Chapter VI
A motive to holiness, and to fght against sin, drawn from the consideration, that this holy war is a common engagement in. which all anyels and saints are confederates.
I shall now demonstrate that there is a common engagement of all believers against Satan in fighting against sin, and that they are to point and direct their opposition against him. My purpose is not to enlarge upon the warfare of a Christian, the subject of so many tongues and pens, but my scope is to whet and edge your spirits against sin, whenever you find your spirits tempted and lusts high, and to animate you unto an opposition to the devil.
I shall give you the story of this war against Satan, and shew how ancient and how long a continued and universal an engagement this is. 1. God in paradise proclaimed this war, and stated it there, so old is it ; it began there, and it was proclaimed there. I will not for the present go so high to say, that it began before between the Son of God and these evil angels in heaven, though some affirm it. This devil he affronted our great God in both his courts : his court in heaven, where angels are ; and his court on earth, paradise, which God himself built for Adam personally, as the seat of him who was made king of all the earth, and father of all men. The
devil, by tempting our first father and mother, was the cause of their first
sin, which was the original and fountain of all ours. Because thou hast done this (says God, Gen. iii. 14), and done it enviously, maliciously, and subtilly, knowing what would be the consequence of it to all mankind,
thou art therefore accursed. The man and woman were deceived, as birds by the fowler, but the devil was the deceiver, and therefore he is cursed above all. It is therefore the common quarrel of our nature, as we are men, to make war against him.
This engaged God himself. God laid it to heart on our behalf, and shall not we ? Yea, it drew in all the three persons, who appeared in making man, and said, Let us make man after our image, which this devil sought to deface. They are all answerably disgusted at this destroying of their image, and are resolved to renew it.
1. It was God the Father who dealt then personally with the devil, and who cursed him; for it was he that gave the law to Adam of not eating the forbidden fruit, as appears by this discourse, and it is the same person
CHAP. VI.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 205
that curseth Satan, and he it is that is that God of peace who treads him
* God of all grace that helps us
under, Eom. xvi. 20. And it is the same
against him, 1 Peter v. 9, 10.
2. God the Son was he that was to become the promised seed, and who was on purpose designed out by God to deal with him. It was he who was
instantly proclaimed the general upon the place of the affront, and the head
of this quarrel ; and so he was then professedly engaged, and that by his own consent standing by.
3. The Holy Ghost, though not mentioned, yet to be sure we may find him to be there, as he must needs be Satan s opposite hereupon. For the
devil spoiled that in man which is more properly his work (holiness being the work of the Holy Spirit) ; and their very titles ever hereafter shew
their opposition. Thus the one is called the Holy Spirit, and Satan is termed the unclean spirit in the Evangelists and in the Acts no less than
tvvo-and-tweiity times ; and so he is called too in the Old Testament, Zech. xiii. 2 ; and he and his angels are frequently called evil spirits both
in the Old and New Testament. And the opposition of these two is seen
in every saint s heart every day. These words also in Gen. iii. 15, I
will put enmity between her seed and thy seed, do involve the whole seed
of elect men as well as Christ, as I have shewn in another discourse.* Thus it is an universal engagement ; yea, and as you see God s heart was
so upon it, and his counsels and resolutions in this point so ripe and ready, as he stands not deliberating ; but upon the very place in paradise where
the mischief was done, and well nigh as soon as it was done, he proclaimed war. He stays not so long as till he had turned man out of paradise ; yea, and he professeth himself to be the beginner, contriver, and undertaker of
* enmity, &c. It is a war, then, of God s own making ; and properly his more than ours. Thus great and solemn
this war : I will put, says he,
it is, not a quarrel only against sin, but against the devil ; between thee and the serpent, that is, the devil.
