Power of God
" I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel , whom thou hast defied ."
This , and no other , is the spirit in which we must struggle with all the temptations of the world , the devil , and the flesh. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves , but our sufficiency is of God ." With this sufficiency we can do all that is required of us . "I can " says Paul " do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me ." So can we . But we must remember , that from the moment we renounce his strength and rely on our own , we are no longer to be compared with the commissioned servant of God , executing his purposes on the evil and inpious , but are rather like the simple unguarded youth that David would have been , had he acted on no other confidence but his own .
Although the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, yet we must use such weapons as we have - such as we best know how to use . The power and courage that David possessed would have availed him little without his sling and his stone ; and the powers of resistance which God has graciously consented to afford us , will be equally useless unless we apply them through the appointed means ; these are , prayer , watchfulness , resistance to sin , resolutions of holiness , and a frequent participation of the means of grace . The gifts of God avail us nothing without the disposition to use them ; and this disposition is also his gift , which will not be refused to any that diligently seek it . So God gives the sun , the rain , the soil , the seed ; but men till the field and sow the ground , or else there will be no harvest . It is God that gives the increase ; but Paul must plant and Apollos water . It is God who gives the talents , but man must put them out to the exchangers , or else Christ at his coming will not receive his own with usury . The grace of God is an invincible weapon ; but we must employ it , or it will rust - it will no more fight our spiritual battle , than a sword will defend us while we delay to draw it , or more than the stones of the brook could avail David while they only lay in the sling . Again , the sling and the stone would both have been useless , had not the Spirit of God guided the hand of David ; and in like manner , must the Christian be convinced that the means which are given to him of contending with sin , are only efficacious because " it is God that worketh in us to will and to do ." The assurance that all our strength is from above , and the determination actively to employ that strength , must go together ; neither will effect anything without the other ; but the two combined will , by the blessing of God , finally beat down Satan under our feet. Kitto
This , and no other , is the spirit in which we must struggle with all the temptations of the world , the devil , and the flesh. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves , but our sufficiency is of God ." With this sufficiency we can do all that is required of us . "I can " says Paul " do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me ." So can we . But we must remember , that from the moment we renounce his strength and rely on our own , we are no longer to be compared with the commissioned servant of God , executing his purposes on the evil and inpious , but are rather like the simple unguarded youth that David would have been , had he acted on no other confidence but his own .
Although the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, yet we must use such weapons as we have - such as we best know how to use . The power and courage that David possessed would have availed him little without his sling and his stone ; and the powers of resistance which God has graciously consented to afford us , will be equally useless unless we apply them through the appointed means ; these are , prayer , watchfulness , resistance to sin , resolutions of holiness , and a frequent participation of the means of grace . The gifts of God avail us nothing without the disposition to use them ; and this disposition is also his gift , which will not be refused to any that diligently seek it . So God gives the sun , the rain , the soil , the seed ; but men till the field and sow the ground , or else there will be no harvest . It is God that gives the increase ; but Paul must plant and Apollos water . It is God who gives the talents , but man must put them out to the exchangers , or else Christ at his coming will not receive his own with usury . The grace of God is an invincible weapon ; but we must employ it , or it will rust - it will no more fight our spiritual battle , than a sword will defend us while we delay to draw it , or more than the stones of the brook could avail David while they only lay in the sling . Again , the sling and the stone would both have been useless , had not the Spirit of God guided the hand of David ; and in like manner , must the Christian be convinced that the means which are given to him of contending with sin , are only efficacious because " it is God that worketh in us to will and to do ." The assurance that all our strength is from above , and the determination actively to employ that strength , must go together ; neither will effect anything without the other ; but the two combined will , by the blessing of God , finally beat down Satan under our feet. Kitto
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