Victory over your enemy

If Satan can be capable of any enjoyment, it must be a very sweet morsel for him to roll under his tongue when he thinks of the victory that he gained in paradise, when the whole human race, in the person of its representative, Adam, was so ignominiously overthrown. It is true that, since then, he has had more defeats than victories; and that, by this time, he must have had at least many a foretaste, of that final bruising of his head which was foretold in the garden, yet he still perseveres in his hopeless task of leading on his condemned legions against the followers of that great King against whom he revolted so long ago. The indomitable pluck of Satan is a thing which deserves to be imitated by Christians. The only point in which I can hold him up for your admiration is this, — desperate as his cause is, he still presses on with it, foiled as he has been ten thousand times, he is still ready for the fray. Oh, that we had half as much holy courage as he has of unholy impudence.... With such a blessed cause as our Master’s is, oh, that we had valor worthy of it!

So, Christian, I bid you again to look at your great adversary, that you may realize how stern is the conflict in which you are engaged. You are often afraid of Satan, but he is never afraid of you. If you turn your back in the day of battle, it is not likely that he will turn his. If you are to come off more than conqueror in this lifelong fight, you must be no mere feather-bed soldier. If you have only the name of a Christian, and not the nature of a Christian, defeat must certainly await you. Count the cost of this campaign before you commence it, see whether your force of one thousand is likely to prevail against your adversary’s hundred thousand; and then, as you realize your own insufficiency, cry to the Strong for strength, rely upon your almighty Ally, and in his might go forth to this holy war, rejoicing in the assurance that “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”

From a sermon entitled "Satan, Self, Sin, and the Saviour," delivered April 19, 1866.

Photo by Yuval Haimovits. Some rights reserved.