[3.] By his resurrection and ascension. After he had been a sacri- fice for sin, by his resurrection he overcame death, hell, and sin, and soon after he ascended into heaven, that he might triumph over the devil, and lead captivity captive, Eph. iv. 8. His enemies were foiled upon the cross, but his triumph over them was at his ascension, where- by he hath assured the world of his conquest, that he hath carried the day, and gained an absolute and complete victory ; for our Lord in heaven is out of the reach of enemies, as having done his work; we are only left behind to scatter the relics of the battle.
[4.] By his sitting at the right hand of God he doth two things — (1.) He poureth out the Spirit, endowing his messengers with all gifts and graces, ordinary and extraordinary, to preach the gospel to the heathen world, whereby the old religion by which the devil's kingdom was supported went to wreck everywhere ; his oracles were silenced, his superstitions suppressed ; no more the same temples, the same rites, the same gods ; all fell before God as worshipped in Christ : John xvi. 11, ' The Spirit shall convince the world of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.' It is true, in some parts of the world Satan yet reigneth, where Christ hath ijot pursued him with his gospel, or withdrawn his gospel for the ingratitude of men ; but where it cometh, it prevaileth mightily, and the world cannot resist its convin- cing power.
[5.] By his secret and invisible providence he defendeth his people, and stilleth the enemy and avenger. Christ, as God incarnate, having the grant of a kingdom, is every way furnished with power to maintain it by means proper to the mediatory dispensation; by his word, Spirit, and providence. This last we are upon. All judgment is put into his hands, John v. 22. Though there be many vicissitudes and
SERMON UPON PSALM VIII. 2. 21
changes in the outward condition of the church, yet by invisible ways God doth notably defeat Satan and his instruments. And though there be ebbings and Sowings of the two kingdoms, yet we have much experience that Christ is upon the throne, by his protecting, strengthen- ing, and assisting his faithful people, and prospering their just endeavours for the advancing of his kingdom. Sometimes he destroyeth enemies : Isa. xxvii. 4, ' Who would set the briars and thorns against me in battle, I would go through them, and burn them together.' Sometimes he infatuateth their counsels : Job v. 12, 13, ' He dis- appointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot per- form their enterprise. He taketh the wise in his own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.' Sometimes he hideth his people in the secret of his presence, Ps. xxxi. 20. Sometimes he blasts all their prosperity by an invisible curse : Job xx. 26, ' A fire not blown shall consume them.' Or else he divides them, as you may read in 2 Chron. xx.
5. The degree of the success. How far is the enemy and avenger stilled ? I answer —
[1.] Non ratione essentice ; not to take away his life and being. No ; there is a devil still, and shall be when the whole work of Christ's redemption is finished ; if or it is said of that time, Kev. xx. 10, * That the devil was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and for ever.' So Mat. xxv. 41, ' Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels.' Then eternal judgment is executed on the head of the wicked state. Sentence was passed before, and the devil feareth it : Mat. viii. 29, ' Art thou come to torment us before the time ? ' He was condemned before, but then the sentence is fully executed upon him ; he is finally punished, and shall for ever remain among the damned.
[2.] Non ratione malitice, not in regard of malice and enmity, for the enmity ever continueth between the two seeds, and Satan will ever be doing, though it be to his loss : 1 John iii. 8, * He sinneth from the beginning ; ' and therefore he is not so destroyed as if he desired not the ruin and destruction of men. He is as malicious as ever. He is always at the old trade of destroying souls, and watcheth all advan- tages to that end and purpose : 2 Peter v. 8, ' Tlie devil like a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom he may devour.'
[3.] Then affirmatively, it remaineth that it is ratione potentice, in regard of power. But how far is his power destroyed ? for still he governeth the wicked, and possesseth a great part of the world. The devils are called, Eph. vi. 12, ' Rulers of the darkness of this world ;' the gods of the heathen, idolatrous, superstitious world. And still he molesteth the godly, whether considered singly and apart, or in their communities and societies. Singly he may sometimes trouble them, and sorely shake them, as wheat is tossed to and fro when it is win- nowed in a sieve, Luke xxii. 31 ; or in their communities and societies the devil by his instruments may sorely distress them: Ps. cxxix. 1, 2, 'Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth upward ;' that is, from the beginning of their being a people unto God ; or else corrupts them : 1 Cor. xi. 3, ' I fear lest by any means Satan should corrupt you ; ' and therefore we must see how fiar his power is destroyed.