like strong active bodies, that appear to be all nerves and sinews, and full of spirits in every part at the same time they were so well commanded, and so prompt in obeying the orders of their leaders, that the whole body seemed to have been actuated by one soul."

Luxury, therefore, had the effect of enervating the soldier of Persia. Once rugged in nature, and invincible in courage, he became shorn of his glory by an excess of indulgence. And is it not so among the ranks of the soldiers of the cross? Where is now the mighty strivings for the faith of the gospel, as in days of old? Where that holy boldness in the confession of Christ crucified? One goes to the feast of the merry-hearted, and another to the scene of amusement, and thus Christian watchfulness and Christian duties are forgotten. Soldiers of the cross, who strive to cleave unto his banners, the exhortation which the apostle addresses to you is fraught with meaning "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints," Eph. vi. 10-18. Being thus armed at all points, and rendered invincible, let your watchword be that which was adopted by good old Polycarp of old, "Christ, none but

Christ!"

THE PRIESTLY POWER.

It has been seen in the corresponding sections of the histories of the Assyrians and Medes, that under the magi, as their priests were called, a species of the Sabian superstition prevailed. The sun, moon, and planets received divine worship, while the more ancient belief in the one supreme God was not wholly effaced from the minds of their votaries. When the Persians triumphed, this priestly caste lost much of its influence, and seems to have been regarded as hostile to the new dynasty. Hence, wherever the Persian monarchs established their sway, they became bitter persecutors of the priests. They laid a heavy hand upon the sacerdotal caste in Egypt, and the Chaldeans in Babylon. Cyrus adopted this policy, and effected great religious changes in the systems of the magi. To what extent, however, these changes were carried in his day is unknown; but it is certain that the revolution was completed by Zoroaster, whose system is the most perfect devised by unassisted human reason. His system has been well de

"Robed in purest white,

The magi ranged before the' unfolded tent.

Fire blazed beside them. Towards the sacred flame
They turned, and sent their tuneful praise to heaven.
From Zoroaster was the song derived,

Who on the hills of Persia, from his cave
By flowers environed, and melodious founts,
Which sooth'd the solemn mansion, had revealed
How Horomazes, radiant source of good,
Original, immortal, framed the globe

In fruitfulness and beauty: how with stars
By him the heavens were spangled: how the sun
Refulgent Mithra, purest spring of light
And genial warmth, whence teeming nature smiles,
Burst from the east at his creating voice;
When straight beyond the golden verge of day,
Night showed the horrors of her distant reign,
Where black and hateful Arimanius frowned,
The author foul of evil: how with shades
From his dire mansion he deformed the works
Of Horomazes; turn'd to noxious heat
The solar beam, that foodful earth might parch;
That streams, exhaling, might forsake their beds,
Whence pestilence and famine: how the power
Of Horomazes in the human breast
Benevolence and equity infused,

Truth, temperance, and wisdom, sprang from heaven:
When Arimanius blacken'd all the soul
With falsehood and injustice, with desires
Insatiable, with violence and rage,
Malignity and folly. If the hand

Of Horomazes on precarious life

Sheds wealth and pleasure, swift the' infernal god,
With wild excess or avarice, blasts the joy.
Thou, Horomazes, victory dost give.

By thee with fame the regal head is crown'd.
Great Xerxes owns thy succour.
When in storms
The hate of direful Arimanius swell'd
The Hellespont, thou o'er its chafing breast
The destined master of the world didst lead,
This day his promised glories to enjoy:
When Greece affrighted to his arm shall bend;
E'en as at last shall Arimanius fall
Before thy might, and evil be no more."-GLOVER.

