune will bear little scrutiny or retrospect. It must be looked at only on the outside, and under the fair aspect of its present appearance. But we may dismiss these examples, hoping that they, though too often seen, are not of very frequent occurrence, and go on to a more common temptation. 2. We may learn, then, further, the sin of seeking our living in any way which implies mistrust of God's care for It is most certain that, in our lawful calling, we may be exposed to this temptation. We may be tempted not only to mistrust the providence of God, but also to endeavor us. * Prov. xxviii. 20. to secure ourselves, by our own foresight and management, against the surprises of want and the changes of worldly fortune. And this we may do, for instance, by hoarding. Now here is an acknowledged difficulty. Holy Scripture says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise;"* which seems to teach us that it is a duty to be both diligent and foresighted: to lay up for dark days and wintry seasons. So, indeed, it is; and all the more as we have others to care for. Yet it is plain that this must have its limit. Holy Scripture, while it sends us for wisdom to the ant, forbids greediness, warns us against love of riches, condemns covetousness. We read: "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows;" again: "No covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God; "I and our Lord teaches the same in the awful parable of the rich man, who said, "I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"§Ş Now that which is condemned in these passages is a hoarding spirit, which is excited and kept alive by a desire to secure ourselves against all contingencies of God's providence; as if men |