4. When the Godly are said to be the Fathers, though it doth not exclude the other persons, yet it doth all other creatures; By this we are delivered from all other proprietors and interest whatsoever, and this makes the phrase to contain ⟨p. 257⟩in it a Treasure of happiness, as first, Seeing we are the Fathers, therefore we are no longer the devils: We are no more in his possession and under his dominion; We may see by the Scripture in what a woeful and cursed state all men by nature are, They belong to the devil, they are his proper goods; The devil hath them as his, even as he hath the damned in hell, though in this life there may be hope of delivering them, whereas the damned have none, Eph. 2. The devil who is called the God of this world is said to rule in the hearts of the disobedient; Hell is not more the devils place then the heart of a wicked man, and therefore 1 Tim. 2.26. they are said to be Captives to the devil, to be like tamed birds, and our Saviour tells the Pharisees, They were of their Father the devil, Joh. 8. And why? because they did his works; So that whosoever doth the works, committeth the sins that the devils do, the devil is their Father; Though they rage and are mad at such a charge, and this is the reason in part why the glorious fruit of Christs death is called a Redemption, and why he is called a Redeemer, because we were wholly in bondage and captivity to the devil; We were his, he had a proper right to us till Christ redeemed us. Oh that the ungodly men of the world should hear this and not tremble, Whose art thou? To whom dost thou belong? Who may challenge thee but the devil? There are a cursed sort of men who give themselves to the devil by compact in the ways of witchcrafts; Now all wicked men though not by such an express Covenant, yet implicitly by their wicked ways give themselves up to be the devils: Oh what a terrible thing is this to consider, that though thou canst say, These grounds are mine, these Cattle are mine, these goods are mine, yet thou thy self art the devils; Oh consider that the devil will have his own when thou diest, he will lose nothing; Neither soul or body shall escape him if thou continue his: Be thou awakened out of thy desperate estate, If thou art not Gods Inheritance thou art the devils possession, and thy tongue, thy eyes, thy body, thy whole life proclaimeth to whom thou dost belong.
4. When the Godly are said to be the Fathers, though it doth not exclude the other persons, yet it doth all other creatures; By this we are delivered from all other proprieters and interest whatsoever, and this makes the phrase to contain ⟨p. 257⟩in it a Treasure of happinesse, as first, Seeing we are the Fathers, therefore we are no longer the devils: We are no more in his possession and under his dominion; We may see by the Scripture in what a wofull and cursed state all men by nature are, They belong to the devil, they are his proper goods; The devil hath them as his, even as he hath the damned in hell, though in this life there may be hope of delivering them, whereas the damned have none, Eph. 2. The devil who is called the God of this world is said to rule in the hearts of the disobedient; Hell is not more the devils place then the heart of a wicked man, and therefore 1 Tim. 2.26. they are said to be Captives to the devil, to be like tamed birds, and our Saviour tels the Pharisees, They were of their Father the devil, Joh. 8. And why? because they did his works; So that whosoever doth the works, committeth the sins that the devils do, the devil is their Father; Though they rage and are mad at such a charge, and this is the reason in part why the glorious fruit of Christs death is called a Redemption, and why he is called a Redeemer, because we were wholly in bondage and captivity to the devil; We were his, he had a proper right to us till Christ redeemed us. Oh that the ungodly men of the world should hear this and not tremble, Whose art thou? To whom dost thou belong? Who may challenge thee but the devil? There are a cursed sort of men who give themselves to the devil by compact in the waies of witchcrafts; Now all wicked men though not by such an expresse Covenant, yet implicitely by their wicked waies give themselves up to be the devils: Oh what a terrible thing is this to consider, that though thou canst say, These grounds are mine, these Cattell are mine, these goods are mine, yet thou thy self art the devils; Oh consider that the devil will have his own when thou diest, he will lose nothing; Neither soul or body shall escape him if thou continue his: Be thou awakened out of thy desperate estate, If thou art not Gods Inheritance thou art the devils possession, and thy tongue, thy eyes, thy body, thy whole life proclaimeth to whom thou dost belong.
