"If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand." Luke, xi. 18.

It appears, from this text, that the devils have a chief, or a head over them, who is called Satan; and that the other devils are his princes, as Beelzebub is called the prince of the devils. And we read of principalities and powers among the devils, which Christ spoiled by his death, and triumphed over upon the cross.

There is not one hint dropped in the scriptures that the devils ever fall out or disagree; for, as there is no door of hope opened to them, nor any ground to expect any favour from God, there is no place for repenting or relenting; their mind is hardened and shut up under the guilt of the unpardonable sin, and a continual sense of God's wrath; and this fills them with eternal hatred both to God and man.

Their abode is principally in the air, Eph. ii. 2. Their palaces are the hearts of poor sinners, as Christ tells us "When the strong man armed keepeth the palace, his goods are in peace." Many are the ways and means by which the devil cotnrives to keep his possession; and, wonderfully hath he fortified himself in the hearts of the children of men, as appears by the account of the wise man: "There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard," Eccl. ix 14-16. This little city is mount Zion, and it was in the loins of Adam when this great king besieged and took it. The bulwarks of Satan, by which he keeps possession of his strong holds, are

First, Darkness and blindness of mind. "If our gospel he hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them," 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. Hence the kingdom of the beast, or the popish countries, are said to be full of darkness, Rev. xvi. 10. And the reason of this is, because it is full of devils; it is called the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, Rev. xviii. 2.

Secondly, Hatred to the light, and a love to darkness, keeps Satan in the throne of the sinner's affections. A sinner blinded by Satan cannot endure the light of divine revelation; it discovers the follles of his life, the corruptions of his heart, and the vanity of his hopes, and flashes conviction upon his conscience; on which account he hates it, and such an one loves darkness, and is willingly ignorant. And so saith the Saviour, "This is condemnation, that light is come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil; for every one that doth evil hateth the light, nor will he come to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." Nor are any men so self-sufficient in their own esteem, or so lifted up with their knowledge, as those that are given up to blindness of mind, and hardness of heart; witness the boasted infallibility of the pope, of the popish clergy, and of the Jewish pharisees, who said, even to Christ himself," Are we blind also? If ye were blind, saith Jesus, ye should not have sin; but since ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth." Those that are sensible of their blindness and ignorance Christ illuminates; but to those who boast of their light and knowledge, wisdom and prudence, his mysteries are hid; for they love darkness, and he leaves them in that which they love. Such hate God, who is light, and Christ the true light, and the glorious gospel, which is a light to our feet and a lamp to our path, and the ministers of Christ, who are burning and shining lights, and the children of light; and this is their condemnation; and, being in a state of condemnation, Satan keeps possession of their hearts, and reigns in them.

Thirdly, Another bulwark, by which Satan keeps up his empire in the hearts of the children of men, is that of self-righteousness. Every subject of Satan eats his own bread, and wears his own apparel, Isa. iv. 1. Hence the threatening, "And it shall come to pass, in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel," Zeph. i. 8. "There is a generation (says God) that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness," Prov. xxx. 12. And this was the generation that fell, in the days of the Lord's sacrifice, for not being believers in Christ; but it was the bond-children that fell, both by the sword of the Chaldeans and of the Romans; for they were ignorant of God's righteousness, and went about to establish their own righteousness, and so stumbled at that stumbling stone, and Christ became a rock of offence to them. And sure I am that there is nothing under heaven that sounds so disgustful in the ears of a child of God as the boasting and lying of self-righteous souls: "All these things have I kept from my youth up (says one), what lack I yet." "Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou." "Lo, these many years do I serve thee, and never at any time transgressed I thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends:" And, if such come into a profession of religion, being drawn by the novelty of the doctrine, the persuasion of friends, or by the fluency of the preacher, they keep the poor web of their own weaving close about them; and, if at any time common convictions lay hold of them, they will immediately take some of the Saviour's new cloth to patch their own garment with (for they cannot venture upon Christ alone), and so "wear a garment of linen and woolen together'," Deut. xxii. 11; and by this method the rent is made worse. How was the apostolic church pestered with these self-righteous persons! it was these that wanted the law of Moses and circumcision enforced upon the young Gentile disciples; they believed in Jesus, but they were all zealous of the law, not of the gospel. False brethren they are called, and they came in privily to spy out the liberty of the saints, that they might bring them into bondage. Every subject of Satan's kingdom is a self-righteous person, whether in the church or out of it, and will be discovered as such sooner or later. "And, when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having on a wedding garment? and he was speechless. Then said the King to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer, darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth," Matt. xxii. 11-13. This wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ, which God imputes to all believers; and it is no other, as will appear plainly by comparing the following texts together: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God," Rev. xix. 7-9. Now gospel Zion will tell us what this fine linen is; for she triumphs wonderfidly on the day of her espousals. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels," Isa. Ixi. 10. From this best robe the self-righteous Jews are excluded, which was the heaviest judgment that ever fell upon them; for it terminated in the desolation of their cities, and in the utter dispersion of themselves; and so it was predicted: "Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table [or altar] become a snare before them; and let that which should have been for their welfare become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitations be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Add iniquity to their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness," Psal. lxix. 20, 21, &c. And who does the Saviour palm these upon that are not to come into his righteousness? He palms them all upon Satan; nor will he allow them to call themselves Jews: "I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan," Rev. ii. 9.

