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afraid! come, enter into the lifts and fight valiantly; it is an honeft war; Chrift invites you to it, and he will lead you, and never never leave you in it; what needs more? be ftrong, and of a good courage.

CHA P. III.

Of the Second Doctrine and Ufes.

UR enemies are more than flesh and blood, We wref

tle, but with whom? Negatively, Not with flesh and blood; or rather comparatively, not only, or not fo much with flesh and blood. By flesh and blood is either meant man, as having a bodily fubftance confifting of flesh and blood; or our bofom corruptions, fo often called in fcripture flesh. The flesh lufteth against the spirit, and fometimes flesh and blood, as flesh and blood hath not revealed this, and Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, Gal. v. 17. Mat. xvi. 17. 1 Cor. xv. 20.

1. If by flesh and blood be meant the former, it hints to us our weak and infirm natures; q.d. Our adverfaries are not fuch as we are, they are not poor, weak, inconfiderable enemies. When the Lord speaks of our frail condition, he gives it the like expreffion: My Spirit fball not always Arive with man, for that he alfo is flesh, Gen. vi. 3. and the prophet Ifaiah hath the fame expreffion concerning the Egyptians, Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horfes flefb, and not fpirit, Ifa. xxxi. 3. In this fenfe the apostle removes the ufual militia, or more tolerable conflicts: 9. d. We wrestle not fo much with man, as with devils; we wrestle not only, or chiefly with flesh and blood, weak, frail, foolish, vifible or mortal creatures; alas! What are they? the enemies that we fight with are more than flesh and blood, more envious, malicious, furious, dangerous, numerous, more fubtile, powerful, every way fearful: And therefore in comparison, we wrestle not with flesh and blood; we matter not man, we mean Do fuch combatants.

Ufe. Here then I must leave our martial men, whofe war is with flesh and blood, and 'tis well if it be not only with flesh and blood, and nothing else. The apostle's queftion needs but application, From whence come wars and fightings, among you, come they not hence, even of

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• your lufts that war in your members?' James iv. I. q. d. You have wars and fightings among yourselves, if they were only with foreign enemies, they were more tolerable; civil wars are ever worst, and whence are these? are they not of a bafe original and descent, of the lineage of luft? O the covetoufness, pride and ambition that is amogft you! O the loathing, rejection and difobedience of the gospel of Chrift! O the dear and high esteem, advancement and vile embracement of the intereft of this prefent world! Do not worldly, private interests bear the fway? and what are thefe but lufts? and what are the effects of lufts, but wars and fightings amongst yourselves? In way of application; Oh that I could but truly fay, We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against devils! or, Oh that I could not truly fay, We wrestle not against devils, but only against flesh and blood, But my defign is not to intermeddle with outward wars, it is a more inward and spiritual work I have in hand.

1. If by flesh and blood be meant the latter, viz. our bolom corruptions, it hints to us our ftrong enemies, ftrong indeed, q. d. We have enemies within us; do we not feel how the flesh lufteth against the Spirit? And are not these enemies as the fons of Zeruiah, too hard for us? But that is not all, for Satan who is yet ftronger, ftrikes in with the flesh, and by this means we wrestle not only with flesh and blood, naked corruptions, but with Satan in them; our flesh is ftrong, but when it is edged with Satan's policy, and backt by Satan's power, Oh how strong is it then?

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This enemy within us, the Holy Ghoft deciphers by many names; it is called the old man; the old Adam; the earthly, carnal, natural man; the fin which is inherent, and dwelleth in us; the adjoining evil; the law of the members; the lufts of the flesh which fight against the foul. By all which is fignified our corruption of nature, derived from our first parents, whereby we are made backward to all good, and prone to all evil. Every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own concupif cence, and is enticed; and when luft hath conceived, it bringeth forth fin, and fin when it is finifhed, it bring

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'eth forth death,' James i. 14, 15. The apostle here intimates, that as Satan is the father, fo flesh is the mother of fin, which receiving Satan's temptations into a fruitful womb, it doth conceive, nourish, and bring forth fin; and when fin is born, like a deadly ftinging ferpent, it brings forth death both to body and foul, unless the poison thereof be took away by the precious blood of Jefus Christ.

