tell, as it is very likely the grand schemes will be laid in the invisible world, only the difmal effects will be fadly too confpicuous in the visible state of things.

6. HOWEVER, it will be the finishing ftroke; the quiver of Satan must now be finally exhausted, and it will be the laft ftruggle of the dying moniter, and, very likely, will be but very fhort; fo that the celerity of the enemy will haften on his final overthrow; and that the faints may look upon him with contempt, and fay,-0 thou enemy! deftructions are come to a perpetual end; and thou haft destroyed cities: their memorial is perifhed with them*. It may be added of him,-Behold, he travelleth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falfehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he hath made. His mifschief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing upon his own patet. Every machination will now recoil upon himself; and as he has been the first and chief of all rebels, fo, of course, must be first and chief in mifery for ever. How terrible the thought! Well may the devils believe and tremble! Well might they cry out to our incarnate God,—Art thou come to torment us before the time? How must the great faculties of Satan be filled with boiling wrath! And what a dreadful veffel of deftruction fitted for neverending mifery! From what a towering fummit of bliss is he fallen! and into what an amazing depth of inconceivable and never-ending mifery ?-Here, language fails-thought is loft-and imagination's atmoft ftretch is infinitely far too short. The wrath of the Lamb is poured out without mixture, and the dregs of that tremendous

mendous cup muft be his portion for evermore.

He

feels the ponderous weight of his iron rod; and the extreme heat of his fiery indignation muft fall upon him, while the breath of the Lord, like a river of boiling brimstone, must come into his bowels to eternity. For this dreadful King is that horrid Tophet prepared, and his den is large and deep, and, through inconceivable anguifh, paffes his fad moments-in curfing whom he dreads ages without end!

II. I am now to confider the confequences of loofing Satan from his prifon; for, it feems, this will occafion a furprizing revolution.

1. He begins to play his old game over again, to wit, that of deceiving; and, as has been already obferved, the long tranquility during the Millennium will, unhappily, occafion fome to fall into-luke-warmness, and give the vigilant foe the greater advantage over them. As long as the prefent earth endures, the exhortations. and cautions in the Bible will be neceffary; and hence, when our Lord is fpeaking of the laft day, he ufes very clofe exhortations, and fuch parables as are calculated to keep us thoroughly awake, left, like foolish virgins, we fhould be fleeping without oil, or, like the negligent and flothful fervant, we fhould be hiding our talent, and not be watching for our Lord's coming: For, as a snare, fhall this day of temptation come upon all them that dwell upon the face of the earth. Hence our Lord fays, Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape the things that shall come to pass, and

to

to ftand before the Son of Man.Te effect this feduction, great fraud must be practised, for force would not avail ; but as he first feduced the angels, and then prompted them to rebellion,-so, in like manner, will this final effort be. The origin of every rebellion is difcontent, and then hopes of conqueft urge to the dire attempt.

2. HERE will be a very general deception: for Satan fhall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth: For as yet men will be in a state of probation, he will try his fkill upon all; for he who had the impudence to attack his incarnate Maker, will not be very nice respecting his fervants: and they who have the greatest confidence in themselves will become the easiest prey-For neither men nor angels can ftand alone. What may be the fuccefsful bait, is what I cannot pretend to fay; yet, as I have already hinted, it will originate in difcontent. It may be, even in the Millennium, that fome peculiar marks of divine favour may appear upon fuch as are more particularly faithful in their difpenfation; and this may be a kind of tinder for the enemy to ftrike fire upon, and the hellish sparks may kindle into envy-and what can ftand before the face of envy! It is cruel as the grave, and can stop at no bounds; nor can it be, in any wife, affuaged.

3. It is highly probable, that our first parents had familiar converfe with angels before the Fall; and as they (the angels) excelled in ftrength and dignity, the enemy. might fuggeft to our first parents, that there was no reafon why they should remain in a ftate fo much inferior, feeing, by tafting of the forbidden fruit, they would im

mediately

mediately be like them, as powerful, and knowing as Gods; for fo the angels are called *. Thus bad influence was infused into their minds, which brought on the dreadful fall. It was this unhappy leaven which fermented in the dark mind of Cain, which terminated in the murder of his brother, and, it is to be feared, in his own final apostasy. So now, in the eve of time, this may be the fatal fnare of many, who may stumble, and fall, and rife no more.

4. THE party, or parties, feduced, go under one general name-Gog and Magog. For as the faints will be perfectly of one heart and one mind, sects, names, and parties will all be swallowed in one name (viz. Saints) fo, it is likely, all that will be deceived will be arranged under one name-Gog, or Magng; and both nearly fignify the fame thing, only Gog feems to have been the name of some eminent leader, and Magog that of the country. The root from whence Gog † comes, fignifies the roof or top of a house, or building, and, therefore, imports high, or uplifted, and is the proper definition of the ftate of fuch minds as are seeking preeminence, as it feems will be the cafe of these aspiring minds, who will partake of the of the lofty spirit of their feducer, and who may vaunt and fay,-With our tongue will we prevail-our lips are our own-who shall lord over us? That is, we will speak and act just as we pleafe, and who fhall control us? As Babylon is the myftica', or prophetical name of Rome, fo Gog and Magog may be the myftical name of the Grand Turk; and

+ 20

* Pf. lcvii. 7.

all

all his affociates, whether Mahometan, Chriftian, or Pagan, who may all conspire to oppose the real converfion of the Jews; and, therefore, the proper emblems of all fuch as will be drawn afide, and ftimulated to rife against Chrift and his faints; and, confequently, I apprehend, we are not to look for Gog or Magog in any particular country, or denomination of people only, but as far as the influence of the liberated Dragon can prevail; though, very probable, his influence will be more prevalent in fome places than that of others.

4. HOWEVER, we are well affured he fhall prevail; and no wonder, feeing he did prevail among the morning-stars, the Sons of God, whofe knowledge and purity did far exceed that of men, even when created in the image of God; and no wonder that it fhould exceed the knowledge and purity of men on earth, even in the glorious Millennium. And his fuccefs will be far greater than we fhould imagine, confidering that the glory of God fhall fill all lands, and the amazing love and power which shall go forth into all the earth. But, I apprehend, fo long as this prefent earth abides unpurged by fire, all that inhabit the fame are in a state of probation, and more especially when Satan is at liberty to tempt. It is matter of great lamentation, that the number of these laft apoftates is as the fand of the fea-so amazingly will he prevail! What aftonishing cunning and power, yea, and influence, still abide in this arch enemy of all that is good? What need has every child of God to be upon their guard while our adverfary is permitted to go about like a roaring-lion, feeking whom he may devour!