rors, I ani diftra&ted: thy fierce wrath goes over me; thy terrors have cut me off," Pfal. Ixxxviii. 15. But,

2. By the great king we may understand the devil in his desperate malice againft the little city: he is called a prince, the prince of the power of the air, [or, of darknefs,] that rules in the hearts of the children of difobedience, Eph. ii. 2. This mighty and malicious prince, in the beginning of the world, came against the little city of mankind, when there was but few men in it; yea, when there was but one man, and one woman, in the city, in a literal fenfe; and he befieged it, and builtgreat bulwarks of flattering falfhoods, and lying temptations against it; and conquered the city, and deftroyed it; as you read, Gen. iii. concerning the fin and fall of our firft parents, through the powerful fubtilty of the ferpent: and he continues ftill to befiege and def troy finners by his malice and fubtilty, force, and fraud; and efpecially he raifes great bulwarks against the little city.

What bulwarks? Why, even his manifold temptations, devices, and fiery darts; "We are not ignorant of his devices," 2 Cor. ii. 11. We are called to take, above all things, the fhield of faith, that we may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; for, We wrefle not againft flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers," Eph. vi. 12. 16. The devil attacks the city both by high bulwarks and deep mines; we read of the depths of Satan, Rev. ii. 24. and being the prince of this world; for fo he is called, John xii. 31. and elfewhere. He has thoufands of wicked inftruments by which he batters and befieges the little city. He has a deceitful party for him within, as well as without the little city; within the church, as well as without it: within the church visible, he has his treacherous Judafes, to betray the city into his hand, and to betray the intereft of the city, and the liberties and privileges thereof. We read of the devil's armour, Luke xi. 22. where he is called the ftrong man armed, keeping his palace; but when a stronger than he, comes upon him, and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armour. And what that armour is, we may partly know, from 2 Cor. iv. 4.

"The

"The god of this world blinds the minds of them that believe not," hellifh darkness excluding and oppofing gofpel-light the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of error, and the darkness of delufion. This is a great part of the devil's armour, together with high imaginations, carnal reafonings, pride, prejudices, and exalting thoughts, mentioned, 2 Cor. x. 5. These are part of his armour and his great bulwarks.

3. By the great king we may underftand fin; fin is the great king that reigns in, and over us naturally; therefore fays the apoftle, Rom. vi. 12. "Let not fin reign in your mortal bodies." Sin and Satan are always confederates together; and their power is very great, in fo much, that all men are fubject to the rule and government thereof; and as all the children of men are flavés unto fin, as their king; fo all the children of God, in this world, are many times captives to it; "I fee another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of fin that is in my members," Rom. vii. 3. The power and authority of fin is called a law, even the law of fin and death, which nothing can free us from, but the law of the Spirit of life in Chrift Jefus, Rom. viii. 2.

Now, what bulwarks doth this great king build against the little city? Indeed, fin has the strongest bulwarks in the world. It hath felf for a bulwark; and hence, for a man to destroy fin, is to deftroy himfelf in effect, and the best and most useful parts of himself, his right-hand, his right-eye, his members, Col. iii. 5. Mortify therefore your members that are upon the earth. When a man deftroys his lufts, he denies himself. And felf is fo mighty, that it competes with King Jefus, and fights for the throne, even after Chrift has taken poffeffion of the heart." Self-eafe, felf-pleasure, felf-will, felf-wifdom, felf-love, felf-esteem, felf-righteousness, are the bulwarks of fin.. It hath alfo the law for a bulwark; "The ftrength of fin is the law," 1 Cor. xv. 56. The law of fin is ftrengthened by the law of works; the ftrength of fin being a grand part of the curfe of the law of works, in fo much, that no power can deftroy that bulwark, but the power that can give full fatisfaction to the law; hence the ftrong

bulwark of fin is never broken down, till a man has, by faith, clofed with the law-fatisfying righteoufnefs of Chrift. Again,

4. By the great king we may underfland death, the king of terrors, Job xviii. 14. Death is a mighty king that all the finful race of Adam are lawful captives unto; and fuch is the conftant battle that death gives, even to the true-born children of Zion, the little city, that when all other enemies are defeated and destroyed, death is the laft upon the field; "The laft enemy to be deftroyed, is death," I Cor. xv. 26. Now,

What bulwarks does this king build against the little city? There are two great bulwarks it builds; the onebefore, and the other behind it. Before death, there flands the bulwark of terror and fear, because of fin, which is the fting of death; and hence many within the little city, are kept long in bondage thro' fear of death, Heb. ii. 15. The terrors of death fometimes compass them about, and the fears of hell on the back of death. Again, behind death, there is another bulwark, and that is feeming victory. When death gets foul and body separate, and the body made death's prifoner in the grave, where the worms deftroy it, and rottenefs feems to ride in triumph over it: and this is the reafon why it is faid to be the last enemy that shall be destroyed; because it has a feeming victory over the visible part of the believer, till the last trumpet found, and the dead be raised incorruptible, immortal, &c.

