A LEAP FROM BASHAN

A SERMON

Preached on Sunday Morning October 4th, 1868

Preached on Sunday Morning October 4th, 1868

By Mister JAMES WELLS

AT THE NEW SURREY TABERNACLE, WANSEY STREET

Volume 11 Number 517

“Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.” Deuteronomy 33:22

THE Holy Scriptures were endued by a God of infinite wisdom, of infallible truthfulness, of eternal love, by a God the mystery of whose doings is unfathomable; and the great purpose of the Scriptures is to gather sinners, bring them into the likeness of Christ, guide them through the devious paths of this wilderness, and receive them at last into the Paradise of God. These considerations, then, ought to command our deepest reverence for the word of God; so that when we come to parts where similes are used that seem to us far-fetched, or seem to us somewhat beneath the refined taste of the age, we must set the fault down, not to the Author of the Scriptures, but to those who are unable to discover their real beauty and importance. Besides, the Scriptures were never intended to tickle men's ears, or to please men's taste, but to set before them the ponderous realities of eternity. And those realities are so many, so various, and so wonderful, that there is scarcely a thing you can think of that the Lord has not made use of by which to instruct us into the mysteries of his kingdom. Our text is evidently rather a difficult one to deal with, and I never should take such a text as this were I not driven to it. No one knows what it is to be in the ministry but those that are in it. The times come around very fast; we read the Scriptures, look to the Lord, and can get nothing; often toil all night, and get nothing. The time comes, and some scripture fastens upon you must, some scripture with which to come before the people you must have; how far the Lord may make it a blessing lies entirely with himself. However, I think we shall not perhaps have much difficulty in explaining the spiritual meaning of our text. Now we find in the 3rd of Deuteronomy that the Israelites, before they entered the promised land, had conquered the land of Bashan, the whole kingdom of Bashan. And that slip of land on the eastern side of Jordan, which the Israelites there acquired, and in which two tribes and a half settled down, that slip of land sets forth, I think, spiritually the beginning of the liberty of the gospel, the beginning of the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. If we take this view of it, then all the other parts of the text will come in very easily. But, as I have suggested, it is difficult to deal with such a text as this without being somewhat tedious; but I, nevertheless, will be as simple, and plain, and clear as I can; and if it should meet with the same acceptance in your souls that it has in mine in going through it, I trust our few minutes this morning will not be lost while contemplating the meaning, the deep meaning, couched in the language of our text. I shall therefore, in the first place, notice what is spiritually meant by Bashan; secondly, the lion, the young lion; thirdly and lastly, the leap, “he shall leap from Basham”

