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for orders, for strength; and by faith thou wilt receive sensible experience of my being present with thee, and on thy side. Only trust me, and thou shalt find me faithful to my promise of help and victory. Go forth then to thy daily warfare, and boldly face Satan. Fear him not in the least: for that would betray a doubt of my having him under my feet, or of my putting him under thine. Give not place to him; no, not for a moment but resist him, and continue to resist him, steadfast in faith and prayertrusting to my promise, and depending on mine arm. Be sober, be vigilant. vigilant. Thus oppose the devil, and thou wilt certainly conquer him. And having conquered, fight on. In the fight look to me for victory; having obtained it, expect a fresh battle, and look still to me for victory and thus go on conquering and to conquer. Thy crown is in my keeping. As sure as I have it on my head, it shall be on thine. Thou shalt soon sit down with me on my throne, a crowned conqueror for evermore.

Glory be to thee, my precious Jesus, for

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these faithful promises, in which thou hast caused me to put my trust. And now, Lord, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant be established, and do as thou hast said. Thou hast put it into my heart to desire to be a good soldier, and to fight thy battles against all the enemies of thy crown and dignity. O thou glorious Captain of my salvation, daily warfare with Satan. ning for me; O my God, vices. He is too mighty for me, but the seed of the woman hath bruised his head; yes, almighty Jesus, thou hast destroyed the devil and his works. I believe in thy victory. O let me partake of its fruits, and daily bring thee honour and renown by my victories. Make me strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, that I may not fear Satan: send me out against him, armed with thine invincible armour. Strengthen me,

O my God, that I faint not through the length or sharpness of the battle; but enable me to persevere, till thou discharge me from the war. Thus, in a constant dependence up

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on thee, would I fight the good fight of faith, keeping up communion with thee in every battle, and growing more acquainted with my wants, and more thankful for every supply. O my loving Jesus, increase my fellowship with thee. I desire to war a good warfare, and every thing needful for it is from thee. From thy fulness I expect it; and when I receive it, I would use it to thy glory. Hear, Lord, and answer me, for thy mercies' sake. Amen and Amen.

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CHAP. XIV.

The believer, kept by the power of God, perseveres in his holy walk and victorious warfare.

AFTER the believer has made a great progress in his walk, and has been very successful in his warfare, yet he is not out of the reach of any temptation. He is still

liable to be stopped in the way of duty. His enemies may cheat him by some stratagem or gain some advantage over him by open force. While he is attending to these things, as they come before him in his daily experience, a thought will often arise:

I am afraid my profession will at last come to nothing, and I shall be a cast-away. I feel so much corruption working in my duties, and my heart is so ready to revolt and to turn from the Lord in every battle, that I cannot help being uneasy about my

final state. How can I? it is not in me to hold out and persevere against so much opposition from within and without. What signifies my resolution to walk forward, or to fight for an uncertain crown? I think I gain no ground. Mine own carnal will plagues me, and I love ease and quiet as much as ever. My corruptions seem as many, and mine enemies as strong, as they were. One day, I fear, I shall perish by their hands. My heart faints at the thought. My courage fails me. O wretched man that I am! where, to whom shall I look for

strength to enable me to hold out unto the end?

No believer is absolutely free from such an attack; and there are seasons very favourable to it. If his mind be in heaviness through manifold temptations, and by reasoning legally upon them; if he be under the hidings of the Lord's countenance, or in a time of desertion; if he be fallen into any great sin, perhaps his old besetting sin; if the guilt of it be upon his conscience, and the indignation of God be heavy upon him: then such thoughts find easy admittance; and if they be indulged, they greatly distress the believer for they directly assault his faith, and strike at the very being of his hope." As these graces are weakened, he moves slowly; and if unbelief prevail, there is a stop put to his progress in the heavenly

road.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has made ample provision for victory over this temptation. The principles before insisted on are now to be brought into practice. Here is a fresh occasion to try their power

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