Page:Sermons on the Lord's Prayer.djvu/96

 tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." "In the sense of the letter," says the Doctrine of the New Church, "temptations and other such things are attributed to God; whereas it is according to the internal sense that God tempts no one, but continually delivers from temptations, so far as is possible, or so far as deliverance does not cause evil,—and that he continually regards good, into which he leads those who are in temptations. It is the evil with man which causes temptation, and which also leads into temptation."

Let us now consider the origin and nature of temptations, and then the uses which they effect. But first, in order to get a clear view of the subject, it is necessary to define what is meant by "temptations."

Temptations may be divided into two classes, external and internal; or, as they might be termed, active and passive temptations. By external or active temptations, I mean inducements to sin presented from without. We all know what these are, for this is the ordinary sense in which the term, "temptation," is used. A temptation, in this sense, is anything which, seen or heard or felt, rouses man's lusts or passions, thus inviting and urging him to go astray; Such objects are all around us in the world: such invitations to sin present themselves on every side. In the present disordered state of mankind, the path of life, as we all know, is beset with dangers: inducements to sin are everywhere presented. There are temptations