tions, and resolves every thing with a single eye and a single heart into God, must take the lead, and bring the other into the closest captivity and obedience that can be unto Christ. This is the daily battle and warfare, which passes within the Christian, and which no eye can see, but the eye of God and his own; yea, not his own always, nor always alike. Thus, when grace prevails, there ensues what is called mortification, self-denial, humiliation, renunciation, and all the other exercises, which are painful to the flesh, or nature, and its will and ways. On the contrary, when nature is uppermost, there ever will arise coldness towards God, faintness in duty, doubts, reasonings, discomforts, fear of man, fear of death, and a whole world full of weaknesses, hindrances, and temptations. By the superiority of these different effects in the soul, may easily be seen, if attended to, the superiority of one or other of their respective principles. When there is a strong animal or carnal nature in the believer with a good measure of grace, and a trial comes of a powerful and threatening kind, O what a tumult is raised within! Nature struggles for ease, and winds, and turns, and frets, and laments, and uses a thousand shifts to carry off the believer from the battle, or to melt away his heart in the midst of it. Grace, on the other hand, tells him that now is his time to act like a Christian, to lay hold upon Christ and his promises, to take up the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit, and the helmet of salvation, and to withstand at least, if not even to meet, the enemy; that he shall conquer the trial by suffering the will of God, it being his present duty, to trust, to hope, to pray, to wait; and that, in a short time at the utmost, all shall end well, and redound both to his Redeemer's honor and his own improvement. What conflicts, perturbations, hopes, resignations, consolations, will not the Christian find in the opposition of the carnal and spiritual life; when temptations, trou

bles, or trials of any kind are to try the strength of both? And yet, after the temptation, it is in some measure with him as it was with Christ after his; comforts, like angels, will minister unto him. There is such a peaceable fruit of righteousness succeeding to these grievous things, as will make the believer a most ample amends for all his sorrows. But if this fruit

should be deferred in this life, it will be the more welcome and glorious, when the soul bursts the bonds of clay, and leaves sin and a sinful nature behind it.

CHAPTER XXXI.

ON TEMPTATIONS.

It is a great part of the Christian warfare to encounter temptations. When a man truly becomes Christ's soldier, he is armed from head to foot by him; because from head to foot will his enemies attack him, with all sorts of weapons, for distress at least, if not for destruction. He hath, because he needs, the whole armor of God, that he may both stand and withstand, during the evil day of this mortal life.

O how many fiery darts are thrown, with all the vehemence of spirits, against the Christian's soul! If his armor doth not sit close upon him, and if the shield of faith be not well and constantly held up to catch and repel the assaults; how many sore, and almost venomous wounds, will he not endure? Nay, if the Christian think to be only upon the defence, and fight not in his turn; it will be with him, as it is in all defensive wars among men, very troublesome, and very disadvantageous. He hath therefore a weapon given him, that he may attack too; and when he wields, in

the strength of his captain, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; the great spiritual foe remembers the three deep strokes he received by it from Christ himself, and shrinks away from its edge. If the Christian should be so unwise as to fight this enemy by his own might, and without this armor; he would suffer as a man must do, that would encounter a whole host in array (every individual of which is almost infinitely stronger than himself) naked, unsupported, unarmed. None know the strength of the world, the flesh, and the devil, but those who have life and are called to oppose them; just as the force of a stream is tried by the resistance made against it. The people of Christ too often fall into this vain way of fighting, through a presumption of their own conduct and power, and therefore are often brought off from the field wounded and half dead: And it is through the mercy and grace of their Lord, that they are not entirely captured and destroyed. They are more ready to look to their armor and call upon their leader in great trials, and therefore they prevail: But when they despise the strength of a little temptation, and fight against it in their own, then it is that they are often taught their inward and natural weakness by losing the day. In their captain's armor, in his strength, and by his sword, they must resist the devil; and then to their joy shall they find, that he will presently fly away from them.

Nothing escapes the vigilance of this foe. He observes the particular constitutions of persons; and he makes his attacks upon all the weak and unguarded parts. He suits his devices to the frame of their dispositions; and, if they are ignorant of them, he will often make sad havoc and distress.

He also knows, that the Christian hath traitors in his own bosom, once under full diabolical command, and now not fully suppressed and confined. These

he bribes, entices, advises, corresponds with, and acts by; so that, when the assault is made from without, these suspicious inmates are not idle within, but join hand, head, and heart (as it were) to throw all open to the enemy.

Hence, for these inbred foes, envy, pride, malice, lust, and all the confederacy of black and carnal principles, satan finds out and proposes their several objects of desire. These are soon converted into engines of war against the soul; and if the Christian cannot bring his very thoughts into captivity to the law of Christ, they will lead him in bonds (as it were) to his old master, who used, before he was a Christian, to take him captive at his will. What disgrace doth this bring to his holy profession; and what misery, before and after his recovery, to himself!

Satan hath also sly and subtle temptations, perverted from religion itself, by which he often assaults the mind. Sometimes he will raise snares from zeal, love, light, enlargement, and success in duties, by which to flatter the Christian into a high opinion of himself, and of his gifts and graces, in order to take him off his guard, or to unclothe him of his humility. When he can make a man proud, he makes him like himself; and when unclean, like a beast. At other times he will inject the very poison and curse of his own diabolical spirit, by darting evil thoughts; despairing or blasphemous suggestions; vile conceptions of Christ, his word, his work, and all his salvation; preposterous, doubting, distracting, and presuming fancies; and an almost infinite variety of abominable suggestions; which, if the soul be unarmed and unguarded, will harass it to the utmost distress. He hath no pity; nor will he leave off for groans and wailing, agonies or tears. These rather encourage him, if there be nothing but these. The only thing he dreads is the sword of the Spirit; and the only thing he cannot

pierce is the armor of God. Therefore, when all this sad business is going forward, the Christian should not lay crying on the ground like one bereft of his senses, but should call upon his Captain for the armor and the sword, and with these should venture on boldly, trusting to the divine strength which is promised, against the foe. When he can do this, the conflict will be soon over. It is yielding, hearkening, reasoning, and parleying, which occasion all the mischief.

XI can talk of all this my fellow Christian, and I know it likewise to be right and true; but I am often beset, and have been often as much to seek as thou canst be, in this hard, yet glorious service. To this moment I feel my own miserable weakness, when left in the least degree to myself. I have had my drubbings, my falls, my horrors, my conflicts, as well as thou; and I have been taught by them, though with much slowness, (I speak it with shame and sorrow) to fly to the right refuge, to lay hold of the right strength, to buckle on the right armor, and to fall on with the right sword. When I have done this with most alertness and with the most unreserved confidence in my divine Master, I have been most successful, and most easily have prevailed. When I have lingered, or dallied, or tampered with my foe, or else thought I could cope with him by myself, because he hath appeared under a mean disguise; then I have fainted and failed; then have I sunk, and been surely overthrown. My rebuffs have made me a little more wary of my own heart, as well as of my spiritual adversaries; and I find it the best way to begin speedily with prayer to Him that heareth, that I may truly be ready for whatever may come upon me.

While we are in the flesh, all this must be more or less our daily exercise. And the use of it is, chiefly to keep our hearts from pride and sloth, to bring down