Chapter XVII
The victory which Christ obtains over the devil, in us, and by us. How fie not only redeems us, but delivers us from his dominion and power. That not only Christ in his own person should conquer the devil, and break his
power, but that ice should bear a part in it with him, is implied in that first promise in Gen. iii., that the seed of the woman should break the serpent s head. That in all the several parts of that power which Satan hath, and
acts in the world, believers, by the virtue and strength of Christ, are con
querors over him. That in the issue they conquer him as to that power which he hath to tempt them to sin. The several ages of Christians con
sidered from 1 John ii. 13, 14. That by Christ believers prevail against Satan as to the accusations of them, which he brings before God. That
Clirist, and the saints at last, defeat Satan s designs, and projects, and
, enterprises, as he is prince of this world.
I come now to the second part or degree of this victory, namely, Christ s
destroying and confounding him in us and by us.
1. In us. The devil had still all the elect of God then alive, among all the Gentiles, whom the apostle wrote to and converted, and most of them converted by the apostles in Judea also, fast under lock and key, shut up under sin and wrath, so as Christ must win every soul from him whom he meant to save. Therefore at the conversion of every soul converted (which is expressly a turning a man from Satan to God, a delivering out of the power of darkness, Acts xxvi. 18, and elsewhere), he then comes and begins to bind Satan, and to take his weapons from him, Luke xi. 21. He
speaks in relation to throwing Satan out of men s hearts, as well as out of their bodies. For so he applies it, ver. 23, 24 ; and then it is that Christ begins to execute what virtually he did on the cross, and what at
: he gave a specimen, a public show of that he had power to do. Now,
triumphing
308 OF CHEIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK V.
First, I observe from that place, that the devil, for all the bangs and blows he had at Christ s ascension, that he remains still in possession in men s hearts, and is at peace ; and possesseth an elect child of God his heart as his palace, and reckons all his powers and faculties to be his goods
and furniture, to use at pleasure.
Well, but Christ having virtually redeemed him on the cross, and spoiled Satan for him and on his behalf then, and triumphed over him in that per son s stead, and as representing him, comes now with a writ of execution for all his goods detained from him ; with a habeas animas, to possess himself of all, and actually to take Satan s power. And when Christ comes, he finds him armed (so ver. 21) still, for all he was spoiled on the cross, and as
* strong in us as ever. For what was then done was but spiritually, and in merito; but now he
* binds him (Mat. xii. 29) to his good behaviour ; that is, as in relation to his possessing of, and working in that man, so as
Satan is in a chain. Christ claps irons on him, that whereas Satan acted in him afore, as lord in his own house, and he was his jailor ; now himself
is become Christ s prisoner, bound hand and foot, so as he cannot stir or do
anything against us, but with his leave. Then Christ takes possession of
all his armoury ; so -TravoTX/ce is to be interpreted, ver. 22 (for ver. 21 he
is presented armed), so then all Satan s tempting, accusing power, and the
things by which he tempts and works, do all fall now into Christ s hands, as his spoils paid for afore ; and now Christ becomes actually possessed of them ; and as he is King and Lord (to allude to what Christ said from another more general occasion), takes to himself the power and reigns, Bev. xi. 30. Satan lies bound ; his power, rule, his wit, cunning, force, whatever, is at Christ s feet, to order as he shall give leave, and no other wise ; and he is to have commission from Christ ere he act or tempt.
I conceive thus of it, that as at first conversion, Phil. iii. 12, Christ is said to apprehend, or to take our persons actually, to accomplish in us all that he purchased for us (which made Paul desire to have the whole given him that Christ had apprehended him for, and received then for him of the
Father, by a renewed act of donation, the graces, gifts he shall ever bestow and give forth), so doth Christ now by a renewed act take possession of all Satan s power and weapons ; so as he cannot use a threatening, he cannot blow up a lust, but by Christ s consent and permission, not in the ordinary providential way only, but by special leave and license ; as the attachment of nobles, at least the execution, is by special commission from the prince, but all other persons are left to the ordinary course of the laws, which are to be put in execution by inferior magistrates as they see occasion. And
this actual possession of all Satan s power as a spoil is perfect also on Christ s part, as a king, to have it let forth at his dispose ; and is perfect in this sense, that Christ takes all, once for all, in our behalf, and to be let out but as shall be for our good ; and therefore conversion is called a
translating us out of the power of darkness into the kingdom of his Son.
"We come now under Christ s actual jurisdiction, who hath taken to himself the government of us. The difference the apostle holds forth, 2 Tim. ii.
25, 26, speaking of saving repentance, If peradventure God will give them
repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at
his will ; whereof the meaning is, that they may not be under Satan s juris
diction, as afore, at his will, but be so freed as to be able to recover themselves out of his snare.
And because even this first work is a renewed triumph of Christ s ove,
CHAP. XVII.j OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 309
Satan, therefore Paul says, 2 Cor. ii. 14, that by converting souls, Christ made him triumph ;
* Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to
triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us
in every place ; even as Christ himself had done upon the cross, in turning out Satan, in judging and casting out the prince of this world out of men s
hearts, by convincing men of sin, righteousness, and judgment, John xvi. 11. But now, though Christ hath taken possession of our persons, and hath thrown out of us Satan and his power ; yet so as still Christ lets him loose, and gives line to his tempting power, when, how long, and so far as Christ
himself pleaseth, or under such and such laws and rules as are in force in
that invisible world between Christ and him ; and on his audit days, when he conies afore God, he gives an account, of which you read, Job ii. 1,
* Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the Lord ; and Satan came also among them to present himself before
the Lord. For both good angels, as Zech. i. 10, 11, do at times come and give account of their walking to and fro the earth, as also bad, in that
of Job. Christ gives him a commission in such and such cases, and within
the compass of such and such rules, to have power to do so and so, and so
to tempt us and put us to it ; and he comes to give an account how he hath behaved himself in it. But yet this his binding Satan in conversion of us
to God, is an overcoming him in us, and now therein we are altogether
passive, even as in the working the habits and principles of regeneration
itself, we are said to be delivered, rescued, and the devil cast out for us (we throw him not out) by an eternal hand, by one stronger than he, who comes upon him.
