The Wonders of the Invisible World Part 2

_Great Wo proceeds from the Great WRATH, with which the DEVIL, towards the end of his TIME, will make a DESCENT upon a miserable World._

I have now Published a most awful and solemn Warning for our selves at this day; which has four _Propositions_, comprehended in it.

_Proposition I._ That there is a _Devil_, is a thing Doubted by none but such as are under the Influences of the _Devil_. For any to deny the Being of a _Devil_ must be from an Ignorance or Profaneness, worse than _Diabolical_. _A Devil._ What is _that_? We have a Definition of the Monster, in _Eph. 6.12._ _A Spiritual Wickedness_, that is, _A wicked Spirit_. A Devil is a _Fallen Angel_, an Angel _Fallen_ from the Fear and Love of G.o.d, and from all Celestial Glories; but _Fallen_ to all manner of Wretchedness and Cursedness. He was once in that Order of Heavenly Creatures, which G.o.d in the Beginning made _Ministering Spirits_, for his own peculiar Service and Honour, in the management of the Universe; but we may now write that Epitaph upon him, _How art thou fallen from Heaven! thou hast said in thine Heart, I will Exalt my Throne above the Stars of G.o.d; but thou art brought down to h.e.l.l!_ A Devil is a _Spiritual_ and _Rational_ Substance, by his _Apostacy_ from G.o.d, inclined unto all that is Vicious, and for that _Apostacy_ confined unto the Atmosphere of this Earth, _in Chains under Darkness, unto the Judgment of the Great Day_. This is a _Devil_; and the _Experience_ of Mankind as well as the _Testimony_ of Scripture, does abundantly prove the Existence of such a Devil.

About this _Devil_, there are many things, whereof we may reasonably and profitably be Inquisitive; such things, I mean, as are in our Bibles Reveal'd unto us; according to which if we do not speak, on so _dark_ a Subject, but according to our own uncertain, and perhaps humoursome Conjectures, _There is no Light in us._ I will carry you with me, but unto one Paragraph of the Bible, to be informed of three Things, relating to the _Devil_; 'tis the Story of the _Gadaren Energumen_, in the fifth Chapter of _Mark_.

First, then, 'Tis to be granted; the _Devils_ are so many, that some Thousands, can sometimes at once apply themselves to vex one Child of Man. It is said, in _Mark 5.15._ _He that was Possessed with the Devil, had the Legion._ Dreadful to be spoken! A _Legion_ consisted of Twelve Thousand Five Hundred People: And we see that in one Man or two, so many _Devils_ can be spared for a Garrison. As the Prophet cryed out, _Mult.i.tudes, Mult.i.tudes, in the Valley of Decision!_ So I say, _There are mult.i.tudes, mult.i.tudes, in the valley of Destruction, where the Devils are!_ When we speak of, _The Devil_, 'tis, _A name of Mult.i.tude_; it means not _One_ Individual Devil, so Potent and Scient, as perhaps a _Manichee_ would imagine; but it means a _Kind_, which a _Mult.i.tude_ belongs unto. Alas, the _Devils_, they swarm about us, like the _Frogs of Egypt_, in the most Retired of our Chambers. Are we at our _Boards_?

There will be Devils to Tempt us unto Sensuality: Are we in our _Beds_?

There will be Devils to Tempt us unto Carnality; Are we in our _Shops_?

There will be Devils to Tempt us into Dishonesty. Yea, Tho' we get into the Church of G.o.d, there will be Devils to Haunt us in the very _Temple_ it self, and there tempt us to manifold Misbehaviours. I am verily perswaded, That there are very few Humane Affairs whereinto some Devils are not Insinuated; There is not so much as a _Journey_ intended, but _Satan_ will have an hand in _hindering_ or _furthering_ of it.

Secondly, 'Tis to be supposed, That there is a sort of Arbitrary, even Military _Government_, among the _Devils_. This is intimated, when in _Mar. 5.9._ _The unclean Spirit said, My Name is Legion:_ they are such a Discipline as _Legions_ use to be. Hence we read about, _The Prince of the power of the Air_: Our _Air_ has a _power_? or an Army of Devils in the _High Places_ of it; and these Devils have a _Prince_ over them, who is _King over the Children of Pride_. 'Tis probable, That the Devil, who was the Ringleader of that mutinous and rebellious Crew, which first shook off the Authority of G.o.d, is now the General of those h.e.l.lish Armies; Our Lord, that Conquered him, has told us the Name of him; 'tis _Belzebub_; 'tis he that is _the Devil_, and the rest are _his Angels_, or his Souldiers. Think on vast Regiments of cruel and b.l.o.o.d.y _French Dragoons_, with an _Intendant_ over them, overrunning a pillaged Neighbourhood, and you will think a little, what the Const.i.tution among the _Devils_ is.

Thirdly, 'tis to be supposed, that some _Devils_ are more peculiarly _Commission'd_, and perhaps _Qualify'd_, for some Countries, while others are for others. This is intimated when in _Mar. 5.10._ The Devils _besought_ our Lord much, _that he would not send them away out of the Countrey_. Why was that? But in all probability, because _these Devils_ were more able to _do the works of the Devil_, in such a Countrey, than in another. It is not likely that every Devil does know every _Language_; or that every Devil can do every _Mischief_. 'Tis possible, that the _Experience_, or, if I may call it so, the _Education_ of all Devils is not alike, and that there may be some difference in their _Abilities_. If one might make an Inference from what the Devils _do_, to what they _are_, One cannot forbear dreaming, that there are _degrees_ of Devils. Who can allow, that such Trifling _Daemons_, as that of _Mascon_, or those that once infested our _New berry_, are of so much Grandeur, as those _Daemons_, whose Games are mighty Kingdoms? Yea, 'tis certain, that all Devils do not make a like Figure in the _Invisible World_. Nor does it look agreeably, That the _Daemons_, which were the Familiars of such a Man as the old _Apollonius_, differ not from those baser Goblins that chuse to Nest in the filthy and loathsom Rags of a beastly Sorceress. Accordingly, why may not some Devils be more accomplished for what is to be done in such and such places, when others must be _detach'd_ for other Territories? Each Devil, as he sees his advantage, cries out, _Let me be in this Countrey, rather than another._

But _Enough_, if not _too much_, of these things.

