Will not these rise in judgement against many Professors in these dayes who make nothing of over-reaching one another fiery furnace such was their tendernesse of the honour and glory of God and their hatred and indignation against sin that they would rather burn then sin they knew that it was far better to burne for their not sinning then that God and conscience should raise a hell a fire in their bosomes for sin I have read of that noble servant of God Marcus Arethusius Minister of a Church in the time of Constantine who in Constantines time had been the cause of overthrowing an Idols Temple afterwards when Julian came to be Emperour he would force the people of that place to build it up again they were ready to doe it but he refused whereupon those that were his owne people to whom he preached took him and stript him of all his cloaths and abused his naked body and gave it up to the Children to lance it with their pen-knives and then caused him to be put in a basket and anointed his naked body with Honey and set him in the Sun to be stung with Wasps and all this cruelty they shewed because he would not doe any thing toward the building up of this Idol-Temple nay they came to this that if he would doe but the least towards it if he would give but a halfe-penny to it they would save him but he refused all though the giving of a half-penny might have saved his life and in doing this he did but live up to that principle that most Christians talk of and all professe but few come up to it viz. That we must choose rather to suffer the worst of Torments that men and Devils can invent and inflict then to commit the least sin whereby God should be dishonoured our consciences wounded Religion reproached and our own souls endangered The sixt Remedy against this Device 6 Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider that the soule is never able to stand under the guilt and weight of the least sin when God shall set it home upon the soul the least sin will presse and sink the stoutest sinner as low as hell when God shall open the eyes of a sinner and make him see the horrid filthinesse and abominable vildnesse that is in sin What so little base and vile creatures as lice or gnats and yet by these little poor creatures God so plagued stout-hearted Pharaoh and all Aegypt that â—ainting under it they were forced to cry out This is the finger of God When little Exod. 8. 16 17 18 19. Creatures yea the least Creatures shall be armed with a power from God they shall presse and 〈◊〉 down the greatest proudest and stoutesâ— Tyrants that breath so when God shall put a sword The Tyrant Maximinus who had set forth his Proclamation ingraven in brasse for the utter abolishing of Christ and his Religion was eaten of Lice into the hand of a little sin and arm it against the soule the soule will faint and fall under it Some who have but projected adultery without any actuall acting it and others having found a trifle and made no conscience to restore it knowing by the light of naturall Conscience that they did not doe as they would be done by and others that have had some unworthy thought of God have been so frighted amazed Vna guttula malae conscienâ—iae totum mare mundani gaudii absorbet i. e. One drop of an evill conscience swallows up the whole sea of worldly joy How great a pain not to be borne comes from the prick of this small thorne said one and terrified for these sins which are small in mens account that they have wisht they had never been that they could take no delight in any earthly comfort that they have been put to their wits end ready to make away themselves wishing themselves annihilated Mr Perkins mentions a good man but very poor who being ready to starve stole a Lamb and being about to eat it with his poor children and as his manner was afore meat to crave a blessing durst not doe it but fell into a great perplexity of Conscience acknowledged his fault to the owner promising payment if ever he should be able The seventh Remedy against this Device 7 Remedy is solemnly to consider That there is more evill in the least sin then in the greatest affliction and this appears as clear as the Sun by the severe dealing of God the Father with his beloved Son who let all the vials of his fiercest wrath upon him and that for the least sin as well as for the greatest The wages Death is the hire of the least sin the best wages that the least sin gives his souldiers is death of all sorts in a strict sence there is no sin little because no little God to sin against of sin is death of sin indefinitely whether great or small Oh! how should this make us tremble as much at the least spark of lust as at hell it selfe Considering that God the Father would not spare his bosome Son no not for the least sin but would make him drink the dregs of his wrath And so much for the Remedies that may fence and preserve our souls from being drawn to sin by this third Device of Satan The fourth Device that Satan hath 4 Device to draw the soul to sin is by presenting to the soul the best mens sins and by hiding from the soul their virtues by shewing the soul their sins and by hiding from the soul their sorrowâ— and â—epâ—ntance as by setting before the soul the Adultery of David the Pride of Hezekiaâ— the Impatience of Job the Drunkennesse of Noah the Blasphemy of Peter c. and by hiding from the soul the tears the sighes the groans the meltings humblings and repentings of these precious souls Now the Remedies against this Device of the Devil are these that follow THe first Remedy against this Device 1 Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider that the Spirit of the Lord hath been as carefull to note the Saints rising by repentance out of sin as he hath to note their falling into sin David falls fearfully but by repentance he rises sweetly Blot out my transgressions wash mee throughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me Purge me with Hysop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter then snow deliver me from blood-guiltinesse O God thou God of my salvation 'T is true Hezekiaâ—'s heart was lifted up under the abundance of mercy that God had cast in upon him and 't is as true that Hezekiaâ— 2 Chron. 32. 25 26. humbled himselfe for the pride of his heart so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon him nor upon Jerusalem in the dayes of Hezekiah 'T is true Job curses the day of his Birth and 't is â—â— true
thy sin God will pardon thee and yet send thee to Hell there 's a pardon with a contradiction Negative goodnesse serves no mans turn to save him from the axe It is said of Ithacus that the hatred of the Priscillian Heresie was all the vertue that he had The evill servant did not riot out his Talent Those Reprobates Mat. 25. robbed not the Saints but relieved them not for this they must eternally perish sense for godly sorrow sometimes Repentance is taken in a large sense for Amendment of Life Repentance hath in it three things viz. the Act the Subject and the Termes 1. The formall Act of Repentance is a changing and converting 't is often set forth in Scripture by Turning Turne thou me and I shall be turned saith Ephraim after that I was turned I repented saith he 't is a turning from darknesse to light 2. The Subject changed and converted is the whole man 't is both the sinners heart and life first his heart then his life first his person then his practice and conversation Wash yee make you cleane there 's the change of their persons put away the evill of your doings from before mine eyes cease to doe evill learne to do well there 's the change of their practises So Cast away saith Ezekiel all your transgressions whereby you have transgressed there 's the change of the life and make you a new heart and a new spirit there 's the change of the 3. The Tearmes of this change and conversion from which and to which both heart and life must be changed from all sin to God the heart must be changed from the state and power of sin the life from the acts of sin but both unto God the heart to be under his power in a state of grace the life to be under his rule in all new obedience as the Apostle speaks To open their eyes and to turn them from darknesse to light and from the power of satan unto God so the Prophet Isaiah saith Let the wicked forsake their wayes and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him returne unto the Lord. Thus much of the nature of Evangelicall Repentance Now soules tell me whither it be such an easie thing to repent as Satan doth suggest besides what hath been spoken I desire that you will take notice that Repentance doth include a turning from the most darling sin Ephraim shall say What have I to doe any more with Idols Yea it 's a turning from all sin to God Ezek. 18. 30. Therefore I will judge you O House of Israel every one according to his wayes saith the Lord God repent and turne your selves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruine Herod turn'd from many but turn'd not from his Herodias which was his ruine Judas turn'd from all visible wickednes yet he would not cast out that golden Devil Covetousnesse and therefore was cast into the hottest place in Hell He that turnes not from every sin turnes not aright from any one sin every sin strikes at the Honour of God the Being of God the Glory of God the Heart of Christ the Joy of the Spirit and the Peace of a mans Conscience and therefore a soul truly penitent strikes at all hates all conflicts with all and will labour to draw strength from a crucified Christ to crucifiâ— all a true penitent knowes neither father nor mother neither right eye nor right hand but will pluck out the one and cut off the other Saul spared but one Agâ—g and that cost him his soul and his Kingdome besides Repentance is not onely a turning from all sin but also a turning to all good to a love of all good to a prizing of all good and to a following after all good Ezek. 18. 