were once glorious on earth and are now triumphing in Heaven did look upon the mercy of God as the most powerfull argument to preserve them from sin and to fence their souls against sin and not as an encouragement Psal 26. 3 4 5 6. to sin Psal 26. 3 4 5 6. For thy loving kindnesse is before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth I have not sat with vaine persons neither will I goe in with dissemblers I have hated the Congregation of evill doers and will not sit with the wicked So Joseph strengthens himselfe against sin from the remembrance of mercy How then can I saith he doe this great Gen. 39. 9. wickednesse and sin against God He had fixt his eye upon mercy and therefore sin could not enter though the irons entred into his soul his soul being taken with mercy was not moved by his Mistrisses impudency Satan knock't oft at the door but the sight of mercy would not suffer him to answer or open Joseph like a Pearle in a Puddle keeps his vertue still So Paul Shall we continue in sin that Grace may abound God Rom. 6. 1 2. The stone called Pâ—ntaurus is of that vertue that it preserves him that carries it from taking any harm by poison the mercy of God in Christ to our souls is the most precious stone or Pearleâ— in the world to preserve us from being poysoned with sin forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein There is nothing in the world that renders a man more unlike to a Saint and more like to Satan then to argue from mercy to sinfull liberty from Divine goodnesse to licentiousnesse this is the Devils Logick and in whom ever you find it you may write This soul is lost A man may aâ— truly say the Sea burns or fire cools as that free grace and mercy should make a soul truly gracious to doe wickedly So the same Apostle I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service So John These things I write unto you that you sin not What was it that he wrote He wrote that we might have fellowship with the Father and his Son 1 John 2. 1 2. and that the Blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin and that if we confesse our sins he is just and faith full to forgive us our sins and that if we doe sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous These choyce favours and mercies the Apostle holds forth as the choycest means to preserve the soul from sin and to keep at the greatest distance from sin and if this won't doe it you may write the man void of Christ and grace and undone for ever The sixt Device that Satan hath to 6 Device draw the soule to sin is by perswading the soul that the work of Repentance is â—n easie work and that therefore the soul need not make such a matter of sin why suppose you do sin saith Satan 't is no such difficult thing to return and confesse and be sorrowfull and beg pardon and cry Lord have mercy upon me and if you doe but this God will cut the score and pardon your sins and save your souls c. By this Device Satan draws many a soul to sin and makes many millions of souls servants or rather slaves to sin c. Now the Remedies against this device of Satan are these that follow THe first Remedy is seriously to consider 1 Remedy Fallen man hath lost imperium suum and imperium sui the command of himselfe and the command of the creatures and certainly he that cannot command himselfe cannot repent of himselfe Da poenitentiaÌ„ postea indulgentiam said dying Fulgentius that Repentance is a mighty work a difficult work a work that is above our power There is no power below that power that raised Christ from the dead and that made the world that can break the heart of a sinner or turn the heart of a sinner thou art as well melt Adamant as to melt thine owne heart to turn a flint into flesh as to turn thine own heart to the Lord to raise the dead and to make a world as to Repent Repentance is a flower that growes not in Natures garden Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may yee also doe good that are accustomed to doe evill Jer. 13. 23. Repentance is a gift that comes down from above men are not born with Repentance in their hearts as they are borne with tongues in their mouths Acts. 5. It was a vain brag of King Cyrus that caused it to be written upon his Tomb-stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I could doe all things So could Paul too but it was through Christ which strengthned him 31. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance to Israel and forgivenesse of sins So in that 2 Tim. 2. 25. In meeknesse instructing them that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth 'T is not in the power of any mortall to repent at pleasure Some ignorant deluded souls vainly conceit that these five words Lord have mercy upon me are efficacious to send them to Heaven but as many are undone by buying a counterfeit Jewell so many are in Hell by mistake of their Repentance many rest in their Repentance though it be but the shadow of Repentance which caused one to say Repentance damneth more then sin The second Remedy against this Device 2 Râ—medy of Satan is solemnly to consider of the nature of true Repentance Repentance is some other thing then what vain men conceive Repentance is sometimes taken in a more strict and narrow The Hebrew word for Repentance is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to returne implying a going back from what a man had don it notes a returning or converting from one thing to another from sin to God The Greeks have two words by which they expresse the nature of repentance one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to be carefull anxious solicitous after a thing is done the other word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is resipiscentia after-wit or after-wisdom the minds recovering of wisdome or growing wiser after our folly Ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dementia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 post it being the correction of mens folly and returning ad sanam mentem True repentance is a thorough change both of the mind and manners optima aptissima poenitentia est nova vita saith Luther which saying is an excellent saying Repentance for sin is nothing worth without repentance from sin If thou repent with a contradiction saith Tertullian God will pardon thee with a contradiction thou repentest and yet continuest in
been consumed by the sword and by the famine This is just the language of a world of ignorant prophane and superstitious souls in London and England that would have made them a Captaine 'T is said of one of the Emperours that Rome had no war in his daves because 't was plague enoâ—gh to have such an Emperour you are wise and know how to apply it to returne to bondage yea to that bondage that was worse then that the Israelites groaned under Oh say they since such and such persons have beene put down and left off we have had nothing but plundering and taxing and butchering of men c. and therefore we will doe as we and our Kings and Nobles and Fathers have formerly done for then had we plenty at home and peace abroad c. and there was none to make us afraid Now the Remedies against this Device of Satan are these that follow THe first Remedy is solemnly to consider 1 Remedy that no man knowes how the heart of God stands by his hand his hand of mercy may be towards a man when his heart may be set against that man as you may see in Saul and Tully judged the Jews Religion to be naught because they were so often overcome impoverish'd and afflicted and the Religion of Rome to be right because the Romans prospered and became Lords of the world yet though the Romans had his hand the Jews had his heart for they were dearly beloved though sorely afflicted others and the hand of God may be set against a man when the heart of God is dearly set upon a man as you may see in Job and Ephraim the hand of God was sorely set against them and yet the heart and bowels of God were strongly working towards them no man knoweth either love or hatred by outward mercy or misery for