A discourse of the government of the thoughts by George Tullie ...

SECT. 5.

WE proceed now to another more terrible sort of Thoughts, wherewith the Minds of Men are many times unhappily infested. For it is not unusual, for some tempers especially, to be assaulted with abundance of odd, extravagant, and horrid Thoughts breaking in upon them, in spite

of all Guard and Opposition. Thus you shall have some, those parti∣cularly of musing heads and me∣lancholly Dispositions, press'd upon now and then with Atheistical and Blasphemous C••gitations, tempted either, with David, to deny God, from a consideration of the unequal Dispensation of his Providence in the World, or some other such illo∣gical Topick; or else, through the pressure of their Afflictions, or the like, to think hardly of him, to de∣ny him in his Attributes, to charge him foolishly, and to curse him and die. Others you shall have pos∣sess'd with dismal 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of th••••r having sinned the ••in again•••• the holy Ghost, of their being Repro∣bates, cast off of God, without the verge of his Mercy, and seal'd up for destruction. Others, Lastly, there are hurried on in their minds to the commission of some great and crying Sins, even against the bent of their own Propensions; and that, sometimes as far as self Murder it self, &c.

NOW these Thoughts being all of 'em a kin, and of the self same Family, I shall not go about to treat of them severally and apart, but together and in the following Method.

I. I shall endeavour to shew that there is some difficulty in stateing their proper Rise and O∣rigine. But that,

II. 'TIS of great use to know it, and therefore

III. IN order thereunto, I shall assign some Marks and Cha∣racteristies, whereby it may be known when they are of their Fa∣ther the Devil.

IV. I shall shew, that howso∣ever troublesom and afflicting they are, they do not affect nor endan∣ger our main State.

V. and Lastly, I shall endeavour to prescribe the regulation of them.

I. IT must be owned there is some difficulty in the enqui∣ry into the rise and origine of these horrid Thoughts, and 'tis hard to know many times whether they are the genuine Issue of our own corrupt Nature, or spurious Brats falsly father'd on us by the De∣vil. For he can inject as much and more than our Corruptions can suggest, and yet possihly, on the other hand, they are able of themselves, to carry us on to those excesses that look diabolical, and when they joyn hand in hand, 'tis hard to know whether of the two first made the Motions or proves the abler Solicitor of their common cause of Sin: Out of the Heart, says our Saviour, proceed evil Thoughts, Murders, Adulteries, &c. there they are conceived, who∣soever begets them. And St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, re∣solves some of those black Crimes, for which he brands the heathen World, into the Lusts of their own Hearts, and yet at the same time

〈…〉〈…〉 to understand, that the P••ince of the power of the Air wrought in all such Children of Diso∣bedience And indeed as the Do∣ctrine of divine and humane Con∣currence in the progress of true Pi∣ety is very plain, and legible, in the Scriptures, so as that we are said, for instance, to be washed and sanctified by the Spirit of God, and yet are required to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit: So are the same sins in different places charged upon the Devil, and our own Hearts too. As, David's numbring the people is ascribed to Satan, and yet the King takes it to himself: Just as it is said of Ananias lying to the holy Ghost, that Satan put him on it, and yet that he conceived it in his Heart.

NOW tho it be somwhat diffi∣cult, as we have seen, to know the true Parent of these hideous Thoughts we speak of. yet,

II. IT is of no small use and concernment to meet with some satisfaction in the Matter; for the sad Experience, I believe, of many, especially hypocondraick Persons, tells us, (the darkness of whose humor is best fitted to receive such black Impressions,) how apt the grand Enemy of our peace is to throw these fiery Darts into our Hearts, and then to accuse us of their burning within us, to com∣mit a rape upon our Spirits and then lay the Child at our Doors, whereby he many times creates such infinite Disquiet of Thought, Horror of Conscience, and Asto∣nishment of all the Powers and Faculties of tendor Minds, that they are apt to look upon them∣selves as rejected of God, deliver'd up to Satan, and in such a despe∣rate and forlorn Condition, that the violent hand perhaps is some∣times thought of to put a Period to the comfortless and wretched Life; and therefore, I say, it may be of excellent Use, on this Argu∣ment,

for the Support and Encou∣ragement of these unhappy Persons, to point out such criterious and characteristies, whereby the buffe∣tings of Satan, as we render it, may be in some measure distinguish∣ed from the genuine productions of our own Minds, and those gene¦rally assign'd by Divines are such as follow.

