[2.] The second enemy of Christ is the ivorld; and that may be considered either in the men of it or in the power of it : —
In the men of it. The Lord Christ puts forth his mighty power
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to deal with and subdue all the men of the world that rise up in opposition against him. Whatever success they may seem to have, they are all made his footstool : " Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel," Ps. ii. 9. And you have him twice or thrice described in the Revelation as going forth in his mighty power for the subduing of all his adver- saries. See Rev. xix. 11—21.
And this must be ; for he shall subdue all the authority in the world, — not ordy the persons of men, but all the power and all the authority which is set up against him, or exercised against his inte- rest. 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25, " When he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." There is a suspension of the issue of all things until Christ hath thus put down all that opposeth him and his interest. But there is an expectation in heaven, and in earth, in the whole creation : all are waiting, as if one single person, for the putting forth this mighty power of Christ for the subduing of all unto him ; for the end will not be till then. Whatever we endure, we must be contented with it ; whatsoever we suffer, the end must not be till all his enemies be made his footstool, and there be nothing to stand up against him who is most mighty.
[3.] Sin in his people is another enemy of Christ. Sin, as it is in men by nature, is that which gives life and efficacy to all the enmity that is acted against him ; and, as it remains even in believers them- selves, it doth act a great enmity against Christ. How come we, then, to be freed from it? how comes it to be subdued? The apostle, in Rom. vii., gives an account of the great contest and conflict that believers have with the remainder of sin in them, that makes them cry out for deliverance from it, verses 24, 25. It is a sudden break- ing forth of the apostle there, when he was describing the law of sin ; for he cries out, " 0 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me?" etc. But he as suddenly takes up, " I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord;" — " Through the power of Christ this enemy, sin, shall be subdued." Therefore, chap. vi. 14, it is said, " Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace;" — " If you come under grace, or under the rule of Christ, sin shall not have dominion over you." What is the reason of it? where is the consequence of the argument? Because sin is one great enemy of Christ, and he will certainly conquer it.
[4.] Death is another enemy. It is the last enemy, 1 Cor. xv. 25, 26, " He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." And, in verse 54, he tell us that " death is swallowed up in victory;" a conquest is ob- tained over it. It is the last enemy, because, until the consum-
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mation of all things, we shall be subject to its power; but that shall also come under the feet of Christ, when we shall die no more.
This is the third end wherefore Christ puts forth this mighty or exceeding greatness of his power, — namely, for the subduing of his enemies.
(4.) The fourth end for which Christ puts forth the greatness of his power is, for the raising up all his church from the dead, Phil. iii. 20, 21, " Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile bod}r, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." The mighty power of Christ reaches thus far, that the dead shall be raised thereby. Yes, our vile body shall, — the body of our humiliation ; that is, the body as it is fallen into corruption, into a vile estate, though it come to worms and dust, yet he shall revive it by the exceeding greatness of his power. He shall raise the bodies of his people. The privilege of believers in that day will be, that they shall be first raised, and they shall be peculiarly raised by the power of Christ as mediator. Their bodies shall be raised in con- formity to his glorious body, when others shall be raised after them by the mere divine power of Christ, and raised with all their own vileness upon them.
(5.) And lastly, to mention no more ; — the mighty power of Christ is put forth in judging of all the tuorld, and distributing to them rewards of bliss or woe that shall abide to all eternity, Matt. xxv. 31-46.