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  THE CHRISTIAN IN COMPLETE ARMOUR - PART 12
  by William Gurnall
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Summary: The power of faith is necessary to quench the fiery darts of
Satan, which are shot with a fiery wrath and lead to hell-fire.

Topics: "Faith", "Spiritual Warfare"
Scripture References: Psalm 37:2, Psalm 119:37, Proverbs 28:20, Zechariah 3:2, Romans 6:14, Ephesians 6:16, Hebrews 11:29, James 1:14, 1 John 2:15-16, 1 John 5:4

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DESCRIPTION
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William Gurnall emphasizes the necessity of faith as a shield for
Christians to quench the fiery darts of the wicked, which represent the
temptations and attacks from the enemy. He describes the nature of these
enemies as wicked and united, and explains that faith not only helps
resist these temptations but also extinguishes their harmful effects.
Gurnall encourages believers to recognize the power of faith in
overcoming both enticing and frightening temptations, asserting that
true faith leads to victory over sin and the world. He urges Christians
to engage in prayer and expect God's help, reinforcing that faith is
essential for spiritual warfare.

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CONTENT
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DIRECTION VIII.--SECOND GENERAL PART.

[Argument pressing the exhortation.]

'Whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked'
(Eph. 6:16)

We have done with the exhortation, and now come to the second general
part of the verse, viz. a powerful argument pressing this exhortation,
contained in these words--'Whereby ye shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked.' 'Ye shall be able.' Not an uncertain 'may be
ye shall;' but he is peremptory and absolute--'ye shall be able.' But
what to do? 'able to quench'--not only to resist and repel, but 'to
quench.' But what shall they 'quench?' Not ordinary temptations only,
but the worst arrows the devil hath in his quiver--'fiery darts;' and
not some few of them, but 'all the fiery darts of the wicked.' In this
second general there are two particulars. first. The saint's enemy
described--'The wicked.' second. The power and puissance of faith over
the enemy--'Ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked.'

Division First.--The Saint's Enemy Described.

'The Wicked.'

Here we have the saint's enemy described in three particulars. First. In
their nature--'wicked.' Second. In their unity--'wicked,' or 'wicked
one,' J@Ø B@<ZD@Ø, in the singular number. Third. In their warlike
furniture and provision, with which they take the field against the
saints--'darts,' and they are 'fiery.'

[The saints enemy described by their nature.]

First. The saint's enemy is here described by their nature--'wicked.'
Something I have said of this, ver. 12 where Satan is called 'spiritual
wickednesses.'[1] I shall at present therefore pass it over with the
lighter hand. Certainly there is some special lesson that God would have
his people learn even from this attribute of the devil and his limbs--
for the whole pack of devils and devilish men are here intended --that
they are represent­ed to the saint's considera­tion by this name so oft
as 'wicked.' I shall content myself with two ends, that I conceive God
aims at by this name.

First End. They are called 'wicked,' as an odi­ous name whereby God
would raise his children's stomachs into a loathing of sin above all
things in the world, and provoke their pure souls as to hatred and
detestation of all sin, so [to] a vigorous resistance of the devil and
his instruments, as such, who are wicked; which is a name that makes him
detestable above any other. God would have us know, that when he himself
would speak the worst he can of the devil, he can think of no name for
the purpose like this--to say he is 'the wicked one.' The name which
exalts God highest, and is the very excellency of all his other
excellencies, is, that he is 'the holy One,' and 'none holy as the
Lord.' This therefore gives the devil the blackest brand of infamy, that
he is 'the wicked one,' and none wicked to that height besides himself.
Could holiness be separated from any other of God's attributes--which is
the height of blasphemy to think --the glory of them would be departed.
And could the devil's wickedness be removed from his torments and
misery, the case would be exceedingly altered. We ought then to pity him
whom now we must no less than hate and abominate with a perfect hatred.

1. Consider this, all ye who live in sin, and blush not to be seen in
the practice of it. O that you would behold your faces in this glass,
and you would see whom you look like! Truly, no other than the devil
himself and in that which makes him most odious, which is his
wickedness. Never more spit at the name of the devil, nor seem to be
scared at any ill-shapen picture of him; for thou carriest a far more
ugly one --and the truest of him that is possible--in thy own wicked
bosom. The more wicked the more like the devil; who can draw the devil's
picture like himself? If thou beest a wicked wretch thou art of the
devil himself. 'Cain,' it is said, 'was of that wicked one,' I John
3:12. Every sin thou committest is a new line that the devil draws on
thy soul. And if the image of God in a saint--which the Spirit of God is
drawing for many years together in him--will be so curious a piece when
the last line shall be drawn in heaven, O think, then, how frightful and
horrid a creature thou wilt appear to be, when after all the devil's
pains here on earth to imprint his image upon thee, thou shalt see
thyself in hell as wicked to the full as a wicked devil can make thee.

2. Consider this, O ye saints, and bestow your first pity on those poor
forlorn souls that are under the power of a wicked devil. It is a
lamentable judg­ment to live under a wicked government, though it be but
of men. For a servant in a family to be under a wicked master is a heavy
plague. David reckons it among other great curses. 'Set thou a wicked
man over him,' Ps. 109:6. O what is it then to have a wicked spirit over
him! He would show himself very kind to his friend that should wish him
to be the worst slave in Turkey, rather than the best servant of sin or
Sa­tan. And yet see the folly of men. Solomon tells us, 'When the wicked
bear rule, the people mourn,' Prov. 29:2. But when a wicked devil rules,
poor besotted sinners laugh and are merry. Well, you who are not out of
your wits so far, but know sin's service to be the creature's utmost
misery, mourn for them that go themselves laughing to sin, and by sin to
hell.

And again, let it fill thy heart, Christian, with zeal and indignation
against Satan in all his tempta­tions. Remember he is wicked, and he can
come for no good. Thou knowest the happiness of serving a holy God.
Surely, then, thou hast an answer ready by thee against this wicked one
comes to draw thee to sin. Canst thou think of fouling thy hands about
his base nasty drudgery, after they have been used to so pure and fine
work as the service of thy God is? Listen not to Satan's motions except
thou hast a mind to be 'wicked.'

Second End. They are called 'wicked,' as a name of contempt, for the
encouragement of all be­lievers in their combat with them. As if God had
said, 'Fear them not; they are a wicked company you go against'--cause,
and they who defend it, both 'wicked.' And truly, if the saints must
have enemies, the worse they are the better it is. It would put mettle
into a coward to fight with such a crew. Wickedness must needs be weak.
The devils' guilt in their own bosoms tells them their cause is lost
before the battle is fought. They fear thee, Christian, because thou art
holy, and therefore thou needest not be dismayed at them who are wicked.
Thou lookest on them as subtle, mighty, and many, and then thy heart
fails thee. But look on all these subtle mighty spirits as wicked
ungodly wretches, that hate God more than thee, yea thee for thy kindred
to him, and thou canst not but take heart. Whose side is God on that
thou art afraid? Will he that rebuked kings for touching his anointed
ones and doing them harm in their bodies and estates, stand still,
thinkest thou, and suf­fer these wicked spirits to attempt the life of
God himself in thee, thy grace, thy holiness, without com­ing in to thy
help? It is impossible.

