Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Life

by John Brown

6. The believer should remember, that this enemy is not for him to fight against alone, and that his own strength and skill will make but a slender opposition unto it. It will laugh at the shaking of his spear; it can easily insinuate itself, on all occasions, because it lieth so near and close to the soul, always residing there, and is at the believer's right hand whatever he be doing, and is always openly or closely opposing, and that with great facility; for it easily besetteth, Heb. xii. 1, because it lieth within the soul, and in all the faculties of it—in the heart, mind, will, conscience, and affections; so that upon this account, the deceitfulness of the heart is great, and passeth the search of man, Jer. xvii. 9. Man cannot know all the windings and turnings, all the drifts and designs, all the lurking and retiring places, all the falsehoods and double dealings, all the dissimulations, lies, and subterfuges, all the plausible and deceitful pretexts and insinuations of his heart acted and spirited by this law of sin and death. And besides this slight and cunning, it hath strength and power to draw by lusts into destruction and perdition, 1 Tim. iv. 9, and to carry the soul headlong; so that it makes the man's case miserable, Rom. vii. 24. All which would say, that the believer should call in other help than his own, and remember, that "through the Spirit he must mortify the deeds of the body," Rom. viii. 13.

7. And therefore the believer must lay aside all his carnal weapons, in dealing with his adversary, and look out for divine help and assistance, even for the promised Spirit, through which alone he can be instructed and enabled for this great work; for of himself he can do nothing, not so much as think a good thought as of himself, 2 Cor. iii. 5, far less will he be able to oppose such a mighty adversary, that hath so great and many advantages; and therefore all his carnal means, purposes, vows, and fightings in himself, will but render himself weaker, and a readier prey unto this adversary, which gaineth ground while he is so opposed. It is Christ alone and his Spirit, that can destroy the works of the devil, and kill or crucify this enmity.

8. So that the believer must have his recourse for help and succour here, unto Jesus the Captain of salvation, and must follow him, and fight under his banners, make use of his weapons, which are spiritual; fight according to his counsel and conduct, taking him as a Leader and Commander, and lying open for his orders and instructions, waiting for the motions of his Spirit, and following them; and thus oppose and fight against this deadly enemy, with an eye always on Christ by faith, depending on him for light to the mind, resolution to the will, and grace to the whole soul to stand in the battle, and to withstand all assaults, and never engage in a dispute with this enemy, or any lust or member of this body without Christ the principal, that is, the soul would despair in itself, and be strong in him, and in the power of his might, by faith griping to him, as Head, Captain, and Commander-in-chief, resolving to fight in his strength, and to oppose through the help of his Spirit.

9. And for this cause, the believer would eye the covenant of redemption, the basis of all our hope and consolation, wherein final and full victory is promised to Christ, as Head of the elect, viz. "that he shall bruise the serpent's head;" and so that in him, all his followers and members of his mystical body shall lift up the head, and get full victory at length over both sin and death. Now it is "God that giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. xv. 57. The believer would also eye by faith the covenant of grace, wherein particularly this same victory is promised to the believer, in and through Jesus, Rom. xvi. 20. "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly; and sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace," Rom. vi. 14. The believer, I say, would look out by faith unto, and lay hold on these and the like promises, and thereby get strength conveyed to himself, whereby he may strive lawfully, and fight valiantly, and oppose with courage and resolution.

10. Further, the believer would eye Christ as a fountain of furniture, as a full and complete magazine, standing open, and ready for every one of his honest soldiers to run to for new supplies of what they want; so that whatever they find wanting in their Christian armour, they must run away to the open magazine, Christ's fulness, that standeth ready for them, and by faith take and put on what they want and stand in need of in their warfare. If their girdle of truth be slacked, loosed, or weakened, and they be meeting with temptations anent their hypocrisy, and Satan objecting to them their double dealing, of purpose to discourage them, and to make them faint and give over the fight; they must away to him who is the truth, that he may bind on that girdle better, and make their hearts more upright before God in all they do. And if their breastplate of righteousness be weakened, and Satan there seem to get advantage, by casting up to them their unrighteous dealings towards God or men, they must flee to him, who only can help here, and beg pardon through his blood for their failings, and set to again afresh to the battle. If their resolution, which is understood by the preparation of the gospel of peace, grow weak, it must be renewed in Christ's armoury, and the feet of new be shod therewith. If their shield of faith begin to fail them, away must they get to him who "is the Author and Finisher of faith," Heb. xii. 2. And if their helmet of hope begin to fail them, in this armoury alone can that be supplied. And if their sword be blunted in their hand, or they unable to wield it aright, the Spirit of Jesus can only teach their hands to fight, and instruct them how to manage that useful weapon with advantage. Thus must the believer "be strong in him, and in the power of his might," Eph. vi. 10. "He is their God that girdeth them with strength, and maketh their way perfect. He maketh their feet like hind's feet, and setteth them upon their high places. He teacheth their hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by their arms. He giveth them the shield of salvation. His right hand upholdeth them. He girdeth with strength unto the battle," &c. Psalm xviii. 32, &c.

