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maintain his ground there; but he and his party were caft down from heaven, and ignominiously expelled from all the celestial regions. These, are induftrious to fill the rulers of the earth with their principles, and they do with amazing fuccefs hurry them on into measures the most unaccountable thereby. They are called here rulers of the darkness of this world, because they rule in ignorance, tyranny and oppreffion, and ufually get their titles and places by lying perjury and bribery. Therefore the arms which the apoftle recommends to refift the devil in thefe, are truth and righteousness..

For he fortifies and arms the church in this place, not fo much against the violence of the devil, as against his wiles and fraud. As if he

would fay, he will endeavor to

bring you in as

well as the civil powers, to be a party in his intereft. And as he will foon learn, that perfecution will not conquer you, he will betake himself to wiles and fubtle methods, and fo try you by intrigues. Lying and bribery have been his principal methods of feduction. By this, he enfnared the angels; by this, he attacked our

Lord

Lord; by this, in the perfon of Judas, he betrayed and fold him; by this, he corrupts civil government, and turns it into a frightful fyftem of darkness; by this, places of truft and honor, are taken from men of parts and merit, and bestowed upon those who are without probity or capacity; by this, the courts of judicature are overturned; where, by bafe judges, bloody murderers are pitied as if perfecuted, and publickly honored as if they had done worthily. I fay then, by this he will attack you; for which reafon you ought to be warned against it above all others. Be strong in the power of God against it; be armed; put on against this the whole armour of God. Be girded with truth and let the breast have always the breaft-plate of righteousness to refist every bait. It is of all things, the bafeft, darkest and blackeft in the whole mystery of iniquity; be then far from this and flrong against it.

This is the origin of fin or moral evil. It must, as we faid, according to the nature of things, have had an ideal exiftence; and all reafonabfe creatures must have had a fpeculative knowledge

of

of it, as what flood in a direct and effential opposition to juftice; and, of equal extent and magnitude. For if fuch and fuch. an action, contained in it fuch a degree of goodness or moral virtue, the contrary action, muft contain an equal measure of moral evil.

And this is

a nature,

a truth of fo fimple and felf-evident that to suppose angels and men in their primitive ftate could be ignorant of it, is altogether void of sense. As they were created in a flate of found reafon and good fenfe, and were capable of giving a fenfible account of their actions and conduct, why they did this, and this, and not that, they must poffefs diftin&t ideas of the different nature and properties of good and evil. And they were advised, to learn the fcience of benignity from their creator, reduce it to practice and go on with everlafting improvements in the experimental knowledge of it; and be contented to leave the fcience of evil, in its mere ideal and fpeculate flate, without ever attempting to pry into it farther. To fubmit to this, and remain ignorant of any thing, at the pleasure of another, Satan thought was too much condefcenfion to be performed by him, and

to

therefore

therefore he would be equal with God, and know every thing as well as he.

Sin therefore came in at first in thought: this rofe in the mind, of one of the primary angels; which if he had fuppreffed, and covered his face, as he ought to have done, had not flained his character, nor vitiated his frame in the leaft. But he approved of it;

it into a doctrine; reduced it

adopted it; framed

to practice; fpread it among his fellow his fellow creatures, and corrupted

the whole creation: for which he is to be abhorred to eternal ages.

But why, might fomebody fay, did not the great Superintendent with his almighty power and force, interpofe to prevent fo much mischief and mifery? Was not he able enough to hinder fin, and fo prevent the calamities that he knew would follow? He might in one fenfe, be faid to be able to prevent the whole. But in another he could not, for the remedy would be more dreadful than the disease. He had made angels and men intelligent creatures, defigned to act in a certain sphere according to the power of

reafon

reafon and choice which is effential to the mode of their existence. Had he interpofed by almighty force to reftrain and over-rule this power which he had made effential to their nature, he would thereby have condemned his own work; and, under the pretence of faving it, would in fact have totally deftroyed it. And, which of all things is the most awful, that moment, God would have commenced the tyrant. His being, by the cause he efpoufed, a good tyrant, if I may fo exprefs it, does not mend the matter at all; for one act of tyranny committed by Omnipotence, would deftroy all real confidence in God, and would juftly alarm and terrify the whole universe with jealoufies and fears, that one day or other that arbitrary irrefiftible power might be exerted to opprefs and deftroy. To

ufe

almighty force therefore to prevent the introduction of fin, would have been more dreadful than the evil to be thereby flopped. For thereby men and angels must have ceafed to be reasonable creatures, and God muft have ceafed to be God. It would indeed have been nothing less than for God to fall into grofs immorality himself to prevent our falling into it,

The

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