21. But if the wicked will turne from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and doe that which is lawfull and right he shall surely live be shall not die that is onely negative righteousnesse and holinesse is no righteousnesse nor holinesse David fulfilled all the wills of God and had respect unto all his Commandements and so had Zacharias and Elizabeth 'T is not enough that the Tree bears not ill fruit but it must bring forth good fruit else it must be cut downe and east into the fire So 't is not enough that you are not thus and thus wicked but you must be thus and thus gracious and good else Divine Justice will put the Axe of Divine Vengeance to the root of your souls and cut you off for ever Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn downe and cast into the fire besides Repentance doth include a sensiblenesse of sins sinfulnesse how opposite and contrary 't is to the blessed God God is light sin is darknesse God is life sin is death God is Heaven sin is hell God is beauty sin is deformity Also true Repentance includes a sensiblenes of sins mischievousnesse how it cast Angels out of Heaven and Adam out of Paradise how it laid the first corner-stone in hell and brought in all the curses crosses and miseries that be in the world and how it makes men liable to all temporall spirituall and eternall wrath how it hath made men Godlesse Christlesse hopelesse and heavenlesse in this world further true repentance doth include sorrow for sin contrition of heart it breaks the heart with sighes and sobs and groans for that a loving God and Father is by sin offended a blessed Saviour a fresh crucified and the sweet Comforter the Spirit True repentance is a sorrowing for sin as it is offensivum Dei aversivum à Deo this both comes from God drives a man to God as it did the Church in the Canticles and the Prodigall Ezek. 20. 22 23. grieved and vexed Again Repentance doth include not onely a loathing of sin but also a loathing of our selves for sin as a man doth not onely loath poyson but he loaths the very dish or vessel that hath the smell of the poyson so a true Penitent doth not onely loath his sin but he loaths himselfe the vessel that still smels of sin So Ezek. 20. 43. And there shall ye remember your wayes and all your doings wherein yee have been defiled and ye shall loath your selves in your owne sight for all your evills that ye have committed true Repentance will work your hearts not onely to loath your sins but also to loath your selves Againe true Repentance doth not onely work a man to loath himself for his sins but it makes him asham'd of his sin also What fruit have ye of those things whereof ye are now ashamed saith the Apostle so Ezekiel And thou shalt be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord God When a penâ—tentiall soul sees his sins pardoned the anger of God pacified and Divine Justice satisfied then
thousand worlds Ah! if the vailes be thus sweet and glorious before pay-day comes what will be that glory that Christ will crown his Saints with for cleaving to his service in the face of all difficulties When he shall say to his father Loe here am I and the children which thou hast given me if there be so much to be had in a wildernesse what then shall be had in Paradise c. The fourth Device that Satan 4 Device hath to keep soules off from holy exercises from religious services is BY working them to make false inferences from those blessed and glorious things that Christ hath done As that Jesus Christ hath done all for us therefore there is nothing for us to doe but to joy and rejoyce he hath perfectly justified us and fulfilled the Law and satisfied divine Justice and pacified his Fathers wrath and is gone to Heaven to prepare a place for us and in the mean time to intercede for us and therefore away with praying and mourning and hearing c. Ah! what a world of Professors hath Satan drawn in these dayes from religious services by working them to make such sad wilde and strange inferences from the sweet and excellent things that the Lord Jesus hath done for his beloved ones Now the Remedies against this device of Satan are these that follow THe first Remedie against this device 1. Remedie of Satan is to dwell as much on those Scriptures that shew you the duties and services that Christ requires of you as upon those Scriptures that declare Tertullian hath this expression of the fulnesse of the Scriptures Adoro plenitudinem Scripturarum I adore the fulnesse of the Scripture Gregory calls the Scripture cor animam Dei the heart soule of God and who will not then dwell on it to you the precious and glorious things that Christ hath done for you 'T is a sad and a dangerous thing to have two eyes to behold our dignity and priviledges and not one eye to see our duties and services I should look with one eye upon the choise and excellent things that Christ hath done for me to raise up my heart to love Christ with the purest love and to joy in Christ with the strongest joy and to lift up Christ above all who hath made himself to be my all And I should look with the other eye upon those services and duties that the Scriptures require of those for whom Christ hath done such blessed things as upon that of the Apostle What know yee not that your body 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. is the Temple of the holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your owne For ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods And that 1 Cor. 15. 58. therefore my beloved brethren be yee stedfast unmoveable alwayes abounding in the worke of the Lord knowing that your labour is not in vaine in the Lord. And that And let us not be weary in well doing for in due Gal. 6. 9. 2. season we shall reape if we faint not And that of the Apostle rejoyce alwayes and pray without ceasing and that in the Philippians Worke out your salvation with Phil. 2 12 13 1 Cor. 11. 26. Heb 10. 24 25. feare and trembling and that This doe till I come and that Let us consider one another to provoke one another to love and to good workes not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the mannor of some The Jews were much in turning over the leaves of the Scripture but they did not weigh the matter of them John 5. 39. You search the Scripture Gr. there seemeth to be indicative rather then imperative is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching Now a soule that would not be drawn away by this device of Satan hee must not look with a squint eye upon these blessed Scriptures and abundance more of like import but he must dwell upon them he must make these Scriptures to be his chiefest and his choisest companions and this will be a happy meanes to keep him close to Christ and his service in these times wherein many turn their backs upon Christ under pretence of being highly interested in the great and glorious things that have been acted by Christ c. The second Remedie against this Device 2. Remedie of Satan is to consider that the great and glorious things that Jesus Christ hath done and is a doing for us should be so far from taking us off from religious services and pious performances that they should be the greatest motives and encouragements to the performance of them that may be as the Scriptures do abundantly evidence I 1 Pet. 2. 9. Luke 1. 74 75. This I am sure of that all mans happines here is his holinesse and his holinesse shall hereafter be his happiness Christ hath therefore broke the Devils yoke from off our necks that his Father might have better service from our hearts 2 Cor. 6. 6. 17 18. ch 7. 1. compared will only instance in some as that That we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies might serve him without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse before him all the dayes of our lives Christ hath freed you from all your Enemies from the curse of the Law the predominant damnatory power of sin the wrath of God the sting of death and the torments of hell but what is the end and design of Christ in doing these great and marvellous things for his people 't is not that they should throw off duties of righteousnesse and holinesse but that their hearts may be the more free and sweet in all holy duties and heavenly services So the Apostle I will be their God and they shall be my people And I will be a Father unto you and yee shall be my sonnes and daughters saith the Lord Almighty mark what follows Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit perfecting holinesse in the feare of the Lord. And againe The grace of God that Yit 2. 11 12 13 14. bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men Teaching us that denying all ungodlinsse and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious Tace lingua loquere vita talk not of a good life but let thy life speak Your actions in passiâ—g pass not away for every good work is a grain of seed for eternall life appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave him selfe for us that he might redeeme us from all iniquity and purifie unto himselfe a peculiar people zealous of good workes Ah soules I know no such arguments to worke you to a lively and constant performance of all heavenly services like
the justifying of beastiality as many have done in these dayes of vertue the more dangerous 't is to the souls of men this we see evident in these days by those very many souls that are turned out of the way that is holy and in which their souls have had sweet and glorious communion with God into wayes of highest vanity and folly by Satans neat colouring over of sin and painting forth vice under the name and colour of vertue this is so notoriously knowne that I need but name it the most dangerous vermine is too often to be found under the fairest and sweetest Flowers and the fairest glove is often drawn upon the foulest hand and the richest robes are often put upon the filthiest bodies so are the fairest and the sweetest names upon the greatest and the most horriblest vices and etrors that be in the world ah that we had not too many sad proofs of this amongst us The third Remedy against this Device 3 Remedy is to look on sin with that eye Tacitus speaks of Tiberius â—hat when his sins did appâ—ar in their own colours they did so terrifie and torment him that he protested to the Senate that he suffered death daily which within a few hours we shall see it ah souls when you shall lye upon a dying bed and stand before a judgement seat sin shall be unmaskt and its dresse and robes shall then be taken off and then it shall appear more vile filthy and terrible then Hell it self then that which formerly appear'd most sweet will appear most bitter and that which appear'd most beautifull will appear most ugly and that which appear'd most delightful will then appear most dreadfull to the soul ah the shame the paine the gall the bitternes the horrour the hell that the fight of