_Proposition II._ There is a Devilish _Wrath_ against _Mankind_, with which the _Devil_ is for _G.o.d's sake_ Inspired. The Devil is himself broiling under the intollerable and interminable _Wrath_ of G.o.d; and a fiery _Wrath_ at G.o.d, is, that which the Devil is for that cause Enflamed. Methinks I see the posture of the Devils in _Isa. 8.21._ _They fret themselves, and Curse their G.o.d, and look upward._ The first and chief _Wrath_ of the Devil, is at the Almighty G.o.d himself; he knows, _The G.o.d that made him, will not have mercy on him, and the G.o.d that formed him, will shew him no favour;_ and so he can have no _Kindness_ for that G.o.d, who has no _Mercy_, nor _Favour_ for him. Hence 'tis, that he cannot bear the _Name_ of G.o.d should be acknowledged in the World: Every Acknowledgement paid unto _G.o.d_, is a fresh drop of the burning Brimstone falling upon the Devil; he does make his Insolent, tho Impotent Batteries, even upon the _Throne_ of G.o.d himself: and foolishly affects to have himself exalted unto that _Glorious High Throne_, by all people, as he sometimes is, by Execrable _Witches_. This horrible Dragon does not only with his Tayl strike at the _Stars of G.o.d_, but at the G.o.d himself, who made the _Stars_, being desirous to out-s.h.i.+ne them all. G.o.d and the Devil are sworn Enemies to each other; the Terms between them, are those, in _Zech. 11.18._ _My Soul loathed them, and their Soul also abhorred me._ And from this Furious _wrath_, or Displeasure and Prejudice at G.o.d, proceeds the Devils _wrath_ at us, the poor Children of Men. Our doing the _Service_ of G.o.d, is one thing that exposes us to the _wrath_ of the Devil. We are the _High Priests_ of the World; when all Creatures are called upon, _Praise ye the Lord_, they bring to us those demanded _Praises_ of G.o.d, saying, _do you offer them for us._ Hence 'tis, that the Devil has a Quarrel with us, as he had with the _High-Priest_ in the Vision of Old. Our bearing the Image of G.o.d is another thing that brings the _wrath_ of the Devil upon us. As a _Tyger_, thro his Hatred at man will tear the very Picture of him, if it come in his way; such a _Tyger_ the Devil is; because G.o.d said of old, _Let us make Man in our Image_, the Devil is ever saying, _Let us pull this man to pieces_. But the envious _Pride_ of the Devil, is one thing more that gives an Edge unto his Furious _Wrath_ against us. The Apostle has given us an hint, as if _Pride_ had been the _Condemnation of the Devil_. 'Tis not unlikely, that the Devil's _Affectation_ to be above that Condition which he might learn that Mankind was to be preferr'd unto, might be the occasion of his taking up Arms against the _Immortal King_. However, the Devil now sees _Man_ lying in the Bosom of G.o.d, but _himself_ d.a.m.ned in the bottom of h.e.l.l; and this enrages him exceedingly; _O_, says he, _I cannot bear it, that man should not be as miserable as my self._

_Proposition III._ The _Devil_, in the prosecution, and the execution of his _wrath_ upon them, often gets a _Liberty_ to make a _Descent_ upon the Children of men. When the Devil _does hurt_ unto us, he _comes down_ unto us; for the Rendezvouze of the _Infernal Troops_, is indeed in the _supernal parts_ of our Air. But as 'tis said, _A sparrow of the Air does not fall down without the will of G.o.d;_ so I may say, _Not a Devil in the Air, can come down without the leave of G.o.d._ Of this we have a famous Instance in that Arabian Prince, of whom the Devil was not able so much as to _Touch_ any thing, till the most high G.o.d gave him a permission, to _go down_. The Devil stands with all the Instruments of death, aiming at us, and begging of the Lord, as that King ask'd for the Hood-wink'd _Syrians_ of old, _Shall I smite 'em, shall I smite 'em?_ He cannot strike a blow, till the Lord say, _Go down and smite_, but sometimes he _does_ obtain from the _high possessor of Heaven and Earth_, a License for the doing of it. The Devil sometimes does make most rueful Havock among us; but still we may say to him, as our Lord said unto a great Servant of his, _Thou couldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above._ The Devil is called in _1 Pet. 5.8._ _Your Adversary_. This is a Law-term; and it notes _An Adversary at Law_. The Devil cannot come at us, except in some sence according to _Law_; but sometimes he does procure sad things to be inflicted, according to the _Law_ of the eternal King upon us. The Devil first _goes up_ as an _Accuser_ against us. He is therefore styled _The Accuser_; and it is on this account, that his proper Name does belong unto him. There is a Court somewhere kept; a Court of Spirits, where the Devil enters all sorts of Complaints against us all; he charges us with manifold _sins_ against the Lord our G.o.d: _There_ he loads us with heavy _Imputations_ of Hypocrysie, Iniquity, Disobedience; whereupon he urges, _Lord, let 'em now have the death, which is their wages, paid unto 'em!_ If our _Advocate_ in the Heavens do not now take off his Libels; the Devil, then, with a Concession of G.o.d, _comes down_, as a _destroyer_ upon us. Having first been an _Attorney_, to bespeak that the Judgments of Heaven may be ordered for us, he then also pleads, that he may be the _Executioner_ of those Judgments; and the G.o.d of Heaven sometimes after a sort, signs a Warrant, for this _destroying Angel_, to do what has been _desired_ to be done for the _destroying of men_. But such a _permission_ from G.o.d, for the Devil to _come down_, and _break in_ upon mankind, oftentimes must be accompany'd with a _Commission_ from some wretches of mankind it self. Every man is, as 'tis hinted in _Gen. 4.9._ _His brother's keeper_. We are to _keep_ one another from the Inroads of the Devil, by mutual and cordial Wishes of prosperity to one another.

