[2.] It must be a thorough resistance of all sin, ' take the little foxes,' dash ' Babylon's brats against the stones.' Lesser sticks set the great ones on fire. The devil cannot hope to prevail for great things presently. At first it is, ' Hath God said ? ' and then, ' Ye shall not
Mat. IV. 11.] Christ's temptation. 331
surely die.' The approaches of Satan to the soul are gradual, he asketh a little, it is no great matter. Consider the evil of a tempta- tion is better kept out than gotten out. Many think to stop after they have yielded a little ; but when the stone at the top of a hill begins to roll downward, it is hard to stay it, and you cannot say how far you shall go. ' I '11 yield but once,' saitli a deceived heart ; * I "11 yield but a little, and never yield again.' The devil will carry thee further and further, till he hath not left any tenderness in thy conscience. Some that thought to venture but a shilling, by the witchery of gaming have played away all ; so some have sinned away all principles of conscience.
[3.] It must not be for a while, but continued ; not only to stand out against the first assault, but a long siege. What Satan cannot gain by argument he seeketh to gain by importunity ; but ' resist him, stedfast in the faith,' as his instrument spake to Joseph, ' day by day,' Gen. sxxix. 10. Our thoughts by time are more reconciled to evil. Now we must keep up our zeal to the last. To yield at last is to lose the glory of the conflict. Therefore rate away the importunate suitor, as Christ doth.
2. Arguments to persuade it.
[1.] Because he cannot overcome you without your own consent. The wicked are ' taken captive by him at his will and pleasure,' 2 Tim. ii. 26, because they yield themselves to his temptations ; like the young man, Prov. vii. 22, ' He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, and as a fool to the correction of the stocks.' There is a consent, or, at least, there is not a powerful dissent. Satan's power lieth not in a constraining efficacy, but persuasive allurement.
[2.] The sweetness of victory will recompense the trouble of resist- ance. It is much more pleasing to deny a temptation than to yield to it ; the pleasure of sin is short-lived, but the pleasure of self-denial is eternal.
[3.] Grace, the more it is tried and exercised, the more it is evi- denced to be right and sincere : Rom. v. 3-5, ' Knowing that tribula- tion worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us.' It is a com- fortable thing to know that we are of the truth, and to be able to assure our hearts before God.
[4.] Grace is strengthened when it hath stood out against a trial ; as a tree shaken with fierce winds is more fruitful, its roots being loosened. Satan is a loser and you a gainer by temptations wherein you have approved your fidelity to God ; as a man holdeth a stick the faster when another seeketh to wrest it out of his hands.
[5.] The more we resist Satan, the greater will our reward be : 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8, ' I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.' The danger of the battle will increase the joy of the victory, as the dangers of the way make home the sweeter. There will a time come when he that is now a soldier will be a conqueror : Eom. xvi. 20, ' The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.'
332 Christ's temptation. [Ser. VII.
[6.] Where Satan gets possession, after he seemeth to be cast out, he returneth with the more violence, and tyranniseth the more : Mat. xii. 45, ' Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in, and dwell there ; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.'
[7.] The Lord's grace is promised to him that resisteth. Grod keepeth us from the evil one, but it is by our watchfulness and resistance ; his power maketh it effectual. We are to strive against sin and keep ourselves, and God keepeth us by making our keeping effectual.
3. What are the graces that enable us in this resistance ? I answer, the three fundamental graces, faith, hope, and love, so the spiritual armour is represented : 1 Thes. v. 8, ' But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation.'
[1.] A strong faith : 1 Pet. v. 9, ' Whom resist, stedfast in the faith.' This is, in the general, a sound belief of eternity, or a deep sense of the world to come : when we believe the gospel with an dissent so strong as constantly to adhere to the duties prescribed, and to venture all upon the hopes offered therein.