There therefore remains a fourth thing, an overcoming by us as well as
in us, both which is coming on through the whole course of our lives.
Christ thinks it not enough to have overcome him in himself, as Col.
ii. 15, nor to overcome him in us thus at our first conversion, but he will overcome him by us, he will have our hand actively in it also, and cause us
to be more than conquerors in the end.
Now, then, that the glory of this victory on our part, through him that
loved us, may be made the more glorious, such are the dispensations of
our God, that though Christ hath taken into possession all his power, yet he lets forth a great and large portion of power still unto Satan, to be exer
cised by commission from himself. Satan is still left to range up and down (and in view as it were loose), to tempt, to afflict, and sorely shoot
at these poor souls, thus rescued out of his hands, and all to greaten the
victory that yet remains to be accomplished by us. Christ loves to have us
joined in it, so 2 Tim. ii. 26, that they may recover themselves out of
the snares of the devil; so 1 John v. 18, he that is born of God keeps
himself, that the evil one touch him not. And as we are said to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit, so to recover ourselves, and keep our
selves from Satan, in a great measure.
That we may the more clearly and distinctly take this into our thoughts, we are to consider that the first promise to mankind fallen was made for a
victory over Satan; Gen. iii. 15, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall break thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Here is a promise consisting of two parts
: a former part,
* I will put enmity between her seed and thy seed ; and a
* it shall break thy head, &c. Now there is a controversy who should be intended by the seed of the woman, and who that same it, that
latter part,
shall break, should be ? The papists, they take the woman for the virgin
810 OF CHEIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK V.
Mary, and limit it to her ; and the seed to be Christ only, her Son, and in
his own person singly considered, and exclusively of us ; and the victory spoken of, it shall break, to be only that of his in himself over the devil by himself alone. Calvin understands by the seed of the woman, the whole
spiritual race of believers collectively in all ages, as more directly intended, And Christ only as the eminentest of that seed, and by whom all the rest
obtain the victory, and so principally intended. Pareus halves it ; under
standing by the seed, in the former part of the promise, all believers of mankind ; but the it, or he, in the latter part, prophetically to point out and terminate on Christ alone, the great he or it that on our behalf encoun tered Satan (as David alone did Goliah) in a single duel, and brake his head. And it is urged that the Septuagint reads the it by dvrbg, he, and
that so it is in all the copies of that translation, and so the Chaldee para-
phrast, so Jerome, and others of the ancients. And also that the Greek
ffiregpa, seed, being of the neuter gender, yet the Septuagint have rendered it
he, avrbc, and not it, so making another difference. I altogether waive that
first of the papists, for the absurd glosses they make upon the words in honour of the virgin Mary ; and propound that both Christ in his person, and believers in their persons, as considered in and with him, are directly intended in both seed and it, as making up one and the same ; the one as the noun, the other as the pronoun answering thereunto.
1. Christ is intended as the captain or champion in this warfare and vic
tory. (So Heb. ii. ver. 10, Christ is styled, and that in reference to this
very victory over the devil, which follows, ver. 14.)
2. All believers, or the children, and his brethren (as in the same place they are called), are also here intended and comprehended, so making one seed he the captain, they the body of the army, that in their turns over come Satan also through him that loved them ! And unto this interpretation, all things seem to fall in to make it good, and nothing to hinder it.
1. The Holy Ghost hath (as it were purposely) chosen in the original tongue such a conjunction of words as might admit both senses.
(1.) The word y\\ stands indifferent to either, for it is noinen collectivum, that signifies a race or generation of many (as is known), and so is appli cable to the whole company or family of believers ; or it signifies a sole and
singular person, as Eve herself (the woman in the text) in the next chapter,
Gen. iv. 25, terming that one son of hers, Seth, her seed, useth that word
yiT, and so that also is applicable to^point at Christ, as a singular person,
singularly aimed at.
(2.) The pronoun also in the latter part of the promise, NliT, translated
in the impersonal it, may as well be translated he ; the original word will
comply with either.* And so as if you take ^HT, or seed, collectively, then
it in the impersonal doth fully answer thereunto, as the pronoun to it ; on
the other hand, if you understand JHf, or seed, personally of one singular man, then read he ; the Hebrew will bear both fruits, so as you may view the words in either of these postures, I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed, and it shall break thy head, &c., that is, Christ collectively taken, or together with the whole body of believers. He and they together shall crush thee, and thou shalt bruise his, or its heel ; or again you may read it thus,
* I will put enmity between thy seed, and the woman s seed,
(taking the woman s seed for that one single person Christ as alone con-
* NIPT; ipse vel ipsuin.
CHAP. XVII. J OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 311
sidered), and he shall break thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel, and
so the Septuagint and others alleged have translated it.
2. If we take the materials themselves in these two promises, or two parts of the promise, and the scope thereof, they will as readily comply with both
these senses ; and then both words and things will be found to conspire in
the testifying hereof.
That Christ personally is directly intended, and his own personal victory, appears from hence.
1. This was the first promise of the Messiah, who is said to be the Lamb
slain from the beginning of the world, that is, from the fall (as also John
viii. 44, from the beginning is taken), and this spoken as in relation to these words here, prophesying thou shalt bruise his heal. And this is also the fundamental promise upon which the faith of the whole church lived before
the flood, and after for two thousand years, till it was in Isaac and his seed renewed to Abraham in other terms, and therefore not to understand
Christ in his own person singly as in himself, and by himself overcoming Satan, to be directly intended, were to take away that great head of the church s faith for so many ages. For we read of no other propounded but this, and so have no warrant to think that there was any other promise extant.
