Ecclesiastical History has Reported it unto us, That a Renowned
Martyr at the Stake, seeing the Book of the REVELATION thrown by
his no less Profane than Bloody Persecutors, to be Burn'd in the
same Fire with himself, he cryed out, _O Beata Apocalypsis; quam
bene mecum agitur, qui tecum Comburar!_ BLESSED REVELATION! said
he, _How Blessed am I in this Fire, while I have Thee to bear me
Company_.[77] As for our selves this Day, 'tis a Fire of sore
Affliction and Confusion, wherein we are Embroiled; but it is no
inconsiderable Advantage unto us, that we have the Company of
this Glorious and Sacred Book the REVELATION to assist us in our
Exercises. From that Book there is one Text, which I would single
out at this time to lay before you; 'tis that in
REVEL. xii. 12.
_Wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth, and of the Sea; for the Devil
is come down unto you, having great Wrath; because he knoweth,
that he hath but a short time._
THE Text is Like the Cloudy and Fiery Pillar, vouchsafed unto _Israel_,
in the Wilderness of old; there is a very _dark side_ of it in the
Intimation, that, _The Devil is come down having great Wrath;_ but it
has also a _bright side_, when it assures us, that, _He has but a short
time;_ Unto the Contemplation of _both_, I do this Day Invite you.
We have in our Hands a Letter from our Ascended Lord in Heaven, to
Advise us of his being still alive, and of his Purpose e're long, to
give us a Visit, wherein we shall see our Living _Redeemer, stand at
the latter day upon the Earth_. 'Tis the last Advice that we have had
from Heaven, for now sixteen Hundred years; and the scope of it, is,
to represent how the Lord Jesus Christ having begun to set up his
Kingdom in the World, by the preaching of the Gospel, he would from
time to time utterly break to pieces all Powers that should make Head
against it, until, _The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdomes
of our Lord, and of his_ [3] _Christ, and he shall Reign for ever
and ever_. 'Tis a Commentary on what had been written by _Daniel_,
about, _The fourth Monarchy;_ with some Touches upon, _The Fifth;_
wherein, _The greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven, shall
be given to the people of the Saints of the most High:_ And altho' it
have, as 'tis expressed by one of the Ancients, _Tot Sacramenta quot
verba_, a Mystery in every Syllable, yet it is not altogether to be
neglected with such a Despair, as that, _I cannot read, for the Book is
sealed_. It is a REVELATION, and a singular, and notable _Blessing_ is
pronounced upon them that humbly study it.
The Divine Oracles, have with a most admirable Artifice and
Carefulness, drawn, as the very pious _Beverley_, has laboriously
Evinced, an exact LINE OF TIME, from the first Sabbath at the
_Creation_ of the World, unto the great Sabbatism at the _Restitution_
of all Things. In that famous _Line of Time_, from the Decree for the
Restoring of _Jerusalem_, after the Babylonish Captivity, there seem
to remain a matter of _Two Thousand and Three Hundred Years_, unto
that _New Jerusalem_, whereto the Church is to be advanced, when the
Mystical _Babylon_ shall be _fallen_. At the Resurrection of our Lord,
there were seventeen or eighteen Hundred of those Years, yet upon the
Line, to run unto, _The rest which remains for the People of God;_
and this Remnant in the _Line of Time_, is here in our _Apocalypse_,
variously Embossed, Adorned, and Signalized with such Distinguishing
Events, if we mind them, will help us escape that Censure, _Can ye not
Discern the Signs of the Times?_
The Apostle _John_, for the View of these Things, had laid before
him, as I conceive, a _Book_, with leaves, or folds; which _Volumn_
was written both on the _Backside_, and on the _Inside_, and Roll'd
up in a Cylindriacal Form, under seven _Labels_, fastned with so many
_Seals_. The first _Seal_ being opened, and the first _Label_ removed,
under the first _Label_ the Apostle saw what he saw, of a first _Rider_
Pourtray'd, and so on, till the last _Seal_ was broken up; each of
the Sculptures being enlarged with agreeable _Visions_ and _Voices_,
to illustrate it. The Book being now Unrolled, there were _Trumpets_,
with wonderful Concomitants, Exhibited successively on the Expanding
_Backside_ of it. Whereupon the Book was _Eaten_, as it were to be
Hidden, from Interpretations; till afterwards, in the _Inside_ of it,
the Kingdom of Anti-christ came to be Exposed. Thus, the Judgments of
God on the _Roman Empire_, first unto the Downfal of _Paganism_, and
then, unto the Downfal of _Popery_, which is but Revived _Paganism_,
are in these Displayes, with Lively Colours and Features made sensible
unto us.
[4] Accordingly, in the Twelfth Chapter of this Book, we have an
August Preface, to the Description of that Horrid _Kingdom_, which our
Lord Christ refused, but Antichrist accepted, from the Devils Hands;
a Kingdom, which for _Twelve Hundred and Sixty_ Years together, was
to be a continual oppression upon the People of God, and opposition
unto his Interests; until the Arrival of that Illustrious Day,
wherein, _The Kingdom shall be the Lords, and he shall be Governour
among the Nations_. The Chapter is (as an Excellent Person calls it)
an _Extravasated Account_ of the Circumstances, which befell the
_Primitive Church_, during the first Four or Five Hundred Years of
Christianity: It shows us the Face of the Church, first in _Rome_
Heathenish, and then in Rome Converted, before the _Man of Sin_ was yet
come to _Mans Estate_. Our Text contains the Acclamations made upon
the most Glorious Revolution that ever yet happened upon the Roman
Empire; namely, That wherein the Travailing Church brought forth a
Christian Emperour. This was a most Eminent _Victory_ over the Devil,
and _Resemblance_ of the State, wherein the World, ere long shall see,
_The Kingdom of our God, and the Power of his Christ_. It is here noted,
First, As a matter of _Triumph_. 'Tis said, _Rejoyce, ye Heavens,
and ye that dwell in them_. The Saints in both Worlds, took the
Comfort of this Revolution; the Devout Ones that had outlived the late
Persecutions, were filled with Transporting Joys, when they saw the
_Christian_ become the _Imperial_ Religion, and when they saw Good Men
come to give Law unto the rest of Mankind; the Deceased Ones also,
whose Blood had been Sacrificed in the Ten Persecutions, doubtless
made the Light Regions to ring with _Hallelujahs_ unto God, when there
were brought unto them, the Tidings of the Advances now given to the
_Christian_ Religion, for which they had suffered _Martyrdom_.
