Secondly, The edge of his sword. "In that day the Lord, with his sore and great and strong sword, shall punish leviathan, the piercing serpent, even leviathan, the crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea," Isa. xxvii. 1. This light enrages the devil, and it likewise shews the sinner his awful state; and the sword of the spirit wounds the devil and the sinner two. Satan's rage at the light rises from a fresh remembrance of his former state of bliss and happiness, which for a moment softens him; but the consideration of all being irrecoverably lost, and the thoughts of future and endless torment, rekindles all his rage and desperation; and, finding the poor sinner, who has long been his lawful capture, going into that light and bliss which he by his pride and rebellion had lost, provokes him to jealousy, and pierces every power of that infernal intelligence; and this he makes the poor sinner know and feel, for he hurls at him all the foul, filthy, obscene, desperate, rebellious, and blasphemous oaths, curses, imprecations, and invectives, that he is master of, and all against God; and then accuses the poor sinner of it, to sink him in despair; though, at the same time, it is the devil's own sin; for such things never entered the sinner's heart till the devil lodged them in it. However this serves to shew us that the rays of divine light discover him, and remove his mask from the understanding, and himself from his dark abode; and this is evident by the

violent temptations that follow: for what call has he to tempt, entice, allure, terrify, and threaten us with his future success and advantage over us, if he reigned in the heart and could take us captive at his will? His fruitless attempts and terrifying threatenings are sufficient to convince us that the Lord Jesus has crushed his power, bound him by his providence, and disarmed him of the panoply by which he kept his goods in peace. By the light of the Lord's countenance and by the sword of the Spirit, shall the kingdom of the beast be destroyed, which is said to be full of darkness. Light shall discover the damnable deceptions of popery, and the sword of the Spirit shall slay the souls of those that cleave to them; "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming," 2 Thess. ii. 7, 8. Thus is Satan dethroned: "And if I, by the finger of God, cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.'

Secondly, The Lord, by the power of his Spirit, subdues the carnal enmity which hates the light; he bows the sinner's will and makes him willing; he searches the reins, wounds the spirit, and makes the heart honest; and one of an honest heart will cry, "Search me and try

me, and see if there be

any

wicked way in me,

in his own eyes as these are angelic in theirs. The everlasting gospel is called foolishness, and omnipotence is termed weakness by them; but, "The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men," 1 Cor. i. 25. The scorner's chair is the highest bench in Satan's kingdom; he that mounts that seat is upon the pinnacle, above the ground, and above all about him, and of course nearest to him that is the prince of the power of the air.

The next in power to devils are sin and death; sin reigns unto death, and death reigned from Adam to Moses, and from Moses till now. To keep up the government of these two is the chief of Satan's labour, whether it be in his subjects or by them. And, when the Saviour shall raise his own family, and change them and fashion them like unto his own glorious body, then shall the works of the devil be effectually destroyed; and both sin and death, which came by Satan, shall be the everlasting destruction of himself and of all that die in his interest. Then shall Satan and all his infernal principalities and powers, together with sin and death, and all dead sinners, depart together; they shall go with the devil and his angels into their everlasting habitations, far enough from Christ and from all the subjects of his kingdom. Then shall be brought to pass this saying, "He [God] taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong."

THE

KINGDOM OF GOD.

LUKE XI. 20.

"But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you."

SIN entered into the world by Satan, and death entered by sin. Sin separated between God and our souls but the incarnation of the Son of God brought our nature back to God, which sin had separated and the blood of Christ made us nigh, whom wicked works had made far off. Sin had its beginning by the tree of knowledge, and it had its end on the accursed tree. Adam sinned and died, and paradise was lost; Christ was made sin and died, and a better paradise was gained. The woman, being first in the transgression, was condemned to sorrow in child-bearing, and that sorrow brought forth the woman's great deliverer. Sin is the sole cause of all our misery, and a sense of this misery renders us proper objects of God's

mercy. By sin and death Satan aimed at the eternal destruction of men, and sin and death will be the eternal destruction of Satan. Nothing pleased Satan so well as bringing mankind under the sentence of death; and that sentence executed upon Christ bruised Satan's head, and he himself and his works were destroyed in the same nature that he had ruined. By the incarnation of Christ grace and mercy come to men, and by the death of Christ honour is brought to the justice and holiness of God. Satan is degraded, sin is condemned in Christ's flesh, and the sinner is saved; and yet God appears just when he justifies the ungodly. Sin is freely pardoned, and yet vengeance is taken of our inventions; forgiving and cleansing is of free grace, and yet God is faithful and just in forgiving and cleansing; the sinner is bought with a price, and yet saved and glorified by free grace. Sin brought us all under the wrath of God, but in pouring that wrath upon Christ everlasting love was displayed to men. All the works of devils have been to destroy human nature, and by a judge in human nature shall all devils be judged and destroyed. Devils are the accusers of the brethren, and the brethren shall be the judges of the devils. Men, aspiring to be like gods, fell under the dominion of fallen angels; Christ, by being made a little lower than the angels of light, raised us to an honour above them.

Christ spoiled principalities; and therefore some