tation that a child of God meets withal, but he may improve it to more affarance. As thus:

Surely, If I were the Devils own, he would never trouble me thus. When the ftrong man keeps the house, all is at peace, and all is at quiet. Now ever fince, from the very first day that I have fer my face towards Heaven, and Chrift; Oh! how have I been troubled, and tempted, and perplexed, and vexed in my fpirit? Surely therefore, I am none of the Devils. Now if I had been his own, I fhould have been more quiet under him: but because I am thus troubled, I hope in the Lord I am none of the Devils, I am the child of God. Thus a man my improve.

And, Oh! what a good thing were it, if we did make improvement of our temptations! what gracious improvement might we make of all our temptations? and what a bleffed iffae might we have in our temptations, if we did go unto Chrift for fuccour.

I beseech you therefore in the Lord, when as any temp. tation arifes, go unto Jefus Chrift, he is a fuccouring Christ, He hath National fuccours; and he bath Family fuccours; and he hath perfonal fuccours: You have National temptations; and you have Family temptations; and Perfonal temptations: Soul temptations; temptations you have when you are alone. Therefore go unto Chrift for fuc

cour.

To conclude, I beseech you (beloved in the Lord) go to Chrift and try him, put him to it: The greater your temptation is, the more fit work for Chrift to cure: do not defpair,do not fit down ; go to Jefus Chrift, you fhal find him better than I have spoken, you fhall not find him worfe; he will go beyond my words, he will not fall fhort of my words. As the Devil goes about like a roaring Lyon, feeking whom he may devour: So Jefus Chrift in the Gofpel, goes up and down with his Succour, fecking whom he may accour. Go to him for fuccour: and the God of peace, even Jefus Chrift himself, tread down Satan under our feet fhortly.

And the Lord faid, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath defired to have you that he may fift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.

A

FTER our greatest injoyments of God, ufually follow the greatest temptations of Satan. And therefore our Saviour fpeaks thefe words unto his Difciples. In the 19. verfe of this Chapter, we find them at the Lords Supper with Chrift himself; This is my body which is given for you; This do in remembrance of me. Having received the Supper with Chrift himself, and having had fweet Communion with him there, our Saviour gives them out a moft gracious and bleffed Promife, at the 28, 29, & 30. verses, Te are they which have continued with me in my temptations, and 1 appoint to you a Kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me: that ye may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and fit on tbrones judging the twelve tribes of Ifrael. Having faid thus unto them; He comes in the very next words to acquaint them with a great temptation that was coming down upon them all and therefore thefe words are Koit together with the former by the word And; And the Lord faid, Simon, Simon, bebold, Satan bath defired. Though you have had this Communion with me; and though I have made

you

Doct.

you this gracious and bleffed promife, know, that there is a great ftorm of temptation coming down upon you.

Here are two things: The Danger of the temptations; and the Remedy against it. The Danger in the 31. and the Remedy in the 32. verfe. In the 31. verfe we have confiderable, The Tempter; called Satan, which fignifies an Adver fary. The Tempted; and thofe are, noc Simon only, but al the Difciples. Satan bath deftred you: 'tis in the plural number: he directs his fpeech unto Simon, but the temptation fpreads larger upon all the Difciples: That be may fift

you.

Queft. I

Answ. 1.

The Manner of the temptation, in Two expreffions: Satan bath Defired you: according to the Original word, Satan hath challenged you into the field; as one man does another: And hath defired you, that he may fift you as wheat, and leave you nothing but chaffe. Plainly then, here is this Observation.

The Lord Jefus Chrift does give leave fometimes unto Satan, to tempt and winnow his own and beft Difciples; Chrifts own, and beft Difciples are expofed to Satans temptings, and winnowings: not Peter only, but James, and John, and all the beloved Difciples of Jefus Chrift were expofed here unto Satans winnowings. He hath defired Ton, in the plural number, not thee Pe ter only, but you all my Difciples, that he may fift you as wheat.

For the cleering and making out of this Truth, I fhall labour do difcover.

