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<NAME>Robyn Anspach</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A WONDER and yet no WONDER: A GREAT Red Dragon in Heaven.</P>
<Q><BIBL>REVEL. 12. 3.</BIBL>
<P>And there appeared another Wonder in Hea|ven, And behold a great red Drogon, &amp;c.</P></Q>
<Q><BIBL>2 COR. 11. 14.</BIBL>
<P>And no marvel, for Sathan him&s;elf is tran&s;|formed into an Angel of light.</P></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON, </HI>Printed by<HI> J. Macock, </HI>for<HI> Giles Calvert, </HI>at the black &s;pread Eagle at the We&s;t end of<HI> Pauls.</HI> 1651.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To my deerly beloved friends which are in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, Grace, Mercy, &amp; Peace from God the Father and our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HEAD>
<P>THat which at this time moved me to pre&s;ent you with this en&s;uing Di&s;cour&s;e, is that heavenly and glorious &s;hape and form, where|with the great Red Dragon is now come forth in the Spirits of Profe&s;&s;ors; never was the Dragon in more glorious habit
<PB REF="3">
then now: O how he is array|ed, how his mouth is ful fraught with pretended immediate and perfect enjoyments of God in the Spirit, under colour of which he &s;eeks to deceive, and by his taile to draw tho&s;e down, out of heaven into the earth, that have &s;hined as &s;tars in heaven: he is great, and he is red, that is to &s;ay, he is mighty and he is bloody; His mightine&s;s and bloodyne&s;s lye hid under his glorious appea|rances; He is called in Scripture that old Serpent, who&s;e tail is full of windings and turnings, who was of old in the begining, Gen. 3. He is called likewi&s;e the Devil and Sathan, a Deceiver and
<PB REF="3">
an Adver&s;ary; he is all the&s;e names under beautiful Di&s;cove|ries and appearances of God; he is wrapped up and covered in and under Doctrines, Speak|ings, Writings of men and Di&s;|coveries of God, he u&s;hereth in Errors with glorious truths. In his appearing to Profe&s;&s;ors he looks fir&s;t how their Natures are inclined, he ca&s;teth an eye fir&s;t at the bent of their Spirits, That way which they are inclined he wil &s;ute him&s;elf in apparell, if they be inclined towards Noti|ons, Fictions, Forms, or preten|ded high injoyments of God without power, he &s;utes him&s;elf accordingly; he makes u&s;e of
<PB REF="4">
Scripture likewi&s;e to &s;trengthen him in his De&s;igns. The&s;e and many others are his &s;ubtilties now adayes: this Dragon is de|&s;cribed to be a wonder in hea|ven, Revel. 12. becau&s;e of his &s;even heads and ten horns, and &s;even crowns upon his heads: a wonder indeed you wil &s;ay it is, when you come to be taken up with John into the Spirit: The Dragon wants no wi&s;dome to tempt, deceive, and devour, for he hath &s;even heads; no power to bring about his de&s;igns, for he hath ten horns; and he wants no glory wherewith to promi&s;e to profe&s;&s;ors, if they will fall down and wor&s;hip him, be|cau&s;e
<PB REF="4">
he hath &s;even Crowns.</P>
<P>Beloved Friends, therefore I have written this en&s;uing Di&s;|cour&s;e likewi&s;e, to &s;hew you the multiplicity of &s;ubtilty, power, and glory, that is in him to de|ceive, and which I have &s;een to be in him; Do not therefore, O do not &s;light what I have writ|ten, though confu&s;ed and &s;cat|tered; it is the day of &s;mal things which God would not have you de&s;pi&s;e, con&s;ider well what I have written, before you begin to cen&s;ure it: and if you finde any truth in what I write, mind that more then he that writ it. If you inquire who&s;e this Di&s;|cour&s;e is, it is the di&s;cour&s;e of a
<PB REF="5">
brui&s;ed Reed, and of &s;moaking flax, of a &s;uckling, of a babe in Chri&s;t, out of who&s;e mouth God will perfect his prai&s;e.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Yours in him who is the truth, and no lye.
<HI>Edw. Hide. Junior.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<Q><BIBL>REVEL. 12. 3, 4.</BIBL>
<P>And there appeared another wonder in hea|ven and behold a great Red Dragon, having &s;even heads and ten horns, and &s;even crowns upon his heads. And his taile drew the third part of the &s;tars of heaven, and did ca&s;t them to the earth, And the Dra|gon &s;tood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child a&s;&s;oon as it was born.</P></Q>
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<P>_IN the beginning of this Chapter, There is a great wonder &s;poken of which appeared to <HI>John,</HI> and which he &s;aw, (a door being opened in heaven to him.) The wonder is as followeth, <HI>A woman clothed with the Sun, and the Moon under her feet, and upon her head a Crown of twelve &s;tars,</HI> This woman is the Church of Chri&s;t, his Spou&s;e, the Lambs bride, as appears by many
<PB N="2" REF="6">
places of Scripture, as <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 5. 32. <HI>Revel,</HI> 31. 9. The Sun wherewith &s;he is cloathed, is that light and glory which &s;hines forth in the Go&s;pel, which is Chri&s;t the Son of Righteou&s;|ne&s;s, for &s;o he is called in <HI>Malac.</HI> 4. 2. but unto you that fear my Name &s;hall the Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;s appear with healing in his wings. The Moon is a light below the Sun, and borroweth its light from the Sun; and is nothing but that light and glory which &s;hined and doth now &s;hine forth in the Law: The terme <HI>under her feet,</HI> is nothing el&s;e but beneath her; the Crown of twelve &s;tars which is upon her head, holds forth that Roy|all and Kingly glory wherewith the Church of Chri&s;t is cloathed, &s;o that the meaning of the wonder is this, It holds forth that multiplicity of glory which the Church of Chri&s;t is in and under, for there is a glory of the Sun, a glory of the Moon, and a glory of the &s;tars; a crown of twelve &s;tars above her, the Sun of righte|ou&s;ne&s;s in the mid&s;t of her, and the Moon un|der her feet; &s;o that there is glory above her, glory in the mid&s;t of her, and glory beneath her, in&s;omuch that &s;he is hem'd in with glory; or it holds forth that variety of glory under which the Church is, <HI>for there is one glory of the Sun, another of the Moon, &amp; another of</HI>
<PB N="3" REF="6">
<HI>the &s;tars, for one star differeth from another in glory,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5. 41. This woman &s;o cloath|ed with glory being with child, and cryed travelling in birth and pain to be deliver|ed, there appears pre&s;ently another wonder in heaven, which is that which I intend now to &s;peak to:</P>
<P><HI>And there appeared another wonder in hea|ven, and behold a great red Dragon, having &s;even heads and ten horns, and &s;even Crowns upon his heads, &amp;c.</HI> The words are one of the Wonders which <HI>John</HI> &s;aw, being taken up by the Spirit into heaven, there being a door opened to him: It is &s;aid, in heaven it appeared to him, from whence we may draw this conclu&s;ion, That there is no &s;eeing of a Wonder but in heaven, &amp; there is no &s;eeing of heaven without being taken up by the Spirit into it, unle&s;s a door be opened in heaven to us; If we have a de&s;ire (friends) to &s;ee a Wonder, we mu&s;t de&s;ire God to take us up into heaven, and there to open the door of heaven to us, for &s;o <HI>Iohn</HI> was taken up into heaven, &s;ee <HI>Revel.</HI> 1. 10. and there a door was opened to him, &s;ee <HI>Revel.</HI> 4. 1. This Wonder is a Wonder indeed; What, That a great Red Dragon &s;hould be &s;een in heaven: Stand a&s;toni&s;hed and be amazed, &ocirc; ye heavens!
