Satans Compassing the Earth, Title page 1 – Title page 2
SATANS COMPASSING THE EARTH.
BY HENRIE SMITH.
LONDON Imprinted by Thomas Scarlet. 1592.
Iob. 1.7.8.
7 Then the Lord said vntounto Satan, Whence commest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, saying, From compassing the earth to and fro, and from walking in it.
8 And the Lord said vntounto Satan, Hast thou not considered my seruant Iob, how none is like him in the earth? an vpright man, one that feareth God and eschueth euill.
I HaueHave spoken of the question alredie, now of the answere, Compassing heere doth signifie tempting, & the Earth doth signifie all the people of the earth: as if he should saie, I come from tempting all men. It is some vantage vntounto vsus to heare that the Spaniards are comming before they come, and what number they hauehave, and how they are appoynted, that wee may leuie our forces accordingly. But beloued, there is a greater aduersarie then the Spaniarde, which brings in the Spaniards, your aduersarie the deuill. It is good for vsus to heare when he comes, that wee may bee in a readines against him, as we prepare against them. Therefore this Scripture, and this time accord well. In Reuelation 12.10. the deuill is called an accuser, and now I am an accuser of the accuser: he accuseth vsus to God, & God accuseth him to vsus, that when hee comes like an angell, yet wee may say to him like Christ, Auoide Satan. First geue me leaue to say vntounto you as Christ said vntounto his disciples, Take heed how you heare, for that which I am to speake vntounto you of the deuill, the deuill would not hauehave you heare: and therefore as hee is here called a Compasser, so hee will compasse your eyes with shewes, and your eares with soundes, and your sences with sleepe, and your thoughtes with fansies, and all to hinder you from hearing while the articles are against him, and after I hauehave spoken, hee will compasse you againe with businesse, and cares, and pleasures, and quarrels, to make you forget that which you hauehave heard, as hee hath made you forgette that which ye hauehave heard before, or els to contemne it, as though you might doe well without it: as hee hath compassed them which doe walke in the streetes while the voice of God soundeth in the Churches as they passe by: therefore before euerie Sermon yee had neede to remember Christes lesson, Take heed how you heare.
Now to the matter. Satan from whence commest thou? I come from compassing the earth. Here the deuill is called in like a Iayler, which keepes some in perpetuall prison, and some are bailed, and some returne to prison againe, and some are executed. They which sinne fearefullie, stay as it were about the Prison, but are not bounde: they which sinne wittinglie are vnderunder lock, they which sinne greedely, are vnderunder locke and boltes, they which die in their sin, are like them which are condemned, this is the bondage which we hauehave brought our selues vntounto for a fair apple. When the tempter ouercame vsus, we vvere remoued out of paradise, where we were seated: when wee hauehave ouercome the tempter, wee shall bee translated into heauen, where hee was seated, heauen dore was wide, and the vvaie vvas broade before the rebellion, but when weeknockt at the cannell doore, then the good doore was shutte, heauen is large, but the vvaie to heauen muste bee narrovve, therefore God hath set our enemies in the gate to fight vvith vsus before wee enter, that this saying might be verified, The kingdome of heauen is caught by violence: so soone as vve rise in the morning vvee goe forth to fight vvith tvvo mightie giants, the vvorld and the deuill, and vvhom doe vvee take vvith v… but a traitor? this brittle flesh vvhichwhich i… readie to yeeld vsus vp to the enimie at euerie assault, onelyonly he vvhichwhich sufferet… Satan to compasse vsus, doeth staie him from destroying vsus. When God asked Caine, vvhere is thy brother? Caine lyed and said, I cannot tell. When God asked Sarah vvhy she laughed? Sarah lied and said, I laughed not: but vvhen God asked the deuil from whence he came, hee aunsvvered truely, I come from compassing the earth, and yet hee vvhichwhich speaketh truth himselfe, taught them to lie, as hee is called the father of liers, because hee teacheth all others to lie. Hovve then? Was Caine vvorse then the deuill, because he lied and the other tolde truth. By this you may see that carnall men doe not knovv so much of God as the verie deuill knovveth, for he knevv that GOD could tell vvhere he had bin, but Caine doubted vvhether God could tel what he had done, and therefore he made a lie. Thus, thus the deuill teacheth his schollers to doe worse sometimes then hee will do himselfe, euen as he would bring them (if it were possible) into a worse plight then he is himselfe. The deuils faith cannot saue vsus, no more then it can saue him, the deuils knowledge cannot conuert vsus, no more then it doth conuert him, and yet he would not hauehave men beleeue, that which he beleeueth himselfe, nor hauehave vsus vnderstand so much as he vnderstandeth him self: for if Cain had vnderstood so much as he, that God knew whether hee lied or no, hee would hauehave answered God trulie, as Satan did, but the deuill knew that there was no dissembling with God, who knowes what he asks before he asks, therfore he told troth to God, though hee lie to man: for to lie vntounto him which knoweth, is as if one should lie to himselfe, but Caine was not so wel learned, he thought peraduenture yet God might vnderstand his murther, as a theese suspecteth in his heart that the iudge may know his theft: but he douted whether God did know it, & therefore he denied it like one which is guiltie, but thinkes that if hee confesse, hee shal be hanged, and therfore though euidence and witnesse accuse them, yet you see many which will not accuse themselues.
