keeps the Slaves, that are under his more sensible Vassalage, do suggest
unto us, how _woful_ the Devil would render all our Lives. We that live
in a Province, which affords unto us all that may be necessary or
comfortable for us, found the Province fill'd with vast Herds of
Salvages, that never saw so much as a _Knife_, or a _Nail_, or a
_Board_, or a Grain of _Salt_, in all their Days. No better would the
Devil have the World provided for. Nor should we, or any else, have one
convenient thing about us, but be as indigent as _usually_ our most
_Ragged Witches_ are; if _the Devil's Malice_ were not over-ruled by a
_compassionate God_, who _preserves Man and Beast_. Hence 'tis, that
_the Devil_, even like a _Dragon_, keeping a Guard upon such _Fruits_ as
would _refresh_ a languishing World, has hindred Mankind for many Ages,
from hitting those _useful Inventions_, which yet _were so obvious_ and
_facil_, that it is every bodies wonder, they were no sooner hit upon.
The _bemisted World_, must jog on for thousands of Years, without the
knowledg of _the Loadstone_, till a _Neapolitan_ stumbled upon it, about
_three hundred years_ ago. Nor must the World be _blest_ with such a
_matchless Engine_ of _Learning_ and _Vertue_, as that of _Printing_,
till about _the middle of the Fifteenth Century_. Nor could _One Old
Man, all over the Face of the whole Earth_, have the _benefit_ of such a
_Little_, tho most _needful_ thing, as a pair of _Spectacles_, till a
_Dutch-Man_, a _little while_ ago accommodated us.
Indeed, as the Devil does begrutch us all manner of _Good_, so he does
annoy us with all manner of _Wo_, as often as he finds himself capable
of doing it. But shall we mention some of the _special woes_ with which
the Devil does usually infest the World! Briefly then; _Plagues_ are
some of those _woes_ with which the Devil troubles us. It is said of the
_Israelites_, in _1 Cor. 10.10._ _They were destroyed of the destroyer._
That is, they had the _Plague_ among them. 'Tis the _Destroyer_, or _the
Devil_, that scatters _Plagues_ about the World. Pestilential and
Contagious Diseases, 'tis the Devil who does oftentimes invade us with
them. 'Tis no uneasy thing for the Devil to impregnate the Air about us,
with such Malignant _Salts_, as meeting with _the Salt_ of our
_Microcosm_, shall immediately cast us into that Fermentation and
Putrefaction, which will utterly dissolve all the Vital Tyes within us;
Ev'n as an _Aqua-Fortis_, made with a conjunction of _Nitre_ and
_Vitriol_, Corrodes what it Seizes upon. And when the Devil has raised
those _Arsenical Fumes_, which become _Venemous Quivers_ full of
_Terrible Arrows_, how easily can he shoot the deleterious _Miasms_ into
those Juices or Bowels of Mens Bodies, which will soon Enflame them with
a Mortal Fire! Hence come such _Plagues_, as that _Beesom of
Destruction_, which within our memory swept away such a Throng of People
from one _English_ City in one Visitation; And hence those Infectious
Fevers, which are but so many _Disguised Plagues_ among us, causing
Epidemical Desolations. Again, _Wars_ are also some of those _Woes_,
with which the Devil causes our Trouble. It is said in _Rev. 12.17._
_The Dragon was Wrath, and he went to make War;_ and there is in truth
scarce any _War_, but what is of the _Dragon's_ kindling. The Devil is
that _Vulcan_, out of whose Forge come the instruments of our _Wars_,
and it is he that finds us Employments for those Instruments. We read
concerning _Daemoniacks_, or People in whom the Devil was, that they
would cut and wound themselves; and so, when the Devil is in Men, he
puts 'em upon dealing in that barbarous fashion with one another. _Wars_
do often furnish him with some Thousands of Souls in one Morning from
one Acre of Ground; and for the sake of such _Thyestaean_ Banquets, he
will push us upon as many _Wars_ as he can.