sin when its dress is taken off will raise in poor souls Sin will surely prove evill and bitter to the soul when its robes are taken off A man may have the Stone who feels no fit of it Conscience will work at last though for the present one may feele no fit of accusation Laban Satan that now allures thee to sin will ere long make thee see that Peccatum est deicidium sin is a murthering of God and this will make thee murther two at once thy soule and thy body unlesse the Lord in mercy holds thy hand shewed himself at parting sin will be bitternes in the latter end when it shall appear to the soul in its own filthy nature The Devil deals with men as the Panther doth with Beasts he hides his deformed head till his sweet sent hath drawn them into his danger till we have sinned Satan is a Parasite when we have sinned he is a Tyrant Ah souls the day is at hand when the Devil will pull off the paint and garnish that he hath put upon sin and present that monster sin in such a monstrous shape to your soules that will cause your thoughts to be be troubled your countenance to be changed the joynts of your loines to be loosed and your knees to be dashed one against another and your hearts to be so terrified that you will be ready with Achitophel and Judas to strangle and hang your bodies on earth and your soules in Hell if the Lord hath not more mercy on you then he had on them oh therefore looke upon sin now as you must look upon it to all eternity and as God Conscience and Satan will present it to you another day The fourth Remedie against this device 4. Remedie of Satan is solemnly to consider that even these very sins that Satan paints and puts new names and colours Vâ—a guttula plus valet quam coelum terra Luther i. e. one little drop speaking of the blood of Christ is more worth then Heaven and Earth upon cost the best blood the noblest blood the life-blood the heart-blood of the Lord Jesus that Christ should come from the eternall bosome of his Father to a Region of sorrow and death that God should be manifested in the flesh the Creator made a Creature that he that was cloathed with glory should be wrapped with raggs of flesh he that filled heaven and earth with his glory should be cradled in a manger that the power of God should flie from weak man the God of Israel into Aegypt that the God of the Law should be subject to the Law One of the Rabbins when he read what bitter torments the Messias should suffer when he came into the world cryed out Veniat Messias at ego non videam i. e. Let the Messias come but let not me see him Dionysius being in Aegypt at the time of Christs suffering and seeing an Eclipse of the Sun and knowing it to be contrary to nature cryed out aut Deus naturae patitur aut mundi machina dissolvitur Either the God of Nature suffered or the frame of the world will be dlssolved the God of Circumcision circumcised the God that made the Heavens working at Josephs homely trade that he that bindes the Devills in chaines should be tempted that he whose is the world and the fulnesse thereof should hunger and thirst that the God of strength should be weary the Judge of all flesh condemned the God of life put to death that he that is one with his Father should cry out of misery my God my God why hast thou forsaken mee that he that had the keyes of Hell and death at his girdle should lie imprison'd in the sepulcher of another having in his life time no where to lay his head nor after death to lay his body that that head before which the Angels doe cast down their Crowns should be crowned with thornes and those eyes purer then the Sun put out by the darknesse of death those eares which hear nothing but Hallelujahs of Saints and Angels to hear the blasphemies of the multitude that face that was fairer then the Sons of men to be spit on by those beastly wretched Jewes that mouth and tongue that spake as never man spake accused for blasphemy those hands that freely swayed the Scepter of Heaven nailed to the Crosse those feet like unto fine brasse nailed to the Crosse for mans sins each sense annoyed his feeling or touching with a speare and nailes 'T is an excellent saying of Bernard quanto pro nobis vilior tanto nobis charior the more vilde Christ made himself for us the more dear he ought to be to us his smell with stinking savour being crucified about Golgatha the place of Skulls his taste with vinegar and gall his hearing with reproaches and sight with his mother and Disciples bemoaning him his soule comfortlesse and forsaken and all this for those very sins that Satan paints and puts fine colours upon oh how should the consideration of this stir up the soule against it and worke the soule to flie from it and to use all holy meanes whereby sin may be
subdued and destroyed After Julius Caesar was murdered Antonius brought forth his coat all bloody and cut and laid it before the people saying look here you have your Emperours coat thus bloody and torne whereupon the people were presently in an uproar and cryed out to slay those murderers and they tooke their tables and stooles that were in the place and set them on fire and ran to the houses of them that had slam Caesar and burnt them so when we consider that sin hath slaine our Lord Jesus ah how should it provoke our hearts to be revenged on sin that hath murdered the Lord of Glory and Nolo vivere sine vulnere cum te video vulneratum Oh my God! as long as I see thy wounds I will never live without wound saith Bonaventure hath done that mischief that all the Devills in Hell could never have done 'T was good counsell one gave never let goe out of your mindes the thoughts of a crucified Christ let these be meat and drinke unto you let them be your sweetnesse and consolation your honey and your desire your reading and your meditation your life death and resurrection The third device that Satan hath to 3. Device draw the soul to sin is by extenuating and lessening of sin ah saith Satan 't is but a little pride a little worldlinesse a little uncleanness a little drunkennesse c. As Lot said of Zoar Gen. 19. 20. it is but a little one and my soule shall live ahlas saith Satan 't is but a very little sin that you stick so at you may commit it without any danger to your soule 't is but a little one you may commit it and yet your soul shall live Now the Remedies against this device of Satan are these FIrst solemnly consider that those 1. Remedy sins which we are apt to account small hath brought upon men the greatest wrath of God as the eating of an Apple gathering a few sticks on the Sabbaoth day and touching of the Ark oh the dreadfull wrath that these sinnes brought down upon the Draco the Rigid Law-giver being asked why when sins were not equall he appointed death to all Answered he knew that sins were not all equall but he knew the least deserved death So though the sins of men he not all equall yet the least of them deserves eternall death heads and hearts of men the least sin is contrary to the Law of God the nature of God the being of God and the glory of God and therefore t is often punished severely by God and doe not we see daily the vengeance of the Almighty falling upon the bodies names estates Families and soules of men for those sins that are but little ones in their eyes Surely if we are not utterly left of God and blinded by Satan we cannot but see it Oh! therefore when Satan saies t is but a little one doe thou say oh but those sins that thou callest little are such that will cause God to raine Hell out of Heaven upon sinners as he did upon the Sodomites The second Remedy against this device 2. Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider that the giving way to a lesse sin makes way for the committing of a greater he that to avoide a greater sin will yeild to a lesser ten thousand to one but God in Justice will leave that soule to fall into a greater if we commit one sin to avoid another 't is just we should avoid neither we having not law nor power in our own hands to keep off sin as we pleas and we by yeilding to the Psal 137. ver 9. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones Hugho's Glosse is pious c. Sit nihil in te Babylonicum Let there be nothing in thee of Babylon noâ— onely the grown men but the little ones must be dashed against the stones not onely great sins but little sins must be killed or they will kill the soul for ever lesser doe tempt the tempter to tempt us to the greater Sin is of an incroaching nature it creeps on the soule by degrees step by step till it hath the soule to the very height of sin David gives way to his wandring eye and this led him to those foule sins that caused God to breake his bones and to turne his day into night and to leave his soule in great darknesse Jocab and Peter and other Saints have found this true by wofull experience that the yeelding to a lesser sin hath been the ushering in of a greater the little thief will open the doore and make way for the greater and the little wedge knock't in will make way for the greater Satan will first draw thee to sit with the drunkard and then to sip with the drunkard and then at last to be drunke with the drunkard he will first draw thee to be unclean in thy thoughts and then to be unclean in thy looks and then to be unclean in thy words and at last to be unclean in thy practises he will fiâ—st draw thee to looke on the golden wedge and then to like the golden wedge and then to handle the golden wedge and then at last by wicked wayes to gaine the golden wedge though thou runnest the hazard of loosing God and thy soul An Italian having found his enemy at an advantage promised him if he would deny his faith he would save his life he to save his life denyed his faith which having done he stab'd him rejoycing that by this he had at one time taken revenge both on soule and body for ever as you may see in Gehazi Achan and Judas and many in these our dayes Sinne is never at a stand Psal 1. v. 1. First ungodly then sinners then scorners here they goe on from sin to sin till they come to the top of sin viz. to sit in the seat of scorners or as ris in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to affect the honour of the chair of Pestilence Austin writing upon John tells a story of a certaine man that was of an opinion that the Devill did make the flye and not God saith one to him if the Devill made flies then the Devill made wormes and God did not make them for they are living creatures as well as flies true said he the Devil did make wormes but said the other if the Devil did make wormes then he made birds beasts and man he granted all thus saith Austin by denying God in the fly he came to deny God in man and to deny the whole Creation by all this we see that the yeelding to lesser sins drawes the soul to the committing of greater Ah! how many in these dayes have fallen first to have low thoughts of Scripture and Ordinances and then to slight Scripture and Ordinances and then to make a nose of wax of Scripture and Ordinances and then to cast off Scripture and Ordinances and then at
