Temptations to Èvil, not from God: S E R M. fions, fatal to their fouls, which tend to;. I. and iffue in their death or final deftru Lion. It is of great importance to know whence this danger arifeth, that being duly apprifed of it, we may be upon our guard againft it, in order to preferve our integrity that we may attain at the Taft to the true end of our being, and the end of our faith, the per- feftion of righteoufnefs and the falvation of our fouls. The fcripture in many of its de- clarations fpeaketh of an envious and wick- ed being, or rather a multitude of them, who having early made defection from their duty, and lifted themfelves in a rebellion againft the divine government, and having left their fir/t happy habitation, are referved in chains under darknefs to the judgment of the great day. In the mean time they are permitted by providence to go to and fro through the earth, and walk up and down in it, as fatan is reprefented as fpeaking con- cerning himfelf in the book of yob; and we are told their principal employment, a very wicked one, is to draw men into fm. They, being rebels againft God, and molt malicious enemies to mankind, are the con - duEtors of the oppofition to goodnefs in this earth, and tempters ; rather, to make the enmity appear the more formidable, they are repre-
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