Fifty sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London, and elsewhere whereof twenty on the Lords Prayer / by ... Anthony Farindon ... ; the third and last volume, not till now printed ; to which is adjoyned two sermons preached by a friend of the authors, upon his being silenced.

The Six and Fourtieth SERMON. PART. VI. (Book 46)

MATTH. VI. 13. —But deliver us from evil.

AS we pray not to be led into tentation, so we further pray to be delivered from evil. For Tentations, as they are tentations, and no more, are not evil to those who are tempted, but they are evils inherent and proper to the tempter himself. Till they pre∣vail, they are the matter and occasion of virtue as well as of vice, and alwayes work for the best to those who are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Non laetatur Daemon cùm affligimur, sed cùm succu••••imus; The Enemy takes no delight to see us beat upon by Af∣flictions, or woo'd by Pleasures, or conversing in the World: for here he stands as one doubtful of the victory, in a possibility to receive a ••••il as well as to give one. Then he triumphs, when Afflictions have driven us from our hold; when Pleasures have detain'd us in the way which we walk, and are become so gracious unto us as to command our will and affections; when we love the world and the things of the world: Then he rejoyceth as a conqueror doth when the day is won. And this may be the reason why this particle and clause is added, not as another Petition different from the for∣mer, but as an illustration and explication of it. For to be delivered from evil takes off all fear, and secures us from the force and violence of Tentations. Indeed Evil is that which we all naturally shun, and to be de∣livered from it is a part of every mans Litany. In the first of Jonah, when the storm was high, the mariners cryed every man unto his God, and awaked Jonah to call upon his. The very Heathen sacrificed Diis depellentibus, to those Gods whom they thought to have power to drive away the evil which they feared, and to free them from danger. They had their Goddess Pel∣lonia, and their Deos Averruncos, therefore so called for turning away evils from them. Evil hath but a sad aspect, and at the first shew and appearance makes us look about us for succour. It is terrible afar off, in the very story and picture and representation, and moves our affections when it no∣thing concerns us. Augustine tells us that he wept at the very reading of the story of Dido in Virgil. And it is common unto us so to be affected with those evils which others have long since undergone, as if they were now

in the approach toward us, and we our selves in present danger. But when Evil comes near us indeed, and is ready to seize upon us, then it shaketh the whole course of our nature, it changeth the countenance, it calls-up all the powers of the soul, and drives us to consultation. When the stormy wind is raised, then we cry unto the Lord in our trouble, that he may deliver us out of our distress. For the very fear of Evil is a kind of distress. Satìs malum est apud timentes quicquid timetur; Whatsoever is feared is evil e∣nough to them that fear it. And in this respect we may admit of St. Basils nice distinction between 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, between Saving and Delivering: For we desire not only to be saved and preserved, as men weak and impo∣tent and obnoxious to a fall; but to be freed and delivered, as men walk∣ing in the midst of snares, as men already in a kind of captivity. And certainly it will be good for us often to represent Evil unto our selves, and place it in its full horror before our eyes, that having a foretast as it were of it, our prayer may be the more hearty and earnest against it; to consider what a wound and bruise such a one received, how one hath been slain with Luxury, and another with Pride, how Beauty hath deceived one, and Wine mocked another; to behold the Devil in his true shape; that we may call upon our Father which is in heaven, not only to save us in this present life, but to deliver us for ever from the Enemy, that he devour not our souls as a Lion. We have then, you see, two terms in this clause, Evil, and Deli∣verance. And if it be evil, what can we more properly pray for then for deliverance. To draw then the lines by which we are to pass, we must con∣sider. 1. What is here meant by Evil. 2. What it is we desire when we pray for deliverance.

And, in the first place St. Augustine will tell us that Evil is of no essence at all; and Nyssen, that it is not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, by any proper subsistence it hath, that it is nothing else, but a kind of corruption and perversion of that man∣ner and order which Nature hath set down and prescribed. It was the great business of many years in the times of our fore-fathers to find-out the origi∣nal fountain from whence it springs. The Manichees made some of the crea∣tures, which in themselves are very good, evil by nature, and therefore were forced to invent two causes and beginnings of things, the one good, the o∣ther evil. With them it was a kind of murder to pluck up a Plant, and sa∣criledge to taste of the Vine. Therefore they called Wine fel potestatum te∣nebrarum, the very Gall of the Devil and the powers of Darkness. But the Father makes it plain, prodesse singula per convenientiam, that every crea∣ture is good and useful by a kind of conveniency and to that end to which Nature hath ordained it. For if the Scorpion were in it self evil, it would then certainly soonest kill and destroy it self. We will not here engage our selves in a needless dispute. What say we to Diseases, and Calamities, and Destruction of Cities, and War, and Pestilence, and the like? These in∣deed are Evils, and we may pray against them. For the Wise man will tell us, Fortis est perpeti, at non est prudentis optare periculum; There may be Valour shown in induring of these evils, but it is no Wisdome to wish for them. For Virtue is opposed to these, not because she chuseth them, but because through the inevitable Laws of Necessity she cannot avoid them. And therefore, when the Christians professed a willingness to suf∣fer persecution, and the Heathen upbraided them, Cur ergo querimini? Why then do you complain of us for afflicting you? Tertullian replyes, Planè pati volumus, verum eo modo quo & bellum miles, Truly we are willing to suffer, but with the same mind with which the Souldier doth enter the battle, in which he is glad to overcome, though before he complain∣ed that he was forced to fight. Thefe are evil, saith Basil, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to our sense, sensible evils: And we may, nay we must, pray against them,