[The saint's enemy described by their unity.]

Second. The saint's enemy is set out by their unity--'fiery darts of the
wicked'--J@Ø B@<ZD@Ø 'of the wicked one.' It is as if all were shot out
of the same bow, and by the same hand; as if the Christian's fight were
a single duel with one single enemy. All the legions of devils, and
multitudes of wicked men and women, make but one great enemy. They are
all one mystical body of wickedness; as Christ and his saints [are] one
mystical holy body. One Spirit acts Christ and his saints; so one spirit
acts devils, and ungodly men his limbs. The soul is in the little toe;
and the spirit of the devil in the least of sinners. But I have spoken
something of this subject elsewhere.[2]

[The saint's enemy described

by their warlike provision.]

Third. The saint's enemy is here described by their warlike furniture
and provision with which they take the field against the
saints--'darts,' and those of the worst kind, 'fiery darts.'

First. Darts. The devil's temptations are the darts he useth against the
souls of men and women. They may fitly be so called in a threefold
respect.

1. Darts or arrows are swift. Thence is our usual expression, 'As swift
as an arrow out of a bow.' Light­ning is called God's arrow, because it
flies swiftly. 'He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot
out lightnings, and discomfited them,' Ps. 18:14, that is, lightning
like arrows. Satan's temptations flee like a flash of lightning--not
long of coming. He needs no more time than the cast of an eye for the
despatch of a temptation. David's eye did but una­wares fall upon
Bathsheba, and the devil's arrow was in his heart before he could shut
his casement. Or the hearing of a word or two [will suffice]. Thus, when
David's servants had told what Nabal the churl said, David's choler was
presently up--an arrow of revenge wounded him to the heart. What quicker
than a thought? Yet how oft is that a temptation to us? one silly
thought riseth in a duty, and our hearts, before intent upon the work,
are on a sudden carried away, like a spaniel after a bird that springs
up before him as he goes after his master. Yea, if one tempta­tion
speeds not, how soon can he send another after it!--as quick as the
nimblest archer. No sooner than one arrow is delivered, but he hath
another on the string.

2. Darts or arrows fly secretly. And so do temptations.

(1.) The arrow oft comes afar off. A man may be wounded with a dart and
not see who shot it. The wicked are said, to shoot their arrows 'in
secret at the perfect,' and then, 'they say, Who shall see them?' Ps
64:4, 5. Thus Satan lets fly a temptation. Sometimes he useth a wife's
tongue to do his errand; another while he gets behind the back of a
husband, friend, servant, &c., and is not seen all the while he is doing
his work. Who would have thought to have found a devil in Peter tempting
his master, or suspected that Abraham should be his instrument to betray
his be­loved wife into the hands of a sin? Yet it was so. Nay, sometimes
he is so secret that he borrows God's bow to shoot his arrows from, and
the poor Christian is abused, thinking it is God chides and is angry,
when it is the devil that tempts him to think so, and only counterfeits
God's voice. Job cries out of 'the arrows of the Almighty,' how 'the
poison of them drank up his spirit,' and of 'the terrors of God that did
set themselves in array against him,' Job 6:4, when it was Satan all the
while that was practicing his malice and playing his pranks upon him.
God was friends with this good man, only Satan begged leave--and God
gave it for a time--thus to affright him. And poor Job cries out, as if
God had cast him off and were become his enemy.

(2.) Darts or arrows, they make little or no noise as they go. They cut
their passage through the air, without telling us by any crack or
report, as the can­non doth, that they are coming. Thus insensibly doth
temptation make its approach;--the thief is in before we think of any
need to shut the doors. The wind is a creature secret in its motion, of
which our Saviour saith, 'We know not whence it cometh and whither it
goeth,' John 3:8, yet, 'we hear the sound thereof,' as our Saviour saith
in the same place. But temptations many times come and give us no
warning by any sound they make. The devil lays his plot so close, that
the soul sees not his drift, observes not the hook till he finds it in
his belly. As the woman of Tekoah told her tale so handsomely, that the
king passeth judgement against himself in the person of another before
he smelt out the business.

3. Darts have a wounding killing nature, espe­cially when well headed
and shot out of a strong bow by one that is able to draw it. Such are
Satan's temp­tations--headed with desperate malice, and drawn by a
strength no less than angelical; and this against so poor a weak
creature as man, that it were impossible, had not God provided good
armour for our soul, to outstand Satan's power and get safe to heaven.
Christ would have us sensible of their force and danger, by that
petition in his prayer which the best of saints on this side heaven have
need to use--'Lead us not into temptation.' Christ was then but newly
out of the list, where he had tasted Satan's tempting skill and
strength; which, though beneath his wisdom and pow­er to defeat, yet
well he knew it was able to worst the strongest of saints. There was
never any besides Christ that Satan did not foil more or less. It was
Christ's prerogative to be tempted, but not lead into temptation. Job,
one of the chief worthies in God's army of saints, who, from God's
mouth, is a none­such, yet was galled by these arrows shot from Satan's
bow, and put to great disorder. God was fain to pluck him out of the
devil's grip, or else he would have been quite worried by that lion.

Second. Satan's warlike provision is not only darts, but 'fiery darts.'
Some restrain these fiery darts to some particular kind of temptation,
as despair, blasphemy, and those which fill the heart with terror and
horror. But this, I conceive, is too strait; but faith is a shield for
all kind of temptations--and indeed there is none but may prove a
'fiery' tempta­tion; so that I should rather incline to think all sorts
of temptations to be comprehended here, yet so as to respect some in an
especial manner more than others. These shall be afterwards instanced
in.

Question. Why are Satan's darts called fiery ones?

Answer 1. They may be said to be 'fiery,' in re­gard of that fiery wrath
with which Satan shoots them. They are the fire this dragon spits, full
of indignation against God and his saints. Saul, it is said, 'breathed
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,' Acts
9:1. As one that is inwardly inflamed, his breath is hot--a fiery stream
of persecuting wrath came as out of a burning furnace from him.
Tempta­tions are the breathings of the devil's wrath.

Answer 2. They may be said to be 'fiery,' in re­gard of the end they
lead to, if not quenched; and that is hell-fire. There is a spark of
hell in every tempta­tion; and all sparks fly to their element. So all
temp­tations tend to hell and damnation, according to Sa­tan's intent
and purpose.