The

The following extract from the pen of Sir John Malcolm exhibits the principles of Zoroaster's religion, also, in a very lucid manner. "God, he taught, existed from all eternity, and was like infinity of time and space. There were, he averred, two principles in the universe, good and evil: the one was named Hormuzd, which denoted the presiding agent of all that was good; and the other Ahrimán, the lord of evil. Each of these had the power of creation, but that power was exercised with opposite designs; and it was from their co-action that an admixture of good and evil was found in every created thing. angels of Hormuzd, or the good principle, sought to preserve the elements, the seasons, and the human race, which the infernal agents of Ahrimán desired to destroy; but the source of good alone, the great Hormuzd, was eternal, and must therefore ultimately prevail. Light was the type of the good, darkness of the evil spirit; and God had said unto Zoroaster, My light is concealed under all that shines.' Hence the disciple of that prophet, when he performs his devotions in a temple, turns towards the sacred fire that burns upon its altar; and when in the open air towards the sun, as the noblest of all lights, and that by which God sheds his divine influence over the whole earth, and perpetuates the work of his creation."

6

The precise era of Zoroaster is unknown, in which respect he resembles Bouddha, the author

of the system of Lamaism, concerning whose existence and time of appearance much learned controversy has taken place to no purpose. The Greeks have made no less than six Zoroasters, and placed them in different ages of the world. The Sadder, which is a compend of the sacred books of the Persian priests, contains the genealogy of Zoroaster. It states that Zeratush, or Zoroaster, was the son of Purthasp, who was the son of Piterasp, the son of Hitcherasp, the son of Thechshunesch, the son of Espintaman. Hence the Parsees in Surat and Bombay, from his being called the son of Espintaman, mistook him for his immediate ancestor, whereas he was his remote parent. In the chronicle of the Persian kings, which professes to be an abridgment of Ferdusi's work, denominated the Shah Nameh, Zoroaster is represented as living in the reign of Gushtasp, or Darius Hystaspes. Dr. Hyde fixes his existence at the time of Ezra the scribe; and Prideaux considers him as contemporaneous with, and a disciple of Daniel the prophet. Both these authorities are agreed that he must have borrowed several of his doctrines from one or other of these eminent Jews. That some of his doctrines resemble those inculcated among the Jews none can deny. So striking are they, indeed, that the resemblance sufficiently refutes his claims to a Divine commission, and prove him to have been an impostor. It is true that many learned men adduce this circumstance in his favour, and borrow their argument for the sincerity of his pretensions from it, as well as from his acquaintance with Daniel and Ezra. But this would make the matter worse. If he was instructed by them in the true faith, of which they were the acknowledged teachers, he ought to have been grateful for being thus, in Providence, brought out of darkness into marvellous light, and to the knowledge of the method of recovery to fallen man, graciously, though not yet fully revealed to mankind. But instead of this, he set himself to form a new code of faith, or to mend the old one, without any reference to his Jewish instructors, or recommending their faith to his countrymen. He even went farther than the Hebrew law giver. Moses professed to teach the Jews divine knowledge only; Zoroaster pretended that his book contained every thing necessary for the Persians to know, whether in religion or politics, literature or science, morality or physics. That the work was not of God is proved by its being brought to nought; nothing is now preserved of that "prophet's" works but what has been merely remembered, and handed down by oral tradition.

It is remarkable, that the ancient Persians, like the Hindoos, never produced a single native historian, philosopher, or poet..

The knowledge and skill of the Persian magi in religious matters, (which made Plato define magic, or the learning of the magi, the art of worshipping the gods in a becoming manner,) gave them great authority, both with the prince and people. They could not offer sacrifices without their presence and ministration. It was even requisite that the king, before he came to the crown, should be instructed by them; nor could he determine any important affair of the state, when he was upon the throne, without first consulting them. Hence it was, that Pliny asserts, that even in his time they were looked upon as the masters of princes, and of those who arrogated to themselves the title of "king of kings." They were, indeed, the sages, philosophers, and men of learning in Persia, as the druids were in Gaul, and the bramins amongst the Indians. Their reputation for learning attracted many from the most distant countries to be instructed by them, in philosophy and religion; and we are told that it was from them, that Pythagoras borrowed the principles of that doctrine by which he acquired so much veneration among the Greeks, excepting the tenet of transmigration, which he learned of the Egyptians, and by which he corrupted the ancient doctrine of the magi, concerning the immortality of the soul.