When unG.o.dly people give their _Consents_ in _witchcrafts_ diabolically performed, for the Devil to annoy their Neighbours, he finds a breach made in the Hedge about us, whereat he Rushes in upon us, with grievous molestations. Yea, when the impious people, that never saw the Devil, do but utter their _Curses_ against their Neighbours, those are so many _watch words_, whereby the Mastives of h.e.l.l are animated presently to fall upon us. 'Tis thus, that the Devil gets _leave_ to worry us.

_Proposition IV._ Most horrible _woes_ come to be inflicted upon Mankind, when the _Devil_ does in _great wrath_, make a _descent_ upon them. The _Devil_ is a _Do-Evil_, and wholly set upon mischief. When our Lord once was going to _Muzzel_ him, that he might not mischief others, he cry'd out, _Art thou come to torment me?_ He is, it seems, himself _Tormented_, if he be but _Restrained_ from the tormenting of Men. If upon the sounding of the Three last _Apocalyptical Angels_, it was an outcry made in Heaven, _Wo, wo, wo, to the inhabitants of the Earth by reason of the voice of the Trumpet._ I am sure, a _descent_ made by the Angel of _death_, would give cause for the like Exclamation: _Wo to the world, by reason of the wrath of the Devil!_ what a _woful_ plight, mankind would by the descent of the Devil be brought into, may be gathered from the _woful_ pains, and wounds, and hideous desolations which the Devil brings upon them, with whom he has with a _bodily Possession_ made a Seisure. You may both in Sacred and Profane History, read many a direful Account of the _woes_, which they that are possessed by the Devil, do undergo: And from thence conclude, _What must the Children of Men hope from such a Devil!_ Moreover, the _Tyrannical Ceremonies_, whereto the Devil uses to subjugate such _Woful_ Nations or Orders of Men, as are more Entirely under his Dominion, do declare what _woful_ Work the Devil would make where he comes. The very Devotions of those forlorn _Pagans_, to whom the Devil is a Leader, are most b.l.o.o.d.y _Penances_; and what _Woes_ indeed must we expect from such a Devil of a _Moloch_, as relishes no Sacrifices like those of Humane Heart-blood, and unto whom there is no Musick like the bitter, dying, doleful Groans, e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed by the Roasting Children of Men.

Furthermore, the servile, abject, needy circ.u.mstances wherein the Devil keeps the Slaves, that are under his more sensible Va.s.salage, do suggest unto us, how _woful_ the Devil would render all our Lives. We that live in a Province, which affords unto us all that may be necessary or comfortable for us, found the Province fill'd with vast Herds of Salvages, that never saw so much as a _Knife_, or a _Nail_, or a _Board_, or a Grain of _Salt_, in all their Days. No better would the Devil have the World provided for. Nor should we, or any else, have one convenient thing about us, but be as indigent as _usually_ our most _Ragged Witches_ are; if _the Devil's Malice_ were not over-ruled by a _compa.s.sionate G.o.d_, who _preserves Man and Beast_. Hence 'tis, that _the Devil_, even like a _Dragon_, keeping a Guard upon such _Fruits_ as would _refresh_ a languis.h.i.+ng World, has hindred Mankind for many Ages, from hitting those _useful Inventions_, which yet _were so obvious_ and _facil_, that it is every bodies wonder, they were no sooner hit upon.

The _bemisted World_, must jog on for thousands of Years, without the knowledg of _the Loadstone_, till a _Neapolitan_ stumbled upon it, about _three hundred years_ ago. Nor must the World be _blest_ with such a _matchless Engine_ of _Learning_ and _Vertue_, as that of _Printing_, till about _the middle of the Fifteenth Century_. Nor could _One Old Man, all over the Face of the whole Earth_, have the _benefit_ of such a _Little_, tho most _needful_ thing, as a pair of _Spectacles_, till a _Dutch-Man_, a _little while_ ago accommodated us.

Indeed, as the Devil does begrutch us all manner of _Good_, so he does annoy us with all manner of _Wo_, as often as he finds himself capable of doing it. But shall we mention some of the _special woes_ with which the Devil does usually infest the World! Briefly then; _Plagues_ are some of those _woes_ with which the Devil troubles us. It is said of the _Israelites_, in _1 Cor. 10.10._ _They were destroyed of the destroyer._ That is, they had the _Plague_ among them. 'Tis the _Destroyer_, or _the Devil_, that scatters _Plagues_ about the World. Pestilential and Contagious Diseases, 'tis the Devil who does oftentimes invade us with them. 'Tis no uneasy thing for the Devil to impregnate the Air about us, with such Malignant _Salts_, as meeting with _the Salt_ of our _Microcosm_, shall immediately cast us into that Fermentation and Putrefaction, which will utterly dissolve all the Vital Tyes within us; Ev'n as an _Aqua-Fortis_, made with a conjunction of _Nitre_ and _Vitriol_, Corrodes what it Seizes upon. And when the Devil has raised those _a.r.s.enical Fumes_, which become _Venemous Quivers_ full of _Terrible Arrows_, how easily can he shoot the deleterious _Miasms_ into those Juices or Bowels of Mens Bodies, which will soon Enflame them with a Mortal Fire! Hence come such _Plagues_, as that _Beesom of Destruction_, which within our memory swept away such a Throng of People from one _English_ City in one Visitation; And hence those Infectious Fevers, which are but so many _Disguised Plagues_ among us, causing Epidemical Desolations. Again, _Wars_ are also some of those _Woes_, with which the Devil causes our Trouble. It is said in _Rev. 12.17._ _The Dragon was Wrath, and he went to make War;_ and there is in truth scarce any _War_, but what is of the _Dragon's_ kindling. The Devil is that _Vulcan_, out of whose Forge come the instruments of our _Wars_, and it is he that finds us Employments for those Instruments. We read concerning _Daemoniacks_, or People in whom the Devil was, that they would cut and wound themselves; and so, when the Devil is in Men, he puts 'em upon dealing in that barbarous fas.h.i.+on with one another. _Wars_ do often furnish him with some Thousands of Souls in one Morning from one Acre of Ground; and for the sake of such _Thyestaean_ Banquets, he will push us upon as many _Wars_ as he can.

