Baxter - BT767 B28 1662

.Part II~ 129 . 12 . But if all thefe witne!fes will not·ferve youl wha! fuall we fay to you? Whom will you choofe to be your Coufellor? There is none left that I remember, unlefs you will go the De'l!il f0r ad· vice. Bet againfi this I have told you enough before:Will he fpeak for Ho/i11e[J that is a fpirit ofuncleannefs ; and will he lhew rhea Heaven that laboureth purpofely to hide it fro.m thee,till thouhave Iofi it?Or will he let thee fee thr. odioufnefs and danger of thy fins when it is the fnare and bait by which hehop~th to undo thee;But: yet for all this,let me tell thee, that thou may!l: learn even from -the Tempting Emmy himfdf, the Truth of that which I am now - alferting. .For as the Devil himfelf believeth it, 'when he per– fwad.eth thee not to believe it; fo the verynatureand WJanner of hisTcmpttitio11s,may help .thee to perceive t~at Hellven is ~t rainable, and Holimfs is the only way. Would he make fo much ado about it, to keep rhee from the believing it, and feeking it, if there were not aHeaven for thee to find ? why is he fo eager to ~raw thee unto fin, if fin be not httrtful to thee? Doft th0u not feel the importunity of his Temptations? Its eafie to obferve . them. Why is he fo muc;h much againfi a Holy doti:riae, and a Hol y1ifc,and a Holy people, ifit were not that he knows theNe– cefihy and worth of Holinefs for thy good ? The actions of a Knowing Ememy, may do very much to acquaint us with the truth. Befides this, he bath oft appeared in bodily {hapes (as I am ab.le to prove by undenyable evidence;) forne time to en– tice men to fin, and fornetime to be Gods executioner to' afflict them for it, and fornetime to make a Covenant with witches and Conjurers for their fouls, as many a hqndred of them have con– fcfi'ed at their death. , And why fuould he be fo defirous of thy foul, if thou hadfi none to lofe ? or fo defirous to deceive thee, ~nd deprive thee of falvation, if there were none for thee to lofe? and if this were not the chief coneernment of thy foul, why fbould thy c;hiefenemy fo much regard ·it? Thou feefi that . he is no t fo careful to deprive thee of thy· fldhly pleafnre: He careth not how much thou hafl: of this : The more the glutton is p~ea fed with hischear, and the more the drunkard del ightcth in hts cups, and the more the fornicator is pleafed in his filthinefs, and every voluptuous perfon in .his voluptuonfne!s, the D .: vil is pl.eafed fo much the more. He carfs not if thou have all the ~mgdorns of the world, if he can deprive thee of the Everlafl.. tn ~ Kingdom ~ Nor will he grudge thee the glory and honou r of . s - .. th ~

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