Secondly, As a matter of _Horror_. 'Tis said, _Wo to the Inhabiters of
the Earth and of the Sea_. The _Earth_ still means the _False Church_,
the _Sea_ means the _Wide World_, in Prophetical Phrasæology. There
was yet left a vast party of Men, that were Enemies to the Christian
Religion, in the power of it; a vast party left for the Devil to work
upon: Unto these is a _Wo_ denounced; and why so? 'Tis added, _For the
Devil is come down unto you, having great Wrath, because he knows, that
he has but a short time_. These were, it seems, to have some desperate
and peculiar Attempts of the Devil made upon them. In the mean time, we
may entertain this for our Doctrine.
_Great Wo proceeds from the Great_ WRATH, _with which_ [5] _the_
DEVIL, _towards the end of his_ TIME, _will make a_ DESCENT _upon a
miserable World._
I have now Published a most awful and solemn Warning for our selves at
this day; which has four _Propositions_, comprehended in it.
_Proposition I._ That there is a _Devil_, is a thing Doubted by none
but such as are under the Influence of the _Devil_. For any to deny
the Being of a _Devil_ must be from an Ignorance or Profaneness, worse
than _Diabolical_. _A Devil._ What is _that?_ We have a Definition of
the Monster, in _Eph._ 6. 12. _A Spiritual Wickedness_, that is, _A
wicked Spirit_. A Devil is a _Fallen Angel_, an Angel _Fallen_ from the
Fear and Love of God, and from all Celestial Glories; but _Fallen_ to
all manner of Wretchedness and Cursedness. He was once in that Order
of Heavenly Creatures, which God in the Beginning made _Ministering
Spirits_, for his own peculiar Service and Honour, in the management
of the Universe; but we may now write that Epitaph upon him, _How art
thou fallen from Heaven! thou hast said in thine Heart, I will Exalt my
Throne above the Stars of God; but thou art brought down to Hell!_ A
Devil is a _Spiritual_ and _Rational Substance_, by his _Apostacy_ from
God, inclined to all that is Vicious, and for that _Apostacy_ confined
unto the Atmosphere of this Earth, _in Chains, under Darkness, unto the
Judgment of the Great Day_. This is a _Devil;_ and the _Experience_ of
Mankind as well as the _Testimony_ of Scripture, does abundantly prove
the Existence of such a Devil.[78]
About this _Devil_, there are many things, whereof we may reasonably
and profitably be Inquisitive; such things, I mean, as are in our
Bibles Reveal'd unto us; according to which if we do not speak on so
_dark_ a Subject, but according to our own uncertain, and perhaps
humoursome Conjectures, _There is no Light in us_. I will carry you
with me, but unto one Paragraph of the Bible, to be informed of three
Things, relating to the _Devil;_ 'tis the Story of the _Gadaren
Energumen_, in the fifth Chapter of _Mark_.
First, then, 'Tis to be granted; the _Devils_ are so many, that some
Thousands, can sometimes at once apply themselves to vex one Child
of Man. It is said, in Mark 5. 15. _He that was Possessed with the
Devil, had the Legion._ Dreadful to be spoken! A _Legion_ consisted of
Twelve Thousand Five Hundred People: And we see that in one Man or two,
so many _Devils_ can be spared for a Garrison. As the Prophet cryed
out, _Multitudes, Multitudes, in the Valley of Decision!_ So I say,
_There are multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of Destruction, where
the Devils are!_ When [6] we speak of, _The Devil_, 'tis, _A name of
Multitude;_ it means not _One_ Individual Devil, so Potent and Scient,
as perhaps a _Manichee_ would imagine; but it means a _Kind_, which
a _Multitude_ belongs unto. Alas, the _Devils_, they swarm about us,
like the _Frogs of Egypt_, in the most Retired of our Chambers. Are we
at our _Boards?_ There will be Devils to Tempt us unto Sensuality: Are
we in our _Beds?_ There will be Devils to Tempt us unto Carnality; Are
we in our _Shops?_ There will be Devils to Tempt us unto Dishonesty.
Yea, Tho' we get into the Church of God, there will be Devils to
Haunt us in the very _Temple_ it self, and there tempt us to manifold
Misbehaviours. I am verily perswaded, That there are very few Humane
Affairs whereinto some Devils are not Insinuated; There is not so much
as a _Journey_ intended, but _Satan_ will have an hand in _hindering_
or _furthering_ of it.