First, then, what is spiritually meant by Bashan. As I have said, and as you may see yourself, in the 3rd of Deuteronomy the Israelites commenced their freedom; and as Bashan was a very fertile country, and as the Israelites there acquired victory, and began to enter into liberty, the Holy Spirit has been pleased in several places in the Scriptures to spiritualize this, to give us a spiritual meaning of the same. Take in the first place, for instance, the 68th Psalm, what is said there in connection with Bashan, for all seems to carry out the idea of freedom. There was their freedom from the power of the enemy; and then we shall see two more features in this freedom afterwards. Before it brings in Bashan to illustrate this freedom it there says, “Though you have lain among the pots, yet shall you be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.” You observe the lying among the pots there means that state of degradation and slavery which the Israelites were in in Egypt, and represents our state perhaps by nature; for our state by nature is one of great degradation. The pots there are earthen vessels. So, it is with us while we are in a state of nature; we seek nothing beyond that which is earthly; we seek all our comfort out of earthen vessels, out of earthly and perishable things; yes, we live by nature, as far as our minds are concerned, upon the very dust of death. Now the Lord makes a sinner feel that this is his condition; he feels he is in a state of degradation before God; he now becomes unhappy; and then comes the promise, “You shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.” You will have, of course, no difficulty in understanding that, that the Israelites were set free; and so, when the soul is set free from guilt and from despair, and from its degradation, when it is set free by that liberty that is in Christ, then, as the dove flies in the open firmament, in the sunshine of heaven, and that sun adorns its wings as there described, the wings covered with silver light and with golden rays; so the silver light of Jesus Christ and the golden rays of his presence adorn the soul, and now, when brought into liberty, it is happier than it was before miserable. Hence the Psalmist goes on, “When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon;” that is, when he overturned ruling powers, and consecrated the people to himself. Just so it is now; there are ruling powers, unbelief, worldly-mindedness, infidelity, rebellion, and a thousand evils in the Christian. When the Lord comes down and scatters these, and brings us near to himself, and once more sprinkles over us, as it were, a Savior's blood, once more makes us feel that he is our God, and that we have in him freedom, then it is we are happy. Hence Bashan comes in to illustrate this matter. The Psalmist goes on to say, as if he would first give us an idea of the freedom, and then bring in that that the Lord intends to represent this freedom: “The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.” And then the other powers that stood against the people of God being scattered, the Psalmist says, “Why leap you, you high hills? this is the hill,” this hill of Bashan, “which God desires to dwell in; yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.” Now take it spiritually: Christ is that mystical hill of Bashan; he yields every fruit, he yields every delight, he yields every supply, and our God will dwell there forever. Here, then, is the freedom of the glorious gospel of the blessed God. And then the Psalmist, to carry out this idea, to impress upon us that this taking of Bashan, and beginning to enjoy liberty, sets forth the freedom we have from the power of the adversary, the Psalmist immediately there says, “You have ascended on high, you have led captivity captive; you have received gifts for men; yes, for the rebellious also,” for the best of purposes; there is no purpose can equal the greatness and the glory of the purpose for which Christ has led captivity captive, and has ascended up on high, and received gifts for men, even for the rebellious; there is no purpose to equal it, “that the Lord God might dwell among them.” Ah, my hearer, in our solitary moments, in our chambers, in our houses, in our avocations, and sometimes in the furnace of affliction, how anxiously will the Christian inquire, Is the God of heaven with me? Does he dwell with me? Is he my God? Does he dwell in my heart? Does he dwell round about me? Is he mine? And do I in a way of hope dwell in Christ? If I do, then let that confidence I have in him, and in him only, stand as an evidence that the Lord dwells with me. This, then, is that mystic Bashan, that spiritual freedom in which we are to dwell. The Lord knows how to make us prize real godliness, by making us feel the insufficiency of anything and everything else to bear us up, and especially in the prospect of a dying hour and of eternity. That is one representation, then, of this freedom, that they are to be as the wings of a dove, fly in the open firmament, adorned with the silvery and golden rays coming from the Sun of righteousness, Christ Jesus; ruling powers are scattered, and the people made whiter than snow, devoted, consecrated to God, and made happy and at home with him, and nowhere else. The second representation by Bashan of freedom means freedom from sin; first, freedom from the power of the enemy, so that you are brought into the liberty of the gospel; and secondly, freedom from sin. In the 50th of Jeremiah the Lord says, “I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan” there it is again, “and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead.” What does this mean? The Lord's mode of speaking, as well as his mode of doing, is sometimes to speak ambiguously first, and explain the parable afterwards; and he will deal with you very often ambiguously at the first, saying to you, “You know not what I do now, but you shall know hereafter.” Now, mark, he is brought first “to his habitation,” that is, to Christ; so that all the satisfaction in Carmel and Bashan, and Ephraim and Gilead, for his soul shall be satisfied, all this satisfaction arises from Jesus Christ, and is by him. Now hear the Lord's own explanation: “In those days, and in that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none.” Ah, what time? Why, when Jesus has died, when Jesus has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now, says Satan, I have got rid of the Savior, and now I will try and find their sins, and with their sins I will accuse them before God, for I am the accuser of the brethren. And Satan sought, sought, and sought, but he found none; and so, they were victors through the blood of the Lamb. The disconsolate disciples found their Savior, but Satan could not find their sins; they were cast as into the depths of the sea. The Lord has said in the 31st of