judgements of God denounced against sinners and laid home to the conscience hast thou not found thy heart pierced with them hast thou not shrunk inward and secretly thought How shall I decline this dreadful damnation When thou hast heard the sweet mercies of God laid forth to penitent sinners hath not thy heart silently said Oh that I had my share in them When thou hast heard the Name of Christ blasphemed hast thou not felt a secret horrour in thy bosom All these argue a true spiritual life within thee Motion is the most perfect discoverer of life He that can stir his limbs is surely not dead The feet of the soul are the Affections Hast thou not found in thy self an hate and detestation of that sin whereinto thou hast been miscarried Hast thou not found in thy self a true grief of heart for thy wretched indisposition to all good things Hast thou not found a secret love to and complacency in those whom thou hast thought truly godly and conscionable Without a true life of grace these things could never have been Are not thine eyes and hands many times lifted up in an imploration of mercy Canst thou deny that thou hast a true though but weak appetite to the means and further degrees of grace What can this be but that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse to which our Saviour hath pronounced blessednesse Discomfort not thy selfe too much son with the present disappearance of grace during the hour of thy temptation it is no otherwise with thee then with a â—ree in winter-season whose sap is run down to the root wherein there is no more shew of the life of vegetation by any buds or blossomes that it might put forth then if it were stark dead yet when the Sun returnes and sends forth his comfortable beames in the spring it burgens out afresh and bewraies that vitall juyce which lay long hidden in the earth No otherwise then with the hearth of some good huswife which is towards night swept up and hideth the fire under the heap of her ashes a stranger would think it were quite out here is no appearance of light or heat or smoak but by that time she hath stirred it up a little the bright gleeds shew themselves and are soon raised to a flame Stay but till the spring when the Sun of righteousnesse shall call up thy moisture into thy branches stay but till the morning when the fire of grace which was raked up in the ashes shall bee drawne forth and quickned and thou shalt find cause to say of thy heart as Iacob said of his hard lodging Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not Onely doe thou not neglecting the meanes wait patiently upon Gods leasure stay quietly upon the bank of this Bethesda till the Angel descend and move the water §. 11. Complaint of the insensibleness of the time and meanes of conversion I could gladly thou saist attend with patience upon God in this great and happy work of the excitation of grace were I but sure I had it could I be but perswaded of the truth of my conversion but it is my great misery that here I am at a sad and uncomfortable losse for I have been taught that every true convert can designe the time the place the meanes the manner of his conversion and can shew how neare hee was brought to the gates of death how close to the very verge of hell when God by a mighty and out-stretched arme snacht him away in his own sensible apprehension from the pit and suddenly rescued him from that damnation and put him into a new state of spirituall life and undefaisible salvation All which I cannot do not finding in my selfe any such sudden and vehement concussion and heart-breaking any such forcible and irresistible operation of Gods Spirit within me not being able to design the Sermon that converted me or those particular approaches that my soule made towards an hardly-recovered desperation My son it is not safe for any man to take upon him to set limits to the wayes of the Almighty or to prescribe certain rules to the proceedings of that infinite Wisedome That most free and all-wise agent will not be tyed to walk alwaies in one path but varies his courses according to the pleasure of his own will One man hee cals suddenly another by leasure one by a kinde of holy violence as hee did S. Paul another by sweet solicitations as Philip Nathaniel Andrew Peter Matthew and the rest of the Apostles One man he drawes to heaven with gracious invitations another he drives thither by a strong hand we have known those who having mispent their yonger times in notoriously lewd and debauched courses living as without God yea against him have been suddenly heart-stricken with some powerfull denunciation of judgement which hath so wrought upon them that it hath brought them within sight of hell who after long and deep humiliation have been raised up through Gods mercy to a comfortable sense of the divine favour and have proceeded to a very high degree of regeneration and lived and died Saints But this is not every mans case Those who having from their infancy been brought up in the nurture and feare of the Lord and from their youth have been trained up under a godly and conscionable Ministery where they have been continually plyed with the essectuall means of grace Precept upon precept line upon line here a little and there a little and have by an insensible conveyance received the gracious inoperations of the