it) damnable here fies. And becaufe God will preferve the fouls of his own from this mortal contagion, therefore,

Secondly, He endeavours, by leffer errors, to bufy the minds, and check the growth of grace in the fouls of the faints, by em ploying them about things fo foreign to true godliness, and the power thereof, Heb. xiii. 9. The remedies.

The rules, for prevention and recovery, are these that follow:

Rule 1. Pray earnestly for a thorough change of the state, and temper of thy foul, by found converfion, and regeneration,

Converfion turns us from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, Acts xxvi. 18. They are his own slaves and vaffals, that are taken captive by him at his will, 2 Tim. ii. 16. A fanctified heart is a fovereign defenfative against erroneous doctrines; it furnishes the foul with spiritual eyes, judicious ears, and a diftinguishing tafte, by which it may difcern both good and evil, truth and error, Heb. v. 14. yea, it puts the foul at once under the conduct of the fpirit, and protection of the promife, John xvi. 13. and though this doth not fecure a man from all leffer mistakes, yet it effectually fecures him from greater ones, which are inconfiftent with Chrift, and falvation.

Rule 2. Acquaint yourfelves with the wiles, and methods of Satan, and be not ignorant of his devices, 2 Cor. ii. 11.

When once you understand the wash, and paint with which he fets off the ugly face of error, you will not easily be enamoured with it. Pretences of devotion upon one fide, and of purity, zeal, and reformation upon the other; though they be pleafant founds to both ears, yet the wary foul will examine, before it receive, and admit doctrinal points under these gilded titles. Those that have made their obfervations upon the ftratagems of Satan, will heedfully obferve both the tendency of doctrines, and the lives of their teachers; and if they find loosenefs, pride, wantonnefs in them, it is not a glorious title, or magnificent name that fhall charm them. They know Satan can transform himself into an angel of light; and no wonder if his minifters alfo be transformed into minifters of righteouf nefs, 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15.

Rule 3. Refign your minds, and judgments in fervent prayer to the government of Chrift, and conduct of the Spirit; and in all your addreffes to God, pray that he would keep them chafte, and pure, and not fuffer Satan to commit a rape upon

them: Plead with God that part of Chrift's prayer, John xvii. 17." Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."

Rule 4. Live in the confcientious, and conftant practice of all thofe truths and duties God hath already manifested to you.

This will bring you under that bleffed promise of Chrift, John vii. 17. "If any man will do his will, he fhall know of "the doctrine, whether it be of God" Satan's greatest succeffes are among idle, notional, and vain profeffors; not humble, ferious, and practical Christians,

Caufe 11. Having confidered, and difpatched the feveral internal causes of error, found in the evil difpofitions of the feduced, as alfo the impulfive caufe, viz. Satan, who fits fuitable baits to all thefe finful humours, and evil tempers of the heart; we come next to confider the inftrumental caufe, employed by Satan in this work, viz. the false teacher, whom Satan makes ufe of as his feeds-man, to diffeminate and scatter erroneous doctrines and principles into the minds of men, ploughed up, and prepared by thofe evil tempers fore-mentioned, as a fit foil to receive them.

1

The choice of inftruments is a principal part of Satan's policy. Every one is not fit to be employed in fuch a service as this. All are not fit to be of the council of war, who yet take their places of service in the field. A ruftic carried out of the field, on board a fhip at fea, though he never learned his compass, nor faw a ship before, can, by another's direction, tug luftily at a rope; but he had need be an expert artist, that fits at the helm, and steers the course. The worft caufes need the smoothest orators; and bad ware, a cunning merchant to put it off *.

Deep-pated men are coveted by Satan, to manage this defign: None like an eloquent Tertullus to confront a Paul, Acts xxiv. 1. A fubtle Eccius to enter the lift, in defence of the Popish cause, against the learned, and zealous reformers. When the duke of Buckingham undertook to plead the bad caufe of Richard the third, the Londoners faid, They never thought it had been poffible for any man to deliver fo much bad matter, in fuch goed words, and quaint phrafes †.

*That the impoftures of Montanus were fubtle and cunning, and fuch as might eafily impofe on fome by a fair fhow, is plain from this, that he admitted almoft the whole fcripture, and as Epiphanius writes, taught the fame things concerning God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, which the church of Chrift did teach, Magdeb. Cent. 2. cap. 5. p. 77.

+ Continuation of Daniel's Hiftory. p. 233. VOL. IV.

I i

The firft inftrument, chofen by Satan to deceive man, was the ferpent; because that creature was more fubtle than any beaft of the field. There is not a man of eminent parts, but Satan courts and folicits him for this service. St. Austin told an ingenious, but unfanctified scholar, Cupit abs te ornari diabolus, The devil covets thy parts to adorn his caufe. He furveys the world, and wherever he finds more than ordinary ftrength of reafon, pregnancy of wit, depth of learning, and elegancy of language, that is the man he looks for.

Thefe are the men that can almost indifcernibly sprinkle their errors among many precious truths, and wrap up their poisonous drugs in leaf-gold, or fagar. Marefius notes of Crellius, and his accomplices, That by the power of their eloquence, and fophiftry of their arguments, they were able, artificially, to cloath horrible blafphemies, to allure the simple.

And, like the Hyaena, they can counterfeit the voice of the fhepherds, to deceive and destroy the sheep. There is (faith a late worthy) an erudita nequitia, a learned kind of wickednefs, a fubtle art of deceiving the minds of others. Upon which account the fpirit of God fometimes compares them, 2 Pet. ii. 3. to cunning and cheating tradefmen, who have the very art to fet a glofs upon their bad wares with fine words, πλασίοις λόγοις υμας sapevora, they buy and fell the people with their enfparing and feigned words t. And fometimes he compares them to cunning gamefters, that have the art, and fleight of hand, to cog the die, to deceive the unfkilful, and win their game, Eph. iv. 14. n xvosa, &c.