Once more, why may not _Storms_ be reckoned among those _Woes_, with
which the Devil does disturb us? It is not improbable that _Natural
Storms_ on the World are often of the Devils raising. We are told in
_Job 1.11, 12, 19._ that the Devil made a _Storm_, which hurricano'd the
House of _Job_, upon the Heads of them that were Feasting in it.
_Paracelsus_ could have informed the Devil, if he had not been informed,
as besure he was before, That if much _Aluminious_ matter, with _Salt
Petre_ not throughly prepared, be mixed, they will send up a cloud of
Smoke, which _will_ come down in Rain. But undoubtedly the _Devil_
understands as _well_ the way to make a _Tempest_ as to turn the _Winds_
at the _Solicitation_ of a _Laplander_; whence perhaps it is, that
Thunders are observed oftner to break upon _Churches_ than upon any
other _Buildings_; and besides many a Man, yea many a Ship, yea, many a
Town has miscarried, when the Devil has been permitted from above to
make an horrible Tempest. However that the Devil has raised many
_Metaphorical Storms_ upon the Church, is a thing, than which there is
nothing more notorious. It was said unto Believers in _Rev. 2.10._ _The
Devil shall cast some of you into Prison._ The Devil was he that at
first set _Cain upon Abel_ to butcher him, as the Apostle seems to
suggest, for his Faith in God, as a _Rewarder_. And in how many
_Persecutions_, as well as _Heresies_ has the Devil been ever since
Engaging all the Children of _Cain_! That Serpent the Devil has acted
his cursed Seed in unwearied endeavours to have them, _Of whom the World
is not worthy_, treated as those who are _not worthy to live in the
World_. By the impulse of the Devil, 'tis that first the old _Heathens_,
and then the mad _Arians_ were _pricking Briars_ to the true Servants of
God; and that the _Papists_ that came after them, have out done them all
for Slaughters, upon those that have been _accounted as the Sheep for
the Slaughters_. The late _French_ Persecution is perhaps the horriblest
that ever was in the World: And as the Devil of _Mascon_ seems before to
have meant it in his out-cries upon _the Miseries preparing for the poor
Hugonots_! Thus it has been all acted by a singular Fury of the old
Dragon inspiring of his Emissaries.
But in reality, _Spiritual Woes_ are the _principal Woes_ among all
those that the Devil would have us undone withal. _Sins_ are the worst
of _Woes_, and the Devil seeks nothing so much as to plunge us into
Sins. When men do commit a Crime for which they are to be Indicted, they
are usually _mov'd by the Instigation of the Devil_. The Devil will put
_ill men upon being worse_. Was it not he that said in _1 King. 22.22._
_I will go forth, and be a lying Spirit in the Mouth of all the
Prophets?_ Even so the Devil becomes an _Unclean Spirit_, _a Drinking
Spirit_, _a Swearing Spirit_, _a Worldly Spirit_, _a Passionate Spirit_,
_a Revengeful Spirit_, and the like in the Hearts of those that are
already too much of such a Spirit; and thus they become improv'd in
Sinfulness. Yea, the Devil will put _good men upon doing ill_. Thus we
read in _1 Chron. 21.1._ _Satan provoked David to number Israel._ And so
the _Devil provokes_ men that are Eminent in Holiness unto such things
as may become eminently Pernicious; he _provokes_ them especially unto
_Pride_, and unto many unsuitable Emulations. There are likewise most
lamentable Impressions which the _Devil_ makes upon the _Souls of Men_
by way of punishment upon them for their _Sins_. 'Tis thus when an
Offended God puts the Souls of Men over into the Hands of that Officer
_who has the power of Death, that is, the Devil_. It is the woful Misery
of Unbelievers in _2 Cor. 4.4._ _The god of this World has blinded their
minds._ And thus it may be said of those woful Wretches whom the _Devil_
is a God unto, _the Devil so muffles them that they cannot see the
things of their peace._ And _the Devil so hardens them, that nothing
will awaken their cares about their Souls:_ How come so many to be
_Seared_ in their Sins? 'Tis the Devil that with a red hot Iron fetcht
from his Hell does _cauterise_ them. Thus 'tis, till perhaps at last
they come to have a _Wounded Conscience_ in them, and the Devil has
often a share in their Torturing and confounding Anguishes. The _Devil_
who Terrified _Cain_, and _Saul_, and _Judas_ into Desperation, still
becomes a _King of Terrors_ to many Sinners, and frights them from
laying hold on the Mercy of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. In these
regards, _Wo to us, when the Devil comes down upon us._
_Proposition V._ Toward the _End_ of his _Time_ the _Descent_ of the
Devil in _Wrath_ upon the World will produce more _woful Effects_, than
what have been _in former Ages_. The dying Dragon, will bite more
cruelly and sting more bloodily than ever he did before: The Death-pangs
of the Devil will make him to be more of a _Devil_ than ever he was; and
the Furnace of this _Nebuchadnezzar_ will be heated _seven times_
hotter, just before its putting out.