11. For the further strengthening of their hope, faith, and confidence, believers would eye Christ, as hanging on the cross, and overcoming by death, death, and him that hath the power of death, the devil; and so as meritoriously purchasing this redemption from the slavery of sin and Satan, and particularly from the slavery of that body of death, and of the law of sin and death; for the apostle tells us, Rom. viii. 2, "That the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus doth make us free from the law of sin and death," and that because, as he saith further, ver. 3, 4, "what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." So that the believer may now look upon that enemy, how fearful soever it may appear, as condemned and killed in the death, of Christ; he having laid down the price of redemption, hath bought this freedom from the chains and fetters with which he was held in captivity. Faith, then, on the death of Jesus satisfying justice for the poor captive, may, and should support and strengthen the hope and confidence of the believer, that he shall obtain the victory at length.

12. And it will further confirm the hope and faith of the believer, to look to Christ hanging on the cross, and there vanquishing and overcoming this arch-enemy, as a public person, representing the elect who died in him, and virtually and legally did in him overcome that jailor, and break his fetters; and the soul now believing, may, yea, should reckon itself in Christ dying, as it were, upon the cross, and there overcoming all those spiritual enemies. "Likewise," saith the apostle, Rom. vi. 11, "Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin." From hence, even while fighting, the believer may account himself a conqueror, yea, "more than a conqueror, through him that loved him," Rom. viii. 37. Now faith acting thus on Christ, as a public person, dying and overcoming death and sin, the believer may not only infer the certainty of victory, knowing that our old man is crucified with Christ, Rom. vi. 6; but also from the cross of Christ draw strength to stand and fight against the strugglings of this vanquished and killed enemy. "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts," Gal. v. 24. But how? Even by the cross of Christ. "For thereby is the world crucified unto me," saith the apostle, Gal. vi. 14, "and I unto the world." "Your old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed," Rom. vi. 6.

13. The believer being dead indeed unto sin, through the cross of Christ, is to look upon himself as legally freed from that yoke of bondage under sin and death. "The law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth," Rom. vii. 1. "But by the body of Christ believers are become dead to the law," ver. 4. That law of sin and death which hath dominion over a man that liveth still in nature, and is not yet by faith planted in the likeness of Christ's death, nor buried with him by baptism into death, Rom. vi. 4, 5, hath not that dominion over believers it had once—"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made them free from the law of sin and death," Rom. viii. 2; so that now the believer, is free from that tyranny; and that tyrant can exercise no lawful jurisdiction or authority over him; and therefore he may with the greater courage repel the insolencies of that tyrant, that contrary to all right and equity seeketh to lord it over him still. They are no lawful subjects to that cruel and raging prince, or to that spiritual wickedness.

14. So that the believer, renouncing that jurisdiction under which he was formerly, and being under a new husband, and under a new law, even the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, is to look upon all the motions of sin as illegal, and as treasonable acts of a tyrant. "The old man being crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, the believer is not any more to serve sin," Rom. vi. 6; "and being now dead, they are freed from sin," ver. 7; "and are married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, and so they should not serve sin, but bring forth fruit unto God," Rom. vii. 4; and therefore, look upon all motions of the flesh, and all the inclinations and stirrings of the old law of sin, as acts of treachery and rebellion against the right and jurisdiction of the believer's new Lord and husband; and are therefore obliged to lay hold on this old man, this body of death, and all the members of it, as traitors to the rightful king and husband, and to take them prisoners to the king, that he may give out sentence, and execute the same against them, as enemies to his kingdom and interest in the soul;—they being now no more "servants of sin, but of righteousness, they ought no more to yield their members servants to uncleanness, and iniquity unto iniquity," Rom. vi. 18, 19; "and being debtors no more to the flesh, to live after the flesh," Rom. vii. 12; "they are to mortify the deeds of the body through the spirit," ver. 13; "and to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts," Gal. v. 24; that is, by bringing them to the cross of Christ, where first they were condemned and crucified, in their full body and power; that a new sentence, as it were, may go out against them, as parts of that condemned tyrant, and as belonging to that crucified body.

15. So that the believer that would carry faithfully in this matter, and fight lawfully in this warfare, and hope to obtain the victory through Jesus Christ, must bring these traitors that appear in their sinful motions and lusts in the soul, working rebellion against the just authority and equitable laws of the lawful prince Jesus, before the tribunal of him who hath now got "all power and authority in heaven and in earth," Matt, xxviii. 18; "and hath all judgment committed to him," John v. 22; "and to this end, both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living," Rom. xvi. 9; that he may execute justice upon the traitor, head, and members; that he may trample these devils under, and bruise the head of these serpents within us. The believer then is by faith in prayer, to carry these open enemies to Christ, and declare and witness against them as traitors, by what mischief they have done in the soul, by their hindering the righteous laws of the king to be obeyed; and constraining and forcing, what by arguments and allurements, and what by forcible inclinations and pousings, to a disobedience and a counteracting of Christ; and he should urge and plead upon the fundamental laws of the land, viz. the articles of agreement betwixt the Father and the Son, and the faithful promises of the covenant of grace; and upon Christ's office as king and governor, and his undertaking as Mediator; upon the merits of his death and sufferings; upon his dying as a common person; upon the constitution of the gospel, whereby they are in law repute as dying in him, and so free from the law of sin and death; and upon their relation to him as their new Lord, Head, Husband, King, Commander, &c. Upon these arguments, I say, to plead for justice against the rebel that is now brought to the bar, and so by faith leave the prisoner in his hand, that he may, in his own time and way, give a second blow unto the neck of this implacable and raging enemy, that he may not rise up to disturb the peace of the soul as before; or to trouble, impede, and molest the soul in paying the homage and obedience due to his lawful master and sovereign king, JESUS.