Book 11 Chap.2.Se~ SECT. IV, Of tbe feveral medi>te ajfattll! tkat Sata;t at firjl cloth ma~e. 2· HE affaults medbtely, and by his aides. . He likes not that the Soul !ho Id . luvc .any rhoughts .of lra_ving him, or of coming to Chrill: The very ~1rft Mtdttalto1t grvcs all the I,gions or Hell an alarm, as it were ; they arc as much trou– bled at It as Herod and Jerujjlem were when they heard the news that Chrifl was born : and therefore they call in all their aids, and comrmnd them to !iifle rhofeho. Iy thoughts and contiderations. Thefe aids are either the World or Flei!t. I. By the Wor.ld / under/land impious, carnal, and unbdievino men with all their baits and enticements unto vmity; and all their difcouragemcuts0 , alllidions and mi– feries, wherewith they hinder Gods Children in travelling rho pHh of righteoufnefs, which le;,ds to Heaven: This Wicked World affault, us on bo:h fi.les; on the right hand It otfers us the bait ofplcafure. honours, riches, rhat thereby it may allure us to fwallow the hook of tin: it caft, before us golden Apples, that by /looping down to gather theRJ, ~< !hay hehindred in running the Citri/lian rJcc, and fo !of<: the Goal agd Gar!af)dot enrlaflmg Glory. On the left hand it cnc(}untcrsu; with Threats .Mi!Cries, Alllicbons Poverty, Ignominy; all which being t,rrible in the eye• of flefu and blood, fo tar prevail with feme, that they move them to make 01ipwrack ofFaith and a good Confcience. ' Methinks I imagine the World fpeaking to the Soul in fuch a language as this: Jf'bat jtrt111f,£"S are tbefe th.zt dijlurb our dwelling? h'"e not "" pJ[Jojl t!,it heart fo many yr,tzrJ? and m~fl we pow !lef)mr, and give up IIUJ' rMm to Evrreisnerr tb.tt ir.vade .< Comt, tak,.e up other tboughts of the fweet and pleafim of tbit World; lure Soul! ff'e offer thu wealth ; orif th~t will mt •lizm, thonjhalt havt "'"'"r; or if that r.>i.! mt prwaif, tbott fiJalt bave pleafore• As Balaiz dealt with B>laam, who tirtl fent undcr– Meifengers, and they not prevailing, he yet agaiu fcnt Princes, moc, and more hono– rable than they; and they came to Balaam, and faid unto him, 7but faith Ba!Jk the Numb, 22, rs, So11 of Zipper, let nothi11g I praJ thet,. hinder thee fi'om coming unto me, for I wzll · 16. promote thee •mto '"'Y great honour : fo faith the World, Let nothing, I pr~y thet, dz. vorce thee and me; for I will promote ther stnto very great IMnour. Or , if thefe allure• mcnts do not divert the Soul, bur /lill it confiders ; Ob, wb"t will become of me ifl the other wor/J! Then doth the World frown, and threaten, and boa(\ of his great tlrength ; then he ma1chetlJ again/! the Soul with all his Forces, fometimes hiding his Troops jn the ambulhments of worldly vamties; and fometimes drawmg out his Forcts in open view ; q. d, Come afftitliont! and come perfecztti•>LI! and /it ""tbit S•u! witbfo rce and violence I tvi!t it mcds r~n away frmll ut in tbc wayes of G,dtinef! >be you lik,s briars in the w.zy to bold it from goiJtg forwards; or bey "lik,s Tbomt 11ndcr it't fw to vex andtor~um it, that it may be u>eary iu it's jJaJf"!'.'· And, On, the vexations, grids,. fears, and torments, which the frowning World dcrts imo the Soul at tuch a time ! ~· By tpe Fle!h, I mean I)Ot the body and the fleOI thereof, b\lt that corru]'tion of nature ,.,.hieh hath defiled the Body and Soul, being fprcad and mixt with every part of both, even as the Light i< mixt with Darknds iA the twili15ht , or dawning of tht day ; hereby we.find our !elves prone to all.£in, .md ready to tnt,rtain all temp– rations, which promife the faci~fying the lulls o I the Fldh. This Eikm~ is called tbe old m.z11, t~o.told. Adam; the eartbly, caru.1J, n.-aurul nu,, ; tbc fi;t whzch u zubcrent, nd d'welletb in us; tbe adjoy•int. evil; tbe IJw of tbe Me,tbcrs ; the lrdt of tbe Fltjh =~bi&h fightagai11jl tbeSo:sl. As Satan isthe r;athcr, fo thd:cfll is ti>c motherof fin, which receivmg Sataus temptations mto a fruttful worr.b, cloth contuuic, aounih, •nd bring forth fin. . . . . , . Now as this is another,of Satans aids, fo methmks I Imogme the tle!h befpea~lllg the Soul in this Of the like kind{ ' Jf?'b.tt manfUl' of commuuic;ti.;;z if tbi.r, wbicb tbate baft witb my enemy? Aregodly thougbu foitable to dwell with "':' Cr 11 fi: dJwn rritb me' Am 1101 I tb] fc!fi Cor.cebed, and bom, and brozt;.br "P rvitb tby fclf? And mlt thon now flltertain an Enemy, either to weak,sn, O>' dejlro)' me i I cannot cnd•re any th,.,gbt. ttndmg
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