n Gen. iii. 24. ° Heb. i. 14. p Luke xvi. 22.
<J Lukexxii. 53. "■ Gen. iii. 15. = Heb. ii. 14.
t Col.ii. 15. " Eph. iv. 8. ^ John xvi. 11.
to the regions of the damned, to see what misery he has entailed on millions of immortal souls, and will entail on us also, if the Saviour make not his victories available for us. Surely in the contemplation of these things we cannot but feel thankful to our blessed Lord for having thus undertaken our cause, and by his victorious conflicts obtained for us a restoration to our for- feited inheritance.]
2. A pledge of what he will effect in us —
[There is a striking correspondence between the assaults which Satan made upon our Lord, and those which we also, each of us in our measure, have to contend with : for so saith the Scripture ; " In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren ^r" and " in all points he was tempted, even as we are^" In fact, the reason of his submitting to these trials was, that by means of them he might acquire a sympathy with us in our conflicts, and '* being touched with the feeling of our infirmities," attain both a disposition and ability to afford us the succour which we stand in need of ^ In our conflicts with the world, he bids us look to his victories over it as a pledge ofivkat he tvill vouchsafe to us : " In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the worlds" So, in like manner, he tells us that "the prince of this world is cast ouf^;" and that, provided only we "resist him, he shall flee from us" also^, and in due season "be bruised under our feet" for ever''.
Let us not then be discouraged at the thought that "we have to wrestle, not with flesh and blood only, but with prin- cipalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places'':" for there is armour provided for us, even the very same that Jesus himself made use of: from the Holy Scriptures we may take, as it were, " the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit^: and, fighting in the strength of the Lord Jesus, we shall be enabled to withstand all the powers of darkness, and stand victors over all''. Yes, we shall rise superior to them all, even as Jesus Christ himself did, and, as assessors with him in judgment, shall unite with him in pronouncing the sentence which shall doom them all to that lake of fire into which they have in vain laboured to plunge our souls '.
Are any of you then under circumstances of temptation to distrust, as persons forsaken by the Lord? Know that "your God will never leave you nor forsake you""." If the vision tarry ever so long, wait for it : for it shall surely come, and not
y Heb. ii. 17. ^ Heb. iv. 15. a Heb. ii. 18
^ John xvi. 33, c John xii.'Sl. <' Jam. iv. 7.
" Rom. xvi. 20. f Eph. vi. 12. ff Eph.vi. IG, 17.
1' Eph. vi. 13. i 1 Cor. vi. 3. k Heb. xiii. 5, fi.'