We are in the first place to apprehend that there is a time fixed and
stated by God for the Devil to enjoy a dominion over our sinful and
therefore woful World. The _Devil_ once exclaimed in _Mat. 8.29._
_Jesus, thou Son of God, art thou come hither to Torment us before our
Time?_ It is plain, that until the second coming of our Lord the _Devil_
must have a time of plagueing the World, which he was afraid would have
Expired at his first. The _Devil_ is _by the wrath of God the Prince of
this World_; and the time of his Reign is to continue until the time
when our Lord himself shall _take to himself his great Power and Reign_.
Then 'tis that the _Devil_ shall hear the Son of God swearing with loud
Thunders against him, _Thy time shall now be no more!_ Then shall the
_Devil_ with his Angels receive their doom, which will be, _depart into
the everlasting Fire prepared for you._
We are also to apprehend, that in the _mean time_, the Devil can give a
shrewd guess, when he draws near to the _End of his Time_. When he saw
Christianity enthron'd among the _Romans_, it is here said, in our _Rev.
12.12._ _He knows he hath but a short time._ And how does he _know_ it?
Why _Reason_ will make the Devil to _know_ that God won't suffer him to
have _the Everlasting Dominion_; and that when God has once begun to
rescue the World out of his hands, he'll go through with it, until _the
Captives of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible
shall be delivered._ But the Devil will have _Scripture_ also, to make
him _know_, that when his Antichristian _Vicar_, the _seven-headed
Beast_ on the _seven-hilled_ City, shall have spent his determined
years, he with his _Vicar_ must unavoidably go down into the _bottomless
Pit_. It is not improbable, that the Devil often hears the _Scripture_
expounded in our Congregations; yea that we never assemble without a
_Satan_ among us. As there are some Divines, who do with more
uncertainty conjecture, from a certain place in the Epistle to the
_Ephesians_, That the Angels do sometimes come into our Churches, to
gain some advantage from our Ministry. But be sure our _Demonstrable
Interpretations_ may give Repeated Notices to the Devil, _That his time
is almost out;_ and what the Preacher says unto the _Young Man_, _Know
thou, that God will bring thee into Judgment!_ THAT may our Sermons tell
unto the _Old Wretch_, _Know thou, that thy Judgment is at hand._
But we must now, likewise, apprehend, that in _such a time_, the _woes_
of the World will be heightened, beyond what they were at _any time_ yet
from the foundation of the World. Hence 'tis, that the Apostle has
forewarned us, in _2 Tim. 3.1._ _this know, that in the last days,
perillous times shall come._ Truly, when the Devil _knows_, that he is
got into his _Last days_, he will make _perillous times_ for us; the
times will grow more full of _Devils_, and therefore more full of
_Perils_, than ever they were before. Of this, if we would _know_, what
cause is to be assigned; It is not only, because the Devil grows more
_able_, and more _eager_ to vex the World; but also, and chiefly,
because the World is more _worthy_ to be vexed by the Devil, than ever
heretofore. The _Sins_ of men in this Generation, will be more _mighty
Sins_, than those of the former Ages; men will be more Accurate and
Exquisite and Refined in the arts of _Sinning_, than they use to be. And
besides, their own sins, the sins of all the former Ages will also lie
upon the sinners of this generation. Do we ask why the _mischievous
powers of darkness_ are to prevail more in our days, than they did in
those that are past and gone! 'Tis because that men by sinning over
again the sins of the former days, have a _Fellowship with all those
unfruitful works of darkness_. As 'twas said in _Matth. 23.36._ _All