Jeremiah, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” And again, the Lord says, “The sins of Judah shall be sought for, but they shall not be found.” What do you say to such freedom as this, to such a God as this, to such a gospel as this, to such a Jesus Christ as this? “For I will pardon;” and if the Most High pardon, that is the highest court. You know some of our law courts sometimes will go on condemning a man; the first court will condemn him, the next court will condemn him; the next court will condemn him; by and by the highest court in the land is appealed to, the peers of the realm; they take up the subject in all the gravity and wisdom which they are capable of doing, and they set the man free. I could name instances of this that I have seen in my own lifetime, but I will not do so now. Just so, then, the Most High said, “I will pardon.” So the law courts may condemn us, our brethren may condemn us; sometimes our conscience condemns us, and some scriptures that don't belong to us, but we think they do, condemn us; and the world condemns us; selfconstituted courts may condemn us; but when we come to the high court of heaven, if I have a grain of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then I am met with this delightful message, “Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Here, then, is freedom from the enemy's power, and freedom from sin. “I will pardon.” What an awful thing it is, is it not, to lean upon the pardon of a fellow-creature, the Pope, the priest, the Puseyite! These are self-constituted courts; these are law courts indeed. And I think we may treat their wrath and their favor in much the same light. I think we may take all their pretensions for what they are. But when we come to the most high God, if he says, “Your sins, which are many, are forgiven you; “if he says, “Son, your sins are forgiven you; take up your bed, and walk;” if the high court of heaven seal home pardon by the blood of the Lamb, then we want no other authority, we want no other power; here the soul is safe, when deriving its blessedness from the most high God. Again, in the 7th of Micah, Bashan is brought in, and here we get freedom from the solitude, the thorns, the bewilderments, perplexities, and trials of the way. Micah prays thus, and the Lord gives him a gracious and a wonderful answer: “Feed your people with your rod, the flock of your heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel.” How expressive that is! Hence, in the common perplexities of life we sometimes hear a man say, “I seem really in a wood; I know not which way to go; I seem altogether lost.” And oh, how often is the Christian so placed, bewildered and perplexed, even, perhaps, with the things of this world; he is sometimes in a wood in relation to the things of this life; he does not know whether to go to the right hand or to the left. And how often is he as in a wood, spiritually, knowing not what to think nor what to do! Something comes in and says, I will tell you what to do, give up your profession, and be easy, and don't trouble yourself anymore, for you have no religion to save you; you have just enough to make you miserable, but not enough to make you comfortable, and therefore, you had better give it up altogether. Some of the people of God know what it is to have such temptations; but their answer is, To whom are we to go? The Lord alone has eternal life; and it is better to be made miserable all our lifetime than to be made miserable to eternity, when our mortal life shall be no more. Therefore, the Lord graciously preserves us, even when our hope and our strength seem perished from the Lord; there is a secret power that keeps up a desire unto his name. “Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” I apprehend that must be understood spiritually, that is, the fathers (for they were all believers, as you see in the 11th of the Hebrews), that they fed in the rich pastures of the yea and amen promises which are in Christ Jesus the Lord. And then the Lord gives a very gracious answer: “According to the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvelous things.” Are you one of these perplexed ones? Do you feel sometimes as in a wood? and do you feel a desire to seek unto the Lord, that he would disentangle these entanglements, cut these strings, show you a way out of these perplexities into a plain path, into the freedom of the gospel? Have you this desire? Notice the gracious promise: “I will show unto him marvelous things.” The Lord give us grace to live in the expectation of this. I hope the Lord will grant unto me yet some marvelous manifestations of his mercy and wisdom, and of the mysteries of his kingdom, to make me sometimes exclaim, “Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows right well.” Do you, grace enabling you, live in the same expectation? Do not think that you have seen all that is to be seen; do not think that you have possessed all that is to be possessed; do not think that you have enjoyed all that is to be enjoyed; do not think, because you have got the great framework of the everlasting covenant pretty clear, and are settled down as to your principles, do not think that you have yet drawn all the water from the wells of salvation, that you have yet heard all the tunes, all the music that there is to hear in the things of eternity. No; we know in part, and that a very small part. This Bashan, then, is but the beginning. “I will show unto him marvelous things.” My one great deficiency, which I have felt all through the ministry, and I suppose shall to the end, is inability to say what I see. I sometimes feel as though I could wish I never had to preach again; for I seem to say so little in comparison of what I can sometimes see. You know not how difficult it is to put into words and bring out what you may sometimes see for yourself in your own soul. Hence sometimes a man boasts, and says, “Why, I could pull that man's sermon all to pieces.” I have thought when I have heard that, “Any fool may pull a watch to pieces, but it is not every fool that can make one;'' and any fool may burn a house down, but it is not every fool that can build one; any fool may do a great deal of mischief, but it is not every fool that can do a great deal of good. It is much easier to spoil things than to make things; and, perhaps, the very sermon that you have pulled to pieces, you would find it difficult to put one together as good. But, notwithstanding this, we must go on; and if I cannot speak as I would, I can adopt what is said of the woman, “She has done what she could;” and the apostle prayed that utterance might be given unto him, that he might speak boldly, or freely, as the word will bear rendering, to make known the mysteries of the everlasting gospel. Bashan, then, represents our freedom from the adversary as we stand in Christ, our freedom from sin, our freedom from all perplexities.