because we are uncertain to which hand they may incline us, whether they may drive us to the right hand or to the left. And indeed all those deliveran∣ces we pray for in our common Litany are but as so many branches from this root, LIBER A NOS A MALO, Deliver us from evil. But those Evils which are truly so and in their own nature proceed, as our Saviour speaks, from within us; not Thunder, and Persecution, and War, and Pestilence, but Injustice, and Wantormess, and Luxury, and Envy, and Malice, and Deceit, and the rest of those hellish Evils which do pollute the soul and deface the image of God in us. Haec sunt verè mala quae faciunt malos: Those evils are truly and really evil which make us evil. Indeed when we speak of evil, every man streight phansieth to himself that Evil which he is most afraid of; the Covetous, Poverty; the Ambitious, Disgrace; the Volup∣tuous, the bitter cup of Afflictions: although these, as they may be ap∣plied, are rather remedies than evils. For Poverty may teach the Cove∣tous the uncertainty of Riches; and Disgrace, the Ambitious what a bubble Honor is, and how soon turned into air; and Misery, the Voluptuous what a sad aspect Pleasure hath when it turns its back and goes from us. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith the Father; For those things which we suffer are not evil, but those things which we do. But we our selves create evils, draw them out unto our selves in the form of evil things, and then name them so. So the superstitious Papist brings every rotten stick he meets with to kindle a fire, and then trembles at it; and, to be freed from this cryes out, Domine, hîc ure, hîc seca, Lord, let the fire be in this world, let us feel the lash of temporal affliction, let any evil fall upon us here, so we fall not into the fire of Purgatory. But the best of it is, that this may be perhaps in the Trent, but is neither in our Creed nor Pater Noster: and the Cardinal tells us that, if we believe it not, we shall never feel it: and we are willing to take the condition; for we neither believe it, nor can we fear or hope to come there. But every man cryes out for deliverance at the sight of that evil which is a meer creature of the Phansie, and hath no being and subsistence but in the mind, which many times is more busie to make evils than to overcome them:

—nullóque autore malorum, Quae finxere timent;—

and men fear where no fear is, fear that to which themselves have given both a being and horror, which themselves have made, and made formidable. But it is no supposed, no feigned Evil which we here pray against. It is a real and substantial Evil. And if we can find out the next and immediate cause of Evil whose work it is to make Prosperity a snare, and Adversity a wind to drive us from the fountain of Goodness to the waters of bitter∣ness; by whose art and skill a tempest in the air shall beget another in the mind, and the diseases of the body the plague of the heart; by whose ma∣chinations and subtilty it many times comes to pass that plenty brings forth Wantonness and Luxury, and Poverty Repining and Murmuring; that can so work with these things which are not in their own nature Evil, that they shall make us evil; with these sensible Evils, that they shall produce those Evils which are so 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in their own nature, truly and pro∣perly Evils, as Sin and everlasting Death, then we need make no further search, but conclude that this is it. And indeed, if we look nearer to the word in the Text, and compare it with other places of Scripture, and with the former part, Lead us not into tentation, we shall easily be induced to believe that the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 here, which signifies evil, is not of the neu∣ter but the masculine gender, and rather points out to some evil Person then

some evil Thing. For so we find it taken in the chapter before, v. 37. Let your communication be Yea, Yea; Nay, Nay: for whatsoever is more then these is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, of evil. And chapter 13. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the wicked One, is twice mentioned. And, as our Saviour, so the Apostles after use it. St. Paul Ephes. 6. 16. Take the shield of faith, that you may be able to quench all the fiery darts 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, of the Wicked One. And 1 John 2. 13, 14. I have writ∣ten unto you, yong men, because ye have overcome 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the Wicked one. And chap. 5. he tells us of him who is born of God, that 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that Wick∣ed one toucheth him not: Which is no other than the Devil, who is MALUS per antonomasiam, so evil, that his name is so: so that as Evil is placed for the Devil, so is the Devil for evil: The Evil one toucheth him not, that is, the Devil. Est unus ex vobis Diabolus, saith our Saviour to his Disciples; One of you is a Devil, that is, in the highest degree evil. For he is the first and principal cause of evil, totius erroris artifex, multiformis lues mentis humanae, salutis pariter animaeque vastator, totius seculi interpolator, saith Tertullian, the great Artificer and forger of all error, the very Plague and Bane of the mind of man, the Destroyer of both our health and our souls, and the great Fashioner of this present world, which he doth so dress up and paint that it may the sooner deceive us. These testimonies are so many and so clear that it may almost seem a wonder that there have been, and still are, found those who profess Christian Religion, and yet are of opinion that what is delivered of Satan and the Devil, of his wiles and enter∣prises and snares, is not so to be understood as if there were any such spiritu∣al substance to which we may truly attribute these, but that it is a figurative kind of speech fitted to that which the vulgar and common people believe; that there is nothing which solicits us to sin but our own Lust and Concupis∣cence, as St. James teacheth us, ch. 1. 14. where laying down the manner how we are tempted, he makes no mention of any person, but attributeth all to our Lust and Concupiscence, which with them by a wonderful Prosopopaeia or Feigning of a person, is called Satan, or the Devil, or the Adversary which accuseth us before God; that Sin alone is the Serpent which deceives us, and the Lion which roars against us, and the Dragon which devours us; that only Sin is that Destroyer. And this St. Bernard seems to lay to the charge of Petrus Abailardus, Epist. 190. But we may truly say that this is but commentum humani ingenii, an invention and fiction of phansiful men, and may well be entitled on the Devil himself the Father of lyes. For by the same art and skill they may, if they please, make the whole Scripture an allegory, since we find nothing more historically and plainly delivered there then this of the craft and subtilty and malice of the Devil. Indeed we do not make the Devil the author of every sin; nor can we think that whensoever we do that which is evil, we do it by the instigation of the Devil. For many times we are the only divels to our selves, and have no tempter but within us, besides the outward object. And Chrysostome, con∣sidering the careless and negligent behaviour of our first parents in Para∣dise, concludes that they would have fallen though there had been no De∣vil, no Serpent to tempt them. Sometimes the Devil provokes us; and sometimes we provoke the Devil: We may sin without the help of the De∣vil; and most times we help the Devil in his work. We begin of our selves; and this is a time of invitation to the Devil to step in and drive us forward when we are fairly running on of our selves in those wayes which lead to death. But that any should deny that there is any such person which at any time makes any such attempt upon us, or studieth to hurt and destroy us, proceeds from no other cause than a strong illusion of that Devil which they conceived to be nothing but like Aesops Fox and Lion and Wolf, which carry their Moral with them, and till that be made are but tales and idle Fables. And we may say of these Mythologists, who think there

