to the EPHE SI AN S. SERMON Ill. EPHBS. ::.. ::.• •••.• According to tbe Prince 9( tbe Potver of t/,e Air, tbe Spirit that now worketh in the [bildren of 1Jifobedrmce, THe habitual Efrate of every Man by Nature, the 'Apofrle menti~neth in the firfr Verfe, in the Perfon of thefe Epheftans : Ye, faith he, who wm dead in Sins and TreJPaffes. Here in this fecond Verfe, he cometh to lay open, what manner ofConverfation th:y had actually in their .Liv~s, In wbich Sins, !3ith he, in time paft ye wal~d. Havmg three Gmdes, whtch m this their walking they were led by : 1. The World, .According to the Courfe of tbis World. 2. Satan, the Devil, According to the 'Prince of the Power of tbe Air; the Spi· rit that now work! in the Chifdren of Difobedience. 3· The Lufrs of the Fle!h that is, the Corruption of their own Hearts, all:ed and Hirred up by tbele,' ./Jmong whom alj/J we bu.l vnr Cvnvcrfation in times paf1, in the Lufts of our Flefb, &c. I have difpatched this firfr Guide, According to fhe Courfe of this World: I !hall now come to this fecond, .According to the Prince ofthe Power, &c. The Apofrle's general Scope in thefe words is, to lrold fort;h thefe three things. 1. The Mifery of thefe Ephejans; and of all Men by Nature, in refpell: of' Subjell:ion. unto Satan, that they being Children of Difobedience, Satan, as a Prince, ruleth over them, and governeth them. 2. That as the World, fo that Satan is a Caufe of that Sinfulnefs tha~ is in the Hearts and Lives of Men. As the W.orld is a Caufe, according to which Men !hape their Courfes naturally, (as the mofr of unregenerate Men do) that is, the exemplary Caufe; fo the Devil is the impelling Caufe: he is a Caufe, both as a Prince, and as a Spirit: According to the 'Prince "f the Power of the .Air, the Spirit that wor~th, &c. 3· To winde in a Defcription upon this occafton of the Greatnefs of Satan's Kingdom, which he doth on purpofe to illufrrate and !hew their Mifery the greater and the more. He is not contented to !hew their Subjell:ion to Satan, but he cloth it under the Notion of a Kingdom: .According (faith he) to the Pri11ce of the Power of the Air, or, of the Spirit, or, the Spirit, that workJ in the Children of Difobedience. And the Scope of all thefe three Particulars tended to this, to frir up their Hearts to give God thanks for that great Deliverance, which in turning them to God he had wrought in them, and for them. For God, (faith he,v-4-) >vho is rich in Merry, even when we were dead.in Sins and'Trefpaj{es, (and thus in fubjell:ion unto Satan,) bath delivered w, &c. We find, that in Col. I, 13. Turning unto God is called, a tranjlating 11< friJm the Power of Darh,pefs into the Kingdo1n of his Son, By the Power of Dark1eJs there, he efpecially meaneth the Kingdom of Satan,' for he is the Ruler of Darknefs, asyou have it in the 6th Chapter of this Epillle, verf_l2. And therefore it is oppofed to the K;ngdom of his Son, becaufe there is a Prmce over that Kingdom, that is, the great Prince of this Power ofDarknefs, who bath fet up a Kingdom againft his Son. , Now ~"' Scrnt. liT. ~
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