Secondly, I notice the lion. Now this is a simile that the eternal Spirit of God has been pleased to use, to set forth, in the first place, the victory wrought by the Savior, and the ease with which he keeps what he has gained, together with the prosperity that he himself should always have; and then, secondly, the lion represents the people of God; we shall see how beautifully they are spoken of under that simile. First, then, it is used to represent the Savior in the victory which he has achieved, and the ease with which he keeps what he has gained. “Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you are gone up.” Christ came down under the law, under our sin, and under tribulation, travelled through the world; but he gained a wonderful victory, he has achieved the victory, ascended up on high. “He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?” Who shall stir him up? You may take the literal Canaan from the literal Jew; but who shall take the heavenly Canaan from the lion of the tribe of Judah? The Roman power may take the literal Judah's descendants away; but who shall take away and carry away captive the brethren of Christ, the descendants of this spiritual Judah? “He couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?” Ah, he keeps what he gained. He gained heaven, and keeps it; he gained dominion over the adversary, and he keeps that dominion; he gained dominion over death and hell, and he keeps that dominion; he had power with God and with man, and prevailed, and he keeps that dominion; he had dominion over sin, and he keeps that dominion. Why, you may find out the work of grace in your heart by asking the question whether he reigns over you or not. Perhaps you will say, How shall I know that? Well, in the first place, do you feel that you would like to set aside the victory that he has achieved? No, say you, for that is my only hope. Do you feel you would like to set aside the completeness of it, not set aside the victory altogether, but set aside the completeness of it? No, say you, for if it were not complete it could not reach my case, for I am a sinner, and nothing but a sinner; and you will say, I have read with surprise that beautiful scripture in the 32nd Psalm, “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity;” whereas, if the Lord impute anything to us, it must be iniquity, it must be sin; there is nothing else, I say it with reverence, that God can impute to us but sin, apart from his grace and his mercy; but imputing to us the victory achieved by his dear Son, and having imputed our sins to him, he will not impute sin to us, not one sin. Now, then, do you feel you cannot do anything against these testimonies? No, say you, they are my only hope. Very well, then, the Savior said, “Blessed is he whosoever is not offended in me;” and he certainly does reign in your heart and over you. So, then, Jesus gained the victory, and keeps what he has gained. Does he not keep his sheep? Does he not keep his people? Does he not keep his bride? In whatever shape or form we speak of the people, how true these two things are! First, that he gained the victory; and secondly, that he keeps what he gained. Now it is not so with us in ten thousand things. It was not so with Adam; he could not keep what he possessed. It was not so with the Jews; they could not keep what they possessed. And it is not so with one of you; you all possess life, but you cannot keep it; the sand-glass is running out, it is going. And believe me, the more familiar you are with the mediatorial work and achievements of the Savior, the more comfortable you will feel in a departing hour. What made David say he would fear no evil when he passed through the valley of the shadow of death? Why, because the Lord was with him. Ah, there is something before that, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Here he brings in the mediatorial work of Christ; he is the shepherd that died for me. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul” from its bondage, and trembling, and fears; “he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” It was therefore his familiarity with the mediatorial work of Christ that gave him the assurance that God was with him; there is the ground of it. Just so now, the more familiar we are with the achievements and strength of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the more boldly shall we meet the things of life and a dying hour, and the more we shall be devoted to God, the more we shall feel that he is worthy to be praised, the more we shall feel the truth of the words we sometimes sing,