is no such person as the Devil who seeks to devour us, Daemonium habent, that they have a Devil. For who would ever deny it who is in his right mind, and hath read the writings of the Old and New Testament, or but the beginning of the history of Job, which plainly shew that the Devil is a person which studies the molestation of mankind, and especially of those who truly serve God; and that he is a spiritual substance, which upon Gods permission hath power and force to bring-in upon us great and manifold evils, as plagues and famine and inundations; and is therefore stiled the author of all those grievous evils which Job suffered, and is said to have smitten Job with sore biles from the sole of his foot unto his crown. We * 1.1 cannot say that all these his touches and his blows, his perambulations; his instigations, his cribrations and winnowings, his wiles, his roaring, his calumniations and accusations are all performed in an allegory. We may say with Tertullian, De conscientia hominum notus; That there is such an enemy, we have domestick and familiar testimony from our own consci∣ences: For we see that even the rude and unlearned multitude make use of his name to make up a curse. But we will rather take that of Martin Lu∣ther, That we must believe the Scriptures, licèt totus mundus & omnes Angeli vel perirent, vel aliter docerent, although the whole world and all the Angels should perish, or teach the contrary. Or indeed rather, with the same Father, Revocandae quaestiones ad Dei literas; This question, if it were worth the proposing, is to be resolved by the word of God. And if there we find the Devil painted and charactered-out in his full horror, if there we find him deciphered as a person crafty and malicious to man∣kind, seeking whom he may devour, we need not make a stand, or doubt but that he is that Evil, that Wicked one, from whom if we be delivered, we may promise to our selves victory, walk securely, and serve God with∣out fear of being lead into tentation. And therefore Christ did not with∣out cause place this among those things which we must request at the hand of our heavenly Father, that we may not yield to tentations, but be deli∣vered from evil, from Satan, who is Evil 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the most eminent and highest degree, and the first original and immediate cause of all those temptations which either by flattery or terror are ready to overwhelm us. This our Saviour reserves, as a matter of greatest consequence, to the last place; as skilful Orators use to set open the very flood-gates of eloquence, to spread their sayls to the furthest, and double their files, and bring ar∣gument upon argument, and those arguments which are most persuasive, when they draw towards a conclusion. Tunc commovendum est theatrum cùm ventum est ad illud quo veteres comaediae tragoediaeque clauduntur, PLAU∣DITE, as Quintilian. In the ast place commonly they bring that which is most remarkable, (and which should strike and make a deeper impression into the minds of the auditory. If we be delivered 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, from the Evil one, we shall hallow Gods Name, and advance his Kingdome, and fulfill his Will, and be content with Food and Raiment, have our Pardon sealed, and with the Temptation, whatsoever it be, make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it. So that we may take this interpretation as most probable and pertinent; Although the others (as that of Cyprian, who by Evil understands Sin it self, or whatsoever may be disadvantageous unto us; or that of St. Augustine, who, forgetting that he had made seven Petitions in his second Book upon the Sermon on the Mount, makes this clause the same with the former) bring nothing contrary to truth, or in∣deed to this interpretation. Having therefore shut-up and concluded all evil in him who is the Father of Evil, we will 1. consider him first as an enemy to Mankind; 2. lay-down reasons why he is so, and why we should make preparation against him; and 3. discover some Stratagems which he useth to bring his enterprises to pass.