all things come alike to all to the righteous and to the unrighteous to the good and to the bad to the clean and to the unclean c. The sun of prosperity shines as well upon brambles of the Wildernesse as fruit-trees of the Orchard the snow and haile of adversity lights upon the best gardens as well as the stinking dunghills or the wild waste Ahabs and Josiah's ends concur in the very circumstances Saul and Jonathan though different in their natures deserts and deportments yet in their deaths they were not divided Health wealth honours c. crosses sicknesses losses c. are cast upon good men and bad men promiscuously The whole Turkish Empire is Nihil est nisi mica panis Luther nothing else but a crust cast by Heavens great House-keeper to his dogs Moses dies in the Wildernesse as well as those that murmured Nabal is rich aswell as Abraham Achitophell wise aswell as Solomon and Doeg honoured by Soul as well as Ioseph was by Pharoah Usually the worst of men have most of these outward things and the best of men have least of Earth though most of Heaven The second Remedy against this Device 2 Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider That there is nothing in the world that doth so provoke God to be wrath and angry as mens taking incouragement from Gods goodnesse and mercy to do wickedly this you may see by that wrath that fell upon the old world and by Gods raining hell out of Heaven upon Such soules make God a God of clouts one that will not doe as he saith but they shall find God to be as severe in punishing as he is to others gracious in pardoning Good turnes aggravate unkindnesses and our guilt is increased by our obligations Sodome and Gomorah This is clear in that 44 of Jeremiah from the 20 verse to the 28 verse the words are worthy of your best meditation oh that they were engraven in all your hearts and constant in all your thoughts though they are too large for me to transcribe them yet they are not too large for you to remember them To argue from mercy to sinfull liberty is the Devils Logick and such Logicians doe ever walk as upon a mine of Gun-powder ready to be blown up no such souls can ever avert or avoid the wrath of God This is wickednesse at the height for a man to be very bad because God is very good a worse spirit then this is not in hell ah Lord doth not wrath yea the greatest wrath lie at this mans door Are not the strongest chaines of darknes prepared for such a soul To sin against mercy is to sin against humanity it is bestiall nay it is worse To render good for evill is Divine to render good for good is humane to render evill for evill is brutish but to render evill for good is devilish and from this evill deliver my soul oh God The third Remedy against this Device 3 Remdy of Satan is solemnly to consider that there is no greater misery in this life then not to be in misery no greater Religio peperit divitias filia devoravit matrem Religion brought forth Riches and the daughter soon devoured the Mother saith Augustine affliction then not to be afflicted woe woe to that soul that God will not spend a rod upon this is the saddest stroke of all when God refuses to strike at all Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone Why should you be smitten any more you will revolt more and more When the Physician gives over the Patient you say ring out his knell the man is dead so when God gives over a soul to sin without controule you may truly say this soule is lost you may ring out his knel for he is twice dead and pluckt up by the roots Freedome from punishment is the mother of security the step-mother of virtue the poyson of Religion the moth of holinesse and the introducer of wickednesse nothing said one seemes more unhappy to me then he to whom no adversity hath happened Outward mercies oft-times prove a snare to our soules I will lay a stumbling block Ezek. 3. 20. Vatablus his note there is Faciam ut omnia habeant prospera calamitatibus eum à peccato non revocabo I will prosper him in all things and not by affliction restraine him from sin Prosperity hath been a stumbling block at which millions have stumbled and fallen and broke the neck of their souls for ever The fourth Remedie against this device 4 Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider that the wants of wicked men under all their outward mercy freedom from adversitie is far greater then al their outward injoyments They have many mercies yet they want more then they injoy the mercies which they injoy are nothing to the mercies they want 'T is true they have honors and riches and pleasures and friends and are mighty in power their seed is established in their sight with them and their off-spring before their eyes their houses are safe from feare neither is the rod
3 4 5. the Devil had malice enough to destroy him yet he had not so much as power to touch him till God gave him a Commission They could not so much as enter into Luke 8. 32. the swine without leave from Christ Satan would faine have combated with Peter but this could not he doe without leave Satan hath desired to have you Luke 22. 13. to winnow you So Satan could never have overthrown Ahab and Saul but by 1 Kings 22. a commission from God Ah! what a cordiall what a comfort should this be to the Saints that their greatest subtilest and watchfullest enemie cannot hurt nor harme them without leave from him who is their sweetest Saviour their dearest husband and their choysest friend And as Satan must have leave from Adversaria poâ—e 〈…〉 non habet vim câ—gendi sed persuadendi Isâ—doâ—e God so he must have leave of us when he tempts we must assent when hee makes offers we must hearken when he commands we must obey or else all his labour and temptations will be frustrate and the evill that he tempts us to shall be put down only to his account that 's a remarkable passage of the Apostle in Acts 5. 3. Why hath Satan Acts 5. 3. filled thy heart to lie to the holy Ghost c. He doth not expostulate the matter with Satan he doth not say Satan why They are the worâ—â— and grossest lyars who pretend Reâ—igion and the Spirit and yet are acted onley by carnall principles to carnal ends host thou filled Ananias heart to make him lie to the holy Ghost but he expostulates the case with Ananias Peter said Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the holy Ghost Why hast thou given him an advantage to fill thy heart with infidelity hypocrisie and obstinate audacity to lie to the holy Ghost as If he had said Satan could never have done this in thee which will now for ever undoe thee unlesse thou hadst first given him leave If when a temptation comes a man cries out and saith ah Lord here is a temptation that would force me that would deflowr my soul and I have no strength to with-stand it oh help help for thy honours sake for thy Sonnes sake for thy promise sake 't is a signe that Satan hath not gained your consent but committed a rape upon your soules which he shall dearly pay for The fourth Proposition is this That no weapons but spirituall 4 Proposition weapons will be usefull and serviceable to the soule in fighting and combating with the Devill this the Apostle shewes VVherefore take unto you saith Ephes 6. 13. he the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand in the evill day and having done all to stand So the same Apostle tells you that the weapons of your warfare are not carnall but mighty through God to 2 Cor. 10. 4. the casting downe of strong bolds you have not to do with a weak but with a mighty We read of many that out of greatnesse of spirit could offer violence to nature but were at a loss when they come to deale with a corruption or a temptation enemy and therefore you had need look to it that your weapons are mighty and that they cannot be unlesse they are spirituall carnall weapons have no might nor spirit in them towards the making of a conquest upon Satan 'T was not Davids sling nor stone that gave him the honor advantage of setting his feet upon Goliah but his faith in the name of the Lord of Hosts Thou comest 1 Sam. 17. 