III. The next thing was, To speak of the deliverance of the city, and the raifing of the fiege. And here we are led, by the text, to confider, 1. How the Deliverer is defcribed. 2. How the deliverance is effected.

1ft, Confider how the Deliyerer is described; There was found in the city, a poor wife man. And here he is

fet before us, fo as we may confider him,

1. In his humanity, as a Man. Our Lord Jefus Chrift, the glorious Saviour and Deliverer, he was a man; he was prophefied of before, that he fhould be the feed of the woman; the feed of Abraham; and in the fulness of time he was made of a woman; born of a virgin;

The

The Word was made flefb: and he became man, a true man; he went through all the flages of man, conception, childhood, youth, riper age: he was a diftreffed man, A man of forrows, and acquainted with grief. He was a mortal as we are, and actually died as we must; he died a painful, fhameful and ignominious death, which we were commemorating at this occafion.

2. We may confider the Deliverer in his Divinity; as a wife Man. Wifdom dwells not with fallen men; they had all their heads cracked by the fall of Adam, and were become fools, having folly bound up in their nature therefore the man, who is the Deliverer, must be a man that never fell in Adam; a wife man; that is, God as well as man one that, with the nature of man, hath the wisdom of God; yea, and is the Wifdom of God, I Cor. i, 24. It is he that fays, I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence, Prov. viii. 12. And it is of him the Father fays, My Servant fhall deal prudently, Ifa. lii. 13. And it is by his infinite wifdom that he delivered the city; of which more afterwards. He is effentially wife, being Wisdom itself; the God whofe understanding is infinite. He is communicatively wife, having all the treasures. of wisdom and knowledge hid in him, and the Spirit of wisdom to give.

the

་་

3. We may view the Deliverer in his humiliation, as a poor Man; poor in outward refpects: "Ye know grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, that tho' he was rich, yet, for our fakes, he became poor; that we thro' his poverty might be rich," 2 Cor. viii. 9. He had all the riches, and all the fulnefs of the Godhead in him, yet he became poor. Many are poor against their will, but he became poor voluntarily: he became a poor fervant; Though he thought it no robbery to be equal with God, yet he took upon him the form of a fervant;" taking on our nature, not in its beft condition, but the lowest state of our nature. He became poor in his birth, poor in his life, and poor in his death. He was born, not of a queen, but of a mean virgin; born, not in a palace, but in a stable, laid in a manger; "The foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nefts; but the Son of man bad not where to lay his head." He had nothing to pay tribute

withal till he ordered a fifh to bring it. He was miniftered unto, in his life and in his death, by reafon of his real extreme poverty. He was poor as a man, and yet wife as God. The poverty of men, and the wisdom of God met and centered in him.

4. We may confider the Deliverer in his deftination to this work; he was found in the city. He was found of God, who fays, "I have found a Ranfom; I have found David my fervant," Job xiii. 24. Pfal. lxxxix. 20. He was found in the city, among men; and was chofen out of the people, Pfal. lxxxix. 19. He was found in fashion as a man, Phil. ii. 8. He was found willing and chearfully ready to undertake this work of redemption and deliverance, Pfalmı xl. 6. Heb. x. 6. "Lo, I come, I delight to do thy will." He was found able and well qualified for the work, Pfalm lxxxix. 19. “I have laid help upon One that is mighty." And as he had a perfonal fitnefs, being God as well as man, and God-man in one perfon; fo he that found him did also fit him, by the fupereminent unction of the Holy Ghost, Pf. lxxxix.20. "I have found David my fervant, with my holy oil have I anointed him." Thus, "Him hath God the Father. fealed," " for this work, John vi. 27. And this is what Chrift acknowledges of himself, Ifa. Ixi. 1. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath, anointed me, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prifon to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God;" to deliver the city.

2dly, How the deliverance is effected. Here two things are to be a little opened, 1. The matter of his work; He delivered the city. 2. The manner of the deliverance; By bis wisdom.

[1.] In general, the matter of his redemption-work, He delivered the little city, he raifed the fiege. Here we are to view how he manages the work, in oppofition to the great kings, that built great bulwarks against the little city.

1. If we view the fiege as formed by the Great King; that is, the Great God, when the great bulwarks built against the city, are, the broken law of God, curfing the