I. THEY are the Devil's Thoughts, not ours, when the mat∣ter of them surpasses the suggesti∣ons of our natural Corruption: for Nature her self, unless turn'd per∣fectly Diabolical, shrinks, and gives back at those outragiously wick∣ed Motions, that pass now and then in some Men's Minds, and there to be sure they are the as∣saults of the Devil upon them, to Vex, Disquiet, and Confuse their Spirits, tho he chance to prove unable to prevail with them. An evil Heart, 'tis true, may through its own inherent Wickedness, con∣jure up those frightful Spectres of

Thoughts, that would scare and a∣maze other Persons, but that it should be able, of it self, to terri∣fie it self, to fill the mind with Horror, to startle its own Corrup∣tions, and go directly contrary to its own Affections, Inclinations, and Reluctancies, borders too much upon a contradiction to be admit∣ted. No Man, for instance, of himself, can be studious of Life, and yet at the same time enter∣tain Thoughts of turning felo de se. The Suggestions of this kind that derive purely from our own Hearts, are always more or less agreeable to Nature, pleasing to our Affecti∣ons, and fall in with our own In∣clinations.

II. THE injections of the Devil are discernable from the producti∣ons of our own Hearts, by the Manner of their assailing us. Cor∣rupt Nature proceeds orderly and deliberately with us, tampers and argues with our Thoughts, and through the deceitfulness of Sin,

gradually gets ground upon us, till by steps and successive ad∣vances it compleats its intended Victory: For our own Lusts do not force, but draw us away, whee∣dle us on, and entice us. But 'tis otherwise with Satanical Injections of this horrid Kind, they are a sort of motus in instanti, dart and break in upon our Thoughts, how∣soever otherwise imployed and ta∣ken up, without any previous in∣timation of their approaches, the Devil in these cases sends no har∣bingers before him to prepare his way, but forces his passage on a suddain, shoots like that Light∣ning, to which our Saviour com∣pares his Fall, into our Minds, and Hell takes our Heaven by Vio∣lence.

AND as Thoughrs of this kind are thus suddain in their first at∣tacques upon us, so are they obser∣ved generally to be very pertina∣cious and obstinate in the continu∣ance of them, which is a

III. INDICATION that they proceed from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 for tis highly agreeable to the innate ma∣lice of his temper, incessantly to alarm the Fort of our Souls with perplexities and anxieties of mind about his injections, even then when he sees he is unable to car∣ry it. The

IV. AND last sign of his be∣ing the Author of these Thoughts within us, is from the effects that generally attend them. Our own Thoughts being the natural issue of our own hearts do not scare nor affright us, nor are follow'd with any extraordinary perturbation of Mind and Spirit, and therefore when Men meet with such Thoughts, as are accompanied with an horror and dread upon their Spirits, with confusion of mind, astonishment of its powers, and per∣haps with equal agonies and con∣vulsions of Body, there to be sure the Devil is the sole operator. A∣greeable whereunto is that obser∣vation