As the war was thus early proclaimed, so you read how accordingly it was carried on from the first, that men began to multiply in the earth, even by the two first sons of men, sous of Adam, that were in the world ; the devil took the one, Cain, and God took the other, Abel. This early division and parting of the seed John takes notice of: 1 John iii. 10-12, In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil ; whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not
his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked
one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him ? Because his own works were evil, and his brother s righteous. As if he had said, This
different seed and quarrel, which in Gen. iii. was spoken of, caused arms
to be taken up presently. The devil, as he had set up, so he carried on
his design, and drew men after him from the beginning. He had a party for him from the first of the sons of Adam, Cain ; and God carried on this
quarrel in like manner against sin and the devil in the heart of the next
son, Abel. Sin was the interest that made the division ; for Cain killed him
* because his works were evil, and his brother s righteous, says the
text. And these two, Cain and Abel, led on all that followed under the whole Old Testament ; all under it fell the one way or the other. The
elect, then, as they had the promised seed in their eye, so withal they had
* Of. Christ the Mediator, Book v. chap. xvii. in Vol. III. of his works. [Vol. V.
of this edition. ED.]
266 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
Satan as their adversary in their eve, whom they should oppose ; for by their being instructed in the one part of the promise, they were also in the other. And hence the word Satan (or adversary) was the usual name both
anciently and frequently in the Old Testament given to the devil, even from Job s time: Job i. 6 and chap, ii., 1 Sam. xxix. 4, 1 Chron. xxi. 1, Ps.
cix. 6, and Zech. iii. 1. In the end, the general himself came down into the field, and he was manifest to destroy the works of the devil, yea, and he died in the quarrel
(I need not repeat what I have said at large about this*) ; and when he had by death destroyed him, he triumphed over him, and left it to you evirsfeiGQai (as Peter s word is) to accomplish the victory. So then unto that war, which against Satan and sin as his work was proclaimed by God
in paradise, Christ sounded the alarm, and upon his cross set up his royal standard thereon, appointed that the rendezvous to draw elect men to him when he was lift up, John xii. 32 ; and unto it and him hath been the
gathering of all the saints ever since. Know then that Christ, in redeem
r intended an obedience to his Father, and glory to him, and our salvation with it, but withal he aimed at the destruction of Satan ; he acted not only the part of a son that learned obedience, and of a saviour, but also of a warrior, an avenger and destroyer. Now, the saints are to
ing us, not onl}
fight in this quarrel out of the same interest Jesus Christ doth, and they ought to be spirited with his aims and ends ; and therefore, 1 Peter iv. 7, we are exhorted to arm ourselves with the same mind that was in Jesus Christ our general, and therefore to direct our opposition as Christ did. And whereas, Heb. ii. 14, he is said to have destroyed him that had the power of death, in the 10th verse he is set before us as the captain of our
salvation, apyriybv. No sooner was Christ gone to heaven, but unto his standard all the saints and brotherhood on earth, the church universal, have and do flock in all
ages, and enrol their names : We, says the apostle Paul, wrestle against
principalities, &c., Eph. vi. 12. We, he speaks it indefinitely in the name of all the saints ; and so Peter speaks too : Resist your adversary, says he, knowing that the same afflictions (that is, the same temptation from him)
* are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world ; that is, this is the common cause in which all saints are engaged, not one
excepted ; and is not this a great engagement, then ? That which is translated brethren is in the original brotherhood, a&Xponjr/, shew
ing that they are engaged, not only all and every saint, nor singly all and
every one, but as a joint body they all strive together as one man ; so then these are the two eminent parts of the communion of saints, namely, to love the saints and to resist this common enemy ; and the whole brother hood is engaged in both. And the same God that hath put in love into the brethren, hath put into all their hearts also an enmity against Satan in fighting against sin. The apostle adds, in the world ; and so speaks of all saints in all places, and in all times present and to come. The catholic church and the communion of saints are joined together in the
creed, and are of equal extent in this.
Your baptism is the sign and sacrament of this universal engagement, so the primitive Christians understood it. Hi sunt anyeli qidbus in lavacro
renuntiam.us.\ In the Common Prayer-book it is made sacramentnm militare, manfully to fight under Christ s banner against sin, the world, and the * In the Discourse of Christ the Mediator, in Vol. III. of his works, t Tertull. de habitu muliebri, c. 2.
