to the E P H E S I A N S. .57 of Dark_neji; that is, the Devil, who is the Power of Darknefs, bath over me, by means of you. . . Now, my Brethren, it is a Spirit likewife, which (if the godly-w1fe do heed– fully obferve,) may be difcerned. The Apoll:Ie fauh fo much: Do you not fee it work, faith he, in the Children of D1fobedtcnce? You may fee tt by the Nature and Carriage of thmgs, tha.t Satan car<tes them on. And fo much for the Interpretation of thofe words, The Spil"it that workgtb. powers~ ~ I come to the Time, Tbat now workgth. Some put it for etiamnum, that !till worketh : but I think that is not the meaning of it, for it refers to that prefent Spirit that then was, which,as I faid, Satan was the Prince of: Which now workgth. It may havo relation alto to the T1mes of the Gofpel, m compar~fon of former Times. In Joh" I0.4I. fatth Chnft, Now_u the Judgment of thu World: That is, Now is the Time ofthe Gofpel, when th1s World 1s to be reformed, and the 'Prmce of tbJ World i1 caft 0111. Now, becanfe_ that 1s the [now J. when the Prince of this Wo:rld is caft out; therefore th1s IS the [now J whereni the De– vil being caft out, being v~xed, raifeth up a Spirit in the Children of Difobedi– ence. And he is more active a thoufand ttmes, than he was m the Old Tefta– ment. It is true, Satan under the ~ew Te((ament, bath lefs Power than he had under the Old;· for the Kingdom ofCbri(( cometh (till more and more upon him, and fpoils his Plots, eats them out; but yet his activenefs, his working is more by far. And the rcafon is this, becaufe the Devil is enraged ; for (till as Chri(( goes, and cares him out of his Kingdom, or ·out of Mens Hearts, the more he rageth. In Mar4 9· 26. when the unclean Spirit was to be care out, the Text faith, He cried, and rent him fore. And in Rev. I2. 12. when the Devil, toot great Dragon, was cafl: out, thrown from Heaven, it is faid, He i1 come dowir, having great Wrath, becanfe he knoweth he hath but a.Jhort time : And if he had milli– ons of Years, they would be a !bort time to him. But when he faw himfelf thrown down, it was to him as the beginning of the Day of Judgment, which he thinketh is approaching. And mll, my Brethren, the more he is confounded, the more he is enraged, and the more active he is ; therefore he faith, The Spi># that now workgth. You !hall fee this, by comparing t~e Inftruments he cloth employ in one Age, and in others fucceffively, that come after. In Rev. 9· there comes out of the bottomlefs Pit, a Company of Locurcs, whofe King was the Devil ; thefe were, as fome think, the Saracem ; or, as others, thofe preaching Friars, that were fome. hundreds of years ago, fent abroad to uphold the Pope's King– dom. For my part, I think, the Holy-Gho(( did carry on the Story of both, even in that tirO: part of the Prophecy. Now you !hall find in Rev. I 6, when Antichi1(( cometh to his la(( Ca((, his Agents then are not Locufl:s, but [ Frog1,] and fo raifed, that they are called Spirit1, becaufe they are mote nimble and active than thofe Locufts were, (for the Devil fl:ill, as his Time grows fhdrter and fhorter, begins to work more furiou(]y, and more fiercely, be((irs himfelf more in the Spirits of Men.) Thofe Locu((s were too dull Creatures, therefore now he hath Frogs, he meaneth the Jefuits, who are a nimble Company of Men, Men ofSpirit, full of activenefs, th~t can like Frogs leap into King's Chambers, and can be in the Water, and on the Land, deal in Church, and deal in Common– Wealth; and thefe he calleth Spirits. TheLocurcs, I fay, thofe preaching Friars, they were too dull for his turn, now in this la(( Care. And, my Brethren, it is good to learn of an Enemy : Still as our time draws . fhorter, let us work the more. Exhort 011e another, (faith he, Hcb. Io. 28.) and Jo mllch the more, aJ·ye fee the Day approaching. And if you will have it more full, I Cor. 7· 29. The Time -k jhort: Therefore let us improve it to'the uttermorc. The ·Devil, you fee, cloth fo ; he acteth and worketh more now than he did before, becaufe he knoweth he bath but a fhort Time. And fo much now for the Time. I have now nothing to fpeak to, but the Perfons : That workgth in the Ghiltlten •f Difobedience, I mufl:, as I ufe to do, a little open the Phrafe. · 1i
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