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Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
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A60130
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A discourse of tempting Christ by John Shower.
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Shower, John, 1657-1715.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing S3662; ESTC R28141
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35,083
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122
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may be had Thus the Devil would have Christ to cast himself down from the Pinacle of the Temple when there was an easy way of going down safely by the Stairs and Steps We may expect God's Blessing upon our Diligence in the use of lawful Means but must not pretend to trust him with the neglect of what is in our Power to be done We must not look that Water should be fetched out of a Rock for us by Miracle when there is hope we may find a Spring if we will but dig for it or that we should be able to swim cross an Arm of the Sea when we may have a Vessel to transport us We must not look for Bread from Heaven as the Israelites had it if the Ground will bear Corn and we will not plough or sow It is to Tempt God to expect Recovery from Sickness without the use of Means when they may be had or Supplies of Poverty without Diligence to seek Relief or Deliverance in Danger if we sit still and will do nothing that is within our reach When our Lord was in the Wilderness and Provision could not be had for the Multitude that followed him he then made use of his Almighty Power to multiply a few Loaves and two or three little Fishes into sufficient Provisions for thousands But at other times when he was near a Town we find that he sent his Disciples to buy Food Joh. 4. To expect the End without using the Means that are within our Power is a Tempting of God BUT it is more common in Spiritual and Religious Matters than in Civil and Temporal Ones How many do hope for Divine Acceptance without fearing God and working Righteousness and that they shall die the Death of the Righteous tho they continue all their Days to be Workers of Iniquity 3. WHEN we repine and murmur at his Disposal of us and ours When we are dissatisfied with our State and Condition in the World when the Station he has put us in and the Provision he has made for us doth not content and please us tho it may be we have such Fruits of his Wisdom Care and Love as to these things that many of our Betters have not Herein did the Israelites sin in the Wilderness This Dissatisfaction occasioned all their Murmurings and Complaints upon the account whereof they are so often said to Tempt God and to provoke him 4. IT is a tempting of God as to his Providence when we venture upon Vnnecessary Avoidable Dangers and expect that God should interpose to preserve us He that will give his Angels charge to preserve us while we keep in his way hath not promised to bring us off in Safety when we expose our selves to Danger without his Warrant Thus our Lord replies to Satan that it is to Tempt God for any one to fall from the Pinacle of the Temple upon a false Assurance that the Angels would be at hand to prevent his Danger MANY have paid dear for their Presumption in this respect and too late bethought themselves Where was my Call What did I here What a rash Adventure did I make St. Paul would not have had the Centurion put to Sea in stormy Weather and it cost them the loss of all that they had but their Lives that they did not hearken to him so much was God displeased with such bold adventurous Enterprizes A wise Man feareth and departeth from evil saith Solomon but a Fool rageth and is confident Prov. 14.16 When David had rashly sent three of his Captains to fetch him Water from the Well of Bethlehem by the Gate with the extreme hazard of their Lives as soon as he reflects his Heart smote him and he would not drink it saying * 2 Sam. 23.17 Is not this the Blood of the Men that went in Jeopardy of their Lives God commanded the Leper should dwell alone without the Camp and that no clean Person should come near him because of the Contagion They who are in Health are not obliged to accompany with the Sick in infectious Diseases unless to give them necessary Succour in a Spiritual or Temporal Way and therein we may expect Divine Preservation IT is observable that when the Plague was great in Israel David would not go up to offer Sacrifice at Gibeon where was the Tabernacle of the Lord that Moses had made in the Wilderness and the Altar of Burnt-Offering because he was afraid of the Sword of the Angel of the Lord that is of the Pestilence 1 Chron. 21.30 And the Apostle Paul tho he desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ yet when his Life was sought after he fled away from his Enemies because he would not Tempt the Providence of God SECT X. It is a Tempting of Providence to use unlawful or suspected Means to accomplish our Desires or supply our Wants Fifthly IT is another Instance of Tempting God as to his Providence when we make use of unlawful or suspected Methods to accomplish that which we desire Many sick People by reason of Impatience under Pain from the Fear of Death or over-eager Desires of a speedy Recovery will venture to make use of such things in order to it as have no natural Virtue or Influence towards such an Effect As the pronouncing of such or such hard words to charm away the Disease the carrying such or such things about them using Talismanical Figures c. and many other such Methods whereof no tolerable Account can be given but that the Effect when there is any must proceed from a very ill Cause or what we have reason to suspect to be so I could mention Instances of sad Effects of using such Methods of Cure Among others there is one * By my Respected Friend Mr. J M Letters to a sick Friend 8º Letter 15. printed of a Gentlewoman having an Ague a Beggar gave her a Charm to hang about her Neck bid her not read it but when she was cured burn it The Minister of the Parish being a sober learned and pious Conformable Divine came casually to visit her She telling him the Medicine and the Cure which had attended it threw it into the Fire in his Presence but he catching it read it the words were Ague farewel till you and I meet in Hell Upon hearing of which she fell into her Ague again with greater Violence than ever and also into a deep Melancholy which occasion'd her to lay violent Hands on her self THE like may be said for Amulets and things used to preserve from Infection in a time of Pestilence or for Security of Mens Persons in a time of War or of Herbs and Plants to preserve from Witchcrafts and Power of Evil Spirits Such things I mean which can have no natural Efficacy to produce the desired Effect as Charms and Spells and Magical Arts and many insignificant Forms of Words with their several Modes and Manners of Pronunciation used to avert Evils from themselves or their Substance