Answer 3. And chiefly they may be said to be 'fiery,' in regard of that
malignant quality they have on the spirits of men--and that is to
enkindle a fire in the heart and consciences of poor creatures. The
apostle alludes to the custom of cruel enemies, who used to dip the
heads of their arrows in some poison, whereby they became more deadly,
and did not only wound the part where they lighted, but inflamed the
whole body, which made the cure more difficult. Job speaks of 'the
poison of them which drank up his spirits,' Job 6:4. They have an
envenoming and inflaming quality.

Division Second.--The Power and Puissance of Faith over this Enemy.

'The shield of faith, whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked.'

The fiery darts of Satan which the believing soul is able by faith to
quench may be described as of two sorts. First. Either those that do
pleasingly entice and bewitch with some seeming promises of
satis­faction to the creature. Or, Second. Such as affright and carry
horror with them. Both are fiery, and quenched by faith, and only faith.

FAITH'S FIRST QUENCHING POWER.

[Satan's 'fiery darts' of pleasing temptations,

and faith's power to quench them.]

We shall begin with the first sort of Satan's fiery darts, viz. those
temptations that do pleasingly entice and bewitch the soul with some
seeming promises of satisfaction to the creature. The note is this:--
Doctrine. That faith will enable a soul to quench the fire of Satan's
most pleasing temptations. First. We will show you that these enticing
temptations have a fiery quality to them. Second. That faith is able to
quench them.

[Satan's pleasing temptations have a 'fiery' quality.]

First. We shall show you that Satan's enticing temptations have a fiery
quality in them. They have an inflaming quality. There is a secret
disposition in the heart of all to all sin. Temptation doth not fall on
us as a ball of fire on ice or snow, but as a spark on tinder, or [as]
lightning on a thatched roof, which presently is on a flame. Hence in
Scripture, though tempted by Satan, yet the sin is charged on us. 'Every
man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed,'
James 1:14. Mark! it is Satan tempts, but our own lust draws us. The
fowler lays the shrap,[3] but the bird's own desire betrays it into the
net. The heart of a man is marvellous prone to take fire from these
darts. 'Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out,' Prov. 26:20. Thus
the 'fiery darts' on Christ. There was no combustible matter of
corruption in him for Satan to work upon. But our hearts being once
heated in Adam could never cool since. A sinner's heart is compared to
'an oven.' 'They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker,'
Hosea 7:4. The heart of man is the oven, the devil the baker, and
temptation the fire with which he heats it; and then no sin comes amiss.
'I lie,' saith David, 'among them that are set on fire,' Ps. 57:4. And,
I pray, who sets them on fire? The apostle will resolve us, 'set on fire
of hell,' James 3:6. O friends! when once the heart is inflamed by
temptation, what strange effects doth it produce! how hard to quench
such a fire, though in a gracious person! David himself, under the power
of a temptation so apparent that a carnal eye could see it--Joab I mean,
who reproved him--yet was hurried to the loss of seventy thousand men's
lives; for so much that one sin cost. And if the fire be so raging in a
David, what work will it make where no water is nigh, no grace in the
heart to quench it? Hence the wicked are said to be 'mad' upon their
idols, Jer. 1:38--spurring on without fear or wit, like a man inflamed
with a fever that takes his head; there is no holding of him then in his
bed. Thus the soul posses­sed with the fury of temptation runs into the
mouth of death and hell, and will not be stopped.

[Use or Application.]

Use First. O how should this make us afraid of running into a temptation
when there is such a witchery in it. Some men are too confident. They
have too good an opinion of themselves--as if they could not be taken
with such a disease, and therefore will breathe in any air. It is just
with God to let such be shot with one of Satan's darts, to make them
know their own hearts better. Who will pity him whose house is blown up,
that kept his powder in the chimney corner? 'Is thy servant a dog,'
saith Hazael, II Kings 8:13. Do you make me a beast, sunk so far be­low
the nature of man as to imbrue my hands in these horrid murders? Yet,
how soon did this wretch fall into the temptation, and, by that one
bloody act upon his liege lord, which he perpetrated as soon as he got
home, show that the other evils, which the prophet foretold of him, were
not so improbable as at first he thought. Oh, stand off the devil's
mark, unless you mean to have one of the devil's arrows in your side!
Keep as far from the whirl of temptation as may be. For if once he got
you within his circle, thy head may soon be dizzy. One sin helps to
kindle another; the less the greater, as the brush the logs. When the
courtiers had got their king to carouse and play the drunkard, he soon
learned to play the scorner: 'The princes have made him sick with
bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners,' Hosea 7:5.

Use Second. Hath Satan's darts such an enkind­ling nature? take heed of
being Satan's instrument in putting fire to the corruption of another.
Some on purpose do it. Idolaters set out their temples and al­tars with
superstitious pictures, embellished with all the cost that gold and
silver can afford them, to be­witch the spectator's eye. Hence they are
said to be 'inflamed with their idols,' Isa. 57:5--as much as any lover
with his minion. And the drunkard, he enkin­dles his neighbour's lust,
'putting the bottle to him,' Hab. 2:15. O what a base work are these men
em­ployed about! By the law it is death for any wilfully to set fire on
his neighbour's house. What then de­serve they that set fire on the
souls of men, and that no less than hell-fire? But, is it possible thou
mayest do it unawares by a less matter than thou dreamest on. A silly
child playing with a lighted straw may set a house on fire which many
wise cannot quench. And truly Satan may use thy folly and carelessness
to kin­dle lust in another's heart. Perhaps an idle light speech drops
from thy mouth, and thou meanest no great hurt; but a gust of temptation
may carry this spark into thy friend's bosom, and kindle a sad fire
there. A wanton attire, which we will suppose thou wearest with a chaste
heart, and only because it is the fashion, yet may ensnare another's
eye. And if he that kept a pit open but to the hurt of a beast, sinned,
how much more thou, who givest occasion to a soul's sin, which is a
worse hurt? Paul 'would not eat flesh while the world stood, if it made
his brother offend,' I Cor. 8:13. And canst thou dote on a foolish dress
and im­modest fashion, whereby many may offend, still to wear it? 'The
body,' Christ saith, 'is better than rai­ment.' The soul, then, of thy
brother is more to be valued surely than an idle fashion of thy raiment.
We come to the second branch of the point.

[Faith's power to quench

Satan's pleasing temptations.]

Second. We shall show you that faith will enable a soul to quench the
pleasing temptations of the wicked one. This is called our 'victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith,' I John 5:4. Faith sets its
triumphant banner on the world's head. The same St. John will tell you
what is meant by the world: 'Love not the world;... for all that is in
the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world,' I John 2:15,
16. All that is in the world is said to be 'lust,' because it is food
and fuel for lust. Now faith enables the soul to quench those darts
which Satan dips and envenoms with these worldly lusts --called by some
the worldlings Trinity.