Spirit of God though not without many inward strifes with temptations and sad fits of humiliation for their particular failings framing them to all holy obedience these cannot expect to finde so sensible alterations in themselves As well may the child know when he was naturally born as these may know the instant of their spirituall regeneration and as well may they see the grasse to grow as they can perceive their insensible increase of grace It is enough that the child attaining to the use of reason now knowes that he was born and that when wee see the grasse higher then we left it we know that it is growne Let it then suffice thee my son to know that the thing is done though thou canst not define the time and manner of doing it Be not curious in matter of particular perceptions whiles thou mayst be assured of the reality truth of the grace wrought in thee Thou seest the skilfull Chirurgion when hee will make a fontinell in the body of his patient he can do it either by a sudden incision or by a leasurely corrasive both sort to one end and equally tend towards health trust God with thy self and let him alone with his own work what is it to thee which way he thinks best to bring about thy salvation § 12. Complaint of irresolution and uncertainâ—y in matter of our election answered All were safe thou saist if onely
in grace It is thine own fault if thou gettest not more strength Wherefore serves that heavenly food of the Word and Sacraments but to nourish thy soul to eternal life Do but eat and digest and thou canst not but grow stronger God will not be wanting to thee in an increase of grace if thou be not wanting to thy self He offers his Spirit to thee with the means it is thy sinful neglect if thou separate them Thou knowest in whose hands is the staff of bread pray that he who gives thee the food and the mouth would also give thee appetite digestion nourishment § 8. An incitement to more caution anâ— faster adherence tâ— God Thy grace is weak It concerns thee so much the more to be cautious in avoiding occasions of temptation He that carries brittle glasses is chary of them that they take not a knock whereas strong metal fears no danger He that hath but a small Rush-candle walks softly and keeps off every air Thou art weak thy God is strong Dost thou not see the feeble childe that findes hee cannot goe alone how fast he clings to the hand of his mother more trusting to her helpe then his owne strength Doe thou so to thy God and say with the blessed Psalmist Hold up my goings in thy pathes that my footsteps slip not Hold thou mee up and I shall bee safe Vphold me according to thy Word that I may live and let me not bee ashamed of my hopâ—â— Peter was a bold man that durst step forth and set his foot upon the liquid face of the waters but he that ventured to walk there upon the strength of his faith when hee felt the stiffe winde and saw the great billow began to sinke in his weaknesse but no sooner had Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him then he takes courage and walks now with the same confidence upon the Sea that hee wont to walk on the Lâ—nd Together with a check hee receives more supportation from Christ then his owne legges could afford him Feare no miscarriage through thine own weaknesse whiles thou art held up by thatâ— strong helper Comforts against Infamy and Disgrace § 1. Comforts from like sufferingsâ— of the holiest yea of Christ himself NExt to our body and soul is the care of our reputation which whoso hath lost is no better then civilly dead Thou sufferest under a publike infamy I do not ask how justly He was a wise man that said It was fit for every good man to fear even a false reproach A good name is no less wounded for the time with that then with a just crimination This is a sore evil my son and such as against which there is no preservative and for which there is hardly any remedy Innocence it self is no antidote against evil tongues Neither greatness nor sanctity can secure any man from unjust calumny Might that be any ease to thy heart I could tell thee of the greatest of Kings and holiest of Saints that have grievously complained of this mischief and yet were not able to help themâ— selves Thou hast the company of the best that ever the earth bore if that may be any mitigation of thy misery Yea what do I speak of sinful men whose greatest purity might be blurred with some imperfections Look upon the Lord of life the eternal Son of the ever-living God God cloathed in flesh and see whether any other were his lot whiles he sojourned in this Region of mortality Dost thou not heare him for his gracious sociablenesse branded as a man gluttonous a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicanes and Sinners Dost thou not heare him for his powerfull and mercifull cure of Demoniacks blazoned for a fellow that casts out Devils through Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils Dost thou not heare him sclandred to death for treason against Caesar and blasphemy against God Dost thou not heare the multitude say Hee is madd and hath a Devil Dost thou not heare him after his death charged with Imposture And can there bee any worse names then Glutton Dtunkard Conjurer Traytor Blasphemer Mad man Demoniack Impostor Who now can henceforth thinke much to bee sclandered with meaner crimes