to uncleanness, plead, It is written, Be ye holy, as I am holy; and, Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, 2 Cor. vii. 1. If he tempt you to disturb God's providence and fatherly care of you, plead, It is written, They that seek the Lord, shall not want any good thing, Psal. xxxiv. 10. It is written, The Lord will give grace and glory; and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly, Psal. Ixxxiv. 11. If he tempt you to fear, that you shall faint, and fall, and never be able to run to the end of the race that is set before you, plead, It is written, The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger, Job xvii. 9. It is written, I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me, Jer. xxxii. 40. It is written, They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint, Isa. xl. 31. If Satan tempt you to think, that because your sun for the present is set in a cloud, that therefore it 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 sighing; plead, It is written, He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Mic. vii. 17. It is written, For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee, Isa. liv. 7, 8, 10. It is written, Can a woman 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 thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me, Isa. xlix. 15, 16.

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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; and the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the devil, It is not spitting at Satan's name, nor crossing yourselves, nor leaning to your own 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 powerful grace of God, that he vowed and resolved a hundred times against some particular sin, and never could get power over it; at last he saw the reason to be his trusting to his own resolution; therefore be skilful in the word of righteousness, 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 fly from you.

Prop. 5. The fifth proposition is, that we may read much of Satan's nature and disposition, by the divers names and epithets that are given him in the scripture. Sometimes he is called Behemoth, which is a brute, whereby the greatness and brutishness of the devil is figured. Those evil spirits are sometimes called accusers, for their calumnies and slanders; and Evil Ones for their malice. Satan is an adversary that troubles and molests. Abaddon is a destroyer. They are tempters for their suggestion, lions for their devouring, dragons for their cruelty, and serpents for their subtlety. As his names are, so is he. As face answers to face, so do Satan's names answer to his nature. He has the worst names and the worst nature of all creatures.

Prop. 6. The sixth proposition is, that God will shortly tread down Satan under the saint's feet. Christ, our champion, has already won the field, and will shortly set our feet upon the necks of our spiritual enemies. Satan is a foiled adversary; Christ has led him captive, and triumphed over him upon the cross. Christ has already overcome him, and put weapons into your hands, that you may overcome him also, and set your feet upon his neck. Though Satan is a roaring lion, yet Christ, who is the lion of the tribe of Judah, will make Satan fly and fall before you. Let Satan do his worst, yet you shall have the ho

nour and the happiness to triumph over him. Cheer up, you precious sons of Sion, for the certainty and sweetness of victory will abundantly recompense you for all the pains you have taken in making resistance against Satan's temptations. The broken horns of Satan shall be trumpets of our triumph, and the cornets of our joy.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE REASONS WHY SATAN IS ALLOWED TO EMPLOY SO MANY DEVICES.

I SHALL Come now to the reasons of the point, why Satan is allowed to make use of so many devices.

Reas. 1. The first reason is that the hearts of the people of God may be kept in an humble, praying, watching frame. O has Satan so many devices to ensnare and undo the souls of men? How should this awaken dull, drowsy souls, and make them stand upon their watch. A saint should be like a seraph, beset all over with eyes and lights, that he may avoid Satan's snares, and stand fast in the hour of temptation.

The Lord has in the scripture discovered the several snares, plots, and devices that the devil has to undo the souls of men; that so being fore-warned, they may be forearmed; that they may be always upon their watch-tower, and hold their weapons in their hands, as the Jews did in Nehemiah's time. 1.

very

Reas. 2. The second reason is, from that malice, envy, and enmity, which are in Satan against the souls of men. Satan is full of envy and enmity, and that makes him studious to suit his snares and plots to the tempers, constitutions, fancies, and callings of men, that so he 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 hates, and then accuse him for the stealth of them. So does Satan, out of malice to the souls of men, hide his goods, his wares, as I may say, in the souls of men, and then go and accuse them before the Lord; and a thousand thousand other ways

Satan's malice, envy, and enmity puts him upon, eternally to undo the precious souls of men.

Reas. 3. The third reason is drawn from that long experience that Satan has 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. He is a spirit of above five thousand years standing. He has had time enough to study all those ways and methods, which tend most to ensnare and undo the souls of men. And as he has had time enough, so he has made it his whole study, his only study, his constant study, to find out snares, depths, and stratagems, to entangle and overthrow the souls of men. When he was but a young serpent, he easily deceived and out-witted our first parents; but now he is grown that old Serpent, as John speaks. He is as old as the world, and is grown very cunning by experience.

Reas. 4. The fourth reason is in judgment to the men of the world, that they may stumble and fall, and be ensnared for ever. Wicked men, who withstand the offers of mercy and despise the Spirit of grace; who will not open, though God knocks ever so hard by his word and rod, by his spirit and conscience; are given up by the hand of justice to be hardened, deceived, and ensnared by Satan, to their everlasting ruin. And what can be more just, than that they should be taken and charmed with Satan's wiles, who have frequently refused to be charmed by the Spirit of grace, though he has charmed never so wisely and never so sweetly?

Reas. 5. The fifth reason is, that the excellency and power of God's grace may be the more illustrated and manifested, by making men able to grapple with this mighty adversary; and that notwithstanding all the plots, devices, and stratagems of Satan, yet he will make them victorious here, and crown them with glory hereafter. The greater and the more subtle the enemies of the children of Israel were, the more did divine power, wisdom, and goodness, sparkle and shine; and that notwithstanding all their power, plots, and stratagems, yet to Canaan he would bring them at last. When Paul had weighed this, he sits down and glories in his infirmities and distresses, and Satan's buffetings, that the power of Christ might rest upon him, 2 Cor. xii. 7-9.

CHAPTER IX.

THE APPLICATION.

IF Satan has such a world of devices and stratagems to ensnare and undo the souls of men, then, instead of wondering that so few are saved, sit down and wonder that any are saved, that any escape the snares of this cunning fowler, who spreads his nets, and casts forth his baits, in all places, in all cases and companies.

But this is not the main thing that I intend to speak to: my main business shall be to set before you some special directions and helps against all his devices.

Direct. 1. If you would not be taken by any of Satan's devices, walk by rule. He that walks by rule, walks most safely; he that walks by rule, walks most honourably; he that walks by rule, walks most sweetly. When men throw off the word, then God throws off them, and then Satan takes them by the hand, and leads them into snares at his pleasure. He who thinks himself too good to be ruled by the word, will be found too bad to be owned by God and if God do not or will not own him, Satan will by his stratagems overthrow him. They who keep to the rule, shall be kept in the hour of temptation. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth, Rev. iii. 10.

Direct. 2. As you would not be taken with any of Satan's devices, take heed of vexing and grieving the Holy Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is best able to discover Satan's snares unto us. It is only he that can point out all his plots, and discover all his methods, and enable men to escape those pits that he has digged for their precious souls. Ah, if you set that sweet and blessed Spirit mourning, who alone can secure you from Satan's depths, by whom will you be secured? Man is a weak creature, and no way able to discover Satan's snares, nor to avoid them, unless the Spirit of the Lord gives skill and power; therefore who