3. It informeth us what a difficult thing it is to seat Christ in his spiritual throne, namely, in the hearts of all faithful christians. The voice of corrupt nature is, ' We will not have this man to reign over us ; ' and till we are brought under the government of Christ, 'other lords have dominion over us ; ' as the prophet speaketh, Isa. xxvi. 13 ; and they will not easily quit their possession. We are ruled by the devil, the flesh, and the world. The devil, and we must be rescued from him before we can be brought into the kingdom of Christ, Col. i. 13. Now there is old tugging and wrestling to rescue the prey out of Satan's hands. The world ; Christ's ransom respected that : Gal. i, 4, ' Who gave himself that he might deliver us from this present evil world.' And so doth the application of this salvation by the Spirit ; for till we get rid of the worldly spirit we are not fit for Christ : 1 Cor. ii. 12, * Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit of God.' So much as the spirit of the world is deadened in us, so far doth Christ prevail upon us. So for the flesh. Men are given up to their own hearts' lusts till God change th them, and care not for God, nor Christ and his salvation ; brutish appetite and sense governeth them. But what will be the issue of these things ? See Kom. viii. 13, 'If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.' Well, then, to bring us back again to God, that we may totally resign up ourselves to him, you see what a power is necessary to vanquish the devil, and save us from the world, and change our own flesh by his Spirit.
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4. It informeth us of the reason why so many nations shut the door against Christ, or else grow weary of him. You see frequently men can bear any religion rather than Christianity in its power ; sottish superstitions, such as were practised and in vogue among the gentiles ; popery, which is palliated atheism, orgentilism tricked up in a christian dress and form, half Christianity ; the form, not the power ; privileges, not the duties. The world disputeth it with Christ by inches. What is the reason ? His spiritual kingdom, which is not calculated for the interest of the carnal world, and altogether draweth us to an heavenly life and state ; those that submit to it, or would speak of it, exasperate the world against them, as upbraiding their course of life.
5. It informeth us how ill they deal with Christ who have only notional opinions about his authority, but never practically submit to it. Many will say. We must receive Christ as a king, as well as a priest and prophet ; but do we live accordingly ? Luke vi. 46, ' Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ? ' Professed opinions, unless followed with suitable actions, are but a mockage of Christ, and a cheat and fallacy that we put upon ourselves. A mock- age of Christ : Cui res nomini subjecta negatur, is nomine illuditur — He that wants the thing signified by the name is deceived by the name. They did little honour to Christ who buffeted him and spit upon him, and all the while cried, ' Hail, king of the Jews ; ' so whilst we call him lord and king, but make little conscience of his precepts, we deny him the honour in deeds which in words we ascribe to him. So that a practical sense of Christ's authority and right to govern should be deeply impressed upon our hearts. When is it practical ? When it breedeth an awe upon us, and checketh sin ; as the Rechabites were afraid to transgress the commandment of their father : Jer, xxxv. 6, ' They said, We will drink no wine ; for Jonadab the son of Eechab, our father, commanded us, saying. Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever.' So Joseph, Gen. xxxix. 9, when tempted by his mistress to lie with her, he repels the temptation, saying, ' How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God ? ' So all that have a reverence of their supreme Lord, you shall find that it works upon all occasions. If tempted to fleshly lusts, Do this to please thy flesh, they answer as the apostle Paul, Rom. viii. 12, ' We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.' If they be assaulted by the persecutions of the world, still they have the authority of the great Lord. If threat- ened for speaking in his name, and commanded not to speak at all, or teach in the name of Jesus, as the apostles Peter and John answered, Acts iv. 19, ' Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye ; ' so I dare not obey the wills of men, or the inclinations of the flesh, but my great Lord. If Satan would draw you to any inconvenience, answer as Christ himself did to Peter, dissuading him from sufi'ering : Mat. xvi. 23, ' Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.' When there is something that doth constrain within us, and urgeth us to a constant obedience ; for Christ, that requireth us to die unto sin, doth also require us to live unto righteousness ; when the sense of this becomes as an habit or new nature in us, or the principle of our course of living, it puts the soul upon obedience ; it constraineth