<PB N="4" REF="7">
was there ever &s;uch a thing heard of! If you could but &s;ee it you would &s;tand a&s;toni&s;hed and admire! But to come neerer to the words, <HI>Behold,</HI> it is a word of Speculation; See, take notice of, what, <HI>a great Red Dragon,</HI> where may you &s;ay, <HI>in heaven:</HI> O Wonderfull! this is a &s;trange thing indeed, how can this be? To make it plain, we &s;hall enquire what this word <HI>Wonder</HI> is, it is &s;omewhat &s;een which cau&s;eth admiration; It &s;ignifies a &s;ign; what this Wonder or &s;ign is, It is <HI>a great Red Dra|gon in heaven, having &s;even heads and ten horns, and &s;even Crowns upon his heads:</HI> But you will aske me, what is this great Red Dragon in heaven? I &s;hall &s;hew you what it is by and by, but fir&s;t we &s;hall enquire into,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. What heaven is, in which this great Red Dragon appeared.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. What the appearing of the great Red Dragon in heaven is.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Wherefore it is called another Wonder?</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. What the great Red Dragon is.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. What tho&s;e Epithites are which are gi|ven unto him.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. The place where he is.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. His &s;even heads.</ITEM>
<ITEM>8. His ten horns.</ITEM>
<ITEM>9. His &s;even Crowns upon his heads.</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB N="5" REF="7">
10. What his Taile is.</ITEM>
<ITEM>11. What the third part of the Stats of heaven are, which by the taile of the great red Dragon are drawn out of heaven, and ca&s;t in|to the earth.</ITEM>
<ITEM>12. What the earth is, into which the great Red Dragon ca&s;teth the third part of the &s;tars of heaven.</ITEM>
<ITEM>13. What the meaning of the great Red Dragon's &s;tanding before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, is.</ITEM>
<ITEM>14. What the meaning of that &s;aying is, <HI>For to devour her child as &s;oon as it was born.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>The fir&s;t thing to be enquired into is, what heaven is, in which this great red Dragon ap|peared: Heaven is taken variou&s;ly in Scripture, &s;ometimes it is taken for the materiall heaven, the Firmament, <HI>Gen.</HI> 1. 8. Sometimes it is ta|ken for things that are or may be &s;haken; <HI>yet once more I &s;hake not only earth but hea|ven it &s;elf;</HI> and this word <HI>yet once more,</HI> &s;ig|nifieth the removing of tho&s;e things that are &s;haken, as of things that are made, that tho&s;e things which cannot be &s;haken may remain, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12. 26, 27. Now tho&s;e things that are or may be &s;haken are Prophe&s;ies, Tongues, and Knowledge, &s;ee 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13. 8. But heaven in
<PB N="6" REF="8">
this place is taken for the glory and light of God, which <HI>Stephen</HI> &s;aw when he was praying.</P>
<P>The &s;econd thing to be inquired into, is, what the appearing of the great Red Dragon in heaven, is:</P>
<P>It is this, there was &s;een a great Red Dragon in heaven by <HI>John,</HI> it was &s;uch an appearance as was accompanyed with &s;eeing, &s;o that <HI>Iohn</HI> could &s;ay, I &s;aw it; and it was no lying won|der that he &s;aw, but a true one: what an ex|cellent thing it is for a man to declare nothing but what he hath &s;een; what hath appeared in|deed to him, by a door being opened in heaven to him, as <HI>Iohn</HI> did, or by being taken up in the Spirit as he was.</P>
<P>The third thing to be enquired into, is, Why it is called another Wonder; That is, be|cau&s;e of the Wonder going before, in the fir&s;t ver&s;e of this Chapter; <HI>And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman cloathed with the Sun, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>The fourth thing to be enquired into, is, What this great Red Dragon or Wonder is; It is the old Serpent, called the Devill and Sa|than, which deceiveth the old world, <HI>Revel.</HI> 12. 9. <HI>Revel.</HI> 20. 2. <HI>And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the Devil</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="8">
<HI>and Sathan, and bound him a thou&s;and years;</HI> So that if any enquire what the great Red Dragon is that <HI>Iohn</HI> &s;aw, It is the old Serpent called the Devill and Sathan: but what is the old Serpent the Devill and Sathan? He is call|ed the Devil and Sathan, and he is the Devil and Sathan. The Wonder is the Dragon in heaven, the Dragon is the old Serpent; the old Serpent is the Devil and Sathan: I pray mind it, for there are &s;ome now adayes that hold neither Dragon, old Serpent, Devill not Sathan; you &s;ee that there are &s;uch, and that from Scripture (if you do not deny Scripture) and I my &s;elf, by woful experience have found that there are &s;uch.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> But may &s;ome &s;ay, What is the cau&s;e why the Dragon is the old Serpent, and the Serpent is called the Devill and Sathan.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> The Dragon is the old Serpent, be|cau&s;e the Serpent was from the begining; he it was that craftily and &s;ubtilly in&s;inuated in|to <HI>Adam</HI> and <HI>Eve,</HI> and prevailed with them for to eate that, the fruit whereof was death: and he is called the Serpent becau&s;e of his &s;ubtiltie, and becau&s;e of tho&s;e windings and turnings that are in him, as I &s;hal &s;hew here|after: and the Serpent is called the Devill, be|cau&s;e of his accu&s;ing the Saints day and night
<PB N="8" REF="9">
before God; for the word devill &s;ignifies an Accu&s;er: and he is called Sathan becau&s;e of that aver&s;ne&s;s that is in him again&s;t the Saints, for Sathan &s;ignifies an Adver&s;ary: the Serpent, Devill and Sathan are nothing but the Dra|gon multiplyed, the Dragon come forth into variety, the Dragon made known under three denominations; for as I &s;aid before, the Dra|gon is the Serpent, and the Serpent is called the Devill, and Sathan, and he is the Devil and Sathan.</P>
<P>The fifth thing to be enquired into, is, what tho&s;e Epethites are, which are given to the great Red Dragon, they are two:</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Fir&s;t, he is Great.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Secondly, he is Red.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Fir&s;t, he is Great; that is, he is a hughe Dragon, very large and big, his greatne&s;s doth many times affright a Saint; it was not a lit|tle one that <HI>Iohn</HI> &s;aw, but a great one, &s;uch a one as did beget admiration: a Saints adver|&s;ary is a great Devil, a mighty one, not a &s;mall one; that is the rea&s;on many times that Saints are faint to take to them&s;elves <HI>the whole Ar|mour</HI> of God, to with&s;tand &s;trong and great <HI>Goliah.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, He is Red, That is another Epe|thite which is given to the Dragon; as great|ne&s;s
<PB N="9" REF="9">
holds forth bigne&s;s and mightine&s;s, &s;o redne&s;s betokens bloudine&s;s, cruelty: O! he is a bloudy and cruel Dragon; no le&s;s than the bloud of Saints will content him: If he can but draw bloud of a Saint, he is &s;atisfied: Saints, &s;ee what an enemy you have to wre&s;tle with; but let not his great|ne&s;s and bloudine&s;s affright you, for he is a chained Dragon. <HI>Jude</HI> v. 6.</P>
<P>The &s;ixt thing to be enquired into, is, the place where he is, that is in Heaven: <HI>John</HI> &s;aw this wonder in Heaven. Heaven, as I &s;aid before, was the glory of God; It is not a local place, which &s;ome fancie to be in the Firmament; neither con&s;i&s;teth it in meats and drinks, but <HI>in Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Peace, and Joy.</HI> Rom. 14. 17.</P>
<P>The &s;eventh thing to be enquired into is, what the great red Dragons &s;even heads are: Seven you know is a perfect number; and the head holds forth Wi&s;dom, Policy, and Craftine&s;s; for in the head are all the&s;e: We u&s;e to &s;ay, &s;uch a one hath a wi&s;e, crafty, politique head: So that the meaning is this, That there is a perfection of Wi&s;dom, Poli|cy, and Craftine&s;s in the great red Dragon, to tempt, deceive, devour, and the like. O friends, look about you; he hath not only a
<PB N="10" REF="10">
politique crafty head, for to tempt, deceive, devour, and the like; but he hath a perfecti|on of heads, and they are full of policy and craftine&s;s; which policy and craftine&s;s, he makes u&s;e of again&s;t the Saints, to perplex and rouble them on every &s;ide, night and day.</P>
<P>The eighth thing to be enquired into is, what tho&s;e ten Horns of the great red Dra|gon are: His Horns hold forth his power and &s;trength: We u&s;e to &s;ay, there is &s;trength in Horns; The number ten being joyn'd to them, it holds forth this, That multiplicity of &s;trength and power that is in the great red Dragon to bring about his De&s;igns: He hath not only Wi&s;dom, Policy, and Crafti|ne&s;s in him for the acting of his De&s;igns, but he hath a multiplicity of &s;trength and power likewi&s;e to bring about his De&s;igns: If a man had never &s;o much wi&s;dom and policy to act his De&s;igns yet if he wanted &s;trength, his wi&s;dom and policy would &s;tand him in little &s;teed&punc; Wi&s;dom without &s;trength avail|eth little: But the Dragon hath both, and a multiplicity of both, as I &s;aid before, and therefore O Saints beware of him.</P>
<P>The ninth thing to be enquired into is, What the &s;even Crowns upon the great red
<PB N="11" REF="10">