And first, that the Devil is our enemy, we need not doubt. For the Apostle hath openly proclaimed him so; We wrestle not with flesh and * 1.2 bloud, against Men as weak and mortal as our selves, but against principa∣lities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, that is, against the Devil and his Angels, against spiritual wickedness in high places, that is, as himself speaks in the second Chapter, against those spirits which rule in the air. And therefore St. Basil gives us 1. his Name, which is SATANAS, an adversary, and DIABOLUS, a Devil, because he is both 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a fellow-worker with us in sin, and, when it is committed, an accuser: 2. his Nature; He is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, incorporeal: 3. his Dignity; It is, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a principality: 4. the Place of his principality; He is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the air; and is therefore called the Prince of this world. His Anger is implacable, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as immortal as himself: not as Mans, who is never angry but with particulars, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as with Cleon and Socrates, but not with man. Satans Anger and Hatred is bent against the whole nature of Man. Cùm sit ipse poenalis, quaerit ad poenam comites; Being even a punishment unto himself, he would have all men with him come under the same lash. And if he cannot win a Soul by invasion, he attempts it by stratagem. To this end, as he makes use of Pleasure and Content, so he doth of Affliction and Sorrow. Operatio ejus est hominum eversio; His very working and operation is nothing else but for the ever∣sion and ruine of mankind: Nec definit perditus perdere; being fallen him∣self he would draw all men after him. The bodies of men he plagueth with diseases, and their souls with sudden and unusual distractions; being able through the subtility and spirituality of his nature to work-upon both; invisibilis in actu, in effectu apparens, invisible and insensible in the act, but manifestly seen in the effect. He cheated men with oracles, struck them with diseases, and pretended a cure; desinens laedere, curasse credeba∣tur, when he did not hurt them, he was thought to have healed them. By these arts he insinuated him self into the minds of ignorant men, and at last was honoured with Temples and Altars and Sacrifices, and gained a Prin∣cipality and kind of Godhead in the world. But now his Oracles are stil∣led, his Altars beat down, and he is driven out of his Temples. But yet he is a Devil still, and an Enemy, and rules in the air, and upon permission may make use of one creature to destroy another. And his Power is just, though his Will be malicious. Quod ipse facere iniquè appetit, hoc Deus fieri non nisi justè permittit. What he wickedly desires to do, that God may suffer justly to be done. We will not not say that the evil Spirits visibly fight against us, and try it out with fists, as those foolish Monks in St. Hierom boasted of themselves that they had often tried this kind of hardiment with them, to make themselves a miracle to the ignorant rout, who are more taken with lies than with truth. We are not apt to believe that story, or rather fable, in St. Hierome, of Paul the Hermite, who met the Devil first as a Hippocentaur, next as a Satyr, and last of all as a Shee∣wolf; or that of Hilarion, to whom were presented many fearful things, the roaring of Lions, the noise of an Army, and a chariot of fire coming up∣on him, and Wolves, and Foxes, and Sword-players, and wicked Women, and I cannot tell what. For it is scarce expressable what a creating fa∣culty Melancholy and Solitariness and Phansie have, ut non videant quae sunt, & videre se putent quae non sunt, that when we do not see those things which are, yet they make us believe we see those things which are not. We will not speak of Spirits possessing the bodies of men; Which power we can∣not deny but they have. Yet I am perswaded these after-ages have not frequently seen any such dismal effects. The world hath been too much troubled with lies, and many counterfeits have been discovered even in

our times. And for us Protestants, we see no such signs, no such wonders. But these Devils are as common as Flies in Summer amongst them who boast of an art and skill they have in casting them out. You would think they enterd men on purpose that these men might shew their activity in driving them away, and so confirm and make good their Religion, make themselves equal to those primitive Christians, quorum verbis tanquam fla∣gris verberati nomina aedebant, who with their very words would make them roar as if they had been beaten with whips, till they confest they were devils, and did tell their names. We may say of these in our daies as he doth of superstitious Dreams, Ipsâ jam facilitate auctoritatem perdiderunt, They are too common to be true. And because so many of these strange relations have been manifestly false, we may be pardoned if we detrect a little, and believe not those few which are true. For the mixture of fictions in many a good history hath many times made even Truth it self seem fabulous. But yet though we suspend our belief, and do not sud∣denly and hand over head subscribe unto these, we are not like those Phi∣losophers in Tully qui omnia ad sensus referebant, who referred all to their senses, and would believe no more than what they did see. For these evil Spirits may be near us, and we see them not; they may be about our paths, and we discern them not. Many effects of theirs no doubt we may see, and yet can have no assurance that they were theirs. For that light of their intellectual nature is not put-out, but they know how to apply active qualities to passive, and diversly upon occasion to temper natural causes, being well seen and versed in the book of Nature. And this knowledge of theirs is enlarged and advanced by the experience of so many thousand years, and their experience promoted and confirmed by an indefatigable and uncessant survey of the things of this world; which is not stayed and held back by any pause or interval, nor needs any repair or help by rest and sleep, as ours, quasi per quasdam ferias, as the Father speaks, as by so many daies of vocation and rest; but every moment they observe things, and every moment draw new conclusions, and every moment collect and infer one thing out of another. Besides, as Tertullian tells us, momento ubique sunt, their motion and apprehension is swift and sudden. Totus mun∣dus illis locus unus est; The whole world is to them but as one place; and what is done in every place, they soon know in any place. We do not meet them as Hippocentaurs, but we meet them as Tyrants: We cannot say we have seen the Devil in the shape of a Fox, but yet we are not ignorant of his wiles and crafty enterprises. And though his hand be invisible when he smites us (for he is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, an incorporeal hangman, as Chrysostom calls him) yet we may feel him in our impatience and falling from God. What speak we of the possession of our body, when it is too manifest that he possesses our soul? For do we see a man with a mouth like a se∣pulchre, and a tongue like a rasor, with a talking eye, and a restless hand, starting at the motion of every leaf, drooping at the least breath of affli∣ction, amazed at the sight of white and red colour, stooping at every clod of earth, transported at every turn of his eye, afraid where no fear is, mourning for the absence of that which will hurt him, and rejoycing at that stoln bread which will be as gravel between his teeth? Do we see him sometimes fall into the water and sometimes into the fire, sometimes cold and stupid, and anon active and furious? we may well conclude and account him as one 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, of those who are possest with a Devil. That he insinuates himself into the Soul of Man; that being of so subtile an essence, he works upon the Spirits, by inflaming or cooling; upon the Phansie, by strange representations making it a wanton; and on the Under∣standing by presenting of false light, and sending-in strong illusions; it is