And fometimes the fpirit of God compares them to witches themselves, Gal. iii. 1. Tis pas fononave, Foolifh Galatians, who hath bewitched you? How many ftrange fates have been done upon the bodies of men and women, by witchcraft? But far more, and stranger, upon the fouls of men, by the magic of error. Jannes, and Jambres, performed wonderful things in the fight

* With the disguise of painted eloquence, with fophiftical arguments taken from scripture, perniciously wrested and with false and deceitful argument, the most horrid blafphemies are artfully dressed up to infoare the fimple. Pref. to Hyd. Socin.

+Mr. W. Gurnal, Chriftian armour, Part 2. p. 33.

There are certain vain talkers and feducers of mens minds, not in reality Christians but men making a trade and merchandize of Christianity, who fo mix the poifon of error with fome sweetning allurements, as with wine and honey, that he who drinks of that palatable potion, being taken with its sweetness, is unawares, betrayed to death. Ignatius Epift. to Trallian. p. 68.

of Pharaoh, by which they deceived and hardened him; and unto thefe falfe teachers are compared.

Such a man was Elymas the forcerer, who laboured to feduce the deputy, Sergius Paulus, tho' a prudent man, Acts xiii. 7, 8, 9, 10. Ob full of all fubtilty, and all mischief, thou child of the devil! faith Paul unto him. The art of feduction, from the ways of truth and holiness, difcovers a man to be both the child, and Scholar of the devil.

But as the wife and painful minifters of Chrift, who turn many to righteoufnefs, fhall have double glory in heaven; fo thefe fubtile, and most active agents for the devil, who turn many from the ways of righteoufaefs, will have a double portion of mifery in hell.

The remedies.

The proper remedies in this cafe are principally two.

Remedy 1. Pray fervently, and labour diligently in the use of all God's appointed means, to get more folidity of judgment, and ftrength of grace, to establish you in the truth, and fecure your fouls against the cunning craftiness of men that lie in wait to deceive.

It is the ignorance, and weakness of the people, which makes the factors for errors fo fuccefsful as they are. Confult the Scriptures, and you shall find thefe cunning merchants drive the quickest and gainfulleft trade among the weak and injudicious. So fpeaks the apoftle, With good words, and fair fpeeches, they deceive the hearts of the fimple; anax, harmless, weak, eafy fouls, who have a defire to do well, but want wildom to difcern the fubtilties of them that mean ill; who are void both of fraud in themselves, and fufpicion of others. Oh! what fuccefs have the deceivers, xpsy xa xg, their fair words and fugared speeches, sweet and taking expreffions, among fuch innocent

ones !

And who are they among whom Satan's cunning gamesters commonly win the game, and fweep the ftakes, but weak Chriftians, credulous fouls, whom for that reason the apostle calls vártot, children? The word properly fignifies an infant, when it is referred to the age; but unfkilful and unlearned, when referred (as it is here) to the mind. So again, 2 Pet. ii. 14. They (that is, the falfe teachers there spoken of ) beguile Yuxes d'sapieres, unstable fouls, fouls that are not confirmed and grounded in the principles of religion. Whence by the way, take notice of the unspeakable advantage, and neceffity of being

well catechifed in your youth; the more judicions, the more fecure.

Remedy 2. Labour to acquaint yourselves with the fleights and artifices Satan's factors and inftruments generally make use of, to feduce and draw men from the truth. The knowledge of them is a good defenfative against them. Now there are two common artifices of feducers, which it is not fafe for Chrif tians to be ignorant of.

First, They ufually seek to disgrace and blaft the reputations of those truths, and minifters fet for their defence, which they defign afterwards to overthrow and ruin, and to beget credit, and reputation, to thofe errors which they have a mind to introduce. How many precious truths of God are this day, and with this defign, defamed as legal and carnal doctrines; and thofe that defend them, as men of an Old Testament fpirit?

Humiliation for fin, contrition of fpirit, &c. fall under dif grace with many, and indeed all qualifications, and pré-requifites unto coming to Chrift, as things not only needlefs, but pernicious unto the fouls of men, although they have not the least dependance upon them: yea, faith ittelf, as a pre-requisite unto juftification, as no better than a condition pertaining to Adam's covenant.

And fo for the perfons of orthodox minifters; you fee into what contempt the talfe teachers would have brought both the perfon and preaching of Paul himself, 2 Cor. x. 10. "His bo

dily prefence (fay they) is weak, and his speech contemptible." Secondly, Their other common artifice is, to infinuate their false doctrines among many acknowledged and precious truths, which only ferve for a convenient vehicle to them; and be fides that, to make their errors as palatable and guftful as they can to the vitiated appetite of corrupt nature. The forementioned worthy hath judiciously observed how artificially Satan hath blended his baneful dofes, to please the palate of carnal reafon, Spiritual pride, and the defire of flefly liberty.

Garnal reafon is that great idol, which the more intelligent part of the carnal world worships. And are not the Socinian herefies as pleasant to it, as a well mixt julep to a feverish ftomach.

Spiritual pride is another Diana, which obtains greatly in the world; and no doctrine like the Pelagian, and Semipelagian errors, to gratify it. A doctrine that fets fallen nature upon its legs again, and perfuades it, it can go alone to Chrift; at leaft, with a little external help of moral fuafion, without any

Mr. W. G.