these things shall come upon this generation;_ so, the men of the last
Generation, will find themselves involved in the gulf of all that went
before them. Of Sinners 'tis said, _They heap up wrath;_ and the sinners
of the Last Generations do not only add unto the _heap_ of sin that has
been pileing up ever since the Fall of man, but they Interest themselves
in every sin of that enormous heap. There has been a _Cry_ of all former
ages going up to God, _That the Devil may come down!_ and the sinners of
the Last Generations, do sharpen and louden that _cry_, till the thing
do come to pass, as Destructively as Irremediably. From whence it
follows, that the Thrice Holy God, with his Holy Angels, will now after
a sort more _abandon_ the World, than in the former ages. The roaring
Impieties of _the old World_, at last gave mankind such a distast in the
Heart of the Just God, that he came to say, _It Repents me that I have
made such a Creature!_ And however, it may be but a witty Fancy, in a
late Learned Writer, that the _Earth_ before the Flood was nearer to the
Sun, than it is at this Day; and that Gods Hurling down the _Earth_ to a
further distance from the _Sun_, were the cause of that Flood; yet we
may fitly enough say, that men perished by a _Rejection_ from the God of
Heaven. Thus the enhanc'd Impieties of this _our World_, will Exasperate
the Displeasure of God, at such a rate, as that he will more _cast us
off_, than heretofore; until at last, he do with a more than ordinary
Indignation say, _Go Devils; do you take them, and make them beyond all
former measures miserable!_
If Lastly, We are inquisitive after Instances of those aggravated
_woes_, with which the Devil will towards the _End_ of his _Time_
assault us; let it be remembred, That all the Extremities which were
foretold by the _Trumpets_ and _Vials_ in the Apocalyptick Schemes of
these things, to come upon the World, were the _woes_ to come from the
_wrath_ of the Devil, upon the _shortning_ of his _Time_. The horrendous
desolations that have come upon mankind, by the Irruptions of the old
_Barbarians_ upon the _Roman_ World, and then of the _Saracens_, and
since, of the _Turks_, were such _woes_ as men had never seen before.
The Infandous _Blindness_ and _Vileness_ which then came upon mankind,
and the Monstrous _Croisadoes_ which thereupon carried the _Roman_ World
by Millions together unto the Shambles; were also such _woes_ as had
never yet had a Parallel. And yet these were some of the things here
intended, when it was said, _Wo! For the Devil is come down in great
Wrath, having but a short time._
But besides all these things, and besides the increase of _Plagues_ and
_Wars_, and _Storms_, and _Internal Maladies_ now in our days, there are
especially two most extraordinary _Woes_, one would fear, will in these
days become very ordinary. One _Woe_ that may be look'd for is, A
frequent Repetition of _Earthquakes_, and this perhaps by the energy of
the Devil in the _Earth_. The Devil will be clap't up, as a Prisoner in
or near the Bowels of the earth, when once that _Conflagration_ shall be
dispatched, which will make, _The New Earth wherein shall dwell
Righteousness;_ and that _Conflagration_ will doubtless be much
promoted, by the Subterraneous _Fires_, which are a cause of the
_Earthquakes_ in our Dayes. Accordingly, we read, _Great Earthquakes in
divers places_, enumerated among the Tokens of the _Time_ approaching,
when the Devil shall have no longer _Time_. I suspect, That we shall now
be visited with more Usual and yet more Fatal _Earthquakes_, than were
our Ancestors; in asmuch as the _Fires_ that are shortly to _Burn unto
the Lowest Hell, and set on Fire the Foundations of the Mountains_, will
now get more Head than they use to do; and it is not impossible, that