2. And indeed the whole race of the elect of mankind could not, nor can not be supposed to overcome this so potent an enemy, they being so weak and impotent in themselves, and now also become in a great respect captive to him, and under his power. It was necessary therefore to the believing
thereof, that this Messiah or Christ, whom God had designed to be one of
that seed, as the head of them, as Satan was the head of his seed ; and who should be able (for and on their behalf) first to overcome him singly and personally himself, and so mortally break his head, as that then the
rest of his brethren might come to set their feet thereon, in the strength and virtue of him. It was necessary, I say, to the strengthening our
faith, that this our Christ should be presupposed, in the first and chief
place, to be here promised and prophesied of, and directly pointed
at, and not by consequence or implication only, or but as in the crowd among the whole seed. And can we otherwise think that God, in this
his first proclaiming of this great war and victory to be obtained by man
kind, should mention only, and set out in the field so, a company of the sons of men, utterly disarmed, and having each a deadly wound, and not propose (as the ground and foundation of the faith thereof) him the
Christ, the conqueror, in whom their whole strength lay ? Yea, could the
devil have feared the breaking of his head by any or all those (put them all
together), so unable even so much as to resist the least tentation of his, unless God should have aimed and set forth some one extraordinary, one of man
kind, that should be infinitely stronger than he ?
3. The seed promised is in a special and singular manner called the seed of the woman (man not mentioned), as a seed that should be brought forth not by the ordinary way of generation of both man and woman, and
so doth in the letter of it point more especially at Christ.
2. As Christ singly in himself, so withal the whole seed of believers, as
represented in him, and so representatively in him, are to be understood
in this promise, He shall break thy head. This assertion is made out
by parts.
(1.) That the whole seed of believers are intended in the former part of the promise,
* I will put enmity between her seed and thy seed.
(2.) That in the latter part of the promise, He shall break thy head,
812 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK Y.
Christ is set forth in his own person, so as including too, and representing, the whole seed.
It cannot be denied, but that the curse was intended for all the serpent s
seed, as mwhose head should be broken as well as the devil s ; for they, as
well as the devils, partake of the guilt that causeth this curse, namely, they do bruise the heel of Christ himself, or his saints, as well as Satan
doth. And the wicked Jews did it personally, and against himself, as Peter
chargeth them, whom ye slew, and hanged on a tree, Acts v. 30, as well
as the devil himself, that set them on to crucify him. Nor indeed could the
devil have done it without them ; and therefore these, and all else, are in tended as spoken unto in the curse, as well as Satan. And yet we see that
the devil is^ alone here both blamed and cursed ; the devil alone was present whilst this was pronouncing, and none of them but he ; and so it is carried
as if none were cursed but he ; how then can all his seed be included and
involved in this curse ? No way but representatively in him ; he alone
personally stood by, but yet as the father of them all, and representer and
personater of them ; and he alone is made the butt or mark the curse is
directed against, but withal it lights upon and is shot against the whole
generation of them, and was accordingly considered by God when he sent
forth this curse against both him and them. As in like manner when] God, in the 14th verse, cursed the serpent to creep on his belly, &c., he means
all the devils, his angels, with him, the whole kind of them, and perhaps as having their heads all in this conspiracy against man, as in their own
first fall ; though the great devil (who got the name of the old serpent by
it, Kev. xx.) did put it in execution.
Now then answerably on the other side, this our great he or avros, as John delights to style him again and again, 1 Johniii. 2, 3, 5, 6, the devil s
great antagonist, our champion, he personally and alone was to encounter
him, and fulfil this great promise of breaking his head ; yet considered as the representative of us his seed involved in him. And look how the curse reacheth both serpent and seed ; so the promise, as fulfilled by him, extendeth
to Christ and us, to Christ as our great David, that overcame this Goliah
for us at a single duel ; then to us as wrapt up in him, and personated by him therein. Seeing that the fates and facts of these two great antagonists, and their several adherents, are within the small compass of this one sen
tence, He shall break thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel, so inter
changeably set opposite one to the other, in a way (I say) of correspondent
opposition ; this rightly supposeth the law of parallel opposition to hold in
each, viz., as to this respect, which is the main, that as the devil is cursed with having his head broken, and bruising Christ s heel, and his seed included
as accursed therein, also in like manner, in promising Christ that he should break Satan s head, and have his heel withal bruised by him, it is intended
that his seed and fellows were represented in and with him. And that
seeing the one holds good on Satan s part to this sense mentioned, that the
other should on Christ s, as including the seed, especially seeing the Scrip tures elsewhere do confirm this truth, that Christ represented his seed in what was done for them.
For the ,proof of the first. As by the serpent s seed is meant the whole
race and generation of wicked men (for other seed the devil hath none) is
* They are
evident, and of them it is Christ, speaking to the Pharisees, says,
of their father the devil, John viii. 44 ; and the apostle John the same, 1 John
iii. 8 ; therefore by the law of opposition (and here is the highest and most
: I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed )
general opposition put
CHAP. XVII.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 313
the whole seed of the godly who were to come of that woman, the mother (upon that occasion called) of all living that is, that live by
faith, must be understood also. And this confirms it, that these that are
said to be the serpent s seed were all to be of mankind, and so to be in the
literal sense and a carnal respect the seed of the woman, as well as those
other, according to natural generation.
The word seed imports a race or generation of men, which is usual, and
also it is applied to some one person as well. Thus when Eve had Seth, that
one son, she calls him her seed, Gen. iv. 25. And accordingly the word y-)f,
seed, being a masculine in the Hebrew, the pronoun j^in, may be translated
by the impersonal it, as referring to seed, as it refers to seed, as signifying a whole race ; or he, as personally referring to Christ, who also was in an
especial manner the seed of the woman, and not of man, though the other
(as Seth) are so called, Gen. iv. 25.
Yet 2. This whole seed is intended, as first represented in that one per son Christ, who should by his own strength break the serpent s head for them all, which is clear to be by this parallel reason out of the text. For
in that latter promise, He shall break thy head, &c., there is no express mention made of the serpent s seed, or of their being broken, but it is
spoken to and of the serpent only in the letter, thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel ; and yet none will deny but that this part of the curse was
intended unto all the serpent s seed of wicked men, as well as to the serpent the devil. Even as it is true that they should bruise Christ s heel (as the wicked Jews did), as well as the devil himself, that set them on to crucify him, therefore they all must be intended as spoken unto in this curse, as
well as Satan, though he is alone named ; and how should this be ? But
that he, as the father and head of them then, stood by whilst it was pro nouncing, and was present, and he alone ; and though in appearance he
alone was cursed, and none else, to have his head broken, yet it is evident
that all his seed of wicked men were cursed at the same time in this curse
directed against him, for they all were to be broken and crushed as well as
he, and that for bruising Christ s heel as well as he did. And he, as the
father and representer of them, was made the butt of this curse, and there
fore was considered by God as the representer of the great devil who lay hid in that serpent. He is understood to have cursed with him all the whole company of angels that fell with him; and as perhaps having had
all their hands in this conspiracy against man, though the great devil only put it in execution. Answerably our great he (as John delights to call him
in this, 1 John iii. 2-6), the devil s special antagonist, our champion, is
personally designed as the conqueror of him, but we representatively con
* He shall break
sidered in him, whilst himself alone did it, in those words,
it ; and look, as the curse therein reacheth both serpent and seed, but the seed as represented now by him as their head and father of them, so the
promise therein extends likewise to both Christ and us : to Christ, as our David overcoming that great Goliah in a single duel ; to us as therein re
presented by him.