Dragons head are: Seven (as I &s;aid before) is a perfect number; Crowns hold forth this to us, Dignity, Rule, and Royalty; So that the meaning of it is this, There is a perfection of Dignity, Rule, and Royalty, wherewith the Dragon is inve&s;ted; His Crowns upon his heads, &s;peak him to be a perfect King and Ruler; he delights to be King, and to reigne in the whole world; but e&s;pecially in Saints; he would fain be King there, he would fain wear the Crown in a Saint: O that Saints would therefore take heed of him, and not &s;uffer him to u&s;e his &s;cepter in their hearts; but let Je&s;us Chri&s;t u&s;e his &s;cepter, who&s;e right it is.</P>
<P>The tenth thing to be enquired into is, what the tail of the great red Dragon is: It is tho&s;e windings and turnings that are in the great red Dragon: The tail of the Dragon it turns this way, and that way, and if it can|not prevail, it will turn every way; &s;ee how the tail of the great red Dragon &s;everal waies winded and turned towards Je&s;us Chri&s;t, when he <HI>was had by the Spirit into the Wilderne&s;s to be tempted,</HI> in <HI>Mat.</HI> 4. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Fir&s;t, the <HI>Tempter</HI> came to Chri&s;t, and &s;aid; <HI>If thou be the Son of God, command the&s;e &s;tones to be</HI>
<PB N="12" REF="11">
<HI>made Bread:</HI> Here the Divel would make Chri&s;t que&s;tion his Son-&s;hip; Je&s;us Chri&s;t he had heard a voice from the mo&s;t excel|lent glory, that he was Gods beloved Son; now the Divel he endeavours to make Chri&s;t que&s;tion that he was Gods Son; he &s;aith unto him, <HI>If thou bee&s;t the Son of God, turn the&s;e &s;tones into Bread;</HI> As if he &s;hould have &s;aid, Thou a Son of God, and cannot turn the&s;e &s;tones into Bread? A Son of God can do it; it be&s;peaks thee not to be a Son of God, if thou do&s;t not turn the&s;e &s;tones into Bread; He endeavours to make him que&s;tion his Son-&s;hip from his not turning &s;tones into bread: ju&s;t &s;o he deals with a poor &s;oul, Thou a &s;on of God and not do this; that is to &s;ay, &s;ubdue corruption, and with&s;tand &s;in? When the Divel hath gotten a poor &s;oul into the wilderne&s;s, as he did Chri&s;t, &s;o that the poor &s;oul is ready to fa|vni&s;h for bread from heaven, then the Divel &s;aith unto him, to make him que&s;tion his &s;on-&s;hip, If thou be a &s;on of God, relieve thy &s;elf, &s;uccour thy &s;elf, for a &s;on of God can turn &s;tones into bread: But Chri&s;t &s;aid unto him, <HI>It is written;</HI> What is written? This; <HI>That man &s;hall not live by Bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth</HI>
<PB N="13" REF="11">
<HI>of God.</HI> When the Divel could not prevail this way, &s;ee how his tail winds another way; <HI>Then the Divel takes him up into the holy City, and &s;etteth him on a Pinacle of the Temple, and &s;aith unto him; If thou be the Son of God, ca&s;t thy &s;elf down; for it is written, He &s;hall give his Angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they &s;hall bear thee up, le&s;t at any time thou da&s;h thy foot again&s;t a &s;tone.</HI> Here he tempts him to de&s;troy him&s;elf, moving this to Chri&s;t as an Argument to do it; that is to &s;ay, if thou bee&s;t the Son of God, thou may'&s;t ca&s;t thy &s;elf down, thou neede&s;t not fear; for he &s;hall give his Angels charge over his Son, and they &s;hall bear thee up in their hands, they &s;hall hold thee up, le&s;t thou da&s;h thy foot again&s;t a &s;tone: As if he &s;hould have &s;aid, Thou neede&s;t not fear doing of it, God hath given a charge to Angels to keep thee from hurt; &s;o that if thou do&s;t it, Angels will bear thee up and keep thee; they have a charge to do it, and they mu&s;t perform that to God: ju&s;t &s;o the Divel &s;ets upon poor &s;ouls, when he tempts them to make away them&s;elves; O (&s;aith Satan) thou may'&s;t de|&s;troy thy &s;elf, Angels will bear thee up and keep thee, le&s;t any hurt befal thee; thou
<PB N="14" REF="12">
maye&s;t do this, and that, for thou art under the protection of Angels: This Satan tempts them to when poor &s;ouls are in the wilder|ne&s;s, that is in a bewildred condition; But Chri&s;t &s;aid unto him, <HI>It is written again, Thou &s;halt not tempt the Lord thy God.</HI> When the Divel could not prevail this way, &s;ee how the Dragon winds his tail another way: <HI>Again, the Divel takes him up into an exceeding high Mountain, and &s;heweth him all the Kingdoms of the World, and the glory of them; and &s;aith unto him, All the&s;e things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and wor&s;hip me.</HI> Here the Divel &s;ets Je&s;us Chri&s;t on high, and &s;heweth him all the glory of the world, promi&s;ing Chri&s;t it all, if he would be a wor&s;hipper of him: As if he &s;hould have &s;aid, Do but turn a wor&s;hip|er of me, thou &s;halt have all the glory of all the Kingdoms of this world: He &s;eeks here to make Chri&s;t wor&s;hip him, by &s;hewing and promi&s;ing him the worlds glory. Thus he &s;eeks to prevail upon poor &s;ouls, to make them wor&s;hippers of him, he pre&s;ents the glory of this world before them; as profit, credit, e&s;teem, honour, repute, and the like, and promi&s;eth them they &s;hall have all of it, if they will wor&s;hip him: How many poor
<PB N="16" REF="12">
&s;ouls have bin caught in this &s;nare? But Je&s;us &s;aid unto Satan, <HI>Get thee hence Satan, for it is written, Thou &s;halt wor&s;hip the Lord thy God and him only &s;halt thou &s;erve. Then the Divel leaves him</HI> &amp;c. So that you &s;ee what the tail of the great red Dragon is, that is to &s;ay tho&s;e windings and turnings that are in the great red Dragon; and how Je&s;us Chri&s;t an&s;wereth the Divel in all the&s;e three temptations; which may teach us how to an&s;wer him when the Divel tempts us: for as the windings of his tail are again&s;t Je&s;us Chri&s;t, &s;o they are again&s;t us; He tempts us (as I &s;aid before) &s;omtimes to que&s;tion our &s;on-&s;hip and &s;omtimes to de&s;troy our &s;elves; and &s;omeimes to fall down and wor&s;hip him, by his &s;et<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ing before us the glo|ry of the world; as he did before Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The eleventh thing to be enquired into, is, What the third part of the &s;tars of Heaven are which by the tail of the great red Dra|gon are drawn out of heaven, and ca&s;t into the earth; The third part of the &s;tars of heaven, are tho&s;e that are un&s;table, infirm, un&s;etled, not built upon the &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">re foundation, that in appearance have &s;hined like &s;tars in heaven; they are not to be under&s;tood the material &s;tars, but it is a Metaphorical kind
<PB N="16" REF="13">
of expre&s;&s;ion, borrowed from the &s;tars; they &s;hined as the &s;tars: As there hath bin &s;ome in our days, that have &s;hined &s;o in &s;hew, but are now ca&s;t down out of heaven into the earth, &s;o that now their lights are put out, they them&s;elves are become earthly, worldly, carnal, and the like.</P>
<P>The twelfth thing to be be enquired into is, What the earth is into which the great red Dragon ca&s;teth the third part of the &s;tars of heaven: The earth &s;omtimes is put for the men of the earth; As, <HI>O earth hear the word of the Lord:</HI> &s;ometimes it is put for the material earth, as <HI>Gen.</HI> 1. 20. but here it is to be taken for that which the fir&s;t man is off; the fir&s;t man is of the earth, earthly: &s;o that it is taken for that earthly mindedne&s;s, worldline&s;s, wickedne&s;s, wretchedne&s;s, and filthine&s;s which was in <HI>Adam</HI> after his fall.</P>
<P>The thirteenth thing to be enquired into, is, What the meaning of the great red Dra|gons &s;tanding before the woman which was ready to be delivered is; &s;tanding is a po|&s;ture of readine&s;s to devour; &s;o that it holds forth this, the readine&s;s that the Dragon is in to devour the man-child; and that term before her, that is, before the womans face,
<PB N="17" REF="13">
facing of the woman; the womans readi|ne&s;s to be delivered, &s;ignifies her being nigh at hand to bring forth: Now what a &s;ad thing it would be for a woman to have one that &s;eeks her life, and the life of her child, &s;tand facing of her when &s;he is ready to bring forth; it will endanger both the woman and child: &s;o it is here; O what a &s;ad thing it is to the Church of Chri&s;t, to have the great red Dragon &s;tand facing of her when &s;he is ready to be delivered of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; it is the only way to make the Church of Chri&s;t mi&s;carry. Thus you &s;ee that the meaning of the Dragons &s;tanding before the woman holds forth, That there is a readine&s;s in the Dragon to devour the Babe, either by facing of the woman, and &s;o making of her mi&s;carry by rea&s;on of fear, or by devouting of the Babe when he is born.</P>
<P>The fourteenth thing to be enquired into is, what the meaning of that &s;aying is, for <HI>to devour her child as &s;oon as it was born.</HI> To devour is to eat up quite, to make an end of; as &s;oon as it was born; that is, &s;o &s;oon as it was brought forth. So &s;oon as ever the Saints of God are in a readine&s;s to bring forth Chri&s;t in them, the great red Dragon &s;tands before their face for to devour him; he can|not
<PB N="18" REF="14">