that he might be cast down would be set higher then others when 't is but in order to his being brought downe lower then others There is not a wicked man in the world that is set up with Lucifer as high as Heaven but shall with Lucifer be brought down as low as Hell Canst thou think seriously of this oh soul and not say O Lord I humbly crave that thou wilt let me be little in this world that I may be great in another world and low here that I may be high for ever hereafter Let me be low and feed low and live low so I may live with thee for ever let me now be cloathed with rags so thou wilt cloath me at last with thy Robes let me now be set upon a dunghill so I may at last be advanc'd to sit with theâ— upon thy Throne Lord make me rather gracious then great inwardly holy then outwardly happy and rather turn me into my first nothing yea make me worse then nothing rather then set me up for a time that thou mayest bring me low for ever The seventh Remedy against this Device 7 Remedy of Satan is solemnly to consider that God doth often most plague and punish those whom others think he doth most spare and love that is God do's plague and punish them most with spirituall judgements which are the greatest the sorest and the heaviest whom he least punishes with temporall punishments there are no men on earth Psal 81. 12. Psal 78. 26 27 28 29 30 31. Psal 106. 15. He gave them their request but sent leannesse into their soule 'T is a heavy plague to have a fat body and a lean soul a house full of gold and a heart full of sin so internally plagued as those that meet with least externall plagues Oh! the blindnesse of mind the hardnesse of heart the searednesse of Conscience that those souls are given up to who in the eye of the world are reputed the most happy men because they are not outwardly afflicted and plagued as other men Ah souls 't were better that all the temporall plagues that ever befell the children of men since the fall of Adam should at once meet upon your souls then that you should be given up to the least spirituall plague to the least measure of spirituall blindnesse or spirituall hardnesse of heart c. nothing will better that man nor move that man that is given up to spirituall judgements let God smile or frowne stroke or strike cut or kill he minds it 'T is better to have a sore then a seared conscience 'T is better to have no heart then a hard heart no mind then a blind mind not he regards it not let life or death heaven or hell be set before him it stirs him not he is made up on his sin and God is fully set to doe Justice upon his soule this mans preservation is but a reservation unto a greater condemnation This man can set no bounds to himselfe he is become a brat of fathomlesse perdition He hath guilt in his bosome and vengeance at his back where-ever he goes neither ministry nor misery neither miracle nor mercy can mollifie his heart and if this soul be not in hell on this side hell who is who is 8 Remedy The eigth Remedy against this Device of Satan is to dwell more upon that strict account that vain men must make for all that good that they doe injoy In this day men shall give an account De bonis commissis de bonis dimissis de malis commissis de malis permissis of good things committed unto them of good things neglected by them of evils committed by them and of evills suffered by them then upon the outward good they doe injoy Ah! did men dwell more upon that account that they must ere long give for all the mercies that they have injoyed and for all the favours that they have abused and for all the sins they have committed would make their hearts to tremble and their lips to quiver rottennesse to enter into their bones it would cause their soules to cry out and say oh that our mercies had been fewer and lesser that our account might have been easier and our torment and misery for our abuse of so great mercy not greater then we are able to bear O cursed be the day wherein the Crown of honour was set upon our heads and the treasures of this world were cast into our laps O cursed be the day wherein the sun of prosperity shin'd so strong upon us and this flattering world smil'd so much upon us as to occasion us to forget God to slight Jesus Christ to neglect our souls and to put far from us the day of our account Philip the third of Spaine whose life was free from grosse evills professed that he would rather loose all his Kingdome then offend God willingly yet being in the Agony of death and considering more throughly of his In die judicii plus valebit conscientia pura quam marsupia plena Bernard Then shall a good conscience be more worth then all the worlds good account he was to give to God feare struck into him and these words brake from him Oh! would to God I had never reigned oh that those years I have spent in my Kingdome I had lived a life in the wildernesse oh that I had lived a solitary life with God! how much more securely should I now have dyed how much more confidently should I have gone to the Throne of God What doth all my glory profit me but that I have so much the more torment in my death God keeps an exact account of every penny that 's laid out upon him and his and that is laid out against him and his and this in the day of account men shall know and feel though now they wink and Hierome still thought that that voyce was in his ears Surgite mortui venite ad judicium Arise you dead and come to judgement As oft as I think on that day how doth my whole body quake and my heart within me tremble will not understand The sleeping of vengeance causeth the overflowing of sin and the overflow of sin causeth the awaking of vengeance abused mercy will certainly turn into fury Gods forbearance is no quittance the day is at hand when he will pay wicked men for the abuse of new and old mercies if he seem to be slow yet he is sure he hath leaden heels but iron hands the farther he fetcheth his blow or draweth his arrow the deeper he will wound in the day of vengeance Mens actions are all in print in heaven and God will in the day of account read them aloud in the ears of all the world that they may all say amen to that righteous sentence that he shall passe upon all the despisers and abusers of mercy The ninth Device that Satan hath to 9 Device draw the soule to sin
hand of the Lord rest upon us that Luther cannot get diminutives enough to extenuate it for he calls it a very little little crosse that we beare The Prophet in Isaiah 26. 20. to pikron mikron saith the indignation doth not transire passe but pertransire overpasse The sharpnesse shortnesse and suddennesse of it is set forth by the travell of a woman John 16. 21. And that is a John 16. 21. Heb. 10. 36 37. sweet Scripture For yee have need of patience that after yee have done the will of God yee might receive the promise For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Tantillum tantillum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adhuc pusillum A little little little while When Athanasius friends came to bewaile him because of his misery and banishment he said It is but a little cloud and will quickly be gone 'T will be but as a day before God will give his Nebecula est cito transibit Athanasius afflicted ones beauty for ashes the oyle of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse before he will turne all your sighing into singing all your lamentations to consolations your sackcloath into silks ashes into oyntments and your fasts into 4 Remedy â—verlasting feasts c. The fourth Remedy against this Device of Satan is seriously to confider that the afflictions that doe befall the Saints are such as proceed from Gods dearest love As many as I love I rebuke Austine asketh Si amatur quomedo infirmatur if he were belov'd how came he to be sick So are wicked men apt to say because they know not that corrections are pledges of our adoption and badges of our Son ship God had one Son without sin but none without sorrow and chasten be zealous therefore and repent Saints saith God think not that I hate you because I thus chide you he that escapes reprehension may suspect his adoption God had one Son without corruption but no Son without correction A gracious soule may look through the darkest cloud and see a God smiling on him We must look through the anger of his correction to the sweetnesse of his countenance and as by a Rain-bow we see the beautifull image of the Suns light in the midst of a dark and waterish cloud When Munster lay sick and his friends asked him how he did and how he felt himselfe he pointed to his sores and ulcers whereof he was full and said these are Gods Gems and Jewells wherewith he decketh his best friends and to me they are more precious then all the gold and silver in the world A soul at first conversion is but ruf cast but God by afflictions doth square and fit and fashion it for that glory above which doth speak them out to flow from precious love therefore the afflictions that doe attend the people of God should be no bar to holinesse nor no motive to draw the soul to wayes of wickednesse The fift Remedy against this Device 5 Remedy of Satan is solemnly to consider that 't is our duty and glory not to measure afflictions by the smart but by the end When Israel was dismisled out of Exod. 11. Aegypt 't was with gold and ear-rings So the Jewes were dismissed out of Babylon with gifts jewels and all necessary utensils Look more at the latter end of a Ezra 1. Christian then the beginning of his affliction consider the patience of Job and what end the Lord made with him Look not upon Lazarus lying at Dives Afflictions they are but our fathers Gold Smiths who are working to adde pearls to our Crownes door but lying in Abrahams bosome look not to the beginning of Joseph who was so far from his dream that the Sun and Moon should reverence him that for two years he was cast where he could see neither Sun Moon nor Stars but behold him at the last made Ruler over Aegypt Look not upon David as there was but a step between him and Tiburtius saw paradise when he walked upon hot burning coals Heredotus said of the Assyrians let them drink nothing but wormwood all their life long when they dye they shall swimme in honey you are wise and know how to apply it 6. Remedy death nor as he was envied by some and slighted and despised by others but behold him seated in his Royal Throne and dying in his bed of honour and his Son Solomon and all his glistering Nobles about him Afflictions they are but as a dark entry into your Fathers house they are but as a dirty lane to a Royall Palace Now tell me soules whether it be not very great madnesse to shun the wayes of holinesse and to walke in the wayes of wickednesse because of those afflictions that doe attend the wayes of holinesse The sixt Remedy against this device of Satan is seriously to consider that the designe of God in all the afflictions that do befall them is only to try them 't is not to wrong them nor to ruine them as ignorant soules are apt to think He knoweth the way that I take and when he hath tryed me I shall come forth as gold saith patient Job So in that 8. Dan. 2. