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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	world_n	worth_a	worth_n	71	3	9.1751	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77614	Precious remedies against Satans devices or, salve for believers and unbelievers sores. Being a companion for those that are in Christ, or out of Christ; that are high, or low, learned, or illiterate, staggering, or wandering; that slight, or neglect ordinances, under a pretence of living above them; that are growing (in spiritualls) or decaying; that are tempted, or deserted, afflicted, or opposed; that have assurance, or that want assurance; that are self-seekers, or the common-wealths caterpillars; that are in love sweetly united, or that yet have their spirits too much imbittered, &c. By Thomas Brookes, a willing servant unto God, and the faith of his people, in the glorious gospel of Christ, at Margarets fish-street hill.	Brooks, Thomas, 1608-1680.	1658 (1658)	Wing B4954; Thomason E1426_1	231,671	413

would be mighty in believing and in wrestling with God that he would hasten the day of his glory that the reproach that is now upon his people and wayes may cease The sixth Device that Satan 6 Device hath to keepe soules off from religious services is BY presenting before them the examples Iohn 4. 12. 7. Chap. 48 49. 1 Cor. 1. 26 27. Mica 7. 2 3 4. of the greatest part of the world that walk in the wayes of their owne hearts and that make light and slight of the wayes of the Lord why saith Satan do not you see that the great and the rich the noble and the honourable the learned and the wise even the greatest number of men never trouble themselves about such and such wayes and why then should you be singular and nice you were far better doe as the most doe 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 of those Scriptures that make directly against following the sinfull examples of men as that in Exodus Thou shalt not The way to hell is broad and well beaten the way to be undone for ever is to do as the most do argumentum turpissimum est turba the multitude is the weakest and worst argument saith Seneca follow a multitude to doe evill neither shalt thou speake in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgement The multitude generally are ignorant and know not the way of the Lord therefore they speake evill of that they know not they are envious and maliciously bent against the service and way of God and therefore they cannot speak well of the wayes of God This way is every where spoken against said they so in that Numb 16. Seperate from them and come out from among them So the Apostle Have no fellowship with the unfruitfull works of darkenesse So Solomon Enter not into the way Prov. 4. 14. ch 9. v. 6. of the wicked for sake the foolish and live They that walke with the most shall p●rish with the most They that do as the most shall ere long suffer with the most they that live as the most must dye with the most and to hell with the most The second Remedie against this device 2 Remedie of Satan is seriously to consider that if you will sin with the multitude all the Angells in heaven and men on earth cannot keep you from suffering Sin and punishment are linked together with chains of adamant of sinn we may say as Isidore doth of the serpent Tot dolores quot colores so many colours so many dolours with the multitude if you wil be wicked with them you must unavoidably be miserable with them say to thy soule oh my soul if thou wilt sin with the multitude thou must be shut out of heaven with the multitude thou must be cast downe to hell with the multitude c. And I heard another voyce from Heaven saying come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues Come out in affection in action and in habitation for else the infection of sin will bring upon you the infliction of punishment So saith the wise man He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fooles shall be destroyed or as the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ieroange from ruange to be naught hath it shall be broken in pieces Multitudes may help thee into sin yea one may draw thee into sin but 't is not multitudes that can help thee to escape punishments As you may see in Moses and Aaron that were provoked to sinne by the multitude but were shut out of the pleasant Land and fell by a hand of Justice as well as others The third Remedie against this device 3. Remedy of Satan is solemnly to consider the worth and excellency of thy immortall soule Thy soul is a jewell more worth What wise man would fetch gold out of a fie●y crucible hazard his immortall soule to gain the world by following a multitude in those steps that lead to the chambers of death and darknesse then heaven and earth The losse of thy soule is incomparable irreparable and irrecoverable if that be lost all is lost and thou art undone for ever Is it madnesse and folly in a man to kill himselfe for company