Certainly there is a hellish power in men's souls that bolts the door to keep out Christ, and strives to keep his old possession. O the multitude of subtle and fierce temptations, by which the great adversary keeps up his kingdom! And what a stir there is before a soul is recovered from his power. Truly all faithful ministers of the Gospel, who are Christ's ensigns, and are employed under him for the carrying on of his war, have so great experience of a satanical opposition to their message and labours and to Christ himself, that I should think they need no other evidence of the enmity, for the repelling of any temptation to the contrary. O the painful life that faithful pastors are put to by the mere opposition of the serpent to their labours! What work doth he make them! What work of theirs doth he mar! What studies and earnest endeavours doth he frustrate; and cause them oft to lie down in sorrow and say, "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" How oft doth he send them home with tears, for the ignorance, and sensuality, and obstinacy of their people; and make those our enemies for telling them saving truth, who are obliged by so many bonds to entertain it! Yea, how many ancient, laborious ministers do see so little fruit of their labours, that even in old age and at death, they are almost ready to cry out, in the grief of their hearts, 'We have laboured in vain, and spent our strength for naught!' Never can we speak to a poor sinner for his conversion, but Satan within him speaks and pleads against us, and ordinarily shuts his ears, and hardens his heart against all that we can say. Never do we stand up in public to speak to people for their conversion in the name of the Lord, but Satan stands up against us, and contradicteth us. When we think we have such clear demonstrations that no man can gainsay them, they are not convinced. When we speak as plain as we are able, they understand us not, but we are to them as barbarians. When we beseech them in the name of Christ, they yield not. When we tell them, it is the adversary that dissuadeth them, and make it appear that it is for their ruin, and that it is filth and dung that they sell Christ and the hopes of salvation for: yet doth it not prevail to take them off from the ways that apparently lead to their destruction, nor to cause them to entertain the counsel of Christ. Many a time have I been so confident of the clearness of the cause, that I should have made no question of prevailing, at least so far as to bring men to consideration, and to the use of means for their further information,

if it had not been the power of Satan that did withstand us. Such an evident folly and unreasonableness is there in the ways of Satan and sin, that one would think less ado might serve to persuade men of reason from them unto Christ. It were strange if ministers that live in this warfare, and spend their time and strength in it, and suffer so many knocks and hard usages from the enemy, should not be convinced, and thoroughly convinced, that such a war there is, and that Satan is the resolved enemy of Christ.

Sect. XI.

Yet further, the devil's enmity against Christ is apparent in his contrary precepts and persuasions. The ways that he would draw men to are as contrary to Christ's ways as darkness is to light, and death to life. Hence is the conflict that preachers have with him in their ministry, and all men in their hearts and lives, that will escape him. What truth of Christ, especially that is practical, doth not Satan malign, and stir up men to contradict? What one holy duty doth Christ command, which Satan doth not incessantly oppose, and seek to draw us from?

If you ask, 'How is this manifest that Satan useth such endeavours?' I answer, ' By the sense and constant observation of his temptations with their effects.' Consider these temptations, both as exercised on the wicked or on the godly, and the truth of the point will easily hence appear.

What a multitude of subtle devices hath he to hinder the conversion of a sinner to Christ; what prejudice and false conceits doth he possess him with. How many several ways doth he take, sometimes by enticements, and the pleasing baits of worldly glory, and the delights of the flesh; sometimes by terrors, by threatenings, persecution, or adversity. When he is foiled at one weapon, he presently betakes himself to another; when he is beaten out of one hold, he hath another to retire to. How many sorts of baits hath he to cover his hook! Temptations of all sorts, fitted to men's age, their callings, their relations, their former actions, their bodily temperature and constitution, and the times they live in, and the persons they converse with. What have we to do with which he maketh not a snare; what mercy do we receive, what creature do we use, which he maketh not a temptation to us; what man that was ever recovered from his power may not look back and remember the wiles and devices by which he was before detained, and the

devil's industry to have kept him from Christ, and by what means he hindered his conversion so long! Certainly, every soul that is recovered to Christ by the Gospel is fetched out of the very paws and mouth of the lion, and snatched as a brand out of the fire, and fetched as it were from the very suburbs of hell. The resistance is such, by such shifts and solicitations, that it fully discovereth the devil to be the author.