plain and evident, and we need not doubt: But the manner how he work∣eth is even as invisible as himself; and therefore it were a great vanity to enquire after it. Stultum est calumniam in eo inquisitionis intendere, in quo comprehendi quod quaeritur per naturam suam non potest, saith Hilary; It is a great folly to run-on in the pursuit of the knowledge of that which before we set forth we know we cannot attain. And therefore saith the Father, Nemo ex me scire quaerat quod me nescire scio, nisi fortè ut nescire discat quod sciri non posse sciendum est; Let no man desire to know of me that which I know I cannot know, unless peradventure he would learn to be ignorant of that which he must know he cannot but be ignorant. Let others define and determine and set-down what manner they please; we may rest upon that of St. Augustine, Facilius est in alterius definitione vi∣dere quod non probem, quàm quicquam bene definiendo explicare; In this point it is easier to refute anothers opinion than to establish our own; and to shew that the Devil doth not work thus, than plainly to set-down and say, Thus he works. It is enough for us to know that as God is a friend, so the Devil is an enemy; as God inspires good thoughts, so the Devil in∣spireth evil; that he can both smite the body, and wound the soul; that he hath 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Basil speaks, divers and various operations, and can alter with the occasion; that he knows in what breast to kindle Lust, into what heart to pour the venom of Envy, whom to cast-down with Sorrow, and whom to deceive with Joy; that his snares are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, of many shapes and forms, which he useth to draw-on that sin to which he sees man 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, most inclinable and prone; and gives every man poyson in that which he best loves, as Agrippina did to Claudius her husband in Mushromes.

Now to proceed; The Reasons why the Devil thus greedily thirsts af∣ter the ruine and destruction of Mankind, are derived from his Hatred to God and his Envy to Man. His first wish, which threw him down from heaven, was, To be a God; and being fallen, he wished in the next place that there should be no God at all, willing to abolish that Majesty which he could not attain. Odium timor spirat, saith Tertullian, Hatred is the very breath of Fear. We never begin to hate God till we ha••e committed something for which we have reason to fear him. And the Devil being now in chains of everlasting darkness; doth hate that Light which he cannot see. And because God himself is at that infinite distance from him that his Ma∣lice cannot reach him, he is at enmity with whatsoever hath being and essence and conservation from God, or is answerable and agreeable to his will; but especially with Man, because God hath past a gracious decree to save him, and put him in a fair possibility of the inheri••••nce of that heaven from whence he was thrown down. He manifests his h••••••ed to God in hating his Image, which he doth labour to deface, now blurring it with Luxury, anon with Pride, and every day bespotting it with the world, striving to destroy that new-creature which Christ hath purchast with his bloud; just as some Traitours have used to stab their Prince in his picture; or as the poor man in Quintilian, who not able to wreak his anger on the person of his rich and powerful enemy did solace himself in whipping his statue. And as the Devils Hatred to God, so his Envy to Man enrageth him. For through envy of the Devil came sin into the world. It is Ber∣nards opinion that Man was created to supply the defect of Angels in hea∣ven, and to repair that breach which their fall had made in the celestial Jeru∣salem. But most probable, nay without question it is, that the Devil with his hellish troop are therefore so fiery and hot against us, because they see and are verily perswaded, that those men whom they cannot withdraw from obedience to God, shall by the power of Christ be raised to that

height of glory from which he and his Angels were cast-down, and shall in a manner supply their place in heaven, whilst they lay bound in chains of everlasting darkness. And therefore though he gave Man a fall in Para∣dise, yet he still envieth his hope, as Timagenes was grieved when he saw Rome on fire, because he knew it would be built-up fairer than it was before it was burnt. Quoniam emulari non licet, nunc invidet, as he speaks in Plautus; Because he cannot emulate us in our rise, he envies us; and that happiness which he cannot make the object of his Hope, he makes the object of his Malice: as they who are tumbled from some high place, catch at all they meet by the way, not for help, but to pull it after them. For that is true which the Oratour hath observed, Naturali quodam deplo∣ratae mentis affectu monentibus gratissimum est commori, It is incident to men of deplored and desperate minds, if they see they must perish, to desire to fall with company. This makes the Devil so raging an enemy, and is not more his sin than his punishment: Invidiâ enim magis ac••••nditur quàm Gehennâ, saith Cyprian; For he is more tormented with this envy than with the fire of Hell. For Envy and Malice, though their eye be out∣ward, yet their sting is inward. And as it was said of Tarquine in Livy, That it was no wonder, si qualis in cives, qualis in socios, talis in ultimum in liberos esset: In seipsum postremò saeviturum, si alia desint, that that cruelty he shewed to his citizens, and to his allies and confederates, he did at last exercise upon his own children: For where matter should be wanting for his Malice to work upon, he would be cruel to himself. So though the Malice of the Devil setteth it self against God first, and then against his creature, though he wish there were no God, and would destroy Man∣kind; though his Malice walk along with him, and compass the whole earth, yet it resteth in himself, and is a great part of that torment which he endureth. St. Jude v. 6. tells us that the Angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, were reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day. Which Angels are no other than those which are afterwards called the devil and his Angels: Who, though they have a Kind of principality of power in the air, and do abide there (for so we must understand those celestial high places) yet * 1.3 notwithstanding are reserved under darkness, if we compare it with that light from which they are fallen. And although they run to and fro•• in this inferiour and sublunary world, yet they may be said to be reserved in chains, because they can never be admitted to that highest heaven from whence they were driven. St. Bernard conceives that the Devil hangs in the air, and to his grief and torture observes the Angels descending and ascending by him, and seeing what gifts descend from above from the Father of lights on ••••e children of men, and what incense smoaks upwards, what prayers every day beat at the gates of heaven, is torn and tormented with envy and malice, which make him fierce and cruel against us. For that of the Stoick is most true, Omnis ex infirmitate feritas est, All malice and cruelty, and all violent proceedings proceed from want and infirmity, from fear, or some such low passion in us. Non jam Lucifer, sed Tenebri∣fer, saith Bernard; He is not now a son of light, but of darkness. The Angels which fell not are loving, ready to minister and do many good offi∣ces to us: but he that is fallen into the lake of Brimstone goes about seeking to devour us: & quorum obtinere non potest mortes, impetit mores, saith Leo; and if he cannot kill our bodies, he makes it his study to destroy our souls. Est insita malevolentia quaedam & facultas nocendi istis malis spiritibus: Gau∣dent de malo hominum; & de fallacia nostra, si nos sefellerint, pascuntur, saith Augustine; There is a kind of inbred malevolence and activity in hurting in these evil Spirits. They rejoice when men suffer; and if they can