and is it not greater madnesse or folly to break the neck of thy soule and to damn it for company Suspect that way wherein thou seest multitudes to walk the multitude being a stream that thou must row hard against or thou wilt be carried into that gulfe out of which Angells cannot deliver thee Is it not better to walke in a strait way alone then to wander into crooked wayes with company sure 't is better to goe to Heaven alone then to Hell with company I might adde other things but these may suffice for the present and I am afraid if these arguments do not stir you other arguments will work but little upon you The seventh Device that Satan 7 Device hath to keepe soules from holy and heavenly services is BY casting in a multitude of vaine thoughts whilst the soule is in seeking of God or in waiting on God and by this device he hath cooled some mens spirits in heavenly services and taken off at least for a time many precious Vellem servire Domine sed cogitationes non patiuntur Lord now how fain would I serve thee vaine thoughts will not suffer me soules from religious performances I have no heart to heare nor no heart to pray nor no delight in reading nor in the society of the Saints c. Satan doth so dog and follow my soule and is still a casting in such a multitude of vaine thoughts concerning God the world and my own soule c. that I even tremble to think of waiting upon God in any religious service oh the vaine thoughts that Satan casts in do so distast my soule and so grieve vex perplex and distract my soule that they even make me weary of holy duties yea of m● very life oh I cannot be so raised and ravished so heated and melted so quickned and enlarged so comforted and refreshed as I should be as I might be and as I would be in religious services by reason of that multitude of vain thoughts that Satan is injecting or casting into my soule c. Now the Remedies against this device of Satan are these that follow THe first Remedie against this device 1 Remedie When Pompey could not keep his souldiers in the camp by perswasion he cast himselfe all along in the narrow passage that lead out of it and then bid them goe if you will but you shall first trample upon your Generall and the thoughts of this overcame them you are wise know how to apply it to

golden cup and hide the poison to present the sweet the pleasure and the profit that may flow in upon the soule by yielding to sin and by hiding from the soule the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committings of sin By this Device he took our first Parents Genesis 3. 4 5. And the Serpent said unto the woman yee shall not surely die For God doth So to reduce D. Taylor Martyr they promised him not onely his pardon but a Bishoprick Act. and Mon. folio 1386. Inest peccatum cum delectaris regnat si consen● ser● August in Psal 50. know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evill Your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods here is the baite the sweet the pleasure the profit Oh! but he hides the hook the shame the wrath and the losse that would certainly follow There is an opening of the eyes of the mind to contemplation and joy and there is an opening of the eyes of the body to shame and confusion He promiseth them the former but intends the latter and so cheats them giving them an Apple in exchange for Paradise as he deales by thousands now adayes Satan with ease puts fallacies upon us and then by his golden baites leads us and leaves us in a fools Paradise he promises the soule honour pleasure and profit c. but paye's the soule with the greatest contempt shame and losse that can be by a golden bait he laboured to catch Christ This world at last shall be burnt for a witch sayeth one Multi amando res noxias sunt miseri habendo miseriores August in Psa 26. Many are miserable by loving hurtfull things but they are more miserable by having them Men had need pray with Bernard Da domine ut sic possideamus tempora lia ut non perdamus aeterna Grant us Lord that wee may so partake of temporall felicity that we may not loose eternall in the 4 of Mat. 8. 9. he shewes him the beauty and the bravery of a bewitching world which doubtlesse would have taken many a carnall heart but here the devils fire fell upon wet tinder therefore took not these tempting objects did not at all win upon his affections nor dazle his eyes though many have eternally died of the wound of the eye and fallen for ever by this vile Strumpet the world who by laying forth her two faire breasts of profit and pleasure hath wounded their soules and cast them downe into utter perdition she hath by the glistering of her pomp and preferment slaine millions as the S●rpent Scytale which when she cannot overtake the fleeing passengers doth with her beautifull colours astonish and amaze them so that they have no power to passe away till she have stung them to death Adversity hath slain her thousand but prosperity her ten thousand