Precious faith considered in its nature, working, and growth

when Satan shows himself in Magical apparitions, he doth but mock the sense and delude the mind, but when God shows him forth in the word, he appears in his proper colours and true likeness; the believer knows him to be of very great power, a ruler of darkness, a Prince, nay a God of this world, one that can do great things without in the elements, and within in the passions, a mighty Leviathan, who can make the heart boil as a pot and foam out its own shame, and withal he knows that this roaring Lyon is in a chain, and cannot go beyond his commission. Again, the believer knows him to be an old serpent full of methods and devises, turning every stone, waiting upon every occasion, complying with every temper, and putting on every shape; in his temptations, now in the dress and pomp of earthly things, and then in Samuel's Mantle, transforming himself into an Angel of light; sometimes carrying men up into the mountain of the world, and glorifying vanity before them; and sometimes setting them on a pinnacle of the Temple, to cast them down by the pride of their own duties; now speaking in the Language of Nature, Master spare thy self, and anon in the Language of Scripture, it is written thus and thus, and all that he may devour, or, as it is in the Original, drink up, 1 Pet. 5.8. souls, as if he lived upon spirits, and no blood would serve him but that of souls: And ⟨p. 180⟩withal the believer knows, that the All-wise God can wrap up Satan in his own nets, and countermine him in every plot, he can awaken us out of the snare, and make us see the methods and subtle postures of the devil, how he would charm us into presumption, or roar us into despair; how he stands at our right hand in holy duties, and at our left in earthly employments; what a murderer he is in stifling holy motions, and what a liar in his false joys and promises: Thus the believer knows more of Satan and his hellish depths then others do.

when Satan shews himself in Magical apparitions, he doth but mock the sense and delude the mind, but when God shews him forth in the word, he appears in his proper colours and true likeness; the believer knows him to be of very great power, a ruler of darkness, a Prince, nay a God of this world, one that can do great things without in the elements, and within in the passions, a mighty Leviathan, who can make the heart boil as a pot and foam out its own shame, and withall he knows that this roaring Lyon is in a chain, and cannot go beyond his commission. Again, the believer knows him to be an old serpent full of methods and devises, turning every stone, waiting upon every occasion, complying with every temper, and putting on every shape; in his temptations, now in the dress and pomp of earthly things, and then in Samuels Mantle, transforming himself into an Angel of light; sometimes carrying men up into the mountain of the world, and glorifying vanity before them; and sometimes setting them on a pinacle of the Temple, to cast them down by the pride of their own duties; now speaking in the Language of Nature, Master spare thy self, and anon in the Language of Scripture, it is written thus and thus, and all that he may devour, or, as it is in the Original, drink up,