put a cheat upon us, they are fed as at a feast. From hence those 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, cogitations of Satan, those treble doors, those inventions and engines of his, those wiles and crafty enterprises. For ingenium de malitia sumit, saith Tertullian; his malice makes him witty and subtle. For without Malice his Subtlety were not hurtful, and without Subtlety his Malice would have no edge. For Malice is an active and consultative thing, busie and industrious to compass its end. It looketh about the object, it searcheth out means, it knows both quid faciat, and quando faciat; it know∣eth the thing to be done, and the opportunity of doing. Daily experience may teach us what mighty things it brings to pass, and how often it fru∣strates the greatest providence. A malicious enemy is the more dangerous, and makes his way with more ease, because he useth to gild it over and commend it with a shew of love, and is like fire coverd over with ashes, which is not seen till it burns us. The Devil, like Caligula in the story, could wish that all Mankind had but one neck, that he might cut it off at a blow. But being not able to destroy all at once, he steals the victory by degrees, as men covetous of other mens possessions, and not able to gain them by open violence, are fain to call their wits to coun∣sel, and forced to use tricks of legerdemain. And these qualities of the Devil, his Malice, and Envy, and Subtlety, we have plainly exprest in those names which are given him by the holy Ghost in Scripture; Where he is stiled an Adversary, alwaies resisting the will of the Lord; an Accu∣ser, leading us to those Sins which will cry aloud against us; a Serpent, because he is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, full of turnings and windings, various and manifold in his operations, and full of deceit; a Lion, because as a hungry Lion he walks up and down to find out his prey which he may devour, and roars against us, to fright us from that course of sanctity which leads unto happiness: In a word, that we may invert St. Pauls words, he is made all unto all, that he may destroy all. Nomina mille, mille nocendi artes; He hath a thousand names, and a thousand waies to hurt us: and to express these many waies, he hath his diversity of names; and all this for our sakes, that we may make due preparation against so cunning and potent an enemy; that, though he accuse us, we may stand upright; though he be an Adversary, he may not prevail; though he roar like a Lion, he may not be heard; though he flatter as the Serpent, he may not deceive. But then these are but expressions, and cannot character him out in his full horrour. Semper citra veritatem est similitudo, saith Tertullian; The image and representation alwaies comes short of the truth. The Devil may be an Adversary, but in the highest degree; an Accuser, but one who is instant and urgent and will not be answered; like a Serpent, but more crafty than the Serpent; like a Lion, but more fierce a great deal and devouring than the beast. In omnibus veritas imaginem antecedit; The Truth is alwaies before and beyond the image which shews it. All which may teach us to stand upon our guard, to look about us, as the Father speaks, mille oculis, with a thousand eyes; to be strong in the faith, that we may contemn this Adversary; to keep the innocency of the Dove; to shut-up the mouth of this Calumniator; and to have the wisdom of the Serpent, that we may be wise unto salvation, and defeat all his plots and enterprises; and to put-on that Christian fortitude and resolution which may deliver us out of the mouth of this Lion: that though he be a Serpent, he may but flatter; and though he be a Lion, he may but roar; that so at last we may triumph over this Evil, this Wicked one, this malicious Enemy, and tread him under our feet.

We shave shut up and concluded all evil in him who is the Father of E∣vil. We have considered him as an Enemy to mankind, and Why he is so.