But that which appears more shocking is, that there are whole churches, so called, even in gospel days, that are destitute of, and utter strangers to, the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ; of which he much complains. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked," Rev. iii. 17. She was wretched, being destitute of grace and truth; she was miserable, being in her sin and under the curse of God; she was poor, being destitute of that faith which lays hold upon the true riches; she was blind, being ignorant of the anointing of the Holy Ghost; and naked, being without the wedding garment.

Fourthly, The next prop of the devil's kingdom is false confidence. Satan influences the mind of the wretched sinner with an infernal persuasion, and a firm confidence in things which are arrant lies; as it is written, "His coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth," 2 Thess. ii. 9-12. Every subject of Satan's kingdom, except a few who are in black despair, are equipped with this diabolical faith; and this was the first seed which the devil sowed in the mind of Eve: "Ye shall not surely die." This was Satan's lie, and she believed it, and made trial. Oh, what a crop hath that seed produced! What a great matter hath that little fire kindled! This false confidence is the deceived sinner's right hand, by which he feeds himself with his own deceivings, and with which he holds fast every lie that Satan begets in his heart; this gives Satan full possession of his soul; nor can he deliver himself from his possessor, nor does he desire it: "He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" Isa. xliv. 20. This is the right hand and the high arm of every idolater, heretic, hypocrite, pharisee, formalist, or heathen, that is, or ever shall be, found in the dominions of Satan. All the ministers in the world could never move nor stagger the confidence of one in such a strong delusion. Thousands of the Israelites fled at the command of Moses, but Corah and Dathan stood their ground; they knew that their cause was good, and their doctrine true; namely that the people were all holy, every one of them.

The Roman centurion smote his breast at the crucifixion of Christ; the disciples wept; Pilot washed his hands from the blood of Christ; and the very dead which slept arose, many which beheld the sight smote their breasts and returned: but not so the scribes and pharisees; they were at a point: they knew that they were doing God service: their confidence could venture the risk both of themselves and their posterity: "Let his blood be on us, and on our children." Discourses from a pulpit, that would make a hundred real believers tremble, would never undeceive one thus given up and strengthened by Satan to believe a lie: you may make him storm, but you will never make him stagger: "A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil; but the fool rageth, and is confident," Prov. xiv. 16. There are none more sure of heaven than such, nor are there any farther from it. It was a proverb among the Jews, that, if but two were saved, the one would be a scribe and the other a pharisee. If this was the common people's opinion, what must be their own? But they were farther from it than publicans and harlots. In their own account they are sure to be first, but in God's account they are always last. "There are last that shall be first, and first last; for many be called, but few chosen." The full assurance of faith in the brightest saint never stands so unmoveable as the false confidence of a hypocrite; for the best of men have been straitened and bound in spirit at times, and sometimes even on their death-bed: but not so this subject of Satan's kingdom; "for there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm," Psalm lxxii. 4. And well may their strength be firm, when the strong man armed keeps the palace. Satan is not divided against himself - all his desire of sifting the saints is only to shake, weaken, or blow away the grace of faith; but he exerts all his might in the support of a faith that is of his own begetting. Does the faith of a saint lay hold of a treasure in the heavens, the hypocrite will rise nearly as high in imagination as the saint does in confidence. "The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment; though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds, yet he shall perish for ever," Job, xx. 5, 6. And it is often seen that the confidence of such men lives as long as they do: "His confidence is rooted out of his tabernacle when he comes to the king of terrors;" Job, xvii. 14; but not till then: nor do I believe that this king of terrors is temporal death, for some of them have no bands in that; but the second death, or eternal death, must root up every refuge of lies; for in hell they lift up their eyes, and, being in torment, they are obliged to cast away their confidence.

