A .PraCiical Expojition upon _us as a Devil, he can quickly fhift his Shape, and transform himf.:lf imo an Angrl of Lrghr, and engage our \'ety Confciences umo Evil; he c:m difgu;fe his Temptations imo lmpulf~.;s of the Holy Spiri1, perfuade us that what l1e promprs us to is ou r Duty, head hh Fiery Darts wirh Scripture Scntenca, wr<lp up his Poifon in rhe Leaves of the Bible, and wound our Souls by our Confci ences; and certainly Ibis Devil of Light is now gone Abroad into the World with all that Powe r of Dece ivableneiS he can, and we ca~nor bur with Sad and J3leeding Hearrs obferve his too Gem.ral Prevalency and Succefs: And befides all this, he is continually prefem wirh us, b llows us up and down where-ever we go, and is always ar our Elbow to prompt us ro El'il and at our Right Hand to oppofe us in that which is Good. liell harh Em-[f!arics e~ough to afford eve1y Man a 't!i"end fur his Attendant; and thcfe critically obfen•e every Glance of thine Eyes, every Fla!h of thy Pa!lions, and are prefently ready to apply iilitable Temp1a1ion.r unto thee, and 10 ihike thee in that' Parc of thy Soul which is fofreft, and r:nofi yieldi!Jg: _And as the Syrians that were fenr by Benbadad tO the King of I(rad to mtercede for htm, watched every Word that !hould f11l from his Moutn that they might lay hol~ of it to obtain fJrth~r Favour tfom . h~m, fa thefe Spies of 1Jicll do watch e\•ery Kmd Word, and every Kmd Look. of thtne towards Sin, and want no Skill to improve them to obrain yet greater Matters from thee. Now if God did not appear to deliver us from thefe Suhril Wiles and Metbod.r of the Devil, how foon wo4ld he make Fools of the Wife!! and mofl Experienced Chriilbns? Secondly, Confider the Mighty Difadvanwges that we lye under m oppofe the Tcmptiuiotu of the Devil, which though they be many and grear, yet I fhall name but Two, which may be !ound even in the Betl of Men. Firrt, Our Inadvertency and Heedlefnefs, through whiCh \\'e are often fur prized into Sin, and captivated by the Cunning Crafiinefs ofour En~mics, which lye in wait to deceive. How feldorh is it that we fiand upon our Guard, or if we do, that we a1e compleatly arm'ed? Sometimes our Shield, fometimi:s our Helmet$, fomerimes our Swo1·d of the Spirit, is wanting. How feldom i"sit that we attend all the Morions of the Enemy ? Indeed a Chriftian fl10uld look round about him, for he is every where beft:t and encompaffed abcut with Enemies; and whilfr. he is vigilant to ward one Part, the Devil falfifies his Thruit, and wounds him in another: BU[ if he can~ not wound on the Right Hand by Prifumpticn, he will uy what he can do on the Left by Difpair; if he tJnnot prevail Py his Temptations to caufe us to neglefl: and caft ofF Holy Duties, he will tempt us to Pride our felves in rhe well performing of them; if h.: cannQ[ make us fall, he will tempt us to be High-minded becaufe we Uand and fo make our very [hnding the Occafion of our Wotul downfal; and becaUre' we are apt to think our felves better than others, he will tempt us tO be Super~ cilious Defpifers and ~ntemners of others. Now, 0 Chrifiiao, tt is a very hard Matter, and thou wilt find it fo, thus to turn thee about to every Affaulr; and that Man had need to have his Spiritual Senfes well exerdfed that !hall be able dexrroufly to do it. Now when lo gtear Circumfpe8ion is iCarce iUfficient for our Security, -how can they poffibly ekape without fearful Wounds and Gafhes in their Confciences, who are fupincly negti~ent of their Souls, and mind not which Way their Thoughts, their Paffions, their Afle8ions, endine, and fo give the Devil a Hand~e. to turn their Souls by which Wa.r he will~. Cenai~ly if we do not buckle our Sp1ntual Armour clofe·to us, but fuffer the Jotnts of 1t by ou r Heedlefnefs to lye opeR, the Devil may eafily wound qs whereiOever, and in wlurfoever, Pare he pleafeth. And truly, if through this Inadvertency, and Want of CircumiPe8:ion, Adam in the Srate of Innocency, and the State of Uprighrnefs, i~ll. when the Devil had no immediate AccefS or Admitlion imo the Inward Fa· culties and Powets of his Soul, yet if Satan, who was ·hut a Young, Unprafticed and Unexpcrienced, Devil, collld prevail with him by his Wiles to ruin himfelf, and to betray thegrat Trull which God had depofired in his Hands for all his Po!lerity, hew much greater may we think is his Advamage over us, into whom he rriay infinuare himfdf and his Temptationt, and when we are bufie about other Things, (hike and wound us at unawa1es? Secondly, Befides this Inadvertency the D•vil hath another Grand Advantage to lead us inro Evil; and that is hecaufe we are naturally prone, and_enclined of our felves to rhofe very Sins to which he tempts us. It is very hard fo r that Place to elCapd that bath Enemies without, and Traywrs within: So fiands the Cafe with us, we are not only beleaguer'd, but betray'd; there are in our Hearts Mulritudc l
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