45. to me with a sword with a speare and with a shield but I am come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts the God of the Armies of Israel whom thou hast defied Hee that Heraclius his Motto was a Deo victoria it is God that gives victories and that should be every Christians Motto fights against Satan in the strength of his owne resolutions constitution or education will certainely flie and fall before him Satan will be too hard for such a soule and lead him captive at his pleasure The onely way to stand conquer and triumph is still to plead 't is written as Christ did There is no sword but the two-edged sword of the Mat. 4. 10. Spirit that will be found to be mettle of proofe when a soule comes to engage against Satan Therefore when you are tempted to uncleannesse plead 't is written Be ye holy as I am holy And 1 Pet. 15. 16â— 2 Cor. 5. 7. Chap. 1. lâ—t us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit perfecting holinesse in the â—eare of the Lord. If he temptsâ— you to distrust Gods providence and fatherly care of you plead 't is written They Psal 34. 9. that feare the Lord shall want nothing that is good 'T is written The Lord will give Psal 84. 11. grace and glory and no good thing will hee with-hold from them that purlely live If he tempt you to feare that you shall faint and fall and never be able to run to the end of the race that is set before Iob 17. 9. you plead 't is written The righteous shall hold on his way and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger 'T is written I will make an everlasting covevenant with them that I will not turne away Ier. 32. 40. from them to doe them good but I wil put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from me 'T is written They that wait upon the Lord they shall renew their Isa 40. 31. strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walke and not â—aint If Satan tempt you to think that because your sunne for the present is set in a cloud that therefore 't will rise no more and that the face of God will shine no more upon you that your best days are now at an end and that you must spend all your time in sorrow and fighing plead 't is written He will turn again he Mica 7. 19. will have compassion upon us and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea 'T is written For a small moment have I forsaken Isa 54. 7. thee but with great mercies will I gather Verse 8. thee In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindnesse will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer 'T is written The mountaines shall depart and the hills be Verse 10. removed but my kindnesse shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercie on thee 'T is written Can a woman Isa 49. 15. forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget
of God upon them They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children dance They take the Timbrell and Harp and rejoyce at the Men that injoy all worldly comforts may truly say Omnes humanae conjolationes sunt desolationes sound of the Organ they spend their dayes in wealth their eyes stand out with fatnesse they have more then heart can wish And they have no bands in their death but their strength is firme They are not in trouble as other men as David and Job speak yet all this is nothing to what they want they want interest in God Christ the Spirit the Promises the Covenant of Grace and everlasting Glory They want acceptation and reconciliation with God They want Righteousnesse Justification Sanctification Adoption and Redemption They want the pardon of sin and power against sin and freedome from the dominion of sin They want that favour that is better then life and that joy that is unspeakable and full of glory and that peace that passes understanding and that Nec Christus nec coelum pati tur hyperbolen Neither Christ nor Heaven can be hyperbolized grace the least spark of which is more worth then Heaven and Earth They want a House that hath foundations whose builder and maker is God they want those riches that perish not that glory that fades not that Kingdome that shakes not Wicked men are the most needy men in the world yea they want those two things that should render their mercies sweet viz. The blessing of God and content with their condition and without which their Heaven is but Hell on this side Hell When their hearts are lifted up and grown big upon the thoughts of their abundance if conscience do's but put A crowne of gold cannot cuâ—e the head ach nor a velvet slipper cannot ease the Gout no moâ—e can honour or riches c. quiet and still the Conscience The heart of man is a three square triangle which the whole round circle of the world cannot fill as Mathematicians say but all the corners will complaine of â—mptines and hunger for somâ—hing else in a word and say 't is true here is this and that outward mercy oh but where is an interest in Christ Where is the favour of God Where are the comforts of the holy Ghost Where are thy evidences for Heaven c. This word from Conscience makes the mans countenance to change his thoughts to be troubled his heart to be amazed and all his mercies on the right hand and left to be as dead and withered Ah! were but the eyes of wicked men open to see their wants under their abundance they would cry out and say as Absalom did What are all these to me so long as I cannot see the Kings face What 's honour and riches and the favour of Creatures so long as I want the favour of God the pardon of my sins an interestin Christ and the hopes of glory O Iod give me these or I dye give me these or else I shall eternally dye The fift Remedy against this Device 5 Remedy of Satan is solemnly to confider that outward things are not as they seem and are esteemed they have indeed a glorious outside but if you view their insides you will easily find that they fill the head full of cares and the heart full of feares what if the fire should consume one part of my estate and the sea should be a grave to swallow up another part of my estate what if my servants should be unfaithfull abroad and my children should be deceitful at home ah the secret fretting vexing and gnawing that doth daily yea hourly attend those mens souls whose hands are full of worldly goods 'T was a good speech of an Emperour you said he gaze on my purple Robe â—nd golden Crown but did you know what cares are under it you would not take it up from the ground to have it 'T was a true saying of Augustine on the 26 Psalm many are Multi amando res noxias sunt miseri habendo miseriores August miserable by loving hurtfull things but they are more miserable by having them It is not what men injoy but the principle from whence it comes that makes men happy much of these outward things doe usually cause great distraction great vexation and great condemnation at last to the posessors of them if God gives them in his wrath do not sanctifie them in his love they will at last be witnesses against a man and racks to torture and torment a man and milstones for ever to sink a man in that day when God shall call men to an account not for the use but for the abuse of mercy The sixt Remedy against this Device 6 Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider the end and the designe of God in heaping up mercy upon the heads of the wicked and in giving them a quietus est rest Valerian the Roman Emperour fell from being an Emperour to be a foot-stool to Sapor King of Persia Dionysius King of Sicily fell from his Kingly glory to be a School-master The brave Queen Zenobia was brought to Rome in golden chaines and quiet from those sorrows and sufferings that others sigh under David in that 73 Psal 17 18 19 20 verses shews the end and designe of God in this saith he When I went into the Sanctuary of God then I understood their end Surely thou diddest set them in slippery places thou castedst them downe into destruction How are they brought into desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors As a dreame when one awaketh so O Lord when thou awakest thou shalt despise their image So in the 92 Psal 7. When the wicked spring as grasse and when all the workers of iniquity doe flourish it is that they shall be destroyed for ever Gods setting them up is but in order to his casting them down his raising them high is but in order to his bringing them low Exod. 9. 16. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to shew in thee my power and that my name may Valens an Emperour Belisarius a famous general Henry the 4th Bajazeth Pythias Great Pompey and William the Conqueror these from being very high were brought very low they all fell from great glory and majesty to great poverty and misery Da Domine ut sic possideamus temporalia ut non perdamus aeterna Bern. Grant us Lord that we may so partake of temporall felicity that we may not lose eternall be declared throughout all the earth I have constituted and set thee up as a But-mark that I may let flie at thee and follow thee close with plague upon plague till I have beaten the very breath out of thy body and got my self a name in setting my feet upon the neck of all thy pride power pomp and glory Ah soules what man in his wits would be lifted up
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
are apt to run after it though they loose God and their soules in the pursuit Ah! how many Professors in these dayes have for a time followed hard after God Christ and The inhabitants of Nilus are deafe by the noise of the waters so the world makes such a noise in mens eares that they cannot heare the things of Heaven The world is like the swallowes dung that put out Tobias eyes Ordinances till the Devill hath set before them the world in all its beauty and bravery which hath so bewitched their soâ—les that they have grown to have low thoughts of holy things and then to be cold in their affections to holy things and then to slight them and at last with the young man in the Gospell to turne their backs upon them ah the time the thoughts the spirits the hearts the soules the duties the services that the inordinate love of this wicked world doth eat up and destroy and hath eat up and destroyed where one thousand is destroyed The champions could â—or wring an Apple out oâ— Mâ—lâ—'s ha 〈◊〉 by strong hand but a faire maid by faire meanes got it presently by the worlds frownes ten thousands are destroyed by the worlds smiles The world Siren-like it sings us and sinks us it kisses us and betraies us like Judas it kisses us and imites us under the fifth rib like Joab The honors splendor and all the glory of this world are but sweet poysons that will much endanger us if they doe not eternally destroy us Ah! the multitude of soules that have surseited of these sweet baites and died for ever Now the Remedies against this device of Satan are these that follow THe first Remedy against this device 1 Remedy The Prior in Melancton 〈◊〉 his hands up and down in a baâ—â—n full of â—â—â—ells thinking thereby to have charmed 〈◊〉 gour but 〈◊〉 would not â—oe of Satan is to dwell upon the impotency and weakness of all these things below they are not able to secure you from the least evill They are not able to procure you the least desirable good The Crown of Gold cannot cure the head-ach nor the velvet slipper ease the gout nor the Jewell about the nâ—ck cannot take away the paine of the teeth The Fâ—ogs of Egypt entered into the rich mens houses of Egypt as well as the poore our daily experience doth Nugas the Scythian despiseing the rich presents and ornaments that were sent unto him by the Emperour of Constantinople asked whether those things could drive away calamities diseases or death evidence this that all the honors and riches c. That men enjoy cannot free them from the collick the feaver or lesser diseases Nay that which may seem most strange is that a great deal of wealth cannot keep men from falling into extreame povertie In the first of Judges 6. ver you shall finde seventy Kings with their fingers and toes cut off glad like whelps to lick up crummes under another Kings table and shortly after the same King that brought them to this penury is reduced to the same poverty and misery Why then should that be a bar to keep thee out of Heaven that cannot give thee the least ease on earth The second Remedy against this device 2. Remedy of Satan is to dwell upon the vanity of them as well as upon the impotencie of all worldly good This is the summe of Solomons sermon Vanity of vanity and all is vanity This Gilimex King of Vandaâ—â—s led in triumph by Bellisarius cried out Vanity of vanity all is vanity our first parents found and therefore named their second Abell or vanity Solomon that had tried these things and could best tell the vanity of them he preacheth this sermon over againe and againe Vanity of vanity and all is vanity 'T is sad to think how many thousands there be that can say with the preacher vanity of vanity all is vanity The fancie of Lucian who placeth Charon on the top of an high hill viewing all the affaires of men living and looking on their greatest Cities as little birds nests is very pleasant nay swear it and yet follow after these things as if there were no other glory nor selicity but what 's to be found in those things they call vanity Such men will sell Christ Heaven and their soules for a trifle that call these things vanity but doe not cordially beleeve them to be vanity but set their hearts upon them as if they were their Crown the top of all their Royalty and glory Oh! let your soules dwell upon the vanity of all things here below till your hearts be so thoroughly convinced and perswaded of the vanity of them as to trample upon them and make them a a foot-stoole for Christ to get np and ride in a holy triumph in your hearts Oh the imperfection the ingratitude the leâ—ity the inconstancy the perfidiousnesse of those creatures we most servilly affect Chrysostome said once that if he were the fittest in the world to preach a Sermon to the whole world gathered together in one Congregation and had some high Mountaine for his Pulpit from whence he might have a prospect of all the world in his view and were furnished with a voice of brasse a voice as loud as the Trumpet of the Arch-Angell that all the world might hear him he would chuse to preach upon no other text then that in the Psalnâ—es O mortall men how long will yee love vanity and follow after leasing Ah! did we but weigh mans paine with his paiment his crosses with his mercies his miseries with his pleasures we should then see that there is nothing got by the bargaine and conclude Vanity of vanity all is vanity Tell me you that say all things under the Sun is vanitie if you doe really beleeve what you say why doe you spend more thoughâ—â— and time on the world then you doe on Christ Heaven and your immortall soules Why doe you then neglect your duty towards God to get the world Why doe you then so eagerly pursue after the world and are so cold in your pursuing after God Christ and holinesse Why then are your hearts so exceedingly rais'd when the world comes in and smiles upon you and so much dejected and castdown when the world frownes upon you and with Jonah's Gourd withers before you The third Remedy against this device 3. Remedy of Satan is to dwell much upon the uncertainty the mutabilitie and inconstancie of all things under the Sun Riches were never true to any that trusted to them they have deceived men as Jobs brook did the poore traveller in the Summer season Man himselfe is but the dreame of a dreame but the generation of a fancie but an emptie vanity but the curious picture of nothing a poore feeble dying flash All temporalls are as transitory as a hastie head-long torrent a shadow a ship a bird an arrow a post that passeth