Fifthly, Another bond of iniquity, that binds the subject of Satan to his sovereign, is carnal security or false peace; for, so sure as the saints keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, so sure does Satan hold his subjects to himself in the cords of their sins, and in a peaceable conscience; and to this agrees the Saviour: "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils," Luke, xi. 21, 22 Here we may see that Satan uses all the armour and artillery that he is master of in keeping his possession of the sinner; and he maintains his hold by keeping his conscience in a false peace: which peace consists of hardness of heart; he is past feeling; in blindness of mind, he sees not his danger; and in composing the soul with a benumbing stupidity, which keeps it insensible; so that, as the prophet says, "they are cast into a deep sleep, they lie down and love to slumber," Isa. lv. 10. These are either at ease in Zion, or at ease in the world: they are never emptied from vessel to vessel, they settle on their lees; they are not in any trouble as others, nor are they plagued like other men. This is the devil's state-bed; and Satan has got more to guard it, and to keep him in quiet possession of it, than ever Solomon had in all his glory: every ambassador from the infernal regions is sent with the same cry to the sinner's ears as that which the devil maintains in the sinher's heart. If any judgment, sudden fear, or unexpected calamity come on, so as to arouse the sinner but in the least degree, these ambassadors are called in: as it is written, "Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace: and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him," Micah, iii. 5. Ahab was a great admirer of these good tidings. The devil had taught all his four hundred and fifty prophets to send Ahab to Ramorb Gilead in the possession of this peace. Only one prophet belonging to another master stood out; but they prepared war against him, and God prepared war against Ahab and them too. These ambassadors are generally called builders up, and they certainly are great supports to the devil's kingdom, and labour hard to stop up every breach that Christ makes in it; and of this God complains: "For every one from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace," Jer. viii. 10, 11. These are Satan's messengers and Jezebel's rockers. He sent four hundred and fifty to that daughter of his, and she kept them at her own expense. Many remedies also, as well as messengers, are made use of to keep conscience composed and Satan in quiet; such as kerchiefs and pillows, Ezek. xiii. 18; untempered mortar, and daubing with it, Ezekiel, xiii. 10; biting and stamping; waging war with every one that sounds an alarm, or cries fire-forms of prayer, and daily and hourly tasks; the sacrament at a dying hour; salt fish in Lent; and innocent amusements, cards and plays; concerts of sacred music and holy water; extreme unction, human absolution, and ecclesiastical authority; fastings and pilgrimage, All these, and the power of the strong man too, are little enough to keep Satan's courts in peace.

The sixth pillar of Satan's kingdom is a false hope. There are no hypocrites in the world, except those few in black despair, but what are buoyed up with a false hope; which hope centres in the flesh, and is founded on human performances; and as a man abounds in dead works, so he abounds in hope; and, when he obtains a vain supposition that he exceeds all others in human merit, this raises him to the full assurance of hope; and they, in their expectation of the great reward, exceed in firmness one half of the children of God; nor is their hope clogged with those doubts and fears which are often raised about the state of those endowed with a good hope through grace; for, although Satan often suggests to such that they are hypocrites, and that their faith and hope are vain, yet he never preaches this doctrine to those to whom alone it is applicable, for he is not divided against himself; if he was, how should his kingdom stand? Established in this false hope, and equipped with this expectation, many will approach even the gate of life, and that with boldness: "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able," Luke, xiii. 24. The foolish virgins had no other anchor than this when they cried, "Lord, Lord, open to us." If ever such hypocrites have any doubts or fears about them, it is when the clamours of conscience, through the judgments of God, sound too loud to be drowned by the cry of, Peace, peace; but even then, when the alarm is past, they appear the more steadfast. A false hope is the cockatrice egg, and human merit is the spider's web, Isa. lix. 5. But, when the wrath of God enters the conscience, the egg will be crushed, and then out comes the viper, the curse of God will break the egg, and the flames of hell will consume the web. "The hypocrite's hope shall perish; whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web," Job, viii. 14.