According to Herodotus, the Persians adored the sun, and particularly when it first appeared in the morning, with the profoundest veneration. To that bright orb, they dedicated a magnificent chariot, with white horses of great beauty and value, their swiftness being thought to render them an appropriate offering to that luminary. They are supposed to have worshipped the sun under the name of Mithra, the primitive cave worship of which god is thus described by Mau

"Where the dark cliffs of rugged Taurus rise, From age to age by blasting lightnings torn, In glory bursting from the illumined skies, Fair Science poured her first auspicious morn.

The hoary Parthian seers, who watched by night
The eternal fire in Mithra's mystic cave,
(Emblem sublime of that PRIMEVAL LIGHT
Which to yon starry orbs their lustre gave,)

Exulting saw its gradual splendours break,
And swept symphonious all their warbling lyres;
Mid Scythia's frozen glooms THE MUSES wake,
While happier India glows with all their fires."

Both Herodotus and Strabo say that the Persians sacrificed horses to the sun, a circumstance to which Ovid alludes thus:

"The horse, renowned for speed, the Persians slay,
A welcome victim to the god of day.

It has been supposed, that in a more remote period, some eminent hero, or public benefactor, whose name was Mithras, had, after his death, been deified; because in certain ancient Persian monuments Mithras is represented as a mighty hunter, armed with a sword, having a tiara on his head, and riding a bull. It is possible that the Persians conceived the soul of this hero to be resident in the sun, and that they afterwards transferred their worship to the sun itself, under his name. The worship of fire was the natural consequence of the adoration which the Persians paid to the sun. Herodotus says, that they paid particular veneration to that element, and Xenophon asserts that they always invoked it first at their sacrifices; that they carried it with great respect before the king in his expeditions; and that they entrusted the preservation of their sacred fire, which, as they pretended, came down from heaven, to none but the magi. The ancient Persians, indeed, dared not by their religion extinguish fire with water; but endeavoured to smother it with earth, stones, or anything similar; a superstition which still influences the parsees of Guzerat. The loss of their sacred fire would have been deemed a national calamity. Hence we are informed that the emperor Heraclius, when he was at war with the Persians, having demolished several of their temples, and particularly the chapel in which the sacred fire had been preserved until that time, it occasioned great mourning and lamentation throughout the whole country.

It has been alleged that the Persians did not worship the sun or fire absolutely, but only worshipped God, as far as they knew him, before these, the most glorious visible symbols of his energies and perfections. This may have been the original doctrine of Zoroaster. He might have considered them merely as representatives of Omnipotence, and the Fountain of light. But the idea seems to have been too refined for the gross capacities of the vulgar, who, without regard to the great invisible Prototype, turned all their thoughts to the adoration of these ostensible deities. This cannot be denied. Misled by the symbols, the mass of the people forgot altogether "the God that is above," or remembered him but faintly, while the sun and fire usurped his place

in their affections.

Sacred fire was not peculiar to the Persian magi. It was kept perpetually burning on the altar before the tabernacle in the wilderness, and the temple at Jerusalem; and was never to go out, Lev. vi. 13. It was kindled from heaven in the times of Aaron, Lev. ix. 24; of David, 1 Chron. xxi. 26; of Solomon, 2 Chron. vii. 1; and was not to be rekindled with strange fire, nor any other to be used in sacrifices under penalty of death, Lev. x. 1, 2. It appears evident, indeed,

that the ancient reformer of the Persian religion borrowed his idea of sacred fire from that which burned on the altar of Jehovah. Nothing is more likely, and hence we trace many similar usages practised by the Hebrew priests and the magi, with reference to the sacred fire. The altar of Jehovah, in its removals, was to be covered with a purple cloth, and the ashes taken out. It was supplied with fire again from another altar kept constantly burning for that purpose. When it was rekindled, the rabbins inform us that great care was taken that no wood but that which was