Now the Remedies against this Device of the Devil are these FIrst keep at the greatest distance from 1 Remedy sin and from playing with the golden bait that Satan holds forth to catch you for this you have the 12 Rom. 9. v. Abhor that which is evill cleave to that which is good when we meet with any thing extreamly evill and contrary to us nature abhors it and retires as far as it can 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The simple verb imports extreame detestation which is aggravated by the composition Chrysost from it The Greek word that is there rendred abhor is very significant it signifies to hate it as Hell it selfe to hate it with horror Anselm used to say that if he should see the shame of sin on the one hand and the pains of hell on the other and must of necessity chuse one he would rather be thrust into Hell without sin then goe into Heaven with sin so great was his hatred and detestation of sin 'T is our wisest and our safest Prov. 5. 8. 1 Thess 5. 22. course to stand at the furthest distance from sin not to goe neer the house of the Harlot but to flie from all appearance of evill the best course to prevent falling into the pit is to keep at the It was a divine saying of a Heathen that if there were no God to punish him no Devil to torment him no Hell to burne him no man to see him yet would he not sin ser the ugliness and filthiness of sin and the griefe of his owne Conscience Seneca greatest distance he that will be so bold as to attempt to dance upon the brink of the pit may find by wofull experience that 't is a righteous thing with God that he should fall into the pit Joseph keeps at a distance from sin and from playing with Satans golden baites and stands David drawes near and playes with the bait and falls and swallowes bait and hook with a witnes David comes neer the snare and is taken in it to the breaking of his bones the wounding of his conscience and the losse of his God Sin is a plague yea the greatest and the most infectious plague in the world and yet ah how few are there that tremble at it that keep at a distance from it 1 Cor. 5. 6. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump As soon as one sin had seised upon Adams heart all sin entred into his soul and over-spread Sinne is like those Diseases that are called by Physitians Corruptio totius substantiae it How hath Adams one sin spread over all mankinde 5. Rom. 12. ver Wherefore as by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Ah! how doth the Fathers sin infect the child the Husbands infect the Wife the Masters the Servant The sin that is in one mans heart is able to infect a whole world 't is of such a spreading and infectious nature The story of the Italian who first made his enemy deny God and then stab'd him and so at once murthered both body and soule declares the perfect malignity of sin and Oh! that what hath been spoken upon this head may prevaile with you to stand at a distance from sin The second Remedy is to consider 2 Remedy When the golden bait is cast forth to catch us wee must say as Demosthenes the Oratour did of the beauti●ull Lais when he was asked an excessive sum of money to behold her I will not buy repentance so dear I am not so ill a merchant as to seleternals for temporals that sin is but a bitter-sweet that seeming sweet that is in sin will quickly vanish and lasting shame sorrow horrour and terrour will come in the room thereof 20. Job 12 13 14. Though wickednesse be sweet in his mouth though he bide it under his tongue though he spare it and forsake it not but keep it still within his mouth yet his meat in

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 ●hat when his sins did app●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 V●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

he sits down and blushes as the Hebrew hath it as one ashamed yea true Repentance doth Quantum displicet Deo immunditia pecca●● in tantum placet deo eruhiscentia poenitentis Ber. i. e. So much the more God hath been displeased with the blacknesse of sin the more will he be pleased with the blushing of the sinner They that do not burn now in zeale against sin must ere long burne in Hell for sin work a man to crosse his sinfull self and to walk contrary to sinfull selfe to take a holy revenge upon sin as you may see in Paul the Jaylor Mary Magdalen and Manasses this the Apostle shewes in that 2 Cor. 7. 