First Dart of pleasing temptations. 'The lust of the flesh.' Under this
are comprehended those temp­tations that promise pleasure and delight to
the flesh. These indeed carry fire in the mouth of them; and when they
light on a carnal heart, do soon inflame it with unruly passions and
beastly affections. The adulterer is said to burn in his lust, Rom.
1:27. The drunkard to be 'inflamed with his wine,' Isa. 5:11. No sort of
temptation works more strongly than those which present sensual pleasure
and promise delight to the flesh. Sinners are said to 'work all
uncleanness with greediness'--with a kind of covetousness; for the word
imports they never have enough.[4] When the voluptuous person hath
wasted his estate, jaded his body in luxury, still the fire burns in his
wretched heart. No drink will quench a poisoned man's thirst. Nothing
but faith can be helpful to a soul in these flames. We find Dives in
hell burning, and not 'a drop of water to cool the tip of his tongue'
found there. The unbelieving sinner is in a hell above ground. He burns
in his lust, and not a drop of water, for want of faith, to quench the
fire. By faith it is said those glorious martyrs 'quenched the violence
of the fire,' Heb. 11. And truly the fire of lust is as hot as the fire
of martyrdom. By faith alone this is quenched also: 'We...were sometimes
foolish, dis­obedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and
pleas­ures,...But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour
toward man appeared,...he saved us,' Titus 3:3, 4. Never could they
shake off these lusts, the old companions, till by faith they got a new
acquaintance with the grace of God re­vealed in the gospel.

[How faith quenches the 'lust of the flesh.']

Question. How does faith quench this fiery dart of sensual delights?

Answer 1. As it undeceives and takes off the mist from the Christian's
eyes, whereby he is now enabled to see sin in its naked being and
callow[5] principles be­fore Satan hath plumed [it]. It gives him the
native taste and relish of sin before the devil hath sophis­ticated it
with his sugared sauce. And truly, now sin proves a homely piece, a
bitter morsel. Faith hath a piercing eye; it is 'the evidence of things
not seen.' It looks behind the curtain of sense, and sees sin, before
its fiery was on and it be dressed for the stage, to be a brat that
comes from hell, and brings hell with it. Now, let Satan come if he
please, and present a lust never so enticing, the Christian's answer is
ready. 'Be not cheated, O my soul,' saith faith, 'with a lying spirit.'
He shows thee a fair Rachel, but he intends thee a blear-eyed Leah; he
promises joy, but he will pay thee sorrow. The clothes that make this
lust so comely are not its own. The sweetness thou tastest is not
native, but borrowed to deceive thee withal. 'Thou art Saul,' saith the
woman of Endor, 'why hast thou deceived me?' Thus, faith can call sin
and Satan by their own names when they come in a disguise. 'Thou art
Satan,' saith faith, 'why wouldst thou de­ceive me? God hath said sin is
bitter as gall and wormwood, and wouldst thou make me believe I can
gather the sweet fruits of true delight from this root of bitterness?
grapes from these thorns?'

Answer 2. Faith doth not only enable the soul to see the nature of sin
void of all true pleasure, but also how transient its false pleasures
are. I will not lose, saith faith, sure mercies for transient uncertain
pleas­ures. This made Moses leap out of the pleasures of the Egyptian
court into the fire of 'affliction,' Heb. 11:25, because he saw them
'pleasures for a season.' Should you see a man in a ship throw himself
over­board into the sea, you might at first think him out of his wits;
but if, a little while after, you should see him stand safe on the
shore, and the ship swallowed up of the waves, you should then think he
took the wisest course. Faith sees the world and all the pleasures of
sin sinking: there is a leak in them which the wit of man cannot stop.
Now is it not better to swim by faith through a sea of trouble and get
safe to heaven at last, than to sin in the lap of sinful pleasures till
we drown in hell's gulf? It is impossible that the pleasure of sin
should last long.

(1.) Because it is not natural. Whatever is not natural soon decays. The
nature of sugar is to be sweet, and therefore it holds its sweetness;
but sweeten beer or wine never so much with sugar, in a few days they
will lose their sweetness. The pleasure of sin is extrinsical to its
nature, and therefore will corrupt. None of that sweetness which now
bewitches sinners will be tasted in hell. The sinner shall have his cup
spiced there by his hand that will have it a bitter draught.

(2.) The pleasures of sin must needs be short, because life cannot be
long, and they both end toge­ther. Indeed, many times the pleasure of
sin dies be­fore the man dies. Sinners live to bury their joy in this
world. The worm breeds in their conscience be­fore it breeds in their
flesh by death. But be sure that the pleasure of sin never survives this
world. The word is gone out of God's mouth, every sinner shall 'lie down
in sorrow and wake in sorrow.' Hell is too hot a climate for wanton
delights to live in. Now faith is a provident, wise grace, and makes the
soul bethink itself how it may live in another world. Whereas the carnal
heart is all for the present; his snout is in the trough, and, while his
draught lasts he thinks it will never end. But faith hath a large
stride; at one pace it can reach over a whole life of years and see them
done while they are but beginning. 'I have seen an end of all
perfections,' saith David. He saw the wicked, when growing on their bed
of pleasure, cut down, and burning in God's oven, as if it were done
already, Ps. 37:2. And faith will do the like for every Christian
according to its strength and activity. And who would envy the condemned
man his feast which he hath in his way to the gallows.

Answer 3. Faith outvies Satan's proffers by show­ing the soul where
choicer enjoyments are to be had at a cheaper rate. Indeed, 'best is
best cheap.' Who will not go to that shop where he may be best served?
This law holds in force among sinners themselves. The drunkard goes
where he may have the best wine; the glutton where he may have the best
cheer. Now faith presents such enjoyments to the soul that are beyond
all compare best. It leads to the promise, and entertains it there, at
Christ's cost, with all the rich dainties of the gospel. Not a dish that
the saints feed on in heaven but faith can set before the soul, and give
it, though not a full meal, yet such a taste as shall melt it in 'joy
unspeakable and full of glory.' This sure must needs quench the
temptation. When Satan sends to invite the Christian to his gross fare,
will not the soul say, 'Should I forsake those pleasures that cheered,
yea ravished, my heart, to go and debase my­self with sin's polluted
bread, where I shall be but a fellow-commoner with the beast, who shares
in sen­sual pleasures with man--yea, become worse than the beast--a
devil, like Judas, who arose from his Master's table to sit at the
devil's?'

Second Dart of pleasing temptations. 'The lust of the eyes.' This is
quenched by faith. By 'the lust of the eyes,' the apostle means those
temptations which are drawn from the world's pelf and treasure. [It is]
called so, in the first place, because it is the eye that commits
adultery with these things. As the un­clean eye looks upon another man's
wife, so the cov­etous eye looks upon another's wealth to lust after it.
In the second place it is called so, because all the good that in a
manner is received from them is but to please the eye. 'What good is
there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their
eyes?' Ecc. 5:11. That is, if a man hath but to buy food and raiment
enough to pay his daily shot of necessary ex­penses, the surplusage
serves only for the eye to play the wanton with. Yet we see how pleasing
a morsel they are to a carnal heart. It is rare to find a man that will
not stoop, by base and sordid practices, to take up this golden apple.
When I consider what sad ef­fects this temptation had on Ahab, who, to
gain a spot of ground of a few acres, that could not add much to a
king's revenues, durst swim to it in the owner's blood, I wonder not to
see men whose condition is necessitous nibbling at the hook of
temptation, where the bait is a far greater worldly advantage. This is
the door the devil entered into Judas by. This was the break-neck of
Demas' faith, he embraced 'this present world.' Now faith will quench a
temptation edged with these.

