Peter, who, after having thrice solemnly and deliberately denied his Lord, had the care of Christ's sheep three several times committed to his trust. Such was St. Paul, who from a blasphemer of the truth, and a persecutor of the Church of God, was made a chosen vessel unto Christ, to bear his name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel. Such, once more, was St. Matthew, who from sitting at the receipt of custom, and the infamous character of a publican, was chosen to be an Apostle, and had the honour of being the first writer of the New Testament,

MEDITATION XLII.

Resistance of Temptation.

To all his former valuable gifts, God hath been pleased to add the restraining power of his Holy Spirit in the hours of trial. By which I mean the power of resisting and abstaining from, not only the pleasures of flesh and sense, but all other temptations and vices whatsoever, to which it is no less criminal to yield, than it would be to those of carnality and luxury. And this I count a privilege so happy, as to challenge that acknowledgment of praise, he that is mighty, hath done for me great things. Some perhaps there are who have but a mean esteem of this blessing; but to me it appears a very signal one. For I am sensible what enemies I have to encounter, and how very great a proportion of strength is necessary, for waging this spiritual war with any tolerable success. The first enemy, which makes head against the safety of our soul, is our own flesh; and the assaults upon it are those perpetual lustings against the Spirit, of which every man hath such woful experience, in his own breast. Now this is an enemy, from whose cruelty there is no running away; it is a domestic foe, an intestine war, and consequently a combat of infinite hazard and danger. Thou canst not, O my soul, dispossess or drive him out of thy quarters. The condition of thy nature hath tied him close to thee, and carry him about thou must wheresoever thou goest. Now what can aggravate our perils or our

misery more than this, that we are under an indispensable necessity of subsisting the forces that fight against us? Kill them we must not, and starve them out we cannot. Consider this and then tell me, how strict a watch thou oughtest to keep over a seducer that lieth in thy bosom.

But neither is this the only adversary we have to engage with; there is another which lays close siege, and compasseth us in on every side. I mean the present evil world, which hath no less than five avenues, always open to make his approaches by: the five senses of our body, through which he wounds me with his darts, and so death comes up into my windows and enters into my palaces.

The third is that common and inveterate enemy of mankind, that old serpent, which is more subtle than all the beasts of the field. An enemy that attacks us unseen, and consequently more difficult to be avoided. Nor does he always proceed in the same method; but sometimes falls on with open violence, sometimes trepans us by secret cunning and fraudulent insinuation. His malice, however, and his cruelty, are always the same, and the end at which he aims by the most different means, is constantly our mischief and eternal ruin. And who now is sufficient, to vanquish, shall I say? nay, even to hold out, and keep himself from being vanquished by this triple alliance and joint force? of these things I thought fit to have the more express notice taken, that my soul might have the juster notion of the excellence, but withal the difficulty too, of that conquest, for which the power of the Holy Spirit is always necessary. They who are happy in it, should be duly sensible how valuable a gift they have received from God, and in that sense might

excite their hearts to a more earnest love of their Preserver and great Benefactor, who alone could bestow it upon them. For it is through the Lord that we do all the great acts of this kind, and tread them under, that rise up against us. He it is, that subdues and crucifies our flesh, with its affections and lusts: he that protects us against this present evil world, and mortifies us to all its vanities; and he it is, that breaks the serpent's head, and bruises Satan under our feet, with all his wicked wiles and temptations. Is there not reason then from the contemplation of this grace, and of the conquests it makes, and the power of making them which is received from above, to cry out again and again, he that is mighty hath done for me great things, and holy is his name?

By being enabled to vanquish temptations, I am put into a condition of escaping eternal death; but it is yet a farther instance of mercy, that the Lord my God affords me such grace, as may qualify me for inheriting the blessings of eternal life. And this I take chiefly to consist in three things; the hatred of past evil, the contempt of present good, and the desire of that good which is to come: which desire is also supported and inflamed by another precious gift of God, the hope of obtaining that future blessedness. Now there are likewise three considerations, which uphold and strengthen my heart in this hope: and that so firmly, that no want of desert, on my part, not even the lowest and most mortifying thoughts of my vileness and unworthiness, nor the highest and most enlarged notions of the excellence of that bliss in heaven, can cast me down from this high tower of hope. No, my soul is rooted and grounded in it, past the power of being shaken with any melancholy misgivings. And the foundations that bear me up in all this firmness of mind are three. First, I consider the greatness of God's love, expressed in my adoption. Secondly, the truth of God, which hath promised this blessedness. And, thirdly, the power of God to make good whatever he hath promised to the uttermost. Let then my foolish desponding heart raise scruples to confound me, and object never so importunately