ClIAP. VI.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 2G7
devil, and to continue Christ s faithful soldier ; and again particularly it is
interpreted to be a promise to forsake the devil and all his works ; and the
scripture is not averse to this very notion, if the whole coherence of the 6th
chapter of the Romans be observed. The apostle speaks of our being bap
tized into Christ, and our conformity to him professedly avowed in baptism,
ver. 3, 4, to the 12th; and what is his inference from thence ? ver. 12, 13, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, neither yield you your members, as arms, or weapons of unrighteousness, but yield yourselves unto God. So then through baptism, they were milites sacramento obsiricti
duel, in allusion to the Roman custom of being by an oath (which was
called sacmmentum) engaged to their general. And whereas he says, yield
yourselves unto God, add but that of James iv. 1, and it carries it to this
engagement against Satan I insist on ; for whereas the apostle (in Rom. vi.) had in military language expressed it thus, Let not sin reign, to obey it in
the lusts thereof, but yield your members as weapons to God, James
following the same metaphor (chap. iv. 1-8) thus speaks, Whereas lusts war in the members, yield yourselves to God, resist the devil. The devil
is the leader, lusts are but the common soldiers.
All men therefore must of necessity fall to one side or the other, either
be subject to God, and so resist the devil, or be subject to that evil spirit. He supposeth every man, when tempted, to be set in the midst between God and the devil, putting themselves under God s protection, or yielding themselves unto God ; they are engaged in a war as against their lusts, so
against the devil, and are thus to direct their opposition in fighting against
sin. Calvin* hath a good speech on those three passages of James, as they
* God gives grace
lie, whereof the first concerns our duty to men, humility:
to the humble. 2. Submit to God. 3. Resist the devil. He shews
(says he) whither or against whom we should direct our opposition ; for
whereas he had taught modesty and humility towards men, arid submission
towards God, he with the same breath sets Satan as our professed enemy, whom we should rise up against and resist, and give no quarter to him ; but whenever thou wouldst mortify a lust, in laying the knife to the throat
thereof, thrust it down even unto the devil s heart also, give that one blow, and all with the more violence as [ spiting him therein. Reach him in
thy intention and aim, for God warrants thee to do it in that blessed curse,
I will put enmity between thee and the serpent ; and Christ loves that
you should do it (for himself did so) for his sake, and in his quarrel. The last thing to be considered is, what force and efficacy this engage ment against Satan should have upon our hearts to make us holy, to resist
the devil, and to fight against sin, as it is Satan s interest ; which, if you
please, you may take and turn into the use of the former. We have lived
in times in which we have all felt, more or less, the power of a public engagement in our spirits, and have seen by experience of what efficacy it
is. Let me speak to you then in the language of the times you have run
through. W
hen, after thou first gavest up thy name to Christ, thou didst
oblige thyself in this so solemnly a stated and public war, yea, and further from that time, every one of you was then set as in a garrison, to keep his own soul, and to preserve it from lusts which fight against the soul ; so as
it is not to be looked at by thee only or singly, as thine own soul, and thine own salvation, but also as now made a castle and fortress of Jesus Christ
* Ostendit quorsum referre debemus nostram contentionem, ubi erga homines
modestiam, erga Deum submissionem docuit, Satanam proponit hostem, inquiens
surgere debenius. Calvin in Epist. Jacobi.
268 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
delivered up unto thee to be kept as with a garrison. This allusion is warranted by all these scriptures put together, Luke xi. 21, 22, and Peter s words, 1 Epist. i. 5, kept as with a garrison, and Paul s words, Philip,
iy. 7, to which may be added that of 1 John v. 18, He that is born of God keeps himself, that the evil one touch him not. So then thou hast in charge, as John speaks, to keep thyself that the evil one touch thee not, nor come within thee. Now think what a trust this is, not only of thine own soul, but of a garrison of Christ s, and what a wickedness must it be at any time to betray it, or to hold correspondency with the enemy ; yet so in every indulgence unto sin thou dost. And moreover, consider that though a transgression in time of peace is but a small matter, as to steal some trifle, or for a servant or apprentice to run away, yet to run away, yea, to step aside in time of war, is death. Adam s sinning at the first was a transgres sion of the law, but it was but as in time of peace ; yea, all thy sinning in unregeneracy, was but^as in a time of peace, in comparison to this now (when Satan kept his house, thy heart was in peace, says Christ, Luke xi. 21), but every sin now is against the law of arms ; it is a sending supplies to the enemy, or a letting in a foreign power into Christ s quarters and dominions.