Once more, why may not _Storms_ be reckoned among those _Woes_, with which the Devil does disturb us? It is not improbable that _Natural Storms_ on the World are often of the Devils raising. We are told in _Job 1.11, 12, 19._ that the Devil made a _Storm_, which hurricano'd the House of _Job_, upon the Heads of them that were Feasting in it.

_Paracelsus_ could have informed the Devil, if he had not been informed, as besure he was before, That if much _Aluminious_ matter, with _Salt Petre_ not throughly prepared, be mixed, they will send up a cloud of Smoke, which _will_ come down in Rain. But undoubtedly the _Devil_ understands as _well_ the way to make a _Tempest_ as to turn the _Winds_ at the _Solicitation_ of a _Laplander_; whence perhaps it is, that Thunders are observed oftner to break upon _Churches_ than upon any other _Buildings_; and besides many a Man, yea many a s.h.i.+p, yea, many a Town has miscarried, when the Devil has been permitted from above to make an horrible Tempest. However that the Devil has raised many _Metaphorical Storms_ upon the Church, is a thing, than which there is nothing more notorious. It was said unto Believers in _Rev. 2.10._ _The Devil shall cast some of you into Prison._ The Devil was he that at first set _Cain upon Abel_ to butcher him, as the Apostle seems to suggest, for his Faith in G.o.d, as a _Rewarder_. And in how many _Persecutions_, as well as _Heresies_ has the Devil been ever since Engaging all the Children of _Cain_! That Serpent the Devil has acted his cursed Seed in unwearied endeavours to have them, _Of whom the World is not worthy_, treated as those who are _not worthy to live in the World_. By the impulse of the Devil, 'tis that first the old _Heathens_, and then the mad _Arians_ were _p.r.i.c.king Briars_ to the true Servants of G.o.d; and that the _Papists_ that came after them, have out done them all for Slaughters, upon those that have been _accounted as the Sheep for the Slaughters_. The late _French_ Persecution is perhaps the horriblest that ever was in the World: And as the Devil of _Mascon_ seems before to have meant it in his out-cries upon _the Miseries preparing for the poor Hugonots_! Thus it has been all acted by a singular Fury of the old Dragon inspiring of his Emissaries.

But in reality, _Spiritual Woes_ are the _princ.i.p.al Woes_ among all those that the Devil would have us undone withal. _Sins_ are the worst of _Woes_, and the Devil seeks nothing so much as to plunge us into Sins. When men do commit a Crime for which they are to be Indicted, they are usually _mov'd by the Instigation of the Devil_. The Devil will put _ill men upon being worse_. Was it not he that said in _1 King. 22.22._ _I will go forth, and be a lying Spirit in the Mouth of all the Prophets?_ Even so the Devil becomes an _Unclean Spirit_, _a Drinking Spirit_, _a Swearing Spirit_, _a Worldly Spirit_, _a Pa.s.sionate Spirit_, _a Revengeful Spirit_, and the like in the Hearts of those that are already too much of such a Spirit; and thus they become improv'd in Sinfulness. Yea, the Devil will put _good men upon doing ill_. Thus we read in _1 Chron. 21.1._ _Satan provoked David to number Israel._ And so the _Devil provokes_ men that are Eminent in Holiness unto such things as may become eminently Pernicious; he _provokes_ them especially unto _Pride_, and unto many unsuitable Emulations. There are likewise most lamentable Impressions which the _Devil_ makes upon the _Souls of Men_ by way of punishment upon them for their _Sins_. 'Tis thus when an Offended G.o.d puts the Souls of Men over into the Hands of that Officer _who has the power of Death, that is, the Devil_. It is the woful Misery of Unbelievers in _2 Cor. 4.4._ _The G.o.d of this World has blinded their minds._ And thus it may be said of those woful Wretches whom the _Devil_ is a G.o.d unto, _the Devil so m.u.f.fles them that they cannot see the things of their peace._ And _the Devil so hardens them, that nothing will awaken their cares about their Souls:_ How come so many to be _Seared_ in their Sins? 'Tis the Devil that with a red hot Iron fetcht from his h.e.l.l does _cauterise_ them. Thus 'tis, till perhaps at last they come to have a _Wounded Conscience_ in them, and the Devil has often a share in their Torturing and confounding Anguishes. The _Devil_ who Terrified _Cain_, and _Saul_, and _Judas_ into Desperation, still becomes a _King of Terrors_ to many Sinners, and frights them from laying hold on the Mercy of G.o.d in the Lord Jesus Christ. In these regards, _Wo to us, when the Devil comes down upon us._

_Proposition V._ Toward the _End_ of his _Time_ the _Descent_ of the Devil in _Wrath_ upon the World will produce more _woful Effects_, than what have been _in former Ages_. The dying Dragon, will bite more cruelly and sting more bloodily than ever he did before: The Death-pangs of the Devil will make him to be more of a _Devil_ than ever he was; and the Furnace of this _Nebuchadnezzar_ will be heated _seven times_ hotter, just before its putting out.

We are in the first place to apprehend that there is a time fixed and stated by G.o.d for the Devil to enjoy a dominion over our sinful and therefore woful World. The _Devil_ once exclaimed in _Mat. 8.29._ _Jesus, thou Son of G.o.d, art thou come hither to Torment us before our Time?_ It is plain, that until the second coming of our Lord the _Devil_ must have a time of plagueing the World, which he was afraid would have Expired at his first. The _Devil_ is _by the wrath of G.o.d the Prince of this World_; and the time of his Reign is to continue until the time when our Lord himself shall _take to himself his great Power and Reign_.

