testimony of Jesus, overcame that world that then was, and thereby are said to have overcome the devil as prince of that world, so they have done it in several ages again and again since; in overcoming and working all those new and great alterations in the world in relation to religion that have been made, and the devil hath still been overcome and laid on his back by them. And therefore, John xii. 31, when Christ says, 'Now is the judgment of this world,' he adds, Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.' The judgment or reformation of the world (as, John xvi. 8, the word is used) is still the casting forth of the devil, who rules and informs it, as the soul doth the body. And so far as they overcome and make changes in the world, as it is opposite to Christ and unto them, so far do they overcome the devil also.

Take but a view of the course and proceedings of matters since Christ's time downward to this age, and you that know how the world hath gone must also acknowledge that there have been a many new worlds, and faces of things, and as the apostle terms them, 1 Cor. vii., 'fashions of this world, which pass away.' The world hath been put into a great many new dresses and shapes; and under all powers the devil still hath sought to shroud himself, and carry on his mentioned interest, which hath always been to form up the multitude of men and their spirits so, and to mould the customs and laws, and power, that he may have wherewith to persecute the saints more or less, which is his trade.

And he hath wisely applied himself still to the times and spirits of men to effect this, and sharked to do it (as I may so speak), as the saints have driven him out of his worldly works, and hath made the best of it in his losses. For the saints have unroosted him out of his former works often, and put him upon new seekings of his fortune, and altering his play many a time.

For the making forth of which you may observe how Christ and his apostles, speaking of the world which they did live in, with this indigitation or designation, This world.' So Christ in that John xii. 31. And so the apostles, and that not in opposition to the world to come (as, Heb. ii. 5, the apostle speaks), but as in specification of that present world which was then in Christ's and the apostles' times, which, Gal. i. 4, Paul calls the present evil world.' Even as Peter styles the truths that were passing then, the present truth,' 2 Peter i. 12. Paul speaking at once both of the state of the world that then was, and also of the devil's rule in it (as it then stood), expresseth himself thus, That the spirit that now works,' says he, in the children of disobedience,' Eph. ii. 2. There was a present world in Christ's and the apostles' time, the power, the swing, customs and laws of which then carried it against the saints, and Satan was in it. There were the received laws and customs of the Jewish religion, which had a toleration throughout the Roman empire, when the Christian had not; and also the rites of the old heathenish religion, I need not tell you how prevalent, which the apostle called the rudiments of the world,' Col. ii. 8, and the traditions of men,' that is of that world that then was. Now the saints they overcame that world that then was, both Jewish and heathenish, not only in their single persons swimming against the stream, and in not being entangled with the weeds at the bottom of that stream, that is the good or evil things thereof: 1 John v. 4, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.' But they plainly overcame the whole. You all know the alteration made in Constantine's time, three hundred years after Christ. You read of a great shock and battle, Rev. xii. 3, made by the

great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns (which, as I may so speak, was the arms of the Roman heathenish empire, as set out by the Holy Ghost), which cast or body of government the devil inspired, and so is called the dragon, the devil, as fortified herein; hence therefore it is plainly said, that they, the saints overcame him, ver. 11, And they overcame him, as there was no place found for him and his angels in heaven any more,' ver. 8. There was not one man left in some years that were seen to worship one of their heathenish gods. And in doing this (which is the glory of it), God came not down from heaven with thunderbolts and miracles to overcome, but kept to his ordinary laws of providence in ruling the hearts and spirits of men. He turns the emperor Constantine unto the Christian faith, and he turns about the world upside down, as they spake in the Acts; and now all the power was for the saints, which before was against them. Well, the devil was unroosted, and his palace or castle (as Christ calls it), his fortifications or works, as then formed to annoy the saints out thereof, were slighted, dismantled, and himself clean turned out, and turned naked to shift to the wide world as we say. It is said immediately thereupon, Rev. xiii. 1, And he stood upon the sand of the sea.' You know it is read so by some, who make those words the close of the former chapter, and applied to the devil, who (as Mede* says) being deprived of the Roman empire, and put out of course and play, was put to his trumps; and because he could not rule and sway things thereby any more, he stands melancholy and naked on the sand of the sea, waiting to see what new form or face of a new world would arise next out of the sea. Now the sea was the multitudes of nations and people, then altered, both to a new form of government, as also turned Christian; and thus chap. xvii. 1, 15, the many waters, or the sea the next beast rose out of and sat upon, is interpreted. Well, the devil upon that interim observeth which way the waves tumbled, unto which he is as the wind or breath, he soon spied out a new advantage; only seeing the world was turned Christian, he applied his government of the world unto the spirits of men, and he would be a Christian too, that is, carry on his designs and affairs under the profession of Christianity. And so that corrupt, ignorant world that then was, being brooded upon by this spirit that breathed upon these waters, did in the end bring forth a new form of government, and religion of popery; the power and laws whereof, through Satan's efficacy, the whole world that then was, went again after, and made war against the saints, and overcame them, as ver. 3, 7. And this our forefathers have told us.