Secondly, 'Tis to be supposed, That there is a sort of Arbitrary, even
Military _Government_, among the _Devils_. This is intimated, when in
_Mar._ 5. 9. _The unclean Spirit said, My Name is Legion:_ they are
under such a Discipline as _Legions_ use to be. Hence we read about,
_The Prince of the power of the Air:_ Our _Air_ has a _power?_ or an
Army of Devils in the _High Places_ of it; and these Devils have a
_Prince_ over them, who is _King over the Children of Pride_. 'Tis
probable, That the Devil, who was the Ringleader of that mutinous and
rebellious Crew, which first shook off the Authority of God, is now
the General of those Hellish Armies;[79] Our Lord, that Conquered him,
has told us the Name of him; 'tis _Belzebub;_ 'tis he that is _the
Devil_, and the rest are _his Angels_, or his Souldiers. Think on vast
Regiments of cruel and bloody _French Dragoons_, with an _Intendant_
over them, overrunning a pillaged Neighbourhood, and you will think a
little, what the Constitution among the _Devils_ is.
Thirdly, 'tis to be supposed, that some Devils are more peculiarly
_Commission'd_, and perhaps _Qualify'd_, for some Countries, while
others are for others. This is intimated when in _Mar._ 5. 10. The
Devils _besought_ our Lord much, _that he would not send them away
out of the Countrey_. Why was that? But in all probability, because
_these Devils_ were more able _to do the works of the Devil_, in such
a Countrey, than in another. It is not likely that every Devil does
know every _Language;_ or that every Devil can do every _Mischief_.[80]
'Tis possible, that the _Experience_, or, if I may call it so, the
_Education_ of all Devils is not alike, and that there may be some
difference in their _Abilities_. If one might make an Inference from
what the Devils _do_, to what they _are_, One cannot [7] forbear
dreaming, that there are _degrees_ of Devils. Who can allow, that
such Trifling _Dæmons_, as that of _Mascon_,[81] or those that once
infested our _New berry_, are of so much Grandeur, as those _Dæmons_,
whose Games are mighty Kingdoms? Yea, 'tis certain, that all Devils
do not make a like Figure in the _Invisible World_. Nor does it look
agreeably, That the _Dæmons_, which were the Familiars of such a Man
as the old _Apollonius_, differ not from those baser Goblins that
chuse to Nest in the filthy and loathsom Rags of a beastly Sorceress.
Accordingly, why may not some Devils be more accomplished for what is
to be done in such and such places, when others must be _detach'd_ for
other Territories? Each Devil, as he sees his advantage, cries out,
_Let me be in this Countrey, rather than another_. But _Enough_, if not
_too much_, of these things.[82]
_Proposition II._ There is a Devilish _Wrath_ against _Mankind_, with
which the _Devil_ is for _God's sake_ Inspired. The Devil is himself
broiling under the intollerable and interminable _Wrath_ of God; and
a fiery _Wrath_ at God, is, that which the Devil is for that cause
Enflamed. Methinks I see the posture of the Devils in _Isa._ 8. 21.
_They fret themselves, and Curse their God, and look upward._ The
first and chief _Wrath_ of the Devil, is at the Almighty God himself;
he knows, _The God that made him, will not have mercy on him, and
the God that formed him, will shew him no favour;_ and so he can
have no _Kindness_ for that God, who has no _Mercy_, nor _Favour_
for him. Hence 'tis, that he cannot bear the _Name_ of God should be
acknowledged in the World: Every Acknowledgement paid unto _God_, is
a fresh drop of the burning Brimstone falling upon the Devil; he does
make his Insolent, tho' Impotent Batteries, even upon the _Throne_ of
God himself: and foolishly affects to have himself exalted unto that
_Glorious High Throne_, by all people, as he sometimes is, by Execrable
_Witches_. This horrible Dragon does not only with his Tayl strike at
the _Stars of God_, but at the God himself, who made the _Stars_, being
desirous to outshine them all. God and the Devil are sworn Enemies to
each other; the Terms between them, are those, in _Zech._ 11. 18. _My
Soul loathed them, and their Soul also abhorred me._ And from this
Furious _wrath_, or Displeasure and Prejudice at God, proceeds the
Devils _wrath_ at us, the poor Children of Men. Our doing the _Service_
of God, is one thing that exposes us to the _wrath_ of the Devil. We
are the _High Priests_ of the World; when all Creatures are called
upon, _Praise ye the Lord_, they bring to us those demanded _Praises_
of God, saying, _do you offer them for us_. Hence 'tis, that the Devil
has a Quarrel with [8] us, as he had with the _High-Priest_ in the
Vision of Old. Our bearing the Image of God is another thing that
brings the _wrath_ of the Devil upon us. As a _Tyger_, thro' his Hatred
at man will tear the very Picture of him, if it come in his way; such
a _Tyger_ the Devil is; because God said of old, _Let us make Man in
our Image_, the Devil is ever saying, _Let us pull this man to pieces_.
But the envious _Pride_ of the Devil, is one thing more that gives
an Edge unto his Furious _Wrath_ against us. The Apostle has given
us an hint, as if _Pride_ had been the _Condemnation of the Devil_.
'Tis not unlikely, that the Devil's _Affectation_ to be above that
Condition which he might learn that Mankind was to be preferr'd unto,
might be the occcasion of his taking up Arms against the _Immortal
King_. However, the Devil now sees _Man_ lying in the Bosom of God,
but _himself_ damned in the bottom of Hell; and this enrages him
exceedingly; _O_, says he, _I cannot bear it, that man should not be as
miserable as my self_.
