* thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Then surely, a louder strain of triumphant praise echoed through the everlasting mansion of happiness, as Satan fled before his Almighty conqueror. "Then the

devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him." Although the Lord Jesus felt the pangs of hunger, after a miraculous fast of forty days and forty nights, yet he refused to supply his wants, by commanding the stones to be made. bread; or by taking possession, of all the kingdoms of the earth, and the glory of them, because by doing so, he would have yielded to the tempter, and shown a want of faith in God, and a want of trust in his providence. But no sooner had he obtained a victory over his natural inclinations, and put his enemy to flight, than the angels of heaven were sent down to minister unto him.

Thus, when his faithful people are enabled, by the grace of God, to follow the example of their Master, and to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil; they receive support and comfort from above; they receive a supply of those things, which they re

* Deuteronomy, vi. 13.

fused to obtain by sinful means, or they are enabled to rest satisfied without them: their faith is strengthened and exercised; so that when others are saying,* "who will show us any good," they can adopt the confiding language of the Psalmist, Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep for thou Lord, only makest me dwell in safety."

My brethren, the same powerful being who dared to tempt our blessed Saviour; is still in the world; and we are liable to his assaults every moment of our lives: he does not, indeed, appear before us in a visible form, but he gains an entrance into our hearts, and suggests those evil thoughts, which afterwards burst forth in evil words and evil deeds; he is ever on the watch to ruin our souls, for we are told in the Book of Revelation+ "that he has great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." We ought, therefore, to be ever on our guard against his attacks; and to inquire dili

* Psalm, iv. 6 to the end. + Rev. xii. 12.

gently, how and where we may obtain strength to resist him.

Our Saviour has left us the same powerful weapon, with which he overcame his enemy "the sword of the spirit, the word of God." But we are too weak to wield this heavenly weapon; and too much exposed to the fiery darts of our enemy, to be able to stand the unequal contest. We require more than mortal strength, and more than earthly armour, to prepare us for our spiritual combat; and such strength and such armour are promised in the word of God; and we are frequently invited, and exhorted to make use of them. The Prophet Isaiah, thus directs us to the true source of strength, in the fortieth chapter of his prophecy. + "Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they

* Isaiah, xl. 28 to the end.

ness."

shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." And in the forty-first chapter of the same prophecy, the Lord makes this merciful promise to his church.* "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousAnd the Psalmist in the name of the church thus acknowledges this protection, in the forty-sixth psalm"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God

*Isaiah, xli. 10.

God

of Jacob is our refuge. Come behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."

And when St. Paul besought the Lord thrice; that his temptation might depart from him, thus, he has answered*

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My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." And the same Apostle afterwards, in the Epistle to the Philippians, thus declares the fulfilment of this promise.t "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." And in his Epistle to the Ephesians, we find him exhorting them to resist the assaults of Satan; and pointing out to them the means which they possessed of resisting him successfully; in the last chapter of this epistle, after he had given particular directions to every age, and rank, and condition; to husbands and wives, parents and children,

* 2 Corinthians, xii. 9. + Philippians, iv. 13.