3. So as withal, thirdly, we in our persons are to have a victory over him through his strength, and not representatively only in his.
(1.) Because the victory belongs personally to all those to whom the damage or conflict doth. Now the hurt, the damage we have a personal share in, as well as Christ had. The devil and his seed, by reason of natural enmity put, do bruise our heel, and we find it personally to our
cost; therefore to them also extends that victory, It shall break thy head;
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the same whose heel is bruised are the breakers of his head. And to be sure we receive many wounds and bruisings from him and his, for we
feel and groan under them daily, and all the brotherhood in the world with us.
(2.)tThe enmity that puts the difference, and is the ground of the
quarrel, is not betwixt Christ only and the devil s seed, but the whole
generation of the just that came of the woman, as experience in all ages hath shewn.
But all this hitherto shews but what was done against Satan in himself, and by himself, and we are therein considered but secondarily and remotely, by way of representation only.
All which have taken up the foregoing part of this discourse hitherto at
large ; therefore,
(3.) That this seed shall in their succession and turns bear their parts, and have their share in an actual and personal way in breaking Satan s head, as the intendment also in this prophetic promise, comes next to be evinced.
1. The same of whom it is said, Satan shall bruise his heel ;
* the same
it is of whom it is there also said, He or It shall break thy head. So as look who are concerned and have a share in being bruised or wounded in the battle or conflict with Satan, the same here have ascribed to them a
proportionable interest in the victory, it being (besides the import that both are so conjoined here) a declared maxim by God, and that as to this very point, that
* if we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with him, Eom.
viii. 17, 2 Tim. ii. 12. Now all the whole seed or race have their share in their being bruised and wounded by Satan, and therefore also in that other ; the bruised are his breakers. We all find to this day, by virtue of this prophecy, the sad effects of his bruising our heel, as well as Christ did his, and so we too in conformity unto Christ, and therefore we may as well believe ourselves included in the promise itself made to these
bruisings.
2. The enmity in the former part, that is the cause of those mutual assailments of each other in the latter part, and the issue whereof is this
victory ; I say, that enmity that is the cause both of his bruising our heel, and then of the breaking of his head, is spoken of here as in common to
all the seed, as well as unto Christ personally on our behalf, and therefore the combat, and the issue of the war, the victory, are not to be restrained to Christ only, when the enmity, which is the cause of it, is not, but is commensurate and extended unto all.
3. This agrees with the general scope and intent of God s uttering this, made good and proved by the event, and that presently began between Abel and Cain, and hath continued ever since, which is that God here first set up his standard (whereof Christ was to be the standard-bearer under him) four hundred* years before Christ yet came in the flesh, and proclaims the war that was instantly to begin, and to be carried down throughout all ages, and
proclaims it in the language of an hereditary war, such as was to be be tween two houses or families of great and long continuance, to be between two seeds, and so from father unto son downwards, and the totwn genus, the whole kind and generation of each ; and therefore it is too narrow to restrain
it only to Christ the seed, though it is he that is the chieftain, and ofwhom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, and to whom the glory of
all is to be ascribed.
* Qu. thousand ? ED.
CHAP. XVII.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 315
4. But that which above all convinceth me is, that both in the New Testament we find it affirmed of the saints, that they in their persons are
the overcomers of Satan, as Christ hath overcome him in his own person. So 1 John ii. 13, You have overcome the evil one, and 1 John iv. 3, 4, You have overcome the world, and with it the prince of the world ; as the reason which follows evidently argues,
* For he who is in you, says he,
4 is stronger than he that is in the world. So then not Christ only in him
self for us, but he also, and he in us, is to overcome Satan and his together, the world and him that is in it, both serpent and seed. This victory also is set out in the New Testament in such expressions and
phrases as evidently doth allude to this very promise in Genesis, as the
accomplishment of it. Rom. xvi. 20, And God shall tread down Satan under your feet shortly. It is God indeed treads him down, and yet it is
their feet he is trodden under. Now as the curse of the devil in Genesis,
* It shall bruise thy head, is an allusion to the serpent s condition, who
going on the ground, and being not able to reach the head, yet whilst out
of enmity he will be nibbling at the heel, lie is liable to have his head crushed by the foot whose heel he thus assaults ; so to
* tread down Satan under our feet holds as great an affinity with that promise there. Also this being called the enemy, the old serpent, hath an undeniable reference to him
that was that serpent, who personated and clothed himself with that serpent, and therein first assaulted Eve, between whom and us the enmity is put. Yea and Christ himself is pleased to give forth to his apostles, and us in
them, our part and share in this victory over Satan, under the same expres sions and allusion to this promise, as then bequeathed to us together with
himself, Luke x. 19, when speaking of their subduing Satan, ver. 17, and
by their ministry throwing him down as lightning, ver. 18, he utters it in those words, ver. 19, Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy. So then this is Christ s
glory, and was the scope of that first promise, that as himself, so also we, should tread on the serpent s, the enemy s head; and so he came to have a second victory in us, as well as in himself, which as his sufferings in us are termed uorgo^ara, the aftersufferings of Christ, Col. i. 24, so this
overcoming by the saints is the after-victories of Christ. And this second
after-victory puts the devil in some respects to more shame and confusion than the first, when he was dressed so by Christ (as we use to speak) of which you heard ; for the weaker the victor is, the more glorious is the
conquest ; and the stronger the enemy is and the more equal to deal with, the more glorious is the conquest, and the greater is the shame of his
defeat. In Rev. xii. you have the devil described, and set forth with all
his royal titles heaped up one upon another, as nowhere else together is the like in Scripture ; ver. 9,
* The great dragon, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world ; such is his power,
subtilty, and jurisdiction. And upon what occasion is this great descrip tion of him given ? Tis after a conquest of him, a downfall :
* he prevailed not, ver. 8 ; he was cast out, ver. 9, and his angels with him, ver. 9 ; cast down, ver. 10 ; overcome, ver. 11. So then look, as in scorn and as a matter of triumph, a king when conquered shall be proclaimed with
all his titles, so is he. And to make all this the more glorious, he sets out a woman, and yet more unequal, a woman in travail, that cannot help her
self, much less resist an enemy ; ver. 1, 2, and unto her, that is, the church, is the victory ascribed in the song of triumph that is made upon it ; ver. 12, They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and they loved not their
