of hell. And I will, for brevity, overpass all the history of the Old Testament, and begin at the New.

1. Before he came in the flesh, the angels are sent from heaven to acquaint men that he came on this very business, and to this end, to conquer Satan, and rescue his captives, and save his people. (Matt. i. 21.) "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." (Luke i. 30-35; Luke i. 68-80.)

2. Before he was born himself, John the Baptist is sent into the world as his forerunner; and before Christ doth solemnly set upon his great work, John must be sent to prepare his way. He is sent to bid Satan defiance, and to proclaim and begin the hotter part of the war, being " filled with the Holy Ghost even from the womb, to turn many of the Children of Israel unto God: to go before Christ in the spirit and power of Elias; to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord:" (Luke i. 15-17) to give knowledge of salvation to his people for the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of God, to give light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death. (Luke i. 77, 78.) For it was his office to be the voice crying in the wilderness, saying, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord :" and to bid them " Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand," and to tell them of the promised salvation which was raised up, "That we might be saved from our enemies, and from the hands of all that hate us; that we being delivered from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." (Luke i. 70-76.) This man hath the honour to initiate Christ into the solemn entrance upon his military work by his baptism, which had the same general nature with our baptism, but not the same in special. It was not to convey to him the remission of sin, as it is to us, for he had none; nor was it to engage him to himself, as we are engaged to him: but it was to engage him solemnly in the same military work against sin and Satan; as the general may glory in wearing the same colours which he gives his soldiers, to signify that they are of a party, and go all on one and the same design; only one as general, and the rest as common soldiers. Though we be not to do the same works against Satan in all things as Christ, yet are we to fight against him in our ranks and places, as Christ did in his. He is entered as general and king by his baptism, and we as soldiers and subjects, by ours.

At this his baptismal engagement, and taking the field, John gives him his testimony, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." And the Father giveth him his testimony by a voice from heaven: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. iii. 17; Luke iii. 22.) And the Holy Ghost beareth witness in descending on him in the form of a dove. (Luke iii. 22.) Thus you see Christ take the field in his own personal engagement.

3. Being thus engaged himself, he is immediately set upon personally by the tempter, being led into the wilderness by the Spirit, and purposely submitting himself hereunto. The reason of this conflict I told you before. As the first Adam being assaulted quickly after his entrance into paradise, and institution of the sacramental trees was overcome by the tempter, so must the second Adam overcome the tempter, and that in a like conflict hand to hand, presently after his baptism. Satan must lose his prisoners in the way he got them, and Christ must do what Adam could not. The victory must be got by the public person in our nature before it be got by each man individually in his own person; for so was it lost. Here was the first great overthrow of the adversary. Here was the serpent's head broken as, he is the tempter, as on the cross it was afterwards broken, as he is the tormentor, as is said before. And as Adam lost the day before he had any offspring, so Christ wins it if his own person, before he doth solemnly begin to preach the Gospel, or calleth any of his disciples, as far as I can find in the text.

That this was a solemn combat, and a considerable part of Christ's work, appears by the solemn preparation and management: for though Christ's fasting forty days in the wilderness was a preparation to all his after-performance, as well as this one, yet more immediately for this as a special part of it.

It was not merely a fantasm, as some have imagined, that Christ was thus assaulted and used; and yet it seems to be in the spirit, though real, as Paul was taken up into the heavens ; how far in the body, or out of the body, I think we cannot judge.

Nor should it be matter of offence to any, that Satan should have so much power of Christ as to carry him, as is there expressed, seeing it was but in order to the temptation, and by Christ's own submission and consent, and did but prepare for the greater conquest; and the enemy departed as overcome, at his command. This was the issue of this leading conflict, between the two generals hand to hand.

4. When Christ had thus conquered Satan himself, he presently invited men to take his colours, and goeth about preaching the Gospel himself, saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe the Gospel." (Mark i. 14, 15.) His first call is to sinners to relinquish the deceiver, and come out of their captivity: for what is repenting, but forsaking sin and Satan, and returning unto God? Luke tells us his text that he preached on once at Nazareth, which shows us his design: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor: he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke iv. 16, 18.) This is his next assault of Satan, by his own personal preaching.

5. The next thing he doth is to choose his twelve apostles, and constitute them commanders of his army under him; with whom, also, he joineth seventy disciples; and to these he gives commission to make an onset upon Satan, and exercise the power of his word and Spirit. These go forth and cast out devils, and work wonders, and come home as young soldiers encouraged by this first success, and triumphing that the devils were subject to them.