[How faith quenches the 'lust of the eyes.']

1. Faith persuades the soul of God's fatherly care and providence over
it. And where this breast-work is raised the soul is safe so long as it
keeps within its line. 'Oh!' saith Satan, 'if thou wouldst but venture
on a lie--make bold a little with God in such a com­mand--this wedge of
gold is thine, and that advan­tage will accrue to thy estate.' Now faith
will teach the soul to reply, 'I am well provided for already, Sa­tan; I
need not thy pension; why should I play the thief for that which, if
good, God hath promised to give?' 'Let your con­versation be without
covetous­ness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath
said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,' Heb. 13:5. How canst
thou want, O my soul, that by the promise hast command of God's purse?
Let him that is 'without God in the world' shift and shirk by his wits;
do thou live by thy faith.

2. Faith teaches the soul that the creature's com­fort and content comes
not from abundance but God's blessing. And to gain the world by a sin is
not the road that leads to God's blessing. 'A faithful man shall abound
with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be
innocent,' Prov. 28:20. 'Shouldst thou,' saith faith, 'heap up the
world's goods in an evil way, thou art never the nearer to the content
thou ex­pectest.' It is hard to steal one's meat and then crave a
blessing on it at God's hands. What thou gettest by sin Satan cannot
give thee quiet possession of, nor discharge those suits which God will
surely com­mence against thee.

3. Faith advanceth the soul to higher projects than to seek the things
of this life. It discover a world beyond the moon--and there lies
faith's merchandise --leaving the colliers of this world to load
themselves with clay and coals, while it trades for grace and glory.
Faith fetcheth its riches from on far. Saul did not more willingly leave
seeking his father's asses when he heard of a kingdom, than the
believing soul leaves proling for the earth now it hears of Christ and
heaven, Ps. 39:6, 7. We find, ver. 6, holy David brand­ing the men of
the world for folly, that they troubled themselves so much for naught:
'Surely,' saith he, 'they are disquieted in vain; he heapeth up riches,
and knoweth not who shall gather them.' And, ver. 7, we have him with a
holy disdain turning his back upon the world as not worth his pains:
'And now, Lord, what wait I for?' As if he had said, Is this the portion
I could be content to sit down with?--to sit upon a greater heap of
riches than my neighbour hath? 'My hope is in thee; deliver me from all
my transgressions,' ver. 8. Every one as they like. Let them that love
the world take the world; but, Lord, pay not my portion in gold or
silver, but in pardon of sin. This I wait for. Abraham, he by faith had
so low an esteem of this world's treasure that he left his own country
to live here a stranger, in hope of 'a better,' Heb. 11:16.

Third Dart of pleasing temptations. 'The pride of life.' There is an
itch of pride in man's heart after the gaudy honours of the world; and
this itch of man's proud flesh the devil labours to scratch and
ir­ritate by suitable proffers. And when the temptation without and lust
within meet, then it works to pur­pose. Balaam loved the way that led to
court; and therefore spurs on his conscience--that boggled more than the
ass he rode on--till the blood came. The Jews when convinced of Christ's
person and doctrine, yet were such slaves to their honour and credit,
that they part with Christ rather than hazard that. 'For they loved the
praise of men more than the praise of God,' John 12:43. Now faith
quenches this temptation, and, with a holy scorn, disdains that all the
prefer­ment the world hath to heap on him should be a bribe for the
least sin. 'By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,' Heb. 11:24, though by this
adoption he might have been heir, for aught we know, of the crown; yet
this he threw at his heels. It is not said, 'he did not seek to be the
son of Pharaoh's daughter,' though that would have sounded a high
commenda­tion, having so fair an opportunity. Some would not have
scrupled a little court flattery, thereby to have cologued[6]From
Webster's. -- SDB themselves into further favour--having so fair a stock
in the king's heart to set up with. But, it is said that he 'refused to
be called' by this name. Honour came trouling in upon him, as water at a
flowing tide. Now, to stand against this flood of pre­ferment, and no
breach made in his heart to entertain it--this was admirable indeed.
Nay, he did not refuse this preferment for any principality that he
hoped for elsewhere. He forsook not one court to go to another, but to
join with a beggarly reproached peo­ple. Yea, by rejecting their favour
he incurred the wrath of the king. Yet faith carried him through all
those heights and depths of favour and disgrace, honour and dishonour;
and truly, wherever this grace is--allowing for its strength and
weakness--it will do the like. We find, Heb. 11:33, how Samuel and the
prophets 'through faith subdued kingdoms.' This, sure, is not only meant
of the conquest of the sword --though some of them performed honourable
achievements that way--but also by despising the honour and preferments
of them. This indeed many of the prophets are famous for; and in
particular Samuel, who, at God's command, gave away a king­dom from his
own house and family by anointing Saul, though himself at present had
possession of the chief's magistrate's chair. And others, ver. 37, we
read, 'were tempted;' that is, when ready to suffer, were offered great
preferments if they would bend to the times by receding a little from
the bold profession of their faith; but they chose rather the flames of
martyr­dom than the favour of princes on those terms. But, more
particularly to show you how faith quenches this temptation.

[How faith quenches 'the pride of life.']

1. Faith takes away the fuel that feeds this temp­tation. Withdraw the
oil and the lamp goes out. Now that which is fuel to this temptation is
pride. Where this lust is in any strength, no wonder the creature's eyes
are dazzled with the sight of that which suits the desires of his heart
so well. The devil now by a temp­tation does but broach, and so give
vent to, what the heart itself is full with. Simon Magus had a haughty
spirit; he would be Simon µX("H--some great man, and therefore, when he
did but think an opportunity as offered to mount him up the stage, he is
all on fire with a desire of having a gift to work miracles, that he
dares to offer to play the huckster with the apostle. Whereas a humble
spirit loves a low seat; is not ambi­tious to stand high in the thoughts
of others; and so, while he stoops in his own opinion of himself, the
bullet flees over his head which hits the proud man on the breast. Now
it is faith lays the heart low. Pride and faith are opposed; like two
buckets, if one goes up the other goes down in the soul. 'Behold, his
soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live
by his faith,' Hab. 2:4.

