to the E PH E SI AN S, 37 --------------~~~~~~~~ ~ him, and therein he fpake truth, it was indeed delivered to him, that is, by God's ~t permi!Iion; tho he lied in this, when he (1td, I gtve tbe K111gdoms of tbe World ~ to whom(oever ltvil!: for that is God's Prerogative. Indeed he gave It to Anttchrifl, (as I fi1all !hew you anon) but it is God's foie Prerogative, to give the Kingdoms of the World to whomfoevcr he mll; fo Dan. 4- But Satan had them by permi!Iion, as Chrill: ga1;e leave to the Devtls to emer mto the Swme ; ·1t IS a word of permi!Iion. Now he bath a kmd of a propnety 111 wtcked Men, whtlll: they continue in his Kingdom. In L11/;p I I. 2 I, 22. a.wtckcd Ma~ IS called, hiS own Houfe, and his own Goods ; and they arc fatd to be Ins Capttves, ta/;pn captive at hi! Will. And therefore Come interpret that Place, when Cbrill: did come to call thole Legions of Devils out of the Man, Girhhe, What have !.to do w;th thee .2 That is, What hurt have I done thee? I am m tillS Man that I have pof. (e!S'd, I poffe!S but my own, and this is my Cafl:lc, why fiJouldefl thou come tO torment me before my Time? Am I not 111 mme own? And he hath themby Conquefl, 2 'Pet. 2. I9. Of whom a Man is ovcrrotm, of him l-e is bro11gLt ;, Bcnd•ge. And God hath permttted htm to have all thts Power, and to have fci long poffe!Iion of it, us he hath.had in the World; for if he had not fuffered this great Entmy to be fet up, his Son's Kingdom had not been fo glOI'ious in the overthrowing of it, as it will be. · Now, my Brethren, Re the Mercy ofGod, in fi·eeing and delivering. thole from this Power, whom he hath tranOated into the Kingdom of his Son. Our Saviour Chril1c, he harh redeemed us, not that the Price was paid to Satan, but to God ; for (o he bath pull'd us fi·om the Pow r of Darkne!S by Redemption, Col. r. i 3· And how doth he do it? By being in Come refpell:s fubjell: to the Power ofSatan. You'know the Expre!Iion Chrill: bath, Lul~,~: 2 2 ·3· This i1 )'Oifr Hom·, and the Pcwcr of Darl',!tefl: That is, by your means, you ]ctvs, to whom God bath given this Hour, (for wicked Men have but an Hour, the Saints of God !hall have the Day of it); the Devil, who is the Prince of Darknels, and is that great Powet of Darknels, (as you may fee, by comparing this with that Col. r. q. where, by 'Power of Dal'!znefl, the Devil's Kingdom is intended,) cometh thus to have a power over me, to crucify me, to kill me, which is the thing he aims at. Now Jefus Chrifl, being in this refpell: fubjell: to the Power of Satan, (for otherwife he was not (ubjel.t, The 'Prince of this World comcth, faith he, and hath nothing in me; nothing in him, to tempt him, or to fubdue him that way, but it was the Devil's Plot to have him crucified, and he flitTed up the Rof/Jam 1 and Tilate, and all thefe 'Jews, for the crucifying of him, and he fi.tbjell:ed himfelf fo f.1r to the Will of Satan,) and by this he hath delivered us out of the Power of D'atk– ne!S. Yea, tho his Kingdom is thus great, God ufeth poor Fleili and Blood, Men, we that pray and preach, to overcome him, and we do it. In Rev, ri. There mu War in Heaven, Michatl, and biJ At~gels, jimgl>t againfl the Dragon; and the Drago>Z jo11gl't, and his Angels, and ptev•ilcd not. By .,/J1ichflcl's Angels, are not meant only the Angels of Heaven, but Meti, the Saints on Earth too; Why r becaufe at the r 11h Verre, it is (aid, They ovemwtc hini by the Blood of the Lamb, whtch cannot be meant of the Angels: And they llfVcd not tleir Lh·es 1/l!t,, the Death; that is, they gave away that part of their Lives to Death that was to come, and by this they overcame the Devil. The la(l: thing that is here, is the Piace of this Ptlnce's Dominion, the .Air: He is 'Prince of the Power of the Air. The Denomination of Kingdoms is from the Place where thcm(elves and their Subjell:s live, dnd by .Air, is meant this ele– mentary, this fublunary World, and efpecialLy the Airy part of it, the Inter~ flitium between Heaven and Earth. Hejiod, Cpeaking of the Devils, faith, Being ciOAthed with Air; they run up and down. It .ts the place where they are. And. if the Devil appear, all his Work– maniliip, his Appariti0ns, his Vifions, is Air condenfed. He took Chrifl U'p inro· an exceeding high Mountain, why there? that he might in the Air make a brav~ profpeCl: of all the Kmgdoms of the World, for 1t was done by an outward Vtfion, all his Po,ver lies there. Some have thought, there might be an allufion . to tt, when he is called "'Beelzeb~tb, the God of Flies.; for the ·Air is as fuli ,of .them, as of F.lics in the Summer. Sure we .are; they are called? the Fowls of ihi
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