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God lâ—d thee these fourty yeares in the willdernesse to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thy heart whether thou The King of Aracum in Scaliger tries her whom he meanes to marry by sweating if they be sweet then he marries them if not he rejects them you may easily make the application wouldest keep his Commandements or no. God afflicted them thus that he might make known to themselves and others what was in their hearts When fire is put to green wood there comes out abundance of watery stuffe that afore appeared not when the pond is empty the mud filth and toads come to light The snow covers many a dunghill so doth prosperity many a rotten heart It is easie to wade in a warme-bath and every bird can sing in a sun-shine-day c. Hard weather tries what health we have afflictions trie what sap we have what grace we have Weathered leaves soon fall off in windy weather Rotten boughes quickly break with heavy weights c. you are wise and know how to apply it Afflictions are like pinching frosts Dunghills raked send out a filthy steame oyntment a sweet persume this is applicable to sinners and Saints under the rod. that will search us where we are most unsound we shall soonest complaine and where most corruptions lie wee shall most shrinke We try mettall by knocking if it sound well then we like it so God â—â—ies his by knocking and if under knocks they yeeld a pleasant sound God will turne their night into day and their bitter into sweet and their Crosse into a Crown and they shall hear that voice arise and shine for the glory of the Lord is risen
Satan are these that follow THe first Remedy against this device 1. Remedy of Satan is to dwell till your hearts be affected upon those commands of God that doe expressely require us to shun the society of the wicked Ephes 5. 11. And have no fellowship Non paerentum aut majorum authoritas sed Dei docentis imperium Jerom. The commands of God must ouâ—-weigh all authority and example of men with the unfruit fud works of darknesse but rather reprove them Prov. 4. 14 15 16. Enter not into the path of the wicked and goe not in the way of evill men Avoid it passe not by it turne from it and passe away 1 Cor. 5. 9 10 11. 2 Thess 3. 6. Prov. 1. 10 11 12 13 14 15. turne to these Scriptures and let your soules dwell upon them till a holy indignation be raised in your soules against fellowship with vaine men God will not take the wicked by the hand as Job speaks why then should you Gods commands are not like those that are easily reversed but they are like those of the Medes that cannot be changed if these commands be not now observed by thee they will at last be witnesses against thee and milstones to sinke thee in that day that Christ shall judge thee The second Remedy against this device 2. Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider that their company is very infectious Eusebius reports of John the Evangelist that he would not suffer Cerinthus the heretick in the same bath him left some judgement should abide them both Euseb lib. 3. cap. 25. A man that keepeth ill company is like him that walketh in the Sun tanned insensibly and dangerous as is cleare from the Scriptures above mentioned Ah! how many have lost their names and lost their estates and strength and God and Heaven and soules by society with wicked men As ye shun a stinking carcase as the Sea-man shuns sands and rocks and shelves As ye shun those that have the plague-sore running upon them so should you shun the society of wicked men As weeds endanger the corne as bad humors endanger the blood or as an infected house the neighbourhood so doth wicked company the soule Bias a heathen man being at Sea in a great storme and perceiving many wicked men with him in the ship calling upon the Gods oh saith he forbear prayer hold your tongues I would not have the Gods take notice that you are here they will sure drowne us all if they should Ah sirs could a heathen Prov. 13. 20. v. see so much danger in the society of wicked men and can you see none The third Remedy against this device 3. Remedie 2 Tim. 4. 17. Isa 11. 7. 29. Ezek. 3. 10. Mat. 16. 9. Revel 3. 5. 10. Mat. 3. 7. Isa 10. 17. 27. ch 4. 55. 13. Ezek 26. Judg. 9. 14. Job 21. 18. Psal 18. 42. Psa 14. 18. Psa 42. Ezek. 22. 18 19. 65. Esa 5. Ezek 24. 6. Lactantius saith of Lucian nec diis nec hominibus pepercit he spared neither God nor man such monsters are wicked men which should render their company to all that have tasted of the sweetnesse of divine love a burden and not a delight of Satan is to looke alwayes upon wicked men under those names and notions that the Scripture sets them out under The Scripture calls them Lions for their fiercenesse and Beares for their cruelty and Dragons for their hideousnesse and Dogs for their filthinesse and Wolves for their subtilnesse The Scripture stiles them Scorpions Vipers Thornes Briars Thistles Brambles stubble dirt chaffe dust drosse smoke scumme as you may see in the margent 'T is not safe to look upon wicked men under those names and notions that they set out themselves by or that flatterers sets them out by this may delude the soul but the looking upon them under those names and notions that the Scripture sets out by may preserve the soule from frequenting their company and delighting in their society Doe not tell me what this man calls them or how such and such count them but tell me how doth the Scripture call them how doth the Scripture count them As Naballs name was so was his nature and as wicked mens names are so are their natures you may know well enough what is within them by the apt names that the Holy Ghost hath given them The fourth and last Remedy against 4. Remedie O Lord let me not goe to hell where the wicked are for Lord thou knowest I never loved their company here said a gracious gentlewoman when she was to die being in much trouble of conscience this device of Satan is to consider that the societie and company of wicked men have been a great griefe and burden to those precious soules that were once glorious on earth and are now triumphing in heaven Psal 120. ver 5 6. Woe is mee that I dwell in Mesech that I sojourne in the tents of Kedar My soule hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace So Jeremiah Oh that I had in the wildernesse a lodging place of wayfaring men that I might leave my people and goe from them for they be all adulterers an assembly of treacherous men Jer. 9. ver 2. So they vexed Lots 2 Pet. 2. c. ver 7 8 Vide Bezam righteous soule by their filthy conversation they made his life a burden they made death more desirable to him then life yea they made his life a lingering death Guilt or grief is all the good soules get by conversing with wicked men The second thing to be shewed is the severall Devices that Satan hath as to draw soules to sin so to keep soules from holy duties to hinder soules in holy Services and to keep them off from Religious performances And he shewed me Joshua the high Priest standing before the Angell of the Lord and Satan standing at his righthand to resist him Zach. 3. 1. The truth of this I shall shew you in the following particulars The first device that Satan 1. Device hath to draw soules from holy duties and to keep them off from religious services is BY presenting the world in such a dresse and in such a garbe to the soule as to insnare the soule and to winn upon the affections of the soule The beauty of the world soils a Christian more then the strength the flattering Sun shâ—ne more then the blustering storme in stormes we keep our garments close about us he represents the world to them in its beauty and bravery which proves a bewitching sight to a world of men 'T is true this tooke not Christ because Satan could finde no matter in him for his temptation to worke upon but Satan findes matter in us for this temptation to worke upon so that he can no sooner cast out his golden bait but we are ready to play with it and to nibble at it he can no sooner throw out his golden ball but men
