Thomas Manton · 32 of 60

And lead us not into temptation. · Part 3

Use. If temptations be a usual evil, wherewith we encounter in the present world, then—

First, We should not be dismayed at them.

Secondly, We should be prepared for them.

First, We should not be dismayed at them, as if some strange thing did befall us. When we enter into the lists with Satan, resist the devil. Why? 1 Pet. v. 9, ‘For all those things are accomplished in your brethren that are in the flesh.’ They are all troubled with a busy devil, a naughty world, and a corrupt heart! And why should we look for a total exemption, and to go to heaven in an unusual way?

That we may not be dismayed by temptation, I shall give you several considerations.

[1.] We took an oath to fight under Christ’s banner. Baptism it is sacramentum militare, our military oath, which we took to fight in Christ’s cause, against all the oppositions and difficulties we meet with in the world: 1 Pet. iii. 21. The apostle calls baptism ‘The answer of a good conscience towards God.’ An answer supposeth a question. It is an allusion to the questions propounded by the catechist to the catechumen. When they came to desire baptism, they asked them, Abrenuncias? Dost thou renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil? And they answered, Abrenuncio, I do renounce them. So Credis? Dost thou believe in Jesus Christ with all thy heart? as Philip propounds the question to the eunuch; and they answered, Credo, I do believe. Wilt thou undertake to walk in all holy obedience? and the answer is, I do undertake before God. Conscience, which is God’s deputy, puts the question, in God’s name, to those which take the seals of his covenant, Are you willing to renounce the flesh and worldly vanities? Will you cleave to God, and his ways, whatever they cost you? Whosoever makes this answer,, is supposed that he makes it knowingly, that he doth understand the difficulties of salvation, and what he must meet with in his way to heaven. So the apostle saith, ‘You are not debtors to the flesh,’ Rom. viii. 12. A man is a debtor to another, either by the obligation of some received benefit, or by his solemn promise and engagement; both are of use in that place. They that would seek the well-being of their souls, need not gratify the flesh. They that are engaged to walk after the Spirit, and come under the bond of a holy oath, and that are thus solemnly engaged, cannot expect to carry on the profession of godliness without conflicts and multiplied difficulties.

[2.] That is not the happiest condition which is most quiet and free from the temptations of Satan; for Luke xi. 21, ‘When the strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace.’ When the devil hath quiet possession, he doth not trouble men. The sea must needs be smooth and calm when wind and tide go one way. There are some which suspect their condition, because of continual temptation; and others, because they have no temptation. Neither is a safe rule, for the time of our conflict may not yet be come. But if any have cause to suspect themselves, it is the last sort; for they that are least troubled may be most hurt; they are quiet and secure, because Satan hath got them into his snare, and hath a quiet dominion in their souls.

[3.] Jesus Christ himself was tempted, and therefore we should not be dismayed with temptations. Upon several accounts is this a comfort to us; partly, as it shows that we cannot look for an exemption, for the captain of our salvation was thus exercised, Heb. ii. 10. Be not disconsolate, it becomes good soldiers to follow their captain. We are to pledge him in this cup. He was tempted, therefore we shall be tempted. Partly and chiefly, because now he is more likely 10 pity us. It is said, Heb. ii. 18, ‘Wherefore he is able to succour those that are tempted.’ Jesus Christ hath felt the weight and trouble of temptations, therefore sure he will pity us if we lie under griefs and dangers; as a man that hath been shipwrecked himself is the more likely to pity others in their distress when they have lost all. One that knows evils by guess and imagination, knows them only at a distance, and doth not know how evil they are; but he that knows them by experience, he knows them at hand, and by such a smart sense as must needs leave a deep stroke and impression upon the soul. So Jesus Christ, that hath had an experimental knowledge, that knows the heart of a tempted man, can more feelingly succour those that are tempted; his heart becomes tender by experience; he knows the danger and troubles we are subject unto; therefore be not dismayed. And partly too, because by suffering this evil in his own person, he hath pulled out the sting of temptation. Christ sanctified every condition that he passed through; his being poor hath pulled out the sting of poverty. It is the more comportable now to a godly [poor man, one that hath an interest in Christ. His dying hath pulled out the sting of death; so that what is to him a prison (Isa. liii. 8, ‘He shall be taken from prison and from judgment’) is to us a bed of ease: Isa. lvii. 2, ‘They shall rest in their beds;’ so his being tempted hath unstung temptations, and hath made them not so grievous. And partly too, as he hath directed us how to stand out, and with what kind of weapons to foil Satan. Christ, that is a pattern of doing and suffering, is also a pattern of resisting. He that left us an example of doing the will of God, and of suffering with meekness, and when he was reviled, reviled not again; so in resisting temptations hath he left us an example, hath taught us how to grapple with the devil, and in what manner to repress his temptation; therefore we should not be altogether dismayed.