The seventh bulwark, by which the devil supports his empire in the heart, is human wisdom. Satan has no fools in his kingdom, though God hath few else in his. "We are fools for Christ's sake," says Paul; yea, and all must become fools before they are made wise, and fools afterwards too, for they know nothing of themselves. But not so the subjects of Satan, "for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light," Luke, xvi. 8. There are no more than two succeeding generations - the children of God, and the children of the devil; so that it is in the generation of vipers that this wisdom lies. All the followers of Christ which he had blessed, fell under the sentence of these wise men among the Jews: "This people that know not the law are cursed. Thou wast altogether born in sin, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out." These wise ones can tell you the origin of the world better than he who made it, if you can believe them; they will give you a description of the eternity of matter, though they will not allow him to be eternal that made the world, John, i. 3. They have found out that every star is a habitable world, and they have multiplied heavens as fast as the papists have multiplied mediators, which never had any existence but in their brains; they have given to the globe of the earth such velocity of motion as all the weights and machinery in the world could never give to a wheel, nor all the nitre upon earth give to a shot; they have ascribed such intelligence and influence to the planets, that they can tell you at Christmas when it will rain and when it will shine all the year round; nay, more, they will cast your nativity by them, and read your fate or destiny, so that you may know your end from the beginning without going to the gipsies; so profound in knowledge are these whose "wisdom is earthly, sensual, and devilish."

And, if Satan sows a crop of these tares among the Lord's wheat, in order to answer some future purpose, their wisdom is still retained; they are no less than the children of the wicked one, though they are mixed among the children of the kingdom. They may be known by their noise, for they are swift to speak and slow to hear, James, i. 19; by their station also, for there is none of this sort that are servants of all, or servants of any; they are all masters, that they may receive the greater condemnation, James, iii. 1. This sort must not be sought for in the lower room, but in the highest seat. Satan sends no understrappers, such as helps or fellow-helpers to the truth; those that he sent into the church in Paul's days were all apostles, 2 Cor. xi. 13; Rev. ii. 2. They are like Pharaoh's statesmen, the sons of the wise, the sons of ancient kings, Isaiah, xix. 11; and true enough, for we know of no kings upon earth so ancient as devils. A subject of Christ's kingdom must compare himself with the scriptures, and he that doth so finds himself foolish enough; but Satan's subjects compare themselves with themselves, and Paul says they are not wise: but I say they are "wiser than seven men that can render a reason."

Eighthly, The highest state of majesty in Satan's empire is pride, it was this that lifted him up to his present dignity: "Not a novice," says Paul, "lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil," 1 Tim. iii. 6. When a spark of this exalting light shines into the head of one of these wise subjects, what wonders do they discover! Not all the saints upon earth can esteem others so much better than themselves, as these esteem themselves better than others. The hardest task that you can impose upon such men, is to set them down at the foot of another to be taught; nor doth any thing exercise their patience more, than to keep silence while another speaks, they are to be known by "a multitude of words."

They take after their father for assiduity; they go to and fro in the earth, and walk up and down in it; and wherever the sons of God assemble some of these are sure to present themselves before the Lord; not to get instruction, for that is not possible; they go rather to correct mistakes and to try the spirits. Those that follow the Saviour only set him to rights when they thought he was wrong: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" "This is a hard saying, who can hear it?" "Thou bearest record of thyself, thy record is not true." "He is mad, why hear ye him?" And if any wonderful display of supernatural power appeared, they ascribed the glory to none but their own father: "He doth it by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." Agur was never half so brutish in his own eyes as these are angelic in theirs. The everlasting gospel is called foolishness, and omni-potence is termed weakness by them; but "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men," 1 Cor. i. 25. The scorner's chair is the highest bench in Satan's kingdom; he that mounts that seat is upon the pinnacle, above the ground, and above all about him, and of course nearest to him that is the prince of the power of the air.