when hee heares the most holy Sonne of God in whose mouth was no guile in whom the Prince of this world could finde nothing laden with so hainous calumniations § 1. Comfort of our recourse to God Thou art smitten with a foule tongue I marvell not if it goe deep into thy soule That man gave an high praise to his sword that said it was sharper then sclander And if a rasour bee yet sharper such did David finde the Edomites tongue And if these weaâ—pons reach not yet farre enough he found both spears and arrows in the mouthes of his traducers Lo thou art but in the same case with the man after Gods own heart What shouldst thou do but for Davids complaint make use of Davids remedy I will cry unto God most high unto God that performeth all things for me He shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up God shall send forth his mercy and his truth Do by thy slander as Hezekiah did by the railing lines of Rabshakâ—h spread them before the Lord and leave thy quarrel in the just hands of that great arbiter of heaven and earth who will be sure in his good time to revenge thy wrong and to clear thine innocence and will requite thee good for these causless curses § 3. Comfort from the clearness of our conscience In the mean while thou sayst I stand blemished with an odious aspersion my name passes thorow many a foul mouth Thou hearest my son what some others say but what dost thou hear from the bird in thy bosom If thy conscience acquit thee and pronounce thee guiltless obdure thy fore-head against all the spight of malice What is ill fame but a little corrupted unsavoury breath Do but turn away thine ear that thou receive it not and what art thou the worse Oh thy weakness if thou suffer thy self to be blown over by the meer air of some putrified lungs which if thou doe but a little decline by shifting thy foot will soon vanish § 4. Comfort from the improvement of our reason Thou art under ill tongues This is an evill proper onely to man Other creatures are no lesse subject to disease to death to outward violence then hee but none else can bee obnoxious to a detraction sith none other is capable of speech whereout a sclander can bee formed they have their severall sounds and notes of expression whereby they can signifie their dislike and anger but onely man can cloathe his angry thoughts with words of offence so as that faculty which was given him for an advanâ—tage is depraved to a further mischiefe But the same liberall hand of his Creatour hath also indued him with a property of reason which
aim we shut one eye as rather an hinderance to an accurate information yet for ordinary use so do we esteem each of these lights that there is no wise man but would rather lose a limb then an eye Although I could tell thee of a certain man not less religious then witty who when his friends bewailed the loss of one of his eyes askt them Whether they wept for the eye which he had lost or the eye which remained Weep rather said he for the enemy that stays behinde then for the enemy that is gone Lo this man lookt upon his eyes with eyes different from other mens he saw them as enemies which others see as officious servants as good friends as dear favourites Indeed they are any or all of these according as they are used good servants if they go faithfully on the errands we send them and return us true intelligence Good friends if they advise and invite us to holy thoughts enemies if they suggest and allure us to evil If thine eyes have been employed in these evil offices to thy soul God hath done that for thee which he hath in a figurative sense enjoyned thee to do to thy self If thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is better for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell § 5. Freedom from temptations by the eyes and from sorrows Thou hast lost thine eyes and together with them much earthly contentment But withal thou art hereby freed of many temptations those eyes were the in-lets of sin yea not onely the meer passages by which it entred but busie agents in the admission of it the very Pandars of lust for the debauching of the soul. How many thousands are there who on their death-beds upon the sad recalling of their guilty thoughts have wished they had been born blinde So as if now thou have less joy thou shalt sin less neither shall any vain objects call away thy thoughts from the serious and sad meditation of spiritual things Before it was no otherwise with thee then the Prophet Jeremich reports it to have been with the Jews That death is come up by the windows So it was with our great Grand-mother Eve she saw the tree was pleasant to the eyes and thereupon took of the fruit So it hath been ever since with all the fruit of her womb both in the old and later world The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all which they chose In so much as not filthy lusts onely but even adulteries take up their lodgings in the eye there the blessed Apostle findes them Having eyes saith he full of adultery and that can not cease from sin Whiles therefore thine heart walked after thine eyes as Job speaks it could do no other but carry thee down to the chambers of death thou art now delivered from that danger of so deadly a misguidance Hath not the loss of thine eyes withal freed thee of a world of sorrows The old word is What the eye views not the heart â—ues not Hadst thou but seen what others were forced to behold those fearful conflagrations those piles of murdered carcases those streams of Christian blood those savage violences those merciless rapines those sacrilegious outrages thine heart could not chuse but bleed within thee Now thou art affected with them onely aloof off as receiving them by the imperfect intelligence of thine ear from the unfeeling relation of others §. 