A26888:47
The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls…
The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls of the malice and misery of the devils and the damned : and of the blessedness of the justified, fully evinced by the unquestionable histories of apparitions, operations, witchcrafts, voices &c. / written, as an addition to many other treatises for the conviction of Sadducees and infidels, by Richard Baxter.The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls of the malice and misery of the devils and the damned : and of the blessedness of the justified, fully evinced by the unquestionable histories of apparitions, operations, witchcrafts, voices &c. / written, as an addition to many other treatises for the conviction of Sadduces and infidels, by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for T. Parkhurst, 1691
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
6. If the Devils possessing and tormenting Mens Bodies, be so heavy a Plague, how much worse is it to have him the Master of their Souls? O! How carefully should we resist his Temptations? Every Sin that we commit, through Love to it, or by Wilfulness or Sloth, is worse to us, and ⟨p. 10⟩more pleasing to the Devil, than to be Tormented so long by him. He mist of his aim at Job, when he could not by all his Sufferings draw him to Sin: O! how much more miserable is a Worldly, Proud. Gluttonous, Dives, Lord, Knight or Gentleman, and sensual Youth •i••racted with Vain Mirth and Lust, than one Bewitched, or Bodily only possest by Devils: And how much should the most godly be afraid of Sin, and of Temptations?
6. If the Devils possessing and tormenting Mens Bodies, be so heavy a Plague, how much worse is it to have him the Master of their Souls? O! How carefully should we resist his Temptations? Every Sin that we commit, through Love to it, or by Wilfulness or Sloth, is worse to us, and ⟨p. 10⟩more pleasing to the Devil, than to be Tormented so long by him. He mist of his aim at Iob, when he could not by all his Sufferings draw him to Sin: O! how much more miserable is a Worldly, Proud. Gluttonous, Dives, Lord, Knight or Gentleman, and sensual Youth •i••racted with Vain Mirth and Lust, than one Bewitcht, or Bodily only possest by Devils: And how much should the most godly be afraid of Sin, and of Temptations?
7. It is a sensible help, as to Convince Brutists and Atheists and Infidels, so to confirm the best Believers against all Temptations, to doubt of the Life to come, and the Immortality of Souls, and the future Judgment and Retribution: And though it be our shame to need such helps, it is a Mercy to have them. If a Sadducee will say, If one did come from the Dead, or I saw such things, I would believe, should not our Faith be past wavering, that have these added to the greater Gospel proofs.