Mat. VI. 13.] the lord's prayer. 221
darts ; none defensive. We have not only the sword of the Spirit, which is an offensive weapon, but the shiekl of faith, that is a de- fensive piece of armour ; therefore your safety lieth in resisting.
Now, tliis resistance must be : —
(1.) Not faint and cold, but strong and vehement.
(2.) Thorough and total.
(3.) Constant and perpetual.
(1.) Not faint and cold. Some kind of resistance may be made by general and common grace. The light of nature will rise up in defiance of many sins, especially at first ; but this must be earnest and vehement ; it is against the enemies of your soul. Paul's lesist- auce was with serious dislikes and deep groans: Eom. vii. 15, 24, ' The evil that I hate ; ' and ' 0 w^retched man ! how shall 1 be de- livered ? ' In most cases, a detestation or peremptory denial is enough. When the devil tempts Christ to worship him : Mat. iv. 10, ' Get thee behind me, Satan.' In other cases, there must be serious tlis- putes and repulses. When Eve speaks faintly and coldly, the devil renews his assaults with more violence : Gen. iii. 1-3, ' Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden ? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden ; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' She speaks there warmly, and with too impatient a re- sentment of the restraint, and too cold in the commination and threatening. Therefore the devil works upon her, when he saw she amplifieth the restraint ; for she saith more indeed : ' We must neither eat nor touch it.' A faint denial is a kind of grant, and therefore your repulse to Satan must be vehement and strong. In many cases, slight Satan — answer with indignation ; as though a dog barks, yet the traveller goes by: Satan cannot endure contempt. At other times, argue for God strongly. Now, the great argument that quickens you to this lively and vehement resistance is, to consider thy soul is in danger, and all thy eternal concernments. So some ex- pound that, Eph. vi. 12, ' We fight not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places ; ' in ' heavenly places ' it is in the original. No worldly concernments must go so near as that which concerns the eternal good and salvation of your souls. AVhat would the devil have from thee but thy soul and thy precious enjoy- ments, thy peace of conscience, communion with Gocl, thy hopes of eternal life? And when Satan comes, and bids nothing but worldly vanities, we should repel them with indignation. A merchant that hath a precious commodity, and a chapman bids him a base price, he puts up his wares with indignation, and wdll not so much as regard him or hear him ; so when the devil comes, and would cheat you of your precious enjoyments, you shoukl repel him with indignation, when there is such base and unworthy trifles to come in competition with your great hopes : as Christ, Mat. xvi. 26, ' What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? ' What ! shall I lose my soul, my hopes, and happiness and all for such paltry things, for a little temporal advant^igc?
222 AN EXPOSITION OF [MaT. VI. 13.
(2.) It must be a thorough and total resistance: when you yield, the devil encroacheth upon you. We are bid, in the Canticles, to ' take the little foxes/ to dash Babylon's brats in pieces : we should not yield to Satan a little. The devil at first cannot hope to prevail for greater things, therefore he seems more modest in his temptations ; ay, but lesser sticks set the greater on fire : when ye entertain lesser temptations, this kindles in your souls, and it is easily blown up into a great flame in your conscience. At first, when the devil came to our first parents, ' Hath God said ? ' and then, ' You shall not surely die.' ' Hath God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the garden ? ' The first temptation was more modest. The approaches of Satan to the soul are gradual — he asks but a little ; ay, but it is a great matter if we grant it. Consider, the evil of temptation is better kept out than got out. The stone on the top of the hill, wdien it begins to roll downward, it is a hard thing to stay it ; we cannot say how far it will go. Saith the deceived heart, I will yield but little, and never yield again. The devil will carry thee further and further, until he hath left no tenderness in thy conscience. As many that thought to venture but a shilling or two, yet, by the secret witchery of gaming, they play away their estate, clothes and all ; so many that think they will sin but little at first, at last sin away all principles of conscience and pro- fession of godliness.