10 11. For godly sorrow worketh repentance never to be repented of but the sorrow of the world worketh death for behold the selfesame thing that ye sorrowed after a Godly sort what carefullnesse it wrought in you yea what clearing of your selves yea what indignation yea what feare yea what vehement desire yea what zeale yea what revenge Now souls sum up all these things together and tell me whether it be such an easie thing to repent as Satan would make the soul to beleeve and I am confident your hearts will answer that 't is as hard a thing to repent as 't is to make a world or to raise the dead I shall conclude this second Remedy with a worthy saying of a precious holy man Repentance saith he strips us stark naked of all the garments of the old Adam and leaves not so much as the shirt behind in this rotten building it leaves not a stone upon a stone As the Flood drowned Noa'hs own friends and servants so must the flood of repenting tears drown our sweetest and most profitable sins The third Remedy against this Device 3 Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider that Repentance is a continued act the word Repent implies the continuation of it True Repentance inclines a mans Anselme in his Meditations confesseth that all his life was either damnable for sin committed or unprofitable for good omitted and at last concludes Quid restat o peccat●r nisi ut in tota vita tua deplores totam vitam tuam Oh what then remaines but in our whole life to lament the sins of our whole life heart to perform Gods Statutes always even unto the end a true Penitent must goe on from Faith to Faith from strength to strength he must never stand still nor turne back Repentance is a grace and must have its daily operation as well as other graces true Repentance is a continued spring where the waters of godly sorrow are alwayes flowing My sins are ever before me a true penitent is often casting his eyes back to the dayes of his former vanity and this makes him morning and evening to water his couch with his tears Remember not against me the sins of my youth saith one blessed Penitent and I was a blasphemer and a persecuter and injurious saith another Penitent Repentance is a continued act of turning a Repentance never to be repented of a turning never to turne again to folly a true penitent hath ever something within him to turn from he can never get near enough to God no not so near him as once he was and therefore he is still turning and turning that he may get nearer and nearer to him that is his chiefest good and his onely happinesse optimum 'T is truly said of God that he is omnia super omnia maximum the best and the greatest they are every day a crying out O wretched men that we are who shall deliver us from this body of death They are still sensible of sin and still conflicting with sin and still sorrowing for sin and still loathing of themselves for sin Repentance is no transient act but a continued act of the soul and tell me oh tempted soule whether it be such an easie thing as Satan would make thee believe to be every day a turning more and more from sin and a turning nearer and nearer to God thy choicest blessednesse A true Penitent can as easily content himselfe with one act of faith or one act of love as he can content himselfe with one act of Repentance A Jewish Rabbie pressing the practice of Repentance upon his Disciples exhorting them to be sure to Repent the day before they dyed one of them replyed that the day of any mans death was very uncertaine Repent therefore every day said the Rabbin and then you shall be sure to repent the day before you dye you are wise and know how to apply it to your own advantage The fourth Remedy against this Device 4 Remedy of Satan is solemnly to consider that if the work of Repentance were such an easie work as Satan would If thou be backward in the thoughts of Repentance be forward in the thoughts of Hell the flames whereof onely the streams of the penitent eye can extinguish Tertul. make it to be then certainly so many would not lye roaring and crying out of wrath and eternall ruine under the horrours and terrours of conscience for not repenting yea doubtlesse so many millions would not goe to hell for not Repenting if 't were such an easie thing to repent Ah! doe not poor souls under horrours of conscience cry out and say were all this world a lump of gold and in our hand to dispose of we would give it for the least dram of true Repentance and wilt thou say it is an easie thing to repent When a poor sinner whose Conscience is awakened shall judge the exchange of all the world for the least dram of Repentance to be the happiest exchange that ever sinner made tell me oh soul is it Oh how shalt thou ●ear and rend thy self how shalt thou lament fruitlesse repenting what wilt thou say woe is me that I have not cast off the burden of sin woe is me that I have not washed away my spots but a● now pierced with mine iniquities now have I lost the surpassing joy of Angels Basil good going to hell is it good dwelling with the devouring fire with everlasting burnings Is it good to be for ever seperated from the blessed and glorious presence of God Angels and Saints And to be for ever shut out from those good things of eternall life which are so many that they exceed number so great that they exceed measure so precious that they exceed all estimation we know 't is the greatest misery that can befall the sons of men and would they not prevent this by Repentance if it were such an easie thing to repent as Satan would make it well then doe not run the hazard of loosing God Christ Heaven and thy soul for ever by hearkening to this Device of Satan viz. That it is an easie thing to Repent c. If it be so easie why then doe wicked mens hearts so rise against them that presse the Doctrine of repentance in the sweetest way

