His first Device to draw the soul to1 sin, is to present the bait, and hide the hook; to present the golden cup, and hide the poison; to present the sweet, the pleasure, and the profit that may flow in upon the soul, by yielding to sin, and by hiding from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committings of sin. By this Device he took our first Parents, Genesis 3. 4, 5. And the Serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die. For God doth 2know, that in the day ye▪ eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, here is the bait, the sweet, the pleasure, the profit, Oh! but he hides the hook, the shame, the wrath, and the loss that would certainly follow. There is an opening of the eyes of the mind to contemplation and joy, and there is an opening of the eyes of the body to shame and confusion. He promiseth them the former, but intends the latter, and so cheats them, giving them an Apple in exchange for Paradise, as he deals by thousands now adays. Satan with ease puts fallacies upon us, and then, by his ⟨p. 8⟩golden baits, leads us, and leaves us in a fools Paradise; he promises the soul honour, pleasure and profit, &c. but pay's the soul with the greatest contempt, shame, and loss that can be; by a golden bait he laboured to catch Christ3 in the 4 of Mat. 8. 9. he shows him the beauty and the bravery of a bewitching world, which doubtless would have taken many a carnal heart; but here the devils fire fell upon wet tinder, & therefore took not; these tempting objects did not at all win upon his affections, nor dazzle his eyes; though many have eternally died of the wound of the eye, and fallen for ever by this vile Strumpet the world, who by laying forth her two fair breasts of profit and pleasure, hath wounded their souls, and cast them down into utter perdition; she hath by the glistering of her pomp and preferment, slain millions, as the Serpent Scytale, which when she cannot overtake the fleeing passengers, doth, with her beautiful colours, astonish and amaze them: so that they have no power to pass away, till she have stung them to death. Adversity hath slain her thousand, but prosperity her ten thousand.
His first Device to draw the soule to1 sin, is to present the bait, and hide the hook; to present the golden cup, and hide the poison; to present the sweet, the pleasure, and the profit that may flow in upon the soule, by yielding to sin, and by hiding from the soule the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committings of sin. By this Device he took our first Parents, Genesis 3. 4, 5. And the Serpent said unto the woman, yee shall not surely die. For God doth 2know, that in the day ye▪ eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evill. Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, here is the baite, the sweet, the pleasure, the profit, Oh! but he hides the hook, the shame, the wrath, and the losse that would certainly follow. There is an opening of the eyes of the mind to contemplation and joy, and there is an opening of the eyes of the body to shame and confusion. He promiseth them the former, but intends the latter, and so cheats them, giving them an Apple in exchange for Paradise, as he deales by thousands now adayes. Satan with ease puts fallacies upon us, and then, by his ⟨p. 8⟩golden baites, leads us, and leaves us in a fools Paradise; he promises the soule honour, pleasure and profit, &c. but paye's the soule with the greatest contempt, shame, and losse that can be; by a golden bait he laboured to catch Christ3 in the 4 of Mat. 8. 9. he shewes him the beauty and the bravery of a bewitching world, which doubtlesse would have taken many a carnall heart; but here the devils fire fell upon wet tinder, & therefore took not; these tempting objects did not at all win upon his affections, nor dazle his eyes; though many have eternally died of the wound of the eye, and fallen for ever by this vile Strumpet the world, who by laying forth her two faire breasts of profit and pleasure, hath wounded their soules, and cast them downe into utter perdition; she hath by the glistering of her pomp and preferment, slaine millions, as the S•rpent Scytale, which when she cannot overtake the fleeing passengers, doth, with her beautifull colours, astonish and amaze them: so that they have no power to passe away, till she have stung them to death. Adversity hath slain her thousand, but prosperity her ten thousand.
- 11 Device.
- 2So to reduce D. Taylor Martyr, they promised him not only his pardon, but a Bishopric. Act. and Mon. folio 1386. Inest peccatum cum delectaris: regnat si consent ser•. August in Psal. 50.So to reduce D. Taylor Martyr, they promised him not onely his pardon, but a Bishoprick. Act. and Mon. folio 1386. Inest peccatum cum delectaris: regnat si consen• ser•. August in Psal. 50.
- 3This world at last shall be burnt for a witch, sayeth one. Multi amando res noxias sunt miseri, habendo miseriores. August. in Psa. 26. Many are miserable by loving hurtful things, but they are more miserable by having them. Men had need pray with Bernard, Da domine ut sic possideamus tempora lia ut non perdamus aeterna. Grant us Lord that we may so partake of temporal felicity, that we may not loose eternal.This world at last shall be burnt for a witch, sayeth one. Multi amando res noxias sunt miseri, habendo miseriores. August. in Psa. 26. Many are miserable by loving hurtfull things, but they are more miserable by having them. Men had need pray with Bernard, Da domine ut sic possideamus tempora lia ut non perdamus aeterna. Grant us Lord that wee may so partake of temporall felicity, that we may not loose eternall.
