Samuel Pike and Samuel Hayward's Cases of Conscience - Case 13 "That our own hearts can tempt us to the worst of sins, even without the concurrence of the devil. There is nothing too bad, vile, or abominable, for our corrupt hearts to suggest to us. For our Savior tells us that "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, blasphemies," and the like, Mat 15.19. And the apostle James confirms this awful truth, by telling us that "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed," Jas 1.14-15. So there is great need to be attentive to, and watchful against, the first risings of our depraved nature. 2. That Satan may suggest evil thoughts to us, even without the concurrence of our own hearts. This was undoubtedly the case with our Lord Jesus Christ who, though perfectly free from sin, was tempted to the vilest iniquity in the wilderness, as recorded in Mat 4.3-10. And it was likewise with respect to our mother Eve, when Satan made his first attack upon her. And I have no doubt that this has been the case with many true believers. |