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 t●nth and 11th of the Hebrews to tr●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

his happinesse and glory hereafter Why should that man be afraid or troubled for That was a notable speech of Luther let him that dyed for my soule see to the salvation of it stormes at Sea whose treasures are sure in a friends hand upon land why a believers treasure is always safe in the hands of Christ his life is safe his soule is safe his grace is safe his comfort is safe and his Crown is safe in the hand of Christ I know him in 2 Tim. 1. 12. whom I have beleeved and that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him untill that day saith the Apostle The childes most precious things are most secure in his Fathers hands so are our soules our graces and our comforts in the hand of Christ The second Remedie against this device 2. Remedy of Satan is to consider that other precious Saints that were shining Will Flower Martyr said that heaven should assoon fall as I will forsake my profession or budge in the least degree from it So Santus being under as great torment as you have read of cries out Christianus sum I am a Christian no torment could worke him to decline the service of his God I might produce a cloud of witnesses but if these do not work you to be noble and brave I am afraid more will not lights on earth and are now triumphing in Heaven have held on in religious services notwithstanding all the troubles and dangers that have surrounded them Nehemiah and Ezra were surrounded with dangers on the left hand and on the right and yet in the face of all they hold on building the Temple and the wall of Jerusalem so Daniel and those precious worthies in the 44 Psal under want of outward incouragements and in the face of a world of very great discouragements their souls clave to God and his wayes Though they were sore broken in the place of dragons and covered with the shadow of death yea though they were all the day long counted as sheep for the slaughter yet their hearts were not turned back neither did their steps decline from his wayes Though bonds and imprisonment did attend Paul and the rest of the Apostles in every place yet they held on in the work and service of the Lord and why then should you degenerate from their worthy examples which is your duty and your glory to follow The third Remedie against this device 3. Remedie of Satan is solemnly to consider that all the troubles and dangers that doe attend the performance of holy duties and heavenly services are but temporall and momentary but the neglect of them may lay thee open to all temporall spirituall and eternall dangers How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation He saith not if we reject or renounce so great salvation but if wee neglect or shift off as the word is so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dis-regard not care for it great salvation he doth not say how shall we escape if we oppose or persecute so great salvation no but if we let slip or neglect so great salvation how shall we escape that is we cannot by any way or meanes or device in the world escape divine Justice will be above us in spight of our very souls The doing of such and such heavenly services may lay you open to the frowns of men but the neglect of them will lay you open to the frowns of God the doing of them may render you contemptible in the eyes of men Francis Xaverius counselled John the third King of Portugal to meditate every day a quarter of an hour upon that Text What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world loose his soule but the neglect of them may render you contemptible in the eyes of God the doing of them may be the losse of thy estate but the neglect of them may be the losse of God Christ Heaven and thy soule for ever the doing of them may shut thee out from some outward temporal contents the neglect of them may shut thee out from that excellent matchlesse glory that eye hath not seene nor eare heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive Remember this there is no man that breaths but shall suffer more by neglecting those holy and heavenly services that God commands commends and rewards then possibly he can suffer by doing of them c. The fourth Remedie against this device 4 Remedie of Satan is to consider this that God knows how to deliver from troubles by troubles from afflictions by afflictions from dangers by dangers God by lesser troubles and afflictions doth oftentimes deliver his people from greater So that they shall say we had perished if wee