[4.] Consider the comforts of the tempted. Abundantly hath God provided for his servants in their conflicts.

(1.) Jesus Christ, our general, the captain of our salvation, in whose quarrel we are engaged, hath overcome all our enemies, we are interested in his victory: John xvi. 33, ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’ We may have many pressing and searching troubles, but the sting of them is gone. Non pugna sublata est, scd victoria: Christ hath not taken away the combat, we must fight; but the victory is sure, he hath overcome the world. This is our comfort when we are full of faintings and fears, that all things are vanquished and overcome by Christ; that though they terrify us, yet they shall not hurt us. Though Christ will not exempt us from battle, yet we have to do with the devil, the world, and death, which are all vanquished enemies.

(2.) He hath a tender sense and knowledge of our estate. Christ saith to Peter, ‘Satan hath a desire to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not,’ Luke xxii. 32. Christ’s love and mercy is never more at work for his people than when they are most assaulted by Satan; then is he interceding for them: John xiii. 1, ‘Jesus having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.’ When Christ was about to go to heaven, he thought, My own are to be left in the world, they are exposed to great temptation; and that set his heart a-work, as if he had said, Poor creatures! they are undone if I help them not. So, Zech. iii. 1, 2, ‘And he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?’ ‘And he showed me!’ Our whole case and danger it is clearly known to Christ. He knows how Satan molests and troubles you in your approaches to God; how he seeks to divert your thoughts, to weaken your confidence. We have a friend and advocate that puts forth the strength of his mediation and intercession, and is zealous and affectionate for the welfare of his people. ‘The Lord, that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee.’

(3.) He is engaged in the battle, and fights with us, by renewing the strength of his own grace: Phil. iv. 13, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ He gives relief and help, according to the nature of the conflict. If there be duty to be done, burden to be borne, or battle to be fought, Christ is giving in supply. As the olive-trees (Zech. iv. 11, 12) were always dropping into the lamps, so is he dropping in strength and grace into the heart: Ps. xvi. 8, ‘I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.’ When a man hath an able second, he doth with the more courage go to the conflict. God is on our right hand, he is our second; his grace comes into the combat, and then the field cannot be lost. If we would exercise faith in God we might be the more confident.

(4.) He will reward us when we have done. Hold fast to the end, and I will give thee a crown of life, a garland of immortality, that shall never wither. If you will but hold out, continue to fight the good fight of faith, there will a time of triumph come. He that is now a soldier shall be a conqueror, when the crown of righteousness shall be put upon his head, 2 Tim. iv. 8. And mark that: Rom. xvi. 20, ‘And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.’

It is troublesome to be in the world, but shortly God shall bruise Satan. Mark, he doth not only say, God shall tread Satan, but tread him under your feet, triumph over him. As Joshua called upon his companions, Come set your feet upon the necks of these kings, when they were hid in the cave; so the God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly. Then your comfort will be greater, the more dangers you have gone through. As travellers, when they are come to their inn, and to their home, they sweetly remember the trouble and danger of the road; so, when we are come to heaven, these temptations will increase our rejoicing, and our triumph in God.

(5.) Even before the battle a believer may be sure of victory. In other fights the event is uncertain. Non aeque glorietur accinctus, ac discinctus, ‘Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off,’ 1 Kings xx. 11. When a field is won then they will rejoice. But a believer, when he goes to fight, is sure to have the best of it beforehand, in bello, the war, though not in proelio, the particular conflict. Why? Because the Father and Jesus Christ are stronger than all his enemies; they cannot pluck the believer out of his hands: John x. 28, 29, ‘I give to them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and none is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.’ This is the privilege which Christ conferreth upon his sheep, upon those which have an interest in him; though they have many shakings and tossings in their condition, yet their final perseverance is certain. Christ is so unchangeable in the purposes of his love, ‘I will give to them eternal life;’ and so invincible in the power of his grace, ‘None shall pluck them out of my Father’s hand;’ nothing shall be able to hinder their perseverance. Now, though the fight be long and troublesome, yet this is one of God’s encouragements, you are sure of victory at last. Therefore how muck .doth it concern us to get an interest in Christ, that we may keep on in this way and in this hope.