reputed clean should be employed for fuel; and it was all carefully barked and examined before it was used. The fire, also, was never to be blown upon, either with bellows, or the breath of man. The regulations of Zoroaster were similar to these. He strictly enjoined that the fire which he pretended to have brought from heaven should be carefully kept up, that barked wood only should be used for fuel, and that it should be revived only by the blasts of the open air, or by oil being poured upon it. It was death, in Persia, to cast upon it any unclean thing, or to blow it with the bellows or the breath, by which it would be polluted. For this reason, the priests themselves, although they watched the fire day and night, never approached it but with a cloth over their mouths, that their breath might not mingle with the fire. This they did, not only when they approached it to replenish it with fuel, or to do any other service about it, but also when they pronounced their forms of prayer before it, and which, therefore, they mumbled rather than spoke. The same forms are observed among the modern parsees of India, who believe that it was ultimately conveyed to that country, and, consequently that they still possess the fire which Zoroaster brought from heaven. Among the Persians, this sacred fire was to be rekindled only from the sun, or with a flint, or from some other sacred fire, which is further analogous to the usages of the Hebrews.

In more modern days, a sacred fire was adopted by many other nations. The Greeks had a perpetual fire at Delphos and other places. The Romans one also in the temple of the goddess Vesta, whose worship amongst them consisted chiefly in the preservation of the fire which was consecrated to her. The ancient Gauls, also, in the deep recesses of their forests and groves, which were their temples, had a sacred fire continually burning on their altars, and which they regarded with great veneration. At the present day, the Hindoos, although they are not worshippers of fire, are careful about the origin of that which they use for sacred purposes.

One fearful consequence arising from the worship of fire was, the cruel ceremony of making children pass through it, amid the sounding of drums and tabrets.

"Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood Of human sacrifice and parent's tears; Though, from the noise of drums and timbrels loud, The children's cries unheard that passed through fire To his grim idol.”—MILTON.

There is an allusion to this fearful practice, 2 Kings xvii. 31, where the sacred historian, enumerating the different gods of the people of Mesopotamia, who were sent as a colony into the

country of the Samaritans, says of the Sepharvites,* that they burned their children in fire to Addrammelech and Anammelech,† the gods of Sepharvaim, and which answers to Moloch or Molech, "the king." See also Lev. xviii. 21; xx. 2; 1 Kings xi. 7: Amos v. 26; Acts vii. 43. It is well known that this barbarous custom became prevalent in many provinces of Asia. According to Herodotus, the Persians erected neither statues, nor temples, nor altars to their gods, but offered their sacrifices in the open air, and generally on the tops of hills, or on high places. It is from this circumstance that many argue they were not idolaters. But this is vague reasoning. It is no matter whether man makes an image of something visible with his own hands, and calls it a resemblance of God, and worships it accordingly; or supposing something visible in the material universe to be a similitude of God, as the sun, fire, or water, he adores that symbol, though he does not make a visible representation of it. It is no matter whether it be fabricated by his own hands, or whether, being made by God himself, he adopts it for his god. It is still a supposed similitude of the Almighty, still a material, not a spiritual worship, still the thing made, not the Maker, still the creature of the Creator's skill and power, not the Creator himself. And this is comprehended in the second commandment, wherein any image, or any likeness of any thing, whether in the visible heavens, or in the earth, or in the waters under the earth, is strictly forbidden to be made. The worshipping of such was prohibited under the most terrible sanctions. And why? The Hebrew lawgiver gives the reason: "For ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire," Deut. iv. 15. "Ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice," ver. 12. See also Isa. xl. 18. The worship of the sun is declared by the prophet Ezekiel to be a greater abomination than even that of the worship of fire. In that prophet's vision of the chambers of imagery, he was first shown the symbols of Egyptian idolatry, which was declared to be a great abomination. Next he beheld the Phenician idolatry, in women weeping for Tammuz,

"Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a summer's day:
While smooth Adonis, from his native rock,
Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
Of Thammuz, yearly wounded."-MILTON.