6. The cheerfulness of some blind men Thine eies are lost what need thy heart to goe with them I have known a blinde man more chearfull then I could be with both mine eies Old Isaac was dark-sighted when he gave the blessing contrary to his own intentions to his sonne Jacob yet it seems he lived fourty yeers after and could be pleased then to have good chear made him with wine and vâ—nison our life doth not lye in our eyes The Spirit of man is that which upholds his infirmities Labour to raise that to a chearfull disposition even in thy bodily darknesse there shall bee light and joy to thy soul. §. 7. The supply which God gives in other faculties Hath God taken away thine eyes But hath he not given thee an abundant supply in other faculties Are not thine inward senses the more quick thy memory stronger thy phantasie more active thy understanding more apprehensive The wonders that we have heard and read of blinde mens memories were not easie to beleeve if it were not obvious to conceive that the removall of all distractions gives them an opportunity both of a carefull reposition of all desired objects and of a sure fixednesse of them where they are laid Hence have we seen it come to passe that some blinde men have attained to those perfections which their eies could never have feoffed them in It is very memorable that our Ecclesiasticall Story reports of Didymus of Alexandria who being blinde from his infancy through his prayers diligent indeavours reacht unto such an high pitch of knowledge in Logick Geometry Arithmetick Astronomy as was admired by the learned Masters of those Arts and for his rare insight into Divinity was by great Athanasius approved to be the Doctor of the Chaire in that famous Church What need we doubt of this truth when our own times have so cleerly seconded it having yeelded divers worthy Divines Gods Seers bereaved of bodily eyes amongst the rest there was one in my time very eminent in the University of Cambridge whom I had occasion to dispute with for his degree of great skill both in Tongues and Arts and of singular acutenesse of judgement It is somewhat strange that Suidas reports of Neoclldes that being a blinde man he could steal more cunningly then any that had use of eyes Sure I may say boldly of our Fisher that hee was more dextrous in picking the locks of difficult Authors and fetching forth the reasures of their hidden senses then those that had the sharpest eyes about him in so much as it was noted those were singular Proficients which imployed themselves in reading to him If they read Books to him he read Lectures the while to them and still taught more then he learned As for the other outward senses they are commonly more exquisite in the blinde We read of some who have been of so accurate a touch that by their very feeling they could distinguish betwixt black and white And for the eare as our Philosophers observe that sounds are sweeter to the blind then to the sighted so also that they are more curiously judged of by them the vertue of both those senses being now contracted into one But the most perfect recompence of these bodily eyes is in the exaltation of our spirituall so much more enlightned towards the beatisicall
infinite blisse how much more gladly would he have taken off his Hemlock and how much more merrily would he have passed into that happier world All this wee know and are no lesse assured of it then of our present beeing with what comfort therefore should we think of changing our present condition with a blessed immortality How sweet a song was that of old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mineties have seen thy salvation Loe that which hee saw by the eye of his sense thou seest by the eye of thy faith even the Lords Christ he saw him in weaknesse thou seest him in glory why shouldst thou not depart not in peace onely but in joy and comfort How did the holy Protomartyr Stephen triumph over all the rage of his enemies and the violent fury of death when he had once seen the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God Loe God offers the same blessed prospect to the 〈◊〉 of thy soul Faith is the key that can open the heaven of heavens Fixe thy eies upon that glorious and saving object thou canst not but lay down thy body in peace and send up thy soul into the hands of him that bought it with the sweet and cheerfull recommendation of Lord Jesus receive my spirit Comforts against the terrours of Judgement §. 