_Proposition III._ The _Devil_, in the prosecution, and the execution
of his _wrath_ upon them, often gets a _Liberty_ to make a _Descent_
upon the Children of men. When the Devil _does hurt_ unto us, he
_comes down_ unto us; for the Rendezvouze of the _Infernal Troops_, is
indeed in the _supernal parts_ of our Air.[83] But as 'tis said, _A
sparrow of the Air does not fall down without the will of God;_ so
I may say, _Not a Devil in the Air, can come down without the leave
of God_. Of this we have a famous Instance in that Arabian Prince,
of whom the Devil was not able so much as to _Touch_ any thing, till
the most high God gave him a permission, to _go down_.[84] The Devil
stands with all the Instruments of death, aiming at us, and begging
of the Lord, as that King ask'd for the Hood-wink'd _Syrians_ of old,
_Shall I smite 'em, shall I smite 'em?_ He cannot strike a blow, till
the Lord say, _Go down and smite_, but sometimes he _does_ obtain from
the _high possessor of Heaven and Earth_, a License for the doing of
it. The Devil sometimes does make most rueful Havock among us; but
still we may say to him, as our Lord said unto a great Servant of
his, _Thou couldst have no power against me, except it were given
thee from above_.[85] The Devil is called in 1 _Pet._ 5. 8. _Your
Adversary._ This is a Law-term; and it notes _An Adversary at Law_.
The Devil cannot come at us, except in some sence according to _Law;_
but sometimes he does procure sad things to be inflicted, according
to the _Law of_ the eternal King upon us. The Devil first _goes up_
as an _Accuser_ against us. He is therefore styled _The Accuser;_ and
it is on this account, that his proper Name does belong unto him.
There is a Court somewhere kept; a Court of Spirits, where the Devil
enters all sorts of Complaints [9] against us all; he charges us with
manifold _sins_ against the Lord our God: _There_ he loads us with
heavy _Imputations_ of Hypocrysie, Iniquity, Disobedience; whereupon he
urges, _Lord, let 'em now have the death, which is their wages, paid
unto 'em!_ If our _Advocate_ in the Heavens do not now take off his
Libel; the Devil, then, with a Concession of God, _comes down_, as a
_destroyer_ upon us. Having first been an _Attorney_, to bespeak that
the Judgments of Heaven may be ordered for us, he then also pleads,
that he may be the _Executioner_ of those Judgments; and the God of
Heaven sometimes after a sort, signs a Warrant, for this _destroying
Angel_, to do what has been _desired_ to be done for the _destroying of
men_. But such a _permission_ from God, for the Devil to _come down_,
and _break in_ upon mankind, oftentimes must be accompany'd with a
_Commission_ from some wretches of mankind it self. Every man is, as
'tis hinted in _Gen._ 4. 9. _His brother's keeper_. We are to _keep_
one another from the Inroads of the Devil, by mutual and cordial Wishes
of prosperity to one another. When ungodly people give their _Consents_
in _witchcrafts_ diabolically performed, for the Devil to annoy their
Neighbours, he finds a breach made in the Hedge about us, whereat he
Rushes in upon us, with grievous molestations. Yea, when the impious
people, that never saw the Devil, do but utter their _Curses_ against
their Neighbours, those are so many _watch words_, whereby the Mastives
of Hell are animated presently to fall upon us. Tis thus, that the
Devil gets _leave_ to worry us.
_Proposition IV._ Most horrible _woes_ come to be inflicted upon
Mankind, when the _Devil_ does in _great wrath_, make a _descent_ upon
them. The _Devil_ is a _Do-Evil_, and wholly set upon mischief. When
our Lord once was going to _Muzzel_ him, that he might not mischief
others, he cry'd out, _Art thou come to torment me?_ He is, it seems,
himself _Tormented_, if he be but _Restrained_ from the tormenting of
Men. If upon the sounding of the Three last _Apocalyptical Angels_,
it was an outcry made in Heaven, _Wo, wo, wo, to the inhabitants
of the Earth by reason of the voice of the Trumpet_. I am sure, a
_descent_ made by the Angel of _death_, would give cause for the like
Exclamation: _Wo to the world, by reason of the wrath of the Devil!_
what a _woful_ plight, mankind would by the descent of the Devil be
brought into, may be gathered from the _woful_ pains, and wounds, and
hideous desolations which the Devil brings upon them, with whom he has
with a _bodily Possession_ made a Seisure. You may both in Sacred and
Profane History, read many a direful Account of the _woes_, which they
that are possessed by the Devil, do undergo: And from thence conclude,
_What_ [10] _must the Children of Men hope from such a Devil!_
Moreover, the _Tyrannical Ceremonies_, whereto the Devil uses to
subjugate such _Woful_ Nations or Orders of Men, as are more Entirely
under his Dominion, do declare what _woful_ Work the Devil would make
where he comes. The very Devotions of those forlorn _Pagans_, to whom
the Devil is a Leader, are most bloody _Penances;_ and what _Woes_
indeed must we expect from such a Devil of a _Moloch_, as relishes no
Sacrifices like those of Humane Heart-blood, and unto whom there is
no Musick like the bitter, dying, doleful Groans, ejaculated by the
Roasting Children of Men.