had not perished we had been undone if we had not been P●riissem nisi periissem undone we had been in danger if wee had not been in danger God will so order all the afflictions that befall you in the way of righteousnesse that your Non essem ego salvus nisi istae periissent Anaxagoras had not these things perished I could not have been safe said this Philosopher when he saw great possessions that he had lost soules shall say we would not for all the world but that wee had met with such and such troubles and afflictions for surely had not these befallen us it would have been worse and worse with us Oh! the carnal security pride formality dead-heartednesse lukewarmnesse censoriousnesse and earthlinesse that God hath cured us of by the troubles and dangers that we have met with in the wayes and services of the Lord. I remember a story of a godly man that as hee was going to take shipping for France he broke his leg and it pleased Providence so to order it that the ship that he should have gone in at that very time was cast away and not a man saved so by breaking a bone his life was saved So the Lord many times breaks our bones but 't is in order to the saving of our lives and our soules for ever he gives us a potion that makes us heart-sick but 't is in order to the making us perfectly well and to the purging of us from those ill humours that have made our heads ake and Gods heart ake and our souls sick and heavy to the death c. Oh! therefore let no danger or misery hinder thee from thy duty The fifth Remedie against this device of Satan is solemnly to consider that you shall gaine more in the service of God and by walking in righteous and holy wayes though troubles and afflictions should attend you then you can possibly suffer or loose by your being found in the service of God Godlinesse is great gaine Oh the joy the peace Tertullian in in his book to the Martyrs hath an apt saying Negotiatio est aliquid amittere ut majora lucreris i. e. that 's right good merchandize

they are these partly to keep them humble and low in their owne eyes and partly to put them upon the use of all divine helps whereby sin may be subdued and mortified And partly that they may live upon Christ for the perfecting the work of Sanctification Lilmod lelammed we therefore learn that wee may teach is a proverb among the Rabbins After the Trojans had been wandering tossing up and down the Mediterranean Sea as soon as they espied Italy they cried out with exulting joy Italy Italy so will Saints when they come to Heaven and partly to weane them from things below and to make them heart-sick of their absence from Christ and to maintain in them bowels of compassion towards others that are subject to the same infirmities with them and that they may distinguish between a state of grace and a state of glory and that Heaven may be more sweet to them in the close Now doth the Lord upon these weighty reasons suffer his people to be exercised and molested with the operations of sinfull corruptions oh then let no beleever speak write or conclude bitter things against his owne soule and comforts because that sinne troubles and vexes his righteous soule c. but lay his hand upon his mouth and be silent because the Lord will have it so upon such weighty grounds as the soule is not able to withstand The sixth Remedy against this Device 6. Remedy of Satan is solemnly to consider that Beleevers must repent for their being God never g●ve a Beleever a new h●art that it should always li● a bleeding and that it should always be rent and torn in pieces with discouragements discouraged by their sins Their being discouraged by their sins will cost them many a prayer many a teare and many a groane And that because their discouragements under sin flowes from ignorance and unbeliefe it springs from their ignorance of the riches freenesse fulnesse and everlastingnesse of Gods love and from their ignorance of the power glory sufficiency and efficacy of the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ And from their ignorance of the worth glory fulnesse largenesse and compleatnesse of the righteousnesse of Jesus Christ And from their ignorance of that reall close spiritual glorious and inseparable union that is betwixt Christ and their precious soule Ah! did precious souls know and beleeve the truth of these things as they should they would not sit down dejected and over-whelmed under the sense and operations of sin c. The second Device that Satan 2 Device hath to keep souls in a sad doubting and questioning condition is BY working them to make false definitions of their graces Satan knows that as false definitions of sinne wrong the soule one way so false definitions of grace wrong the soule another way I will instance only in faith oh how doth Satan labour might and main to work men to make false definitions of faith Some he works to define faith too high as that it is a full assurance of the love of God to a mans