to the Ep HEs I A N s~ 2 5 at lea!l:, he doth a great deal of hurt that way, therefore he carries them in one r:s~ Stream (ways them, bows them one way. I !hall gtve you an In!l:ance for it. ~ When Popery was to be let up, it is faid Rev. q. 3· that a!/. the World wondm.d after the Beaft. Nay in R<V. I7. q. It ts Cud, that the Kmgs of the Earth dtd agree togive their 'Power 11nto the 'Ber,ft, the maddell: AB: that coul~ be, for Kmgs FO fubjeB: their Power to the Pope.. They were no.way con!l:ram cl :o tt, tt was but a tacit Agreement: What was the real011? Wh the Devtl was m t. So chap. I3. v. 4 . The Dragon, the Devil~ gavethat po":er he had in the Roman Empire, unto the Pope, and tnade the Kmgs of the E~rth thus to agree, to be all 0f one mind. and fo he [wayed the World thus one w&y, that the whole World rari wond~ring after the Beafi. The Devii,I fay,hath a mighty hand in this. When all the Coals lie together, they make a great Fire; but tf Bellows come, they m.ke the Fire much more intenfe. . . _ . .. Jn the fecond place; You may confider thefe words, not fimply, but, as the World is a great caufe ofprevailing upon the hearts of men : Take you Epheft.ans ftnglY.,J•" waikgd, faith he, a;cordmg to the co11rjC ofthe World•. Every c:arnal man fquareth his courfe to it, he IS earned down Wtth the fiream. . The ~otld, as I (aid is a Sea wherem all men may find themfelves to be of a hke nature, and a– gre~ in the fame lufis. Now take a carnal Man,when he grows up in this Wor1d from a Child, he is as a Drop m that Sea, he mmgleth m that Sea; and whtch way the Sea goes,hegoes with it: he findsthem fuitable tO his Principles,and the World finding himfititable to them, hugs lum, tmbraces htm :. ahd thus tt comes to that mighty Power and Prevalency, efpcctally Satan workmg toge-ther wtth tt. And men ar~ apt to pltale others, to live to the lufls of men, 1 Pet. 4· 2. to receive ho– nour one !roni another, ']oh. 5· 44· and the exampl<s of the mofi; tor what the mofl do, a\1 will do : Thefe have great inAuences upon men. Therefore Man be– ing a \ociable creature .she is,. he goes with t,he Drove of the reHof Mankind ; and the World being be~ore htm, and havmg been always before lnm,. he grows up to it, is moulded mt<i tt, and fo IS carttcd wtth the fiream, that cameth to Per– dition and DeflruB:ton. It IS a hard matter therefore, my Brethren, to be con– verted and turned toGod; it is hard for a man tocome out ofthis World, to1\vim againfi this fircam, to bear the contradiction of!inners; as it is C1id ofChrifl, Heb· I2. to be a Man alone, a Wonder to the World, for the World will obferve any thing that differs from them: It is a hard matter to be crucified ro t!Lis World, the meaning is, the World when a M,m leaveth it,. and forf:tketh it in any of the Common Courfes of it,looks upon him as a loft Man, let him have never [o much Learning, as 'Paul had. And Co much fora fecond Obfervation. A third Obfervatipn is this, that the general courfe of mofi Men in the World, Obferv. '• they are Courfcs, whicp if a Man 'viillive by, he !hall be an unregenerate Man; ' Let the World be never fo refined !till, let a Man be made never (o much a Temporary Believer (for the Truth is, the World bath had many Refinement•, and new Fafl1ions and Dreffes put upon it lihce this Ephijian World, wherein the Devil was worfhipped) yet fl:ill there fhalll:ie fo much of carnal Principles left, which if a Man walk by, he fha\1 be no better than an unregenerate Man; for !1ere he defcribeth their Unregeneracy by walking according to the courfe of this World. Chrifidifiinguifheth in that L11/.c 16.8. The Children of this World, from the Children of Light. It is therefore called the prefent evil World. There· fore Chrifi that made a Prayer for his Dilciples to the end ofthe World ( for he prayed not only for IllS Apofiles but for all that fhould believe in his Name) k[:ep them (faith he) from the Evil that is in thi.f World: And in I ']oh.s .t9. The whole World !;eth in Wickgdnefi: And therefore every where you have oppofed the things of God, and the things of Men ; Thou .flvOHreft 11ot the things ofGod, b11t the things ofMm, faith Chrifl: to Peter, Mat.16.23. Though the Spirit ofthe World, and the Spirit of God are oppofed, I Cor. 2. 13. T/Jc t/Jings ibat are ~n great ejleem l'vit~ Men, are an AbominatiOn 11nto God, Luk. 16. 1 5· That.iS, not bur that the World may turn to many things that are good, but !till there !hall he fomething left, tliat lfa Man will walk according to the Latitude, according to to the mofi, he !hall be an unre!(cnerate Man, he !hall cry up that which is A. bominable unto God. · Therefore my Brethren, take it for a certain Sign ofan unregenerate Eflate, tdbe carried thus along with the Stream, and to oe moulded • * D . tO'
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