But to urge more particularly the force of what hath been but even now discoursed, Peter s exhortation here, you see, is to resist the devil, which is done in resisting sin, and in doing that we must have our aim at Satan, and be moved the more with an opposition unto him ; and what spirit truly exalted would not the consideration of each of those particulars move and raise ? The next time then that thou art tempted to pride, uncleanness, envy, revenge, covetousness, or any other lust (in which the devil is always at the head), make use of these considerations to strengthen thy spirit against both them and him.
1. Is it nothing to thee to consider how ancient a war this is, and hath been, an old feud descended from hand to hand, till brought down to thee from paradise, and an old hatred though in a successive body, as a nation whets on to pursue the destruction of the enemy ? Ezek. xxv. 15. The devil as he is the old serpent, so he is the old enemy. As Solomon says, to sharpen friendship, Thy friend and thy father s friend forgot not ! So say I, to sharpen thy hatred against the devil, thy enemy and thy father s enemy forget thou not. Satan is thy enemy, thy first father s enemy, the empoisoner of our nature, the adversary of all the saints, remember this and resist him. Therefore, when the next temptaiion from him riseth, think with thyself, Shall I ever yield to such an enemy ?
2. All that is holy in heaven or earth are combined with thee in this
quarrel, thou art environed not only with a cloud of witnesses and spectators, but with a crowd of fellowengagers. All the three persons were drawn in, and espoused this thy quarrel; all the holy angels have fallen in, and, in respect of their opposition unto Satan it is that they are termed an heavenly host, the militia of heaven, Luke ii. 14 ; and their opposition to the devil is on our behalf, as appears from Kev. xii. 7. And as these engaged with thee are greedy and curious spectators and beholders of the issueof every temptation, and as I told you there was an invisible world you shall one day judge, so there is an invisible world that beholds you in all your actings with or for Satan. We are members of that other world, and in fighting against ^sin do carry on that general cause of that other world, striving to do God s will on earth as it is done in heaven. God hath made us a
spectacle to angels and to men herein, 1 Cor. iv. 9. When Christ had to
CHAP. VI.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 2G9
do with Satan in the wilderness and in the garden, he had angels both
times to view him and to guard him, and minister unto him. I have shewed in another discourse* how Christ had made the devil a public example before the world, Col. ii. ; and if the devil gets thee to sin, he makes thee a public shame before the same world.
* I charge thee, says. Paul to Timothy, before Jesus Christ and the elect angels, walk so and
so, 1 Tim. v. 21. And as the things of this life are made small matters in
comparison of those of the other world by the apostle, 1 Cor. vi., so thy sin,
as it is known amongst men (which is but man s day) is a small matter unto the blot thou hast in thy reputation before God and Christ, and the
angels in that other world. And God himself and Christ are the greatest
spectators of all : 2 Chron. xvi. 9, The eyes of the Lord run to and fro
through the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose
heart is perfect towards him : herein therefore thou hast done foolishly, said Hanani the seer unto Asa. Thou hast shamed thyself quite before
the great God ; you may behold this in the case of Job (and it is worth our
considering), how both God s heart wrought, and how the devil s, concern
ing Job. That conference between God and the devil about him is carried
so, that you see the heart of each how they are affected with this spectacle. You find God begins and boasteth of Job, as one he liked to talk of: Job
i. 8, Seest thou not my servant Job ? There is none like him on the earth,
fearing God and resisting evil ; which the devil could never fasten on him
or bring him to, as you may see by his conversation, Job xxxi. throughout. God boasts of him, as a general would do of some eminent worthy that was never yet foiled or taken captive, or as a master or tutor would boast of some eminent scholar ; and Oh how this pleased God at the very heart, as I may speak with reverence ! Well, when he had given Satan leave to bring
all these evils on him, and Satan came before God another time, chap. ii.