2. Faith is Christ's favourite, and so makes the Christian expect all
his honour from him. Indeed it is one of the prime acts of faith to cast
the soul on God in Christ as all-sufficient to make it completely happy;
and therefore, when a temptation comes --'soul, thou mayest raise
thyself in the world to this place or that esteem, if thou wilt but
dissemble thy profession, or allow thyself in such a sin'--now faith
chokes the bullet. Remember whose thou art, O my soul. Hast thou not
taken God for thy liege-lord, and wilt thou accept preferment from
another's hand? Princes will not suffer their courtiers to become
pen­sioners to a foreign prince--least of all to a prince in hostility
to them. Now, saith faith, the honour or applause thou gettest by sin
makes thee pensioner to the devil himself, who is the greatest enemy God
hath.

3. Faith shows the danger of such a bargain, should a Christian gain the
glory of the world for one sin.

(1.) Saith faith, Hadst thou the whole world's empire, with all bowing
before thee, this would not add to thy stature one cubit in the eye of
God. But thy sin which thou payest for the purchase blots thy name in
his thoughts; yea, makes thee odious in his sight. God must first be out
of love with himself before he can love a sinner as such. Now, wilt thou
incur this for that? Is it wisdom to lose a prize, to draw a blank?

(2.) Saith faith, The world's pomp and glory cannot satisfy thee. It may
kindle thirstings in thy soul, but quench none; it will beget a thousand
cares and fears, but quiet none. But thy sin that procures these hath a
power to torment and torture thy soul.

(3.) When thou hast the world's crown on thy head, how long shalt thou
wear it? They are sick at Rome, as he said, and die in princes' courts,
as well as at the spital; yea, kings themselves are put as naked to
their beds of dust as others. In that day all thy thoughts will perish
with thee. But the guilt of thy sin, which was the ladder by which thou
didst climb up the hill of honour, will dog thee into another world.
These and such like are the considerations by which faith breaks off the
bargain.

4. Faith presents the Christian with the exploits of former saints, who
have renounced the world's honour and applause, rather than defile their
con­sciences, and prostitute their souls to be deflowered by the least
sin. Great Tamerlane carried the lives of his ancestors into the field
with him, in which he used to read before he gave battle, that he might
be stirred up not to stain the blood of his family by cowardice or any
unworthy behaviour in fight. Thus, faith peruses the roll of Scripture-
saints, and the exploits of their faith over the world, that the
Christian may be excited to the same gallantry of spirit. This was
plainly the apostle's design in recording those worthies, with the
trophies of their faith, Heb. 11--that some of their no­bleness might
steal into our hearts while we are read­ing of them, as appears, 'Seeing
we also are com­passed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so eas­ily beset us,'
Heb. 12:1. Oh, what courage does it put into the soldier to see some
before him run upon the face of death! Elisha, having seen the miracles
of God wrought by Elijah, smites the waters of Jordan with his mantle,
saying, 'Where is the Lord God of Elijah?--'and they parted,' II Kings
2:14. Thus faith makes use of the exploits of former saints and turns
them into prayer. Oh where is the Lord God of Abra­ham, Moses, Samuel,
and those other worthies, who by faith have trampled on the world's pomp
and glory, subdued temptations, stopped the mouths of lion-like lusts?
Art not thou, O God, god of the val­leys--the meanest saints, as well as
of the mountains --more eminent heroes? Do not the same blood and
spirits run in the veins of all believers? Were they victorious, and
shall I be the only slave, and of so prostrate a spirit, like Issachar,
to couch under my burden of corruption without shaking it off? Help me,
O my God, that I may be avenged of these my enemies. And when it hath
been with God it will also plead with the Christian himself. 'Awake,'
saith faith, 'O my soul, and prove thyself akin to these holy men --that
thou art born of God as they were--by thy victory over the world.'

[Faith's victory over the world distinguished from

that attained by some of the better heathens.]

Objection. But some may say, if this be all faith enables to, this is no
more than some heathens have done. They have trampled on the profits,
pleasures of the world, who never knew what faith meant.

Answer. Indeed, many of them have done so much by their moral
principles, as may make some, who would willingly pass for believers,
ashamed to be outgone by them who shot in so weak a bow. Yet it will
appear that there is a victory of faith, which, in the true believer,
outshoots them more than their moral conquest doth the debauched
conversations of looser Christians.

1. Distinction. Faith quenches the lust of the heart. Those very embers
of corruption, which are so secretly raked up in the inclination of the
soul, find the force and power of faith to quench them. Faith purifies
the heart, Acts 15:9. Now none of their con­quests reach the heart.
Their longest ladder was too short to reach the walls of this castle.
They swept the door, trimmed a few outward rooms; but the seat and sink
of all, in the corruption of man's nature, was never cleansed by them;
so that the fire of lust was rather pent in than put out. How is it
possible that could be cleansed, the filthiness of which was never known
to them? Alas! they never looked so near themselves to find that enemy
within them which they thought was without. Thus, while they laboured to
keep the thief out he was within, and they knew it not. For they did
either proudly think that the soul was naturally endued with principles
of virtue, or vainly imagined it to be but an abrasa tabula--white
paper, on which they might write good or evil as they pleased. Thus you
see the seat of their war was in the world without them, which, after
some sort, they con­quered; but the lust within remained untouched,
be­cause a terra incognita--an unknown region to them. It is faith from
the word that first discovers this unfound land.

2. Distinction. Faith's victory is uniform. Sin in Scripture is called a
'body,' Rom. 6:6, because made up of several members, or as the body of
an army, con­sisting of many troops and regiments. It is one thing to
beat a troop or put a wing of an army to flight, and another thing to
rout and break the whole army. Something hath been done by moral
principles, like the former. They have got some petty victory, and had
the chase of some more gross and exterior sin; but then they were
fearfully beaten by some other of sin's troops. When they seemed to
triumph over 'the lust of the flesh' and 'eye'--the world's profits and
pleasures--they were at the same time slaves to 'the pride of life,'
mere gloriæ animalia--creatures of fame--kept in chains by the credit
and applause of the world. As the sea which, they say, loses as much in
one place of the land as it gains in another; so, what they got in a
seeming victory over one sin they lost again by being in bondage to
another, and that a worse, because more spiritual. But now, faith is
uni­form, and routs the whole body of sin, that not one single lust
stands in its unbroken strength. 'Sin shall not have dominion over you:
for ye are not under the law, but under grace,' Rom. 6:14. 'Sin shall
not'--that is, no sin; it may stir like a wounded soldier on his knees--
they may rally like broken troops, but never will they be long master of
the field where true faith is seen.

3. Distinction. Faith enables the soul not only to quench these lusts,
but, the temptation being quenched, it enables him to use the world
itself against Satan, and so beat him with his own weapon by striking
his own cudgels to his head. Faith quen­ches the fire of Satan's darts,
and then shoots them back on him. This it doth by reducing all the
enjoy­ments of the world which the Christian is possessed of into a
serviceableness and subordination for the glory of God.

