planting and building; absorbed as we are in our counting-rooms and with our newspapers over the events of the day, busied as we are with speculations and schemes for money-making or for pleasure, oh, how we need to have our attention aroused and fixed upon things unseen and eternal! the fact that the true realm of our life is the one that overbounds and overtops this present; that only a thin door separates us from it and from God's presence which pervades it; that we are but pilgrims with our tents pitched upon these sands of time but for a night before we pass into the realm of the invisible, where is our eternal home. How are we prepared for the change? Not only are we moving rapidly into that unseen realm, but it is also crowding down upon us. Its hidden realities are fast coming to sight. The veil will soon be rent. The Lord is at hand. Soon we must face these mysteries and stand before the Son of man. May God enable us to look not at the things which are seen and temporal, but at the things which are unseen and eternal, and to endure to the end, as seeing Him who is invisible. And so when He shall appear we shall be like Him and appear with Him in glory.

VI.

THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD.

Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.-ST. JOHN xii. 31.

THE Scriptures make frequent mention of a powerful and malignant being, who is the foe of God and man, and the author of the world's evil. Thrice in these last discourses of our Lord he is spoken of as "the prince of this world."

In order to arrive at the meaning of this title we observe, first, that there are two principal words of Scripture rendered "world." The most frequent of these is zóopos, the primary meaning of which is "order." This is one of the characteristic words of St. John's writings, in whose gospel alone it occurs more than seventy times, and who never uses àtov. It refers primarily to this present order of nature,* and secondarily to mankind as developed into social and governmental forms under this world-system. Or, more concretely, it means the human race. It also denotes the present order of things as the seat of

Matt. v. 14; John iii. 16.

*John i. 10.

evil and sin and the source of temptation, as where we are warned to "Love not the world, neither the things of the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world, and the world passeth away and the lust thereof." (1 John ii. 15, 16.)

The second principal word is aláv. This word leaves out of view the primary thought of the other, that of natural order, and of the world of mankind as developed under it. Its primary meaning is "dispensation." It refers to the

course of the world within certain time-boundaries. And hence in the unfolding of God's purposes there are successive æons, or worlds. This world or "age" has its well-defined features and limits. In this view of the "world" the devil is said to be the god of it. (2 Cor. iv. 4.)

But especially and repeatedly is he spoken of by Jesus in this connection as "the prince of this κόσμος.”

Let us now seek to ascertain the meaning of this title. So far as this word represents the evil systems which have grown up under this present order of the world, or the evil, whether physical or moral, which is intrenched in it, we have no difficulty in recognizing the meaning of this title or in confessing to the justice of it. We do not propose, therefore, to dwell upon these features of the

devil's sovereignty, which all acknowledge. Our purpose is rather to inquire whether, in explaining this title, we have any right to empty this word "cosmos" of the main part of its meaning. Has this malign and powerful being, to whom Scripture so often refers, and to whom it gives a variety of names, setting forth differing phases of his evil work, any control of this present created system? Is he in any proper sense the prince of this cosmos?

In the previous pages it has been throughout maintained that the universe is pervaded by living powers, which, if not identical with the forces of nature, are the agents by whom these forces are energized and controlled. There seem to be, however, two orders of these cosmic forces or angelic powers. Or, at least, there are two classes of effects produced by them. There is an ascending series of effects from chaos to order, from the inorganic to the organic, from the inanimate to the animate, from decay to beauty, from death to life, from sin or lawlessness to purity and peace. And there is a descending series from order back to chaos, from embodiment to dissolution, from beauty to mire, from life to death, and from moral order to disorder and frenzy and destruction. Whether there are two hierarchies of these forces,

* 1 John iii. 4, R. V.

the constructive and destructive, a kingdom of forces beneficent and life-giving, and one of evil and death, or whether evil effects are due to the excessive and unrestrained actings of forces good in themselves, we may not determine. Scripture, however, seems to carry the idea, at least on its surface, of two separate kingdoms or hierarchies, the one of light, the other of darkness.

It is affirmed, indeed, that Jesus is now exalted Head over all principalities and powers, ... and every name that is named in heaven or on earth. (Eph. i. 21.) But we read also that He has not yet put down all rule and authority and power. (1 Cor. xv. 24-28.)

Again, it is declared that all angels are "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." (Heb. i. 14.) And yet we are taught that we wrestle for the crown of life against a hierarchy of evil powers, "world rulers of this darkness and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph. vi. 12, R. V.) While, therefore, all the forces of the universe owe allegiance to the Christ, some of them are not yet subdued to Him. And all evil effects, both moral and physical, are ascribed to their agency. They draw a trail of death through all the regions of created life. Every form of vegetable life has its enemy, its parasite or mildew and blight. Every animal is subject to disease