And as for the godly that are recovered, because they are yet in the way, and not at the end, in the field, and not with the crown on their heads, it is God's will that the enemy shall have leave to assault them while they are here; and in such a manner he doth it that they can discern that it is of him. They cannot set upon a work that is pleasing to Christ, but the tempter resisteth them. When do they ever study, or preach, or exhort, but he resisteth them; when do they set upon the reformation of any faults in themselves, in their families, in the neighbourhood, or in the church, but Satan resisteth them! Christians, you have a singular advantage above all men to discern the malice of Satan against Christ, and so to be confirmed in the truth of your belief, and to repel all blasphemous temptations to the contrary. How can you ever doubt whether Satan be against Christ, who live in the combat, and have fought under Christ against him so long, and felt so many of his sharp assaults, and ́ received so many wounds and foils by him, as you have done?` Have recourse to your own experience, for it must needs be a great advantage; and, especially, note how the enmity is disclosed in these particulars following:

1. Do you not observe that the bent of Satan's temptation is against God and the Lord Jesus Christ? How doth he persuade men to false, unworthy thoughts of God; to think of him either as unholy, to encourage them to sin, or, as cruel and unmerciful, to take off their love from him and drive them to despair; yea, where he hath opportunity, he persuadeth them that there is no God. When men fall into melancholy, which it seems doth give some advantage to his temptations, whether he were before godly or ungodly, knowing or ignorant, it is ten to one but he is violently tempted either to believe that there is no God, no Christ, no Scripture true, nor the soul immortal, or else to speak out some blasphemous words of God. Multitudes of persons have I spoken with in this case that have been so terribly assaulted with these temptations day and night, that they could not rest. Though some of them scarce ever thought be

fore of such matters, nor ever heard them from any other, and others of them never doubted of them; yet now, which way ever they go, and whatever they do, such thoughts come into their minds. Many have I known live in continual fear lest they should blaspheme God, and could hardly keep in the words, and wherever they were, they were still haunted with such solicitations to blasphemy; they could not hear or pray, but they were urged to blaspheme; and some of them have been overcome, and have let out blasphemous words, and then the tempter hath persuaded them that their sin was unpardonable: such a miserable life have many under his continual, malicious buffetings. And though there be something in the melancholy disease that may cause troubles and perplexities of mind; yet why it should still work thus against God, and Christ, and Scripture, and that in almost all persons, and so violently, I cannot imagine, if the hellish enemy did not take advantage hereof for these temptations.

2. Do you not find that the bent of all temptations is against the truth and ways of Christ, and those holy works that he calls you to? What are they but to draw you from holiness to unholiness, from obedience to disobedience, from heavenliness to earthliness, from temperance to sensuality, and, in a word, from every virtue unto every vice, or at least to those where he hath most hopes to prevail? Do you not feel sometimes, if not very often, when you should be earnest with God in secret prayer, an unreasonable withdrawing and disturbance within you? It is a duty that costs you nothing, and subjecteth you to no losses or hazards in the world; and yet when you would draw so near to God, do you not find that you are drawn back; and though you have leisure and liberty, yet the tempter will draw you to be unwilling, and all the while you are at it, is either taking down your affections, carrying off your thoughts, casting in distempers, or urging you to be short, make haste, and give over before you have well begun; so that you may easily feel that there is a devil that is against your communion with God, and envieth him his worship, and would have you rise and go away without the blessing? The like you may find in your meditations, if you do but set yourselves purposely and seriously to meditate of Christ or the life to come, or any necessary subject, how doth the tempter clog you, or take you off, or keep down your affections, so that you can hardly make any thing of your meditations. If you endeavour by gracious conference or counsel to win others, or to edify

each other; how many diversions and hinderances shall you meet with! Whereas, in vain talk, in folly and sin, you may go on without such resistance. What sin is there that you may not even feel Satan pleading for, and promoting or commending to your hearts! How often is he kindling the fire of lust, and blowing at the coal of pride and ambition, and enticing you to an esteem of the things of the world, or to venture upon some forbidden pleasures, and to account them far greater pleasures than they are! Truly, I feel that enmity to Christ, his truth, and ways, in the daily solicitations or temptations of the devil, either hindering good, or drawing to evil, that methinks should do much to convince a very infidel, if he did feel the like, that certainly the doctrine of Christ is true, and his ways are good, or else the serpent would not oppose them. I find he is. fighting against Christ and his Spirit in me, day and night. Whence can all that unreasonable dissuasion and withdrawing from Christ and duty else proceed? I know the heart is bad, and may bring forth such fruits without much tillage; but as the heart would not have been so evil, but for the evil one that deceived us so as bad as it is, I can find that there is an instigator of it unto further evil than else it would of itself commit, and that when it is let alone, it is not so prone to evil, nor so backward to good, as it is under such temptations. He that hath such a fight within him, and lives himself in the continual trouble and duty of a soldier, and is fain still to stand on his watch and guard, or else be overthrown, and feel the wounds, hath less reason than any man else in the world to doubt whether Satan be an enemy to Christ, or whether it be not a good cause that hath so bad an enemy.

Thus I have manifested on Satan's part, that he is at utmost enmity with Christ, and therefore could not be the causer of his miracles, nor lend him his power for the building of his church; and so that the sin against the Holy Ghost, which the pharisees were guilty of, was a most unreasonable sin, and a rejecting of their Physician against so full a testimony of God, that it was a righteous thing that they should die in their sins.

Sect. XII.

I shall next proceed to show you, on Christ's part, that he is as great an enemy to Satan, as Satan is to him; and by his nature, interest, design, and works, to make it plain that he was