soule in particular or a full perswasion of the pardon and remission of a mans owne sins in particular saith Satan what dost thou talk of faith faith is an assurance of the love of God and of the pardon of sin and this thou hast not thou knowest thou art far off from this therefore thou hast no faith and by drawing men to make such a false definition of faith he keeps them in a sad doubting and questioning condition and makes them spend their days in sorrow and sighing so that teares are their drink and sorrow is their meate and sighing is their work all the day long c. The Philosophers say there are eight d●grees of heat we discern three now i● a m●n should define heat only by the highest degree then all other degrees will be cast out from being heat so if men shall define fai●h only by the highest degrees by assurance of the love of God and of the pardon of his sins in particular what will become of lesser degrees of faith If a man should define a man to be a living man onely by the highest and st●ongest demonstrations of life as laughing leaping running working walking c. would not many thousands that groan under internal and externall weaknesses and that cannot laugh nor leap nor run nor work nor walk be found dead men by such a definition that yet wee know to be alive 't is so here and you know how to apply it c. Now the Remedies against this device of Satan are these that follow THe first Remedie against this Device 1. Remedy of Satan is solemnly ●o consider that there may be true faith yea g●eat measures of faith where there is no assurance The Canaanite woman in the Gospel had strong faith yet no assurance that we read of These things have I written unto you saith John that believe on the name of the Son of God that yee may know that ye have eternall life and that ye may beleeve on the name of the Son of God In these words you see that they did believe and had eternall life in respect of the purpose and promise of God and in respect of the seeds and beginnings of it in their souls and in respect of Christ their head who sits in Heaven as a publique person representing all his chosen ones Who hath raised us up together Ephes 2. 6. and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and yet they did not know that they had eternall life 'T is one thing to have a right to heaven and another thing to know it 'T is one thing to be beloved and another thing for a man to know that he is beloved 'T is one thing for God to write a mans name in the book of life and another thing for God to tell a man that his name is written in the book of life and to say to him rejoyce because thy name is written in heaven So Paul In whom yee also trusted after Ephes 1. 13. So those in ●ha● Isa 50. 10 had faith though they had no assurance Mica 7. 8 9. yee heard the word of truth the Gospell of your salvation in whom also after that yee believed yee were sealed with that holy spirit of promise So Micha Rejoyce not against me oh my enemie when I shall fall I shall rise when I shall sit in darknesse the Lord shall be a light unto me I will beare the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned c. or the sad countenance of God as the Hebrew hath it This soul had no assurance for he sits in darknesse and was under the sad countenance of God and yet had strong faith As appears in those words when I fall I shall arise when I sit in darknesse the Lord shall be a light unto me He will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his

13. he doth God service And these things will they doe unto you because they have not known the Father nor me Paul thankes his ignorance for all his cruelties to Christians I was a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious but I obtained mercie because I did it ignorantly 't was ignorance that put the Jewes upon crucifying Christ Eather forgive them saith Christ of his murtherers for they know 1 Co● 2. 8. not what they doe for if the Princes of this world had known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory Sinne at the first was the cause of ignorance but now ignorance is the cause of all sin swearing They did like Oedipus who killed his father Laius K. of Thebes and thought he killed his enemy and lying and killing and stealing whoring abound saith the Prophet because there is no knowledg of God in the Land There are none so frequent and so impudent in the wayes of sin as ignorant soules they care not nor mind not what they do nor what they say against God Christ Heaven holinesse and their own soules Our tongues Hosea 4. 1 2. Psal 73. 8 9. are our owne who shall controule us They are corrupt and speake wickedly concerning oppression they speake loftily They set their mouth against the Heavens and their tongue walketh through the earth Have all the Psal 14. 