Well, but the saints are born to overcome this devil, and a thousand of his worlds, if you could suppose them. Let him put himself into, and shroud himself under what worldly power soever; let him draw his lines of fortification anew, and build them as high as heaven, or as firm as the great mountains, yet they shall conquer him. And how they have overcome him in that power also, the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th chapters, and the stories of that Reformation of religion in all these protestant countries, tell you, and they are the saints that have done, and by their prayers shall do it: Rev. xvii. 14, The Lamb shall overcome them, for as he is Lord of lords, so they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.' And in doing this, he did not come down from heaven with flashes of lightning or Egyptian plagues, but kept to his ordinary rules of proceeding by which he hath governed the world in all ages, making changes in them, sometimes making use of men's lusts, as of Henry the Eighth; otherwhere turning * See Mede's Clav. Apoc.

the hearts of princes to embrace the gospel, as in Germany and Sweden; elsewhere inflaming the people unto popular tumults, and a hatred of idolatry, as in Scotland; sometimes in giving up princes to oppress them in their civil liberties as well as in their consciences, and so to move them to cast off the yoke, as in Holland; sometimes entwisting in one interest civil rights, and the interest of religion, as in France: all which, however done, and done but by the laws of providence ruling men's spirits, have been done at the prayers of the people of God.

Well, but when protestantism was set up, and the reformed religion, so as there was again a new dress or fashion of the world (as the apostle speaks of it, 1 Cor. vii. 31), yet still he made a shift so to form even the truth of that religion up into a mixture of such common laws and constitutions, that had the supreme power and people so to back them, as he could still and hath still used that present world to oppress multitudes of the saints; and how the power thereof hath been broken, and the devil again put out of trade, and made a reformado, as to the persecuting part of this our age; and it hath been the prayers of the saints have brought it about. He is half an atheist that will not acknowledge it, and say, ' Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.'

And in this interim the devil is, upon those great alterations we have seen, in his dumps and musings hovering over this island, and waiting how to form up a worldly party, and unite them in a common interest, such as may serve to persecute again, more than with the lash of the tongue; and this present world is as fit for it as ever any. And as it was then, so it is now; those that are after the flesh will persecute them that are after the spirit, Gal. iv. 29. And the devil waits but how to draw his line anew, and to raise up a fortification to effect it, which, whatever it will prove to be in God's just permission, yet in the mean time, know that you have overcome the devil more than men, or than that present constitution of the world forepast, and have routed the devil in subduing the power of men. In overcoming the present world, you overcame the devil much more, and this Paul knew and informs us, that we fight more against principalities and powers than against flesh and blood. And I say unto you, rejoice not that armies or nations have been subjected to your prayers, but that the spirits, the devils themselves, have been so; though above all, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The last and complete victory which Christ and his saints have over the devil, both before and at the day of judgment.

The third sort of Christ's proceedings against this common enemy are more open and judicial. For when he hath let him try his skill and power every way (as hath been shewed) to annoy us, and that in all sorts of attempts, as against us made, Christ hath for thousands of years still baffled and confounded him by us; which, because it is but invisibly done, he is not ashamed at it, but would persist to eternity in this way (if the world should last so long), therefore Christ hath resolved to deal with him more openly and visibly. And so it became him, that when he had enabled us to overcome him in a regular way, then to fall upon him in a hostile and judiciary way. And this hath two degrees.

1. When the world, the time and seat of his rule, shall grow towards a conclusion, then a strict restraint shall be clapped on him.