of antiquity, that they were false Prophets, and of Diabolical inspiration, who were acted in a confused, perplexed, and distracted manner; the principal Test this whereby the Catholick Christians were wont to distinguish an Enthu∣siastic Montanist from a Divinely inspired Prophet, as may be seen in Eusebius, where we find Miltiades, an Ecclesiastic Author writing a whole tract upon this subject, and Asterius Ʋrbanus challenging them all to produce him one single in∣stance of a Prophet, under either Old or New Testament, acted af∣ter their dark and impetuous man∣ner. For the Devil dealt violently with his Enthusiasts, confused and oppress'd their understandings, di∣storted and convuls'd their bodily Organs, and in short, put them, like the unhappy Persons we at present speak of, into most terrible agonies of Soul and Body. Pythia her self never mounted the Tripos but with horror, where she fomed, raved, and tore her hair, like a

drunken or a frantic person, whilst the Prophetick fit lasted on her: and this I was the more willing, by the by, to take notice of, because the darkness of Mind, and violent agitations of Body, observable a∣mong'st a company of poor besotted, if not sometimes possessed Sectaries amongst our selves, agree so exact∣ly with the descriptions antiquity has left us of those Children of dis∣obedience the Devil wrought in then, that one may very well be tempted to conclude he repeats the experiment now and then upon these Men too.

COME we now in the Fourth place to consider how far these hor∣rid and amazing Thoughts affect our main state, and touch our Salva∣tion; an argument so much the more necessary by how much 'tis an undoubted stratagem of the Devil to urge the incursion of such Thoughts upon these unhappy Per∣son, as cause of despair and evi∣dent argument of their reproba∣tion;

and here is to be observed.

1. THAT it is not altogether in our power to govern our Thoughts, they are not absolutely subject to our dominion, for the Heart of Man is as it were an high Road, through which Passengers both good and bad will take their way without asking leave of us; or, if you will take it under the notion of a publick House, which is open to all Comers, not only to the sober, but to lewd and de∣bauch'd company, whose wild roar∣ings, curses, and huzzas will strike our Ears and we cannot help it. For we can no more prevent our simple apprehensions of things, than a sound and open eye can prevent its seeing, and the one is no more polluted by a viti∣ous object than the other, and therefore to be sure God will never condemn us for what we cannot help nor hinder, For

2. IT can never be Sin to us,

because unavoidable to be subject to the inroads of these black blas∣phemous Thoughts upon our minds, no more than 'tis sin in us to be li∣able to the assaults of any other Temptation. What worse is a sober Person for being tempted onely to excess of drinking, or a chast Vir∣gin to incontinence? Our Lord himself was tempted to commit the most gross and abominable Idola∣try, and yet notwithstanding that, was as free from sin in his Thoughts, as from guile in his Mouth, because he resisted the Temptation, and baffled the Tempter: We sin on∣ly then when we basely give way and comply with him. The Law of Moses excused a Virgin that was forced in the Field (far from hear∣ing) for as when a Man riseth against his Neighbour and slayeth him, even so is this Matter. So when the Devil commits a Rape upon our Souls by Atheistical, Blasphemous, or any other Horrid Injections, if we cry out for help, abhor the base Suggestions in our

Judgment, our Will, and Affecti∣ons, great is our Victory, and great∣er shall be our Crown and Glory; guilt is our Portion only then when we embrace the bold Ravisher of our Hearts, and kiss and hug the pro∣duction of so monstrous a Coaction. He were highly criminal who in a besieg'd Town should willfully set his own house on fire, but a Man certainly is not responsible for the fire balls and bombs that are thrown in by the Enemy, all he can and consequently, is bound to do, is to use his best Diligence to extin∣guish the fire enkindled by them; and thus it is with these Thoughts we speak of, if we make them out of the amunition of our own hearts we are accountable for them; but if the Devil, who lays siege to us, throw them in, we are no farther con∣cern'd, then to take the best care we can to put them out, to suppress and hinder their spreading: For, that which is from within only defiles a Man, not that which is thrown in from without; if we are purely passive

in the matter and joyn not with the Devil's Suggestions, so long they are his Thoughts, let him look to them, they are none of ours, we have nothing to do with them.