doth with her beautifull colours so astonish and amaze them that they have no power to passe away till she have stung them Ah! how many thousands are there now on earth that have found this true by experience that have spun a faire thread to strangle themselves both temporally and eternally by being bewitch't by the beautie and braverie of this enticeing world The fift Remedy against this Device of 5. Remedie Satan is to consider that all the felicity of this world is mixt our light is mixt with darknesse our joy with sorrow our pleasures with paine our honour with dishonour our riches with wants If our fight be spirituall cleare and quick we may see in the felicity of this world our wine mixt with water our honey with gall our sugar with wormewood and our roses with prickles Sorrow attends worldy joy Harke scholar said the Harlot to Apuleius 't is but a bitter sweet that you are so fond off Surely all the things of this world are but bitter sweets danger attends worldly safety losse attends worldly labours teares attend worldly purposes As to these things mens hopes are vaine their sorrow certaine and joy fained The Apostle calleth this world a sea of glasse a sea for the troubles of it and glasse for the brittlenesse and bitternesse of it The honors profits pleasures and delights of this world are true gardens of Adonis where we can gather nothing but triviall flowers surrounded with many bryers The sixt Remedy against this Device 6. Remedy of Satan is to get better acquaintance and better assurance of more blessed and glorious things That Let Heaven be a mans object and earth will soone be his abject which raised up their spirits in the tâ—nth and 11th of the Hebrews to trâ—mple upon all the beautie bravery and glory of the world was their acquaintance with and assurance of better and more durable things They tooke joyfully the spoyling of their goods knowing in themselves that they had in Heaven a better and a more durable substance They Luther being at one time in some wants it happened that a good sum of money was unexpectedly sent him by a Noble man of Germany at which being something amazed he said I seare that God will give me my reward here but I protest I will not be so satisfied look't for a house that had foundations whose builder and maker was God And they look't for another Country even an heavenly They saw him that was invisible and had an eye to the recompence of reward And this made them count all the glory and bravery of this world to be poore and contemptible for them to set their hearts upon The maine reason why men dote upon the world and damne their soules to get the world is because they are not acquainted with a greater glory Men ate Acorns till they were acquainted with the use of wheat Ah! were men more acquainted with what union and communion with God means what 't is to have a new name and a new stone that none knowes but he that hath it did they but taste more of Heaven and live more in Heaven and had more glorious hopes of going to Heaven ah how easily would they have the Moone under their feet It was an excellent saying of Lewis of Bavyer Emperour of Germany * Hujusmodi comparandae sunt opes quae cum naufragio simul enatent such goods are worth getting and owning as will not sinke or wash away if a shipwrack happen but will wade and swim out with us It is recorded of Lazarus that after his resurrection from the dead he was never seen to laugh his thoughts and affections were so fixt in Heaven though his bodie was on earth and therefore he could not but slight temporall things There is saith Augustine bona Throni goods of the throne and there are bona Scabelli goods of the foote-stool his heart being so bent and set upon eternalls There are goods of the throne of grace as God Christ the Spirit Adoption Justification remission of sin peace with God and peace with Conscience and there are goods of the foot-stoole as honours riches the favour of creatures and other comforts and accommodations of this life Now he that hath acquaintance with and assurance of the goods of the Throne will easily trample upon the goods of the foot-stoole Ah! that you would make it your businesse your worke to mind more and make sure more to your owne soules the great When Basil was tempted with money and preferment saith he give me money that may last for ever and glory that may eternally flourish for the fashion of this world passeth away as the waters of a river that runs by a City things of eternity that will yeeld you joy in life and peace in death and a Crown of Righteousnesse in the day of Christs appearing And that will lifte up your soules above all the beauty and bravery of this bewitching world that will raise your feet above other mens heads When a man comes to be assured of a Crown a Scepter the Royall Robes c. he then begins to have low mean and contemptible thoughts of those things that before he highly prized so will assurance of more great and glorious things breed in the soule a holy scorn and contempt of all these poore meane things which the soule before did value above God Christ and Heaven c. The seventh Remedie against this device of Satan is solemnly to consider 7 Remedie that true hahpinesse and satisfaction is not to be had in the injoyment of any worldly good true happinesse is too big and too glorious a thing to be True happinesse lies only in our injoyment of a suitable good a pure good a totall good an eternall good and God is onely such a good and such a good can only satisfie the soul of man found in any thing below that God who is a Christians summum bonum chiefest good The blessed Angells those glistering Courtiers have all felicities and blessednesses and yet they have neither gold nor silver nor jewels nor none of the beauty and bravery of this world certainly if happinesse was to be found in these things the Lord Jesus who is the right and Royall Heir of all things would have exchanged his cradle for a Crown his Birthcham-ber a stable for a Royall Palace his poverty for plenty his despised followers for shining Courtiers and his meane provisions for the choisest delicates c. Certainly happiness lies not in those things that a man Philosophers could say that hee was never a happy man that might afterwards become miserable may injoy and yet be miserable for ever now a man may be great gracelesse with Pharaoh honourable and damnable with Saul rich and miserable with Dives c. therefore happiness lies not in these things Certainly happinesse lies not in those things that cannot comfort a man upon a dying
houre to have A pardon given unexpectedly into the hand of a malefactor when he is on the last stâ—p of the ladder ready to be turn'd off will cause muâ—h joy rejoycing the newnesse and suddennesse of the change of his condition will cause his heart to leap and rejoyce yet in proces of time much of his joy will â—e abaâ—ed tho his liâ—e be as dâ—aâ— to him still as ever it was his night turn'd into day his darknesse turn'd into light his bitter into sweet Gods frownes into smiles his hatred into love his hell into a Heaven must greatly joy and comfort him It cannot but make his heart to leap and dance in him who in one houre shall see Satan accusing him his owne heart condemning him the eternall God frowning upon him the gates of Heaven bar'd against him all the creation standing armed at the least beck of God to execute vengeance on him and the mouth of the infernall pit open to receive him Now in this hour for Christ to come to the amazed soule and say to it I have trod the Winâ—-presse of my Fathers wrath for thee I have laid down my life a ransome for thee by my blood I have satisfied my Fathers Justice and pacified his anger and procured his love for thee by my blood I have purchased the pardon of thy sins thy freedom from hell and thy right to Heaven c. Oh! how wonderfully will this cause the soule to leap for joy The fifth Remedy against this Device 5 Remedie of Satan is to consider that God will restore and make up the comforts of his people though thy candle be put out Hudson the Martyr deserted at the stake went from under his chain and having prayed earnestly was comforted immediately and suffered valiantly So Mr. Glover when he was within sight of the stake cryed out to his friend he is come he is come meaning the comforter that Christ promised to send yet God will light it againe and make it burn more light then ever though thy sun for the present be clouded yet he that rides upon the clouds shall scatter those clouds and cause the sun to shine and warm thy heart as in formâ—r dayes as the Psalmist speakes a Ps 71. 20 21. Thou which hast shewed me great and sâ—re troubles shalt quicken me againe and shalt bring me up againe from the depths of the earth Thou shalt increase my greatnesse and comfort me on every side God takes away a little comfort that he may make room in the soule for a greater degree of comfort This the Prophet Isaiah sweetly shewes b Isa 57. 18. I have seen his wayes and will heale him I will lead him also and restâ—re comforts unto him and to his mourners Bear up sweetly oh precious soule thy storme shall end in a calm and thy dark night in a sun-shine day thy mourning shall be turn'd into rejoycing and the waters of consolation shall be sweeter and higher in thy soule then See also the 126 Psal 6. v. and the 42 Psal 7 8. ever the mâ—rcy is surely thine but the time of giving it is the Lords wait but a litâ—le and thou shalt find the Lord comforting thee on every side The seventh Device that Satan hath to keep souls in a doubting and questioning condition is BY suggesting to the soule his often 7 Device relapses into the same sin which formerly he hath pursued with particular sorrow grief shame and tears and prayed complained and resolved against Saith Satan thy heart is not right with God surely thy estate is not good thou dost but flatter thy selfe to think that ever God will eternally owne and embrace such a one as thou art who complainest against sin and yet relapsest into the same sin who with teares and groanes confessest thy sin and yet ever and anon art fallen into the same sin c. I confesse this is a very sad condition for a soule after he hath obtained mercy and pity from the Lord after God hath spoken peace and pardon to him and wip't the tears from his eyes and set him upon his legs to returne to folly ah how doe relapses lay men open to the greatest afflictions and worst A backslider may say opera impensa periit all my paines and charge is lost temptations How doe they make the wound to bleed afresh How doe they darken and cloud former assurances and evidenceâ— for Heaven How doe they put a sword into the hand of conscience to cut and slash the soule They raise such feares terrours horrours and doubts in the soule that the soule cannot be so frequent in duty as formerly nor so fervent in duty as formerly nor so confident in duty as formerly nor so bold familiar and delightfull with God in duty as formerly nor so constant in duty as formerly they give Satan an advantage to triumph over Christ they make the work of repentance moâ—e difficult they make a mans life a burden and they render death to be very terrible unto the soule c. Now the Remedies against this device of Satan are these that follow THe first Remedie against this device 1 Remedie of Satan is solemnly to consider that there are many Scriptures that doe clearly evidence a possibility of the St. falling into the same sins whereof they have formerly repented c Hos 14. 4. I will heale their backsliding I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from them saith the Lord by the Prophet Hosea so the Prophet Jeremiah speaks d Ier. 3. 12. 14. Goe and proclaime these words towards the North and say returne thou back-sliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am mercifull saith the The sin of backsliding is a soul-wounding sin I will heale their backsliding you read of no arms for the back though you doe for the breast Lord and I will not keep anger for ever Turne oh backsliding Israel saith the Lord for I am married unto you And I will take you one of a City and two of a family and I will bring you to Zion So the Psalmist They turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their Fathers they were turned aside like a deceitfull bow And no wonder for tho their repentance be never so sincere and sound yet their graces are but weak and their mortification imperfect in When a souldier bragged too much of a great scar in his forehead Augustus Caesar in whose time Christ was borne asked him if he did not get it when he looked back as he fled this life though by grace they are freed from the dominion of sin and from the damnatory power of every sin and from the love of all sin yet grace doth not free them from the seed of any one sin and therefore 't is possible for a soule to fall againe and againe into the same sin if the fire be not wholly