Furthermore, the servile, abject, needy circumstances wherein the
Devil 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 overruled 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 upon 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.[86]
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 impreg[11]nate 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;[87] 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.[88] 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
_Dæmoniacks_, 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 _Thyestæan_ 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;_[89] 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.[90] 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 [12] 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:[91] 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 singlar 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 [13] 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 confounded 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 unto us,
when the Devil comes down upon us_.[92]
_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,[93] 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 the time of
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_ [14] _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 guilt 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;[94] 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 remembered, 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 Repition of _Earth-quakes_, 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 [15] 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 Mountaions_, 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, Terræ motus causat_. The Devil surely, was a
party in the _Earthquake_,[95] whereby the Vengeance of God, in one
black Night sunk Twelve considerable Cities of _Asia_, in the Reign
of _Tiberious_.[96] But there will be more such _Catastrophe's_ 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.[97] 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 _sensibly_ 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![98] 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_.[99] What shall I say? The _Wilderness_ thro'
which we are passing to the _Pro-[16]mised 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 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;_[100] 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 into 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._ What a Reasonable Thing then is it, that they whose
_Time_ is but _short_, should make as great _Use_ of their _Time_, as
ever they can! I pray, let us learn some _good_, even from the _wicked
One_ himself. It has been advised, _Be wise as Serpents:_ why, there
is a piece of _Wisdom_, whereto that old _Serpent_, the Devil himself,
may be our Moniter. When the Devil perceives his _Time_ is but _short_,
it puts him upon _Great Wrath_. But how should it be with _us_, when
we perceive that our _Time_ is but _short?_ why, it should put us upon
_Great Work_. The motive which makes the Devil to be more full of
_wrath;_ should make us more full of _warmth_, more full of _watch_,
and more full of _All Diligence to make our Vocation, and Election
sure_. Our _Pace_ in our Journey _Heaven-ward_, must be Quickened, if
our _space_ for that Journey be shortned, even as _Israel_ went further
the _two last_ years of their Journey _Canaan-ward_, than they did in
38 years before. The Apostle brings this, as a _spur_ to the Devotions
of Christians, in 1 _Cor._ 7. 29. _This I say, Brethren, the time is
short._ Even so, I _say_ this; some things I lay before you, which I do
only _think_, or _guess_, but here is a thing which I venture to _say_
with all the [33] freedom imaginable. You have now a _Time_ to _Get_
good, even a _Time_ to make sure of _Grace and Glory, and every good
thing_, by true Repentance: But, _This I say, the time is but short_.
You have now _Time_ to _Do_ good, even to _serve out your generation_,
as by the _Will_, so for the _Praise_ of God; but, _This I say, the
time is but short_. And what I say thus to _All_ People, I say to _Old_
People, with a peculiar Vehemency: Sirs, It cannot be long before your
_Time_ is out; there are but a few sands left in the glass of your
_Time:_ And it is of all things the saddest, for a man to say, _My time
is done, but my work undone!_ O then, _To work_ as fast as you can; and
of Soul-work, and Church-work, dispatch as much as ever you can. Say
to all _Hindrances_, as the gracious _Jeremiah Burroughs_[101] would
sometimes to _Visitants: You'll excuse me if I ask you to be short
with me, for my work is great, and my time is but short_. Methinks
every _time_ we hear a Clock, or see a Watch, we have an admonition
given us, that our _Time_ is upon the _wing_, and it will all be gone
within a little while. I remember I have read of a famous man, who
having a _Clock-watch_ long lying by him, out of Kilture in his Trunk,
it unaccountably struck Eleven just before he died. Why, there are many
of you, for whom I am to do that office this day: I am to tell you _You
are come to your_ Eleventh _hour;_ there is no more than a _twelfth
part_ at most, of your life yet behind. But if we neglect our business,
till our _short Time_ shall be reduced into _none_, then, _woe to us,
for the great wrath of God will send us down from whence there is no
Redemption_.
_Corollary IV._
How welcome should a _Death in the Lord_ be unto them that belong not
unto the Devil, but unto the Lord! While we are sojourning in this
World, we are in what may upon too many accounts be called _The Devils
Country:_ We are where the Devil may come upon us in _great wrath_
continually. The day when God shall take us out of this World, will
be, _The day when the Lord will deliver us from the hand of all our
Enemies, and from the hand of Satan_. In such a day, why should not our
song be that of the Psalmist, _Blessed be my Rock, and let the God of
my Salvation be exalted!_ While we are here, we are in _the valley of
the shadow of death;_ and what is it that makes it so? 'Tis because
the _wild Beasts of Hell_ are lurking on every side of us, and every
minute ready to salley forth upon us. But our _Death_ will fetch us out
of that _Valley_, and carry us where we shall be _for ever with the
Lord_. We are now under the daily _Buffetings_ of the Devil, and he
does molest us with such _Fiery Darts_, as cause us even to cry out,
_I am weary of my Life_. Yea, but are we as _willing to die, as, weary
of Life?_ Our Death will then soon set us where we cannot be reach'd
by the _Fist of Wickedness;_ and where the _Perfect cannot be shotten
at_. It is said in _Rev._ 14. 13. _Blessed are the [34] Dead which die
in the Lord, they rest from their labours._ But we may say, _Blessed
are the Dead in the Lord, inasmuch as they rest from the Devils!_ Our
_dying_ will be but our _taking wing:_ When attended with a Convoy of
winged Angels, we shall be convey'd into that Heaven, from whence the
Devil having been thrown he shall never more come thither after us.
What if God should now say to us, as to _Moses_, _Go up and die!_ As
long as we _go up_, when we _die_, let us receive the Message with a
joyful Soul; we shall soon be there, where the Devil can't _come down_
upon us. If the _God of our Life_ should now send that Order to us,
which he gave to _Hezekiah_, _Set thy house in order, for thou shalt
die, and not live;_ we need not be cast into such deadly Agonies
thereupon, as _Hezekiah_ was: We are but going to that _House_, the
Golden Doors whereof, cannot be entred by the Devil that here did use
to persecute us. Methinks I see the Departed _Spirit_ of a Believer,
triumphantly carried thro' the Devils _Territories_, in such a stately
and Fiery Chariot, as the _Spiritualizing Body_ of _Elias_ had; methink
I see the Devil, with whole Flocks of _Harpies_, grinning at this Child
of God, but unable to fasten any of their griping Talons upon him: And
then, upon the utmost edge of our _Atmosphœre_, methinks I overhear the
holy Soul, with a most heavenly Gallantry, deriding the defeated Fiend,
and saying, _Ah! Satan! Return to thy Dungeons again; I am going where
thou canst not come for ever!_ O 'tis a brave thing so to die! and
especially so to die, in _our time_. For, tho' when we call to mind,
_That the Devils time is now but short_, it may almost make us wish to
_live_ unto the _end_ of it; and to say with the Psalmist, _Because the
Lord will shortly appear in his Glory to build up_ Zion. _O my God!