III. IT would be considered that these frightful Thoughts de∣rive many times more from an ill habit of Body than of Mind, more from poor Blood and a bad Spleen than from indisposition of Soul and falsness of Heart. Me∣lancholly, whether Natural, or ac∣quired by Sickness, Losses, Afflicti∣ons, &c. (and such Persons are most infested with these horrid Thoughts) is of it self apt to fill Mens heads with infinite Crotch∣ets, the blackest Conceits, and sad∣dest Surmises, it creates the Ima∣ges of Apparitions, Mormoes, and Spectres, and then inclines the poor deluded Man to take them for Realities. Whilst; alas! his malady is generally better cured by good Air, wholsom Diet, and

Chalybeats, then by all the reci∣pes of Divinity: And then what reason has a Man to be troubled in Mind, or dejected in Spirit, more for this than any other Distemper, why is poor Blood and a melancholy Disposition a surer mark of the divine Displeasure, than the burnings of a Feaver, or the shiverings of an Ague?

IV. IT may be added for the support and encouragement of these dejected Spirits, that their malady is rarely incident, but to religious Dispositions, and pious Minds, that live under tender Sense of their Duty, and an awful dread of the divine Displeasure. Were they in those bonds of Iniquity, and that state of Reprobation they fi∣gure to themselves they would never be so happy as to experiment any of these spiritual conflicts in their bosoms. Non timeo hos pingues, said Caesar of Dolobella, and his roar∣ing Crew, but sober Brutus and Cassius stuck in his Stomach; the Devil

like him, never troubles his head with your supine unwary Sinners, who are amusing their heads with a thousand wicked projects that ad∣vance the interests of his Kingdom, for he might chance to jog them out of their sleep of sin, and awaken them to repentance, and so out-wit himself, should he fright them by these terrible injections: and there∣fore if Ephraim is joyned to Idols, if Men are deeply ingaged in notori∣ous sins, he too says, like God, let him alone. For why should the Prince of darkness be thought so weak a States-man as to make war upon those who have already sub∣mitted to his government, and sworn homage to him? But then he uses all the black art of his infer∣nal Suggestions to stop, and vex, or disquiet the Religious Man in his holy course. 'Twas righteous Job that he would fain have prevail'd with to curse God to his face; and 'twas the Holy Jesus that was tempted by him to that horrid blasphemy of renouncing the wor∣ship

of the great God, and substi∣tuting him in his stead. So that, upon the whole, Temptations of this nature being rather an argument of a pious than irreligious temper, ought, in just construction to be so far from Ministring sorrow, that they may afford even matter of comfort and rejoycing to those that are exercised therein.

V. AND Lastly, Tho it must be confest that these black injecti∣ons, may be sometimes, like other judgments, the Chastisement of our sins, as of our carnal security for instance, of neglect of our Thoughts, grieving the holy Spirit, &c. yet they are even then only the evil of punishment, as any other infliction may be, not of sin to us, unless we like, comply with, and approve them; and when they have once gained the design, for which our heavenly Father sent them on his Children, as suppose the awaken∣ing them to a more through Re∣pentance than they have yet arriv'd

at, taking off their inclinations to the enjoyments of this present Life, teaching them a more perfect Recumbency upon God, abating their Pride, least they should be, with St. Paul, above measure exal∣ted, &c. then he takes off his af∣flicting hand, restrains the Tem∣pter, quiets the mind, and speaks Peace to his People.

Notes

• Ps. 73. 2.
• Rom. 1. 24.
• Eph. 2. 2.
• 1 Cor. 6. 11.
• 2 Cor. 7. 1.
• 1 Chron. 21. 1. v. 8.
• Acts. 5. 3, 4.
• 2 Cor. 12 7.
• Jam. 14.
• Luk. 10. 18.
• Euseb. lib. 5 ch. 16. 17.
• Deut. 22. 26.
• Hos. 4. 17.
• Job. 1. 11. & 2. 5.
• 2 Cor. 12. 7.