recovery. It was in Christ's personal righteousness alone that the strength of his armour lay. There he differed from all other sons of men, however like them in the feelings, the affections, and the natural constitution of a man. The resistance which he made to the tempter was resisting his wiles and allurements, and that resistance caused the corrupter of man's early innocence to flee from him in despair. This first triumph over Satan broke the spell of his enchantments, and was the first signal of his future and final overthrow. The fall of his kingdom then began, and has continued in various measures, more or less large, according to time and circumstance; but still constant and progressive in every succeeding age. His influence over men's minds and bodies has abated; their reason has regained somewhat of its original tone and authority; and their rescue from his devouring jaws, and their consequent peace and happiness, have, in an obvious sense, been accomplished.

II. The Second prophecy I shall instance as illustrating the subject of my discourse, is that memorable one of Isaiah, which sets forth a still severer struggle than the one we have already noticed. "Who is this," exclaims the wondering Prophet, "that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength ?"

Edom was a tract of country inhabited by the descendants of Esau, and was remarkable for the

wickedness of its people. Malachi says of it, "Edom is the border of wickedness, the people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever." Bozrah was the capital of this wicked country, and was distinguished for its strength, for its rugged approach, and for the difficulty of escaping from it. The Prophet puts them figuratively for the kingdom of darkness, and the palace or abode of the prince of darkness. As if he had said, Who is this that cometh out of the region of death, and from the strong-hold of that roaring lion who goeth about seeking whom he may devour? Who is this that hath triumphed over the powers of darkness, and having forced his way from the dark chambers of the grave, cometh forth as a conqueror, glorious in his apparel, and travelling in the greatness of his strength? And the illustrious person makes answer, "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save."

But "wherefore," rejoins the Prophet, "art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat?" that is, stained and soiled like a vintager's who has been engaged in treading out the juice from the grapes. And the stranger replies, "I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with me."

Now, that this prophecy relates to the Messiah, and that it is an allegorical representation of his triumph over death and hell, is, I think, very manifest. By our blessed Saviour's death, he vanquished the enemy, whom, in his conflict with in the wilderness, he had previously defeated; and by his

resurrection, he burst open the prison doors of the grave, which which was Satan's strong-hold, and set at liberty them that were captive there. To this grand overthrow of the dominion of the powers of darkness the Prophet Hosea alludes, where he says of Christ, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction." That the death of Christ was in the nature of a contest between him and Satan, not only does the whole tenour of the transaction demonstrate, but our blessed Lord's own words assert the same. For when the armed band came into the garden of Gethsemane to seize him, he surrendered himself into their hands with this remarkable speech, "But this is "But this is your hour, and the power of darkness." And he had previously declared, "Now shall the prince of this world be cast out." His death, in all its particulars, shows the intenseness of his sufferings,-the vastness of his struggle. It is natural to suppose, that, in this awful hour, the combined efforts of his invisible antagonists were firmly directed against him. In that fervent prayer which he uttered in the garden, that, if it were possible, this cup might pass from him; in that impassioned cry which he raised upon the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou for

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saken me?" in these and all the other emotions he betrayed, the state of his mind, wound up to agony, is so forcibly depicted, as to convince every reflecting person, that it was not the suffering of his body, it was not the sense of danger or of death,

that moved his righteous soul to such expressions, but that tremendous array of Satan's power and agency, which was now marshalled in its fullest force against him; and which, to face, to combat, and to vanquish, was the great and essential object of all that he was about to undergo. When, therefore, he was in the very act of the all-eventful struggle, and his anointed body hung in dying agonies on the cross, nature drew a vail over the distressful scene, as if to figure out to mankind the dreadful character of the strife; and when his righteous soul was parted from its earthly tenement, and the Lord of glory died, the earth shook to express its horror at the scene, rocks rent to betoken the violence of the conflict, and graves were opened to bid defiance to the vanquished tempter, and announce that his empire was overthrown. Christ's resurrection was

an unequivocal proof of the completeness of his victory, for as the devil's power consisted not only in having subjected all men to the dominion of sin and death, but in destroying the prospect and even natural possibility of a future life, our Lord's rising again declared that this power was at an end; for as the devil could not detain him in the grave, it proved that his power was greater than Satan's, and consequently that he could deliver all mankind as easily as he had delivered himself. This, in fact,

was the main object of the struggle. Christ, to be a redeemer, must first overcome the strong man who held the keys of the grave; and then, having freed himself from captivity, he could lead captivity

captive, and draw all men after him. His resurrection, therefore, was the announcement of his victory, and a full demonstration to the world that he was invested with all power, and could command and control the dead. In this new character, as Conqueror, he stands at the head of a new creation; man, before that event, was sold under sin, and subject to death eternal, whatever that word may import. Hence his disciples are described as following him to a better kingdom, swelling his train of victory, and sharing the fruits of his triumph. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, and I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, and he shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." It is in virtue of his double right,-right, first, by creation and next, by redemption,-that he claims our free, full, and undivided homage. To him, as the great Captain of our salvation, we owe every present comfort and every future hope. He is our refuge from the storms of life, and the friend who is to receive our parting souls. Happy, if, in all these things, we can place in him our whole confidence and trust.

But though our blessed Lord vanquished Satan and his host by his resurrection from the dead, spoiling, as the Apostle says, "principalities and powers, and openly triumphing over them," yet his conquest is not complete, nor will it be till the end of the world. St. Paul intimates this important truth in several parts of his Epistles, and describes the subjection