316 OF CHKIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK Y.
lives unto death. This woman and this dragon are set together to shew the inequality of this match. This confounded the devil more, that they, that woman, should be said to overcome, than that Michael and all his
angels should be so. It was Abimelech s confusion and pride, Judges ix. 54, A woman cast a millstone on Abimelech s head, and all to brake his skull.
slay me, saith he, that men say not of me, a woman slew me. The woman began the war, Rev. xii., so that she hath the devil under her feet
at the end, cast down to the earth, as ver. 9 ; and so he hath the serpent s curse exquisitely accomplished on him,
* Upon thy belly shalt thougo, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life ; which analogically, as applied to Satan, notes out the most abject condition and extremity of captivation,
that as one fully conquered, he should be laid flat on the ground and trodden on, so as to lick the dust of it ; for so captivity, according to the manner of those countries, is expressed by their belly cleaving to the earth, and licking the dust, Ps. xliv. 24, 25, and Ps. Ixxii. 9. And therefore
though God had cursed Satan to hell afore, immediately upon his fall, 2 Peter ii. 4, He saved not the angels that fell, but cast them down to hell ; yet this after curse is a second hell, which therefore is said to torment him
* all his days, even for ever, that he falls also by the hand and under the foot of man, whom he so much envied and despised. And hereby is not God fully even with him ? Doth he not retaliate his sin upon him to the utmost of the curses ? The devil, though in the shape of a serpent, subtilely assaults and sets on the woman, as thinking he could easily deceive and overcome her, as he did, and by her the man. These two, you know, in the
type were Christ and his church, Eph. v. 31-33. Well, because thou hast done this, says God. He never goes about to convince him of his sin,
* The seed of the woman shall break thy head. The seed, i.e., both Christ the head and Christ the body ; Christ the man and Christ the woman ; Christ personal and Christ mystical, shall do it, as the Scripture calls the church the whole
(as he did the man and woman), but falls a cursing him,
seed, as you have heard.
And whereas he began with the woman, and so prevailed over the man ; on the contrary here, Christ the man deals with him first, spoils and
triumphs over him, and then he turns him ever to the woman to have a second bout with him. Come (sa}
rs he to the whole church), thou shalt set
thy feet, thy tender feet upon him too, and in my strength shalt crush him.
* tells it with a great deal of confidence, as having had it, he says, from those that knew it by experience, that if the naked foot of a woman chance to tread or touch a serpent s head, it dies instantly, which a far greater force will not effect. Thus the devil dies not, nor is fully and totally sub dued till she hath set her foot upon him also ; and it will be thought that however Christ s so hard tread may break his head, and his power more,
Rupertus
yet her tread breaks his heart, and it is no derogation from Christ s, for it is Christ in both. Nay, it is for confusion to that proud spirit, which is as bad as wrath, and therefore after his being judged to hell, he hath the curse of this annexed to it ; yea and for this end (among other) did Christ take up flesh and blood, that is, the weaknesses of man s nature, and not the nature of angels in their strength, that he might, in destroying the devil, therein add confusion to his conquest
: it is the reason insinuated, if not ex
pressly given, Heb. ii. 14. And upon the same reason, that the apostle would heighten our conflict with Satan to us (thereby to prepare and awaken
us), that we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and
* Lib. 3, de trinit. c. 20.
CHAP. XVII.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 317
powers ; by the same is the confusion of Satan rendered the greater, that
flesh and blood hath a strength given it to tread upon principalities and
* the strength of Christ
powers. But herein as Paul gives the account of it,
is perfected in weakness (it is proper as to conclude the point in hand
withal), for the apostle brings it in upon occasion of Satan s being sent to
buffet him ; A messenger of Satan, as some, or the angel Satan, as
others, was sent to buffet him, 2 Cor. xii. 7, 8.
If we would further know the particulars and the glories of these Christ s
victories over him, achieved by the saints, we must estimate them by that threefold power and advantage which Satan hath still left him over the saints.
1. In ruling the world, to bring afflictions on them.
2. In accusing them to God.
3. In tempting them to sin. And the saints have an answerable victory over all ; and these victories also obtained in a fair and rational way, by and according to equitable rules, and not by extraordinary force. So that in handling these three ensuing particulars, I must carry along three things through each particular.
1. Satan s power. 2. How the saints, or Christ by the saints, do defeat him.
3. How each of these defeats is done by rule, in a rational legal way. Which latter renders these victories on our parts more slow and tedious, but more glorious. You have a maxim, 2 Tim. ii. 5, that no man is crowned that doth not strive lawfully ; Christ himself did not overcome him by mere
force, but in an equitable way, as was shewn ; so nor do we.