Secondly, Let us be provided and prepared against temptations. And to this end I shall—

First, Give some directions how to resist temptations in general.

Secondly, What to do in a special hour of temptation which comes upon the world:—

When there are terrors without, and we know not what evil may be a-coming, and our hearts are full of doubt, how we may support and bear up ourselves.

First, To direct you as to temptations in general.

[1.] You must be completely armed: Eph. vi. 11, ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.’ Not a piece only, but the whole armour of God, otherwise you will never come off with honour and safety from the spiritual conflict. The poets feign of their Achilles that he was vulnerable only in the heel, and there he got his death-wound. A Christian, though he be never so well furnished in other parts, yet if any part be left naked, you are in danger. Our first parents were wounded in their heel. Who would have thought, that they which had such vast knowledge of God and his creatures, that they should be enticed by appetite? And Solomon, who had the upper part of his soul so well guarded, that he should be enticed by women? To see men of great know ledge to be unmortified and miscarry by their sensual appetite, is sad. A Christian must have no saving grace wanting: 2 Pet i. 5, ‘Add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge,’ &c. There is all the graces, and they must come out in their turn. We need faith and virtue, zeal and holiness; and knowledge to guide it, and patience to arm it against the troubles of the present life; and we need temperance to moderate our affections to our worldly enjoyments; and godliness, that we may be frequent in communion with God; and brotherly-kindness, that we may preserve peace among our brethren, and may not make fractions and ruptures in the church; and we need charity, that we may be useful to all that are about us. There is use and work for all graces, one time or other: sometimes we shall be tempted to a neglect of God, at other times we shall be tempted to make a breach upon brotherly-kindness, at other times there will be a breach of charity. Sometimes the devil seeks to tempt us to fleshly wickedness, therefore we need temperance; sometimes to spiritual wickedness, to error, therefore we need knowledge; sometimes to raging with despair, then we need faith. We need the whole armour of God, for Satan hath his various ways of battery and assault: sometimes through ignorance we miscarry and run into error; sometimes for want of faith we run into despair and discomfort; sometimes for want of temperance violent corrupt lusts overset the soul.

[2.] We must often pray to God for renewed influences; we must not only get habits of grace, but pray for a renewed influence. It is notable, next to the spiritual armour, the apostle mentioneth prayer: Eph. vi. 18, ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance.’ We never receive so much from God upon earth as to stand in need of no more. And therefore though you put on the whole armour of God, yet ‘praying always with all supplication in the Spirit.’ Why? Because without the Lord’s special assistance, whereby he actuates those graces, we can never defend ourselves nor offend the adversaries, or do any thing to purpose in the spiritual life. Strength of grace inherent will not bear us out against new assaults. Habitual grace it needs actual influence; partly, that these graces may be applied and excited to work: Phil. ii. 13, ‘He giveth to will and to do.’ God giveth to do; that is, excites that strength you have, and carrieth it out to work; and then that it may be directed in work: 2 Thes. iii. 5, ‘And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.’ Every time we would make use of the helmet of salvation, when we would lift up the head and wait for the mercy of God. The Lord direct you; we must be directed: and not only so, but that it may be supplied with new strength, for it is said, Isa. xl. 29, ‘He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no power he increaseth strength.’ And he doth continue it: Luke xxii. 32, ‘I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.’ Thus will God keep us in dependence for those liberal aids and constant supplies of his grace, without which we cannot use the grace that we have.

[3.] You must resist: 1 Pet. v. 9, ‘Whom resist, steadfast in the faith;’ James iv. 7, ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ Stand your ground, and then Satan falls.

In all those assaults, Satan hath only weapons offensive, as fiery darts; none defensive. We have not only the sword of the Spirit, which is an offensive weapon, but the shield of faith, that is a defensive piece of armour; therefore your safety lieth in resisting.

Now, this resistance must be:—

(1.) Not faint and cold, but strong and vehement.

(2.) Thorough and total.

(3.) Constant and perpetual.

