he who will not wrestle shall have
none. For, as St. Paul saith, "There shall no man have the crown
but he who contendeth for it according to the law of the game."
And then, as holy St. Bernard saith, how couldst thou fight or
wrestle for it, if there were no challenger against thee who would
provoke thee thereto? And therefore may it be a great comfort, as
St. James saith, to every man who feeleth himself challenged and
provoked by temptation. For thereby perceiveth he that it cometh
to his course to wrestle, which shall be, unless he willingly play
the coward or the fool, the matter of his eternal reward.

X

But now must this needs be to man an inestimable comfort in all
temptation if his faith fail him not: that is, that he may be sure
that God is always ready to give him strength against the devil's
might and wisdom against the devil's snares.

For, as the prophet saith, "My strength and my praise is our Lord,
he hath been my safeguard." And the scripture saith, "Ask wisdom
of God and he shall give it thee," in order "that you may espy,"
as St. Paul saith, "and perceive all the crafts." A great comfort
may this be in all kinds of temptation, that God hath so his hand
upon him who is willing to stand and will trust in him and call
upon him, that he hath made him sure by many faithful promises in
holy scripture that either he shall not fall or, if he sometimes
through faintness of faith stagger and hap to fall, yet if he call
upon God betimes his fall shall be no sore bruising to him. But as
the scripture saith, "The just man, though he fall, shall not be
bruised, for our Lord holdeth under his hand."

The prophet expresseth a plain comfortable promise of God against
all temptations where he saith, "Whoso dwelleth in the help of the
highest God, he shall abide in the protection or defence of the
God of heaven." Who dwelleth, now, good cousin, in the help of the
high God? Surely, he who through a good faith abideth in the trust
and confidence of God's help, and neither, for lack of that faith
and trust in his help, falleth desperate of all help, nor
departeth from the hope of his help to seek himself help (as I
told you the other day) from the flesh, the world, or the devil.

Now he then who by fast faith and sure hope dwelleth in God's
help, and hangeth always upon that hope, never falling from it, he
shall, saith the prophet, ever dwell and abide in God's defence
and protection. That is to say, while he fai