From compassing the earth. He which was called Satan before, which signifieth an aduersary, is here said to compas the earth: which is to saie, beeing put together, an aduersarie compasseth the earth, and therfore let the earth beware like a Citie which is besieged with the aduersarie.
The deuill hath mo names then anie Prince hath titles, some GOD hath giuen to him, and some hee hath giuen to himselfe: but this is to be noted in the deuils names, that hee neuer called himself a lier, nor a tempter, nor an accuser, nor a slanderer, nor a deceiuer, nor a deuourer, nor a murderer, nor a master, nor an aduersarie, nor a viper, nor a lion, nor a dragon, nor a wolfe, nor a cockatrice, nor a serpent. But when Christ asked him his name, hee calleth himselfe Legion, which importes a multitude, as if hee shoulde bragge of his number, and here he cals himselfe in effect the compasser of the earth, as if he should brag of his power. And in the fourth Chapter of Luke & sixt verse, hee calleth himselfe the possesser of the earth, as if hee should brag of his possessions, and in the same hee calleth himselfe the quier of the earth, as if should brag of his liberalitie. Thus he vvhichwhich is euill it selfe, doth shun the name, because he would not be hated, and therefore no maruell if men call euill good, and would bee counted honest, though they be neuer so lewd, for so vvill the deuill: but as God neuer called the deuill but by those names vvhichwhich the deuil hated, so he neuer calleth sinners by those names which they call themselues, for if you obserue the Scripture, there is no name of the deuil, but in some place of Scripture or other the wicked are caled by the same name, he is called a liar, & they are called liars: he is called a tempter, & they are called tempters: he is called a murderer, & they are called murderers: he is called a slanderer, and they are called slanderers: he is called a viper, & they are called vipers: he is called a lion, & they are called lions: he is called a wolf and they are called vvolues: he is called a serpent, and they are called serpents. Thus God wold they that shalbe damned shoulde hauehave the name of him which is damned, to put thē in minde. Now none of the deuils names are in the booke of life; and therefore liars, & tempters, and slanderers, and murderers, and defamers are not, therefore these are the deuils names. This I note to shevv you hovv deadly God doth hate sinne, that neither the deuill nor his followers coulde euer get a good name of him, for all his compassing, he could neuer compas this, to shuffle any praise of himself into this booke of life, for he doth not compasse heauen, but earth, though he would compas both, the deuil himselfe doth tel vsus here, that he compasseth, & he telleth vsus not why hee compasseth, but his name Satan that went before, which hee spake not of, doth tell vsus why he compasseth. Because it signifies an aduersarie, it giueth vsus to vnderstande that hee compasseth the earth like an aduersarie. God doth compas the earth like a wall to defend it: the deuill compasseth the earth like an enemie to besiege it. For enemie is his name, he is enuie euen to the name.