endure Chri&s;t &s;hould be in them, or brought forth in them, but &s;eeks to de&s;troy him <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> ju&s;t as <HI>Herod,</HI> and the Scribes and Phari&s;ees after Chri&s;t was born did &s;eek to devour Chri&s;t without us &s;o the Dragon &s;eeks to devour him within us and for this purpo&s;e &s;he &s;tands before us and faceth us, that he might be the more ready to catch and lay hold of Chri&s;t and qua&s;h the appearing of him in us&punc; You know what a &s;ad thing it would be for a woman, to have her child as &s;oon as it was brought forth &s;natcht from her, and devoured and eaten up before her face: O how it would trouble her! So for a &s;oul to have Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;o &s;oon as he is brought forth in it &s;natcht from it, and devoured and eaten up before its face; O what a &s;ad ca&s;e that &s;oul will be in! O how it will cry out for is Je&s;us is Je&s;us; as the woman would for her child&punc; O my child, my child!</P>
<P>The terms in the words being thus explain|ed, the fir&s;t <HI>The&s;is</HI> or <HI>Ba&s;is</HI> upon which I &s;hall build my di&s;cour&s;e, is this;</P>
<Q>That there is &s;uch a thing as the great red Dragon in heaven.</Q>
<P>It is cleer from the words, and it is cleer from other Scriptures as that Scripture in <HI>Luke</HI> 10. 18. &s;aith Chri&s;t to his Di&s;ciples, <HI>I</HI>
<PB N="19" REF="14">
<HI>beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven:</HI> he was in heaven, and Chri&s;t &s;aw him fall from his &s;eat.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;tion.</HI> But you will ask me, <HI>What? Is Satan in heaven?</HI></P>
<P>To that I an&s;wer as followeth:</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Fir&s;t, Satan in heaven, is Satan in a Prie&s;t|ly &s;hape.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Secondly, Satan in heaven, is Satan in a Prophetical &s;hape.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Thirdly, Satan in heaven, is Satan in a Kingly &s;hape.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Fir&s;t of all, Satan in heaven, is Satan in a Prie&s;tly &s;hape; appearing as the Prie&s;t Chri&s;t Je&s;us, acting his Prie&s;thood, doing the very office and work of Chri&s;t as offering &s;acrifice to God, putting up petitions to him, praying, and the like.</P>
<P>Secondly, Satan in heaven, is Satan in a Prophetical &s;hape; as the Prophet Chri&s;t, acting him as a Prophet, prophe&s;ie as he did, that is to &s;ay, &s;peak to edification, exhortati|on, reproof, and of things to come: O how Satan hath bin in heaven in &s;ome in this re|&s;pect in our days! In what a Prophetical &s;hape he hath appeared, who have prophe&s;ied out of their own hearts, who have follow|ed their own &s;pirits, and have &s;een nothing but
<PB N="20" REF="15">
vanity and lying Divination; &s;aying, <HI>The Lord &s;aith, and the Lord hath not &s;ent them; and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word, and they have with their lyes made the heart of the righteous &s;ad, when God hath not made &s;ad:</HI> Ezek. 13. All which we cannot but &s;ee fulfilled in our days.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Satan in heaven, is Satan in a Kingly &s;hape; acting the Kingly Office of Chri&s;t, reigning, ruling, and commanding, within the heart and without, as Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>But to make things more plain, the Dragon in heaven, is the Dragon on high.</P>
<P>Secondly, The Dragon in glory.</P>
<P>Thirdly, The Dragon at re&s;t. For heaven pre&s;ents us with all the&s;e three things, Height, Glory, and Re&s;t.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t of all, The Dragon in heaven, is the Dragon on High; that is to &s;ay, in the Chair, Seat, and Temple of God, &s;hew|ing him&s;elf that he is God, and &s;aying that he is God; 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2. 4. He it is <HI>that exalts him&s;elf as the Eagle, that &s;ets his ne&s;t among the &s;tars:</HI> Obad. 1. 4. He is that <HI>Lucifier that a&s;cends into heaven, and that exalts his Throne above the &s;tars, that &s;its upon the mount of the Congregation in the &s;ides of the</HI>
<PB N="21" REF="15">
<HI>North:</HI> I&s;a. 14. 13. He is that <HI>Capernaum, which is exalted unto heaven, and which &s;hall be brought down unto hell.</HI> Matth. 11. 23.</P>
<P>Secondly, The Dragon in heaven, is the Dragon in Glory; which is nothing el&s;e, but the Dragon in an Angel of Light: 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11. 14. <HI>Gal.</HI> 1. 8. And no marvel, for Satan him&s;elf is changed into an Angel of Light. And Satan was changed into an An|gel of Light in tho&s;e fal&s;e Apo&s;tles in this re&s;pect, in preaching another Je&s;us, Spirit, and Go&s;pel, that was not preached, received, and accepted: and truly we may &s;ee the Dragon changed into an Angel of Light in our days, in this re&s;pect; There is another Je&s;us preached, that was not preached; not that Je&s;us which dyed at Jeru&s;alem, but one which is within us, &s;ay &s;ome; when as he that dyed at Jeru&s;alem, and he within us, is all one Je&s;us; or another Je&s;us, that is, they preach &s;alvation by works; another Spirit, which is a Spirit of freedom to do any man|ner of wickedne&s;s; and another Go&s;pel, which is ju&s;tification by Works; not that Go&s;pel which <HI>Paul</HI> preached; <HI>That Chri&s;t dyed at Jeru&s;alem for our &s;ins, according to the Scripture; and that he was buried, and</HI>
<PB N="22" REF="16">
<HI>that he ro&s;e again:</HI> 1 Cor. 15. 3, 4. In which &s;aying lies hid more glory than we dream of, and is more hard to be believed than many think it is.</P>
<P>Thirdly, The Dragon in heaven, is the Dragon at re&s;t; for Heaven notes re&s;t: See <HI>Revel.</HI> 18. 7. <HI>She &s;aith in her heart, I &s;it a Queen, and am no Widdow, and &s;hall &s;ee no &s;orrow:</HI> She &s;its a Queen; &s;itting notes re&s;t; &s;he &s;its a Queen, that is, as one in State and Honour; and no Widdow, that is, &s;he is in no Widdows &s;tate, which is a &s;orrowful &s;tate; &s;he &s;its a Queen, there is the great red Dragons being at re&s;t in her, which is the Dragons being in heaven.</P>
<P>I &s;hall further illu&s;trate it by the&s;e four following things; that is to &s;ay,</P>
<P>The Dragon in Heaven, is the Dragon in and under things that &s;eem to &s;avour of Piety, Zeal, Holine&s;s, and Righteou&s;ne&s;s: The Dragon in Heaven, is the Dragon (I &s;ay) covered over with a &s;eeming &s;avour of Piety, Zeal, and Holine&s;s; He pretends much Piety, Zeal, and Holine&s;s in Profe&s;&s;ors; much Prayer, much Fa&s;ting, much keeping of the Sabbath, much giving of Alms; as in the Scribes and Phari&s;ees he did; When the <HI>Sons of God came to pre&s;ent them&s;elves be|fore</HI>
<PB N="23" REF="16">
<HI>God, He came with them:</HI> Job. 1. 6. which was to &s;hew how religious he was: but under the&s;e his &s;pecious &s;hews lies &s;ubtilty, mingled with bloudyne&s;s and cruelty.</P>
<P>Secondly, The Dragon in Heaven is the Dragon in Peace; for Heaven notes Peace: that is, at quiet with a Profe&s;&s;or, that he doth not di&s;turb nor mole&s;t him night nor day; &s;o that the poor &s;oul knows not what to do. Now the Dragon is then in Peace, when he &s;ees all is &s;o in the &s;oul as he would have it, he will never trouble that &s;oul; but if it be not &s;o in the &s;oul as he would have it, (as it is not in Saints.) O then he is never at Peace and Quiet&punc; but is always tempting and troubling it, &s;o that the &s;oul hath no quiet in its Spirit; the Dra|gon thinking thereby to bring about his De|&s;ignes.</P>
<P>Thirdly, The Dragon in Heaven&punc; is the Dragon in joy; Now then, the Dragon is in joy (if I may &s;o &s;ay) when by his tempting and troubling of a Saint, he hath gotten the be&s;t of him, then he rejoyceth; O how merry and joyful he would be indeed, if he could quite ruine a Saint; The Dragons joyfulne&s;s, lies in the Saints &s;adne&s;s, trouble, and over|throw;
<PB N="24" REF="17">
The more or le&s;s &s;ad, troubled, or overcome they are, the more or le&s;s is his joy.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, The Dragon in Heaven, is the Dragon in a pretended, perfect, immediate, and high enjoyments of God in the Spirit, Allegorizing the Scripture, and &s;o denying the letter thereof: Tho&s;e who&s;e eys God hath opened, cannot but &s;ub&s;cribe to this, for this is to be &s;een now a days in Profe&s;&s;ors: O how have they pretended perfect immedi|ate enjoyments of God in the Spirit, under pretence whereof denying the Scripture; O how they have vaunted and &s;aid, we enjoy God immediately, that is without the Scri|pture: Alas what is the Scripture &s;ay they, how &s;cornfully they have &s;poken of it, though it be <HI>profitable for In&s;truction, that the man of God be throughly perfect to &s;alvation;</HI> as <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, Some there are that Allegorize the Scripture, and under pretence of that, make void the Letter: which allegorizing the Scripture, they call the &s;piritual interpre|tation of the Letter; when as the &s;piritual interpretation of the letter, is that interpreta|tion which the Spirit of God gives of the Letter; It is true, there are &s;ome things in Scripture which are to be taken otherwi&s;e
<PB N="25" REF="17">
then they are &s;et down in the letter, that is, when they are allegorically, parabolically, and &s;ymbolically &s;poken: But they allegorize eve|ry place of Scripture almo&s;t, which I know no warrant for, and &s;o deny the letter: I will name but one place of Scripture, and that is in 1 <HI>John</HI> 4. 2. <HI>Every &s;pirit that confe&s;&s;eth Je|&s;us Chri&s;t come in the fle&s;h is of God;</HI> that is, come within us, &s;ay they: And &s;o under pre|tence of this deny Je&s;us Chri&s;t in manife&s;tati|on in the fle&s;h, and &s;uffering at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> &amp;c. and &s;o utterly overthrow what Chri&s;t hath done for us, and &s;o they become the greate&s;t Antichri&s;ts in the world. There are two &s;orts of Profe&s;&s;ors in the world that deny Je&s;us Chri&s;t come in the fle&s;h.</P>
