the head the infection might spread abroad vpon the body and destroy all like a common pestilence It was for some thing he fell to this temptation in assaulting Christ whom he felt so impregnable All these things will I giue thee she wing him the world and glory of it He had some show for his promise although his reason was vnsound saying it is deliuered vnto mee and to whomsoeuer I will I giue it Luke 4.6 This authoritie is first and principall in the Infidels who wanting the true guide by an ineuitable fall doe light vpon the false In them he ruleth and leadeth them on to his owne ends and these are of greatest power and possesse the chiefe roomes in his house by domineering in the world That we may not faile of the truth haue recourse vnto the fountaine and beginning which vsually giues the cleerest euidence wee shall find greatnesse and vngodlinesse grow together The first Citty that was built had Cain to be the founder called Enoch after his sonnes name From him came Lamech Gen. 4. and from that wicked race descended the great men of the earth Iabal the father of such as dwell in tents Iubal of skilfull musicians and Tubal Cain of artificers in brasse and yron No words of Abel but religion and slaughter together Of Seth and Enos comming at last in Abels roome it is reported Gen. 4.26 Then as if it had beene long looked for before then beganne men to call vpon the name of the Lord. But time the great friend and enemie to the earth as it brought about this good turne did weare out that happie season Gen. 6.1 For when they beganne to multiply the sonnes of God tooke vnto them the daughters of men and from so bad a copulation we could not expect but a like progenie the flood swept away the generation at last only eight were found fit to be saued in the Arke and one Cham in the company After this beginning to relate what followed though briefely were too tedious Let vs looke at our owne times find we not the strong man armed in his Palace How are the spacious places and gardens of the world inhabited by them that know not the worship of God And in Christian Kingdomes how hath idolatry preuailed and prouoked the highest a sinne to states both dangerous and fatall it often ouerthrew the Iewes and now hath so exasperated the Iudge of the earth that Turkish cruelty hath cut of the goodliest branches of this Vine and that Citty which the Tartarian conquerour iudged fit to command the world is become the chiefe seate of this Mahometant tyrant Roome the other eye of Europe helpes him forward by hindring a reformation to this effect the Dragon and the Beast ioyne together their forces Let none thinke this imputation is iniust time and euill custome make way to a destroyer by soiling religion with superstition and idolatry The spirit of God speaketh so much almost in plaine termes Reuel 9.20 When the Angels were loosed from the riuer Euphrates to bring so many millions to kill the third part of men yet the rest of men repented not of the workes of their hands that they should not worship Deuils and idols of gold and siluer and brasse and stone and wood which neither can see nor heare nor walke Who hath come from the riuer Euphrates and slaine so many but the Turke bringing so many millions to destroy Of whom hath he slaine them but of Christians and who worship Images but the Christians the followers of Mahomet hate idoles and the professors of Christ are in loue with them By the way then see how little good Christendome can expect while Antichrist and his Kingdome stand In the meane time see the strong man armed keeping his Palace the two imperiall Citties one rent from the Christians the other renting in pieces the truth of Christianity Romulus built it at first in blood and that in the blood of a brother since hauing got an Empire by the euerie and oppression now supports it selfe the same way as if it would ratifie that maxime in Philosophy We are nourished by those meanes from whence we arise and spring vp For now a Monarchie ouer the conscience a new priuiledge is that they challenge cruelty to vphold it and commodity gleaned in deuotion to vphold themselues these are the chiefe Pillars to maintaine their state When Christ came in person to bind this strong man the Romans had Iury vnder their dominion Herode an Idumean was their King religion was corrupted with traditions the sects of Saducees and Pharisees made a diuision within and therefore their outward miserie was the greater And at our Sauiours second comming this is his owne prediction The Sonne of man shall not find faith vpon the earth so mightily doth this strong man enlarge his territories Come vnto Gods owne house his Church where religion is truly profest where God hath his Church he will haue his Chappell hauing most cause to be stirre himselfe least he be a looser thether hee conuerts his greatest forces to worke in all sorts and by all deuises And that two waies either to quench the least sparkes that are to aduance the truth or to depraue and corrupt it