[2.] Promises of victory ; there are many in scripture : Gen. iii. 15, ' The seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head.' It is not only true of Christ, but of his seed ; they shall prevail at length and conquer, together with Christ : so Mat. xvi. 18, ' Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' In the gates was their munition and defence, and there they sat in council and judicature ; so that the expression intimateth that all the power and policy of hell shall not prevail against the church of God, nor any member thereof, to destroy utterly the work of God's grace in their hearts ; so 1 John v. 18, ' He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not ; ' that is, iactu quali- tativo, as Cajetan speaks, with a deadly, mortal touch ; and James iv. 7, ' Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.' Though he oometh ramping and roaring, and seeking to devour us, yet if we seriously resist, Satan will depart ; whereas, the more we yield, he tyranniseth the more, Mat. xii. 44. These and many other promises there are made, to assure us that if we will but stand to it, Satan shall not prevail.
[3.] Of reward upon victory : Rev. ii. 10, ' Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life , ' that is, a garland of immortality, if we will be faithful, seriously own God's cause, and make a stout and peremptory resistance, without thinkmg of flying from him, or yielding to him in the least. So in many other places — ' He that overcometh, shall not be hurt of the second death,' Rev. ii, 11 ; and Rev. iii. 21, ' To him that overcometh I will grant to sit with me upon my throne, as I also overcame, and am sat down with my Father upon his throne.' Stay but a while, and there will a time of triumph come, and you shall be able to say, 2 Tim. iv. 8, ' Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judg^e shall
110 THE LIFE OF FAITH.
giv^e me at that day.' He that is now a soldier, shall then be a con- queror, and the danger of the battle will increase the joy of victory. Travellers, when they come into their inn, can sweetly remember the troubles and dangers of the road.
III. What are the acts of faith about these temptations ?
1. To cause us to renounce our own strength, and to look up to the Lord for help : 2 Chron. xx. 12, ' We have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are unto thee ; ' it is a good address in spiritual cases as well as temporal. There must be a renouncing of our own strength before we can expect help from the Lord ; for ' God giveth grace to the humble,' James iv. 6. And you shall see in the next verse, it is that whereby we resist, not only natural corruption, but the devil's temptations : ver. 7, ' Submit yourselves therefore unto God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.' Here he explains who are the humble, they ' that sub- mit themselves to God.' It is not to be understood morally of those that are of a lowly carriage towards men, but spiritually of those that in the brokenness of their hearts do acknowledge their own nothing- ness and weakness. God withholdeth and withdraweth his influences when we do not acknowledge the daily and hourly necessity of grace, when we do not desire it with such earnestness, nor receive it with such j#yfulness as we were wont. In the Lord's prayer, the word o-tjfxepov, daily, though it be only mentioned in the fourth petition, yet it con- cerneth all the rest, especially the two following petitions, ' daily bread,' and ' daily pardon,' and ' daily strength' against temptations, they are all alike necessary : Ps. xvi. 8, ' I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved ; ' we must set God before us in point of reverence, and in point of dependence. As a glass without a bottom falleth to the ground, and is broken as soon as it is set out of hand ; so doth a sensible christian apprehend himself to be in such a condition out of God's hand that he falleth, and is broken to pieces. If the new creature could live of itself, God would seldom hear from us ; therefore every day we must come for new sup- plies.
2. To keep us from discouragement and fainting under temptations. Wherefore have we armour, but to use it when we are called to fight ? For what use serveth Jesus Christ, but ' to destroy the works of the devil ' ? 1 John iii. 8. He came into the world to grapple with our enemy, that by the fall had gotten an hand and power over us. If he hath conquered the devil, and that for our sakes, why should we be afraid ? Satan cannot tempt us one jot further than the Lord will per- mit him ; his malice is limited and restrained. If you be in Satan's hands, Satan is in God's hands ; he could not enter into the herd of swine without leave, Mark v, 12 ; and will God suffer him to worry and destroy the sheep of his flock without any regard or pity ? God gave him U commission to afflict Job, chaps, i. and ii. Hath he not engaged his faithfulness, that we shall not be tempted more than we are able to bear? 2 Cor. x. 13 , he will give strength. If he let him loose upon you, look upon Jesus Christ, with all his merits, value, virtue, and power. Is he not able to defend thee ? It is true in gen- eral, Christ as mediator hath done nothing apart, wherein all his mem-