el, who, in the desert, oftentimes lacked things necessary
to the sustenance of life, and for lack of the same they grudged and
murmured; yet the Lord never cast away the providence and care of them,
but according to the word that He had once pronounced, to wit, that they
were His peculiar people; and according to the promise made to Abraham,
and to them before their departure from Egypt, He still remained their
conductor and guide, till He placed them in peaceable possession of the
land of Canaan, their great infirmities and manifold transgressions
notwithstanding."

Thus are we taught, I say, by Christ Jesus, to repulse Satan and his
assaults by the Word of God, and to apply the examples of His mercies,
which He has shown to others before us, to our own souls in the hour of
temptation, and in the time of our trouble. For what God doth to one at
any time, the same appertains to all that depend upon God and His
promises. And, therefore, however we are assaulted by Satan, our
adversary, within the Word of God is armor and weapons sufficient. The
chief craft of Satan is to trouble those that begin to decline from his
obedience, and to declare themselves enemies to iniquity, with divers
assaults, the design whereof is always the same; that is, to put
variance betwixt them and God into their conscience, that they should
not repose and rest themselves in His assured promises. And to persuade
this, he uses and invents divers arguments. Sometimes he calls the sins
of their youth, and which they have committed in the time of blindness,
to their remembrance; very often he objects their unthankfulness toward
God and present imperfections. By sickness, poverty, tribulations in
their household, or by persecution, he can allege that God is angry, and
regard them not. Or by the spiritual cross which few feel and fewer
understand the utility and profit of, he would drive God's children to
desperation, and by infinite means more, he goeth about seeking, like a
roaring lion, to undermine and destroy our faith. But it is impossible
for him to prevail against us unless we obstinately refuse to use the
defense and weapons that God has offered. Yea, I say, that God's elect
can not refuse it, but seek for their Defender when the battle is most
strong; for the sobs, groans, and lamentations of such as fight, yea,
the fear they have lest they be vanquished, the calling and prayer for
continuance, are the undoubted and right seeking of Christ ou