Proposition III.

Proposition III.

The Devil, in the prosecution, & for the execution of His wrath upon them, often gets a Liberty to make a Descent upon the Children of men. Whe• ⟨p. 13⟩the Devil does Hurt unto us, he Comes Down unto us; for the Rendezvous 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 God; so I may say, Not a Devil in the Air, can come down without the leave of God. Of this we have a famous Instance in that Arabian Prince, of whom the Devil was unable so much as to Touch any thing, till the most High God 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 Havoc 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. Tis a Law-term; and it notes, An Adversary at Law. The Devil cannot come at us, except in some sense according to Law; but sometimes he does procure sad things to be inflicted, according to that 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 ⟨p. 14⟩all; he charges us with manifold sins against the Lord our God: The•• he loads us with heavy Imputations, of Hypocrisy, Iniquity, Disobedience; where upon he urges, […], •et `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 Consion of God, Comes down, as a Destroyer upon us. Haing fist been an Attorney, to bespeak that the Judgments of Heaven may e Ordered for us, he then also pleads that he may be the Executioner of those Judgments;