Wicked Men Compared to the Devil

    WICKED MEN COMPABED TO THE DEVIL

    "Have not I chosen you twelve? and one of you is a Devil" Joh 6:70.

    "The Devil shall cast some of you info prison," &c., Re 2:10.

    VILE and ungodly men may in many respects be compared unto the Devil himself.

    PARALLELS.

    I. The Devil at first was formed or created by the Almighty; I do not say, he was created a Devil, sin made him a Devil, but God at first made him; he was created an angel of light: so God created Wicked Men; they are God's creatures: though God at first made no Man Wicked: "The Lord created Man upright, but he hath sought out many inventions," Ec 7:29. It is sin that hath made Man so vile.

    II. The Devil then is grievously degenerated from what he once was; so are Wicked Men from what they were in Adam.

    III. The Devil is an enemy to God; he was God's first enemy: so are Wicked Men cursed enemies of God, and early enemies too: it is thought Man became God's enemy not many days after Satan fell; he is almost as old an enemy as the Devil is.

    IV. The Devil conspired like a vile traitor against his lawful Sovereign: so have all the ungodly ever done, and still daily do: they would not have God reign, nor his laws be obeyed, &c., but would magnify themselves, and their cursed edicts, above the righteous laws and statutes of heaven.

    V. The Devil sins freely, naturally, with full purpose, and cannot but sin: so Wicked Men sin freely, it is sweet and pleasant to them, it is like sweet wine, &c. They delight in sin; their hearts, as Solomon says, "Are fully set in them to do wickedly," Ec 8:11. "They drink in iniquity, as the fish drinks water," Job 15:16. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin? then may they who are accustomed to do evil, learn to do well," Jer 13:3. Hence saith 'the apostle, "Having their eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin," 2Pe 2:14.

    VI. The Devil hates those that are truly godly, and seeks to beguile and deceive them: so Wicked and ungodly Men hate the saints, and strive to entice and draw away their hearts from God and his ways. Hence, as Satan is called a deceiver, and a serpent, so are some of his children.

    VII. The Devil's great design is to encourage vice and all profaneness, and by one means or another to suppress real godliness: so this is the great design and endeavour of some Wicked Men

    VIII. The Devil is so vile, that God seeth it necessary to lay a restraint upon him, and put him into chains, or else the world would not have a moment's time of peace and quiet: so ungodly Men are so much like the Devil in this, that God also sees the like need to restrain them: for as the Devil is boundless in his wrath, rage, and malice against mankind, so are his cursed emissaries against, their fellow-creatures: hence God puts a hook into their jaws, and sets bars to these swelling seas.

    IX. The Devil trembles at the thoughts of God's wrath, and dreads the day that is coming: so do Wicked Men fear him, not because they love him, but because they are his enemies, and as such, they fear he will one day reckon with them.

    X. The Devil tempts to sin; he is not contented to be vile himself, but he would fain have others be vile and ungodly as well as he: so Wicked Men tempt, entice, and draw others to sin; they are not content to be ungodly themselves, but strive to defile and corrupt others also.

    XI. The Devil is a murderer, a great murderer, and takes delight in shedding of blood, and making desolation in the earth, hence called a lion, and a dragon: 1Pe 5:8, So wicked persecutors are in this the very picture of the Devil, viz., great murderers; their feet run swift to shed blood. How many thousands of innocent souls have the bloody Roman Devils destroyed within these twelve hundred years! They delight in spoiling, and making desolate the inhabitants of the earth, who oppose their pride, or stand in the way of their exaltation; and thence they are called lions and dragons likewise, Ps 22:13; 44:19.

    XII. The Devil would fain make those who fear God miserable in this world, he envies their happiness, and if he was but let loose upon them, he would utterly deprive them of their goods, of their children, of their health, &c., and bring them into a forlorn and miserable condition, as he dealt with holy Job; so some Wicked Men in this are like the Devil, they envy the peace and prosperity of God's people, and if God did not restrain them, were it in their power, they would rob them of all their goods, as some have attempted of late, nay, and destroy their offspring. How many innocent babes did the Papists destroy in the massacre in Ireland, crying out, spare them not, nits will become lice! They grudge them their liberty; and therefore, saith God, "The Devil shall cast some of you into prison," &c., Re 2:10. Is the Devil come to be a pursuivant, or an officer, to give warrants to cast into prison? No, but it is spoken of wicked persecutors, that the Devil sets on work.

    XIII. The Devil is an accuser, one that vilifies and reproaches all sincere Christians; he is called the accuser of the brethren: "Wicked Men are in this also like the Devil, they love to accuse and vilify the godly in the land; as Tertullus served Paul, "We have found this man a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition," &c., Ac 24:5. They continually labour to render them odious, that so they may be hated, and exposed to the severity of the law, and merciless rage of the rude rabble.

    XIV. The Devil is utterly cast off and forsaken of God, and shall have his portion in the lake; there is no hope left him for an. escape; he knows it will for ever be his portion: so some Wicked Men are utterly rejected of God, and given up to a reprobate mind, and there is no hope left for them of escaping the damnation of hell; they shall as surely be damned and tormented for ever and ever, as it is certain the Devils shall. So that in these, and many other things that I shall pass by, it appears, Wicked Men bear a resemblance of the Devil, they are like unto him, they have the image of the Devil upon them; sin turns a Man into a Devil. "Have not I chosen you twelve? and one of you is a Devil," Joh 6:70.

    DISPARITY.

    The Devil is a spirit, a created spirit; Wicked Men are flesh as well as spirit. Now the nature of a spirit in very many things differs from a human body, so that in divers respects, there is a great difference between the Devil and the ungodly.

    INFERENCES.

    I. No marvel Wicked Men and the saints agree no better.

    II. O what a fearful thing is it to be left and forsaken of God!

    III. No marvel Wicked Men strive so much to set up and establish the Devil's kingdom, seeing they are acted by like principles, and are alike enemies of God.

    IV. The godly may wonder they are not long ago destroyed, considering the cursed and devilish disposition of Wicked Men, amongst whom they live; it is God only that hath restrained them.