10, the thing God again spoke of was still concerning Job : ver. 3, And
the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job ? There is none like him in the earth, fearing God and eschewing evil, and still he
holds fast his integrity. And though thou hast moved me against him, yet
all thou hast done hath not moved him. Those words, and still he holds
fast his integrity, God let fall on purpose to vex and confound the devil, and to shew how much he gloried in it ; and the devil, as put to the foil in
it, puts it off upon want of some further and greater trial, in which God lets him use his skill. The result of both maketh this apparent, how much it confounds the devil, to think, I have tempted this man, and I cannot for my heart get him to yield ; and on the contrary, how much it rejoiceth God
to see Satan so often assault a man, and yet still to hold fast his integrity. God puts the emphasis there, as on the other side he observes with grief how often a man hath been foiled : This they have done these ten times,
says God, Num. xiv. 22. It mightily heightens the spirit of a soldier to
fight in the view of his general, that, as Paul says to Timothy he may
please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier, 2 Tim. ii. 4. True
stories have many instances, and romances imitate the truth herein, and
bring in great champions fighting in the sight of their lover, whose honour and service they have undertaken. Let us look to Jesus, the author,
* Blessed is he that endureth tempta tion ; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him, James i. 12. This Paul had in
finisher, and crowner of our faith.
* I have fought, says he, a good fight ; henceforth there is laid * In discourse of Christ the Mediator, B. v. in Vol. III. of his works.
his eye.
270 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
up for me a crown of righteousness, which God, the righteous judge, shall
give me at that day, 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. He eyed God (as they in their
Olympic concertations did the judges) to see how he stood with a crown and a shield. Ps. v. 12, Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous with favour, thou
shalt crown him about as with a shield; so in the original, God both
assisting as with a shield in the combat, and ready afterwards to crown him
that overcomes. Oh, whom would not the consideration of these things hearten to stand out against sin and Satan therein ! Oh, where are Jobs and Pauls to be found on earth, that hold fast their integrity
3. Consider how the general came down into the field, was tempted in all
things as you are, and at last died in this quarrel, to overcome on your behalf. Now the death of the general enrageth the soldiers, as was seen in
the battle where Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, lost his life, and they make their enemies lives go for it ; and by his death Christ hath begun to make thee free, and hath, as was said, betrusted thine own soul to thee, as
a castle for thee to defend. If a town or castle hath cost blood, the blood
of many soldiers to win it, and he to whom it is betrusted should yield it
up, how heinous would the action be ! So much blood as it cost the
gaining, so much will be reckoned to the betrayers of it. But hath it been
the life of ordinary soldiers, or your own conquests, that gained you liberty ? No ; it was the precious blood of Jesus Christ, which redeemed you from
your vain conversations ; and shalt thou now give it up to his utter enemy whom he came to destroy, and whom he by force threw out ? and wilt thou do this for a few good words, for husks, and such wretched allurements ?