Three things I note: wherfore the deuill may bee saide to compasse the earth. First, because hee tempteth all men. Secondly, because hee tempteth to all sinnes. Thirdly, because he tempteth by all meanes: So that whosoeuer sinneth, wherein soeuer he offendeth, whereby so euer hee is allured, the sin, and the sinner, and the baite, are compassed, and contriued by this Archpolitique, which calles himselfe a Compasser. Many hauehave their names for naught, because they doe nothing for them, like Labans images, which were called Gods, though they were but blocks: but the deuill deserues his names, he is not called a tempter, and a lyer, and a slaunderer, and an accuser, and a deceiuer, and a murtherer, and a compasser in vaine, like Saint George. which is alwaies on horse-backe, and neuer rides: but hee would doe more then by his office hee is bound to. Other are called officers because they hauehave an office: but hee is called enemie because he sheweth his enuie. Other are called Iusticers, because they should doe iustice: but hee is called a tempter because he practiseth temptations. Other are called pastors because they should feede: but he is called a deuourer because he doth deuour: and we call him a Compasser, because that he doth compasse. Euer since hee fell from heauen hee hath liued like Cain, which cannot rest in a place, but is a runnagate ouer the earth, from dore to dore, from man to man, begging for sinnes as the starued soule begges for bread. He wold hauehave dwelt in heauen, and not been compassing the earth, he should hauehave sung with the Angels, & not bin quareling with mē, but he hath changed his calling, & is become a cō passer, that is, to laie fetters vpō men, as God hath fettered him, left they should ascend to the place from whence he is fallen. Therefore in this the Lier spake trueth, when he said, I come from compassing the earth: as if he shoulde say to God, I come from the slaughter of thy seruants, not to aske forgeuenes for all the soules which he hath slaine alredie, but to get a commission that God would make him knight Marshal ouer the world, to slay and kil as many as he hated: like the bramble, which sette it selfe on fire first, and then fiered all the wood.
Peter describing the deuils walke, saith that he goeth about: The deuil saith that he goeth a compassing. Peter puts in, seeking whom he may deuour: the deuil leaues out deuour, and sayth no more, but that he compasseth. This circular walke is particular to the deuill, and therefore may be called the deuils circuite. All other creatures goe forward, but the diuil goeth about, which may well be applied to the craftie deuil, because to goe about, is commonly taken to vndermine: when he meaneth he wil destroy you, then we say he will compasse you: so when the deuil compasseth, then beware least he deuoure. For the deuill goeth about men, as the Fowler goeth about the larke, to snare her; as the thief goeth about the house, to robbe it; as the iuie goeth about the oake, to kil it. The deuils walk is a siege, which goeth about but to find an issue to goe in: for he goeth about but vntill he can gette in to be a possessor. He is content to be a compasser. The first name the deuill hath in Scripture, is a Serpent, he is a Serpent, and so are his waies like a serpent, which windeth himselfe like a circle.
As God is said to make an hedge about men, so here the deuill is saide to make an hedge about men: but this is an hedge of temptations, and that is an hedge against temptations. As Dauid saith the Angels compasse vsus, so might he say the deuils compasse vsus. Satan compasseth, and man is compassed. Satan is like the circumference, and man is, as it were, the Centre: that is, temptations goe round about him, and hee dwelleth in the middest of them. Thus much of Compassing: now what hee doeth compasse.