when something is parted with to gain more he applyeth it to their sufferings wherin though the flesh lost something yet the spirit got much more the comfort the rest that Saints meet with in the wayes and service of God they find that Religious services are not empty things but things in which God is pleased to discover his beautie and glory to their soules My soul thirsts for God saith David that I might see thy beauty and thy glory as I have seen thee in thy Sanctuary Oh! the sweet looks the sweet words the sweet hints the sweet joggings the sweet influences the sweet love-letters that gracious soules have from Heaven when they waite upon God in holy and heavenly services the least of which will darken and outweigh all the bravery and glory of this world and richly recompence the soul for all the troubles afflictions and dangers that have attended it in the service of God oh the Saints can say under all their troubles and afflictions that they have meate to eate and drinke to When the Moble Generall Zeâ—slaus had lost his hand in the Wars of the K. of Poland the King sent him a golden hand for it what we lose in Christs service he will make up by giving in some golden mercies drinke that the world knows not of that they have such incomes such refreshments such warmings c. that they would not exchange for all the honours riches and dainties of this world Ah! let but a Christian compare his externall losses with his spirituall internall and eternall gain and he shall find that for every penny that he loses in the service of God he gaines a pound and for every pound that he looses hee gains a hundred for every hundred lost he gains a thousand wee loose pins in his service and find pearls we loose the favour of the creature and peace with the creature and happily the comforts and contents of the creature and we gain the favour of God peace with conscience and the comforts and contents of a better life Ah! did the men of this world know the sweet that Saints injoy in afflictions they would rather chuse Manasses iron chaine then his golden Crown They would rather be Paul a prisoner then Paul rap't up in the third Heaven for light afflictions they shall have a Though the Crosse be bitter yet 't is but short a little storm as one said of Julians persecution and an eâ—eâ—nall calm follows weight of glory for a few afflictions they shall have those joyes pleasures and contents that are as the stars of heaven or as the sands of the sea that cannot be numbred for momentany afflictions they shall have an eternall Crown of glory 't is but winking and thou shalt be in heaven presently said the Martyr oh therefore let no afflictions nor troubles work thee to shun the wayes of God or to quit that service that should be dearer to thee then a world yea then thy very life c. The third Device that Satan 3. Device hath to hinder soules from holy and heavenly services from gracious and religious performances is BY presenting to the soule the difficulty of performing them saith Satan 't is so hard and difficult a thing to pray as thou shouldst and to wait on God as thou shouldst and to walke with God as thou shouldst and to be lively warm and active in the communion of Saints as thou shouldst that you were better ten thousand times to neglect them then to meddle with them and doubtlesse by this Device Satan hath and doth keep off thousands from waiting on God and from giving to him that service that is due to his name c. Now the remedies against this Device are these that follow THe first Remedie against this device 1. Remedy of Satan is to dwell more upon the necessity of the service and duty then on the difficulty that doth attend the duty you should reason thus with your soules oh our soules though such and such duties and services be hard and difficult yet are they not exceeding necessarie for the honour of God and the keeping up of his name in The necessity of doing your duty appears by this that you are his servants by a three-fold right you are his servants jure creationis jure sustentationis jure redemptionis by right of creation and by right of sustentation and by right of redemption the world and the keeping under of sin and the keeping under of weak graces and for the reviving of languishing comforts and for the keeping clear and bright your blessed evidences and for the scattering of your fears and for the raising of your hopes and for the gladding the hearts of the righteous and stopping the mouths of unrighteous souls who are ready to take all advantages to blaspheme the name of God and throw dirt and contempt upon his people and wayes oh never leave thinking on the necessity of this and that duty till your souls be lifted up far above all the difficulties that doe attend religious duties The second Remedie against this device 2 Remedy of Satan is solemnly to consider that the Lord Jesus will make his services easie to you by the sweet discovery of himselfe to your soules whilst you are in his service Thou meetest him that rejoyceth and worketh righteousnesse those that remember thee in thy wayes as the Prophet Isaiah saith if meeting with Isa 64. v. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paganta is diversly taken but most take the word here to meet a soule with those bowells of love and tendernesse as the Father of the Prodigall met the Prodigall with God is pater miserationum hee is all bowels he is as swift to shew mercy as he is slow to anger God who is goodnesse it selfe sweetnesse it selfe beauty it selfe strength it selfe glory it self will not sweeten his service to thy soule nothing in Heaven or Earth will Jacob's meeting with Rachel and enjoying of Rachell made his hard service to be easie and delightfull to him and will not the soules enjoying of God and meeting with God render his service to be much more easie and delightfull doubtlesse it will The Lord will give that sweet assistance by his Spirit and grace as shall make his service joyous and not grievous a delight not a burden a Heaven and not a Hel to believing souls the confidence of this divine assistance raised up Nehemiah's spirit far above all those difficulties and discouragements that did attend him in the work and service of the Lord as you may see in that 2 Nehemiah vers 19 20. But when Sanballat Luther spake excellently to Melancthon who was apt to be disconraged with doubts and difficulties feares from foes and so â—ease the service they had undertaken if the work be not good why did we ever own it if it be good why should wee ever decline it why saith he should we feare the conquered world that
brave publique spirit is hot in his desires and prayers that the people might be spared and pardoned saith he pardon I beseech thee the iniquity of this people according unto the greatnesse of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt untill now And the Lord said I have pardoned according to thy word Aâ—â—â—hould God make such an offer to many that write themselves Moses and are called by many Moses I am afraid they would prefer their own advantage above the The Antients were wont to place the Statues of their Princes by their fountains intimating they were or at least should be fountains of the publick good publique good they would not care what become of the people so they and theirs might be made great and glorious in the world they would not care so they might have a Babell built for them though it was upon the ashes and ruine of the people baser spirits then these are not in hell no not in hell and I am sure there are no such spirits in Heaven such mens hearts and principles must be chang'd or they wil be undone for ever Nehemiah was a A certaine great Emperour coming into Egypt to shew the zeal he had for the publick good saith to the Aegyptians draw from me as from your river Nilus choice soule a man of a brave publick spirit a man that spent his time his strength and his estate for the good and ease of his people Moreover saith he from the time that I was appointed to be their Governour in the Land of Judah from the twentieth yeer even unto the two and thirtieth yeare of Artaxerxes the King that is twelve yeares I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the Governour Yea also I continued in the worke