Then 'tis that the _Devil_ shall hear the Son of G.o.d swearing with loud Thunders against him, _Thy time shall now be no more!_ Then shall the _Devil_ with his Angels receive their doom, which will be, _depart into the everlasting Fire prepared for you._

We are also to apprehend, that in the _mean time_, the Devil can give a shrewd guess, when he draws near to the _End of his Time_. When he saw Christianity enthron'd among the _Romans_, it is here said, in our _Rev.

12.12._ _He knows he hath but a short time._ And how does he _know_ it?

Why _Reason_ will make the Devil to _know_ that G.o.d won't suffer him to have _the Everlasting Dominion_; and that when G.o.d has once begun to rescue the World out of his hands, he'll go through with it, until _the Captives of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered._ But the Devil will have _Scripture_ also, to make him _know_, that when his Antichristian _Vicar_, the _seven-headed Beast_ on the _seven-hilled_ City, shall have spent his determined years, he with his _Vicar_ must unavoidably go down into the _bottomless Pit_. It is not improbable, that the Devil often hears the _Scripture_ expounded in our Congregations; yea that we never a.s.semble without a _Satan_ among us. As there are some Divines, who do with more uncertainty conjecture, from a certain place in the Epistle to the _Ephesians_, That the Angels do sometimes come into our Churches, to gain some advantage from our Ministry. But be sure our _Demonstrable Interpretations_ may give Repeated Notices to the Devil, _That his time is almost out;_ and what the Preacher says unto the _Young Man_, _Know thou, that G.o.d will bring thee into Judgment!_ THAT may our Sermons tell unto the _Old Wretch_, _Know thou, that thy Judgment is at hand._

But we must now, likewise, apprehend, that in _such a time_, the _woes_ of the World will be heightened, beyond what they were at _any time_ yet from the foundation of the World. Hence 'tis, that the Apostle has forewarned us, in _2 Tim. 3.1._ _this know, that in the last days, perillous times shall come._ Truly, when the Devil _knows_, that he is got into his _Last days_, he will make _perillous times_ for us; the times will grow more full of _Devils_, and therefore more full of _Perils_, than ever they were before. Of this, if we would _know_, what cause is to be a.s.signed; It is not only, because the Devil grows more _able_, and more _eager_ to vex the World; but also, and chiefly, because the World is more _worthy_ to be vexed by the Devil, than ever heretofore. The _Sins_ of men in this Generation, will be more _mighty Sins_, than those of the former Ages; men will be more Accurate and Exquisite and Refined in the arts of _Sinning_, than they use to be. And besides, their own sins, the sins of all the former Ages will also lie upon the sinners of this generation. Do we ask why the _mischievous powers of darkness_ are to prevail more in our days, than they did in those that are past and gone! 'Tis because that men by sinning over again the sins of the former days, have a _Fellows.h.i.+p with all those unfruitful works of darkness_. As 'twas said in _Matth. 23.36._ _All these things shall come upon this generation;_ so, the men of the last Generation, will find themselves involved in the gulf of all that went before them. Of Sinners 'tis said, _They heap up wrath;_ and the sinners of the Last Generations do not only add unto the _heap_ of sin that has been pileing up ever since the Fall of man, but they Interest themselves in every sin of that enormous heap. There has been a _Cry_ of all former ages going up to G.o.d, _That the Devil may come down!_ and the sinners of the Last Generations, do sharpen and louden that _cry_, till the thing do come to pa.s.s, as Destructively as Irremediably. From whence it follows, that the Thrice Holy G.o.d, with his Holy Angels, will now after a sort more _abandon_ the World, than in the former ages. The roaring Impieties of _the old World_, at last gave mankind such a distast in the Heart of the Just G.o.d, that he came to say, _It Repents me that I have made such a Creature!_ And however, it may be but a witty Fancy, in a late Learned Writer, that the _Earth_ before the Flood was nearer to the Sun, than it is at this Day; and that G.o.ds Hurling down the _Earth_ to a further distance from the _Sun_, were the cause of that Flood; yet we may fitly enough say, that men perished by a _Rejection_ from the G.o.d of Heaven. Thus the enhanc'd Impieties of this _our World_, will Exasperate the Displeasure of G.o.d, at such a rate, as that he will more _cast us off_, than heretofore; until at last, he do with a more than ordinary Indignation say, _Go Devils; do you take them, and make them beyond all former measures miserable!_

If Lastly, We are inquisitive after Instances of those aggravated _woes_, with which the Devil will towards the _End_ of his _Time_ a.s.sault us; let it be remembred, That all the Extremities which were foretold by the _Trumpets_ and _Vials_ in the Apocalyptick Schemes of these things, to come upon the World, were the _woes_ to come from the _wrath_ of the Devil, upon the _shortning_ of his _Time_. The horrendous desolations that have come upon mankind, by the Irruptions of the old _Barbarians_ upon the _Roman_ World, and then of the _Saracens_, and since, of the _Turks_, were such _woes_ as men had never seen before.

The Infandous _Blindness_ and _Vileness_ which then came upon mankind, and the Monstrous _Croisadoes_ which thereupon carried the _Roman_ World by Millions together unto the Shambles; were also such _woes_ as had never yet had a Parallel. And yet these were some of the things here intended, when it was said, _Wo! For the Devil is come down in great Wrath, having but a short time._