I come from Compassing the Earth. This is the diuils pilgrimage, from one end of the earth to the other, and then to the other againe, and then backe againe, like a wandering Marchant, which seeketh his trafficke where hee can speede cheapest. I hauehave hearde of some trauellers which hauehave gon about the earth, but I neuer heard of any that had seene all partes of the earth but this olde Pilgrime Satan, which hath beene in heauen, and in Paradise, and in the earth, and in the sea, and in hell, and yet hath not done his walke, but like the Sunne which courseth, about the earth euerie day: so there is no day but Satan seeth euerie man vponupon earth: as a compasse hath no end, so he makes no ende of compassing. Because hee is such a compasser of the world, therefore Paul calleth him The God of this worlde, not a peece of the worlde, as Englande, or Irelande, or Fraunce, or Germanie, or Spaine, but of the world, that is, of al the countries, and cities, and townes, and villages, & houses: The Pope talkes of his kingdome, how many prouinces are vnderunder his dominion, but the deuils circuit is greater then the Popes: one woulde think that he could neuer tende halfe his flock, because he is vicar of so great a monarchie, and yet he is neuer non resident. You may see his steps euerie where so brim and fresh, as thogh they were printed in ashes, if God make you see your countrie naked, your temples desolate, your cities ruined, your houses spoiled, you will say the Spaniards hauehave been here: so when you see your mindes corrupted, your hearts hardened, your willes peruerted, your charitie cooled, your iudges bribers, your rulers persecutors, your lawiers brablers, your marchantes vsurers, your landlords extortioners, your patrones symonistes, your pastors loyterers, you may say the deuill hath beene here. Seeing then these weedes grow in euerie ground, you may beare the deuill witnes that hee doth compasse all the earth. If a man louelove his frend, he will say, I will goe an hundred miles to doe him good: but if the deuill hate a man, he will goe a thousand miles to do him hurt. The deuil doth not goe his progresse like a king, onlie for delight, but all the way as he goeth, Peter saith, He seeketh whom he may deuour. The deuill goeth a visiting, hee will teach the sicke how they shall recouer their health, he will whisper the poore how they shall come by riches, he will tel the captiues how they shal redeeme their libertie: but to deuour is the end of his visitation. Therfore Peter called him a Lion, and said that he went about, and tolde vsus that he sought as he went: at last he saith, to deuour, & there he ends, shewing that deuouring is his end: now you shall heare whom he compasseth, & to what he cōpasseth, & how he cōpasseth When it is said that the deuil compasseth the earth, it is meant that he compasseth the men of the earth: out of which I gather, first of all creatures he compasseth men: secondly, that he compasseth all men, and by consequence that he compasseth good men. The deuil is like an Archer, and man is his marke, and temptations are his arows. As Peter is called a fisher of men, so the deuil may be called a hunter of men: for of al creatures his enuie is onelie to men, because man was made to serue God, and inherite the ioyes which he hath lost, therfore he is called no slear, but a manslear. When there are no men vponupon earth, then the deuill will compasse the earth no more.
Secondly, he assaulteth al men, like Ismael, which was against all. It is saide of Saul and Dauid, Saul hath slain his thousand, and Dauid his tenne thousand: but if you put in Satan, you may set vp the number, and say, Satan hath slayne his hundred thousand. As there is a legion of men, so there is a legion of deuils: that as they said Peters angell, so they may say Peters deuil: for Christ would not hauehave called Peter Satan, if Satan had not backed him: as death killeth al, so the deuil tempteth al: whē he hath Eue, he hunteth for Adam: when he hath Adam, he hunteth for Cain: as the father was tempted, so must the sonnes, as the mother was tempted, so must her daughters. EueryEvery man but Christ may say, I hauehave bin ouercome, but Christ himselfe cannot say, I hauehave not bin tempted. In the Spanish inquisitiō the protestants are examined, but the papists slip by: but in the deuils inquisition papist, and protestant, and Atheist, and Puritan, & all are examined. He is not a captain of forties, nor of fifties, nor of sixties, nor of hundreds, but he is general ouer al which fight not vnderunder Christs baner, he possessed the two Gergesites, which were men, he possessed Mary, which was a woman, he possessed the mans son, which was a child. Nimrod is called a mightie Hunter which killed beastes, but this is a mightie hunter which killed Nimrod himselfe, God keep vsus out of his chase. Thirdly, he warreth against the righteous, euen because they are righteous, as God makes the barren fruitful, and the fruitful to bear more fruit: so the deuill would hauehave them serue him, which serue him not, & they which serue him to serue him more: and therfore as the Giant encountred with Dauid, so the deuil encoūtred with Dauid, and with Dauids Lord: he which gaue him leaue here to tempt Iob, was after tempted himselfe, although the net brake, & the bird escaped: yet as he tempted Christ thrise together, and as he desired to sift Peter more then other, so they that follow Christ, and are like Peter, are sifted more then other. For this viper is like the viper which ceased vponupon Paul. Among many which stóode by the fire, the viper chose out Paul, & lighted vpō him before al the rest: so if one be holier then another, this viper will battayle with him, & there is great reason why the godly are tempted more then the wicked: because the wicked are his fernants, and do tempt others.
