to stand against this great enemy: I confess it is my duty to resist this temptation, but it is thy promise to succour me under this temptation, and therefore I put myself upon thee.

And then, rest upon Christ. As I used to say, Your very resting upon him makes him your's; your resting on his strength makes it yours; and your resting on his succour makes that yours.

And if the Lord command you to the use of any means, do not rest upon any because they are great, or despise any because they are small. You do observe that the great victories among the Jews, they were obtained by the weakest means; and by the blowing of ram's horns, walls fell down. Those were but types of those spiritual victories under the gospel.

God seldom does wound the head of a temptation, but first the heel (the means) is bruised, whereby the head of the temptation is wounded. As Christ's heel is bruised in his wounding of Satan's head: so I say it is in regard of means: seldom that any means do wound the head of a temptation, but the very heel of that means is first bruised: and, therefore do not despise it though it be small.

And if it please the Lord to cast in any promise, when you are under a temptation, oh, take heed that you do not live upon the letter of the promise. I mean, do not live upon the conveyance, but upon the land: and yet how many do live upon the bare promise, bare letter of the promise. When a temptation comes, pass from the temptation unto the promise, and through the promise unto Jesus Christ, and learn to live upon the thing promised, and not the letter of the promise.

After temptation is over, (I can but touch on things,) either you have the better of Satan, or else the worse. If you have the worse; be for ever humbled, but never discouraged. And if you have the better of him; then rejoice in the Lord, and in all his goodness toward you, and in all his succouring love and mercy. "Rejoice in the Lord evermore, and again I say, Rejoice." "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you." And then it follows, "They shall rejoice: your hearts shall rejoice." But take heed that your spiritual joy, after victory, does not degenerate into carnal joy, and you be drunk therewith. It is reported of

the English, that once going into Spain, and taking in a town there; after they had taken it, there being much wine in the town, the soldiers fell a drinking of themselves drunk; and the country came down upon them, and beat them out, and recovered the town again. So it is with many: they have victory over temptation, and they begin to rejoice spiritually; but their spiritual joy degenerates into carnal joy, and they are drunk with their joy, and so lose their victory. Beloved, joy not in your joy, but in the God of your joy, after victory.

And if you have the better after temptation, if you have the better: be snre of this, that you improve your victory to more assurance. If the devil get the better of you, he will be sure to improve his victory to your despair: I say, If he get the better of you, he will be sure to improve his victory to your despair. Therefore, if you get the better of him, be sure that you improve your victory to more assurance of God's love in Christ.

Yea, my beloved, for aught I know there is no temptation that a child of God meets withal, but he may improve it to more assurance. As thus:

Surely, if I were the devil's own, he would never trouble me thus. When the strong man keeps the house, all is at peace, and all is at quiet. Now ever since, from the very first day that I have set my face towards heaven and Christ; oh how have I been troubled, and tempted, and perplexed, and vexed in my spirit! Surely, therefore, I am none of the devil's. Now if I had been his own, I should have been more quiet under him: but because I am thus troubled, I hope in the Lord I am none of the devil's, I am the child of God. Thus a man may improve.

And, oh, what a good thing were it, if we did make improvement of our temptations! what gracious improvement might we make of all our temptations; and what a blessed issue might we have in our temptations, if we did go unto Christ for succour!

I beseech you, therefore, in the Lord, when as any temptation arises, go unto Jesus Christ, he is a succouring Christ. He hath national succours; and he hath family succours; and he hath personal succours: you have national temptations; and you have family temptations; and you have per

sonal temptations, soul temptations, temptations when you are alone. Therefore go unto Christ for succour.

To conclude: I beseech you, beloved in the Lord, go to Christ and try him; put him to it: the greater your temptation is, the more fit work for Christ to cure: do not despair; do not sit down; go to Jesus Christ, you shall find him better than I have spoken, you shall not find him worse; he will go beyond my words, he will not fall short of my words. As the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour: so Jesus Christ, in the gospel, goes up and down with his succour, seeking whom he may succour. Go to him for succour: and the God of peace, even Jesus Christ himself, tread down Satan under our feet shortly.

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SERMON III.

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not."-LUKE XXII. 31, 32.