1. Satan hath over us a tempting power unto the greatest sin ; you know he is called the tempter. I will begin with that ; Peter, that had been worried by him, cries out to all his fellows, 1 Peter v. 8,
* There is a roar
ing lion (look to yourselves), who always goes up and down seeking whom, of us believers, he may devour ; and his outcry is rfj afaXporriTi, to the whole brotherhood of saints in the world,
* Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. It is as if one should have given warning to a company of children (suppose those in Elisha s story) a bear, a lion is broke loose, hungry and roaring, seeking whom he may devour ; and who knows whom he may light on ? as elsewhere, Paul, Gal. vi. 1, Lest thou or thou be
tempted. For Paul knew that after he is cast out at conversion, as in the fore-mentioned Luke xi., he attempts to make re-entries. He not know
ing who are true believers, who are not, maketh the same assaults and stormings upon men savingly converted that he doth on temporaries ; which made Paul so jealous of all his converts, lest by some means the tempter should have tempted them, 1 Thess. iii. 5. In this work of tempta tion Satan is permitted to exercise abundance of power, more than in any of the former, unto astonishment of themselves and angels ; and they are so put to it, that indeed it may be asked, where is the blessedness you spake of? What is become of those great good tidings of perfect victory over him on the cross and ascension ? And the actual possession of all his power by Jesus Christ, and taken from him at our conversion ? The
apostle hath a very high expression, Eph. vi. 12, shewing how much the saints are put to it in this particular, And having done all to stand. He had said afore, We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers. It is true, indeed, God will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able to bear, yet suffers to the utmost what we are able to bear ; that is, he leaves us but to just so much grace as shall be sum-
318 OF CHEIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK V.
cient, 2 Cor. xii. 9. Many a righteous man is scarcely saved in this re
spect, his temptations are so strong, his jailors so many ; yet still I may
say what was said of Joseph, Christ s type and ours, I may say the same
of every Christian, The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him, Gen. xlix. 23. These arrow-masters (as Ainsworth reads
it), his brethren, his mistress, his master, they all put him unto great trials and temptations, and so do these arrow-masters, these forgers of those fiery darts and arrows (as in the same Eph. vi. 16 they are called), every Chris
tian. But Christ hath promised, as there he did of Joseph, ver. 25, But
his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands are made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. There is no victory but there is a
battle, no battle but there must be a permission to use wiles and utmost
force. We read of both in Satan, who is called the lion and the serpent. No man is crowned, unless he strive lawfully, 2 Tim. ii. 3, therefore Christ
will do so, the devil shall have fair play, yea, and sometimes do his worst ; and this makes the victory the more glorious, James i. 12, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation
: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him ; that
is, one who hath gone through them and overcome them, though with in
finite batterings and bruisings of spirit. Nor are temptations there to be
limited to outward afflictions, but to extend it unto trials for sin. For it
follows, ver. 13, 14, But let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man : but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and en
ticed. Now that the saints, after some years experience in Christianity, have usually some experience of their having overcome that evil one, and
that so as to be a pledge unto them of their full and final overcoming at
last (of which that in the Rev. ii. 7, 13, To him that overcometh I will
give the crown of life, is to be understood), is a certain truth ; and I
shall open but one scripture that makes good this previous overcoming in hand: 1 John ii. 13, 14, I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. Ver. 14,
* I have written unto you, fathers, be cause ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto
you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in
you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. It is attributed here (you see) to the middle sort or age of Christians to have overcome that wicked one ; by which is meant the devil up and down this epistle ; and that the over
coming him is spoken in respect of lusts, or temptations unto sin, is evi
dent, because it is made the ground of an exhortation that follows, not to
love the world, nor the things of the world: ver. 15, 16, Love not the
world, nor the things of the world. If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world. And his argument unto these young men (of whom he says, they have overcome ) lies thus : you have had already some experience of victory, having been in some battles and conflicts with the enemy, fighting against
sin, Heb. xii. 14. It hath cost you hot work, and will you now give back, and lose all you have fought for, and grow faint when the battle declines, and experience gives you so clear a hope of an assured victory ? No ; but on
. the contrary therefore, be encouraged still to fight it out. Again, you may observe that this is twice said of them with repetition, and therefore is a
CHAP. XVII.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 319
matter of eminency to be noticed. This for the coherence of the words of
that text of Scripture ; now, to explain them, let us remark that he reduceth
: babes, young men, and
the state of all Christians to three sorts of degrees
fathers ; making the ground of his allusion the proportion that grace, or the new creature, hath with what is found in nature in the sons of men, wherein those three ages are eminently distinguishable. And look, as if a naturalist were to set out the genius, dispositions, and attainments of childhood, man s
estate, and old age, he would take that which is most proper to each of these ages, so doth the apostle here in characterising these three ages in
Christianity.
1. Babes in Christianity know the Father, are taught to run to God as
to a father, and to abound in expressing filial and childlike dispositions and
instincts towards God as a father, and are trained up as children, and are
allured with toys, and held by the arms and taught to go, and are carried
in the arm rather than walk.
2. Old men in Christianity know him that is from the beginning. The
property of old age in nature is to talk of things ancient and long ago done ; these they are taken up withal. Now, the heathen* could say,
* Who is the most ancient? God, whom Daniel calls the ancient of days. So Christ
* That which was from the beginning, who, ver. 2, is
is too, 1 John i. 1,
that eternal life who was with the Father. And for all those great mysteries of the gospel in election, and the transaction of the Father with the Son, a story ancienter than the world, these things grown Christians delight to
speak of, and are taken withal, the knowledge of which is that Paul boasts most of, Eph. iii. 2.
3. Of young men, the proper excellencey is their strength, Prov. xx. 29, and they boast of wrestlings and victories ; and if they be military men, they have had experience of overcoming the enemy in the field, and are thereby fleshed and animated to any encounters.
Now as all true Christians are born for soldiery, and conflicts with sin and Satan, so the apostle points out that time between their being babes, and whilst they are growing up to a virility and strength, and to a spiritual manhood. And during that age is the proper season and most eminent
field of a Christian s life, I in which the bloodiest battles with lusts and
temptations of that kind are fought, and in which time (where there is truth of grace) there have fallen out some comfortable experiments of
victories, though still the assaults may be renewed and continued; for John (you see) distinguishes them from babes by this very thing. The truth is, that in the first age humiliation for sin hath stounded lusts ; the
Spirit, by John Baptist s voice and ministry, hath blown upon all flesh ; hell and the curse, and fear of damnation, &c., have withered all excellen
cies, or things desirable, and these are succeeded with sweetness and sup ports, which add to the deadening of their spirits unto temptation to sin ; and that present frame of spirit reduceth them often to think they shall never commit a gross sin, as Peter, that he should not deny his Master ; and so they are censorious of others, and then God spares them. Babes are fed with milk, and not led unto the field unto great or notable encoun
ters, or else the exercise of their spirits lies in point of justification, and
seeking Christ s righteousness ; yea, and then all the affections upon either the account of self-love, or gracious love, are stirred and run in one * Plutarch in Sympos. f Romana Juventus was the poet s style of the soldiers ; BO among the Jews too Let the young men play afore us, 2 Sam. ii. 14.
