to the E PHES I A N S; 33 ~e, that I have told JOII from the Beginning, the Mej}i<~h, the Son of God; and faith rs~ . he in the next Verfe, he thatfent me u tme, a11d Iffte.tk to the World thofe thmgs ~ winch I have heard ofUm, and ver. 28. when you have crucified me, feme ofyou fhall know it (for Come were converted, or at leafl: they law it more eminently to their hardning) Toll jbal! k_now that I am he. Tlus. lie calleth the Truth, ver. 32· To11, faith he, fpeakmg to hts Dtfctples,}b"U k10tv the Tri!th, a11d tl·e Ii·11th fba!lmak.gyofl free; nO\V the Tnith JS the Son ofGod, Ifthe Son 1?~<1/;_e JOII free, yo11 jhal!befree indeed. ver. 36. ThtS \vas the great Truth that thefe lews would not receive. Now he tells them hkew1te, ver.44· that Satan, thm F•ther ihe Devil, abode 11 ot in the Tr11th, he wa1 the.ftifl, faith he, that oppofed and contrai.l!Cl:ed this great Truth,and would not be fubjeCl: to God, who revealed this! nor woul;! he accept, or imbrace, or fl:and, or contmue m thts, he would qmt H~aven l:rrt; and fo from hence came he to be a Murrherer, a Hater of this Man Chrifl: Jefus, and ofthis Kingdom, ~nd of Mankind; for he that hateth God, or be that hateth Chrill:, he JS, m what m htm heth, a Murderer ofbtm,and he fhcwed tt Hl falling upon Man. And th~y back itwith thls R.eafoii why it f11ou!J be fo meant, becaufe otherwife the Devtl s Sm, whtch he compares thett! unto, l1.1d not been fcJ great as theirs, there had not been a likenefs between the Si~ ofr:1c •me and the Other, his Stn had only been tellmg of a Lye, a Lye meerly 111 Speech, and thetrs had been a refi,fing ofthat great Truth Jefus Chril1 as the iHrJ!i•h and Head, and fo the Devil's Si1i would have been lets than thr·trS, whereas he is made the great Father of this great Lye,ofthisgreat StubbornncG to receive Chrifl:, and· io con– tradict this Ttuth; and thk, faith he; he bath oppofed from the Beginf.·iltg, >vith all his Might, and he fetteth your Hearts a-work tO kill rite. But I fay, I will not fl:and upon this, becaufe I only deliver it,as that which isthe bpirilori offonie,and hath fome Probability. However this is certain, whatfoever his Sin was, he hath now, being fallen/et up his Kingdom in a fpccial manner againl1 Chrifl:: Aild fo Chri11 hath been the great fl:umblmg Stone; the Angds fdl upon it, arid Meu !.111 · upon it. So that indeed the firfl: Q;).arrel was lald in this, God himfelf proclaim- · edit at the very Beginning. And a little would make one think, that there was . fomething before,when God denounced the Sentence agamfl: the Serpent, Tbe Seed •fthe Woman Jballbrea/z the 8_erpents Head, which though fpoken to the Serpent, comes in by way of Curfe,as fl:riking at the very Spirit of the Oevil's Sin, hefoaU bre•/;_ tby Head, faith he, thou wouldefl: have Jified up thy fllf, he fba/1 mtjb thee, God, I fay,proclaimed the War, and the Q:.tarrd bath continued from the begin– ning oftheWorld to this day,and will do,umil Sat:iribe put out of'this Air; for fl> long he is to have his Kingdom, though Chrifl: beittr·th hm1 out oflt ~very Day in the World, and fo will continue to do,tlll he lmh won the \<Vorld from him, and then he will chain hiln up in the botromkiS Pit. Therefore laith Chrlfl:. in Mat. I!. 20. If I wdh the Finger of God Nifl out Dcvi/.1 (the Devil hoth a Kingdom, C1ith he, he had C. id that before) then f.!mv th•t tie TCin.~dOJil o[God, that great Kingdom prophefied of, whlch the Son of Man 01nuld have from God, is come amongfl: you. In ]oh. t2.1g. I have glorifei.lmy Name, E1ith God, and I willglo– rify it; what fo'lowerh thereupon as the Conk<Juence of it? Saith Chrifl:, 11ow fba/1 the Prime ofthiJ World be cafl m1t, hi• Kingdom fhall go down, that'• the way by which God will glorify him(elf, I willglorifymy.fClf, f.1idi he, that ls,I will throw down that Kingdom, which the Devils pofk:G. When the (cverity returned, and rejoyced that the Devils were fubjeCl: ta them in Chrifh Name, f.1ith he, I fow Satan (I law him before, this was in mine Eye) falling from He.ven li~e Ligf.t– ."ir,g; and that is the greatthing in Chrlfl's Eye to·bringdo,vn the Oevlls Kingdom, The Truth is, the rcafon that God (~ffcred Satan, a'nd indeed haih gi\<en a · Kingdom to him by way .ofpermifiion,is this,he would fct up thegreat~fl: Eriemy that could be fuppoled hts Son Jefus Chnfl: could have, fl:rengthned wtth· a Mul– titude of Angels, having gained all Mankind ( fo,r (o he had at firfl: ktti'ng up of this Kingdom, there was a Law that not a Man .010uld be .born in·this World,but he fhould be a Subjefr of his Kingdom) and Jefus CbrifY ha'd tfot o~e Per(o'n up'– on Earth, he might ha"e An~els in Heaven i'ndeed. Now th"rs God di'd, that he might fhew forth the Glory ofthe Kingdom ofhis So·n,in ruining this great Enemy, anddcfl:roying thi•great Kingdom; for this is the great Kingdom that Chrifl: bath * E . .i.a
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