“Blessings more than we can give

Be, Lord, forever your.”

Now there were great promises in the Old Testament, and those promises could be carried out only by the work of Christ. And therefore, when the Old Testament was presented to John as sealed with seven seals, and none was found able, as the word there means, to open the book, John seemed to say, The Old Testament said that there shall be a feast of fat things, that shall be unto all people. I must digress here for one moment. I am now quoting from the 25th of Isaiah: “In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things.” Just compare those words with the words of the angel in the 2nd of Luke, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” So, then, the feast of fat things to all people and the good tidings of great joy to all people are one and the same thing. “And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people.” Sin is the face of the covering; that is to be taken away, and they are to appear not as sinners, but as saints; not in the likeness of the first, but of the last Adam. He will “swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth.” Now, says John, if the book containing this and a thousand other like promises be sealed, and none can open it, whatever is the matter? Has God ceased to be gracious? Does his promise fail? Has not Jesus died, and ascended to heaven? Here is a complete blank; here is the book sealed, and none can unseal it. “And I wept much.” God increase the people of the Surrey Tabernacle, and every other place where his dear children are, with a little more of that spirit. “I wept much.” Oh, it is a great blessing to be mourners in Zion when we cannot be mirthful; it is a great blessing when we cannot see the Lord as we could wish, to be weeping and mourning his absence, and to long for his return. “I wept much.” That state of mind prepared John to receive with more joy the tidings, “Weep not; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book.” He has put an end to the famine, and brought in plenty; he has put an end to the evil tidings, and brought, in the good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Why, this announcement set all heaven rejoicing, and they began to exclaim with one heart and one voice, “You are worthy,” that is, you are able, “to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for you was slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and have made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.” Thus, then, the Savior is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. As I have often said, he is not a Lion to his people, but a Lion for them; he is a Lamb to them. In that same chapter John turned around to see the Lion, but he saw not the Lion, but the Lamb. “I beheld a Lamb.” He is not a Lion to you; he is a Lamb to you, a sacrifice to you, meek and lowly to you, loving to you, harmless to you, kind to you, tender to you; and before he has done with you his gentleness will make you great. Again, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah,” the type, until the Antitype come; “and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” which was and is the case. “Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine.” The vine is the symbol of peace, prosperity, and paradisiacal blessedness. But what shall we understand by the Savior binding his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine? I am not sure that I know the meaning, but I think the Savior's riding into Jerusalem will explain it. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King comes unto you: he is just, and having salvation: lowly, and riding upon an ass;” as some of our old divines said, a little child could shake hands with him; and the little ones were delighted, and they did praise him. “Hosanna in the highest; blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.” And the Pharisees were then as they are now, they did not like the Savior to be made too much of so, he said, Why, “if these should hold their peace, the very stones would cry out,” and that would frighten you still more. And after a time, the stones did cry out, the poor Gentile stones; God quickened them into life, and they did cry out, and will never cease to cry out, “Hosanna in the highest to the Son of David; blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.” “He washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes;” the wine meaning his blood, the garments, and clothes his people. Forty-ninth of Isaiah, “You shall surely clothe you with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on you, as a bride does.” Now of course a bride puts on her ornaments very carefully indeed. You never knew a bride yet that was not very much concerned as to what dress she should wear, and how well she should put it on, and how well she should look on her wedding day. “You shall bind them on you, as a bride does.” The song for ever will be, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood to him be glory for ever and ever.” “His eyes shall be red with wine.” We must not understand that in the low, intoxicative sense; but we must understand it in the same sense as where it is said, “His eyes were a flame of fire,” flashing with infinite pleasure and delight in the eternal welfare of his people. “And his teeth white with milk.” That is an expression to denote the incorruptibility and the immortality of the Savior. Thus, then, the Savior is spoken of as a lion. But the people of God also are thus spoken of, 5th of Micah, “The remnant of Jacob.” Ah, said one, I see where you are coming to; that remnant of Jacob means that election people, I know, because there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Well, let us hear what is said concerning them. “The remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep;” or, as the margin reads it, “among the flocks of goats;” “who, if he go through, both treads down and tears in pieces, and none can deliver.” Then in comes a clear promise, I was going to say, without a simile, “Your hand shall be lifted up upon your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off.” There is the promise, then, to the people of God that they shall be victorious, that their adversaries shall be cut off, and they be eternally free. So much, then, for Bashan; so much for the lion of the tribe of Judah.