of this wall neither bought we any land and all my servants were gathered thither unto the worke Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jewes and Rulers besides those that came unto us from among the Heathen that are about us Now that which was prepared for me daily was one Oxe and sixe choice sheep also fowles were prepared for me and once in ten dayes store of all sorts of wine yet for all this required not I the bread of the Governour because the bondage was heavy upon the people Thinke upon me my God for good according to all that I have done for this people So Daniel was a man of a brave publick spirit Then the Presidents and Princes The Counsellor saith a States-man should be thus tripartited his will to God his love to his Master his heart to his Countrey his secret to his friend his time to busisinesse sought to finde occasion against Daniel concerning the Kingdome but they could finde no occasion nor fault for as much as he was faithfull neither was there any errour or fault found in him Then said these men we shall not finde any occasion against this Daniel except we finde it against him concerning the law of his God Christ had a publick spirit hee laid out himselfe and laid down himselfe for a publick good Oh! never leave looking and meditating upon these precious and sweet examples till your soules are quickned and raised up to act for the publick good more then for your owne particular advantage many Solomons Tribunall was underpropt with Lions to shew what spirit and mettall a Magistrate should be made of Heathens have been excellent at this Macrobius writes of Augustus Caesar in whose time Christ was borne that hee carried such an entire and fatherly affection to the Common-wealth that he called it filiam suam his own daughter and therefore refused to be called Dominus the Lord or Master of his Countrey and would only be called pater patriae Father of his Countrey because he governed it not by feare per timorem sed per amorem but by love the Senate and the people of Rome joyntly saluting him by the name of pater patriae Father of his Countrey The people very much lamented his death using that speech Would hee had Vtinam aut non nasceretur aut non moreretur never been borne or never dyed So Marcus Regulus to save his Countrey from ruine exposed himselfe to the greatest sufferings that the malice and rage of his Enemies could inflict So Titus and Aristides and many others have been famous for their preferring the publick good above their own advantage My prayer is and shall be that all our Rulers may be so spirited by God that they may be willing to be any thing to be nothing to deny themselves and to trample their sinfull selves under feet in order to the honour of God and a publick good that so neither Saints nor Heathens may be witnesses against them in that day wherein the hearts practises of all the Rulers in the world shall be open and bare before him that shall judge the world in Righteousness and Judgment c. The sixth Remedy against this Device 6 Remedie of Satan is seriously to consider that self is a great let to divine things therefore the Prophets and Apostles were usually carried out of themselves when they had the clearest choisest highest and most glorious visions Self-seeking blinds the soul that it cannot see a beauty in Christ nor an excellency in holiness it distempers the palate that a man cannot taste sweetnesse in the word of God nor in the ways of God nor in the society of the people of God it shuts the hand against all the soule-enriching offers of Christ it hardens the heart aganst all the knocks and entreaties of Christ it makes the soul as an empty vine and as a barren wildernesse Israel is an empty Hosea 10. 1. vine he brings forth fruit to himself There is nothing that speaks a man to be more empty and void of God Christ and grace then self-seeking The Pharisees Selfe-seeâ—ers with Esau prefer a messe of pottage above thair birth-right and with the men of Shechem esteem the bramble above the Vine the Olive and the fig-tree yea empty things above a full Christ base things above a glorious Christ were great self-seekers great undervaluers of Christ his word spirit There is not a greater hindrance to all the duties of piety then self-seeking oh this is that that keeps many a soule from looking after God and the precious things of eternity they cannot waite on GOD nor act for God nor abide in those ways wherein they might meete with God by reason of selfe self-seeking is that which puts many a man upon neglecting and slighting the things of his peace self-seekers will neither go into Heaven themselves nor suffer others to enter that are ready to take the Kingdome by violence as you may see in the Scribes and Pharisees Oh! but a gracious spirit is acted quite otherwayes as you may see in that sweet Scripture Cant. 7. 13. At our gates are all manner
thee Behold I have graven thee upon the Verse 16. palmes of my bands thy walls are continually before me If ever you would be too hard for Satan and after all your assaults have your bow abide in strength then take to you the word of God which is the two-edged sword of the Spirit Ephes 6. 1. and the shield of faith whereby you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the Devill 'T is not spitting at Satans name nor crossing your selves nor leaning to your owne resolutions that will get you the victory Luther reports of Staupicius a German Minister that he acknowledged himself that before he came to understand aright the free and powerfull grace of God that he vowed and resolved an hundred times against some particular sinne and never could get power over it at last he saw the reason to be his trusting to his own resolution therefore be skilfull in the word of righteousnesse and in the actings of faith upon Christ and his victory and that Crown of glory that is set before you and Satan will certainly flye from you Iames 4. 7. c. The fifth Proposition is this That we may read much of Satans 5 Proposition nature and disposition by the divers names and Epithites that are given him in the Scriptures Sometimes he is called Behemoth which is bruta whereby Iob 40. 15. the greatnesse and brutishnesse of the Devill is figured Those evill spirits are sometimes called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Accusers for their calumnies and slanders and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evill ones for their malice Satan is Adversarius an adversary that troubleth Revel 9. and molesteth Abaddon is a destroyer They are called Tempters for their suggestion Lions for their devouring Dragons for their cruelty and Serpents for their subtlety c. As his names are so is he as face answers to face so do Satans names answer to his nature hee hath the worst names and the worst nature of all created creatures c. The sixth and last Proposition is this That God will shortly tread downe 6 Proposition Rom. 16. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suntripsei from suntribo the Greek word signifies to break or crush a thing to pieces being applyed to the feet it noteth that breaking or crushing which is by stamping upon a thing Satan under the Saints feet Christ our Champion hath already won the Field and will shortly set our feet upon the necks of our spirituall enemies Satan is a foiled Adversary Christ hath led him captive and triumph't over him upon the Crosse Christ hath already overcome him and put weapons into your hands that you may overcome him also set your feet upon his neck Though Satan be a roaring Lion yet Christ who is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah will make Satan flye and fall before you Let Satan doe his worst yet you shall have the honour and the happiness to triumph over him Cheer up you precious sons of Sion for the certainty and sweetnesse of Victory will abundantly recompence you for all the paines you have taken in making resistance against Satans temptations The broken horns of Satan shall be Trumpets of our triumph and the Cornets of our joy c. Now I shall come to the Reasons of the Point and so draw to a close c. THe first Reason is that their hearts 1 Reason may be kept in an humble praying The Philosopher had a ball of brasse in his hand which if he chanced to sleep with the fall into a bason awaked him to his studies You are wise and know how to apply it watching frame oh hath Satan so many devices to ensnare and undoe the soules of men how should this awaken dull drowsie soules and make them stand upon their watch A Saint should be like a Seraphim beset all over with eyes and lights that he may avoid Satans snares and stand fast in the hour of temptation The Lord hath in the Scripture discovered the several snares plots and devices that the Delill hath to undo the soules of men that so being forwarn'd they may be forearm'd that they may be alwayes upon their watch-tower and hold their weapons in their hands as the Iewes did in Nâ—hemiah's time c. The second Reason is from that malice 2 Reason envy and enmity that is in Satan Malice cares not what it saith or doth it may kill or gall against the souls of men Satan is full of envy and enmity that makes him very studious to suit his snares and plots to the tempers constitutions fancies and callings of men that so hee may make them as miserable as himself The Russians are so malicious that you shall have a man hide some of his own goods in the house of him whom he hateth and then accuse him for the stealth of them so doth Satan out of malice to An envious heart and a plotting head are inseparable companions the soules of men hide his goods his wares as I may say in the soules of men and then goe and accuse them before the Lord and a thousand thousand other wayes Satans malice envy and enmity puts him upon eternally to undoe the precious soules of men c. The third Reason is drawn from that 3 Reason long experience that Satan hath had he is a spirit of mighty abilities and his abilities to lay snares before us are mightily increased by that long standing of his hee is a spirit of above five thousand yeares standing he hath had time enough to studie all those wayes and methods which tend most to ensnare and undo the souls of men And as he hath time enough so he hath made it his whole study his only study his constant study to find out snares depths and stratagems to entangle and overthrow the soules of men when he was but a young Serpent he did easily deceive and out-wit our first Parents but now he is grown that Old Serpent as Gen. 3. John speakes Hee is as olde as the world Revel 12. 9. and is grown uery cunning by experience The fourth Reason is in Judgement 4 Reason to the men of the world that they may stumble and fall and be ensnared for ever wicked men that withstand the offers of mercy and despise the spirit of grace that will not open though God knocks never so hard by his word and rod by his Spirit and consceience are given up by a hand of Justice to be 1 King 22. 22. hardned deceived and ensnared by Satan to their everlasting ruine and what can be more just then that they should be taken and charmed with Satans wiles who have frequently refused to be charmed by the Spirit of grace though he hath charmed never so wisely and never so sweetly c. The fifth Reason is That the excellency 5 Reason and power of Gods grace may be the more illustrated and manifested by making man able
makes Proclamation that who-ever could bring the Rebell dead or alive he should have such a great summe of money The Rebell hearing of this comes and presents himself before the Emperour and demands the summ of money now saith the Emperour if I should put him to death the world would say I did it to save my money and so he pardons the Rebell and gives him the money Ah sinners shall a Heathen do this that had but a drop of mercy and compassion in him and will not Christ do much more Coloss 1. 19. Chap. 2 3 4. that hath all fulnesse of grace mercy and glory in himselfe Surely his bowels doe yerne towards the worst of Rebels Ah! if you will but come in you will find him ready to pardon yea one Nehem. 9. 17. Heb. but thou a god of pardons made up of pardoning mercy Oh! the readinesse and willingnesse of Jesus Christ to receive to favour the greatest Rebels The father of mercies did meet embrace and kisse that prodigall mouth which came from feeding with swine and kissing of Harlots Ephraim had Hos 4. 17. 5. 3. 6. 8. 11 12. 12. 14. 13. 12. vide committed Idolatry and was backsliden from God he was guilty of lukewarmnesse and unbelief c. yet saith God Ephraim is my deare sonne hee is a Jer. 31. 20. pleasant child my bowels are troubled for him I will have mercy or rather as 't is in the Originall I will have mercy mercy upon him saith the Lord. Well saith God Though Ephraim be guilty of crimson sinnes yet he is a sonne a deare sonne a precious sonne a pleasant childe Though he be blacke with filth and red with guilt yet my bowels are troubled for him I will have mercy mercy upon him Ah sinners if these bowels of mercy doe not melt win and draw you Justice will be a swift witnesse against you and make you lye downe in eternall misery for kicking against the bowels of mercy Christ hangs out still as once that warlike Seythian did a white flag of grace and mercy to returning sinners that humble themselves at his feete for favour but if sinners stand out Christ will put forth his red flag his bloody flag and then they shall dye for ever by a hand of Justice Sinners there is no way to avoid perishing by Christs iron rod but by kissing his golden Scepter The fourth Remedie against this Device 4 Remedie of Satan iâ— to consider that Iesus Christ has no where in all the Scripture excepted against the worst of sinners that are willing to receive him to belive in him and to rest upon him for happinesse and blessedness Ah sinners why should you be more cruell and unmercifull to your own soules then Christ is Christ hath not excluded you from mercy why should you exclude your owne soules from mercy Oh that you would dwell often upon that choise Scripture John 6. 37. All Iohn 6. 37. that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out or as the Originall hath it I will not cast out Well saith Christ if any man will come or is coming to me let him be more sinfull or lesse more unworthy or lesse let him be never so guilty never so filthy never so rebellious never so leprous c. yet if hee will but come I will not not not cast him off So much is held forth in that 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. Know ye not that the unrighteous 1 Cor 6. 9. 10 11. shall not inherite the Kingdome of God Be not deceived Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with man-kinde Nor theeves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherite the Kingdome of God And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God Ah sinners do not thinke that hee that hath received such notorious sinners to mercy will reject you Hee is Heb. 13. 8. yesterday and to day and the same for ever Christ was borne in an Inne to shew that he receives all commers his garments were divided into four parts to shew that out of what part of the world soever we come we shall be received If we be naked Christ hath Robes to cloth us if we be harbourless Christ hath room to lodg us That is a choise Scripture Acts 10. 34 35. Acts 10. 34 35. Then Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons But in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousnesse is accepted with him The three Tongues that were written upon the Crosse in Greeke Latine and Hebrew to witnesse Christ to be Iohn 19. 19 20. the King of the Jewes do each of them in their severall Idiom avouch this singular Axiome that Christ is an all sufficient Saviour and a three-fold cord is not easily broken The Apostle puts this out of doubt in that Heb. 7. v. 25. Heb. 7. 25. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the vttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Now he were not an Al-sufficient Saviour if he were not as able to save the greatest as the least of sinners Ah sinners tell Jesus Christ that he hath not excluded you from mercy and therefore you are resolved that you will sit waite weep and knock at the doore of mercy til he shall say souls be of good cheer your sins are forgiven your persons are justified and your soules shall be saved The fifth Remedie against this Device 5 Remedy of Satan is to consider that the greater sinner thou art the dearer thou wilâ— be to Christ when he shall behold thee as the travel of his soule Isa 53. 11. Isa 53. 11. He shall see of the travell of his soule and be satisfied The dearer we pay for any thing the dearer that thing is to us Christ hath paid most and prayed most and sighed most and wept most and bled most for the greatest sinners and therefore they are dearer to Christ then others that are lesse sinful Rachel was Gen. 29. 30. dearer to Jacob then Leah because shee cost him more he obeyed endured and suffered more by day and by night for her then for Leah Ah sinners the greatnesse of your sinns does but set off the freenesse and riches of Christs grace and the freenesse of his love this maketh Heaven and Earth to ring of his praise that he loves those that are most unlovely that hee shewes most favour to them that hath sinned most highly against him as might be shewed by severall instances in Scripture as Paul Mary Magdalene and others who sinned more against Christ then these and who had sweeter and choicer manifestations of divine love and favour then these The sixth Remedy against this Device 6 Remedie of Satan
our graces the preserver of our mercies and the great promoter of holy duties Humility cannot finde three things on this side Heaven it cannot find fulnesse in the creature nor sweetnesse in sinne nor life in an Ordinance without Christ An humble soule always finds three things on this side Heaven the soule to be empty Christ to be full and every mercy and duty to be sweet wherein God is injoyed Humility can weep over other mens weaknesses and joy and rejoyce over their graces Humility will make a man 1 Thes 1. 2 3. quiet and contented in the meanest condition and 't will preserve a man from envying others prosperous condition Humility honours those that are strong in grace and puts two hands Ephes 3. 8. under those that are weak in grace Humility makes a man richer then other men and it makes a man judge himselfe the poorest among men Humility will see much good abroad when it can see but little at home Ah Christians though faith be the champion of grace and love thee nurse of grace yet humility is the beautifier of grace it casts a generall glory upon all the graces in the soule ah did Christians more abound in humility The humble soul is like the violet which grows low hangs the head downwards and hides it selfe with his own leaves and were it not that the fragrant smel of his many vertues discover him to the world he would choose to live and die in his self contenting secresie they would be lesse bitter froward and sower and they would be more gentle meek and sweet in their spirits and practises Humility will make a man have high thoughts of others and low thoughts of a mans selfe it will make a man see much glory and excellency in others and much basenesse and sinfulnesse in a mans selfe it will make a man see others rich and himself poor others strong and himself weak others wise and himself foolish Humility will make a man excellent at covering others infirmities and at recording their gracious services and at delighting in theâ—â— graces it makes a man joy in every light that out-shines his owne and in every winde that blowes others good Humility is better at beleeving then 't is at questioning other mens happinesse I judge saith an humble soul 't is well with these Christians now but it will be far better with them hereafter they are now upon the borders of the new Ierusalem and 't will be but as a day before they slide into Ierusalem An humble soule is willinger to say Heaven is that mans then mine and Christ is that Christians then mine and God is their God in Covenant then mine ah were Christians more humble there would be lesse fire and more love among them then now is c. Lastly as Satan hath his Devices Last Device to destroy gracious soules so he hath his devices to destroy poore ignorant soules and that sometimes BY drawing them to affect ignorance and to neglect slight and Hos 4. 6. Prov. 22. 29. despise the means of knowledg ignorance is the mother of mistake the of trouble error and of terrour Mat. 22. 29. 't is the high way to hell and it makes a man both a prisoner and a slave to the Devill at once Ignorance unmans a Ignorants have this advantage ut mitius ardeant they have a cooler hell man it makes a man a beast yea it makes him more miserable then the beast that perisheth there are none so easily nor so frequently taken in Satans snare as ignorant souls they are easily drawn to dance with the Devill all day and to dreame of supping with Christ at night 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 an ignorant heart is an evill heart without knowledge the minde is not good Prov. 19. 2. As an ignorant heart is a naughty heart 't is a heart in the dark and no Ignâ—â—at sane improbus omnis saith Aririsâ—otle Mâ—â— 6. 22. good can come into a dark heart but it must passe through the understanding and if the eye be darke all the body is dark A leprous head and a leprous heart are inseparable companions ignorant hearts are so evill that they let flye on all hands and spare not to spit their venone in the very face of God as Pharaoh did when thick darknesse was upon him The second Remedie against this Device 2 Remedie of Satan is to consider that ignorance is the deformity of the soule As blindnesse is the deformity of the face so is ignorance the deformity of the soule as the want of fleshly eyes spoils the beauty of the face so the want of spirituall eyes spoils the beauty of the soule A man without knowledg is as a work-man without his hands as a painter without his eyes as a traveller without his legs or as a ship without sailes or a bird without Wings or like a body without a soule The third Remedy against this Device 3 Remedie of Satan is solemnly to consider that ignorance makes men the objects of Gods hatred and wrath It is a people Heb. 3. 10 11. They must needs eâ—re that know not Gods wayes yet cannot they wander so wide as to misse of hell Isa 27. 11. 2 Thes 1. 8. that do erre in their hearts and have not knowne my wayes Wherefore I sware in my wrath they should never enter into my rest My people are a people of no understanding therefore he that made them will have no mercy on them Christ hath said that he will come in flaming fire to render vengeance on them that know not God Ignorance will end in vengeance When you see a poor blind man here you doe not loath him nor hate him but you pity him oh but soul-blindness makes you abhominable in the sight of God God hath sworn that ignorant persons shall never come into Heaven Heaven Hos 4. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cut off Rome saith Ignorance is the mother of devotion but the Scripture faith 't is the mother of destruction 4 Remedy it selfe would be a hell to ignorant soules My people are destroyed for want of knowledge because thou hast rejected knowledge I will reject thee Chilo one of the seven Sages being asked what God had done answered he exalted humble men and suppressed proud ignorant fooles The fourth Remedie against this device of Satan is to consider that ignorance is a sin that leads to all sins All sins are seminally in ignorance You doe Mat. 22. 29. erre not knowing the Scriptures It puts men upon hating and persecuting the Saints They shall hate you and put you Iohn 16. 2 3. out of the Synagogues yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that Aristotle makes ignorance the mother of all the misrule in the world 1 Tim. 1.
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