2. There will be a bringing him to open judgment.

1. A strict restraint shall be clapped on him towards the end. It is time; he had chains clapped on him from his very fall, 2 Peter ii. 4, and yet he hath been hitherto as a prisoner at large, that hath had liberty to walk up and down with his chains, to take the air, as he is the prince of the power of the air,' says the apostle, Eph. ii. 2. Well, but when the world draws to an end, he shall be bound up in chains, so as (at least) his ruling power over this world (which hath been the fairest flower in his crown) shall be taken from him, whilst he yet sees (to vex him) the world of men on earth continue to go on in its succession before his face. How far his tempting power will be taken away I will not argue, but that he will towards the end be universally restrained of his ruling the nations (as he had wont) to persecute the saints, I think there is ground for it; Rev. xx. 1, 2, 3, 'And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.' You might, without much hesitation to your thoughts, think when this is to be done. If we had no more, it is enough signified in Rev. xx., that the time is the last hour or two before the dawning of the great day, and shutting up of the darkness of this world. And what is this revelation but a prophecy of the fates of the church and world? Rev. i. 1 and chap. iv. 1. The world, therefore, now that is a-drawing on its last scene, is not yet so to end but there shall be a little time for the devil to play his pranks a little while, ver. 3. But more particularly, whereas it hath been shewn how in his ruling power the devil, the old serpent, was beaten out of his holes; and we have seen how this mountebank, who deceives the whole world, in his several stages he hath set up in the world, hath still been beaten down, and been forced to build new. First he had Judaism, then heathenism, in the room of which he hath set up popery, Rev. xii. 13.* We have seen how, when all the world turned Christian, an antichristian beast rose up, and all the world went wandering after him, for ver. 4, the dragon gave him his power, and his seal, and great authority, and they worshipped the dragon that gave power to the beast; and you read of this new beast's rule until the 19th chapter, ver. 19, 20, 'And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophets that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.' Now, when Christ and his army (which are the saints) have clean defeated and made an end of this last beast and his power, so as that they have had a fair and open victory in the view of men over the devil, and all this world, and this the last trial of skill assigned him, for Christ resolves to lay all the powers of the world-oppos

The 15th and 16th chapters are the degrees of his coming. The 17th the explication who and what he should be. The 18th the funeral song of the great city that is borne up by him. And chapter 19, the fatal overthrow. [See the author's exposition of the Revelation, in vol. III. of this series of his works.-ED.]

ing his kingdom-fairly, and in a human way of conquest, on their backs (according unto that chap. xiii., 'He that killeth with the sword shall be killed with the sword), so as the devil that had acted all these is now left a naked devil, beaten out of all his fortresses; what then immediately follows? Rev. xx. 1, 2, 3, 'And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit,' &c. Now, says Christ, yourself, the great actor in all these tragedies, your time is come, your turn is next at last, that he who led into captivity should be led into captivity,' that yourself must be bound otherwise than you have been; and bound from what? Why, from deceiving the nations: ver. 3, That he should deceive the nations no more,' either by tempting or ruling them any more. And he never deceived the nations more than in the time of popery, therefore this his binding must be after all; and then, to make sure of him, casts him into the bottomless pit, shuts him up with a seal upon him; here is the devil fast, and so it is as a restraint before his last fatal trial and judg

ment.

6

I will not prosecute this further; you know where else to find it argued. To convince you that there is to be a kingdom of Christ and of the saints for a thousand years, read the following verses; during which time it is meet, yea necessary, the devil be in hold, as you see he is.

2. The last scene, or final proceedings of Christ against him, is his bringing him and his angels into personal and open judgment before God, angels, and men. And herein, to make this victory and destruction full and complete, you that are the saints thus opposed by him shall be his judges. And there cannot be supposed a fuller victory than this, that after you have overcome him, all sorts of ways related, and God hath trodden him under your feet, that then at last you should sit and be his lawful judges, of all his wickednesses, enmities, and temptations acted against yourselves. Now, look, as Christ triumphed over him openly, visibly, Col. ii. 15, before angels, and the' spirits of just men made perfect, so shall you then with Christ more visibly and openly, even before the world. This you have, 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3, 'Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? Know you not that we shall judge angels?' This judging of Satan I shall explain and prove by these steps.

(1.) That the devil as well as men shall be brought to open judgment; this is plain both by Jude 6 and 2 Peter ii. 4, The angels that kept not their first estate, he cast them down to hell,' so Peter, and reserved them in everlasting chains under darkness to the judgment of the great day;' so Jude; or delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved into judgment,' so Peter. I understand the transaction of it to have been thus.

[1.] That upon the angels' first sinning, there was a present throwing of them into hell, namely that place and state they shall for ever be in after the great day, as a taste of what in a greater fulness they after judgment should be condemned unto; yet so as,

[2.] They were presently let out again into the air, by reason of which they have liberty and freedom of spirit, and they rule this world, which if in full torments they could not do, Luke viii. 31. They, as dreading that place of hell, besought him he would not command them into the deep, that is, their former hell.

[3.] Yet in the mean time, whilst they are at liberty, they are as prisoners in chains, suffered to walk up and down, and thereby marked out as reserved to an assize or judgment of the great day. And under this allusion, their condition seems to me to be different from that of men, wicked men,