Some of the heathens' admired champions, to cure 'the lust of the eyes,'
have from a blind zeal plucked them out; to show the contempt of riches,
have thrown their money into the sea; to conquer the world's honour and
applause, have sequestered them­selves from all company in the world--a
preposterous way that God never chalked. Shall we call it a victory or
rather a frenzy? The world by this time perceives their folly. But faith
enables for a nobler conquest. Indeed, when God calls for any of these
enjoyments, faith can lay all at Christ's feet. But while God allows
them, faith's skill and power is in sanctifying them. It corrects the
windiness and flatulent nature of them so, that what on a naughty heart
rots and corrupts, by faith turns to good nourishment in a gracious
soul. If a house were on fire, which would you count the wiser man--he
that goes to quench the fire by pulling the house down, or he that by
throwing good store of water on it, doth this as fully, and also leaves
the house standing for your use? The heathen and some superstitious
Christians think to mortify by taking away what God gives us leave to
use; but faith puts out the fire of lust in the heart, and leaves the
crea­ture to be improved for God's glory and enjoyed to the Christian's
comfort.

[Use or Application.]

Use First. This may be a touchstone for our faith, whether of the right
make or no; is thy faith a temptation&#8209;quenching faith? Many say
they believe. Yes, that they do! They thank God they are not infi­dels.
Well, what exploits canst thou do with thy faith? Is it able to defend
thee in a day of battle, and cover thy soul in safety when Satan's darts
flee thick about thee? Or is it such a sorry shield that lets every
arrow of temptation pierce thy heart through it? Thou believest, but
still as very a slave to thy lust as ever. When a good fellow calls thee
out to a drunken meet­ing, thy faith cannot keep thee out of the snare,
but away thou goest, as a fool to the stocks. If Satan tells thee thou
mayest advantage thy estate by a lie, or cheat in thy shop, thy faith
stands very tamely by and makes no resistance. In a word, thou hast
faith, and yet drivest a trade of sin in the very face of it! Oh! God
forbid that any should be under so great a spirit of delusion to carry
such a lie in their hand and think it a saving faith. Will this faith
ever carry thee to heaven that is not able to bring thee out of hell?
for there thou livest while under the power of thy lust. 'Will ye steal,
murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely,... and come and stand
before me,' Jer. 7:9. If this be faith, well fare and honest heathens
who escaped these gross pollutions of the world, which you like beasts
with your faith lie wallowing in. I had rather be a sober heathen than a
drunken Christian, a chaste heathen than an unclean believer.

Oh venture not the life of your souls with such a paper shield. Come to
him for a faith that is the faith maker--God I mean. He will help thee
to a faith that shall quench the very fire of hell itself, though
kindled in thy bosom, and divide the waves of thy lust in which now thou
art ever drowned--as once he did the sea for Israel--that thou shalt go
on dry land to heaven, and thy lusts not be able to knock off the wheels
of thy chariot. But, if thou attemptest this with thy false faith, the
Egyptians' end will be thine. 'By faith they passed through the Red sea
as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned,' Heb.
11:29. Though true faith gets safely through the depths of temptation,
yet false faith will drown by the way.

But, perhaps thou canst tell us better news than this, and give us
better evidence for the truth of thy faith than so. Let us therefore
hear what singular thing hath been done by thee since a believer. The
time was thou wert as weak as water; every puff of wind, blast of
temptation, blew thee down; thou wert carried as a dead fish with the
stream. But, canst thou say [that] since thou hast been acquainted with
Christ thou art endued with a power to repel those temptations which
before held thy heart in perfect obedience to their commands? Canst thou
now be content to bring thy lusts, which once were of great price with
thee--as those believers did their conjuring books, Acts 19:19--and
throw them into the fire of God's love in Christ to thy soul, there to
consume them? Possibly thou hast not them at present under thy foot in a
full conquest. Yet have they begun to fall in thy thoughts of them? and
is thy countenance changed towards them to {from} what it was? Be of
good comfort, this is enough to prove thy faith of a royal race. 'When
Christ cometh,' said the convinced Jews, 'will he do more miracles than
these which this man hath done?' John 7:31. And when Christ comes by
faith into the heart, will he do greater works than these thy faith hath
done?

Use Second. This helps to answer that objection by which many poor souls
are discouraged from be­lieving and closing with the promise. 'Oh,'
saith the tempted soul, 'ye bid me believe--alas! how dare I, when I
cannot get victory of such a lust, and am over­come by such a
temptation? What have such as I to do with a promise?' See here, poor
soul, this Goliath prostrated. Thou art not to believe because thou art
victorious, but that thou mayest be victorious. The reason why thou art
so worsted by thy enemy is for want of faith. 'If ye will not believe,
surely ye shall not be established,' Isa. 7:9. Wouldst thou be cured
before thou goest to the physician? that sounds harsh to thy own reason,
and is as if thou shouldst say thou wilt not go to the physician till
thou hast no need of him. No; go and touch Christ by faith that virtue
may flow from him to thy soul; thou must not think to eat the fruit
before thou plantest the tree. Victory over corruption is a sweet fruit;
but found growing upon faith's branches. Satan does by thee as Saul did
by the Israelites, who weakened their hands in battle by keeping them
fasting. Up and eat, Christian, a full meal on the promise, if thou
wouldst find thy eyes enlightened and thy hands strengthened for the
com­bat with thy lusts. It is one part of the 'doctrine of devils,'
which we read of, I Tim. 4:3, to forbid 'meats which God hath created to
be received with thanks­giving.' But the grand doctrine of the devil
which above all he would promote is, to keep poor trem­bling souls from
feeding by faith on the Lord Jesus; as if Christ were some forbidden
fruit! Whereas, God hath appointed him above all other, that he should
be received with thanksgiving of all humble sinners. And therefore, in
the name of God, I invite you to this feast. Oh, let not your souls--who
see your need of Christ, and are pinched at your very heart for want of
him--be lean from day to day from your unbelief; but come, 'eat, and
your souls shall live.' Never was child more welcome to his father's
table than thou art to Christ's, and that feast which stands on the
gospel board.

Use Third. Make use of faith, O ye saints, as for other ends and
purposes, so particularly for this, of quenching this kind of fiery
darts, viz. enticing temp­tations. It is not the having of a shield, but
the hold­ing and wielding of it, that defends the Christian. Let not
Satan take thee with thy faith out of thy hand, as David did Saul in the
cave, with his speak sticking in the ground which should have been in
his hand.

[Directions how to use the shield of faith

to quench enticing temptations.]

Question. But how would you have me use my shield of faith for my
defence against these fiery darts of Satan's enticing temptations?

Answer. By faith engage God to come in to thy succour against them. Now,
there are three engaging acts of faith which will bind God--as we may so
say with reverence--to help thee, because he binds him­self to help
such.