6. The whole course of Christ's life was perfectly contrary to the will of Satan, and perfectly conformed to his Father's will. A life of perfect innocency is a life of victory over the tempter. He never yielded to his wicked desires, so much as in one sinful thought, or word, or deed, being holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, like unto us in our troubles, but not in our sins. (Heb. iv. 15.) By all this, also, he set us a pattern that we should imitate him as near as we could, and resist and conquer as he had done. If a life of perfect, unblameable innocency, and perfectly devoted to God, be not a full proof that Christ was an enemy to Satan, then light is not contrary to darkness.

7. The whole work of his life towards others was contrary to Satan, and was nothing else but a destroying of his kingdom. We read not of any thing else that he did on earth.

1. Whereas, Satan is an enemy to the honour of God, what did Christ else but seek his Father's glory, and do his will, in the saving of men? He rectifieth our misapprehensions of his nature he tells us of his spirituality, his greatness, his good

ness, his holiness, his righteousness, (John iv. 6; xvii. 11, 25, 26; Luke xi. 2; Matt. v. 45, 48,) and giveth him the glory of his attributes and works. He giveth men the most perfect instructions for God's worship, and taketh them off all self-invented and false ways. (Matt. v. and vi. throughout; and Matt. xv. 3, 4, 8, 9.)

2. Whereas, it is the devil's work to draw men to sin, and keep them from God; it was Christ's work to go up and down to preach the doctrine of life, and to tell them the necessity of repentance, and offer them grace if they would accept it, and return. So that he accounted it his meat and drink to seek the salvation of a poor Samaritan woman, (John iv. 32,) and therein to do his Father's will. He was so often with sinners as a physician for their cure, that the pharisees reproached him for being their companion, because he disliked their proud separation, and practised, on the contrary, the course of compassion for their recovery and restoration.

3. It is the devil's work to do all the hurt that he may, even to men's bodies as well as souls; it was Christ's work to do good, and only good. Of all his miracles that he wrought, there was never any wrought in malice and revenge. He used not the divine power to blind, or lame, or kill, any men: no, not his worst enemies when he could easily do it, and justly might have done it; but he goeth up and down doing good, (Acts x. 38,) giving sight to the blind, limbs to the lame, health to the sick, and life to the dead. He feeds the hungry, and hath compassion on them that are ready to faint. What is the whole history of his life, but a catalogue of good works? When men reject his Gospel, he will not take them at the worst, but rebukes his disciples that would have called for fire from heaven, and tells them, "They knew not what spirit they were of; that is, in this desire: they considered not how unlike it was to his Spirit, or his design and business in the world, who came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them." (Luke ix. 55, 56.) 8. Christ's enmity to Satan appeareth in this, that he openly professeth to take him for his chief foe, and sendeth him a defiance, and telleth him, that he will maintain his kingdom in despite of all his policy and power. Mark well that speech to Peter (Matt. xvi. 18:) "I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Whether it be Peter's confession, or Peter himself that is here called the rock, is no great

matter, as to the popish interest. For the same promise that is here made to Peter upon this personal occasion, is elsewhere made to the rest of the apostles. The Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone; (Eph. ii. 20;) so that it is more than Peter that is the foundation, that is, the principal living witnesses of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and the principal instruments of the propagation of his kingdom.

The church of Christ seemed not so great, nor did any thing visible to the world then promise so great an increase of it, as might give occasion of such a prediction but here you may see closely laid together these observable things:

1. That it was Christ's purpose and design to gather him a ehurch.

2. That the apostles, who at that time did not so much as understand the doctrine of Christ's death, resurrection, or ascension, which afterwards became fundamental articles of faith, must yet be the instrumental foundation of the church, and these weak men must become the invincible rock.

3. That it was the gates, that is, the powers of hell that would be the oppugners of this church, and Christ expecteth their most malicious and furious assault.

4. That yet these hellish powers should not prevail; but though they should assault and storm this church and rock, yet should they not take it, or overcome.

5. That he lets them know this before hand by way of defiance. 6. And that even when he knew that he must shortly be put to death, having first suffered many things of the priests and elders of the Jews, as in the next following words he tells his disciples where Peter, this rock, is yet so far from being fitted for so great matters as Christ speaks of, that he takes him aside and rebukes him, and saith, "Be it far from thee; (q. d.;) God forbid that this should befall thee; favour thyself."

7. By all which it is evident that Christ foreknew the things to come, and how his church should be gathered, prospered, and preserved against all the malicious rage of hell.

9. Christ's enmity to Satan is also evident in the enmity that he manifested to all that tended to the interest of Satan, and furthering of his kingdom: what did ever offend him, but that which pleased the devil? What did he condemn but that which the devil desired and promoted? Nay, when any advice was given him that tended to the furtherance of the kingdom of