The expecting act of faith must produce an endeavouring act to set tlie soul •on work, in the confidence of that succour it expects from God. When Jehoshaphat had prayed, and estahlished his faith on the good word of promise, then he takes tlie field, and marches out under this victorious banner against his enemies, 2 Chron. xx. Go, Christian, do as he did. "What David gave in counsel to his son Solomon, that give I to thee, 1 Chron. xxii. 16, 'Arise, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.' That faith which set thee on work for God, against thy sins as his enemies, will undoubtedly set God on work for thee against them as thine. The lepers in the gospel were cured, not sitting still, but walking : ' It came to pass, thatasthey went, they were cleansed,' Lukexvii. 14. They met their cure in an act of obedience to Christ's command. The promise saitli, 'Sin shall not have dominion over you;' the command bids, ' Mortify yoiu- earthly members :' go thou, and make a valiant attempt against thy lust, upon this word of command ; and in doing thy duty, thou shalt find the performance of the promise. The reason of so many fruitless complaints among Christians, concerning the power of their corruptions, is, that they endeavour without exercising faith on the promise, and such indeed go at their own peril, like those bold men. Numb. xiv. 40, who presumptuously went up the hill to fight the Canaanites, though Moses told them the Lord was not among them ; thus slighting the command of Moses, their leader, as if they needed not his help to the victory ; a clear resemblance of those who go in their own strength to resist their corruptions, and So fall before them ; or else they pretend to believe, their faith doth not set them on a vigorous endeavour. They use faith as an eye, but not as a hand ; they look for victory to drop from heaven upon their heads, but do not fight to obtain it. This is a mere fanciful faith. He that believes God for the event, believes him for the means also. If the patient dare trust the physician for his cure, he dare also follow his prescription in order to it : and, therefore. Christian, sitnot still, and say thy sins shall fall, but put thyself in array against them. God, who hath promised thee victory, calls thee to thy arms, and means to use thy own hands in the battle, if ever thou gettest it. ' Get thee up,' said the Lord to Joshua; 'wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?' Josh. vii. 10. God liked the prayer and moan he made very well ; but there was something else for him to do, besides praying and weeping, before the Amorites could be overcome ; and so there is for thee. Christian, with thy faith, besides praying and expecting thy lust down, and that is, searching narrowly into thy heart, whether there be not some neglect on thy part, as an Achan, for which thou art so worsted by sin, and fleest before the face of every temptation.
CHAPTER XVII.
OF THE SECOND SORT OF TEMPTATIONS, THAT ARE MORE AFFRIGHTING, AND HOW FAITH QUENCHETH THESE DARTS IN PARTICULAR TEMPTATIONS TO ATHEISM, WHICH IS OVERCOME, NOT BY REASON, BUT BY FAITH.
Having thus dispatched the first kind of fiery darts, temptations, which are enticing and alluring, we now proceed to the second kind, such as are of an affiighting nature, by which Satan would dismay the Christian ; and my task is still the same, to show the power of faith in quenching these fiery darts.
Section I. — Faith, and only faith, can quench the fiery darts of Satan's affrighting temptations. This sort of fiery darts is our enemy's reserve ; when the other proves unsuccessful, then he opens this quiver, and sends ashower of these aiTows to set the soul on flame, if not of sin, j'et of terror and horror. When he cannot carry a soul laughing to hell, throiigh the witchery of pleasing temptations, he will endeavour to make him go mourning to heaven, by affr-ighting him with the other. And truly, it is not the least support to a soul exercised with these, to consider, that they are a good sign, that Satan is hard put to it when these aiTows are upon his string. You know an enemy that keeps a castle will preserve it as long as he can hold it : but when he sees he must quit, he sets it on fire, to render it, if possible, useless to them that come after him. While the strong man can keep his house under his own power, he labours to keep it in peace ; he quenches those fire-balls of conviction that the Spirit is often shooting into the conscience : but when he perceives it is no longer tenable, the mutiny within increases, and there is a secret whisper in the soul of yielding unto Christ,
ABOVE ALL, TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH. 4g9