This is declared to be a still greater abomination than the preceding one. After this, says the prophet," He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the

Calmet thinks that these are the Saspires mentioned by Herodotus, as dwelling between Armenia and Colchis,

and who, according to Major Rennell, would have occupied Eastern Armenia in modern geography. The name is probably to be sought in that of Siphara, a city on the Euphrates, above Babylon, at that part where the river makes the nearest approach to Assyria Proper.

These two names seem to denote the same idol; the prefixed words being merely epithets of honour and distinction. Cudworth and others think that the two names refer to the same idol, and the original Hebrew denotes but one god.

altar, were about five-and-twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them," Ezek. viii. 16-18. This, therefore, is declared to be the greatest of all abominations. And what is the reason? The apostle Paul replies: "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened," Rom. i. 20, 21.

Among the magi, water, as well as fire, was also looked upon as a sacred element, and as a symbol of the Divine purity; and, consequently, not to be defiled. For this reason, wherever they were, they caused the waters to be watched, that no unclean thing might be thrown into them. They held, indeed, that whoever wilfully polluted fire or water, deserved death in this world, and punishment in that which is to come.

That the monarchs of Persia claimed divine honours is abundantly testified by various inscriptions. One at Naksh-i-Rustam reads thus: "This is the face, or resemblance, of the worshipper of Ormuzd, the god Schapoor, king of the kings of Airan and Anairan, (Persia and Tartary,) of the race of the gods, son of the servant of Ormuzd, the divine Artaxeres, king of the kings of Airan, of the race of the gods, grandson of the divine Papek, the king.' Another at Tackt-i-Bostan is thus transcribed: "This is the image of the adorer of Ormuzd, the most excellent Schapoor, king of kings of Airan and Anairan, descended from the divine race, and grandson of the excellent Narschi, king of kings." The same fact is proved also by the legends on the Sassanian coins, as explained by Du Sacy.

On one of these coins, the head and shoulders of a man are seen rising from the midst of a flame on the altar. This is supposed to express and exemplify that fire is the light, and that light is God. Such was one of the religious tenets of the magi. Besides this, they held the doctrine of seven intelligences, by whom God unfolded his will to mankind. The first of these intelligences presided over man, the second over animals, the third over the earth, the fourth over water, the fifth over fire, the sixth over plants and vegetables, and the seventh preserved nature from all pollution. Subordinate to these were minor angels, or tutelary demons, to whom it was given to preside over particular months, and even days. These also were worshipped.

It appears that the magi maintained the doctrine of a resurrection, which was most probably borrowed from the Jews. Concerning the place of punishment, they reckoned seven hells, under

the charge of an angel called Vunnund Izid, whose duty it was to decide upon the punishment due to the transgressor, and also to restrain the cruelty of Ahriman. As fire was regarded by them as emblematical of the Divine essence, it was not admitted into their representations of future torment. Hell, they said, was a subterraneous prison, filled with smoke and darkness, where angels in human and inhuman forms tormented the lost souls. Serpents, frogs, and crows, by their perpetual hissing, croaking, and crowing, were said to heighten the punishment.