Use. And what, my brethren, are our enemies more than flesh and blood? Oh the fad condition of men that provide not for this war? Chriftians, how doth it concern you to stand upon your guard, and to be in ufe of all means against flesh and blood? If a city were befieged with foreign forces, and they within knew that they harboured home-bred traitors, would they not lay hands on them, and put them to death? My brethren, your fouls are as cities befieged with all the power and policies of devils, and you have within you home-bred enemies, even your own flesh and blood, thefe feek all occafions to betray your fouls into devils hands; Is it not time then to mortifie the flefh, and lufts thereof? Is it not time then to implore the aid and affiftance of God's Spirit whereby you may be ftrengthned and enabled to flay those lufts, which war against the foul: Thefe are in fome refpects more dange rous and pernicious than devils themselves; they are within your bofoms, and like fecret traitors, they open the city gates, yea, they difarm you of your weapons, and lay you naked to Satan's invafions and temptations. Probable it is, that Satan could never vanquish you, unlels the flesh, and the lufts thereof did betray you into his hands: Probably his policy could never circumvent you, unless the fecret traitors did give him continual intelligence of all advantages. Sure I am, the devil is but an outward caufe of fin, he cannot compel or force you to fin, but your lufts help on; Oh then, how fhould you watch over your bofom corruptions, and be in ufe of all means for the mortifying of this flesh and blood.

T

CHA P. IV.
Of the third Doctrine.

HEY are mighty and malicious enemies that war as
gainst us, even principalities, powers, rulers of the

darkness

darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedneffes in heavenlies. Thus are they positively defcribed. I fhall a little search into the words, that we may understand what puiffant enemies we have against us.

1. Principalities, they are not only princes, but principalities in the abstract; it sets forth the eminency of their goverment, above all the princes in the world: Other princes rule in fome parts, but Satan rules over all the earth; hence fometimes he is called Prince of the world, John xiv. 30. and fometimes the god of this world, 2 Cor. iv. 4. He could tell Jefus Chrift, that all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them were delivered unto him, and to whomsoever he would, he gave them, Luke iv. 6, 7. Ido not fay that the devil fpake truth to Chrift; for the world was not his either in poffeffion or difpofition; for poffeffion, the earth is the Lord's, and all that therein is; the world, and all that dwell therein, Pfal. xxiv. 1. and for difpofition, it is God's prerogative and peculiar, By me kings reign, Prov. xviii. 15. All powers that are, are ordained of God, Rom. xiii. 1. He maketh low, and he maketh high, it is the Moft High that beareth rule over the kingdoms of men, Dan. iv. 12. Yet this we grant, that Satan is truly called the prince of the world as it is corrupted; when the world departed from God to his adverfary, God in juftice gave Satan leave to prevail and rule in the fons of disobedience; and thus devils are princes, or in the abstract principalities over all the earth.

2. Powers. They are not only powerful, but powers in the abstract; i. e. they are clothed and filled with a mighty power: Were devils princes only in their ftile, and had no power, the title could not carry it; we little esteem of founds, fyllables and words. Have we not feen what the sword can do without a title, and how empty the title is without the fword? Well, but devils have both; as they are principalities, fo they are powers; they are the princes of the power. What this power is, is past my telling, only if we look in the world, we may find it wonderful in feveral parts of it. As,

1. For the elementary part of the world: What element is it, that he hath not power over. 1, Fire is the element

prepared

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prepared for him; and he can (let it loofe) fend it down contrary to its nature from heaven to earth. Thus one of the meffengers told Job, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burnt up the sheep and the fervants, ' and confumed them, and I only am efcaped alone to tell thee,' Job i. 16. It is called the fire of God, though caused by Satan; it was not God, but Satan that was the immediate kindler of it; and yet called the fire of God, because of the strangeness of the fire; it was a wonderful, great and extraordinary fire; fome think it was a flash of lightening, and it is more probable, because it is faid to fall down from heaven. Satan can do mighty things, command much in that magazine of heaven, where the dreadful altillery, the fiery meteors, which make men tremble, are lodged and stored up (faith Caryl.) For inftance, he can discharge the great ordnance of heaven, thunder and lightning; and by his art, he can make them more terrible and dreadful than they are in nature. 2. The air is his own element, wherein now he reigneth; he is Prince of 'the power of the air,' Eph. ii. 2. i. e. of the airy dominion or princedom. The Jews have a tradition, that all the fpace between the earth and the firmament is full of troops of evil fpirits, their chieftians having their refidence in the air. Auguftine and Jerome tell us, that this was the opinion of all the primitive doctors: Now if there they are as princes, and have power, no wonder they can violently move the air, and caufe tempests and storms. Thus another meffenger told Job, There came a great wind from the wilder ⚫ nefs and fmote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead,' Job i. 19. Satan being left to his own difpofe, can raife and enrage storms and tempefts. I believe (faith Caryl) Satan cannot raise fo much wind by his own power, and at his own pleasure, as will weave a feather; but when God faith, Go and do fuch things, then he can raise wind enough to move mountains, and raife the foundations of the proudest and strongeft buildings. Thus Job's children were buried in the ruins of their houfe, by a puff (as one calls it) of the 'devil's mouth.' 3. The water is an element commanded by him; he can trouble the feas, and cause such waves

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