The Devil a Prince

    THE DEVIL A PRINCE

    "The Prince of this world cometh," &c., Joh 14:30.

    "According to the Prince of the power of the air" Eph 2:2.

    "And they had a King over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit" Re 9:11.

    THE Devil is in these scriptures called a Prince, Prince of darkness, Prince of the power of the air, king of the bottomless pit, &c.

    PARALLELS.

    I. PRINCE is a term that denotes power and sovereignty; Satan hath great power over wicked men, &c. There is also, no doubt, some kind of supremacy or superiority amongst the evil angels; we read of the Prince of Devils, "He casts out Devils by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils." Also some of these wicked angels are called principalities and powers, which signifieth eminency of place, above others. What degrees or order there is amongst Devils is hard to find out, whatever order there is amongst them, yet we know he is the master of mis-rule amongst men, &c.

    II. A King or Prince ruling and reigning imports a kingdom. For what is a king without a kingdom and dominions over which he reigns? The devil hath a kingdom. There is a twofold spiritual kingdom spoken of, viz., the kingdom of light, and the kingdom of darkness, called sometimes the kingdom and power of darkness. 1. His kingdom is in the hearts of the ungodly men, he rules and reigns there. 2. His kingdom takes in all the confines and teritories of antiChrist, and all other false and corrupt, erroneous, and tyrannical states whatsoever, throughout the whole earth, where his power is owned, and his authority subjected to. 3. He is said to be King of the bottomless pit.

    III. The name of some kings puts an awful fear upon men. So the name and power of Satan is such, that it makes many souls to dread and quake at the thoughts of him.

    IV. Some kings have been great tyrants. There is no tyrant in the world, nor ever was, so vile as the Devil. True, some have acted like Devils, they seemed more like Devils than men, as Nero, who caused the bowels of his own mother to be ripped up to see where he lay, &c. See Lion and Dragon.

    V. Some kings are mighty in power, and their dominions very large. Satan is a mighty king, he hath a power that no mere human force can stand against, hence called the strong man armed; none ever seemed a match for him but the Prince of peace. Besides, he rules over all the nations of the ungodly, and by force or fraud enslaves to his hellish sceptre millions of souls; there is no kingdom, or nation, in the whole universe, but he pretends to some right, supremacy, and authority in it; the world is full of his creatures; nay, there are more souls who are his vassals, than the Son of God hath faithful subjects.