There shall be no mortal to
comfort me against thy assaults; thou shalt have time sufficient; do
what thou canst, I shall not fly the place of battle. If thou become
victor, thou shalt still continue in possession of thy kingdom in this
wretched world; but if thou canst not prevail against me, then must thy
prey and unjust spoil be taken from thee; thou must grant thyself
vanquished and confounded, and must be compelled to leave off from all
accusation of the members of my body; for to them appertains the fruit
of my battle, my victory is theirs, as I am appointed to take the
punishment of their sins in my body."
What comfort ought the remembrance of these signs to be to our hearts!
Christ Jesus hath fought our battle; He Himself hath taken us into His
care and protection; however the devil may rage by temptations, be they
spiritual or corporeal, he is not able to bereave us out of the hand of
the almighty Son of God. To Him be all glory for His mercies most
abundantly poured upon us!
There remains yet to be spoken of the time when our Lord was tempted,
which began immediately after His baptism. Whereupon we have to note
the mark, that altho the malice of Satan never ceases, but always seeks
for means to trouble the godly, yet sometimes he rages more fiercely
than others, and that is commonly when God begins to manifest His love
and favor to any of His children, and at the end of their battle, when
they are nearest to obtain final victory.
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