to the EPHESIAN S. 59 Kingdom of Chrifl:;. and unregenerate Men, who are Members. of the Kingdom ~ of Satan. It ts true mdeed, he cannot carry all unregenerate Men to alltbe Sms \..~ he would, becaufe, like a Tyrant, he applies lumfelf to the ftveral ,Hut~>ours of Men, and that by God's ordination;. yet fo, as the cotllmon Law that God alloweth him to rule over them with, it is in rcfpect of tlwir peculiar Lufl:; and peculiar Sin. Look what aMan's Snare is, the Devil bath him at his Wtll, as the expreffion is, 2 Ti1n. 2. •tit. But now, tfhe come tO deal with a godly Man, he ordinarily asketli leave, Luks 22. 33· He h•tb (icjircd, he hath Joltg/;t to '""':'o>v thee, !peaking of'Peter, when the Devil camed htm on to that gre,~t Sui agan)fl: (;hrifl:. But when he comes to unregenerate Men, they arc hrs SubJeils, hts Natives his proper Ooods; and ~e enters.into them, as into his own Houfe. And the r~afon of it is this: Becauie the Saints are tranflJted into the Kingdom of Chriil:, therefore if he will deal with them, he tnufl: come like a Party into another Kingdom, into anothers Qyarters, where he bath not ordinarily the Power, and the Rule; and what bath he to do with another Man's Servant? That's the Law. A regenerate Man is Chrifl:'s free Man, therefore, but by fpecial permillion from pod, to exercife his Children, he cloth not fo come to tempt them; as to carry them on to great Sim. Now if it qe meant, (as; I take it, rather it is,) of Men eminentiy wicked, that are the Ring-leaders of all the Devil's Kingdom; then in a word, here is the Obfervation. That Satan in his Kihgdom bath feveral forts of Sinners; and thcte are forne, in Obfcrv. 1 ; whom the Devil's Breath is fo fl:rong, that a Man ri1ay fmell it ; as a holy Man may favour the Spirit of God in another Manthat is holy. You may fee how it worketh, faith he, in fome of the Children of Difobedience, that are the Ringleaders (and fo Infl:ances) of the Bondage that all the rcfl: arc in. I Gy, of unregenerate Men, there are feveral Sizes of them; yea, the f.1me Man, as he grows wickeder, fo he bath more Devtls: He &o11ght with him fcvw Dcvi!J >Vorfo than himfolf: Tolt maks him, (faith Chrifl:) ten times more 1/:e Child of Sat.m, than he w~H. I quote it for this, to fhew you, there are fcveral Sizes of wicked Men, ( tho the meaning is, that ofevery Generation df Men; the fccond is worfe than the firfl:,) for otnerwi(e hdw could they make him worfe than themfelves? But they making him a Profelite; the Cur(e of God ( when they had made him fo) made him worfe. But I will not il:and upon that. The feeond Obfervation is this: That which mJkes Meri eminentiy wicked, Obfcrv. 2! and the Spirit thus of the Devil \Owork in them, more than in others, it is an Unper(uadeablenefs. They have been dealt withal by God, and by the Preaching of the Gofpel ; they liave had fome Hints, (dme Hear-C1ys of it; and they reftife that Light, and will not believe that ~ruth ; An,d for this Difdbcdicncc, cloth the Lord gtve th<;m up td Satan, to rule 111 them more fully, and to tranlform his Spirit into them. In 2 Thejf. 2. He ,·ometh with aU dcreivablehefs ofVn– righteoufoefs: But in whom is it? in them, tht~t receive not the Tr11th In the Love of it. Now, my Brethren, in a wofd, this is the Apoftle's Scope piainly td me:. Sa!th he, Whtlfl: you were unregenerated, you hved m the Dcvil's J'<ingdom : And tho you were not oppo!ite to the Oofpel of Ch'rifl: then, and had not that. Spirit which you fee now wotketh in fome ' why? bec'aufe ydu never he:ird of the Gofpel before, ye turned, when ye firfl: heard it: Yet y011 may fee what you would have been, if God had not tufned yo·u; that Spirit, that yo·u fee now worketh in Men eminently wicked, (by which you rriay fee, that the Devil bath a hand over Men,) that Spirit, if you had gone on, would have wrought itt moll: of you toa. So that his Scope is, to hold forth the Spirit, that was more· eminently in fome Men, that were Sinners amongfl: them, or perhaps id the Generality of Men, that did confpire in oiie way of Wickeclnefs, to let thent· fee what themfelves would havebeen. And, my Brethren, we are a!'t to forget our natural Condition, (let us make jufl: that U(e of it the Apoflle here doth. ) *H-i We • \..i . ' "
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=