1. Aggravation of the fearfulness of the last judgement THOU apprehendest it aright Death is terrible but Judgement more Both these succeed upon the same decree It is appointed unto man once to die but after this the judgement Neither is it moâ—e terrible then lesse thought on Death because he strikes on all hands and laies before us so many sad examples of mortality cannot but sometimes take up our hearts but the last judgement having no visible proofs to force it self upon our thoughts too seldome affrights us Yet who can conceive the terrour of that day before which the Sun stall bee turned into darknesse and the Moon into blood That day which shall burne as an Oven when all the proud and all that doe wickedly shall bee as the stubble That day in which the heavens shall passe away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also â—â—d the works that are therein shall be burnt â—p That day wherein the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ That day wherein the Lord will come with fire and with his Chariots like a Whirlewinde to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire For by Fire and by his Sword will the Lord plead with all flesh That day wherein the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him and shall sit upon the Throne of his glory and all Nations shall bee gathered before him That day wherein all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him Sâ—ortly that great and terrible day of the Lord wherein if the Powers of Heaven shall bee shaken how can the heart of man remain unmoved wherein if the world be dissolved who can bear up Alas we are ready to tremble at but a Thunder-crack in a poor cloud and at a small flash of lightning that glances through our eyes what shall wee doe when the whole frame of the heavens shall break in peeces and when all shall be on a flame about our eares Oh who may abide the day of his comming and who shall stand when hee appeareth §. 2. Comfort from the condition of the elect Yet bee of good chear mâ— sonne Amids all this horrour there is comfort Whether thoube one of those whom it shall please God to reserve alive upon earth to the sight of this dreadfull day he only knowes in whose hands our times are This we are sure of that we are upon the last houres of the last daies Justly doe we spit in the faces of S. Peters scoffers that say Where is the promise of his coming Well knowing that the Lord is not slack as some account slackness but that he that shall come will come and not tarry Well mayst thou live to see the Son of man come in the clouds of heaven and to be an Actor in this last Scene of the world If so let not thy heart be dismayed with the expectation of these fearful things Thy change shall be sudden and quick one moment shall put off thy mortality and clothe thee with that incorruption which shall not be capable of fear and pain The majestie of this appearance shall adde to thy joy and glory Thou shalt then see the Lord himself descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God Thou shalt see thy self and those other which are alive and remain to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shalt thou be ever with the Lord. Upon this assurance how justly may the Apostle subjoyn Wherefore comfort one another with these words Certainly if ever there were comfort to be had in any words not of men or Angels onely but of the ever-living God the God of Truth these are they that can and will afford it to our trembling souls But if thou be one of the number of those whom God hath determined to call off before-hand and by a faithful death to prevent the great day of his appearance here is nothing for thee but matter of a joy unspeakable and full of glory For those that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him they shall be part of that glorious train which shall attend the Majestie of the great Judge of the world yea they shall be coâ—â—seâ—â—ors to the Lord of heaven and earth in this awful Judica ture as sitting upon the Bench when guilty men and Angels shall be at the Bar To him that overcometh saith the Lord Christ will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne What place then is here for any terrour since the more state and heavenly magnificence the more joy and glory § 3. Awe more fit for thoughts of judgement then Fear Thou art afraid to think of Judgement I had rather thou shouldst be awful then timorous When Saint Paul discoursed of the judgement to come it is no marvel that Fâ—â—ix trembled But the same Apostle when he had pressed to his Corinthians the certainty and generality of our appearance before the Judgement-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body whether good or evil addeth Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we perswade men but we are made manifest to
God c. Lo the holiest man may not be exempted from the dread but from the slavish fear of the great Judge We know his infinite justice we are conscious to our selves of our manifold failings how can we lay these two together and not fear But this fear works not in us a malignant kinde of repining at the severe Tribunal of the Almighty as commonly whom we fear we hate but rather a careful endeavour so to approve our selves that we may be acquitted by him and appear blameless in his presence How justly may we tremble when we look upon our own actions our own deserts but how confidently may we appear at that Bar where we are beforehand assured of a discharge Being justified by faith â—we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. When we think of anâ— universal conflagration of the world how can we but fear but when we think of an happie restitution of all things in this day how