the Devil, who is ere long to be punished in those _Fires_, may
aforehand augment his Desert of it, by having an hand in using some of
those _Fires_, for our Detriment. Learned Men have made no scruple to
charge the Devil with it; _Deo permittente, Terrae motus causat._ The
Devil surely, was a party in the _Earthquake_, whereby the Vengeance of
God, in one black Night sunk Twelve considerable Cities of _Asia_, in
the Reign of _Tiberious_. But there will be more such _Catastrophes_ in
our Dayes; _Italy_ has lately been _Shaking_, till its _Earthquakes_
have brought Ruines at once upon more than thirty Towns; but it will
within a little while, _shake_ again, and _shake_ till the Fire of God
have made an Entire _Etna_ of it. And behold, This very Morning, when I
was intending to utter among you such Things as these, we are cast into
an _Heartquake_ by Tidings of an _Earthquake_ that has lately happened
at _Jamaica_: an horrible _Earthquake_, whereby the _Tyrus_ of the
English _America_, was at once pull'd into the Jaws of the Gaping and
Groaning Earth, and many Hundreds of the Inhabitants buried alive. The
Lord sanctifie so dismal a Dispensation of his Providence, unto all the
_American_ Plantations! But be assured, my Neighbours, the _Earthquakes_
are not over yet! We have not yet seen _the last_. And then, Another
_Wo_ that may be Look'd for is, The Devils being now let Loose in
_preternatural Operations_ more than formerly; and perhaps in
_Possessions_ and _Obsessions_ that shall be very marvellous. You are
not Ignorant, That just before our Lords _First Coming_, there were most
observable Outrages committed by the Devil upon the Children of Men: And
I am suspicious, That there will again be an unusual Range of the Devil
among us, a little before the _Second Coming_ of our Lord, which will
be, to give the last stroke, in _Destroying the works of the Devil_. The
_Evening Wolves_ will be much abroad, when we are near the _Evening_ of
the World. The Devil is going to be Dislodged of the _Air_, where his
present Quarters are; God will with flashes of hot _Lightning_ upon
him, cause him to _fall as Lightning_ from his Ancient Habitations: And
the _Raised Saints_ will there have a _New Heaven_, which We _expect
according to the Promise of God_. Now a little before this thing, you be
like to see the Devil more _sensible_ and _visibly_ Busy upon _Earth_
perhaps, than ever he was before. You shall oftner hear about
_Apparitions_ of the Devil, and about poor people strangely Bewitched,
_Possessed_ and _Obsessed_, by Infernal Fiends. When our Lord is going
to set up His Kingdom, in the most _sensible_ and _visible_ manner, that
ever was, and in a manner answering _the Transfiguration_ in _the
Mount_, it is a Thousand to One, but _the Devil_ will in sundry _parts
of the world_, assay _the like_ for Himself, with a most Apish
Imitation: and Men, at least in _some_ Corners of the World, and perhaps
in _such_ as God may have some special Designs upon, will to their Cost,
be more Familiarized _with the World of Spirits_, than they had been
formerly.
So that, in fine, if just before _the End_, when _the times of the Jews_
were to be finished, a man then ran about every where, crying, _Wo to
the Nation! Wo to the City! Wo to the Temple! Wo! Wo! Wo!_ Much more may
the descent of the Devil, just before his _End_, when also _the times of
the Gentiles_ will be finished, cause us to cry out, _Wo! Wo! Wo!
because of the black things that threaten us!_
But it is now Time to make our Improvement of what has been said. And,
first, we shall entertain our selves with a few _Corollaries_, deduced
from what has been thus asserted.
_Corollary I._
What cause have we to bless God, for our preservation from the _Devils
wrath_, in this which may too reasonably be called the _Devils World_!