Direction 1. The first is the prayerful act of faith. Open thy case to
God in prayer, and call in help from heaven--as the governor of a
besieged castle would send a secret messenger to his general or prince
to let him know his state and straits. The apostle James saith, 'Ye
fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not,' chap. 4:2. Our
victory must drop from heaven if we have any. But it stays till prayer
comes for it. Though God had a purpose to deliver Israel out of Egypt,
yet no news of his coming till the groans of his people rang in his
ears. This gave heav­en the alarm, 'Their cry has come up to God,... and
God heard their groaning, and remembered his covenant,' Ex. 2:24. Now
the more to prevail upon God in this act of faith, fortify thy prayer
with those strong reasons which saints have used in like cases. As,

(1.) Engage God from his promise when thou prayest against any sin. Show
God his own hand in such promises as these, 'Sin shall not have dominion
over you,' Rom. 6:14. 'He will subdue our iniquities,' Micah 7:19.
Prayer is nothing but the promise reversed, or God's word formed into an
argument, and retorted by faith upon God again. Know, Christian, thou
hast law on thy side; bills and bonds must be paid, Ps. 119:37. David is
there praying against the sins of a wanton eye and a dead heart, 'Turn
away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.'
And see how he urgeth his argument in the next words--'Stablish thy word
unto thy servant.' A good man is as good as his word, and will not a
good God? But where finds David such a word for help against these sins?
surely in the covenant; it is the Magna Charta. The first promise held
forth thus much, 'The seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head.'

(2.) Plead with God from relation when thou art against any sin. Art
thou one God hath taken into his family? Hast thou chosen God for thy
God? Oh what an argument hast thou here! 'I am thine, Lord, save me,'
saith David. Who will look after the child if the father will not? Is it
for thy honour, O God, that any child of thine should be a slave to sin?
'Be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy
name.' 'Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have
dominion over me,' Ps. 119:132.

(3.) Engage God from his Son's bloody death to help thee against thy
lusts that were his murderers. What died Christ for but to 'redeem us
from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,' Titus
2:14. And shall not Christ be reimbursed of what he laid out? Shall he
not have the price of his blood and purchase of his death? In a word,
what is Christ praying for in heaven, but what was in his mouth when
praying on earth? That his Father would 'sanc­tify them, and keep them
from the evil of the world.' Thou comest in a good time to beg that of
God which thou findest Christ hath asked for thee.

Direction 2. A second way to engage God is by faith's expecting act;
when thou hast been with God expect good from God. 'I will direct my
prayer unto thee, and will look up,' Ps. 5:3. For want of this many a
prayer is lost. If you do not believe, why do you pray? and if you
believe, why do you not expect? By praying, you seem to depend on God;
by not expect­ing, you again renounce your confidence and ravel out your
prayer. What is this but to take his name in vain, and to play
bo&#8209;peep with God? as if one that knocks at your door should,
before you came to open it to him, go away and not stay to be spoken
with. Oh Christian, stand to your prayer in a holy expectation of what
you have begged upon the credit of the prom­ise, and you cannot miss of
the ruin of your lusts.

Question. O, but, saith the poor soul, shall not I presume to expect
when I have prayed against my corruptions that God will bestow on me so
great a mercy as this is?

Answer (1.) Dost thou know what it is to presume? He presumes that takes
a thing before it is granted. He were a presumptuous man indeed that
should take your meat off your table who never was invited. But I hope
your guest is not over-bold that ventures to eat of what you set before
him. For one to break into your house, upon whom you shut the door, were
presumptuous; but to come out of a storm into your house when you are so
kind as to call him in, is no presumption, but good manners. And, if God
opens not the door of his promise to be a sanc­tuary to poor humbled
sinners fleeing from the rage of their lust, truly then I know none of
this side heaven that can expect welcome. God hath promised to be a
king, a lawgiver, to his people. Now it is no presumption in subjects to
come under their princes' shadow and expect protection from them, Isa.
33:21, 22. God there promiseth he 'will be unto us a place of broad
rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall
gallant ships pass thereby.' 'For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our
lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.' God speaks to his
people as a prince or a state would to their sub­jects. He will secure
them in their traffic and mer­chandise from all pirates and pickroons;
they shall have a free trade. Now, soul, thou art molested with many
pirate lusts that infest thee and obstruct thy commerce with heaven--
yea, thou hast complained to thy God what loss thou hast suffered by
them; is it now presumption to expect relief from him, that he will
rescue thee from them, that thou mayest serve him without fear who is
thy liege&#8209;lord?

Answer (2.) You have the saints for your prece­dents, who, when they
have been in combat with their corruptions, yea, been foiled by them,
have even then acted their faith on God, and expected the ruin of those
enemies which for the present have overrun them. Iniquities prevail
against me, Ps. 65:3--he means his own sins and others' wrath. But see
his faith. At the same time they prevailed over him he beholds God
destroying of them, as appears in the very next words, 'As for our
transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.' See here, poor Christian,
who thinkest thou shalt never get above deck. Holy David has a faith not
only for himself, but also [for] all be­lievers--of whose number I
suppose thee one--'as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them
away!' And mark the ground he hath for his confidence, taken from God's
choosing act, 'Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to
approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts,' ver. 4. As if he
had said, 'Surely he will not let them be under the power of sin or want
of his gracious succour whom he sets so nigh himself.' This is Christ's
own argument against Satan in the behalf of his people. 'The Lord rebuke
thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jeru­salem rebuke thee,'
Zech. 3:2.

Answer (3.) Thou hast encouragement for this expecting act of faith from
what God already hath en­abled thee to do. Thou canst, if a believer
indeed, through mercy say, that sin is not in that strength within thy
soul as it was before thy acquaintance with Christ, his word and ways.
Though thou art not what thou wouldst be, yet also thou art not what
thou hast been. There was a time when sin played rex--king, in thy heart
without control. thou didst go to sin as a ship to sea before wind and
tide. Thou didst dilate and spread thy affections to receive the gale of
temp­tation. But now the tide is turned, and runs against those motions,
though weakly--being but new flood; yet thou findest a secret wrestling
with them, and God seasonably succouring thee, so that Satan hath not
all his will on thee. Well, here is a sweet beginning, and let me tell
thee, this promiseth thee a readiness in God to perfect the victory;
yea, God would have thy faith improve this into a confidence for a total
deliv­erance. 'Moses,' when he slew the Egyptian, 'sup­posed his
brethren would have understood,' by that little hint and essay, 'how
that God by his hand would deliver them,' Acts 7:25. Oh it is a bad
improvement of the succours God gives us, to argue from them to
unbelief: 'He smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, can he give
bread also?' He broke my heart, saith the poor creature, when it was a
rock, a flint, and brought me home when I was walking in the pride of my
heart against him; but, can he give bread to nourish my weak grace? I am
out of Egypt; but can he master those giants in iron chariots that stand
betwixt me and Canaan? He helped me in such a temptation; but what shall
I do the next bout? Oh,

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/william-gurnall/the-christian-in-complete-armour-part-12/
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