<P>One &s;ort of Profe&s;&s;ors are tho&s;e that alto|gether look at Je&s;us Chri&s;t within them, and deny him without them; and the&s;e are tho&s;e that deny Je&s;us Chri&s;t come in the fle&s;h, and &s;o are the Antichri&s;t.</P>
<P>There is a &s;econd &s;ort of Profe&s;&s;ors, that look at Je&s;us Chri&s;t altogether without them, as one &s;uffering at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and being rai|&s;ed, &amp;c. but never look at him as within them, they never find the Life, Power and Spirit of him within them; and &s;o they are Antichri&s;t as well as the other: Now that Profe&s;&s;or
<PB N="26" REF="18">
which acknowledgeth Chri&s;t come in the fle&s;h, and Chri&s;t come in his fle&s;h, and who&s;e faith is fixed on Chri&s;t as one in the Heavens, and in every place, and as one that is in his heart, as well as he is in the Heavens and in every place, is not Antichri&s;t.</P>
<P>If it be &s;o, that there is &s;uch a thing as the great red Dragon in Heaven, then beg of God a &s;ight of him in Heaven, for you cannot &s;ee him till a door be opened in Heaven to you, as there was to <HI>John:</HI> He may &s;tand at your right hand and left hand, and you &s;ee him not: Till you be taken up by the Spirit into Heaven, you cannot di&s;cern his <HI>&s;even heads, ten horns, and &s;even crowns;</HI> that is to &s;ay tho&s;e multiplicities of &s;ubtilties, policies and glory wherewith he deceives poor Souls; and till you know his tricks you cannot beware of them, but he will &s;et upon you on every &s;ide, and you &s;hall &s;ee it not; he will blind your eyes, that the light of the glorious Go&s;pel of Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hall not &s;hine into your Souls, he will have you one way or another, and if he cannot prevail one way, he wil another; he will endevor to catch you by the inclination of your mind and nature, he will watch which way they are carried, &amp; &s;o &s;et a trap for your &s;pirit.</P>
<P>Secondly, If it be &s;o, That there is &s;uch a thing as the great red Dragon in Heaven, then
<PB N="27" REF="18">
Friends, take heed of him, for he &s;tands at <HI>Jo|&s;huah</HI>'s right hand; he will appear in his white rayment to you, becau&s;e you are Saints; he will put on his mo&s;t beautiful robes when he appears to Saints, thereby to deceive them: Take heed of his Heads, lamb-like Horns, and glorious Crowns, le&s;t by his &s;ubtilty, &s;trength and glory he fetch you down from your pro|fe&s;&s;ions; and though he appear in never &s;o much glory, &s;toop not at all, and do not obey|&s;ance to him, O noble Saints, no not a jot, notwith&s;tanding his crowns of glory.</P>
<P>Thirdly, If it be &s;o, That there is &s;uch a thing as the great red Dragon in Heaven, having &s;even heads, ten horns, and &s;even crowns up|on his heads, be not afraid of him, let not his mon&s;trou&s;ne&s;s trouble you, do not fear, le&s;t he &s;hould by his policy and &s;trength &s;et upon you; fear not his &s;trength nor policy, your God will &s;trengthen you with &s;trength in your Souls by the Spirit again&s;t him; never think that you &s;hall not be able to deal or grapple with him, &s;eeing God will make perfect his &s;trength in your weakne&s;&s;es: Do not cry out, O &s;urely, &s;urely I &s;hall be overcome by his temptations; but rather fill your mouths as Chri&s;t did his again&s;t him, with <HI>It is writ|ten, It is written, It is written,</HI> and bring no
<PB N="28" REF="19">
railing accu&s;ation again&s;t him, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> dur&s;t not; but cry, <HI>The Lord, even the Lord that hath cho&s;en Jeru&s;alem, rebuke him:</HI> then you &s;hall &s;ee him go from you, and leave you, as he did Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Fourthly, If there be &s;uch a thing as the great red Dragon in Heaven, and that this Dragon is the old Serpent, and the Serpent is the Devil and Satan; then this may &s;erve to inform &s;ome that deny the Dragon, old Ser|pent, Devil and Satan, that &s;ay there is none &s;uch; I &s;ay, this may &s;erve to inform them of the truth of it, that there are &s;uch.</P>
<P><HI>Quest.</HI> But may &s;ome &s;ay, If there be &s;uch, from whence is the Dragons ri&s;e? otherwi&s;e the Serpent, Devil and Satan. 2. What was his fall? And 3. where is this Dragon, otherwi&s;e the Serpent, Devil and Satan?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Without que&s;tion, his ri&s;e with o|ther Angels was from God; but his not keep|his fir&s;t &s;tate, but falling away from it, was from him&s;elf, and in him&s;elf.</P>
<P>Secondly, What was his fall?</P>
<P>It was this; He being at fir&s;t a good and holy Angel him&s;elf, and partaking of the brightne&s;s of the angelical Glory, living and dwelling in the &s;ame with the re&s;t of his Bre|thren the Angels, fell from his fir&s;t e&s;tate or
<PB N="29" REF="19">
principality, and lo&s;t his own former habita|tion or beginning, and <HI>God hath re&s;erved him in everla&s;ting chains under darkne&s;s, unto the Judgment of the great Day, Jude</HI> v. 6. The for&s;aking of the Society of his fellow good Angels (if I may &s;o &s;ay,) and for&s;aking of his fir&s;t e&s;tate of Glory, leaving his former habitation, was his fall; like <HI>Adam</HI> and us, who left our fir&s;t e&s;tate and habitation which was in God, and fell to the eating of that which was forbidden.</P>
<P N="3">3. Where is this Dragon? He is in the Ayr: 2. He <HI>is in the children of di&s;obedience, Eph.</HI> 2. 2. wherein in times pa&s;t ye walked accord|ing to the cour&s;e of this world, according to the Prince of the power of the Ayr, the Spirit that now works in the children of di&s;obedi|ence.</P>
<P>The &s;econd The&s;is or Ba&s;is upon which I &s;hall build my Di&s;cour&s;e is this, That the Tail of the great red Dragon is that by which the Dragon draws the third part of the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven into Earth. This is clear from the words, what the Dragon, and the Tail of the Dragon is, and what Heaven and Earth is, I have at large &s;hewed before, and therefore I will not unfold the terms again, but make &s;ome Application of the words.</P>
<P><PB N="30" REF="20">
Fir&s;t, This may &s;erve to inform us of the truth of this, how that the great red Dragon by his tail draws the third part of the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven, and ca&s;teth them into the Earth: This we may &s;ee fulfilled in our days; how many &s;hining &s;tars hath the tail of the great red Dragon drawn out of Heaven, and ca&s;t into the Earth? So that though they &s;hined as &s;tars in Heaven before, now they are become earthly, worldly, carnal and wicked, and do not &s;tick to commit all manner of wickedne&s;s with greedine&s;s.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> But may &s;ome &s;ay, How doth the Dragon with his tail draw the third part of the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven, and ca&s;t them to the Earth? The&s;e manner of ways following; That is to &s;ay:</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, He deals with them as with <HI>Adam</HI> and <HI>Eve;</HI> ju&s;t as he drew <HI>Adam</HI> and <HI>Eve</HI> to eat of that which is forbidden, &s;o he draws the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven, and ca&s;teth them into the Earth. See how he drew them to eat of that which was forbidden, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3. <HI>Yea, &s;aith the Serpent unto the woman, hath God &s;aid, Ye &s;hall not eat of every tree of the garden?</HI> No, &s;aith the woman, <HI>We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the</HI>
<PB N="31" REF="20">
<HI>garden we may not eat of it, nor touch it, for God hath &s;aid it, lest we dye.</HI> Yea hath he &s;aid it? is it indeed &s;o? are you not mi&s;taken? are you &s;ure God &s;poke it? See how the Ser|pent &s;ets upon her, and endeavors to make her que&s;tion the authority of Gods Word: And hath God &s;aid, <HI>Ye &s;hall &s;urely dye,</HI> that is cer|tainly dye? If you eat, ye &s;hall not certainly dye: Here the Serpent makes him&s;elf to have more power then God; Ye may eat &s;afely, ye &s;hall not, though God hath &s;aid it, dye; <HI>For God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof your eyes &s;hall be opened, and ye &s;hall be as gods, knowing good and evil.</HI> As if the Serpent &s;hould &s;ay, Let God &s;ay what he will, you &s;hall not dye; for in&s;tead of dying, if you eat, your eyes &s;hall be opened, and you &s;hall be as gods in the knowing of good and evil: Come, &s;aith the Serpent, eat, do not fear, you &s;hall not dye, for you &s;hall know good and evil, and ye &s;hall know good and evil as gods know it, even that very day you eat it &s;hall be &s;o, ye &s;hall no &s;ooner eat but it &s;hall be &s;o. The&s;e things he gives as Rea&s;ons that the woman &s;hould not dye if &s;he did eat, becau&s;e her eyes &s;hould be opened, and they &s;hal know good and evil as God that very day they did eat. <HI>Now when the woman &s;aw that the tree</HI>
<PB N="32" REF="21">
<HI>was good for food, and plea&s;ant to the eyes, and that it was a tree to be de&s;ired to make one wi&s;e, the woman takes of the fruit thereof, and pre&s;ently falls upon eating.</HI> See, when the Serpent had made her que&s;tion the autho|rity of Gods Word, and told her that &s;he &s;hould not certainly dye if &s;he did eat, but her eyes &s;hould be opened, and &s;he &s;hould be as God in the knowing of good and evil; and likewi&s;e had per&s;waded her that the tree was good in re&s;pect of food, and plea&s;antne&s;s to the eye, and that it was a tree to be de&s;ired, becau&s;e it makes one wi&s;e, the woman toge|ther with the man pre&s;ently takes of the fruit of it, and eats, as I &s;aid before. The man and the woman had a de&s;ire to have their eyes o|pened, they had a de&s;ire to &s;ee, but not in the light of God; they thir&s;ted after knowledg, they coveted to be as God in knowing good and evil, they coveted to be that which God would not have them, they coveted to &s;atisfie their eyes and their pallates, they coveted wi&s;|dom that was not the wi&s;dom of God; and this was their fall: So that though they &s;hi|ned like &s;tars of Heaven before, now they are ca&s;t down from thence into Earth, and are be|come now earthly, worldly, carnal and &s;inful. So that this is one way that the Dragon draws