4. Remember how it was told thee that thy Saviour perfectly triumphed for thee over this devil, as conquered in thy name and stead. Now this is
a great incentive. As the apostle reasons from his death against sin How
shall we, that are dead, live any longer therein ? so I from his triumph. Thou art more than a conqueror in him, and conquerors fight with other
spirits than other men, as those that know not how to be foiled. This
know, that it is thy duty by faith, and thou oughtest and art bound to
triumph in Christ, and to give thanks for the victory as already past. Paul
in the midst of the conflict falls a-thanking God : Rom. vii. 25, I thank my God, through Jesus Christ. And, 1 Cor. xv. 51, Thanks be to God, that giveth us the victory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now then, 1, if it were but barely betraying what Christ triumphed for, how dishonourable were it ! In so doing, look as Christ put the devil then
to open shame, thou puttest Christ to open shame before the devils : as Heb. vi., the apostle speaks, Thou makest what in thee lies, Christ s glory
ing void, which Paul professeth he would rather die than do. But it is more
especially so when thou thyself hast also given thanks for the victory through faith. View this in the glass of the times, if public thanks have been given for a victory, or the gaming of a stronghold, and a triumph made upon it, and the great guns let off ; for the same persons to yield up what themselves thus joined in triumph for, how dishonourable and hateful were it ! As thou art to shew forth Christ s death till he comes, so Christ s
triumph also, and so to act as a conqueror, as to be able to say, I have overcome that evil one. Nay, let me tell thee, in case thou yieldest to thy
lust, thou givest occasion to Satan to triumph ; and that not only against
thee, but against Christ also ; and so thou not only failest Christ, but
shamest him. Oh that ever Satan should with an easy suggestion win
that from Christ which he so triumphed for ! The reason why the devil and wicked men rage so in open scandal, and a saint s known falling, is,
CHAP. VI.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 271
because he remembers the shame Christ once put him to ; and now, thinks
he, I am revenged for it ; and so with the greatest joy he spreads and
multiplies the report of it, so infinitely doth he please himself with it. You
find in the Psalms how David still prays he might not be made a scorn to
his enemies, nor that they should triumph over him ; the same holds much more in respect of spiritual enemies.
Add unto this the further baseness of it in this respect, to yield to, and
to be overcome by, a routed enemy rallying again, by a stigmatized enemy
(for remember how Christ used him), by an enemy thrust through. If a known cheater should come to your shop, whose nose is slit, or ears cut
off, would it not be accounted the greatest folly to be gulled by such an one ?
Last of all, let it something move thee that we are to be his judges. You are to judge the fallen angels ; how will you be fit to do it if you sin with them ! How dishonourable is it for judges to be found to have cast
their lots with cut-purses and thieves ; or for judges to leave their seats
(now you sit with Christ in heavenly places, Eph. ii. 6), how unworthy and unbecoming is it !
I shall conclude with a few words of further direction and encouragement, drawn from what Peter says, 1 Peter v. 9, Whom resist.
1. From the word resist, consider that Satan, who tempts you, is an
adversary without you, the word avTifirqre doth import this. Peter speaks of them in whom Christ dwells, and bids us understand ourselves herein ; that when Satan tempteth any of us, he is but as one that stands without
us, and we are to withstand him as one that attempteth to come in upon us. Compare this 1 Peter v. 9 with Eph. vi. 13, Take unto you, says Paul, the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand,
avr/ffrJjva/, those principalities and powers spoken of, ver. 12. Not only the like word avr/trr^a/, withstand, imports this, but the other metaphor here also ; for it were in vain to exhort a man that had his enemy in his bosom to put armour on (which is a thing he is clothed with), to withstand him. It is the case indeed of every unregenerate man, to have the devil within him, who is therefore in the first place to be exhorted to turn from Satan to God, and to have Satan cast out of him ; but a godly man is
assaulted by Satan from without. That other exhortation also (Eph. iv. 27,
* Give not place to the devil ) argues him without us, seeking to come in, and to get room or place in our hearts. If you give way to a lust, he
enters in ; yea, it is made one eminent difference between a man uncon verted and converted, that Satan is within them whilst unregenerate. Hence Christ is said to have cast out of Mary Magdalene seven devils that were within her, dwelling as in their own house, Luke xii. 24. So in 1 John iv. 4, this difference is put between the world and godly men, that Christ is in one, Satan in the other :
