WICKED MEN COMPARED TO TilE DEVIL. Book IV. D I S P A R I T Y. AN Eagle hat!> many and excellent Properties, wherein there is a great Difparity between her and ungodly Meh; and upon this Account the Lord Jefus is con,. pared to an Eagle, and his Saints to Eagles; See Chrift an Eagle. wIcKED ME N COMPARED TO THE DEVIL. Have ltot I chofen you twelvs? and one of you is a Devil, John vi. 10. '!he Devil jhall caft fame of you into Prifon, &c. Re·v. ii. 10. yrLE and ungodly Men may in many refpeCts be compared unto the Devil him– felf. P A R A L L E L ~ I. THE Devil at fir£1: was formed or created by the Almighty; I do not fay, he was created a Devil, Sin made him a Devil, but God at fir£1: made him; he was created an Angel of Light: So God created wicked Men ; they are God's Crea– tures: Though God at fidt made no Man wicked : '!be L ord created M·a;, upright, but he bath fought out many Inventions, Ecclef vii. 29. It is Sin that hath made Man fo vile. I!. The Devil then"is grievoufly degenerated from what he once was; fo are wicked Men from -.yhat they were in Adam. Ill. ·The Devil is an Enemy to God ; he was God's fir£1: Enemy : So are wicked M·en curfed Enemies of God, and early Enemies roo : It is thought Man became (;od~ Enemy not many Days after Satan fell; he is almo!t as old an Enemy as the Devil is. IV. The Devil confpired like a vile Traitor again!l his lawful Sovereign: So have all 'the Ungodly ever done, and fiill daily do : They would not have God reign, nor his Laws be obeyed, &c. but would magnify themfelves, and their curfed Editts, above the righteous Laws and Statutes of H -.ven. V. The De1•il fins fredy, naturally, with full purpofe, and cannot bm fin: So– wicked Men fin freely, it is fweet and pleafant to them, it is like fweer Wine, Gt. They delight in Sin; their Hearts, as Solomon fays, are fully fer in them to do wick– edly: Ecclef viii. 11. '!hey drink in Iniquity, as the Fijh drinks FVater, Job xv. 16. Can the .!Ethiopian change his Min? then may they who are accuftomed to do Evil, learn to do well, Jer. xiii. 3· Hence faith, the Apofile, Having their Eyes full of Adultery, and that cannot ceafe f rom Sin, 2 Pet. ii. 14. VI. The Devil hates thofe that are truly godly, and feeks to beguile and deceive them: So wicked and ungodly Men hate the Saints, and !l:rive to entice and draw away their Hearts from God and his Ways. Hence, as Satan is called a Deceiver, and a Serpent, fo are fame of his Children. . VJI. The Devil's great Ddign is to encourage Vice and all Prophanenefs, and by one means or another to !crpprefs real Godlinefs: So this is the great Defign and En· deavor of fame wicked Men. VIII. The Devil is fo vile, that God feeth it necdl:1ry to lay a Re!traint upon .him, and pm him into Ch:Ens, or elfe the World would not have a Moment's Time of Peace and ~iet: So ungodly Men are fo much like the Devil in this, that God alfo fees the like need to re!l:rain them: For as the Devil is boundlefs in his Wrath, Rage, and Ma· lice again!t Mankind; fo are his curf<d Emi!faries again£1: their Fellow-Creatures< H ence God puts a Hook into their Jaws, and fets Bars to thefe fwelling Seas. IX. The Devil trembles at the Thoughts of God's Wrath, and dreads the Day that is coming : So do wicked Men fear him, not becaufe they love him, but becaufe they are his Enemies, and as fuch, they fear he will one Day reckon with them. X. The Devil tempts to Sin; he is not contented to be vile himfelf, but he would fain have others be vile and ungodly as well as he: So wicked Men tempt, entice, and draw others to Sin ; rhey are not content to be ungodly themfelves, but !l:rive to defile and corcupt others alfo. XI. The Devil is a Murderer, a great Murderer, and takes delight in !bedding of Blood, and m, king Delol•tion in the Earth, hence called a Lion, and a D 'agon : t< 1 Pet. v. 8. So wicked Perfecutors ate in this the very Pietme of the Devil, viz. great Murderers;
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=