Lastly, we come to the leap, “he shall leap from Bashan.” There is no circumstance in the history of Dan, that I can see, that fulfils this, according to the account the learned give. They tell us that the Danites went from the south to the north, and came upon their enemies unawares, and got possession of some lands, and so they leaped from Bashan. That was not leaping from Bashan; that was leaping from the southern end of Canaan. Whereas, Bashan was on the eastern side of Jordan, outside the land of Canaan. But my text says, “Dan shall leap from Bashan.” Now they were, when Moses thus spoke to them, in that very country, on the eastern side of Jordan. What can the leaping mean, then? It means that as they had begun to conquer, they should go on to conquer. This mighty lion shall spring, leap from conquest to conquest, until the last enemy shall be destroyed, and the saying that is written is brought to pass, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” It refers, I think, to their entering the promised land. My old friend Rahab and the friends that were with her were the only persons that were glad to see them. One Canaanite says to another, Never trust me if these Israelites, Dan and all, have not leaped over Jordan. Just now they were on the other side; now they are on this side; I can't make it out. Jordan had overflowed its banks, and we thought we were safe, strongly shut up in our city; and here they are before we knew it. Ah, so it stands, “He shall leap from Bashan.” What is the next leap? The next leap is down with the walls of Jericho, deliver Rahab and those with her. Let Jericho's walls or any other obstacle stand in our way, we will go on, and spring from conquest to conquest, from advance to advance, from strength to strength, until we possess the whole land from north to south, from east to west, and rejoice in our infinite and eternal portion. Well, thirty-one kings combine against them; what is the next leap? Why, upon these mighty armies, and the sun was going down, the victory was not complete; Joshua cries to God, “Sun, stand still.” Oh, how astounding! The sun did not go down until the victory was complete. And Christ did not die until his victory was complete; and he will stand by you as long as you have a burden to bear, an enemy to encounter, a trouble to vex you, a wound to heal; or whatever may be the matter, he will stand by you until all is finished, all is completed. How completely did the Savior triumph! How astounded was Satan to find himself met at all points, and cast out! Did legions of devils combine against the Savior? He sprang upon them, out they ran; he let them go into a herd of swine; go where they way, the Lord must gain the victory.