Rom. xvi. 20. The God of peace shall bruise Satan wider your
feet shortly.
IN order to get forward in our Christian course, we must unite a strenuous exertion of our own powers with an humble dependence on the Divine aid. We cannot work without God ; and God will not work without us : but if we look to him for assistance, and yet labour in a diligent and prudent way, he will suc- cour us with his almighty power, and " perfect that
which concerneth us." St. Paul, cautioning the Chris- tians at Rome against those who caused divisions and offences, exhorts them to cultivate that wisdom of the serpent and that harmlessness of the dove, which would serve to counteract their efforts : yet for their final success he directs their eyes to God, through whose co-operation alone they could maintain their integrity, and in whose strength they should eventually over- come. In discoursing on his words, we shall consider,
I. The promise which God has here given to the Church —
Satan is an active and powerful adversary to God's people —
[His exertions are directed against the Church at large, and against every individual member of it. Indefatigable are his exertions in causing dissensions and divisions among the various societies of Christians, embittering them one against another, or sowing discord among themselves. And though these feuds may be considered as arising from the turbulence and pride of men, yet must they also be referred to Satan as their original author ; since it is he who instigates the pro- fessors of religion, as well as others, to the commission of sina. Much of carnal contention prevailed in the Church of Corinth ; and that the Apostle repeatedly ascribes to Satan : he calls the authors of it " his ministers," and puts the members of that Church on their guard, " lest the serpent, who beguiled Eve through his subtlety, should corrupt them from the simplicity of Christ V He tells them how ready Satan was to take advantage of them in the matter of the incestuous manc; and in general, whatever evils occur in the Church, he traces them up to Satan's temptations as their proper source d. Nor is there any individual among the Lord's people, whom that wicked one does not endeavour to harass and destroy. It was he who stirred up David to number the people6 : it was he who influenced Peter to deny his Lord with oaths and curses f : and, who can tell to what straits he would have reduced the Apostle Paul by his buffetings, if that holy man had not obtained timely succour from his Lordg? Indeed, if he had the effrontery and the malice to assault even our Lord himself, and if he re- peatedly reduced even him to such a state as that he needed to
a This is intimated in the context. Compare ver. 17, 20.
b 2 Cor. xi. 3, 15. c 2 Cor. ii. 11. <* 1 Thess. iii. 5.
e 1 Chron. xxi. 1. f Luke xxii. 31. e 2 Cor. xii. 7 — 9.