<PB N="33" REF="21">
&s;tars out of Heaven into Earth, by making Souls que&s;tion the Authority of Gods Word, whether or no it be true.</P>
<P>The &s;econd way or manner, how the great red Dragon draws with his Tail the third part of the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven, and ca&s;teth them to the Earth, is, by taking of them up into an exceeding high mountain, that is, by lifting them up on high, and &s;o &s;hewing of them the glory of this world, &amp; by promi&s;ing them it, <HI>if they will fall down and wor&s;hip him.</HI> Thus he hath dealt with many in our days, he hath exalted them on high, and given them a &s;ight of his glory, as credit, honour, repute, e&s;teem in the world, which are the Devils glory. Now tho&s;e that have been like &s;hi|ning &s;tars in Heaven, in the appearance of o|thers the great red Dragon, by the pre&s;enting of this his glory before them, hath by his Tail drawn them out of Heaven, and ca&s;t them in|the Earth. So that this is another way the Dra|gon takes to draw the third part of the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven, and ca&s;t them into the Earth, he &s;hews them the glory of this world, and by that draws them out of Heaven into Earth, as he hath done many in our days, who are turned from their &s;hining like &s;tars in Hea|ven to the Devils glory; that is, they &s;eek
<PB N="34" REF="22">
after credit, honour, repute and e&s;teem in the world, of which thing we have had woful experience in our days.</P>
<P>The third way and manner how the great red Dragon draws with his Tail the third part of the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven, and ca&s;t|eth them to the Earth, is by his fal&s;e applica|tion of Scripture to Profe&s;&s;ors, as that place of Scripture, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6. 12. <HI>All things are lawful.</HI> And if all things be lawful, then &s;ay they, all manner of wickedne&s;s is lawful, and &s;o we may commit it: The Apo&s;tle &s;aith not there, that all manner of wickedne&s;s is lawful, as for|nication, idolatry, adultery, and the like; for &s;aith the Apo&s;tle in Ver&s;. 13. <HI>The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord.</HI> And be&s;ides if we look in the beginning of that 13 Ver&s;e, he &s;peaks of <HI>meats for the belly:</HI> And in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10. 23. he &s;peaks not there neither, that all manner of wickedne&s;s is lawful, though many &s;ay it is confirmed from the&s;e places of Scripture; for he &s;peaks again&s;t that in the beginning of the Chapter; and be&s;ides he &s;peaks there of <HI>going to fea&s;ts,</HI> and <HI>eating of meats:</HI> and in Ver&s;. 19. he &s;peaks of his liber|ty to do tho&s;e things, which the weak could not. And then that of <HI>Rom.</HI> 14. 14. the Dra|gon makes a fal&s;e application of to poor Souls:
<PB N="35" REF="22">
<HI>I know and am per&s;waded by the Lord Je&s;us, that there is nothing unclean of it &s;elf, but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.</HI> Say &s;ome, nothing is un|clean to us, no not &s;in; we can commit any &s;in, for we e&s;teem not any thing to be unclean, but tho&s;e that do, to tho&s;e it is &s;in. O &s;ubtle Devil! He &s;peaks in the Chapter of ob&s;erv|ing days, and eating herbs; he doth not there &s;peak that &s;in in it &s;elf is not unclean; whe|ther they e&s;teemed it not to be unclean, or whether they e&s;teemed it to be unclean, &s;in is unclean. And then that place of Scripture the Devil makes application of to Profe&s;&s;ors, <HI>Tit.</HI> 1. 15. <HI>&V;nto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbeleev|ing, is nothing pure, but even their minds and con&s;ciences are defiled.</HI> We are pure, &s;ay they, and &s;o all things are pure to us, adul|tery, fornication, &amp;c. we are not defiled, but beleeving, and &s;o all things are pure to us, but tho&s;e that beleeve not their minds and con&s;ci|ences are defiled. O poor creatures, where are you? who hath bewitched you? The meaning of that place is not, that &s;in is pure to tho&s;e that are pure and beleeving, that is a delu&s;ion of Satan; for tho&s;e words <HI>all things</HI> are meant days and meats: See in <HI>Rom.</HI> 14. 20.
<PB N="36" REF="23">
<HI>All things,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>indeed are pure, but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.</HI> In which Chapter he &s;peaks of meats and days, as I &s;aid before, which are now pure to him, &s;eeing the Ceremonial Law is aboli&s;hed by Chri&s;t, which put a difference between meats. Thus you &s;ee how the Devil beguiles them, thereby leading them to all manner of wicked|ne&s;s. So that this is another way the Dragon takes to ca&s;t &s;hining &s;tars out of Heaven into Earth, he makes fal&s;e application of Scripture to them, and &s;o draws them out of Heaven in|to Earth.</P>
<P>The fourth way and manner, how the great red Dragon draws with his Tail the third part of the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven, and ca&s;t|eth them to the Earth, is by u&s;hering in Errors with the&s;e &s;ix glorious Truths following; that is to &s;ay,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>God doth all things.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Is all things.</ITEM>
<ITEM>All things are in God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>All things are of God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>All things are through God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>And all things are to God.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Fir&s;t of all, God doth all things; and it is clear from Scripture, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12. 6. <HI>He worketh all in all:</HI> But yet it is to be taken, that he doth
<PB N="37" REF="23">
all things in his Son, nothing out of his Son; by him and in him he made the world, and he upholds it by him. But with and under this glorious Truth the Devil u&s;hereth in &s;ome|what that is not truth, thereby to draw tho&s;e that are like &s;hining &s;tars in Heaven out of Heaven into the Earth; that which he u&s;her|eth in in this &s;aying, God doth all things, is this; If he doth all things, then he doth &s;in, he acts &s;in, there is not any thing that is but he doth it, wickedne&s;s is that he doth: With this &s;nare the Dragon catcheth many Souls.</P>
<P>Secondly, God is all things; and it is dear likewi&s;e from Scripture, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. 28. <HI>That God may be all in all.</HI> He is all things in and to Saints, he is Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Peace, Joy, &s;trength again&s;t &s;in, and he is all out of them, abroad in the world, he rules and he raigns. God is all, that is, he is the Sub&s;tance of all things, he goes beyond all, he is all in this re|&s;pect likewi&s;e, becau&s;e he brings about all things; &s;o that this is a glorious Truth, God is all things: Now the Dragon he u&s;hereth in with this Truth this Error, If God be all things, then he is &s;in and wickedne&s;s; and if he be all things, then he is this Dog, this To|bacco-pipe, he is me, and I am him, as I have heard &s;ome &s;ay.</P>
<P><PB N="38" REF="24">
Thirdly, All things are in God; this is a glorious Truth likewi&s;e from Scripture; All creatures, all created things are in him: But yet it is not to be taken, that they are materi|ally in him, but vertually, radically. Now this great red Dragon u&s;hereth in with this glori|ous Truth another Error, thereby, as I &s;aid be|fore, to draw &s;hining &s;tars out of Heaven into Earth, which Error is, If all things be in God, then &s;urely &s;in is in him, and I am in him, though I walk never &s;o wretchedly. But &s;tay a little, you run too fa&s;t: There is a two-fold Being in God.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, There is a Being in him &s;o as to live, move, and have our Being.</P>
<P>Secondly, There is Being in him, by vertue of being born again. So that here you are caught.</P>
<P>Fourthly, All things are of God; this is cleer from Scripture likewi&s;e, <HI>Rom.</HI> 11. <HI>ult. for of him are all things,</HI> and that in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 8. <HI>But to us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things:</HI> all creatures all created things which belong to the old Creation and to the new Creation, are of him though in a different &s;ence they are of him, but yet be|cau&s;e they are of him, yet this doth not follow that the&s;e creatures and created things are
<PB N="39" REF="24">