AFTER our greatest enjoyments of God, usually follow the greatest temptations of Satan. And therefore our Saviour speaks these words unto his disciples. In the 19th verse of this chapter, we find them at the Lord's Supper with Christ himself; "This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me." Having received the supper with Christ himself, and having had sweet communion with him there, our Saviour gives them out a most gracious and blessed promise, at the 28th, 29th, and 30th verses, "Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations, and I appoint to you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Having said thus unto them, he comes in the very next words to acquaint them with a great temptation that was coming down upon them all: and therefore these words are knit together with the former by the word and; "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired." Though you have had this communion with me; and though I have made you this gracious and blessed promise, know,

that there is a great storm of temptation coming down upon

you.

Here are two things: the danger of the temptation; and the remedy against it. The danger in the 31st, and the re

medy in the 32nd verse. In the 31st verse, we have for consideration, the tempter, called Satan, which signifies an adversary. The tempted; and those are, not Simon only, but all the disciples. Satan hath desired you: it is in the plural number: he directs his speech unto Simon, but the temptation spreads larger upon all the disciples; "That he may

sift you."

The manner of the temptation, in two expressions: Satan hath desired you: according to the original word, Satan hath challenged you into the field; as one man does another: and hath desired you, that he may sift you as wheat, and leave you nothing but chaff. Plainly then here is this observation.

The Lord Jesus Christ does give leave sometimes unto Satan, to tempt and winnow his own and best disciples; Christ's own, and best disciples are exposed to Satan's tempting, and winnowings: not Peter only, but James and John and all the beloved disciples of Jesus Christ were exposed here unto Satan's winnowings. He hath desired you, in the plural number, not thee Peter only, but you all my disciples, that he may sift you as wheat.

For the clearing and making out of this truth, I shall labour to discover.

First, What great power Satan hath to tempt, molest, and annoy the children of men.

Secondly, That he puts forth this power especially upon the saints, Christ's own and best disciples.

Thirdly, How he comes by this power, and why God the Father gives him this leave. And so to the applica

tion.

First, if ye ask me, What power Satan hath to infest, molest, and thus to tempt the children of men?

I answer, First, ye know that Satan is an angel still; and being an angel, he is a superior creature to man, and therefore, according to the rank of creation, he hath a great deal of power over man. Man hath a great power over the beasts, for man is a superior. The beasts have a great deal of power

over the herbs and the grass, for the beast is the superior. The angels by creation are superior to man; Satan, though fallen, is an angel still: according to the rank of creation, therefore he must needs have a mighty power over the children of men.

Secondly, He is not only a superior creature, but also a more spiritual creature than man, he is a spirit: and upon that account, he is more able to come within man, to close with a man's soul and spirit: being spirit himself, he is more able to converse with, to close and get within our souls and spirits.

Thirdly, He is able to suggest unto man whatsoever he pleases, and to cast in a thousand sinful objects into a man's mind one after another.

Yea, fourthly, and being so well experienced, having studied man for many thousand years: having gotten in all these years so much tempting skill and policy, he is able to discern what that bait is that will take soonest with the children of men, according to their natures, constitutions, complexions, ages, sexes, &c.

Fifthly, He is not only able to present and suggest, but he is also able to follow his suggestions. It is said, "That he stood up, and provoked David to number the people:" he did not only present that evil unto David, but he did solicit: he provoked David to number the people, says the text.

Sixthly, he is not only able thus, but he is able, also, to bemire the fancy, to raise storms in that lower region: a man's soul, ye know, it works by organs, it works by the body, and by the fancy: now Satan being able to disturb the fancy of a man, is thereby able, also, to hinder the very operation of the soul.

Seventhly, He is able to hold down a man's mind unto that particular thing, and to cut off all relief to the soul; so to besiege it, that unless relief come immediately from heaven, he is able to bow down a man's mind, and to hold it down unto that particular.

Lastly, Satan hath so great a power, that the same words that are given unto God, and unto the Holy Ghost, for good, in Scripture, are given, also, unto Satan for evil. The Holy Ghost is said to enlighten a man: Satan is said for to blind him: "The God of this world hath blinded their eyes,"

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