(1.) Not faint and cold. Some kind of resistance may be made by general and common grace. The light of nature will rise up in defiance of many sins, especially at first; but this must be earnest and vehement; it is against the enemies of your soul: Paul’s resistance was with serious dislikes and deep groans: Rom. vii. 15, 24, ‘The evil that I hate;’ and ‘O wretched man! how shall I be delivered?’ In most cases, a detestation or peremptory denial is enough. “When the devil tempts Christ to worship him: Mat. iv. 10, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan.’ In other cases, there must be serious disputes and repulses. When Eve speaks faintly and coldly, the devil renews his assaults with more violence: Gen. iii. 1-3, ‘Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’ She speaks there warmly, and with too impatient a resentment of the restraint, and too cold in the commination and threatening. Therefore the devil works upon her, when he saw she amplifieth the restraint; for she saith more indeed: ‘We must neither eat nor touch it.’ A faint denial is a kind of grant, and therefore your repulse to Satan must be vehement and strong. In many cases, slight Satan—answer with indignation; as though a dog barks, yet the traveller goes by: Satan cannot endure contempt. At other times, argue for God strongly. Now, the great argument that quickens you to this lively and vehement resistance is, to consider thy soul is in danger, and all thy eternal concernments. So some expound that, Eph. vi. 12, ‘We fight not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places;’ in ‘heavenly places’ it is in the original. No worldly concernments must go so near as that which concerns the eternal good and salvation of your souls. What would the devil have from thee but thy soul and thy precious enjoyments, thy peace of conscience, communion with God, thy hopes of eternal life? And when Satan comes, and bids nothing but worldly vanities, we should repel them with indignation. A merchant that hath a precious commodity, and a chapman bids him a base price, he puts up his wares with indignation, and will not so much as regard him or hear him; so when the devil comes, and would cheat you of your precious enjoyments, you should repel him with indignation, when there is such base and unworthy trifles to come in competition with your great hopes: as Christ, Mat. xvi. 26, ‘What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’ What! shall I lose my soul, my hopes, and happiness and all for such paltry things, for a little temporal advantage?

(2.) It must be a thorough and total resistance: when you yield, the devil encroacheth upon you. We are bid, in the Canticles, to ‘take the little foxes,’ to dash Babylon’s brats in pieces: we should not yield to Satan a little. The devil at first cannot hope to prevail for greater things, therefore he seems more modest in his temptations; ay, but lesser sticks set the greater on fire: when ye entertain lesser temptations, this kindles in your souls, and it is easily blown up into a great flame in your conscience. At first, when the devil came to our first parents, ‘Hath God said?’ and then, ‘You shall not surely die.’ ‘Hath God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the garden?’ The first temptation was more modest. The approaches of Satan to the soul are gradual—he, asks but a little; ay, but it is a great matter if we grant it. Consider, the evil of temptation is better kept out than got out. The stone on the top of the hill, when it begins to roll downward, it is a hard thing to stay it; we cannot say how far it will go. Saith the deceived heart, I will yield but little, and never yield again. The devil will carry thee further and further, until he hath left no tenderness in thy conscience. As many that thought to venture but a shilling or two, yet, by the secret witchery of gaming, they play away their estate, clothes and all; so many that think they will sin but little at first, at last sin away all principles of conscience and profession of godliness.

(3.) It must not be temporary, for a while, but perpetual. It concerns us not only to stand out against the first assault of Satan, but a long siege. Satan, what he cannot gain by argument, seeks to procure by importunity. But ‘resist him.’ saith the apostle, ‘steadfastly in the faith,’ 1 Pet. v. 9. As his instrument spake to Joseph, ‘from day to day,’ she ceased not, Gen. xxxix. 10. Deformed objects, when accustomed to them, seem not so odious; so the devil hopes to prevail at last, at least temptation will not seem so odious. But you must keep your zeal to the last, as we rate away an importunate beggar that will not be answered: to yield at last is to lose the glory of the conflict. Grace must not only have its work, but ‘its perfect work,’ James i. 4; so let all our graces, temperance, godliness, and brotherly kindness, have their perfect work.

