Зображення сторінки
PDF
ePub

The heart.

There was reared up, in the midft of this town, a most famous and ftately palace: for ftrength, it may be called a caftle; for pleasantnefs, a para dife; for largenefs, a place fo copious as to contain all the world, Ecclef. iii. 11. This place, the King SHADDAI intended but for himself alone, and not another with him: (a) partly because of his own delights, and partly because he would not that the terror of ftrangers fhould be upon the town. This place SHADDAI made alfo a garrison of; but he committed the keeping of it only to the men of the town. The body, The walls of the town were-well built;. yea, fo faft and firm were they knit and compacted together, that, had it not been for the townsmen themselves, they could not have been fhaken or broken for ever.

The powers of

the foul.

For here lay the excellent wifdom of him that builtManfoul, that the walls could never be broken down nor hurt, by the most mighty adverfe potentates, unless the townfmen gave confent thereto.

This famous town of Mansoul had five

The five fenfes. gates, at which to come out, and at which to go in; and thefe were made likewife anfwerable to the walls, to wit, impregnable, and fuch as could never be opened nor forced, but by the will and leave of thofe within. The names of the gates are thefe: Ear-gate, Eyegate, Mouth-gate, Nofe-gate, and Feet-gate.

Other things there were that belonged to the town of Manfoul, which, if you adjoin to thefe, will yet

give

(a) The heart of man, in it's incorrupt state, was ever afpiring towards God in adoration, love, and praife; extolling and admiring his divine perfections, and the wonders of creation, in his various works. Such a heart alfo God himself delighted to dwell in, Prov. viii. But alas! how is the pure gold become dim! how is the fine gold changed! By loving the creature more than the Creator, the heart of man is become deceitful, and defperately wicked, a cage of unclean birds!"

Profeffor, if thy heart be idolatrous, or devoted to the world and thy lufts, thy religion is vain, thou deceivest thine own foul; for God fays to all, "My fon, give me thine heart," Prov, xxiii. 26,

give further demonftration to all, of the glory and ftrength of the place. It had always a fufficiency of provifion within it's walls; (a) it had the best, Manfoul at firfte

most wholfome and excellent law, that was

'The state of

then extant in the world. There was not a rogue, rafcal, or traiterous perfon then within it's walls: they were all! true men, and faft joined together; and this, you know, is a great matter. And to all these, it had always, fo long as it had the goodness to keep true to SHADDAI, the king, his countenance, his protection, and it was his delight, &c.

Well, upon a time there was one Diabolus, (b) a mighty giant, made an affault upon the famous town of Manfoul, to take it, and make it his own habitation. This giant was king of the Blacks or Negroes, and a most raving prince he was. We will, if you please, firft difcourfe of the original of this Diabolus, and then of his taking of this famous town of Manfoul.

Devils, the fallen angels.

The origin of

Diabolus.

This Diabolus is indeed a great and mighty prince, and yet both poor and beggarly. As to his original, he was at firft one of the fervants of king SHADDAI, by whom he was made, and raised to a moft high and mighty place, yea, and was put into fuch principalities as belonged to

the

(a) That man, as he came from the hands of God, was endued with power fufficient to enable him to remain happy in the divine favour, though still liable to fall by the prevalence of temptation, ought to be universally allowed, as being con fonant with fcripture, and agreeable to well informed reason. This fentiment is very elegantly expreffed by our own poet, MILTON, in the angel Raphael's address to Adam:

"God made thee perfect, not immutable:
And good he made thee; but to perfevere,
He left it in thy pow'r: ordain'd thy will
By nature free, not over-rul'd by fate
Inextricable, or strict neceffity."

(b) The devil; a fallen angel, an evil spirit; Satan, the adverfary of God and man,

the best of his territories and dominions, Ifa. xiv. 12. This Diabolus was made fon of the morning, and a brave place he had of it: it brought him much glory, and gave him much brightness: an income that might have contented his Luciferian heart, had it not been infatiable, and enlarged as hell itself.

Pride kindles in
Diabolus.

Well, he feeing himself thus exalted to greatnefs and honour, and raging in his mind for higher state and degree, what doth he but begin to think with himself, how he might be fet up as lord over all, and have the fole power under SHADDAI, (a) 2 Pet. ii. 4. Jude 6. (Now that did the King referve for

