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Art thou not it which cut Rahab and wounded the dragon. Rahab, there, is one of the names given to Egypt, and the dragon undoubtedly to Pharoah, the great tyrant over God's inheritance and the type of him of whom I am now speaking. As God destroyed the former he will affured destroy the power of the latter.

3. SENNACHERIB is certainly another of the ancient tyrants, and a violent oppreffor of the chosen race, who bad defiance to the God of Ifrael, and was determined to glut his rage, and gratify his ambition to the uttermoft. He fends out a boafting Rabfbaka, the true emblem of the Devil's meffengers, to blaspheme the Lord of hosts, and terrify his oppreffed fervants. Let not thy god in whom thou trufteft deceive thee, faying, Ferufalem shall not be given to the king of Affyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Affyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and halt thou then be delivered. + Hezekiah spreads the blafphemies of this vain boafter before that God to whom vengeance belongs, and is not long before he receives a gracious anfwer, in which the fcorn and contempt of the proud Affyrian is retorted upon him again. A jealous God takes him to task. Whom haft thou blafphemed? fays he, and against whom haft thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Ifracl. He then denounces his fentence, Because thy rage, against me, and thy

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*Ifaiab li. 9..

+ Ifaiah xxxvii. 10. 11.

tumult is come up into mine ears: therefore I will put my hook into thy nofe, and my bridle into thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way which thou cameft. Accordingly, the angel of the Lord fmote in the Affyrian camp an hundred fourfcore and five thousand, and the haughty tyrant returns to his own land; and while worshipping his idol his own fons defpatched him. * Thus fell this tool and type of the great red dragon, and fo affuredly fhall end the prince of darkness.

4. THE next living image of the furious dragon, which I fhall mention, is the King of Babylon, efpecially before his converfion, or indeed rather he and his fucceflors; the tyranny, luxury, and pride of that monarchy is much spoken of, and much spoken against ; the fall of which is fpoken of with much furprise. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, fon of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? They that fee thee fhall narrowly look upon thee, and confider thee, faying, is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did fhake the kingdoms? +

JEREMIAH treating of the fame tremendous downfall, and of God's gracious care of his chofen, exclaims, a fword of battle is in the land, and of great deftruction. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut affunder and broken. ‡ And who is to perform the many awful things fpoken of throughout this whole chapter

*Ifaiah xxxvii. 1o. to the end.
Jer. 1. 22, 23.

Ifaiah xiv. 12-20,

chapter? He tells us, their redeemer is strong, the Lord of Hofts is his name, he shall thoroughly plead their caufe, that he may give reft unto the land. *

5. THUS God dealt of old with the tyrants of this world, whofe luft of power and grandeur, rapine, fpoil and cruelty plainly evinced them to be the true emblems of the great Abaddon, and where his vicegerents here on earth; and as furely as these images of his wrath and power were destroyed, so fure will the author of all difcord and confufion be destroyed in like manner, and the time is haftening on apace which our Lord fpoke of when he faid, now is the judgment of this world: new shall the prince of this world be caft out. Intimating, that as he was going to die for the redemption of the world, so would he affuredly dethrone the tyrant thereof, and bring the prifoners out of the pit wherein is no water. He hath already made a glorious beginning, having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a fhow of them openly, triumphing over them in himfelf. Indeed we do not find that the devil has had power, to act fo bare-facedly, among the children of men fince our Saviour's paffion as he did before; and if we may believe what credible writers fay, after our Lord's refurrection, the heathen oracles acknowledged themselves, to be but the inftruments of the Devil, and therefore, could give no refponfes to their devotees, who then confulted them.

6. THUS

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* Jer. 1. 34.

John xii. 31.

Col. ii. 15.

6. THUS did our victorious conqueror lay a reftraint upon the grand deceiver as a happy prelude to his final overthrow. The fouls under the altar are groaning and crying, How long O Lord, holy and true, doft thou not judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the earth.* The Lord hears their cry, and is mindful of his purpose and promise, and having taken hold on the feed of Abraham, that is, he took on him flesh and blood, with all its finless infirmities, that he might deftroy him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil. And it feems that the Devil and his Angels are not ignorant of what shall come to pafs. For when our Saviour was about to drive these exiles from Heaven out of a poor tormented man, they cry out, What have we to do with thee, Jefus thou fon of God? Art thou come heither to torment us before the time? ‡ And very probable, it is this confideration, which makes the Devils tremble; § but that trembling does not bring them to repentance; seeing it rather encreases the rage and wrath of the horrible chief; for he hath great wrath knowing he hath but a fhort time. But a short time to deftroy, deceive, and plague mankind; and therefore is determined to make the best of that time, to deceive, to devour, and to deftroy; for that is his great business in this world. Let every one here watch against all the rage of this dragon, all the

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* Rev. vi. 10.
§ Jam. ii. 18.

+ Heb. ii. 14.

Matt. viii. 29.

Rev. xii. 12, and John x. 10.

cunning of this old Serpent, all the accufations of this. Devil, this vile calumniator, and all the deep malice of this adverfary; fo that we may allude every ftratagem; break every fnare, and be more than conqueror through him who loved us.

WILL the great deceiver make good use of his time to do harm? Let us ufe all diligence in doing all the good we can? let the hellish zeal of the Devil, ever ftir us up to be active for God, for his glory and the good of mankind; and let not Satan have any cause of infulting the Saviour of finners, with our great negligence.

LET us earnestly long and pray for the accomplishment of this great event; that the angel may shortly defcend, and perform his divine commiffion, may lay hold on the grand accufer, the hellifh deceiver, fo that he may deceive the nations no more. O, cry, as the elect of God, day and night, that he may arife and maintain his own caufe; take a speedy vengeance, that he would bruise the head of the ferpent, controul his power, and put a final period to his dominion; that in the habitations of dragons, where no good fruits grow, there the fruits of the spirit may abundantly increase, and the grand felon may be happily ejected, and may infult over God's heritage no more. O blessed period! much longed for moment! gird thy fword upon thy thigh, O thou moft mighty, and in thy glory and in thy majefty ride on profperously! let

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