who knows how his heart would have swelled hee might have been carried higher in conceit then before he was in his extacie The school of temptation is a choise school a school wherein God gives his people the clearest and the sweetest discoveries of his love a school wherein God teaches his people to be more frequent and fervent in duty when Paul was buffeted then he prayed thrice that is frequently and fervently A schoole wherein God teaches his people to be more tender meek and compassionate to other poor tempted souls then ever A school wherein God teaches his people to see a greater evill in sinne then ever and a greater emptiness in the creature then ever and a greater need of Christ and free-grace then ever A school wherein God will teach his people that all temptations are but his Gold-smiths by which he will try and refine and make his people more bright and glorious The issue of all temptations shall be the good of the Saints as you may see by the temptations that Adam and Eve and Christ and David and Job and Peter and Paul met with Those hands of power and love that bring light out of darknesse good out of evill sweet out of bitter life out of death Heaven out of Hell will bring much sweet and good to his people out of all the temptations that come upon them The third Remedie against this Device 3 Remedie of Satan is wisely to consider that no temptations don't hurt nor harm the Saints so long as they are not resisted by them and prove the greatest affliction that can befall them 't is not Satans tempting but your assenting not his enticing but your yeelding that makes temptations hurtfull to your soules if the soule when 't is tempted resists the temptation and saith with Christ get thee behind mee Satan and with that young Convert I am not the man that I Ego non sum ego was or as Luther counsells all men to answer all temptations with these words Christianus sum I am a Christian if a mans temptations be his greatest affliction then is the temptation no sin upon his soule though it be a trouble upon his mind when a soule can look the Lord in the face and say ah Lord I have many outward troubles now upon me I have lost such and such a neere mercy and such and such dear desirable mercies and yet thou that knowest the heart thou knowest that all my crosses and losses do not make so many wounds in my soule nor fetch so many sighes from my heart nor teares from my eyes as those temptations doe that Satan follows my soul with when 't is thus with the soule then temptations are only the souls trouble they are not the souls sin Satan is a malious and envious enemie â—â—metimeâ— he â—hewes his malice by letting those things abide by the soule as may most vex and plague the soule as Gregory observes in his leaving of Jobs wife which was not out of his forgetfulness carelesnesse or any love or pity to Iob but to vex and torment him c. and to work him to blaspheme God despair and die c. as his names are so is he his names are all names of enmity the Accuser the Tempter the Destroyer the Devourer the envious Man and this malice and envy of his he shewes sometimes by tempting men to such sins as are quite contrary to the temperature of their bodies as he did Vespasian and Julian men of sweet and excellent natures to be most bloody murtherers and sometimes hee shews his malice by tempting men to such things as shall bring hiâ— no honour nor profit c. fall downe and worship mee to blasphemie and Atheisme c. the thoughts and first motions whereof cause the bea rt and the flesh to tremble And sometimes he shewes his malice by tempting them to those sins which they have not found their natures prone to and which they abhor in others c. Now if the soule resists these and complains of these and groanes and mourns under these and lookes up to the Lord Jesus to be delivered from these then shall they not be put down to the soules account but to Satans who shall be so much the more tormented by how much the more the Saints have beene by him maliciously tempted c. Make present and peremptory resistance against Satans temptations bid defiance to the temptation at first sight When Constantine the Emperour was told that there was no means to cure his leprosie but by bathing his body in the blood of Infants he presently answered malo jemper aegrotare quam tali remedio convalescere I had rather not be cured then use such a remedie 't is safe to resist 't is dangerous to dispute Eve lost her selfe and her posterity by falling into the lists of dispute when she should have resisted and stood upon terms of defiance with Satan he that would stand in the hour of temptation must plead with Christ 't is written he that would triumph over temptations must plead still 't is written Satan is bold and impudent and if you are not peremptory in your resistance he will give you fresh onsets 'T is your greatest honour and your highest wisdome peremptorily to with-stand the beginnings of a temptation for an after remedie comes often too late Mistris Katherine Bretterge once after a great conflict with Satan said Reason not with me I am but a weake woman if thou hast any thing to say say it to my Christ he is my Advocate my strength and my redeemer and he shall plead for me Men must not seek to resist Satans craft with craft sed per apertum martem but by open defiance he shoots with Satan in his own bow who thinks by disputing and reasoning to put him off As soon as a temptation shewes its face say to the temptation as Ephraim to his idols get you hence what have I any Hosea 14. more to doe with you oh say to the temptation as David said to the sonnes of Zerviah What have I to doe with you 2 Sam. 16. 10. you will be too hard for me He that doth thus resist temptations shall never be undone by temptation c. Make strong and constant resistance I have read of one who being tempted with offers of money to desert Christ gave this excellent answer let not any man think that he will embrace other mens goods to forsake Christ who hath forsaken his own proper goods to follow Christ against Satans temptations make resistance against temptations by arguments drawn from the honour of God the love of God your union and communion with God and from the blood of Christ the death of Christ the kindness of Christ the intercession of Christ and the glory of Christ and from the voice of the Spirit the counsell of the Spirit the comforts of the Spirit the presence of the Spirit the seale of the Spirit
deadly consumption to fall upon some Now the remedies against this Device of Satan are these that follow THe first Remedy against this Device 1 Remedie of Satan is to dwell more upon one anothers graces then upon one anothers weaknesses and infirmities 't is sad to consider that Saints should have Flavius Vespasianus the Emperour was more ready to conceal the vices of his friends then their virtues can you think seriously of this Christians that a Heathen should excell you not blush 2 Cor. 2. 7 8. many eyes to behold one anothers infirmities and not one eye to see each others graces that they should use spectacles to behold one anothers weaknesses rather then looking glasses to behold one anothers graces Erasmus tels of one who collected all the lame and defective Verses in Homers works but passed over all that were excellent ah that this were not the practice of many that shall at last meet in Heaven that they were not carefull and skillfull to collect all the weaknesses of others and to passe over all those things that are excellent in them The Corinthians did eye more the incestuous persons sinne then his sorrow which was like to have drown'd him in sorrow Tell me Saints is it not a more sweet comfortable and delightfull thing to look more upon one anothers graces then upon one anothers infirmities Tell me what pleasure what delight what comfort is there in looking upon the enemies the wounds the sores the sicknesses the diseases the nakednesse of our friends Now sin you know is the souls enemy the souls wound the souls sores the souls sicknesse the souls Non Gens sed mens non Genus sed Genius Not race or place but grace truly sets forth a mâ—n disease the souls nakednesse and ah what a heart hath that man that loves thus to look Grace is the choicest flower in all a Christians garden 't is the richest Jewell in all his Crown 't is his Princely Robes 't is the top of Royalty and therefore must needs be the most pleasing sweet and delightfull object for a gracious eye to be fixt upon Sin is darknesse grace is light sin is hell grace is Heaven and what madnesse is it to look more at darknesse then at light more at hell then at Heaven Jam. 5. 11. 2. 25. 1 Pet. 2. 