320 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK V.
channel in pursuit after salvation of a man s self. But when once the soul
is settled, these first stounds of humiliation and frights are over, and lusts have come to themselves again. And then when the soul is in some mea sure quieted by faith, and yet not assured of eternal salvation (so as wonted
fears are kept under, but yet the soul attains not joys unspeakable and
glorious, which should as much heighten the affections that way as fears had stirred them that other) ; when also those mercenary assistances and
auxiliaries which self-love afforded are recalled and withdrawn, and if any sweetnesses were they are abated and gone, and so what is purely grace (which now is of itself grown up to some degree of strength) is left to shift
for itself, and to fight its own battles alone ; then usually come the bloody conflicts, then is the trial whether lusts and devil, or soul and Christ, should overcome, and whether Christ hath begotten truth of grace, and owns it upon some assaults or other, and in some trial and experience of victories, that it may be said, Ye have overcome that evil one. For one of these two cases have fallen out, either Peter s case or Paul s, either such Chris
tians have been kept and not foiled (we read not that Paul ever was), or
if they have been foiled and overcome for some acts of sinning, yet that hath in a recovery occasioned (as it were) a new conversion, which was Peter s case, who went out and wept bitterly, and brought in a new strength and recruit. And either of these are and must be reckoned an overcoming that wicked one. It is no matter (that is, as to this point) that thou hast been overcome ; for if God recovers thee still, and renews thee by repent ance, thou hast overcome. A town that hath been often besieged, and yet never won or taken (as that virgin, maiden city of Venice) ; and another
into which the enemy hath made great entries, and yet hath been beaten out again by them that are within it, these are both of them victorious. In these cases God accounts of it as a great matter that grace remains and
is not excussed ; and therefore John adds here, Because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you. The word of God abides in you both
as the cause of these victories and as the signs of them, that it should still
so abide after all, when the battle hath been so great and sore, and it was
doubtful by the passages that fell out in the castle who had the worse or who the better. Yet this is reckoned a signal of the conqueror, that he
keeps the field, and is found standing to his ground, and is where still he
was, and retains and holds his standard. That the seed of God still re
mains, and the word of God abides, this is an evidence of victory
: and
Christ so expresseth it, I have prayed that thy faith fail not. For after
sore, great, and many such temptations, a temporary work is worn out, and
abides not ; yea, when a man is strengthened to continue to maintain the
battle, and not fling his weapons down, so long sin hath not the dominion, but Christ will bring forth judgment to victory.
Now, the reiterated experiments of having thus in part, and at times, overcome or continued the fight, is to men of that age a pawn and pledge that they shall finally overcome. It is so in the thing itself, and is often made such to their faith :
* Experience breeds hope, and hope maketh not
ashamed, as Rom. v. 4, 5. Soldiers that have been in many cruel battles, and are yet alive, and have their limbs whole (though with many fears), and have fought it out, and got the victory, though perhaps often rallying and giving ground, they come to have stout or strong and resolute spirits ; and whereas others hopes (namely, of babes) of perseverance, is built
only upon God s faithfulness, these further have the experience of the
issue of many a combat to cause them the more fondly to hope ; and in
CHAP. XVII.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 321
this sense some have understood these words, namely, You have over come the wicked one ; that is,
* you shall overcome, expressing that which is future in the time past, to shew the certainty of it for the future. Bat that cannot be the immediate and direct meaning, because the future
overcoming is as common to believers * as to young men, that is, that they shall overcome, whereas the apostle s scope is by way of eminency and dis
tinction to the other, to set out what is more proper and peculiar to young men ; only this sense comes in in a collateral way, that that experience which that age attains to is an evidence unto them that they shall finally and in the end prevail. Even as Joshua, when they had as yet made some progress of victory over their enemies, he bade the eldest t of Israel come and set their feet on the necks of their enemies, Josh. x. 24 ; and in the assured confidence of the promise of God at first made, whereof they hitherto had had such experience, he speaks thus unto them, ver. 25, Fear
not, neither be dismayed ; be strong and of good courage
: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight. And so it is here. The second thing that belongs to this, is the glory of these victories of
Christ by us, as thus they are carried on to the end of our days ; which, that it may appear, the terms or laws set between God and us are to be
considered. In the entrance of this discourse I proposed that our overcom
ing Satan was not transacted by a sole mere outward violent force or re
straint, a pure arbitrary prerogative put forth by Christ on our behalf ; for
so he could keep him off from tempting us at all, but that Christ leaves him at times to encounter with us, and to do his worst ; yet upon certain laws and terms set between us by Christ, upon which it is he puts forth that force, and so according to those laws it is we overcome. That maxim holdeth here, 2 Tim. ii. 5,
* And if a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. So then laws are set between these
combatants, else there were no dealing with the devil ; and such as wherein
his utmost skill and cunning to deceive, entice, persuade, provoke are dis
played.
The first law is, that though he should prevail to blow up and inflame a man s lusts and affections with those corrupt instruments of his, he sets upon the will, yea, and the will itself be much won over and inclined, even
ready to yield, yet if the major part thereof (which is the executive power in a man) keeps fixed and comes not off, so long a man is said to over come ; so as Satan must not boast that he carried it so or so far, but in that case the victory is decided to be on our part, and not on his. Every man s will is his castle, as the law speaks of a man s house, and if a man
retains but power over his own will (as the apostle in another case ex-
presseth it, 1 Cor. vii. 37), which is seen by a man s either not morose
indulgency or actings over a sin in fancy again, or not perpetrating it out
wardly ; in this case God pronounces on our sides that we have overcome, though in the assault we have had our hearts much wounded and pierced through with fiery and inflaming darts, that at the instant did transport our affections : Eph. vi. 13, ar^ai xal avnffqvai, if we be able but to with stand and stand. You may observe how that all the weapons there reckoned up are but defensive, as helmet, shield, &c.
