Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

Mr. Editor.

THE following observations are submitted to your consideration, in answer to the "Young Inquirer,” on that part of the Lord's prayer, "Lead us not into temptation."

It is, doubtless, the eaiest, as well as the safest and most judicious way, when any difficult passage occurs, to search out its agreement with the general tenor of the sacred word. This mode of investigation may enable us to obviate this seeming difficulty. The word “temptation," sometimes means any trial.* It is asserted that God tempted Abraham;† that is, he put his faith and sincerity to the test: it is explained in Heb. xi. 17. The more Abraham's affections were fixed upon his son Isaac, the more evidently would his sincerity towards God appear, in his readiness to offer him as a sacrifice. God still, by various means, proves the strength of faith and reality of love, in the souls of his people.‡

At other times, this word is to be taken in a bad sense, as when it refers to the devices of Satan. By his temptations he designs to deceive, seduce, and destroy. Thus he tempted our first parents to take of the forbidden fruit. His first effort was to persuade them that they had misunderstood the Divine sentence, or that God did not mean to execute his threatening; and that so far from sustaining any evil by a participation, it would be the mean of increasing their wisdom.

This is the process he still carries on with his temptations to misguide the judgment, seduce from the path of duty, and thus ruin immortal souls: and, through

* Revelation iii. 10. † Genesis xxii. 1. + Psalm xi. 5.

the depravity of the human heart, he is, alas! too successful.

It is impossible, however, that God should tempt men in this sense, for three reasons:

1. Because, By making Him the author of temptations, we make him the author of sin; and this would destroy the attribute of his holiness.

2. It would argue against his mercy, and would go to prove that he both delights in the death of sinners, and uses means to promote it.

3. It would plainly contradict Scripture, which gives us this caution: "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted of evil; neither tempteth he any man."*

The passage under consideration is thus paraphrased by the excellent Dr. Guyse: "We humbly intreat that thou wilt keep us out of the way of such trials as might prove too hard for us; or if at any time temptation lies before us, grant us help and victory over it." To the same purpose are Baxter and Doddridge.

Every situation exposes to dangers, some situations more than others; and the dangers are in proportion to the nature and strength of our easily-besetting sin: this therefore is an humble request to be guided as to the one, and kept from the other. Agar prayed in the same manner.† Sensible of the plague of his own heart, he dreaded poverty, lest he should murmur against the Lord, and be tempted of injustice; and, on the other hand, he did not wish great worldly prosperity, lest it should wean his heart from God, and he should think

* James i. 13,

Proverbs xxx. 7, 8, 9,

1

more of the gift than of the Giver. Thus I think the prayer is designed to teach us to be much with God, imploring him to fix us in such situations, and so to regulate all our concerns, as shall be least favorable to the evil propensities of a treacherous heart, and the machinations of a tempting devil.

T. P.

ON LOTTERIES.

Is it lawful for Christians to adventure in Lotteries? Is it a commendable practice? Is it what a Christian minister should countenance, or blame? Or should he leave it as a matter wholly indifferent?

I ASK, What is a lottery? It is, without doubt, a game of chance; and if it be lawful, we may inquire, What description of gaming is unlawful? But all gaming must be, I think, a breach of the Tenth Commandment, as we thereby covet what God, in his providence, has not given us, and which we cannot receive, but by the loss of our neighbor.* Besides, lotteries are a species of

*The Rev. Mr. Scott, in his Exposition of the Ten Commandments (see his Essays, No. iv.) says, on the last Commandment, "All gaming, public or private, is coveting our neighbor's goods, to increase our wealth by his loss; and is, therefore, a direct violation of the com mand:" to which he adds, in a note: "Not excepting lotteries, or even tontines: these latter constitute a kind of complicated wager about longevity, to be decided by Providence in favor of the survivors; and must, therefore, be equally culpable with other games of chance." To which we may add, that any use of a lot (which is an appeal to the decision of Providence) for the purpose of amusement or gain, or in any case without a serious desire that God would decide for us what we cannot otherwise decide, seems to be, and is generally by religious persons held to be, indefensible.

gaming, and even if a lottery were lawful in itself, the consequences thereof, are more than sufficient to determine that it is unlawful for a Christian to encourage it, in any way whatever;* for he is commanded to abstain from even the appearance of evil. But if any one should attempt to justify lotteries, while he will not allow cardplaying in his family (which also I deem unlawful) I should suppose, that he complied, in a restricted sense, with the Scripture just quoted, by abstaining only from the appearance (comparatively) while he embraced the substance of evil. But further, to determine, whether or not adventuring in lotteries be lawful, let us try it by another Scripture rule: "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin:" and on what ground or authority can we believe or trust in God, that he will give us, by those means, which, I presume, cannot be proved to be of his appointment, what he has seen fit to withhold by assuredly lawful means? Or can we ask his blessing in the adventure of property he has committed to us, and say, that our object is his glory? I am aware that many delude themselves with the excuse, that they only wish for a large prize, that they may do good with it; but allowing that we are sincere in wishing for an increase to our property, by means of a lottery, for the purpose of do-ing more good, yet, if the means are not lawful, we are

* From another answer to this Query by Aspasio, we select the following lines:--"The mischiet occasioned by the lottery is incalculable. If it were only a doubtful point, Christians should avoid it; but the lottery is a most pernicious thing! The money got by it is "the price of blood." Thousands have been ruined by it, and numberless suicides have been the consequence. Mr. Colquhoun, in his Police of the Metropolis, states, "That many of those who are now living on the plunder of society, were reduced to their miserable situation by this cause.

[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

not justified in adopting them: and how shall we be clear from the guilt of adventuring what we have lawfully attained, through God's providence, which, however little, if devoted to him faithfully, would be acceptable, in preference to thousands unlawfully gained? God wants not abundance of silver and gold. If he did, they are at his command; and as it respects us, "If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." The promises we make to ourselves, of devoting to the service of God, or our fellow-creatures, any large accumulation of wealth that may come by way of chance is, no doubt, a stratagem of Satan, to gloss over a covetous desire, which is the root of all evil; and it would be contrary to general experience, if those who adventure what is "but lent them," should, in the event of success, devote what they gain by such means; at least, we ought to see several strong cases corroborative thereof before we attend to the suggestion. But if we have the price of a ticket, or a proportion thereof to share, we know how it may be disposed of to beneficial purposes with some certainty; but if we hazard it in the lottery, there are many thousand chances against the large prizes; and generally two to one that we entirely lose what was entrusted to us for better purposes, and which can never be recovered: and to those who lose, it may be said that they have not done so well as those wicked servants who preserved the talent committed to them in a napkin, or hid it in the earth; but alas! they have hazarded, they have lost it.

If what has been here advanced is sufficient to negative the first question, the second must of course follow

« PoprzedniaDalej »