While we are in _this present evil world_, We are continually surrounded
with swarms of those Devils, who make this _present world_, become so
_evil_. What a wonder of Mercy is it, that no _Devil_ could ever yet
make a prey of us! We can set our foot no where but we shall tread in
the midst of most Hellish _Rattle-Snakes_; and one of those
_Rattle-Snakes_ once thro' the mouth of a Man, on whom he had Seized,
hissed out such a Truth as this, _If God would let me loose upon you, I
should find enough in the Best of you all, to make you all mine._ What
shall I say? The _Wilderness_ thro' which we are passing to the
_Promised Land_, is all over fill'd with _Fiery flying serpents_. But,
blessed be God; None of them have hitherto so fastned upon us, as to
confound us utterly! All our way to Heaven, lies by the _Dens of Lions_,
and the _Mounts of Leopards_; there are incredible Droves of Devils in
our way. But have we safely got on our way thus far? O let us be
thankful to our Eternal preserver for it. It is said in _Psal. 76.10._
_Surely the wrath of Man shall praise thee, and the Remainder of wrath
shalt thou restrain;_ But _surely_ it becomes us to praise God, in that
we have yet sustain'd no more Damage by the _wrath of the Devil_, and in
that he has restrain'd that Overwhelming _wrath_. We are poor,
Travellers in a World, which is as well the Devils _Field_, as the
Devils _Gaol_; a World in every Nook whereof, the Devil is encamped,
with _Bands of Robbers_, to pester all that have their _Face looking
Zion-ward_: And are we all this while preserved from the undoing Snares
of the _Devil_? it is, _Thou, O keeper of Israel, that hast hitherto
been our Keeper!_ And therefore, _Bless the Lord, O my soul, Bless his
Holy Name, who has redeemed thy Life from the Destroyer!_
_Corollary II._
We may see the rise of those multiply'd, magnify'd, and
Singularly-stinged Afflictions, with which _aged_, or _dying_ Saints
frequently have their _Death_ Prefaced, and their _Age_ embittered. When
the Saints of God are going to leave the World, it is usually a more
_Stormy World_ with them, than ever it was; and they find more _Vanity_,
and more _Vexation_ in the world than ever they did before. It is true,
_That many are the afflictions of the Righteous;_ but a little before
they bid adieu to all those many _Afflictions_, they often have greater,
harder, Sorer, Loads thereof laid upon them, than they had yet endured.
It is true, _That thro' much Tribulation we must enter in the Kingdom of
God;_ but a little before our _Entrance_ thereinto, our _Tribulation_
may have some sharper accents of Sorrow, than ever were yet upon it. And
what is the cause of this? It is indeed the _Faithfulness of our God
unto us_, that we should find the _Earth_ more full of _Thorns_ and
_Briars_ than ever, just before he fetches us from _Earth_ to _Heaven_;
that so we may go away the more willingly, the more easily, and with
less Convulsion, at his calling for us. O there are _ugly Ties_, by
which we are fastned unto this world; but God will by _Thorns and
Briars_ tear those _Ties_ asunder. But, _is not the Hand of Joab here?_
Sure, There is the _wrath_ of the _Devil_ also in it. A little before we
step into Heaven, the _Devil_ thinks with himself, _My time to abuse
that Saint is now but short; what Mischief I am to do that Saint, must
be done quickly, if at all; he'l shortly be out of my Reach for ever._
And for this cause he will now fly upon us with the Fiercest Efforts and
Furies of his _Wrath_. It was allowed unto the _Serpent_, in _Gen. 2.15._
_To Bruise the Heel_. Why, at the _Heel_, or at the _Close_, of our
Lives, the _Serpent_ will be nibbling, more than ever in our Lives
before: and it is, _Because now he has but a short time._ He knows, That
we shall very shortly be, _Where the wicked cease from Troubling, and
where the Weary are at Rest;_ wherefore that _Wicked_ one will now
_Trouble_ us, more than ever he did, and we shall have so much
_Disrest_, as will make us more _weary_ than ever we were, of things
here below.
_Corollary III._