We descend now to discover some Stratagems of his, which he useth to bring his enterprises to pass, by which he leads us through the wayes of Truth into error, and by Virtue it self to those vices which will make us like unto him. And here we have a large field to walk in: And should we follow those who have gone before us in this way we might run our selves out of breath. Gerson hath writ a Tract of purpose De diversis Diaboli Tentationibus, Of divers Tentations of the Devil, by which he instills his poyson into our hearts. Many he hath numbred-up to our hands; and he might have brought us twice as many more. We shall make choice of those which most commonly abuse us, because they are less observable. For what the Orator speaks of Tempests may be truly said of the Devils Ten∣tations; Saepe certo aliquo coeli signo; saepe ex improviso, nulla ex certâ rati∣one, obscurâ aliquâ causâ commoventur; Sometimes we have some certain in∣dications of them from certain signs in the heavens, sometimes they are raised on a sudden from some obscure and hidden cause, nor can we give any reason of them. So some tentations are gross and palpable, some more secret and invisible. But as the Magicians, when they saw the Lice, pre∣sently cryed out, This is the finger of God: so when we see the effects of * 1.4 these Tentations, that swarm of sins which they produce, we cannot be so blind as not to discover and confess that the finger, or rather the claw, of the Devil is in them. For let him put-on what shape he please, let him be∣gin how he will, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Nazianzene, he alwayes ends in evil. Two evils he strives to sow in the heart of Man, Error and Sin; and being 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Basil calls him, that great and invisible Sophister of the world, he makes use of those means to bring them in which are in their own nature preservatives against them, turneth our antidote into poyson, and our very light into darkness, and so cunningly leads us on in the way to destruction as withal to perswade us that we are making haste to meet with Truth and Happiness. Nor can we think that this proceeds meerly from the corruption of our nature or from some predo∣minant humor in us, which may sway and bow us down from the check and command of Reason. For to a reasonable man it is a kind of tentation not to believe that any should be forc't thus far from themselves, as to forget their Reason. But admiscet se malitiae Angelus, & totius erroris ar∣tifex; that evil and malitious Angel, that forger of all error, joyns and mingleth himself with our temper and inclination. Fallitur, & fallit, & depravatus errorem pravitatis infundit. His Pride deceived him, and his Malice makes him the father of lyes, and so he transforms himself into an Angel of light, to make us like unto himself, the children of darkness and error. St. Paul calls these his tentations 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Which St. Ambrose in∣terprets ASTUTIAS, deceits; Sedulius, VERSUTIAS, wiles and shiftings; Tertullian, INJECTIONES, injections, or casting of snares; and Erasmus, COGITATIONES, crafty thoughts, by which he pretends one thing, and intends another: as we commonly say of a subtile and deceitful man that he is full of thoughts, thinking to please, and thinking to hurt; and stu∣dying so to please that he may hurt. You may take St. Pauls instance, * 1.5 where the Corinthians, to uphold the severity of their Discipline, had al∣most forgot their Christianity, Charity, and Compassion; and to defend one good duty, had endangered another; and were so severe to the incestu∣ous excommunicate person that they had almost swallowed him up, the A∣postle tells them that, if they thus proceeded, Satan would gain an advan∣tage over them. For most plain it was that this was one of his devices. Ter∣tullian will tell us, Invenit quomodo nos boni sectationibus perdat; & nihil apud eum refert alios luxuriâ, alios continentiâ occidere; The Devil knows how to throw us on the ground even in our hottest pursuit of that which

is good: He destroys some with luxury and wantonness, others with con∣tinence; some with too much remissness and flackness in discipline, others with too much severity: And when we follow close and run after one vir∣tue, he so works it many times that we leave another behind us as saving and necessary as that. Thus doth he 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, come about us, hunt and search-out the occasions and opportunities to draw us to evil from goodness it self. Omnia obumbrat lenociniis; He shadows over evil with some co∣lourable good. When he sells his wares and commodities, he doth not dis∣close what vice and imperfection they have: he doth not proclaim, as there was a law in Rome, Pestilentem domum vendo, I sell an infectious house. He doth not let us know that this our Thrift is Covetousness; this our ir∣regular Zeal, Madness; this our Assurance, Presumption; but with the beauty of the one covers over the deformity of the other, and makes Thrift a provocation to covetousness; Zeal, an abettor and patron of faction; and our duty to make our election sure, a kind of motive and inducement to perswade us it is so. And this his art and method is observable both in the errors of our Understanding and in those of our Will, both in our Doctrine and Conversation. And first, what monstrous errors have been embraced in the Christian Church? what ground have they got? how many ages have they passed as current coin, which, if you look nearer upon them, have no other image nor superscription but his who is the Father of lyes? who is well skill'd veritatem veritate concutere, to shake and abolish one truth with another. I will not urge the proposing doubtful things as certain, and building up those opinions for articles of Faith which have no basis or foun∣dation in Scripture. I will not speak of adding to the rule either by way of gloss or supply. I will not complain with the Father, Latè quaeruntur incarta, latius disputantur obscura, that those things which are uncertain are with great curiosity searcht into, and those which are dark and obscure, for any light we have past finding out, are the subject of every discourse, and have set mens pens and tongues a working: Although even this Curiosi∣ty is from the Evil one, which is alwayes as far from Knowledge as it is ea∣ger to enquire, and seeks for that which cannot be sound, and so passeth by those certa in paucis, as Tertullian saith, that which lyes naked and open in our way; seeks for many things, and so neglects those few which are ne∣cessary. For the Devil in this is like the Lapwing, which flutters and is most busie and hovers over that place which is most remote from its nest. He cryes, Here is Christ, and, there is Christ; Here the truth is to be found, and, There it is to be found, where no sign of footstep, not the least shadow of it appears. I will not mention these. That which hath made Error a God, to reign and rule amongst men, by the Devils chymistry hath been attracted and wrought out of the Truth it self. That worship is due unto God is not only a fundamental truth in Divinity, but a principle in Nature: and here it should rest. But by the policie of Satan it hath been drawn to his Saints, to Pictures, to Statues, to the Cross of Christ, nay, to the very Representa∣tion of it: And men have learnt sub nomine religionis famulari errori, as the Fathers in the third Councel of Toledo speak of the people of Spain, to submit and wait upon Error under the habit of Religion and the name of Catholick and Orthodox. Again, if we look into the world, we shall find that nothing deceives men more, nothing doth more mischief amongst men then the thought that those things must needs please God which we do with a good mind, and with an ardent affection and zeal and love to Religion. This guilds over Murder and Covertousness and Idolatry and Sedition, and all those evils which rent and wound the Church of Christ, and many times pull Common-wealths in pieces. Murder hath no voice, Covetousness is no sin, Faction is zeal for the Lord of Hosts. If we can comfort our selues that

we mean well, and have set up the glory of God in our phansie only as a mark, and when we cast an eye upon that, with Jehu we drive on furiously. We steal an ox to make a sacrifice; we grind the face of the poor, that we may afterwards build an Hospital; and are very wicked all the dayes of our life, that we may leave some sign of our good meaning when we are dead. And this is but a sophisme, a cheat put upon us by the Deceiver. For though an evil intention will make an action evil, yet a good one will not make an evil action good.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