by turning matters the wrong way and mixing euill with the good Sometimes he is a solicitor to set forwards his owne busines in consultations Many times he helpes the Iudge in giuing sentence He can doe as with Achabs Prophets enter and seduce in the place of sanctity He aduanceth many men into offices and specially where money makes the way for those are his vsuall staires When hee hath set them vp they must honour their Patron and benefactor and he a little direct them in execution And that no place may want him in the good actions of many hee foisteth some lamenesse and cloggeth the endeauours of honest men This strong man is not armed alone but skill can doe equall mischiefe 2. Cor. 11.14 Satan is transformed into an Angell of light Not in shape for the Angels haue no countenance or visible forme but as Zanchie saith he counterfeiteth holinesse that his counsells may be heard Like a corrupt Tradesman hee can sophisticate his vnprofitable commodity and colour his harmes with guilded pretences In the Church he can sow faction vnder pretence of zeale and cherish curiosity vnder tendernes of conscience In the common affaires of this life he can make bribery walke vnder the name of thankfulnes and gratuitie oppression vnder thrift pride vnder commendable fashion and ciuility These trickes make him dance in a net gulling the world as it were in laughter and by his policies he will preuaile The reason is if vice were seene in his owne apparell it would scare the beholder with a fearefull and vgly visage therfore he doth furnish it vp with the choisest ornaments and paints ouer the deformities with better showes to make it passe for commendable What thing is so bad or base but one
in the battell And when the children of God stood before his presence Satan was among them Iob. 1. But they suppose he cannot come thither any more since Christ ascended vpin person and to that purpose alledge the place Luke 19.18 I saw Satan as lightening fall from heauen and Reu. 12.9 Michael expeld the Dragon from thence with his Angels their place was no more found in heauen the old Serpent that deceiueth the world was cast out into the earth and his Angels with him and therefore S. Paul calleth him Prince of the power of the Aire because his ruling is confined within that space he can goe no higher These are a vouched with great probability But sure it is Christ shooke his Kingdome in the earth being borne and sent into the world to destroy his workes that the people which sate in darkenesse before might see great light and they be deliuered which sate in the region and shaddow of death As light which shines from heauen is diffused nothing in nature hauing a power to spread it selfe more suddenly illustrating the whole Hemisphere or halfe at once so did this Sonne of righteousnesse as was sayd Psal 19. Nothing was hid from the heat thereof but beyond the regions of Iury his Apostles carried it farre and wide into many Nations This was the stronger hand of this Conquerour that by a people scorned as for superstition by others and then torne by the Romanes being the weaker side he gaue lawes vnto the mighty and cast him out of the world then strongly possest and kept as his owne house in sinne and ignorance The Oracles were put downe after his incarnation where the deuill had long time giuen aduise and answeres Augustus Caesar inquiring at Delphes who should succeede him in the Empire had this for an answere Peucerus de Oraculis pag. 251. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. An Hebrew childe King of the Gods hath commanded me to leaue this house and returne to hell therefore henceforth forsake our Altars And hee is bound for a thousand yeares Reuel 20. Which we may take from the rising of Constantine vntill the raigne of Otoman or howsoeuer in that space Christ did greatly confound his Kingdome and set vp his owne The successe we haue seene our Sauiours victory to open it more fully note the person called the stronger Man and the meanes vsed to subdue him Christ is God equall with the Father his strength is in the World and beyond it euery way infinite God is Almighty this attribute is prefixed before other Articles in the beginning of the Creed for in whō wil any beleeue but one able and potent least his confidence deceiue him Might then maketh way to all beleefe and beleefe to all performances for Faith ouercommeth the world saith S. Iohn He is called the Lord of Hosts 1. Iohn 5.4 all power being his army Let men muster plot and labour neuer so much this power commandeth them and theirs the strength of this huge World is to him but as an arrow in the hand of a Gyant aimed and shot forth by his owne direction The spirituall powers are to minister and serue in their stations ready to attend and execute his precepts And if one Angell made such a slaughter in Senacheribs army in one night what was the power of him that sent him Diuine strength as it animateth faith so is it the ground of all religion Men are made to reuerence