* Stronger is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. He doth not only work in wicked men effectually, but he himself is in them ; yea, as Christ is said to be in us, and we in Christ mutually ; so of the world it is said, that the devil is in them, and that they are in the devil : 1 John v. 19, The whole world lieth in wickedness. The words in the original are, 6Xog sv r& Kovqgti xeTrai. He had said before, He that is born of God keepeth himself (that is, take his whole course), that the evil one 6 ffovqobg, toucheth him not ; which
evidently argues that Satan is not in him, but without him, much less is he
in Satan ; and then he adds these words, the whole world lieth, sv r&
vovyoti, in that evil one (as he had done in the former verse), that is, the
devil, the author of all wickedness. And John in this epistle had designed
272 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
out the devil by 6 ffwqgbs, that wicked one, chap. ii. 18, 14. Chap. iii. 12,
4 Cain was of that evil one. And this is a deeper phrase than to say they are under his power ; for it implies in its analogy, that as of their natural
life it is said, they live, move, and have their being in God, so of their
life as sinful, that they lie and move in Satan, and he is their element as
it were. They are all as young ones in his belly, and are quickened and nourished by that wickedness they take in from him, as the child is by the mother. But it is a great advantage to a believer that his enemy is with out him. A strong party may be kept out by a few that are in an house, and will stand to defend it ; and therefore give not place to the devil ; but
if he knocks, open not to him, for if he sets in his bill he will turn the master out. Yea, let me strengthen this yet further, that there is a stronger within us than is without us : 1 John iv. 4,
* Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them ; because greater is he, viz., Christ, that is in
you, than he that is in the world. And so it concerns Christ to help us to keep possession, more than it doth us, for we are his house, and he as a Son is to take care over his own house, Heb. iii. 6 ; and Christ s graces in us are the goods. Now it concerns the governor that hath a fort com mitted to him, and is in possession, most to defend it. It concerns him in point of honour, though the goods within be of little worth, to defend and maintain his own, especially whenas he hath already triumphed over the enemy. All our conflicts, therefore, are mainly to shew forth Christ s power the more in us. It is true, that against these ships that launch forth with Christ in them, the devil (who is the prince of the air) will be sure to
raise up storms ; but be of good comfort, Christ is in thee, though thou
art but a poor cock-boat, ready ever and anon to be overwhelmed, and Christ will never suffer himself to be cast away. Julius Caesar said to the mariner in a storm, Tecum fortunam Casaris veins ; but a greater than Cresar is in thoe. All those storms and waves are but to shew his power in rebuking them ; go to him and awaken him, and he will do it for thee.
2. Another encouragement is, that if thou standest stedfast and fixed in thine own will, he cannot hurt thee; this both words, resist and sted
fast, do imply. There can be no greater security given to combat with
any adversary than this, that he cannot wound thee unless thyself will. I
shall but add this illustration to it : when Christ was tempted by Satan, and he had had power to carry his body up to the top of a pinnacle of the temple, from whence a child with a push might have thrown him down with ease, yet the devil could not ; which is the more observable, in that he could hurry and bring his body to the very place (as he can us to an
object that shall tempt us and bring us into ticklish and tottering circum
stances), yet still throw him down he could not, he must have his own consent to that, and he could do nothing but persuade. Thus it is with
thy will, for Christ s temptations are the patterns of ours. Austin makes
this the wonder, that whereas the devil is a dog in chains, yet lo, how he doth prevail, when yet he can only bark and solicit, but hurt and bite none but him that is willing, and joins himself to him.* The like hath Bernard : Videtefretires qudm debilis est hostis, qui non vincit nisi volentem.
3. Be but stedfast in believing and thou art victorious. Have but an inward courage, let not thy heart fail thee, and thou conquerest. I have
* that thy faith fail not. Keep up thy heart but in
prayed, saith Christ,
confidence (so saith the apostle, Hold fast your confidence ), for faith
* Neminem potest mordere nisi eum qui se ei conjunxerit ; latrare potest, sollici-
tare potest, mordere omnino non potest nisi volentem.