can we but rejoyce in trembling § 4. In that great and terrible Day our Advocate is our Judge Thou quakest at the expectation of the last Judgement Surely the very Majestie of that great Assize must needs be formidable And if the very delivery of the Law on Mount Sinai were with so dreadful a pomp of Thunder and Lightning of Fire Smoke Earthquakes that the Israelites were half dead with fear in receiving it with what terrible magnificence shall God come to require an account of that Law at the hands of the whole sinful generation of mankinde Represent unto thy thoughts that which was shewed of old to the Prophet Daniel in Vision Imagine that thou sawest the Ancient of days sitting upon a Throne like the fiery flame 〈◊〉 a fiery stream issuing and coming forth from before him thousand thousands ministring unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before him the judgement set and the Books opened Or as John the Daniel of the New Testament saw a great white Throne and him that sate on it from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away and the dead both small and great standing before God and the Books opened and the dead judged out of those things which were written in those Books according to their works Let the eyes of thy minde see before-hand that which these bodily eyes shall once see and tell me how thou feelest thy self affected with the sight of such a Judge such an appearance such a process And if thou findest thy self in a trembling condition cheer up thy self with this That thy Judge is thine Advocate That upon that Throne there sits not greater Majestie then Mercie It is thy Saviour that shall sentence thee How safe art thou then under such hands Canst thou fear that he will doom thee to death who died to give thee life Canst thou fear he will condemn thee for those sins which he hath given his blood to expiate Canst thou fear the rigour of that Justice which he hath so fully satisfied Canst thou misdoubt the miscarriage of that soul which he hath so dearly bought No my son all this divine state and magnificence makes for thee Let those guilty and impenitent souls who have heaped unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath quake at the glorious Majestie of the Son of God for whom nothing remains but a fearful expectation of judgement and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries But for thee who art not onely reconciled unto God by the mediation of the Son of his love but art also incorporated into Christ and made a true limb of his mystical Body thou art bidden together with all the faithful to look up and lift up thy head for now the day of thy reâ—emption is come And indeed how canst thou do other since by vertue of this blessed union with thy Saviour this glory is thine every member hath an interest in the honour of the Head Rejoyce therefore in the day of the Lord Jesus and when all the Tribes of the earth shall wail do thou sing and rejoyce and call to the heavens and the earth to bear thee company Let the heavens rejoyce and let the earth be glad let the sea make a noise aud all that is therein let the field be joyful and all that is in it Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoyce before the Lord for he cometh for he cometh to judge the earth and with righteousness to judge the world and the people with his truth §. 5. Frequent meditation and due prepaâ—ation the remedies of our â—ear Thou art affrighted with the thought of that Great Day Think of it oftner and thou shalt less fear it It will come both surely and suddenly let thy frequent thoughts prevent it It will come as a thief in the night without warning without noise let thy careful vigilance always expect it and thy soul shall be sure not to be surprised not to be confounded Thine Audit is both sure and uncertain sure that it will be uncertain when it will be If thou wilt approve thy self a good Steward have thine account always ready set thy reckoning still even betwixt God and thy soul Blessed is the servant whom his Master shall finde so doing Look upon these heavens and this earth as dissolving and think with Jerome that thou hearest the last Trump and the voice of the Archangel shrilling in thine ears as once thou shalt Arise ye dead and come to judgement Shortly let it be thy main care to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself Comforts against the fears of our spiritual enemies § 1. The great power of evil spirits and their restraint THou art affrighted at the thought of thy spiritual enemies No marvel Neither earth nor hell hath any thing equally formidable Those three things which are wont to make enmity dreadful and dangerous Power Malice Subtilty are met in them neither is it easie to say in which of these they are most eminent Certainly were we to be matcht with them on even hand there were just cause not of Fear onely but Despair I could tremble thou sayst to think what Satan hath done what he can do what contestation he enabled the Egyptian Sorcerers to hold with Moses how they turned every man his rod into a Serpent so as they seemed to have the advantage for the time of many Serpents crawling and hissing in Phoraoh's pavement for one How they turned the waters into blood How they brought Froggs upon the Land of Egypt 〈◊〉 as if thus far the power of hell would