But besides all these things, and besides the increase of _Plagues_ and _Wars_, and _Storms_, and _Internal Maladies_ now in our days, there are especially two most extraordinary _Woes_, one would fear, will in these days become very ordinary. One _Woe_ that may be look'd for is, A frequent Repet.i.tion of _Earthquakes_, and this perhaps by the energy of the Devil in the _Earth_. The Devil will be clap't up, as a Prisoner in or near the Bowels of the earth, when once that _Conflagration_ shall be dispatched, which will make, _The New Earth wherein shall dwell Righteousness;_ and that _Conflagration_ will doubtless be much promoted, by the Subterraneous _Fires_, which are a cause of the _Earthquakes_ in our Dayes. Accordingly, we read, _Great Earthquakes in divers places_, enumerated among the Tokens of the _Time_ approaching, when the Devil shall have no longer _Time_. I suspect, That we shall now be visited with more Usual and yet more Fatal _Earthquakes_, than were our Ancestors; in asmuch as the _Fires_ that are shortly to _Burn unto the Lowest h.e.l.l, and set on Fire the Foundations of the Mountains_, will now get more Head than they use to do; and it is not impossible, that the Devil, who is ere long to be punished in those _Fires_, may aforehand augment his Desert of it, by having an hand in using some of those _Fires_, for our Detriment. Learned Men have made no scruple to charge the Devil with it; _Deo permittente, Terrae motus causat._ The Devil surely, was a party in the _Earthquake_, whereby the Vengeance of G.o.d, in one black Night sunk Twelve considerable Cities of _Asia_, in the Reign of _Tiberious_. But there will be more such _Catastrophes_ in our Dayes; _Italy_ has lately been _Shaking_, till its _Earthquakes_ have brought Ruines at once upon more than thirty Towns; but it will within a little while, _shake_ again, and _shake_ till the Fire of G.o.d have made an Entire _Etna_ of it. And behold, This very Morning, when I was intending to utter among you such Things as these, we are cast into an _Heartquake_ by Tidings of an _Earthquake_ that has lately happened at _Jamaica_: an horrible _Earthquake_, whereby the _Tyrus_ of the English _America_, was at once pull'd into the Jaws of the Gaping and Groaning Earth, and many Hundreds of the Inhabitants buried alive. The Lord sanctifie so dismal a Dispensation of his Providence, unto all the _American_ Plantations! But be a.s.sured, my Neighbours, the _Earthquakes_ are not over yet! We have not yet seen _the last_. And then, Another _Wo_ that may be Look'd for is, The Devils being now let Loose in _preternatural Operations_ more than formerly; and perhaps in _Possessions_ and _Obsessions_ that shall be very marvellous. You are not Ignorant, That just before our Lords _First Coming_, there were most observable Outrages committed by the Devil upon the Children of Men: And I am suspicious, That there will again be an unusual Range of the Devil among us, a little before the _Second Coming_ of our Lord, which will be, to give the last stroke, in _Destroying the works of the Devil_. The _Evening Wolves_ will be much abroad, when we are near the _Evening_ of the World. The Devil is going to be Dislodged of the _Air_, where his present Quarters are; G.o.d will with flashes of hot _Lightning_ upon him, cause him to _fall as Lightning_ from his Ancient Habitations: And the _Raised Saints_ will there have a _New Heaven_, which We _expect according to the Promise of G.o.d_. Now a little before this thing, you be like to see the Devil more _sensible_ and _visibly_ Busy upon _Earth_ perhaps, than ever he was before. You shall oftner hear about _Apparitions_ of the Devil, and about poor people strangely Bewitched, _Possessed_ and _Obsessed_, by Infernal Fiends. When our Lord is going to set up His Kingdom, in the most _sensible_ and _visible_ manner, that ever was, and in a manner answering _the Transfiguration_ in _the Mount_, it is a Thousand to One, but _the Devil_ will in sundry _parts of the world_, a.s.say _the like_ for Himself, with a most Apish Imitation: and Men, at least in _some_ Corners of the World, and perhaps in _such_ as G.o.d may have some special Designs upon, will to their Cost, be more Familiarized _with the World of Spirits_, than they had been formerly.

So that, in fine, if just before _the End_, when _the times of the Jews_ were to be finished, a man then ran about every where, crying, _Wo to the Nation! Wo to the City! Wo to the Temple! Wo! Wo! Wo!_ Much more may the descent of the Devil, just before his _End_, when also _the times of the Gentiles_ will be finished, cause us to cry out, _Wo! Wo! Wo!

because of the black things that threaten us!_

But it is now Time to make our Improvement of what has been said. And, first, we shall entertain our selves with a few _Corollaries_, deduced from what has been thus a.s.serted.

_Corollary I._

What cause have we to bless G.o.d, for our preservation from the _Devils wrath_, in this which may too reasonably be called the _Devils World_!

While we are in _this present evil world_, We are continually surrounded with swarms of those Devils, who make this _present world_, become so _evil_. What a wonder of Mercy is it, that no _Devil_ could ever yet make a prey of us! We can set our foot no where but we shall tread in the midst of most h.e.l.lish _Rattle-Snakes_; and one of those _Rattle-Snakes_ once thro' the mouth of a Man, on whom he had Seized, hissed out such a Truth as this, _If G.o.d would let me loose upon you, I should find enough in the Best of you all, to make you all mine._ What shall I say? The _Wilderness_ thro' which we are pa.s.sing to the _Promised Land_, is all over fill'd with _Fiery flying serpents_. But, blessed be G.o.d; None of them have hitherto so fastned upon us, as to confound us utterly! All our way to Heaven, lies by the _Dens of Lions_, and the _Mounts of Leopards_; there are incredible Droves of Devils in our way. But have we safely got on our way thus far? O let us be thankful to our Eternal preserver for it. It is said in _Psal. 76.10._ _Surely the wrath of Man shall praise thee, and the Remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain;_ But _surely_ it becomes us to praise G.o.d, in that we have yet sustain'd no more Damage by the _wrath of the Devil_, and in that he has restrain'd that Overwhelming _wrath_. We are poor, Travellers in a World, which is as well the Devils _Field_, as the Devils _Gaol_; a World in every Nook whereof, the Devil is encamped, with _Bands of Robbers_, to pester all that have their _Face looking Zion-ward_: And are we all this while preserved from the undoing Snares of the _Devil_? it is, _Thou, O keeper of Israel, that hast hitherto been our Keeper!_ And therefore, _Bless the Lord, O my soul, Bless his Holy Name, who has redeemed thy Life from the Destroyer!_

_Corollary II._

We may see the rise of those multiply'd, magnify'd, and Singularly-stinged Afflictions, with which _aged_, or _dying_ Saints frequently have their _Death_ Prefaced, and their _Age_ embittered. When the Saints of G.o.d are going to leave the World, it is usually a more _Stormy World_ with them, than ever it was; and they find more _Vanity_, and more _Vexation_ in the world than ever they did before. It is true, _That many are the afflictions of the Righteous;_ but a little before they bid adieu to all those many _Afflictions_, they often have greater, harder, Sorer, Loads thereof laid upon them, than they had yet endured.

