Chap. 31. Ass Expo/hion upon the Booke of J o B. %rert 33 693 ning Serpent, he cameupon me unawares and inticed mee with faire promifcs,and fo I did eate.This was a truth,the Serpent had indeed beguiled her ; What the woman fayd, was true enough, that the Serpent had beguiled her, but what thee intended in lay- ing fo, wasnot true, Namely, that thee was therefore to be exca- fed becaufe fo beguiled. Yea this very excufe accufed her, and íhe was`defiled by that which the thought would purge her. Now as I (hewed before, that there is loch a tinfoil principle in man to chargehis fin on God, fo I (half now thew that there is a common praéiife among men to charge their fin upon the Devil!. The meereaft ofcharging finupon God isabominable, and the intent with which tome charge fin upon the Devil! is ve ry tinfoil. I doe not fay that it is finfull for any one that bath finned to charge his fin upon the Dcvill ; for the Devil! is, in fome fence, the authour ofall fin, as havingbrought it firtl into the world ; he is the father of (yes and the furtherer of lyes, as alío ofall other fumes, to theutmoft that he can. Now becaufe the Devils bath fo neere and fo !bong a relation to every fitine, we may therefore charge all our fins upon him, and doe him no wrong at all; bat the intent ofcharging fin upon the Dcvill may be very finfull. To doe it as the womandid it,and as many at this day doe it with hope todifcharge themfelves, this is a fin, this is to cover our eranfgreflions as Eve and while we fence thus to cleare our felves from the guilt of fin, we fallen and fixe it the more upon our confciences,and the more provoke God to wrath againft usfor it. There are many (asbath been anciently noted) dYlc:({r eonfe,gi- who wave or avoyd the confeffionof their fins,and make it their or p>eccati }w. bufinefre to accule, and cry out of the Devil!, Oh the Devil!, this giunr, ur ¡Plum fahee Serpent, this roaring Lion, he, he bathdeceived ue , he hath sat" "" accrr pent ; (e enact* prevailed upon tet.yye wereneither wife enough to difcerne hia rrïler, riff! rraii fe. norfrong enough to refill hie force. Thus they fpeake, hoping to cite dicktit, unburden themfelves byit. Angaft: But let no man thinke to excufe himfclfe by aced-jog the De- vill ; For though Sathan cloth much in canting every man to fin, yet he cannot force any man to fin ; though Sathan tempt us to fin, and allures the will ftrotigly to it , yet he cannot make any man fin whether he will or no.Though Saran may tempt us whe- ther we will or no, yet he cannot overcome us in any temptation unleffe wee our felves will. And, until! wee ycild our content (which,
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