[4.] There is required watchfulness: 1 Pet. v. 8, ‘Be sober, be vigilant.’ You that are not ignorant of Satan’s devices should watch that you give not him an advantage, 2 Cor. ii. 11; nor an occasion, 2 Cor. xi. 12, lest Satan tempt you; nor a pretence, Gal. v. 13, to the flesh. Certainly, he that would not be foiled needs a great deal of holy moderation, and constant jealousy over his heart; he had need to guard his senses: Ps. cxix. 37, ‘Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;’ and to look to his company: Ps. cxix. 115, ‘Depart from me, ye evil-doers, for I will keep the commandments of my God;’ and to avoid all occasions of sin, not rush into them, but keep out of the way: Prov. iv. 14, ‘Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men;’ for this is to ride into the devil’s quarters, to run into the mouth of danger. Heretofore these were wholesome instructions, and why should they not be so now? The devil is not less subtle, or sin less odious and dangerous; only we are more foolhardy, therefore stand not at such a distance as we should from occasions. It is easier to avoid the occasion than the sin when occasion is offered; as it is easier for a bird to fly from the snare than, when entangled, to avoid danger. Therefore, when you run into harm’s way, you tempt Satan to tempt; and when you look not to yourselves, it is just with God to let you fall into the snare.

Secondly, There are special times of temptation, when Christians should look to themselves. There is an evil day: Eph. vi. 13, ‘That ye may be able to stand in the evil day.’ And there is an hour of temptation upon the world: Rev. iii. 10, ‘I will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world.’ There are certain times when God is proving what men will do, and when the devil is likely to make a great advantage of our discontents and afflictions, when things fall cross to our desires, and we know not what evil waits for us; how should we do to behave ourselves?

[1.] Be not over-confident or over-diffident. Not over-confident, in running beyond the bounds of our calling, to cast ourselves into dangers and hazards of temptation. Nor over-diffident, by base flying from, or giving way when God calls for valiant resistance. Both ways is the devil likely to assault us; either by making us. foolhardy. So Satan seeks to drive us beyond the bounds of our calling, to put us out of our place, that we may be a prey to him. As men use to trouble the water, that they may rouse the fish, and draw them into the snare, and drive them out of places of safety where they rest; so the devil seeks to put us out of our safety. Peter would needs come to Christ: Mat. xiv. 28, ‘Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water;’ and we see he sinks before he could accomplish his purpose. So when we are over-confident, and run out of our calling upon hazards, then we are ever and anon ready to sink. But we should not turn back when God calls us to a valiant resistance: ‘Should such a man as I flee?’ Neh. vi. 11. Observe Peter’s dastardliness when he ventures without a call into the priest’s hall; a question of the damsel’s overturns him. He that was so cowardly when he was out of his way, look upon his boldness when he was in his work: Acts iv. 7 unto ver. 13, ‘When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they marvelled.’ John was the disciple of love, and Peter was the fearful disciple; yet how full of boldness, courage, and zeal when they were called and singled out to give proof of the reality of God’s grace! And therefore we should never be over-forward, nor over-backward, but own God in his truth when we are in our calling. Let not Satan bring you out of your place to cast yourselves as a prey to him.

[2.] In an hour of temptation, we should be more solicitous about duties than events, and about sins than dangers. As to events, God is concerned as well as you, and he will order them for his own glory. It should be your great care that you may be kept blameless to his heavenly kingdom: 2 Tim. iv. 17, 18, ‘The Lord, that hath delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom.’ However God deal with you as to events, and whatever dangers attend you, this should be your care mainly, that you may not sin, but be kept blame less. David often begged direction, that he might be guided in his trouble, and not falter, and do anything unseemly.

[3.] Be more jealous of Satan’s wiles than of his open assaults. Natural courage, and the bravery of a common and ordinary resolution, together with deep engagement of credit and interest, may do much to make us stand out against assaults, against open force and violence of evil men; but there needs a great deal of judgment to stand out against the wiles and crafts of the devil. Flesh and blood will not so easily bear us out against the secret ensnarings of the heart. The young prophet doth thunder out his message against the king, 1 Kings xiii. 3, yet was enticed by the wiles of the old prophet. So we may stand out against an open assault and apparent violence, but take heed of the secret wiles of Satan.

[4.] The wiles of Satan are to enforce and draw us into those corruptions which are incident to the season. Here is the great point of spiritual wisdom, to be seasoned in our mortification, and to withstand the spiritual evil that is apt to grow upon us in the time of our fears: Ps. lvi. 3, ‘What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.’ Then our great business is, to cherish our dependence upon God, to prevent distrust and unbelieving thoughts of God’s providence. As, on the other side, in a time when we are likely to be corrupted with ease and prosperity, then our business is to watch against security and deadness of heart, which is apt to grow upon us. As Nazianzen said, When things go prosperous with me, I read the Lamentations of Jeremiah, I remember the mournful passages which befall the people of God, and that is my cure. So to prevent despondency in a time of fears, to encourage our souls to dependence.