him&s;elf, as &s;ome &s;ay, then were every created thing and creature a God, and &s;o make an infinite number of Gods: all things are of God, &s;ay they, if all things be of him, then &s;in is of him and not of the Devill; and we are of him, and if we be of him, then we are him&s;elf, for what&s;oever is of him is him|&s;elf. Stay a little, that will not follow, for as I &s;aid before, if that were a truth, what a ma|ny Gods would you make! And be&s;ides that will not follow, that &s;in is of him becau&s;e all things are of him, for the Scripture &s;aith, <HI>&s;in is of the Devil,</HI> and therefore not of him, he is not the cau&s;e of it; The&s;e are tho&s;e Errors which the great Red Dragon u&s;hereth in with this truth, <HI>All things are of him.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, All things are through God; This is a glorious truth &s;uitable to Scripture, &s;ee <HI>Rom.</HI> 11. <HI>ult. For of him and through him are all things;</HI> It is through him that &s;uch a thing comes to pa&s;s, and that &s;uch a thing is, and that we are alive: it was through him that the <HI>Jews</HI> were cut off, and the <HI>Gentiles</HI> ingraffed into a good Olive tree; it is through him, that is, it was Gods doings: here the great red Dragon u&s;hereth in an Error with this glorious Truth, Are all things through him? then &s;in is through him, all that wicked|ne&s;s
<PB N="40" REF="25">
that I commit is through him, that is, by his means; it is through Gods means that I am an adulterer, fornicator, &amp;c. he is the Au|thor of it. O thou deceived creature, the De|vil hath thee fa&s;t; &s;in is through your corrupt nature, and the Devil, and not through God.</P>
<P>Sixthly, All things are to him; that is a a Truth likewi&s;e from Scripture, <HI>Rom.</HI> 11. <HI>ult. And to him are all things, to whom be prai&s;e, &amp;c.</HI> All things are to him, that is, to his prai&s;e, to &s;et forth his prai&s;e: And here the great red Dragon u&s;hereth in this Error, If all things be to his prai&s;e, then &s;in is, and there|fore I will &s;in, for all my &s;ins that I commit &s;hall be to his prai&s;e, and the more I &s;in the more it &s;hall be to his prai&s;e. The&s;e are the &s;ix manner of ways by which the Dragon u&s;hereth in Error with Truth, thereby to draw the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven, and ca&s;t them to the Earth.</P>
<P>The fift way and manner how the great red Dragon draweth with his Tall the &s;tars of Heaven out of Heaven, and ca&s;teth them to the Earth, is by the Dragons winding with his Tail into Profe&s;&s;ors rotten and un&s;ound Prin|ciples. But you will ask me, What are they? The&s;e following: that is to &s;ay;</P>
<P>That they are very God, and infinite and Al|mighty
<PB N="41" REF="25">
as the very God is; That they are in Honour, Excellency, Maje&s;ty and Power e|q<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ally and the &s;ame with the true God; That the eternal Maje&s;ty dwells in them, and no where el&s;e; That there is no &s;uch thing as the Holine&s;s and Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God; That unrighteou&s;ne&s;s in them, and the acts of un|cleanne&s;s, prophane &s;wearing, drunkenne&s;s, and the like filthine&s;s and bruiti&s;hne&s;s, are not unholy and forbidden in the Word; That the&s;e acts in them and others are approved of by God, and that &s;uch acts, and the per&s;ons that commit them, are like God: That the acts of denying and bla&s;pheming God, or the Holine&s;s and Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God; That the acts of cur&s;ing God, &s;wearing prophanely and fal&s;ly by his Name, and the acts of lying, &s;tealing, cozening and defrauding others; the acts of murther, adultery, ince&s;t, fornication, unclean Sodomy drunkenne&s;s, filthy and la&s;|cizious &s;peaking, are not things in them&s;elves &s;hameful, wicked, &s;inful, impious, abominable and dete&s;table in any per&s;on: That the acts of adultery, drunkenne&s;s, &s;wearing, and the like open wickedne&s;s, are in their own nature as holy and righteous as the duties of prayer, and giving of thanks; That what&s;oever is acted by them, whether whoredom, adultery, drunkenne&s;s, and the like, may be committed
<PB N="42" REF="26">
without &s;in; and that &s;uch acts are acted by the true God, or by the Maje&s;ty of God, and by the Eternity that is in them: That Heaven and all happine&s;s con&s;i&s;t in the acting of tho&s;e things which are &s;in and wickedne&s;s; That tho&s;e are mo&s;t perfect, and like to God and Eternity, which do commit the greate&s;t &s;ins without lea&s;t remor&s;e or &s;en&s;e; That there is no &s;uch thing really and truly as unrighteou&s;|ne&s;s and &s;in, but as a man or a woman judgeth thereof; and that there is neither Heaven nor Hell, neither Salvation nor Damnation, and that the&s;e are one and the &s;ame thing, and that there is not any di&s;tinction between them, or between light and darkne&s;s; That Rea&s;on is God: That we &s;hall not have peace and qui|etne&s;s in our &s;pirits, till we come into this li|berty of whoring, &s;wearing, and the like: That man is deified; That the &s;pirit after a man is dead goes into a Dog or Cat; That God be|leeves in God: That all the women in the world are but one mans wife in unity, and all the men in the world are but one womans husband in unity; &s;o that one man may lie with all the women in the world, for they are his wife in unity, and one woman may lie with all men in the world, for they are her husband in unity: That there is no act that is &s;inful be|fore God; That the holy Spirit is not God:
<PB N="43" REF="26">
That Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath no other then a hu|mane nature. The&s;e and many others are the Principles that the great red Dragon with his Tail windes into Profe&s;&s;ors, thereby to ca&s;t them out of Heaven into Earth. And there|fore Friends take heed of him, he is very &s;ubtle, his Tail is full of windings and turnings; if it were po&s;&s;ible he would deceive the very E|lect: If you be Profe&s;&s;ors in &s;hew, and not in deed, he will drag you down from Heaven into Earth; that is, he will drag you down from your glorious profe&s;&s;ion into Earth; that is, into &s;uch an e&s;tate of earthly-minded|ne&s;s and wickedne&s;s, that all that &s;ee you, and behold you, &s;hall &s;ay of you, as it &s;hall be &s;aid of <HI>Babylon</HI> when &s;he is de&s;troyed; <HI>Alas, alas, that great City that was clothed with fine linnen, and purple, and &s;carlet, and decked with gold, and precious &s;tones, and pearls, for in one hour &s;o great riches is come to nought, Revel.</HI> 18. 16, 17. So &s;hall they &s;ay of you, O glorious Profe&s;&s;ors, that have been as &s;tars &s;hining in Heaven, clothed with fine linnen, purple, and &s;carlet, and decked with gold, and precious &s;tones, and pearls, which are nothing but the parts, and gifts, and righteou&s;ne&s;s of men; Alas, alas, tho&s;e glorious Profe&s;&s;ors, for in one hour, as it were, are they come to nought. So that you &s;ee how the Dragon
<PB N="44" REF="27">
draws Profe&s;&s;ors out of Heaven into Earth, by winding with his Tail fal&s;e and un&s;ound prin|ciples into them.</P>
<P><HI>Quest.</HI> But may &s;ome &s;ay, You hold a fall|ing away from grace, do you not?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> No; but I hold a falling away which is now fulfilled before the day of Chri&s;t come, &s;poken of in 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2. 3. And be&s;ides I hold a falling away from <HI>the end of the Com|mandment, which is Charity out of a pure heart, and a good Con&s;cience, and of faith un|feigned, from which &s;ome having &s;werved, have turned a&s;ide to vain jangling, which was Hymeneus and Alexander,</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1. 5, 6, 20. And al&s;o a falling away from the heavenly gifts of tho&s;e that are inlightened, and are <HI>made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have ta&s;ted the good Word of God, and of the powers of the world to come, Hebr.</HI> 6. 4, 5. If Pro|fe&s;&s;ors have reached no further then <HI>Charity,</HI> though it be <HI>out of a pure heart, and of a good Con&s;cience, and of Faith unfeigned,</HI> and no further then a <HI>being enlightened,</HI> and a <HI>ta&s;ting of the heavenly gifts,</HI> and a <HI>being made par|takers of the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> and a <HI>ta&s;ting of the good Word of God, and of the powers of the World to come,</HI> they are liable to be by the Tail of this great red Dragon drawn out of Heaven, that is, drawn from the&s;e into Earth;
<PB N="45" REF="27">
&s;o that they will become earthly, filthy, vain, and the like.</P>
<P>The third Ba&s;is or The&s;is upon which I &s;hall build my Di&s;cour&s;e is this, That there is mul|tiplicity of &s;ubtilty, &s;trength and glory in the great red Dragon to deceive, accu&s;e, &s;et upon, tempt and de&s;troy. This is clear from the words; and it will appear to be &s;o from o|ther places of Scripture: &s;ee <HI>Gen.</HI> 3. 1. <HI>Now the Serpent was more &s;ubtle then any bea&s;t of the field which the Lord God had made:</HI> That &s;heweth that there is a multiplicity of &s;ubtil|ty in him. <HI>We wrestle not only with fle&s;h and blood, but with principalities and powers, Ephe&s;. ult.</HI> Chap. That place of Scripture &s;heweth, that there is a multiplicity of power in him. <HI>If thou wilt fall down and wor&s;hip me,</HI> &s;aith the Serpent to Chri&s;t, <HI>I will give you all the glory of the world:</HI> That &s;peaks a mul|tiplicity of glory in the Dragon.</P>
<P>We &s;hall a little hold forth his &s;ubtilty, power and glory.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t we &s;hall &s;peak of his &s;ubtilty; &s;ee <HI>Job</HI> 1. 6. <HI>When the &s;ons of God came to pre&s;ent them&s;elves before the Lord, Satan he came among them.</HI> See his &s;ubtilty in it, under pre|tence in coming to pray with the &s;ons of God, he came to accu&s;e and &s;et upon <HI>Job,</HI> as you &s;hall &s;ee by and by; <HI>And the Lord &s;aid unto</HI>
<PB N="46" REF="28">