it and the end of all actions is to acknowledge and nothing is more distasted by the Almighty God then to see arrogant presumption or negligent obseruance admire strength any other way Weake creatures liue by it and the name of a creature hath it ingrauen as the proper stampe To vse the Prophets words shall the strong man glory in his strength or the wise man in his wisdome or the rich man in his wealth or any man in any thing seeing the earth is weake and the inhabitants therein hee beareth vp the Pillars of it Is any good expected Hope for it hence Is any enioyed Giue glory to the founder all is receiued from this fulnes Psalme 68. ver 34. Ascribe yee strength vnto God his excellencie is ouer Issrael and his strength is the Clouds Euery good thing is but a gift and giuing can onely make it prosper greatest hopes doe sometimes breake in the middest because the receiuers of fruit respect not the Tree whence they fall They looke at their owne beginnings and at their owne ends and their courses in the proceeding attend their owne desires And though this strength might say vnto the foole deale not so madly and to the vngodly set not vp your horne though promotion come neither from the East nor the West nor from the South a dull desire cannot look so high as heauen neither acknowledgeth any ruler but one who leadeth by common sense Hee will sleepe at a Sermon that can wake at the discourse of a commodity or a mishap can keepe from sleeping And sleight the strict aduise of Scripture when the words of a great man in politique respect make him double diligent Generally inbusinesse of moment though liuing being and moouing be from God who will not more cheerefully rely vpon friends and strong helpers then on Gods furtherance and promised assistance By this strength vnlikely matters haue come to passe most vsually great imaginations haue beene dissolued with a blast dying hopes haue beene reuiued from the graue all which proclaime an vnconquered and inscrutable power of the Lord in working not acknowledged by rash censurers but easily discerned by the iudgement of truth Euen when vngodlinesse is grownelofty it either falleth of it selfe or by the push of a like aduersary is cast vnder foot all strength we see wearing out and this force of Diuine power breaking downe the gate that will not open that howsoeuer the beginnings goe at last the stronger man will ouercome From hence let euery prosuming enemie bee danted though fortified in his wickednes Let euery wearied seruant be encouraged to passe euen through the valley of the shaddow of death and feare no euill Iob had complained and his vncomfortable friends made him sometimes bitter at last the Lord did challenge him to answere and cald him hither Iob 38.4 Where wast thou when I layd the foundations of the Earth when I shut vp the Sea with doores Hast thou commanded the morning since thy daies and caused the day spring to know his place Nabuchodonosor in the height of his arrogance boasted of his great Palace and building but for his labour had an ill reward he was made fellow with the beasts of the field Dan. 4.25 Till he knew the most High ruled in the Kingdome of men and gaue it to whom he would S. Peter seeing Christ vnder the burthen of our sinnes laying a side his honour and ready to be apprehended went out of the way to helpe him and wounded one of the high Priests seruants
your fond deuises so to reape the fruite of your owne folly In the handling of these words I meane not to stand so much vpon possession of the body and of Christ the deliuerer but that the subiect may something sute with the eminence of this place and the full scope and latitude of the words rather shew a recouering of the soule a renewing of the world and a subduing of sinne by the Gospell For the consent of interpreters extend this saying to this as the full and perfect meaning expounding pounding it not merely of a bodily dispossession but of the whole proceeding of Christ in the strength of his Kingdome The words yeeld the same of necessity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all his armour the entering his palace and diuiding his spoiles cannot limit this victory to a bodily deliuerance alone Nos quondam arma eius regnique militiam in â—â—s suum redegit saith S. Hilarie Christ hath taken vs who were once the Deuills armour and force of his Kingdome and brought vs vnder his owne power The whole world is the house of Belzebub so Erasmus And Caluin quicquid corporibus praestitit Christus ad animas referri voluit whatsoeuer Christ performed to the body he would haue the same referd vnto the soule It is plainly showne from the 24. Verse of this Chapter following the Text immediately He compareth the nation of the Iewes to a man possest as the Deuills house S. Mathew maketh it more plaine Christ did driue him out and clensed the house by his Gospell but because they entertained his words with scorne and neglected him the house was empty then commeth the vncleane spirit with seauen