It is true, _That thro' much Tribulation we must enter in the Kingdom of G.o.d;_ but a little before our _Entrance_ thereinto, our _Tribulation_ may have some sharper accents of Sorrow, than ever were yet upon it. And what is the cause of this? It is indeed the _Faithfulness of our G.o.d unto us_, that we should find the _Earth_ more full of _Thorns_ and _Briars_ than ever, just before he fetches us from _Earth_ to _Heaven_; that so we may go away the more willingly, the more easily, and with less Convulsion, at his calling for us. O there are _ugly Ties_, by which we are fastned unto this world; but G.o.d will by _Thorns and Briars_ tear those _Ties_ asunder. But, _is not the Hand of Joab here?_ Sure, There is the _wrath_ of the _Devil_ also in it. A little before we step into Heaven, the _Devil_ thinks with himself, _My time to abuse that Saint is now but short; what Mischief I am to do that Saint, must be done quickly, if at all; he'l shortly be out of my Reach for ever._ And for this cause he will now fly upon us with the Fiercest Efforts and Furies of his _Wrath_. It was allowed unto the _Serpent_, in _Gen. 2.15._ _To Bruise the Heel_. Why, at the _Heel_, or at the _Close_, of our Lives, the _Serpent_ will be nibbling, more than ever in our Lives before: and it is, _Because now he has but a short time._ He knows, That we shall very shortly be, _Where the wicked cease from Troubling, and where the Weary are at Rest;_ wherefore that _Wicked_ one will now _Trouble_ us, more than ever he did, and we shall have so much _Disrest_, as will make us more _weary_ than ever we were, of things here below.

_Corollary III._

What a Reasonable Thing then is it, that they whose _Time_ is but _short_, should make as great _Use_ of their _Time_, as ever they can!

pray, let us learn some _good_, even from the _wicked One_ himself. It has been advised, _Be wise as Serpents:_ why, there is a piece of _Wisdom_, whereto that old _Serpent_, the Devil himself, may be our Moniter. When the Devil perceives his _Time_ is but _short_, it puts him upon _Great Wrath_. But how should it be with _us_, when we perceive that our _Time_ is but _short_? why, it should put us upon _Great Work_.

The motive which makes the Devil to be more full of _wrath_; should make us more full of _warmth_, more full of _watch_, and more full of _All Diligence to make our Vocation, and Election sure_. Our _Pace_ in our Journey _Heaven-ward_, must be Quickened, if our _s.p.a.ce_ for that Journey be shortned, even as _Israel_ went further the _two last_ years of their Journey _Canaan-ward_, than they did in 38 years before. The Apostle brings this, as a _spur_ to the Devotions of Christians, in _1 Cor. 7.29._ _This I say, Brethren, the time is short._ Even so, I _say_ this; some things I lay before you, which I do only _think_, or _guess_, but here is a thing which I venture to _say_ with all the freedom imaginable. You have now a _Time_ to _Get_ good, even a _Time_ to make sure of _Grace and Glory, and every good thing_, by true Repentance: But, _This I say, the time is but short._ You have now _Time_ to _Do_ good, even to _serve out your generation_, as by the _Will_, so for the _Praise_ of G.o.d; but, _This I say, the time is but short._ And what I say thus to _All_ People, I say to _Old_ People, with a peculiar Vehemency: Sirs, It cannot be long before your _Time_ is out; there are but a few sands left in the gla.s.s of your _Time_: And it is of all things the saddest, for a man to say, _My Time is done, but my work undone!_ O then, _To work_ as fast as you can; and of Soul-work, and Church-work, dispatch as much as ever you can. Say to all _Hindrances_, as the gracious _Jeremiah Burrows_ would sometimes to _Visitants_: _You'll excuse me if I ask you to be short with me, for my work is great, and my time is but short._ Methinks every _time_ we hear a Clock, or see a Watch, we have an admonition given us, that our _Time_ is upon the _wing_, and it will all be gone within a little while. I remember I have read of a famous man, who having a _Clock-watch_ long lying by him, out of Kilture in his Trunk, it unaccountably struck Eleven just before he died. Why, there are many of you, for whom I am to do that office this day: I am to tell you _You are come to your +Eleventh+ hour;_ there is no more than a _twelfth part_ at most, of your life yet behind. But if we neglect our business, till our _short Time_ shall be reduced into _none_, then, _woe to us, for the great wrath of G.o.d will send us down from whence there is no Redemption._

_Corollary IV._

How welcome should a _Death in the Lord_ be unto them that belong not unto the Devil, but unto the Lord! While we are sojourning in this World, we are in what may upon too many accounts be called _The Devils Country_: We are where the Devil may come upon us in _great wrath_ continually. The day when G.o.d shall take us out of this World, will be, _The day when the Lord will deliver us from the hand of all our Enemies, and from the hand of Satan_. In such a day, why should not our song be that of the Psalmist, _Blessed be my Rock, and let the G.o.d of my Salvation be exalted!_ While we are here, we are in _the valley of the shadow of death_; and what is it that makes it so? 'Tis because the _wild Beasts of h.e.l.l_ are lurking on every side of us, and every minute ready to salley forth upon us. But our _Death_ will fetch us out of that _Valley_, and carry us where we shall be _for ever with the Lord_. We are now under the daily _Buffetings_ of the Devil, and he does molest us with such _Fiery Darts_, as cause us even to cry out, _I am weary of my Life._ Yea, but are we as _willing to die_, as, _weary of Life_? Our Death will then soon set us where we cannot be reach'd by the _Fist of Wickedness_; and where the _Perfect cannot be shotten at_. It is said in _Rev. 14.13._ _Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord, they rest from their labours._ But we may say, _Blessed are the Dead in the Lord, inasmuch as they rest from the Devils!_ Our _dying_ will be but our _taking wing_: When attended with a Convoy of winged Angels, we shall be convey'd into that Heaven, from whence the Devil having been thrown he shall never more come thither after us. What if G.o.d should now say to us, as to _Moses_, _Go up and die!_ As long as we _go up_, when we _die_, let us receive the Message with a joyful Soul; we shall soon be there, where the Devil can't _come down_ upon us. If the _G.o.d of our Life_ should now send that Order to us, which he gave to _Hezekiah_, _Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live;_ we need not be cast into such deadly Agonies thereupon, as _Hezekiah_ was: We are but going to that _House_, the Golden Doors whereof, cannot be entred by the Devil that here did use to persecute us. Methinks I see the Departed _Spirit_ of a Believer, triumphantly carried thro' the Devils _Territories_, in such a stately and Fiery Chariot, as the _Spiritualizing Body of Elias_ had; methink I see the Devil, with whole Flocks of _Harpies_, grinning at this Child of G.o.d, but unable to fasten any of their griping Talons upon him: And then, upon the utmost edge of our _Atmosphaere_, methinks I overhear the holy Soul, with a most heavenly Gallantry, deriding the defeated Fiend, and saying, _Ah! Satan!

