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hypocrites in the millennium; no, it will be a falling away; perhaps a fort of ease in Zion, a kind of lukewarmness may take place, and the temptation, which will try all the world, will, unhappily, draw them into the nare; and the enemy will feduce them to a fad revolt, and raise in them a cruel fpirit of perfecution against the faints, fo that the last grand affault will be given as the laft ftruggle of a dying monfter.-Let us now confider, I. The Loofing of the Dragon. II. The Confequences thereof.

First, I am to confider the Loofing of the Dragon.

1. We fee, with all his cunning and might, he is but a creature, though of very high dignity and power-as fome conjecture, the very first archangel, feated upon one of the highest thrones; and, therefore, by way of eminence, ftiled, the Sun of the morning; and that his fuperior excellency raised in him those afpiring thoughts which cannot dwell in a state of glory, and, which yielding to, fo blinded his vast understanding, as to flatter him with conqueft over the Deity, at leaft fo far as to render himself independent and that was the very spirit which he infused into all his unhappy affociates, and the very fame into our first parents, urging, Ye fhall be as gods. But, let the potsherds frive with the pctfherds; for woe unto him, whether man or angel, who ftrives with his Maker, he is fure to lofe the day, and to be miserably overcome. Jehovah wills it to be fo, and Satan is laid under an arreft; and however unwilling, muft fubmit to his fate; yea, and perhaps at that time awe from the Almighty may fo intimidate him, that he dare not make the least oppofition ;

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fo that, with God, is terrible majefty, fuch as devils believe and tremble at. And O, what matter of everlafting joy to every faint, that their fovereign and uncontrolled Lord does what he pleaseth, either in the armies of heaven above, or among the inhabitants of the earth below!

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2. SATAN cannot go a step beyond his bounds, nor a moment beyond his time. While he is roving about, like a roaring lion, God can say, Thus far fhalt thou go, and no farther; and here fhall thy fwelling rage be ftayed. We fee this verified in the cafe of Job; he could not ftep bejond his limits he was that faint's vile accufer, and God was willing that he should make trial of him, and first gives his family and fubftance into his Lands; and after that, upon a fecond accufation, he gives his body up; but ftill he is limitted, fo that he cannot touch his life. Obferve, he could not touch either one or the other till he had permiflion given him. Hence he complains, Haft thou not made an hedge about him, and about his houfe, and about all that he hath? * As if he had faid, I know thy power and protection are engaged in behalf of thy favourite, fo that it is in vain for me to attempt any thing against him without thy permiffion. In like manner in the cafe of Joshua the highprieft, upon his return from his captivity, Satan ftands at his right hand to refift him; but a word from the Lord fettles the matter at once. The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan ; even the Lord that hath chofen Jerufalem, rebuke thee: Is not this a brand plucked from the fire ?+ Here we find the enemy is obliged to yield. So when he had the impudence to affault his incarnate Maker, he is put to flight by

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a word: Get thee behind me, Satan, fends him off at once. And, through faith in the dear name of Jefus, the faints can do valiantly ;-they can overcome, they can refift the Devil, and he will fly from them; yea, they can be more than conquerors, through Him who loved them Thus he is at the will of God, and, at his will, he is bound, and as long as he pleases; and at the will of God he is loofed; but ftill his time and progrefs are under the divine control. Let this encourage every ftruggling faint to fight on, to run, without fainting, their Chriftian

race.

3. As we cannot explore the wisdom of the Almighty, we cannot pretend to give a reason why God should permit Satan to disturb the peace of this golden age, so as to occafion a fresh revolt, and to foment discord again among the nations. We might as well ask why he permitted him to excite the grand rebellion of angels, and to bring confufion into this lower world-to disturb the beautiful frame and order of that creation, which was pronounced very good. For wife ends, no doubt, are all thofe things permitted by Him, who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will. This, I apprehend, to be one of the fecret things which belong unto the Lord, the propriety of which may appear unto us when mortality shall be swallowed up in endless life. Then we fhall know as we are known, and admire the infinite wisdom of God in all his proceedings. There are many things of an inferior nature, which are daily happening, which quite nonplus the wifeft of mortals; and, therefore, why the hellish wolf is turned loofe into

Rom. viii. 37.

the

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the sheep-fold again, after fo many years of clofe confinement, and fhould be permitted to disturb the peace which has lafted fo many ages, is a matter we cannot comprehend, and, therefore, muft still cry out, Righteous art thou, Lord God Almighty-juft and true are thy ways, O King of Saints! How many acts daily occur, which the child in its non-age can form no conception of? nor does the parent choose to give any account thereof to it, well knowing that it would answer no valuable end. And shall we not allow the Supreme Father and Lord of the universe the fame authority, the fame privilege, which we fhort-fighted worms of a day are continually taking with our children? God is infinitely wife, and cannot miftake-infinitely just, and can do nothing wrong-infinitely good, and can do nothing contrary to goodnefs, pity, and love. In this, and in a thousand circumstances he may fay, What I do thou knoweft not now, but then shalt know bereafter.

4. WE fee a long confinement works no change in the grand Apoftate; he comes forth from his infernal den like a hungry lion, which comes from his restraint, doubly filled with rage, and flies upon his prey with a ten-fold fierceness, fparing nothing which ftands in his way. He comes fully fraught with wrath, for he knows that he hath but a fhort time to live. We fee the real ftate of one finally abandoned of God, which no time, nor place, nor torments, can change, but must abide in its own hardness, wrath, and rage, for evermore. How finely has our great Poet defcribed the awful ftate of the grand Apoftate, and what his hellifk fatisfaction is? Af

ter

ter fome very painful reflexions upon his miferable state, and the utter impoffibility to repent, he brings the matter to this difmal conclufion :

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"So, farewel Hope, and, with Hope, farewel Fear

Farewel Remorfe! All Good to me is loft :-*`

Evil, be thou my Good; by thee, at least,

Divided empire with Heav'ns King, I hold

By thee, and more than half, perhaps, will reign."

Paradife Loft, Book IV.

5. Ar this amazing period, the great deftroyer will lofe no time. As he knows his time is fhort, and his only fatisfaction being to affront his Maker, and lead into an eternal captivity all that he can deceive, fo will he use great diligence. And who can tell how quick a despatch fo powerful a spirit can make? But it appears he must act the Serpent over again; the open-mouthed dragon, the roaring-lion, would not answer his purpofe; and, very probable, he may infufe a fpirit of difcontent into the minds of the unwary, as it was in the Primitive Church. They were all of one heart, and one mind, and the first jarr was a murmuring spirit ; and, very likely, fomething of a fimilar kind will break the ring of the millennial marriage, and, from difcontent, envy will take place, and then the work of the grand Abaddon will go on with great rapidity, like a confuming fire, which has got thoroughly kindled, it will rage with dreadful fury. And as the work of deceiving increafes, fo will his agents multiply with incredible fwiftnefs, and every engine will be fet to work; fo that ruin and defolation may spread their horrid influence far and wide. How far the guardian angels may remit their ufual vigilance, is what we

cannot

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