We only stand and deny ; J and accordingly says Peter, whom resist, stedfast in the faith, 1 Pet. v. 9, that is, by faith we are to retain the power of the will ; so likewise 1 Cor. vii. 37, stedfast in heart, having power over one s own will. I observe also that in Rev. xii. our overcom- * Qu. babes ? ED. f Qu. captains ? ED. J Qu. by faith ? ED. VOL. V. X
322 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK Y.
ing Satan is expressed by his not prevailing (ver. 8, 9, and 11 compared), namely, in the issue. I inquire not how many times he prevails, that is
not the measure God goeth by. This may be set out by comparison of what befell Eve and Adam (whom Austin still styles fortissimus ille, that Samson and most strong one in comparison to us) in innocency ; or rather,
in the full strength of the image of God, consisting in holiness and right eousness, and that complete in them.
(1.) We have the same vertibility of will which they had (take it merely as it is a will), the strongest purpose whereof is, as I use to say, as easily diverted and turned aside as the strongest push of a rapier by a straw.
(2.) Take Adam s will, and it had perfect command over his affections, so that not a desire, not a velleity, could stir to move it, until it gave way,
yea, gave forth a command unto it. As in a well-framed watch or clock, an under wheel doth not stir until the upper first themselves hath moved
it. It must be so in them that the understanding and will were to begin to
* The serpent deceived
be seduced ere an affection waved this way or that.
Eve, the text says. It is a slander upon God s image and workmanship as it first came out of his hands, and that absolute perfect government God
set up in Adam s soul, to say, that lusts and affections (the popular part of
man) had power to move themselves, which yet the Jesuits and Arminians have cast upon it. No ; the will itself was as the Almighty, that had the winds in its fists. Adam then had nothing inward to tempt him or draw him aside ; but we have a body of sin and death, full of life and activity as
to sin, a weight that presseth us down, sin that besetteth us round, lusts
that fight against the soul, and not only lusts to entice the will, but the
will divided against itself, that we cannot do what we would. It was as
easy for Adam to will good as it is for us to wish anything, to think or move a toe, the whole bias of the bowl led him that way ;* but now at best
you have flesh lusting against the spirit, that you cannot do or will what
you would. But then nothing without or within should check or foreflow
any good motion in him, and yet the devil overcame them.
(3.) Yea, and the devil had not power to come within him, to represent unto and fire his fancy, to inflame his affections, or suggest by inward motion and incitations (as he doth us) for why else did he take an external
shape to tempt him in ?
(4.) The devil overcame them the first onset he made, yea, and upon a
lighter skirmish, yea, and both of them at once, and it was not long a-doing ;
they easily, presently, and soon yielded up all. How great then is the
glory of that grace in us (who are every way so disadvantaged), that our
wills should be able to withstand and to stand. The apostle in his own
example hath celebrated it, 2 Cor. xii. 7, a thorn in the flesh, an angel of
Satan, was sent, yer. 7, to shew that God s grace was sufficient, and that
his strength is perfected in weakness, and that he hath ordained strength in babes and sucklings to still the enemy and avenger, Ps. viii. 2.
2. A second law which is set by Christ between him and us, that if we do thus hold out to resist the devil, we so overcome him as he must flee from us ; and that is a victory indeed, when the enemy is forced to fly for it. You have it expressly, James iv. 7, Resist the devil, and he will
or shall flee from you, for it is not put upon his will there, but what is
the event and issue of such resistances. Souls that are assaulted still more
* Tanta facilitas in Adamo vellendi et agendi bene, quanta nunc cogitandi ant movendi pedem, quanta sola velleitatis. Nam nihil iuterius aut exterius fuit quod retardaret motum. Jansenius out of St Austin.
CHAP. XVII. J OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 323
fiercely every day than other, are ready to say, Where is the promise of his
fleeing, for I find his temptations doubled ? Well, but God hath said it ; and understand it as he hath meant it, and you shall find it true. The
sense that I give of it is,
(1.) That for all fierce and set temptations there is a time limited to
Satan, though we know not the measure or limits of it ; sometimes, and to
* hour
some, shorter ; sometimes, and to some, longer. It is termed the
* This
of temptation, Rev. iii. 10 ; and so Christ says too, Luke xxii. 53,
is your hour, and the power of darkness. Now during that time, and whilst
it is appointed to last, Satan may, yea, doth after many renewed resist
ances of thine, come upon thee yet more fiercely ; but there is a period, until which if thou dost hold out, he must flee from thee. Why should
there not be a set time for his temptation, as well as his persecution ? His commission therein is, for certain days ; as Rev. ii. 10, Satan shall cast some of you into prison, and ye shall have tribulation ten days, but then
the keys are remanded and taken from him ; and so it is here in this case
too. Now then,
(2.) The law of that concertation is, that if the soul be found resisting him at or until such a time, though perhaps with many intervening foils, that then he must be packing and gone ; let him look to himself. It seems
not only to express a promise to us, but a law that concerns him, he will and shall flee : even as that in Gen. ix. 6 contains both a promise and a
law, He that sheds man s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.
(3.) It is expressed in the way of a military engagement, and an issue
* subject yourselves to God, and then follows, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And he had spoken afore of their lusts warring in their members, ver. 1, 2, of which lusts (as all know) the devil is the leader. He had spoken of God
such as is in war. The words afore are, submit or
as the sovereign Lord, and giver of more grace, of grace opposite unto our
lusts, ver. 5, 6. Now then, says James, if you would in this war prevail
against your lusts, my counsel in the first and chief place is to submit or
subject yourselves to God, become subject to him, as the word is, Rom. xiii.
1,5, unto the highest powers ; that is, as weaker states use to do when
they are engaged in war against an enemy too potent for them, their wis dom is to give themselves up as subjects to some other opposite prince, that may defend and protect them, and supply them with aid. So here these
to God are advised to subject themselves, that he may seasonably come in
with help in time of need. Now when the soul hath first thus committed itself, and put itself under God s protection, then, and upon that occasion (if you observe it), it is that he utters this,
* Resist the devil, and he shall fly from you. It is as if such a king or prince, that is engaged for such a town or city under his protection, that is besieged and beleaguered long, should send word unto them, hold but you stoutly out your resistance, and