gofpel, and were bold and open in the profeffion of SERM it, notwithstanding all the cruel affaults of perfecution, though they hazarded the lofs of all that was dear to them in this world, and expofed themselves to the fuffering of whatever is grievous and terrible to flesh and blood. They" gloried in tribulation;" and did not only patiently fubmit to the greatest fuf ferings, but heartily praised GOD, "who accounted " them worthy to fuffer, for his name; they took "joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that

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in heaven they had a better and more enduring "fubftance; they were tortured, not accepting de"liverance, that they might obtain a better refur "rection; and when they were haraffed with all the evils and calamities of human life, yet they "fainted not, knowing that their light affliction, " which was but for a moment, would work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of "glory having their minds fixed, "not upon "the things which are feen, but the things which " are not feen, the things which are seen being but "temporal, but the things which are not feen being << eternal.

Thus they overcame the world, not by the force and power of this world, but by the belief of another worlds and of the mighty rewards and punishments of it. And this "faith purified their hearts," and reformed their lives, and made them "stedfaft and unmoveable" in their holy profeffion, and raised their minds above all the temptations and terrors, of prefent and fenfible thingsvo

"

Let us now fee on the contrary what kind of motives and arguments; falfe teachers ufe to feduce men to their pernicious ways. They speak from the "world,"

CC 4

་

SEB M." world," and commonly make ufe of bafe, and low, and temporal confiderations, of little tricks and devices, and all deceivableness of unrighteouf"nefs" (as the fcripture calls it) to make difciples, and gain profelytes. They terrify them with temporal dangers and inconveniences, and reprefent to them fuffering, and perfecution, and death, in all their frightful fhapes, to deter them from profeffion of the true religion: they fet before them all manner of worldly baits and allurements, ease, and wealth, ánd preferment: they promise them liberty from the strictness of thofe laws and rules which religion ties them up to. By thefe arts and arguments the Gnoftics of old used to tempt men from chriftianity, and to shake their conftancy in the profeffion of it and the fame ways are still put in practice by feducers at this day. They tell men of a glorious church, that hath great power and interest in the world; they amufe them with a great deal of outward pomp and ceremony; they promise them preferment and great worldly advantages, by coming over to them; they threaten them with fire and faggot, with perfecutions and maffacres; and where they have power, they hold them faft when they have gained them, by the terror of an inquifition; they promise them liberty, and what by the loofenefs of their cafuistical divinity, and by the eafinefs of their penances and abfolutions, and the cheats of their indulgences, they have devised ways to reconcile al most the worst life that any man can lead, with fair hopes of getting to heaven at last. They tell thein indeed, they must make fome ftop in purgatory: but they have fo many ways to releafe men from thofe fufferings, as do very much abate the terror

of

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CCXXXIII.

of them, to any man that hath but credulity enough $ ER M.
to believe them: for befides the vaft treasure of me-
rits in the common bank of the church, which the
pope hath in his difpofal, and which nobody ought
to doubt but that they are faithfully employed by
him for the ease and deliverance of fouls in purgato-
ry; I fay, besides thefe, there are so many particular
ways of effecting this bufinefs, that a man of ordi-
nary difcretion, with an indifferent purfe, may fo
order the matter, that he fhall only pass through
purgatory, but need not make any stay in that place

of torments.

But though thefe be their common motives and inducements to draw men to their communion, yet they do not wholly omit the arguments taken from the eternal happiness and mifery of men in another world for, to give them their due, there are no people in the world more prodigal of eternal falvation and damnation; they promife the one upon the eafieft terms, and threaten the other upon the leaft difpleasure if a man be in their communion, he can hardly fail of falvation; and if he be out of it, and differ from them in the leaft point of faith, though but of their own making, he is fure to be damned, though he had the grace and virtues," the fanctity and charity of an angel: and this is the true reason why thefe arguments, which are fo powerful in themfelves, fignify fo little from their mouths; because every man that hath read the bible, and understands the chriftian religion, plainly fees that they have made terms of falvation and damnation quite different from those which God hath conftituted; fo that thefe motives, which are fo ftrong and mighty in themfelves, quite lofe their edge and force, when

they

1

SER M. they are managed by feducers in fo undue a manner, cexxx and to ends and purposes fo crofs to the main de

fign of christianity. This is the fecond advantage which the Spirit of truth hath above the spirit of error and seduction, that the motives to perfuade men to adhere to truth and holiness are really in themselves more powerful than the motives to error and feduction.

Thirdly, those who fincerely embrace and obey the truth of Gon, have a greater affiftance, and are acted by a more powerful fpirit and principle, than that which is in the world, and this feems more efpecially to be the meaning of the reason here given in the text, why the Spirit of truth is victorious over the spirit of error and feduction; "ye are of GOD, little children, "and have overcome them, because greater is he "that is in you, than he that is in the world;" that is, the spirit which is in good men is more powerful than the devil, that evil fpirit which infpires and acts the children of disobedience."

For the farther explication of this, I shall do these three things..

I. Shew that there are these two principles in the world, the Spirit of God, and the devil, very active and powerful in good and bad men.

II. That the Spirit of Gop, which is in good men, is greater than he that is in the world.

III. In what ways the Spirit of GoD doth move and affift good men.

I. That there are thefe two principles in the world, the Spirit of GOD, and the devil, very active and powerful, the one in good, the other in bad men This is very credible in the general, from the univerfal tradition and confent of mankind, in the ber

lief of good and evil fpirits attending men, and S ER M. prompting them to good and evil: but we, who embrace the revelation of the gofpel, have a much firmer and furer ground for it, nothing being more plain and frequent in fcripture, than that the holy Spirit of God guides and affifts good men in doing the will of GOD; and that the devil" works in the children "of disobedience," and is always ready to tempt men to, and promote any evil action or defign. From hence it is that the fcripture does almost every where afcribe all good motions and actions to the operation and influence of God's grace and holy Spi-" rit upon the minds of men; and the fins of men to' the temptation and fuggeftion of the devil, and this is fo well known to any one converfant in the holy scriptures, that I need not cite particular texts for? the proof of it."

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It is true indeed, that the motion of God's holy Spirit, and the fuggeftions of the devil, are very secret to us, and imperceptible by us, foithat no man can fay certainly, that this good inclination or action is an immediate motion of God's holy Spirit in me, or that evil thought and defign is an immediate fuggeftion of the devil; it is fufficient for us, that we' are affured from divine revelation in general, that the Spirit of GoD very frequently does, and is always ready to affift good men in the doing or fuffering of God's will; as the evil fpirit, where God permits him, is always busy to tempt and feduce men to evil. And this ought not to be ftrange to us, because our SAVIOUR hath exprefly told us, that the Spirit of GOD works in men after an imperceptible manner, John iii. 8. "The wind bloweth where it lifteth, " and thou heareft the found thereof, but canst not "tell