GurnotlJ Chrij!ian AT· mour. Book ll. OOli\t lbith 3IDtbil~. Chap.i.. Se&~~ and •mdtr Satans power? and ,{T!all I contim~e ;,; thii ]late? is nut the frr>eet Govtr~· tnCitt of Chrift a tboufand timu ketlcr than the Tyrunny of Sllta11? and is not Chri]h Rtwards a tholtfand tboufaml timc1 better tban the Devil! TYaecr.? What, ir not Heaven better thaJt Hel!? And ~i~ I >tot [m!mifi to fight ttnder CbriJ/s Banner againft the World, Fle{h, aJtd Devtl? How u tt then tbat I have fcrved him thll< lang? aJtd that yti he leadr me C•ptive at hi&>vill and pleajim 1 what if this night I fhould leave this World in tbil Jlatel what rro:tld become of me to all Eternity? cottld I be content to lofe God and Chrift,. and the )~Y above, a>td to dwell "'ith Devils, and R.eprobatef, and all tb,fe in[er· na! Funds below 1 Confider, 0 my Soul, and have fad tbonghu on thefi wcil!,hiy ai:d e· ver/Jjlmi!, affatrJ; faraJ the Tree falleth, f• it muft !Jie for ever andever. This or the like cmd:ideration, is the Devils Alarum : now is he o.ceafioned to bef!ir himfelf, or he fets he;s gone; and therefore, as a Gyant awoke out of lleep, l1e rou<eth and !hakes himfelt, and befets the Soul with thefe feveral Temptations followiftt• SECT. I I I. Of the fever•/ immediate aJ!ault! th•t Sata11 at firft dotb mak[. His A!faults in this-cafe are either immediate, or mediate ; by him!Cif, or aids. r. He aifaults by himfelf, either by removing thofe pious thouglm tending to Holincfs, or by injdling fuch impious thoughts as .tend to Wickednefs. 1. He end~avoms to remove pious thoughts. q. d. Wh.1t do tb<fe Jlrangcrs here? how come tbefe Guejls intomy houfe &nd dwelling without my lc,ve? are tbefi fit compani– ons for the Soul wl"re I bear rltlei away with them, jbm them out of door!, fvr I cannot wdzl>'e tbem in my Territories. 2· He injects impious thoughts inf!ead of good , thefe are the Darts which he throws into the Soul at pleafure; and now is he rnof! bulie, !ell the Soul want work to bulie it felf witha_l. By his g10d will, (faith one) the Soul /hmld "" have a thought of Heaven or Hell from one end of the wee~(_ to the other; and that he m<y have as [err> as may he, be k._trps him (ieU banded with work..: tbejinnrr grinds, and hcis jilli•g the hoper, that tbt Mill may n•t /land fli/1: he i1 with the finner as foon as he ,-,ak$r, and fills his wretched He'.J;..t with fome wick$d thoughts; and all the day lo~tg be watcheth him , and injell$ m;rc illtbottJ_bts; a11d at night li~e a careful Jaylor he lock,} him up again in hi1 Chamb,., :witb more bolts andfetters ttpon him, notfieffering him to jleep as be lyu in bir bed, till he bath done fom~ mi[cbief. Before l proceed, I !hall propound thefe Q!ielliOflS. 1 • whether Satan knows our thoughts? 2. Whether Satan can /hut the door that• good thoughts may not enter ? 3. Whether Satan can at pleafure inject liAful thoughts, and fo fet,on the Soul to imbrace them, and to tamper with them? 1 • whether Satan ~nows our thoughts? I Anfwer; As thOllgl:ts are taken llricrly, limply, or meerly for conceits, apprehenlions, meditations, difcufhons,_ deliberations, which the tmderf!anding or mind in and by it [elf, or by the help ot fancy frames within it felf, they are not known unto Satan: but as thoughts arc taken largely, con juncrly, or as th•y are accompanied and waited on with the ttirred up Images ofthe fancy, aud pailions of the body; fo our thoughts, as well a; words and actions, are known to Satan. Now I mu£! confefs, few thoughts are in us, but they flir up the fan– cy or fome affection of fear, or joy, or grief, or fome fuch like ; and thcr~forc in that refpect we have very few though~s but they a~e known to Satan. That Satan hathan i.nlight into the fancy and the 1rna~es thereH) , there .•s no doubt; and that S1tan hath an inlight into the pailions, wh,ch are but the flowmg and reflowmg of Corp?ral Spirits, the mof! will grant; it mull therefore flecds foiJo,.,, that howfoever the Hn• rnedbte acts which are immanent in the Soul it felf are utterly hidden from SataJl, 1 et as thofc ads do nanllre, and appear, and are put forth in the Body and Corporeal Organs, either outwardly in actions, or inwardly in the images of the timcy, or in the pa!lions, fo they may be di!cerned and known by Satan. 2 • whether Satan can /hut the door , that good thoughts may enter? I anfwcr, in nat'ural men, as yet unregenerate, he may fhut the common gate of the fancy, ihat no good thoughts fhall enter in that way ; and the reafon is, becaufe the De– vil hath the Keys in his own hands of all the Rooms, next to the Privy Chamber; he rule, there, and locks , or unlocks at his plcafuru !'or the better under!landmg of th1s,
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