inheritance of which he entered after his resurrection, according to his saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth:" and according to that other saying of St. Paul: "Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Nevertheless, though Jesus is virtually King of things visible, and as the King of providence is worshipped and waited upon by his spiritual people; yet is he not now revealed as he yet shall be, the real and visible King whom all things actually obey. His entry to the possession of the inheritance of the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth, is what we look for at his second coming, when Satan shall be expelled and righteousness shall cover the earth; but till then, Satan will continue possessed of all which Adam lost at the Fall,-until the Second Adam shall come, the Lord from heaven, to rule and govern all things; the quickening Spirit, to quicken all things with life, which now are under the curse of death.

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Now, dearly beloved brethren, if the word of the Lord be true, that a man cannot serve two masters; and that other word of the Apostle be true, that "Christ hath no fellowship with Belial," it is a thing certain and indubitable, that he who devotes himself to the one of these two kingdoms, must deny himself to the other; and that he who would attain unto both, must in the end be grievously disappointed; for Satan makes it a condition of his kingdom, that whosoever

would be possessed of it must bow down and worship him and Jesus who came to destroy the works of Satan, hath as peremptorily said, "he who would be my disciple must forsake all, and take up his cross and follow Me." So that it is most manifest there can be no harmony nor communion between these two kingdoms of sight and of faith: wherefore it is written, "We walk by faith, and not by sight." And again; "Looking not at the things which are seen and temporal, but at the things which are unseen and eternal."

Now, let us transfer this reasoning from the outward world to the world within us-from the object to the subject; and we shall find it apply all the same: nay, the reasoning is true of the outward world only because it is true of the world within us; for had not Satan first obtained the mastery over man, he never would have obtained the mastery over the visible creation, which became subject to vanity, not of its own accord, not willingly, but by reason of its subjection unto man, and will follow the redemption of man as it followed our Fall; as it is written, "The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." The kingdom within us, therefore, is Satan's, no less than the kingdom without us; the nature of men is evil as well as the nature of the other creatures; and whosoever devoteth himself unto his own inclination and will, doth serve Satan as effectually, yea, and more effectually, than if he devoted himself to the thraldom of the world, or of riches, or of any low, base, and brutal passion; for Satan's throne is the natural will of man: wherefore it is said in

the Scriptures, "Out of the heart proceed evil

thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, false witness," with all that defileth and degradeth a man. Yet as the creation is subjected in hope, so also is man, the lord of creation: though he is in bondage, he is not annihilated; he hath a will, though that will be enslaved. Now it hath pleased the Lord our Creator to become also our Redeemer, and to make known unto us deliverance and final redemption, so that we also are saved by hope: for we are not yet put into the full possession of the promised inheritance, neither can be until the coming of the Lord; but we have the earnest of the Spirit, whereby we are taught to feel our bondage, and to hate it, and to desire its removal, and to contend against it, and to maintain the strife and the warfare during all the days of our earthly pilgrimage. And this is our regeneration, the kingdom of the Spirit within us, and the indwelling of the Father and of the Son; which is not merely shadowed forth, but substantiated in the immaculate child of God, conceived in the womb of sinful flesh, whose life is our life of humiliation, suffering, and crucifixion; whereof the Lord gave us the ensample. The experience of this new creature is the saving knowledge of Christ: the life and energy of this new creature is the power of his resurrection: the endurance of this new creature is the fellowship of his sufferings: which I believe to be all done by the very same operation of the Holy Spirit which created the body of Christ, and maintained his human nature in all its trials and afflictions free from the taint and pollution of sin. So that if there be two kingdoms without us, there are also two kingdoms within us corresponding thereto, which are contrary and opposite the one to the other, according as it is

written, "The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh." And again: "There is a law in my members warring against the law of my spirit, and leading me into captivity to the law of sin and death." And again: "The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

Now, brethren, the kingdom of Satan within us hath fellowship with the kingdom of Satan without us; and in their fellowship and communion with one another is revealed the character of Him who is the Lord of both. Yield to the inclinations of nature, give way to the solicitations of the world, and you will become a child of the devil, and an expression of his image; sensual in the last degree, avaricious in the last degree; envious and malicious, and full of all unrighteousness. Nay, and in the end such wilful, arrogant, and rapacious creatures, do very often in themselves, or in their children, lose the very faculty of reason itself, and become inmates of the asylum, or madmen at large. For what is reason but the light of the Divine word within the soul? that light which every man hath received of Christ's fulness, and which is brought into captivity, but knoweth and feeleth its captivity, and resisteth it while it can by the inventions of law and morality, and every other restraint upon the diabolical tendencies of our nature.

Which faculty of reason or conscience Satan seeketh by various means to lull asleep, to drug with sensual enjoyments, to stifle with various passions; and, if he succeed, in bearing down by much wilfulness all those natural barriers which reason hath raised up in her own defence, it generally endeth by his attacking reason

in her seat, and utterly overthrowing her, and obtaining the whole mastery of the man unto himself: and then, according to the capacity of his subject, he will either put a sword into his hand, and make a murderer of him; or put a pen into his hand, and make a deceiver of him; or put words into his mouth, and make a blasphemer of him; which are the three chief forms of diabolical possession to be met with, and one or other of the characteristics of every lunatic or madman whom you will find in confinement or at large. They are either destroyers with weapons of destruction, or deceivers with instruments of deception, or blasphemers with words of blasphemy; and in general they are all three combined in one. These great truths concerning Satan's kingdom, are not truths of revelation merely, but of reason: you may discern them in the laws with which men have seen it necessary to fence in their own wilfulness, and the restraints which they have agreed to submit to of every kind, in order to be defended against themselves. For law is not directed against others, but against ourselves: and this is the true dignity of man above the creatures, that he hath that in him which teacheth him to be afraid of himself, and to guard against himself. And law is but as it were the outwork of Reason's camp, which is all fortified against the enemy, by decencies and courtesies, and moral duties, present in every office, and preserving every relation of human life. And this is the fable of Prometheus upon the rock bound and preyed upon by every ravenous beast, and tempted by every divinity of nature or messenger of Satan, but preferring his subjection to the authority of the reigning powers of creation; because he had