4. workers of iniquity no knowledge who eate up my people as they eate bread and call not upon the Lord. And now to prevent Objections I shall lay down some Propositions or Conclusions concerning Satan and his Devices and then give you the Reasons of the Point and so come to make some Use and Application of the whole to our selves The first Proposition or Conclusion I shall lay downe is this THat though Satan hath his Devices 1 Proposition to draw soules to sin yet we must be carefull that we do not lay all our temptations upon Satan that we doe not wrong the Devill and father that upon him that is to be fathered upon our own base hearts I thinke that oftentimes men charge that upon the Devill that is to be charged upon their own hearts And the Lord said unto the Gen. 3. 13. woman VVhat is this that thou hast done and the woman said the Serpent beguiled me and I did eate Sin and shifting came into the world together This is no small basenesse of our hearts that they will be naught I very naught and yet will father that naughtinesse upon Satan Man hath an evill root within him that were there no Devil to tempt him nor no wicked men in the world to entice him yet that root of bitternesse that cursed sinfull nature that is in him would draw him to sin though he knows before hand that the wages of sinne is eternall death For out of the heart proceed evill thoughts murders adulteries Rom. 6. ult Mat. 5. 19. fornications thefts false witnesses blasphemies The whole frame of man is Cum primum nascimur in omnt continuo pravitate versamur we are no sooner borne then buried in a bog of wickednesse Tully out of frame the understanding is dark the will crosse the memory slippery the affections crooked the conscience corrupted the tongue poisoned and the heart wholly evill only evill and continually evill Should God chaine vp Satan and give him no liberty to tempt or entice the sons of men to vanity and folly yet they would not yet they could not but sin against him by reason of that cursed nature that is in them that will still be a provoking Iude 15 16. them to those sins that will provoke and stir up the anger and wrath of God against them Satan hath only a perswading sleight not an enforcing might he may tempt us but without our selves he cannot conquer us hee Iames 1. 4. may entice us but without our selves he cannot hurt us our hearts carries the greatest stroak in every sin Satan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The fire is our wood though it be the Devills flame Nazianzen can never undoe a man without himselfe but a man may easily undo himselfe without Satan Satan can onely present the golden cup but he hath no power to force us to drinke the poyson that is in the cup he can only present to us the glory of the world he cannot force us to fall down and worship him to enjoy the world he can only spread his snares he hath no power to force us to walke in the mid'd of his snares therefore do the Devill so much right as not to excuse your selves by your accusing him and laying that load upon him that you should lay upon your owne hearts The second Proposition is this 2 Proposition That Satan hath a great hand and stroak in most sinnes 'T was Satan that Gen. 3. 1. 4 5. tempted our first Parents to Rebellion 'T was Satan that provoked David to 1 Chron. 21. 1. number the people 'T was Satan that put Peter upon rebuking Christ therefore saith Christ Get thee behind me Satan Mat. 16. 22 23. 'T was Satan that put Cain upon murdering of righteous Abel therefore 't is that he is called a murderer from Iohn 8. 44. the beginning 'T was Satan that put treason into the heart of Judas against Christ And supper being ended the Devill Iohn 13. 2. having put it into the heart of Iudas Iscatiot Simons son to betray him 'T was Satan that pu● Ananias upon lying Peter said Acts 5. 3. Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the holy Ghost As the hand of Ioab was in the tale of the woman of Tekoah so Satans hand is usually in all the sins that men commit such is Satans malice against God and his envy Diaholus tendat deus orobat Tertul. against man that he will have a hand one way or another in all their finnes though ke knows that all the sins that he provokes others to shall be charged upon him to his greater woe and eternall torment Ambrose brings in the Devill boasting against Christ and chalenging Judas as his owne hee is not thine Lord Jesus hee is mine his thoughts beat for me he eats with thee but is fed by me he takes bread from thee but money from me he drinks wine with thee and sells thy blood to me such is his malice against Christ and his wrath and rage against man that he wil take all advantages to draw men to that that may give him advantage to triumph over Christ and mens soules for ever The third Proposition is this That Satan must have a double leave 3 Proposition before he can do any thing against us he must have leave from God and leave from our selves before he can act any thing against our happinesse he must have his commission from God as you may see in the example of Iob though Iob 1. 11 12. Chap. 2 v