Return to thy Dungeons again; I am going where thou canst not come for ever!_ O 'tis a brave thing so to die! and especially so to die, _in our time_. For, tho' when we call to mind, _That the Devils time is now but short_, it may almost make us wish to _live_ unto the _end_ of it; and to say with the Psalmist, _Because the Lord will shortly appear in his Glory, to build up Zion. O my G.o.d! Take me not away in the midst of my days._ Yet when we bear in mind, _that the Devils Wrath is now most great_, it would make one willing to be _out of the way_. Inasmuch as now is the time for the doing of those things in the prospect whereof _Balaam_ long ago cry'd out _Who shall live when such things are done!_ We should not be inordinately loth to _die_ at such a time. In a word, the _Times_ are so _bad_, that we may well count it, as _good_ a _time_ to die in, as ever we saw.

_Corollary V._

Good News for the _Israel_ of G.o.d, and particularly for his _New-English Israel_. If the Devils _Time_ were above a _thousand years ago_, p.r.o.nounced _short_, what may we suppose it now in _our_ Time? Surely we are not a _thousand years_ distant from those happy _thousand years_ of rest and peace, and [which is better] _Holiness_ reserved for the People of G.o.d in the latter days; and if we are not a _thousand years_ yet short of that Golden Age, there is cause to think, that we are not an _hundred_. That the blessed _Thousand years_ are not yet begun, is abundantly clear from this, _We do not see the Devil bound;_ No, the Devil was never more let _loose_ than in our Days; and it is very much that any should imagine otherwise: But the same thing that proves the _Thousand Years_ of prosperity for the Church of G.o.d, under the whole Heaven, to be not yet _begun_, does also prove, that it is not very _far off_; and that is the prodigious _wrath_ with which the Devil does in our days Persecute, yea, desolate the World. Let us cast our Eyes almost where we will, and we shall see the _Devils_ domineering at such a rate as may justly fill us with astonishment; it is questionable whether _Iniquity_ ever were so rampant, or whether _Calamity_ were ever so pungent, as in this Lamentable _time_; We may truly say, _'Tis the Hour and the Power of Darkness._ But, tho the _wrath_ be so _great_, the _time_ is but _short_: when we are perplexed with the _wrath_ of the Devil, the _Word_ of our G.o.d at the same time unto us, is that in _Rom.

16.20._ _The G.o.d of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet Shortly._ Shortly, didst thou say, dearest Lord! O gladsome word! Amen, _Even so, come Lord! Lord Jesus, come quickly! We shall never be rid of this troublesome Devil, till thou do come to Chain him up!_

But because the people of G.o.d, would willingly be told _whereabouts_ we are, with reference to the _wrath and the time_ of the Devil, you shall give me leave humbly to set before you a few _Conjectures_.

_The first Conjecture._

The Devils _Eldest Son_ seems to be towards the _End_ of his last _Half-time_; and if it be so, the Devils _Whole-time_, cannot but be very near its _End_. It is a very scandalous thing that any _Protestant_, should be at a loss where to find _the Anti-Christ_. But, we have a sufficient a.s.surance, that the Duration of _Anti-Christ_, is to be but for a _Time_, and for _Times_, and for _Half a time_; that is for _Twelve hundred and Sixty Years_. And indeed, those _Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years_, were the very Spott of _Time_ left for the _Devil_, and meant when 'tis here said, _He has but a short time._ Now, I should have an _easie time_ of it, if I were never put upon an _Harder Task_, than to produce what might render it extreamly probable, that Antichrist entred his last _Half-time_, or the last _Hundred_ and _Fourscore_ years of his Reign, _at_ or soon _after_ the celebrated _Reformation_ which began at the year 1517 in the former century. Indeed, it is very agreeable to see how Antichrist then lost _Half_ of his Empire; and how that _half_ which then became _Reformed_, have been upon many accounts little more than _Half-reformed_. But by this computation, we must needs be within a very few years of such a _Mortification_ to befal the See of _Rome_, as that Antichrist, who has lately been planting (what proves no more lasting than) a _Tabernacle in the Glorious Holy Mountain between the Seas_, must quickly, _Come to his End and none shall help him_. So then, within a very little while, we shall see the Devil stript of the grand, yea, the last, _Vehicle_, wherein he will be capable to abuse our World. The _Fires_, with which, _That Beast_ is to be consumed, will so singe the Wings of the _Devil_ too, that he shall no more set the Affairs of _this_ world on _Fire_. Yea, they shall both go into the same _Fire_, to be _tormented for ever and ever_.

_The Second Conjecture._

That which is, perhaps, the greatest Effect of the _Devils Wrath_, seems to be in a manner at an _end_: and this would make one hope that the _Devils time_ cannot be far from its _end_. It is in Persecution, that the _wrath_ of the Devil uses to break forth, with its greatest fury.