Bonum ex causâ integra. There must be a concurrence of all requisites to render an action or a person good, but the absence of any one serveth to denominate them evil. A bad action then and a good intention cannot well be joyned together. And as ill will the Profession of Christ and a profane life; the Christian and the Knave, sort together; the one commanding as a Law and prohibition against the other, and the Christian being as a judge to condemn the Knave: And yet the Devils art it is to make them friends, and bring them together. Though we do those things which strike at the very life and soul of Christianity, yet we perswade our selves we are good Chri∣stians. Though we thirst after bloud, and suck-in the world; though we cheat our neighbour as cunningly as the Devil doth us; though we breath nothing but revenge, and speak nothing but swords; though we know no language but that of the Horsleach, Give, Give; though, as Tertullian spake of the heathen Gods, there be many honester men in hell than our selves; yet we are Saints, and we alone. We have made Grace, not the helper, but the abolisher of Nature, and placed it not above Reason, but against it; we are so full of Grace that we have lost our Honesty; our tongues are set on fire by hell; and yet Anathema to that Angel who shall speak against us. And this is our composition and medley; as if you should bind a Sermon and a Play-book together.

There is another fallacie of Satan yet, fallacia Divisionis, by which we divide and separate those things which should be joyned together, as Faith and Good works, Hearing and Doing, Knowledge and Practice. And these two, though they seem to stand at distance, and be opposite one to the other, yet they alwayes meet. For he that is ready to joyn those things which he should separate and keep asunder, will be as active to separate those things which God hath put together. We are hearers of the word, but hearers only; the only, that makes a division. We have faith, that we have, by which we are able to remove mountains, even all our sins, out of our way: but where is that Meekness, that Humility, that Piety, which should demonstrate our Faith, and conclude that we are Christians? Certainty of salvation we all challenge, but we give little diligence to make our election sure. Faith may seem to be as easie a duty as Hearing, which begets it; and to apply the me∣rits of our Saviour and the promises of the Gospel, as easie as a Thought, the work of the brain and phansie: for who may not conceive and say to him∣self that Christ is his God and his Lord? Even this is one of Satans tentati∣ons, to bring in the Application of Christs merits before Repentance from dead works. By this craft and subtilty it is that we thus hover aloft on the wing of contemplation, that we so lose our selves in one duty that we do not appear in the other, not descend to work-out our salvation, and busie our selves in those actions upon the performance of which the Promises will apply themselves, and Christ present himself unto us in his full beauty, that we may taste how gracious he is, and with comfort feel him to be our Lord and our God. And therefore, to resolve this fallacy, we must be solicitous

to preserve these duties in integrita••e totâ & solida, solid and entire. For he that hath one without the other hath in effect neither. Valde singula virtus destituitur, si non una alii virtus virtuti suffragetur; Every virtue is naked and desolate, if it have not the company and aid of all. What is my Hear∣ing, if I be dead to Good works? What is my Faith, if Malice make me worse then an Infidel? What is my Assurance, if Unrepentance cancel it? Therefore those things which God hath joyned together, let no man put asunder.

I will but mention one Stratagem more, and so conclude. It is the Devils policy, when he cannot throw us into Hell at once, to bring us on by de∣grees, and by lesser sins to make way and passage for those of the great∣est magnitude. This is a fallacy, saith Aristotle in his Politicks, to think that, if the particulars be small, the sum will be so: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Great is not small, because it consists of many littles. The Philosopher tells us, Small expenses, if frequent, overthrow a family. And Demosthenes, in his fourth Philippick, saith that that neglect which endan∣gers a Common-wealth is not seen in particular actions and miscarriages, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the conclusion and event at last. Qui legem in minimis con∣temserit, quomodo in magnis tenebit? He that contemns the Law in matters of less, how will he observe it in matters of greater moment and difficulty? He that cannot check a thought, how will he bridle his tongue? He that will transgress for a morsel of bread, what a villain would he be to purchase a Lordship? It will be good wisdom therefore, as we behold the finger of God and his Omnipotency not only in the heavens, the Sun and the Moon and the Stars, but in the lesser creatures, in the Emmet, and in the Plants of the earth, so also to discover the Devils craft and policy not only in Mur∣der and Adultery, and the like, but in an idle Word and a wandring Thought; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to punish the very beginnings of Sin, and to be afraid of the cloud when it is no bigger than a mans hand. These are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the Devils machinations, his treble false doors, by which he may slip-out and return again unseen. These are devises by which that great Ar∣chitect of fraud and deceit doth ensnare our souls and lead us captive un∣der Sin. These we have made choice of and cull'd out of his quiver, not but that he hath many more darts, but because these are they which he casts every day against the professors of Christianity, and which in these later times have wounded thousands of souls to death. And if we can take the whole armor of God, and be strong against these, we need not fear his other artillery. If these snares hold us not, it will be easie to keep our feet out of the rest.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Job 2. 7.
• * 1.2

  Ephes. 6. 12.
• * 1.3

  Ephes. 6.
• * 1.4

  Exod. 8. 19.
• * 1.5

  2 Cor. 2.