to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at
what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls
in his possession, and under his dominion. The scripture represents them
as his goods, Luke 11:12. The devils watch them; they are ever by them
at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry
lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the
present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are
restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old
serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them;
and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and
lost.
There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning,
that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not
for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a
foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles,
in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are
seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding
violent in t