6. vide Sin is Satans work Grace is Gods workâ— is it not most â—â—â—et that the child should eye most and mind most his Fathers work c. Tâ—ll me Saints doth not God look more upon his people graces then upon their weaknesses surely he doth he looks more at Davids and Asa's uprightnesse then upon their infirmities though they were great and many he eyes more Job's patience then his passion Remember the patience of Job not a word of his impatience c. He that drew Alexander whilest he had a scar upon his face drew him with his finger upon the scar God puts his finger upon his peoples scars that no blemish may appear ah Saints that you would make it the top of your glory in this to be like your heavenly Father by so doing much sin would be prevented the designes of wicked men frustrated Satan out-witted many wounds healed many sad hearts cheared and God more aboundantly honored c. The second Remedy against this Device 2 Remedy of Satan iâ— solemnly to consider that love and unity makes most for your own safety and security We shall There was a Temple of Concord amongst the Heathens and shall it not be found among Christians that are Temples of the holy Ghost be insuperabiles if we be inseperabiles invincible if wee be inseperable The world may frowne upon you and plot against you but they cannot hurt you unity is the best bond of safety in every Church and Common-wealth And this did that Scythian King in Plutark represent lively to his 80 Sons when being ready to dye he commanded a bundle of Arrowes fast bound together to be given to his Sons to break they all tried to break them but being bound fast together they could not then he caused the band to be cut then they Pancirollus saith that the most precious pearle among the Romans was call'd unio union broke them with ease he applyed it thus My Sons so long as you keepe together you will be invincible but if the band of union be broke betwixt you you will easily be broken in â—ieces Plinie writes of a stone in the Island of Scyrus that if it be whole though a large and heavy one it swims above water but being broken it sinks so long as Saints keep whole nothing shall sink them but if they break they are in danger of sinking and drowning c. The third Remedy against this Device 3 Remedy of Satan is to dwell upon those commands of God that doe require you To act or run crosse to Gods expresse command though under pretence of Revelation from God is as much as a mans life is worth as you may see in that sad story 1 Kings 13. 24. to love one another oh when your hearts begin to rise against each other charge the Commands of God upon your hearts and say to your souls oh our souls hath not the eternall God commanded you to love them that love the Lord And is it not life to obey and death to rebell Therefore looke that you fulfill the commands of the Lord for his commands are not like those that are easily reversed but they are like those of the Medes that cannot be changed Oh! be much in pondering upon these Commands of God A new Commandement I give unto you that yee John 13. 34. love one another as I have loved you that yee also love one another 'T is called a new Some conceive it to be an Hebraisme in which language new rare and most excellent are Synonima's John 15. 12. 17. commandement because 't is renewed in the Gospel and set home by Christs example and because 't is rare choise speciall and remarkable above all others This is my commandement that ye love one another as I have loved you These things I command you that ye love one another Owe no man any thing but love one another for he that loveth another hath Rom. 13. 8. fulfilled the Law Let brotherly love continue Heb. 13. 1. Love one another for love is of 1 Iohn 4. 7. God And every one that loveth is borne of 1 Pet. 1. 22. God and knoweth God See that ye love Chap. 3. v. 8. one another with a pure heart fervently Finally be ye all of one minde having compassion one of another Love as brethren be pittifull be courteous For this is the message 1 Iohn 3. 11. that ye heard from the beginning that we should love one another And this is his Verse 23. Commandement that wee should beleeve on the name of his sonne Jesus Christ and
is seriously to consider that the longer you keepe off from Christ the greater and stronger your sinnes wil grow All divine power and strength against sin flowes from the souls union Rom. 8. 10. 1 Iohn 1. 6 7. and communion with Christ while you keepe off from Christ you keep off from that strength and power which is only able to make you trample downe strength lead captivity captive and slay the Goliah's that bids defiance to Christ 'T is only faith in Christ that makes a 1 Iohn 5. 4. man triumph over sin Satan Hell and the world 'T is onely faith in Christ Mar. 5. 25-35 that binds the strong man hand and foot that stops the issue of blood that makes a man strong in resisting and happy in conquering Sin always dies most where faith lives most the most believing soule is the most mortifyed soule Ah sinner remember this there is no way on earth effectually to be rid of the guilt filth and power of sinne but by believing in a Saviour 'T is not resolving 't is not complaining 't is not mourning but believing that will make thee divinely victorious over that bodie of sinne that to this day is too strong for thee and that will certainly be thy ruine if it be not ruin'd by a hand of faith The seventh Remedie against this Device 7 Remedie of Satans is wisely to consider that as there is nothing in Christ to discourage the greatest sinners from believing in him so there is every thing in Christ that may encourage the greatest sinners to believe in him to rest and leane upon him for all happinesse and blessednesse If you look upon his nature his disposition his names his titles his offices as King Priest and Cant. 1. 3. Prophet you shall finde nothing to discourage the greatest sinners to receive Coloss 1. 19. Chap. 2. 3. Cant. 5. 10. him to believe on him Christ is the greatest good the choisest good the chiefest good the most sutable good the most necessary good he is a pure good a reall good a totall good an eternall good and a soul-satisfying good Sinners are you poor Christ Rev. 3. 17 18. hath gold to enrich you are you naked Christ hath royall robes hee hath white rayment to cloath you are you blind Christ hath eye-salve to enlighten you are you hungry Christ will be Manna to feed you are you thirsty Iohn 6. 48. Iohn 7. 38. he will be a Well of living water to refresh you are you wounded hee hath balm under his wings to heale you are Mal. 4. 2. Mat. 4. 23. Mat. 20. 28. you sick he is a Physitian to cure you are you prisoners he hath laid downe a ran some for you Ah sinners tell me tell me is there any thing in Christ to keep you off from believing No is there not every thing in Christ that may incourage you to believe in him Yes O then believe in him and then though your sinnes be as searlet they be as Isa 1. 18. white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool Nay then your iniquities shall be forgotten as well as Isa 43. 25. Isa 38. 17. Micha 1. 19. forgiven they shall be remembred no more God will cast them behinde his back he will hurle them into the bottome of the Sea The 8. and last Remedie against this 8 Remedie Device of Satan is seriously to consider the absolute necessity of beleeving in Christ Heaven is too holy and too hot to hold unbelievers their lodging is prepared in hell Revel 21. 8. But Revel 21. 8. the fear full and unbelieving c. shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire brimstone which is the second death If ye believe not that I am he saith Christ Iohn 8. 24. you shall die in your sins And he that dyes in his sins must to judgment and to hell in his sins Every unbeliever is a condemned man He that beleeveth not saith John is condemned already because Iohn 3. 18. he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten sonne of God And hee that Vers 36. beleeveth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Ah sinners the Law the Gospel and your owne Consciences has pass'd the sentence of condemnation upon you and there is no way to reverse the sentence but by believing in Christ and therefore my counsell is this Stir up your Isa 64. 7. selves to lay hold on the Lord Jesus and look up to him and wait on him from whom every good and perfect James 1. 17. Isa 62. 7. gift comes and give him no rest till he hath given thee that Jewell Faith that is more worth then Heaven and Earth and that will make thee happy in life joyfull in death and glorious in the day of Christ And thus much for the Remedies against this first Device of Satans whereby he keeps off thousands from believing in Christ The second Device that Satan hath to keepe poor sinners from believing from closing with a Saviour is BY suggesting to them their unworthinesse 2 Device Ah saith Satan as thou art worthy of the greatest misery so thou art unworthy of the least crum of mercy what dost thou thinke saith Satan that ever Christ will owne receive or embrace such an unworthy wretch as thou art no no if there were any worthinesse in thee then indeed Christ might be willing to be entertained by thee thou art unworthy to entertain Christ into thy house how much more unworthy art thou to entertaine Christ into thy heart c. Now the Remedies against this device of Satan are these that follow THe first Remedie against this Device 1 Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider that God hath no where in the Scripture required any worthinesse in the creature before believing in Christ If you make a diligent search through all the Scripture you shall not find from Iohn 5. 29. the first line in Genesis to the last line in the Revelation one word that speaks Mat. 19. 8. out Gods requiring any worthinesse in the creature before the soules believing in Christ before the souls leaning and resting upon Christ for happinesse and blessednesse and why then should that be a bar and hinderance to thy faith which God doth no where require of thee before thou comest to Christ that thou maist have life Ah sinners remember Satan objects your unworthinesse against you only out of a Designe to keep Christ and your soules asunder for ever and therefore in the face of all your unworthiness rest upon Christ come to Christ believe in Iohn 6. 40. 47. Christ and you are happy for ever The second Remedie against this Device 2 Remedie of Satans is wisely to consider that none never received Christ embraced Christ obtained mercy and pardon from Christ but unworthy soules Pray what worthinesse was in Matthew Zacheus Mary Magdalen Manasseh Paul and Sydia before their coming to Christ before their faith