Take me not away in the midst of my days._ Yet when we bear in mind,
_that the Devils Wrath is now most great_, it would make one willing to
be _out of the way_. Inasmuch as now is the time for the doing of those
things in the prospect whereof _Balaam_ long ago cry'd out _Who shall
live when such things are done!_ We should not be inordinatly loth to
_die_ at such a time. In a word, the _Times_ are so _bad_, that we may
well count it, as _good_ a _time_ to die in, as ever we saw.
_Corollary V._
Good News for the _Israel_ of God, and particularly for his
_New-English Israel_. If the Devils _Time_ were above a _thousand
years ago_, pronounced _short_, what may we suppose it now in _our_
Time? Surely _we_ are not a _thousand years_ distant from those happy
_thousand years_ of rest and peace, and [which is better] _Holiness_
reserved for the People of God in the latter days; and if we are not a
_thousand years_ yet short of that Golden Age, there is cause to think,
that we are not an _hundred_. That the blessed _Thousand years_ are not
yet begun, is abundantly clear [35] from this, _We do not see the Devil
bound;_ No, the Devil was never more let _loose_ than in our Days; and
it is very much that any should imagine otherwise: But the same thing
that proves the _Thousand Years_ of prosperity for the Church of God,
under the whole Heaven, to be not yet _begun_, does also prove, that it
is not very _far off;_ and that is the prodigious _wrath_ with which
the Devil does in our days Persecute, yea, desolate the World. Let
us cast our Eyes almost where we will, and we shall see the _Devils_
domineering at such a rate as may justly fill us with astonishment; it
is questionable whether _Iniquity_ ever were so rampant, or whether
_Calamity_ were ever so pungent, as in this Lamentable _time;_ We may
truly say, _'Tis the Hour and the Power of Darkness_. But, tho' the
_wrath_ be so _great_, the _time_ is but _short:_ when we are perplexed
with the _wrath_ of the Devil, the _Word_ of our God at the same time
unto us, is that in Rom. 16. 20. _The God of Peace shall bruise Satan
under your feet Shortly._ Shortly, didst thou say, dearest Lord! O
gladsome word! Amen, _Even so, come Lord! Lord Jesus, come quickly!
We shall never be rid of this troublesome Devil, till thou do come to
Chain him up!_
But because the people of God, would willingly be told _whereabouts_ we
are, with reference to the _wrath and the time_ of the Devil, you shall
give me leave humbly to set before you a few _Conjectures_.
_The first Conjecture._
The Devils _Eldest Son_ seems to be towards the _End_ of his last
_Half-time;_ and if it be so, the Devils Whole-time, cannot but be very
near its _End_. It is a very scandalous thing that any _Protestant_,
should be at a loss where to find _the Anti-Christ_. But, we have a
sufficient assurance, that the Duration of _Anti-Christ_, is to be
but for a _Time_, and for _Times_, and for _Half a time;_ that is for
_Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years_. And indeed, those _Twelve Hundred
and Sixty Years_, were the very Spott of _Time_ left for the _Devil_,
and meant when 'tis here said, _He has but a short time_. Now, I
should have an _easie time_ of it, if I were never put upon an _Harder
Task_, than to produce what might render it extreamly probable, that
Anti-christ entred his last _Half-time_, or the last _Hundred_ and
_Fourscore_ years of his Reign, _at_ or soon _after_ the celebrated
_Reformation_ which began at the year 1517 in the former Century.[102]
Indeed, it is very agreeable to see how Antichrist then lost _Half_
of his Empire; and how that _half_ which then became _Reformed_, have
been upon many accounts little more than _Half-reformed_. But by
this computation, we must needs be within a very few years of such a
_Mortification_ to befal the See of _Rome_, as that Antichrist, who has
lately been planting (what proves no more lasting than) a _Tabernacle
in the Glorious Holy Mountain between the Seas_, must quickly, _Come to
his End and none shall help him_. [36] So then, within a very little
while, we shall see the Devil stript of the grand, yea, the last,
_Vehicle_, wherein he will be capable to abuse our World. The _Fires_,
with which, _That Beast_ is to be consumed, will so singe the Wings
of the _Devil_ too, that he shall no more set the Affairs of _this_
world on _Fire_. Yea, they shall both go into the same _Fire_, to be
_tormented for ever and ever_.
_The Second Conjecture._
That which is, perhaps, the greatest Effect of the _Devils Wrath_,
seems to be in a manner at an _end:_ and this would make one hope that
the _Devils time_ cannot be far from its _end_. It is in Persecution,
that the _wrath_ of the Devil uses to break forth, with its greatest
fury. Now there want not probabilities, that the _last Persecution_
intended for the Church of God, before the Advent of our Lord, has
been upon it. When we see the _second Woe passing away_, we have a
fair signal given unto us, _That the last slaughter of our Lord's
Witnesses is over;_ and then what Quickly follows? The next thing is,
_The Kingdoms of this World, are become the Kingdoms of Our Lord, and
of His Christ:_ and then _down_ goes the Kingdom of the Devil, so
that he cannot any more _come down_ upon us. Now, the Irrecoverable
and Irretrievable Humiliations that have lately befallen the _Turkish
Power_, are but so many Declarations of the _second Woe passing
away_.[103] And the dealings of God with the _European_ parts of the
world, at this day do further strengthen this our expectation. We _do_
see, _at this hour a great Earth-quake all Europe over:_ and _we shall_
see, that this _great Earth-quake_, and these great Commotions, will
but contribute unto the advancement of our Lords hitherto depressed
Interests. 'Tis also to be remark'd that, a disposition to recognize
the _Empire_ of God over the _Conscience_ of man, does now prevail
more in the world than formerly; and God from on High more touches
the Hearts of Princes and Rulers with an averseness to Persecution.
