The Christian warrior, wrestling with sin, Satan, the world and the flesh. Abridged, methodized and improved by T. Jones
by Isaac Ambrose
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Excerpt:
1. We wrestle not with flesh and blood, i. e. not with men, but with devils; not with feeble frail mortals like ourselves; but with mighty hosts of spiritual adversaries, with Satan at their head. The main contest is not with the corruptions of our nature, but with principalities and powers, with Beelzebub and his legions.
We have indeed within us hosts of busy and injurious enemies; and these are often " like the sons of Zeruiah, too hard for us." "Within are fightings;" the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and often brings us into captivity to the law of sin." We often groan, earnestly longing to be delivered from this body of sin and death. These inward sins in our souls and bodies are very formidable enemies, if there were no other.
Christians! how doth it concern you to stand upon your watch tower! You have enemies within you. If a city was besieged by foreign armies, would the citizens harbour traitors within their walls?—nay, would they not put them to death, for their own safety? You have within you a host of treacherous enemies, and these seek all occasions to betray you into the devil's hands. Is it not high time for us all to mortify the flesh with its affections and lusts, and to implore the aid and assistance of God's Spirit, to mortify our bosom traitors and murderers? These are in some respects more dangerous than the devil himself, because they are within us. They open the door to let the enemy in. Satan can do nothing, till your bosom sins betray you into his hands. He can never force you to sin, but must first gain your consent. Oh, then, how carefully should you watch over your own hearts, and live in prayer!
2. Our formidable enemies are, " principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickednesses." A. few words for each term, to shew what we have to contend with.
Principalities.—Much more than all princes,— Satan rules over all the earth, and is called " the god of this world." "The earth indeed is the Lord's," and " the Most High ruleth over the kingdoms of men." Yet Satan has now the dominion over the world in its corrupted state. When the world left God, then God, in judgment, gave Satan his dominion over it, and gave him leave to rule over all the wicked. And thus Satan rules over all the children of disobedience, and his dominion is here called, " principalities."
Powers.—They are princes, with mighty power: we cannot tell how great the power of Satan is. When God permits him, he makes a wonderful display of his power in all creation, over all the elements. He has power over fire, He can cause thunders and lightnings in the firmament, and set the heavens on fire. He has power over the air. "He is the prince of the power of the air." It was he that caused the mighty wind from the wilderness to fall upon Job's house, and kill his children. Without God's permission, he cannot make a breath of air to blow, but with permission he can at any time raise wind enough to remove mountains. Satan has power over water. He can hurl the sea into such commotion, that the depth shall boil like a pot. Satan has power over the earth, and can cause earthquakes to swallow up towns and cities, rocks and rivers.
Satan can enter into the bodies of beasts. A legion of devils entered into an herd of two thousand swine, and hurried them violently over a precipice into the sea, and drowned them. And they have no less power over the bodies of men. Read of the lunatics, the deaf and the dumb, which were healed of Christ, when on earth. And did they not carry the body of Christ himself through the air?
And what mighty power the devil has over the souls of men! He can work on the understanding, and cause thousands of evil thoughts to arise there, to our sorrow, by working on the corruptions which he finds in the soul. The devil can do great mischief in the will of men. Though he cannot command and determine it, yet he can persuade and allure it to a thousand evils. Satan works on the affections and passions of men. He deals much with our imaginations, paints sinful objects as lovely and desirable, and so kindles our affections towards them, till the consent of the will is obtained, and the soul is led captive.