As he tempteth al men, so he tempteth to al sinnes: for hel and the deuil, are alike, therfore as hel is neuer filled with sinners, so the deuil is neuer filled with sinnes, and therefore when thee had made Peter denie his master once, he made him deny him twise, & when he had made him denie him twise, hee made him denie him thrise. For this cause our sinnes are counted amongst those things which are infinit, because the deuil and our flesh meete together euerie day to ingender new sinnes. All the deuils riches is in baites, he hath a packful of othes for eueryevery one which wil sweare, a pack ful of lies for euerie one which wil deceiue, a packe full of excuses for euerie one which wil dissemble. As he dooth goe through the streetes, into euerie shoppe he castes a short measure, or a false balance: as he passeth by the tauernes he sets dissention betwixt frends: as hee passeth by eueryevery Inne he casts a paire of cards, and a paire of dice, and a paire of tables: as he passeth by the courtes, and findes the Lawiers at the bar, he casts among them false euidences, forged writings, and counterset seales.
Thus in euerie place where hee comes (like a foggie mist) he leaues an euil sauour behind him. The murmuring of Moses, the dissimulation of Abraham, the idolatrie of Aaron, the incest of Lot, the dronkennes of Noah, the adulterie of Dauid, the flight of Ionah, the deniall of Peter, name Satan, and thou hast named the verie spawne of al sinnes, which with his taile plucked downe the Starres from heauen. How many hate their enemies, and frends too, and yet imbrace his enemies, because he kisseth when hee betrayeth, as thogh he would not betray. Auarice saith, I wil make thee amiable: tyrannie saith, I wil make thee dreadfull: sloth saith, I wil make thee beautiful: vanitie saith, I wil make thee merrie: prodigalitie saith, I wil make thee beloued: So the poore sinner standes distract how he may follow all sinnes at once, seeking grapes of thistles, and roses of thornes.
As hee tempteth to al sinnes, so hee tempteth by all meanes: for the name of a compasser doth import a cunning tempter. There is craft in compassing, the Hunter maketh a raile about the deere as though he would gard them, when he meaneth to take some of thē: the fouler goeth about the bird as if he did not see her, when he comes to snare her. If men hauehave so many sleightes to compasse their matters, how can the compasser himselfe hold his fingers: if the serpents feed be so subtil, what do you think of the old serpent, who hath bin learning his trade euer since the creation? If mens trades may be called craftes, the deuils trade may be called craft? Herod is called a fox, but this fox taught him his subtiltie: this is he that prepared flaterers for Rehoboam, which prepared liers for Ahab, which prepared concubins for Salomon, which prepared sorcerers for Pharao, which prepared witches for Saul, which prepared wine for Benhadab, which prepared golde for Achan, which prepared a ship for Ionas, which prepared a rope for Haman, he goeth not about for nothing.
But this is the first trick of hys compassing, he marks how eueryevery man is inclined, what he loues, what he hateth, what he feares, & what he wants: and when hee hath the measure of his foot, then he fits him. Aske what you wil, here is he which offered the whole world. What, shal Ionah stay for wante of a ship, nay here is a ship, goe and flie from the Lord: shal Esau stay for want of broths, nay here is a messe of broth, go and sel thy birthright: shal Iudas stay for want of thirty pence, nay here are thirty pence, goe & betray thy master: shal Pilat stay for want of an halter, nay here is an halter, goe and hang thy selfe.
The tyrant shal not want a flatterer, the wanton shal not want a mate, the vsurer shal not want a broker, the theef shal not want a receiuer: hee is a factor betweene the Marchant and the Mercer, and the gentleman and the tenant: he is a make-bate betweene the man and his wife, he is a talebearer between neighbor and neighbor. Thus if you aske me what is the deuils trade or occupation, all the day long hee is making nets, and ginnes, and snares, to catch thee and me, which gape for the worme.