Another feature in the magian religion was, judicial astrology. This was evidently borrowed from the Chaldeans, among whom it is usually said that this delusive art originated. Cicero says, that the Chaldeans, inhabiting vast plains, where they had a full view of the heavens on every side, were the first who observed the course of the stars, and the first who taught mankind the effects which were thought to be owing to them. Of their observations they made a science, whereby they pretended to be able to foretell to every one what was to befall him, and what fate was ordained him from his birth. From Chaldea this vain science spread into various countries in the east, and even now the existing orientals do not yield to their ancestors in this respect, there being scarcely any circumstance in life concerning which astrologers or astrological tables are not consulted. In some countries, it forms a very prominent feature in the education of their youth. Allusion has been already made to Ormuzd and Ahriman, the good and evil god. These formed a principal part of the worship of the magi. The tenets of Zoroaster concerning them were, that there was one Supreme Being, independent and self-existing from all eternity; that under him there were two angels, Ormuzd and Ahriman, one of whom was the angel of light and the author of good, and the other the angel of darkness and the author of all evil; that these angels were in a perpetual struggle with each other; and that where the angel of light prevails, there good reigns; and that where the angel of darkness prevails, there evil takes place; that this struggle shall continue to the end of the world; that then there shall be a general resurrection and a day of judgment, wherein all shall receive a just retribution according to their works; after which the angel of darkness and his disciples shall go into a world of their own, where they shall suffer in eternal darkness the punishment of their evil deeds; and the angel of light and his disciples shall also go into a world of their own, where they shall receive in everlasting light the reward due unto their good deeds; that after this they shall remain separate for ever, and light and darkness remain unmixed to all eternity.

The reader will perceive how unworthy and unscriptural these notions are concerning God. In them he is said to be the author of both good and evil. The apostle Paul, oppressed by the struggle of the two opposite principles, grace and corruption, the old man and the new man, the law of his members and the law of his mind, exclaimed, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. vii. 24. If, therefore, analogical reasoning may be here admitted, what an infinitely painful

struggle must constantly exist in the Divine mind between light and darkness, good and evil! And yet some pious writers assert that this tenet is derived from Scripture! Alas! they have forgotten that the sacred page describes him as the HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL; as a Being in whom is light, and no darkness at all, 1 John i. 5; as a God, who visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, Exod. xx. 5; as the Lord who "will not at all acquit the wicked," Nah. i. 3; as a Being before whom the seraphim veil their faces with their wings, and continually proclaim, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts," Isa. vi. 2, 3; as a God in whose presence the prophet, self-condemned, exclaimed, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts," Isa. vi. 5; as the Father of lights and spirits, Jas. i. 17; Heb. xii. 9; as One from whom proceedeth every good and perfect gift; as the Lord "glorious in holiness," Exod. xv. 11; as a Being that no mortal can look upon and live, Exod. xxxiii. 20; as "God who is rich in mercy," Eph. ii. 4; as a Being in whose presence none shall stand if he should mark iniquities, Psa. cxxx. 3; as an holy and a jealous God, Josh. xxiv. 19; as a God who has said to the children of men, "Be ye holy; for I am holy," 1 Pet. i. 16; etc. Alas for human intellect! which, having such sublime notions of the Almighty as these represented in the Bible, can yet so far err as to recognize him with the supreme being thus erringly described by Zoroaster! What a blessing is the Bible to mankind! Take this away, and but a few years would pass before our knowledge of the Almighty would be obscured; before mankind universally would fall down at the shrine of some created being in worship; before a mental darkness would usurp the place of the glorious gospel, which "hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," 2 Cor. iv. 6.

а

In the prophecies of Isaiah there is this remarkable verse, which Lowth and others consider has reference to the great principle of the magian religion, which prevailed in Persia in the time of Cyrus.

"I form the light, and create darkness:
I make peace, and create evil :

I the Lord do ail these things."-Isa. xlv. 7.

This remarkable declaration is equally opposed to the doctrine of two co-eternal principles, or two created principles of all good and evil. Jehovah here declares that he is the Almighty Ruler, and that nothing can act in opposition to his will, and that there is no power independent of the one supreme God. In other words, he declares that he is the Author of all that is true, holy, good, and happy; while permitted evil, error, and misery, brought into the world by man's apostasy, are restrained and overruled by him to his righteous purposes. In opposition to the unworthy and unphilosophical notions held by the magi, he challenges it as his prerogative alone to "make peace, and create evil;" to "form the light, and create darkness;" to "do all these things;" that is, to create or control all power in heaven or on earth.