CHAP. VI.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 273
supports it ; yea, it is but having an eye, a look unto Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, and unto God, the God of all grace, as the 10th verse points out. It is but to cry out to him for help in time of need
(as the word signifies, and as the apostle, Heb. iv. 16, directs us) ; it is but to see our own weakness, and to look out for a strength in the grace that is in God and in Jesus Christ, and we overcome. 2 Tim. ii. 1, Above all, take (says the apostle, Eph. vi. 16) the shield of faith, where with (alone) ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And the reason the apostle here puts the article, ev rq sr/org/, is not to note out religion in general, but the eminent use of that grace in this
victory. This is your victory, even your faith, 1 John v. 4. I enlarge not on this, only observe the easiness of such a victory, as an encourage ment to us ; as Christ says, Fear not, only believe, Luke viii. 50. I go on unto what is more directly propounded by Peter purposely for
encouragement, in those words, Knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. It ought to be a comfort and encouragement to us, that to be thus tempted is the common
lot of all the brotherhood universally in the world. They are all fellow-
sufferers with us in this kind, not from men only, but from Satan by sore and grievous temptations ; and this will afford unto us a double considera tion for encouragement against temptations.
1. That there are all sorts of temptations dispensed amongst them. If
they have not that which thou hast, they have some other ; yea, and every one hath that which shall be personally most grievous to him. There are
1 manifold temptations, as James and Peter says, and God exerciseth all with one or other ; and the more to lead thee through them, is the more to make thee perfect, for Christ was thus made perfect that he ran through all ; therefore be not discontented with thy lot. Yea, the apostle intimates that the same, the very same that befall any one, do befall some other in the world (which is a wide place, and hath many saints in it),
<ra aura ruv
vafyfLaruv, the same of sufferings ; that is, the same sort or kind of
sufferings that befall one befall some other ; they have all sorts amongst them. We have heard Job complaining, says Calvin, did ever the like
befall another ? (in his 3d, 4th, 5th chapters). But the apostle here on the contrary saith, that nothing doth befall us in this which we may not behold in some or other members of the church. In 1 Cor. x. 13, the
* There hath no temptation taken you, saith he, but what is common toman; but God is faithful, &c.
apostle comforts the Corinthians with this :
(1.) He speaks to them as believers, and as considered in the state of
grace, and as those that were under the protection of God and his promises. Why else doth he comfort them with this word, but God is faithful ? &c.
(2.) He speaks of temptations to sin ; yea, of their having been over come of sins, and great sins, idolatry, fornication, murmuring; and he had
laid before them great punishments for such sins : Let him that standeth, saith he, take heed lest he fall, namely, into sin for time to come. And then to comfort them for their having fallen, he adds, there is no tempta tion hath befallen you but what is common to man ; that is, to the saints of God as clothed with human infirmity, by reason of which a saint may fall into sin. Camero says, sins cannot be meant, because the promise is,
4 they shall be able to bear them ; now it is not a promise to the saints to be able to bear sins. But I answer, that promise imports two things. 1. That sins are sufferings to the saints, and the greatest. Why else doth he speak of bearing them, and speak of this as proper to a saint ?
VOL. VII. S
274 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
2. The promise is not that their spirits should bear them, that is, brook them, as being contented with them as sins, but that they should be able to submit to the providence of God under them, and not despair, as Calvin
saith ; and submission to God in point of sinnings, and bearing up one s heart not to despair, is the greatest patience. A second ground of encouragement is from this, that all the brotherhood s
being involved thus in temptations is part of the communion of saints. Consider how not all singly, but all jointly as one man, are engaged with you in the same strivings ; and so helping one another, ye strive together as one man, and
Multorum manibns grande levatur opus ; one is fighting in one place, another in another ; one against one lust, another against another ; and this should hearten all and every one. This
mightily encourageth soldiers that they fight together. Now thou hast the hearts of all the saints with thee ; yea, every one helps each other by their
prayers, by their victories ; yea, by virtue of this communion of saints, all the prayers thou puttest up for thyself are for the whole, and what thou
losest is lost to the whole party. How doth this move the Jesuits in their
undertakings everywhere in the world ! What thou winnest is won to the whole party ; every prayer thou puttest up for thyself is put up for the
whole, as Christ in that his form of prayer hath instructed us. And at the
latter day you will all rejoice together, and stories will be told who did most valiantly at such and such a time ; how thou wert stormed, and the
devil s mine sprung, which he had been a long while a-contriving, and how thou stoodest it out against all.