If then the deuill be such a busie-bodie, which medleth in eueryevery mans matter, let vsus remember what the wise man saith, a busie bodie is hated: the deuil is to be hated because he is a busie bodie: the Iewes could not abide the Publicans because they were like sumners, and takers, which carryed tole out of their coūtrie into another: how then can we abide this great publican, which taketh tole ouer all the worlde? nay not tole of men, but men themselues: he which compasseth the earth, compasseth vsus, euen vsus which stande here. Therfore what shall I say, but as Christ said, When the theefe compasseth the house, shal not the owner gard the house: if the citie be compassed, & not defended, how should it stand: as the deuil runneth round about vsus, so the armour must go round about vsus, & then though hee compasse vsus, yet he shal not ouercome vsus: but as the Israelites were safe though the water compassed about thē, as the children were safe though the flames compassed about them, as Daniel was safe though the lions compassed about him, so they which hauehave Christs armor, are safe, althogh the deuil compasse about them. I wil not fear, saith, Dauid, what man can do vntounto me, nay I wil not feare what the deuil can do vntounto me, for he which is with me is greater then hee which is against me. Thus much of the deuil and his compassing.
As the serpent compasseth, so doeth his seed: and therfore Salomon cals the waies of the wicked, croked wais. This is the great compasser, there be little compassers beside, like the Pharisies, of whom it is said, that they cōpassed sea and land to make one like themselues. In stead of these compassers wee hauehave Seminarie priests, which compasse frō Rome to Tiborn, to drawe one from Christ to Antichrist, I wil not name all compassers beside, lest I be compassed my selfe, but this I speake within compasse, that there is a crafte of compassing, and Satan is the craftes-master, & the rest are his prentises, or factors vnderunder him. When hee hath compassed some men, he sets them to compasse other men, and so hee hath his compassers, and spies in euerie Countrie, like continual Legers to folovv his busines for him, vvhichwhich wil doe it as faithfully as himselfe. If he appoint them to lye, they wil lie as fast as he: if he appointe them to deceiue, they wil deceiue as cunninglie as he: if he appoint them to slander, they wil slander as falsly as he: if he appoint them to flatter, they will flatter as smoothly as he: if he appoint them to mock, they wil mock as scornfully as he: if he appoint them to reuenge, they wil reuenge as spitefully as he: if he appoint them to persecute, they vvil persecute as fully as he. So if he do but say let ther be an oth, straight there is an oath: let ther be a lie, straight ther is a lie: let there be a flout, straight there is a floute: let there bee a bribe, straight there is a bribe: let there bee a quarrel, straight there is a quarel: therfore in this the lyer tolde the trueth, for hee hath compassed the earth indeed.
Thus you see what the deuil answered, when GOD asked him from whence he came. Now if God should aske you, as he asked the deuill, from whence you came before you came hether to him, or rather whether you wil goe when ye departe from him, I doe verely thinke that some here did come from as bad exercises as the deuill himselfe: and that when they doo depart from this place, they will returne to as badde exercises againe, as the Deuill did: Some vntounto the Tauerns, and some vntounto the Alehouses, and some vntounto Stages, and some vntounto Brothels, and some vntounto dicing, and some vntounto quarrelling, and some vntounto cosening.
I would faine knowe this, if the deuill came from tempting, and you from sinning, who was better occupied hee in commanding you, or you in obeying him, they which come to the Church and returne to their sins, come to the Lord as the deuill came, not to bee reformed of his euill, but to hauehave a pasport to doe more euill: if any such be here, he hath learned nothing, but goeth empty away, for they which come like Satan goe like Satan: a little water is sprinkled vppon them, which fals off againe to the ground so soone as they are out of the Church doore, all which they learned is forgotten, like a perfume which sauoureth no longer then they abide in the house where it burneth, therefore as I warned you at first, Take heed how you heare, so I warne you now, take heed least this Compasser come and steale that which you hauehave heard, for when Iudas had receiued the Sacrament, the deuill entering into him after that, coulde neuer be driuen out againe: so if the deuill enter into you, after you hauehave receiued this warning, hee will possesse you like Iudas, stronger then he did before, and eueryevery word shall condemne you, as he which eateth the Sacrament vnworthilie, eateth his owne damnation, so hee which heareth the word vnfruitfully, heareth his owne damnation, that is, the word which I hauehave spoken, saith Christ, shall iudge you in the last daie.
FINIS.
A SERMON PREACHED vponupon the first to the Corinthians,
1 CORINTH. 10.12.
Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed least he fall.
By Henrie Smith.
LONDON Printed by Thomas Scarlet. 1592.