'Tis particularly the unspeakable happiness of the English Nation, to
be under the Influences of that excellent Queen, who could say, _In
as much as a man cannot make himself believe what he will, why should
we Persecute men for not believing as we do! I wish I could see all
good men of one mind; but in the mean time I pray, let them however
love one another._[104] Words worthy to be written in Letters of Gold!
and by _us_ the more to be considered, because to one of _Ours_ did
that royal Person express Her self so excellently, so obligingly.
When the late King _James_ published his Declaration for _Liberty
of Conscience_, a worthy Divine in the Church of _England_, then
studying the _Revelation_, saw cause upon _Revelational_ Grounds, to
declare himself in such words as these, _Whatsoever others may intend
or design by this Liberty of Conscience, I cannot believe, that it
will ever be recalled in_ England, _as long as the World stands_.
And you know how miraculously [37] the _Earth-quake_[105] which then
immediately came upon the Kingdom, has established that _Liberty!_ But
that which exceeds all the tendencies this way, is, the dispensation
of God at this Day, towards the blessed _Vaudois_. Those renowned
_Waldenses_, which were a sort of _Root_ unto all Protestant Churches,
were never dissipated, by all the Persecutions of many Ages, till
within these few years, the _French_ King and the Duke of _Savoy_
leagued for their dissipation.[106] But just _Three years and a half
after the scattering_ of that holy people, to the surprise of all the
World, _Spirit of life from God_ is come into them; and having with
a thousand Miracles repossessed themselves of their antient Seats,
their hot _Persecutor_ is become their great _Protector_. Whereupon
the reflection of the worthy person, that writes the story is, _The
Churches of_ Piemont, _being the Root of the Protestant Churches, they
have been the first established; the Churches of other places, being
but the Branches, shall be established in due time, God will deliver
them speedily, He has already delivered the Mother, and He will not
long leave the Daughter behind: He will finish what he has gloriously
begun!_
_The Third Conjecture._
There is _little room_ for hope, that the _great wrath_ of the Devil,
will not prove the present ruine of our poor _New-England_ in
particular. I believe, there never was a poor Plantation, more pursued
by the _wrath_ of the _Devil_, than our poor _New-England;_ and that
which makes our condition very much the more deplorable is, that the
_wrath_ of the _great God_ Himself, at the same time also presses hard
upon us. It was a rousing _alarm_ to the Devil, when a great Company
of English _Protestants_ and _Puritans_, came to erect Evangelical
Churches, in a corner of the World, where he had reign'd without any
controul for many Ages; and it is a vexing _Eye-sore_ to the Devil,
that our Lord Christ should be known, and own'd and preached in this
_howling Wilderness_. Wherefor he has left no _Stone unturned_, that so
he might undermine his Plantation, and force us out of our Country.
First, The Indian _Powawes_, used all their Sorceries to molest the
first Planters here;[107] but God said unto them, _Touch them not!_
Then, _Seducing Spirits_ came to _root_ in this Vineyard, but God so
rated them off, that they have not prevail'd much farther than the
Edges of our Land.[108] After this, we have had a continual _blast_
upon some of our principal Grain, annually diminishing a vast part
of our _ordinary Food_. Herewithal, wasting _Sicknesses_, especially
Burning and Mortal Agues, have Shot the Arrows of Death in at our
Windows. Next, we have had many Adversaries of our own Language,
who have been perpetually assaying to deprive us of those _English
Liberties_, in the encouragement whereof these Territories have been
settled.[109] As if this had not been [38] enough; The _Tawnies_ among
whom we came, have watered our Soil with the Blood of many Hundreds
of our Inhabitants. Desolating _Fires_ also have many times laid the
chief Treasure of the whole Province in Ashes. As for _Losses_ by Sea,
_they_ have been multiply'd upon us: and particularly in the present
_French War_, the whole English Nation have observ'd that no part of
the Nation has proportionably had so many Vessels taken, as our poor
_New-England_. Besides all which, now at last the Devils are (if I
may so speak) _in Person_ come down upon us with such a _Wrath_, as
is justly _much_, and will quickly be _more_, the Astonishment of the
World. Alas, I may sigh over _this_ Wilderness, as _Moses_ did over
_his_, in Psal. 90. 7. 9. _We are consumed by thine Anger, and by thy
Wrath we are troubled: All our days are passed away in thy Wrath._ And
I may add this unto it, _The Wrath of the Devil too has been troubling
and spending of us, all our days_.
But what will become of this poor _New-England_ after all? Shall we
sink, expire, perish, before the _short time_ of the Devil shall be
finished?[110] I must confess, That when I consider the lamentable
_Unfruitfulness_ of men, among us, under as powerful and perspicuous
Dispensations of the Gospel, as are in the World; and when I consider
the declining state of the _Power of Godliness_ in our Churches, with
the most horrible Indisposition that perhaps ever was, to recover out
of this declension; I cannot but _Fear_ lest it comes to this, and
lest an _Asiatic_ Removal of Candlesticks come upon us. But upon some
other Accounts, I would fain _hope_ otherwise; and I will give _you_
therefore the opportunity to try what Inferences may be drawn from
these probable Prognostications.