Fira, What great power Satan bath to tempt, moleft, and annoy the children of men.

Secondly, That he puts forth this power especially upon the Saints, Chrifts own and beft Difciples.

Thirdly, How he comes by this power, and why God the Fa ther gives him this Leave. And fo to the Application. Firft, if ye ask me, What power Satan bath to infeft, moleft, and thus to tempt the children of men?

I answer, First, ye know that Satan is an Angel ftill;

and

and being an Angel, he is a Superiour creature to man, and therefore, according to the rank of Creation he hath a great deal of power over man. Man hath a great power over the beafts, for man is a Superiour. The beasts have a great deal of power over the herbs, and the graffe, for the beaft is the Superiour. The Angels by Creation are Superiour to man; Satan, though fallen, is an Angel ftill according to the rank of Creation, therefore he muft needs have a mighty power over the children of

men.

But he is not only a Superiour creature, but also a more Spiritual creature than man, he is a fpirit and upon that account, he is more able to come within man, to close with a mans foul and fpirit: being spirit himself, he is more able to converfe with; to clofe and get within our fouls and spirits.

Thirdly, He is able to fuggeft unto man whatsoever he plea. fes, and to caft in a thoufand finfull objects into a mans mind one after another.

Yea, and he being fo well experienced, having ftudied man for many thousand years: having gotten in all these years fo much tempting skill and policy, he is able to dif cern what that bait is, that will take fooneft with the children of men, according to their Natures, Conflitutions, Complexions, Ages, Sexes, &c.

Further, He is not only able to prefent and fuggeft; but he is also able to follow his fuggeftions. It is faid, That be ftood up, and provoked David to number the people: he did not only prefent that evil unto David, but he did folicite, he provoked David to number the people (faies the text.)

He is not only able thus; but he is able alfo, to bemire the phanfie, to raise ftorms in that lower region: A mans foul Cye know) it works by organs, it works by the body, and by the phanfie: now Satan being able to disturb the phanfie of a man, is thereby able alfo, to hinder the very operation of the foul.

He

2.

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5.

6.

7.

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He is able to hold down a mans mind unto that particular thing,and to cut off al relief to the foul; fo to befiege it, that unless relief comes immediately from Heaven, he is able to bow down a mans mind, and to hold it down unto that particular.

Laftly, Satan hath fo great a power, that the fame words that are given unto God, and unto the holy Ghoft for good in Scripture, are given alfo unto Satan for evil. The holy Ghoft is faid to enlighten a man: Satan is faid for to blind bim, The god of this world bath blinded their eyes; faies the Apoftle. The Spirit is faid to Rule in us; Satan is faid, To rule in the children of disobedience. The holy Ghoft is faid, To work in us mightily, the fame word is ufed for Him alfo. The holy Ghoft is faid, To fill the hearts of Beleevers; They were filled with the holy Ghoft: So are mens hearts faid, To be filled with Satan: Saies Peter to Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart? Indeed, there are three things especially, wherein he does fall fhort: for though Satan is able to difcern what temptations would take beft with a man, yet he don't know mans thoughts, for God only is the knower of ones thoughts; that is Gods prerogative. And though Satan may work very effectually in the children of difobedience, yet notwithstanding, he does not work with an Almighty power. When the Lord converts a man, he puts forth an Almighty power in mans converfion. The fame power (faies the Apostle) that raised up Chrift from the dead, makes ye to beleeve. The Devil is Magnipotent (laies Luther) but not Omnipotent: the Devil may be very powerful, but he is not Almighty: neither does he put forth an Almighty power in his temptations, as God does in the converfion of a finner. And though he may fuggeft, and provoke unto what is evil, he cannot force, or determine any man to evil. And therefore faies the Apoftle Peter, why bath Satan filled thine heart? he asked Ananias that question, because Satan, though he did fill his heart, he could not have forced, or determined him without his own will thereunto. But very powerful Satan is. In the 6. chapter to the Ephefi

ans,