his

(a) Thus we fee that pride, envy, and malice, excited rebellion in the angels, and cast them down from heaven: they could not brook the decree iffued by Sovereign Wisdom, that the MESSIAH fhould be King and Lord over all created beings, to the glory of God the Father; fee Pf. ii. 6, 7: but each said in his heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also fit upon the mount of the congregation, in the fides of the north-I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH," Ifa. xiv. 13, 14. But, their defign being no fooner formed than difcovered by the all-piercing eye of God, they were immediately punished for their horrid confpiracy with everlasting deftruction from his presence, banifhed from heaven and happiness for ever; and are now referved in chains of darkness, to receive their full and final doom at the judgment of the great day, 2 Pet. ii. 4. Well had it been for the human race, if the evil had stopt here; but alas! the fame rebellious fpirit, that shut the angels out of heaven, keeps the bulk of fallen man from it: they will not have THIS MAN to reign over them, Luke xix. 14; they reject the God-man, Jefus; renounce the falvation of God's own gracious appointment; and, after a life of fin here, flatter themselves with vain, delufive hopes of future happinefs, by a blind reliance on the mercy of an abfolute God, who to all fuch will be a confuming fire: while others oppose their own righteousness to, or endeavour to join it with, the righteousness of Chrift, for their juftification and acceptance at God's righteous bar. All which is the genuine leaven of Arminianifm, and leads by a direct road to the pit of mifery and ruin: for God will not give his glory to another, Isaiah xlviii. 11; neither is there any other name,, given under heaven, whereby loft finners can be faved, but that of JESUS; and there is falvation in no other, A&siv. 12.

Shaddai difcovers treafon and

his Son, yea, and he had already bestowed it upon him); wherefore he firft confults with himself what had beft to be done; and then breaks his mind to fome others of his companions, to which they alfo agreed. So, in fine, they came to this iffue, that they fhould make an attempt upon the King's Son to deftroy him, that the inheritance might be their's. Well, to be fhort, the treafon, as I faid, was concluded, the time appointed, the word given, the rebels rendezvoufed, and the affault attempted. (a) Now the King and his Son, being all and always eye, could not but difcern all paffages.in his dominions; and he having always a love for his Son, as for himself, could not, at what he faw, but be greatly provoked and offended: wherefore what does he, but takes them in the very nick, and first trip that they made towards their defign, convicts them of the treason, horrid rebellion, and confpiracy that they had devised, and now attempted to put into practice, and cafts them altogether out of all place of truft, benefit, honour, and preferment: this done, he ba nishes them the court, turns them down into horrid pits; never more to expect the leaft favour from his hands, but to abide the judgment that he had appointed, and that for ever and ever.

rebellion among his an

gels.

Now they being thus caft out of all place of truft, profit, and honour, and alfo knowing that they had loft their Prince's favour for ever, being banifhed his court and caft down to the horrible pits, you may be fure they would now add to their former pride what malice

and

(a) The rebellious combination of Satan and his apoftate eonfederates, as alfo their expulfion from heaven, and the banishment they incurred, feem to be very clearly pointed out in that paffage in Rev. xii. 7-9. "And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels: and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was caft out, that old ferpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was caft out into the earth, and his angels were caft out with him." Sinners, beware, left, by obftinately rejecting Chrift, ye fall into the fame condemnation: but rather "kifs the Son, left he be angry, and so ye perish from the right way," Pf. ii, ult.

and rage against SHADDAI, and against his Son, they could, I Pet. v. 8. Wherefore roving and ranging in much fury from place to place (if perhaps they might find fomething that was the King's), to revenge themselves on him, by fpoiling that; at laft they happened into this fpacious country of Univerfe, and fteered their course towards the town of Manfoul: and confidering that that town was one of the chief works and delights of king SHADDAI; what do they, but, after counsel taken, make an affault upon that. I fay, they knew that Manfoul belonged unto SHADDAI: for they were there when he built, and beautified it for himself. (a) So when they had found the place, they fhouted horribly for joy, and roared on it like as a lion on it's prey; faying, Now we have found the prize, and how to be revenged on king SHADDAI for A council of what he hath done to us. So they fat down, war held by and called a council of war; and confidered Diabolus, to with themselves, what ways and methods confider about winning the they had beft engage in, for the winning to themselves this famous town of Manfoul: and these four things were then propounded to be confidered of.

town of Man. foul.

First, Whether they had best all of them to fhew them felves in this defign to the town of Manfoul?

Secondly, Whether they had best to go and fit down against Manfoul, in their now ragged and beggarly guife?

Thirdly, Whether they had beft fhew to Manfoul their intentions, and what defign they came about;

or

(a) The rebel angels, as well as the elect ones, were prefent at that glorious difplay of the wisdom and goodness of God, in his laft, beft work, the formation of man in the divine image; for we read, Job xxxviii. 7, that when the work of creation was completed, and that accomplished creature man was produced as lord of the lower world, "the morning stars fang together, and all the fons of God fhouted for joy." Nor is the foul of man lefs dear in God's fight than ever; for our Lord tells us, Luke xv. 10, "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God, over one finner that repenteth,"

« НазадПродовжити »