I say, _First_, That surely, _America's_ Fate must at the long run
include _New-Englands_ in it. What was the design of our God, in
bringing over so many _Europeans_ hither of late Years? Of what use
or state will _America_ be, when the _Kingdom of God_ shall come? If
it must all be the Devils propriety, while the _saved Nations_ of the
other Hæmisphere shall be _Walking in the Light of the New Jerusalem_,
Our _New-England_ has then, 'tis likely, done all that it was erected
for. But if God have a purpose to make here a seat for any of _those
glorious things which are spoken of thee, O thou City of God;_ then
even thou, _O New-England_, art within a very little while of better
days than ever yet have dawn'd upon thee.
I say, _Secondly_, That tho' there be very _Threatning_ Symptoms
on _America_, yet there are some _hopeful_ ones. I confess, when
one thinks upon the crying Barbarities with which the most of those
_Europeans_ that have Peopled this New world, became the Masters of
it; it looks but _Ominously_. When one also thinks how much the way of
living in many parts of _America_, is utterly inconsistent with the
very Essentials of _Christianity;_ yea, how much Injury and Violence is
there[39]in done to _Humanity_ it self; it is enough to damp the Hopes
of the most Sanguine Complexion. And the _Frown_ of Heaven which has
hitherto been upon Attempts of better Gospellizing the Plantations,
considered, will but increase the _Damp_. Nevertheless, on the other
side, what shall be said of all the _Promises_, That _our Lord Jesus
Christ shall have the uttermost parts of the Earth for his Possession?_
and of all the _Prophecies_, That _All the ends of the Earth shall
remember and turn unto the Lord?_ Or does it look _agreeably_, That
such a rich quarter of the World, equal in some regards to all the
rest, should never be out of the _Devils_ hands, from the first
Inhabitation unto the last Dissolution of it? No sure; why may not the
_last_ be the _first?_ and the _Sun of Righteousness_ come to shine
_brightest_, in Climates which it rose _latest_ upon!
I say, _Thirdly_, That _as_ it fares with _Old England_, so it will be
most likely to fare with _New-England_. For which cause, by the way,
there may be more of the Divine Favour in the present Circumstances
of our dependence on _England_, than we are well aware of. This is
very sure, if matters _go ill_ with our _Mother_, her poor American
_Daughter_ here, must feel it; nor could our former Happy Settlement
have hindred our sympathy in that Unhappiness. But if matters _go Well_
in the Three Kingdoms; as long as God shall bless the English Nation,
with Rulers that shall encourage _Piety_, _Honesty_, _Industry_, in
their Subjects, and that shall cast a Benign Aspect upon the Interests
of our Glorious Gospel, _Abroad_ as well as at _Home;_ so long,
_New-England_ will at least keep its head above water: and so much
the more, for our comfortable Settlement in such a Form as we are now
cast into. Unless there should be any singular, destroying, _Topical
Plagues_, whereby an offended God should at last make us _Rise;_ But,
_Alas, O Lord, what other Hive hast thou provided for us!_
I say, _Fourthly_, That the _Elder England_ will certainly and speedily
be Visited with the _ancient loving kindness_ of God. When one sees,
how strangely the Curse of our _Joshua_, has fallen upon the Persons
and Houses of them that have attempted the Rebuilding of the _Old_
Romish _Jericho_, which has there been so far demolished, they cannot
but say, That the _Reformation_ there, shall not only be maintained,
but also pursued, proceeded, perfected; and that God will shortly
there have a _New Jerusalem_. Or, Let a Man in his thoughts run over
but the series of amazing Providences towards the English Nation for
the last _Thirty Years:_ Let him reflect, how many Plots for the
ruine of the Nation have been strangely discovered? yea, how very
unaccountably those very _Persons_, yea, I may also say, and those
very _Methods_ which were intended for the tools of that ruine, have
become the instruments or occasions of Deliverances? A man cannot but
say upon these Reflec[40]tions, as the Wife of _Manoah_ once prudently
expressed her self, _If the Lord were pleased to have Destroyed us,
He would not have shew'd us all these things_. Indeed, It is not
unlikely, that the Enemies of the English Nation, may yet provoke such
a _Shake_ unto it, as may perhaps exceed any that has hitherto been
undergone: the Lord prevent the Machinations of his Adversaries! But
that _shake_ will usher in the most _glorious Times_ that ever arose
upon the English _Horizon_. As for the _French_ Cloud which hangs over
_England_, tho' it be like to Rain showers of _Blood_ upon a Nation,
where the _Blood_ of the Blessed Jesus has been too much treated as
an _Unholy Thing;_ yet I believe God will shortly scatter it: and my
belief is grounded upon a bottom that will bear it. If that overgrown
_French Leviathan_[111] should accomplish any thing like a Conquest of
_England_, what could there be to hinder him from the Universal Empire
of the _West?_ But the _Visions_ of the Western World, in the _Views_
both of _Daniel_ and of _John_, do assure us, that whatever Monarch,
shall while the _Papacy_ continues go to swallow up the _Ten Kings_
which received _their Power_ upon the Fall of the Western Empire, he
must miscarry in the Attempt. The _French Phaetons_ Epitaph seems
written in that, _Sure Word of Prophecy_.
[Since the making of this Conjecture, there are arriv'd unto us, the
News of a Victory obtain'd by the _English_ over the _French_, which
further confirms our Conjecture; and causes us to sing, _Pharaohs
Chariots, and his Hosts, has the Lord cast down into the Sea; Thy
right-hand has dashed in pieces the Enemy!_][112]
Now, _In the Salvation_ of England, the Plantations cannot but
_Rejoyce_, and _New-England_ also will _be Glad_.
But so much for our _Corollaries_, I hasten to the main thing designed
for your entertainment. And that is,