One, is principally meant the Devil, there can be no doubt.

To conclude this Point, We Chriftians feem to be in the fame Condition, with the Ifraelites, after they came out of Egypt into the Land of Canaan; as they, at their entry into that Land, had all the Power of the Canaanites fet against them, to hinder them from the Conqueft of it, and, even after they were fettled there, God ftill left fome of the Canaanites in the Land, nay and faith he always would do fo, that he might prove the Ifraelites, whether they would keep the Way of the Lord, to walk therein; fo it is with us Chriftians; tho' our Saviour hath broken the Head of the old Serpent, hath outed him out of his Kingdom, by fettling his Religion amongst us, yet there is fo much Power left to him, as that he is still in a Condition to disturb us, and, by himself and his Minifters, to lay Snares in our Way: And all this; as God faid to the Ifraelites, that God may prove us, whether we will keep the Way of the Lord to walk therein; Therefore bath. the Lord left thefe evil Angels, without driving them out baftily, neither bath be deliver'd them into our Hand. As I may apply the Words, Judg. 2. 22, 23.

But then Fifthly and Laftly, We are always to remember this, that, tho' God do fuffer the Devil to tempt us, yet He never gives him leave to do more than tempt us. The Devil cannot force us to do that which

is

is evil. He hath no more Power over us, thin our vitious Acquaintance have, that we converse with. They can, and they do, propofe Objects and Occafions and Opportunities, by which we are oftentimes tempted, to depart from our Duty, and to do fomething that we ought not to do. And they likewise can, and do, apply thefe Temptations fo vigorously, by their Perfuafions and Counfels, and a thousand fly Suggestions and Infinuations, that we fhall be in very great Danger, if we do not watch carefully over our felves, to be overcome by them.

Thus much the Men of the World daily do, and the Devil doth no more, nor can he do more, when he fets himself moft vigorously to do us Mischief. He can present Objects, or raife Phantafms, in our Minds about them, he can move and invite and allure and follicit. But, this is all he can do; he cannot, in the leaft, compel us to depart, one Step, out of that Way which we have proposed to our felves, unless we our felves have a Mind. He may put a fairer Glofs upon a Temptation, than it would otherwise have appeared in, to us; and he may, 'tis likely, fuggeft fuch Motives to us to comply with it, as would not perhaps have come into our Heads, had he not been about us. But ftill we are left to our own choice and liberty, whether we will comply or we are Masters of our felves, and our own Actions, as we pleafe; G 3

not; ftill may order and, if it fhould

fhould happen, at any time, that the Tempter fhould put us hard to it, and lay fuch Snares before us, as, confidering our natural weakness and frailties, we fhould fcarcely avoid falling into; why, then, is the Spirit of Chrift, and the Heavenly Hoft of Angels that attend him, ready at Hand to fuccour and affift us, and to fortify our Minds, with fuch Strength and Power, as that we shall not be overcome, unless we be Traitors to God and our felves. For greater is be that is in us, than he that is in the World; as the Apostle hath told us.

So that, after all, as Things are contrived, the meanest and the weakest of us is able to match all the Powers of Hell. And they cannot do us the least Mischief, any farther than we our felves contribute to it. Nay, fo far are they from being able to do us Mifchief, that there is not any Temptation, they present to us, but it is in our Power, thro' Chrifts Affiftance, to turn it to our great Benefit and Advantage: As God hath thought fit to leave us expofed to the Devils Attempts, for the exercife of our Vertue, so he hath taken care to order Matters in fuch a Way, that we may always do our felves good, and improve both our Vertue and Rewards by the Affaults of the Devil, tho' he can do us no harm by them.

And thus much of the fecond Head of Enquiry; I now proceed to the Third, and that is this; Whether all Temptations to Sin or

all

all Sins we fall into, by temptation, are to be afcribed to the Devil? This Question I put, because many among us are fo ready, at every turn, to charge their Miscarriages upon him, and to remove the Blame from themselves; but how unreasonable this is will appear by what I fhall briefly represent, in anfwer to this Enquiry, and therewith I shall conclude.

First of all, it cannot be denied, that, in a remote Sense, and with refpect to the original of Sin, the Devil may be faid to be the Author and the Cause of all the Sins of Mankind. Since it was he, that first drew our firft Parents from the State of their Innocency, and, by their Fall, brought Sin into the World. Accordingly, in the Scripture-language, All Sins and Impieties, of what kind Joever are the Works of the Devil, and all thofe, who do commit Sin, are faid to be of the Devil, who was a Sinner from the beginning. Secondly, there is likewife no doubt, but that the Devil is, at all times, bufy and active for the promoting Sin in the World as he hath Opportunity; he goes to and fro in the Earth (as he speaks of himfelf in the 1ft Chapter of Fob obferving how his Work goes forwards, and very induftrious without doubt he is, in helping forwards the Interest of his Kingdom. And, wherever he fees that there is need of his immediate particular Application or Affiftance, for the carrying on a Bufinefs, there to be fure he is G 4

ready

ready to afford it, if God give him permiffion.

But then, in the third Place, if we speak, with reference to all the particular Temptations which are prefented to a Man, or all the particular Sins which a Man falls into by Temptation, then we fay it is very improba ble that the Devil should have an immediate Hand, either in all of them, or in most of them; for indeed, there is no need he should concern himself in every particular Action: For the generality of Men are too ready to commit Sin, without waiting for a Temptation from him; to that pitch of degeneracy is the Nature of Mankind arrived, that, God knows, many of us are too prone to do naughty Things, even without a Tempter, and there is no doubt but we do a great many, when no one doth inftigate us to them, but we blindly follow our own Appetites and Paffions, and the evil Habits and Cuftoms that we have brought upon our felves, and, when there happens a Cafe, that there doth need a Tempter to a bad Action, why alass! there are too many vifible ones, that we converse with, that take the Devils Office out of his Hands, and render his Affaults perfectly needlefs.

But, Fourthly and Laftly, Whether the Devil doth immediately tempt us to our Sins, or doth not, yet this will make but little difference, as to the Guilt, if we have committed them. I would ask any one, that is

drawn