worse then himselfe who finding the house emptie swept and garnished he maketh it his habitation and the end thereof is worse then the beginning So dangerous a sinne is Apostacy and so truly did hee threaten that wicked generation being rebels against the truth for what decayed house or miserable ruine of any building can compare with those emptie Iewes that would not acknowledge their Lord And that which Esay the Prophet spake of the soule Cap. 53. verse 4. He tooke our infirmities and bare our sicknesses meaning sinne and the maladies of the mind S. Mathew chap. 8. verse 17. applieth to casting out of Deuills and curing of diseases For both are the worke of one Lord for one and the same end to make vs acknowledge him the onely redeemer As the battering of the walls of a Citty is but a preparatiue to handy strokes and the ouerthrow of the dwellers so the casting out of Satan from the body the case and outside of the soule is a signe of sauing power that cureth both soule and body and will expell the enemie from all his vsurped places Dauid reasoned from one good turne to another 1. Samuel 17.36 Thy seruant slue both the Lyon and the Beare and this vncircumcised Philistim shall be as one of them seeing he hath defied the armies of the liuing God Moreouer the Lord that deliuered me from the paw of the Lyon and the beare he will deliuer me out of the hand of this Philistim in like manner these words of Christ take occasion from the miracle to expresse his Soueraigne might in redeeming from the paw of hell and destruction Let vs therefore take the whole world for a haunted house We find it so Iob 1.7 I come saith he from going to and fro in the earth and from walking vp and downe in it The greatest strength of it his weapons and munition the greatest wit and policy of it if it be foolishnesse with God as the Apostle calls it it cannot but sauour of the wisdome of this Serpent 1. Cor. 3. If these places be the prime of our microcosme the head and glory of all our Iland they cannot but be assaulted And if the cry of vices be not vntrue the walking of some dangerous spirit may raise vp our suspition and complaint Whose puisance to shew whose dealing to discouer and to vncase his villanie that lurketh in our presence as in it selfe is profitable so more auailable when the power of heauen is showne that ouerthrowes it In the seeing of both we may doe as the world vsually doth take part with the stronger side To one we mustioyne no staying in the middest Christ saith so in the last of these verses He that is not with me is against me That God is strongger and his quarrell safer the beginning speaketh euidently Christ entreth into the strong mans Palace Ouercommeth him taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted and deuideth his spoiles I find then in this Text that which either is exprest or implyed in euery Sermon a Doctrine and a Vse the strength of our Sauiour affirmed and our obedient seruice enforced In the first of these a power of vsurpation and a power of iurisdiction In the vsurped power we find two parts the strong mans industry He is armed and keepeth his Palace and his security his goods are in peace The lawfull power hath two parts Christs victory But when a stronger then he shall come vppon him and ouercome him and his gaine he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted and deuideth his spoiles The next Verse is a reproofe of vnprofitable seruants which make no vse of this benefit Hee openeth in them two things a base negligence and a vaine confidence First the negligent stander by that is neither hot nor cold is cast out as distasted by his palate he that is not with me is against me Secondly his vaine hope Let him heape and build and frame his workes together all is to be blowne away with the breath of Gods displeasure hee that gathereth not with me scattereth Of these parts in order His industry when a strong man armed keepeth his Palace The beginning hauing dwelt longer vpon the sence of the words to free them from obscurity each part may be past ouer with better expedition These first words note vnto vs the power of our enemie called the strong Man and his diligence he is armed and keepeth his Palace Hard it is to match with one so well prouided Our Sauiour speaketh of him thus Now is the Prince of this world cast out Iohn 21.31 And to shew we might imagine something aboue the world and the reach of mortall powers because the greatest Potentate is but an arme of flesh he is called the God of the world 2. Cor. 4.4 In whom the God of this world hath blinded the eies of them that beleeue not Hee is called the Prince of the power of the aire Ephes 2.2 Sunt magnapars corum quae in imperijs geruntur fiunt saith Peucer In the busines of Kingdomes they haue a hand and a great stroke Insidiantur atrocius ijs qui ad gubernaculasedent saith the same Authour They assault them most dangerously who sit at the helme of gouernment and he addeth the reason that the disease hauing gotten and possest