mies held us fast bound and enthralled, we might fearlessly, and with the freedom of the children of God, love Him and serve Him during this life, and afterwards go and possess and enjoy Him face to face in the kingdom of the blessed,---in that kingdom closed against us indeed, heretofore, but now thrown open to us by our Divine Saviour.
We were, in fact, all heretofore the slaves of Hell; but what has the Eternal Word, our sovereign Lord, done to free us from that slavery? From being Lord He became a servant. Let us consider what a mercy and what an excessive love this has been; but first let us beg light of Jesus and Mary.
I.
Almighty God is Lord of all that is, or that can be in the world: In Thy power are all things; for Thou hast created all. [Esther 13:9] Who can ever deny God the sovereign dominion over all things, if He be the Creator and Preserver of all? And He hath on His garment and on His thigh written King of kings and Lord of lords. [Apoc. 19:16] Maldonatus explains the words "on his thigh," to mean here, "by His Own very nature;" and the drift of it is, that to the monarchs of earth outward majesty is annexed by gift and favor of the supreme King, that is God; but God Himself is King by His very nature; so that He cannot possibly be otherwise than King and Lord of all.
But this sovereign King, though He bore sway over the Angels in Heaven, and ruled all creatures, yet He did not rule over the hearts of mankind; mankind was groaning under the miserable tyranny of the devil. Yes, before the coming of Jesus Christ this tyrant was lord,