<HI>him, From whence come&s;t thou? Then Satan an&s;wered the Lord, From going to and fro in the Earth, and from walking up and down in it:</HI> See his &s;ubtilty here, in leaving out <HI>like a roaring Lyon, &s;eeking whom he may devour. And the Lord &s;aid unto Satan, Ha&s;t thou con&s;idered,</HI> or ha&s;t thou &s;et thy heart, <HI>on my &s;ervant Job, that there is none like him in the Earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and e&s;cheweth evil? Then an|&s;wered Satan the Lord, and &s;aid, Doth Job fear God for nought? Ha&s;t thou not made a bedg about him, and about his hou&s;e, and a|bout all that he hath on every &s;ide?</HI> Behold his &s;ubtilty again in accu&s;ing <HI>Job:</HI> As if Satan &s;hould have &s;aid, Thou ha&s;t made a fence a|gain&s;t all that he hath, and he &s;erves thee for that, it is not for nought that he &s;erves thee; thou ha&s;t encrea&s;ed his &s;ub&s;tance, and ble&s;&s;ed the work of his hand, and he &s;erves thee for that; <HI>but put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will fall acur&s;ing of thee,</HI> and that <HI>to thy face. And the Lord &s;aid unto him, Behold all that he hath is in thy power, only upon him&s;elf put not forth thy hand. So Satan goes forth from the pre&s;ence of the Lord.</HI> After he had Gods <HI>Job,</HI> away he went, it was for <HI>Job</HI> that Satan pre&s;ented him|&s;elf before the Lord. Now in Cap. 2. they came
<PB N="47" REF="28">
the &s;econd time <HI>to pre&s;ent them&s;elves before the Lord, and Satan came with them: And the Lord &s;aid unto him, from whence come&s;t thou?</HI> And Satan gave him the like an&s;wer as before: <HI>And the Lord &s;aid unto him, Ha&s;t thou con&s;i|der'd my &s;ervant Job, a perfect &amp; upright man, that feareth God, and e&s;cheweth evil? and &s;till he holdeth fa&s;t his integrity, although thou mo|ved&s;t me again&s;t him, to de&s;troy him without cau&s;e.</HI> The &s;ubtilty of the Serpent in pre&s;ent|ing him&s;elf before the Lord, was not only to accu&s;e <HI>Job,</HI> but likewi&s;e to move God again&s;t <HI>Job</HI> for to de&s;troy him without cau&s;e. <HI>And Satan an&s;wered the Lord, Skin for skin, yea all that a man hath will he give for his life: But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and fle&s;h, and he will cur&s;e thee to thy face.</HI> See how he further accu&s;eth <HI>Job</HI> before God, that &s;o God might de&s;troy him, or that he might have him to de&s;troy: As if Satan &s;hould have &s;aid to the Lord thus; All that a man hath, before he will lo&s;e his life, he will part with all, yea skin for skin; but do but touch his bone and fle&s;h, and he will fall acur|&s;ing of thee to thy face, even before thy face. Satan cannot endure a <HI>Job,</HI> but he is always accu&s;ing and &s;etting upon him. <HI>And the Lord &s;aid unto him, Behold he is in thy hand, but &s;ave his life.</HI> Though God delivers us with
<PB N="48" REF="29">
<HI>Job</HI> into the hands of Satan, yet he will not have Satan take away our life: As Satan pre|&s;ented him&s;elf before the Lord with the &s;ons of God, &s;o he doth now pre&s;ent him&s;elf with the Saints before God, but it is to accu&s;e us to God, that he might have a commi&s;&s;ion from God to &s;et upon us, to afflict us, not only in our goods, but in our body: He &s;peaks of us to God as he did of <HI>Job, It is not for nought that yo &s;erve God,</HI> &s;aith Satan to poor Souls; you fear him for this and for that, he hath thus and thus ble&s;&s;ed you, and made a hedg about you; and if God &s;hould put forth his hand, and touch you, you would cur&s;e him. See his &s;ubtilty in <HI>Zech.</HI> 3. 1. There is <HI>Satan &s;tanding at the right hand of Jo&s;hua the high Priest, who &s;tood before the Angel of the Lord.</HI> His &s;ubtilty in <HI>&s;tanding at Jo&s;huahs right hand</HI> was <HI>to re&s;ist</HI> and with&s;tand <HI>Jo&s;huah:</HI> Satan he had e&s;pyed <HI>Io&s;huahs filthy rayments</HI> that were upon him, as he <HI>&s;tood before the Angel:</HI> Now his &s;ubtilty in &s;tanding there was to with&s;tand <HI>Jo&s;huah:</HI> Thou ha&s;t filthy gar|ments, and &s;tande&s;t thou before the Angel? what do&s;t thou here with the&s;e filthy gar|ments on thee? But afterwards he was <HI>clo|thed with change of rayment.</HI> So he &s;peaks to a poor Soul many times when he pre&s;ents him&s;elf before God, What do&s;t thou here
<PB N="49" REF="29">
with the&s;e &s;inful garments upon thee? how dar'&s;t thou come before God with the&s;e? thereby to keep it from God; this is his &s;ub|tilty. And we may &s;ee his &s;ubtilty in the words; he <HI>&s;tands before the woman,</HI> but it was <HI>to devour the man-child.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, We &s;hall a little con&s;ider the Dra|gons power. But you wil ask me what is it.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Fir&s;t, The power of the Dragon is expre&s;&s;i|ons of Scripture.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Secondly, Sin.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Thirdly, Darkne&s;s.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Fir&s;t, The power of the Dragon is expre&s;&s;i|on of Scripture. I pray bear with me a little: In this expre&s;&s;ion my meaning is, he makes u&s;e of Scripture whereby to &s;trengthen him|&s;elf again&s;t a Saint, as he did again&s;t Chri&s;t; &s;ee how he did it again&s;t Chri&s;t, in <HI>Mat.</HI> 4. 6. &s;aith the Devil to Chri&s;t, <HI>Cast thy &s;elf down, for he hath given his Angels charge over thee, to bear thee up, lest at any time thou da&s;h thy foot against the &s;tones.</HI> So he &s;aith to a poor Soul, Thou may&s;t kill thy &s;elf, God hath given his Angels charge over thee to keep thee. As <HI>the &s;trength of &s;in is the Law,</HI> &s;o the &s;trength of Satan is Scripture, (as I may &s;o &s;ay.)</P>
<P>Secondly, Sin: The power of the Dragon is &s;in; that is, the Dragon makes u&s;e of &s;in, whereby to &s;trengthen him&s;elf again&s;t a Soul,
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1 <HI>John</HI> 3. 6. <HI>Who&s;oever abideth in him, &s;inneth not: Who&s;oever &s;inneth, hath not &s;een nor known him.</HI> Now &s;aith the Dragon to the Soul, You do not abide in God becau&s;e you &s;in; you have &s;inned, &s;aith the Devil, and you cannot deny it, and therefore you have not &s;een nor known God; when as the Soul hath not only &s;inned, but only the Law in the fle&s;h, &s;in in the Soul, not the mind hath &s;inned. Now for want of di&s;tinction between the &s;piritual part and the fle&s;hly part of the Soul, the Soul is &s;o troubled by Satan, that it knows not what to do.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Darkne&s;s: The power of the Dra|gon is darkne&s;s; that is, he makes u&s;e of dark|ne&s;s, whereby to &s;trengthen him&s;elf again&s;t the Soul: <HI>If we &s;ay we have fellow&s;hip with him, and walk in darkne&s;s, we lye,</HI> 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 1. 6. Now &s;aith the Dragon, You are in the dark, and you walk in darkne&s;s, and the Soul knows it is in darkne&s;s, therefore you have no fellow&s;hip with God and Chri&s;t: And the poor Soul is troubled, that it knows not what to do; when as that darkne&s;s is called there a <HI>hating our brother,</HI> 1 <HI>Ioh.</HI> 2. 11.</P>
<P>Thirdly, We &s;hall a little &s;peak of the Dra|gons glory: His glory is honor, repute, e&s;teem, preferment; his crowns which are upon his heads are his glory, which hold forth royalty
<PB N="51" REF="30">
and rule, as I &s;aid before; That angelical light into which he is changed, is his glory; that heavenly light in which he appears to Saints is his glory, his lamb-like horns are his glory, his &s;eeming &s;avor of piety, zeal and holine&s;s is his glory, as I &s;aid before.</P>
<P>If it be &s;o, That there is a multiplicy of &s;ub|tilty, &s;trength and glory in the red Dragon to accu&s;e, &s;et upon, tempt and de&s;troy, then take heed of his &s;ubtilty, power &amp; glory, le&s;t you be en&s;nared in either: if he cannot catch you by his &s;ubtilty, he will have you by his power; and if he cannot have you by his power, then he will catch you by his glory: <HI>Be you therefore wi&s;e as Serpents,</HI> and con&s;ider what you have to deal withall; <HI>watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation,</HI> and let your eyes be always opened, for this <HI>Dragon goes up and down like a roaring Lyon, &s;eeking whom he may devour.</HI></P>
<P>The fourth Ba&s;is or The&s;is upon which I &s;hall build my Di&s;cour&s;e, is this, That no &s;oon|er is the Church of Chri&s;t ready to bring forth Chri&s;t in her, but the Dragon &s;tands ready, before her face, to devour him. This is clear from the words: The Dragons aim is not &s;o much to devour the Church of Chri&s;t, though he &s;tands before it, but Chri&s;t in the Church of Chri&s;t; his enmity is more at Chri&s;t, then the woman; he cannot endure Chri&s;t &s;hould be
<PB N="52" REF="31">
in the Church, he will labor as much as po&s;&s;i|ble he can to devour him, and the rea&s;on of it, is, becau&s;e he is to rule with a rod of Iron the Nations: Now the Dragon he would rule, and therefore the Dragon hath great wrath again&s;t the Lamb, knowing his time to be &s;hort. When he was &s;een by <HI>Iohn</HI> to be ca&s;t out of Heaven into Earth, he falls a per&s;e|cuting the woman that brought forth Chri&s;t: When the Dragon could do nothing to Chri&s;t he &s;ets upon the woman, when &s;he was flying into the wilderne&s;s, which is her place, where <HI>&s;he is nouri&s;hed for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the Serpent. The Dragon casteth out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cau&s;e her to be carried away therewith.</HI> And when the Dragon could do no good with the wo|man, he was <HI>wroth with her, and went to make War with the remnant of her &s;eed.</HI> Fir&s;t he &s;eeks to de&s;troy Chri&s;t in us; if he cannot prevail that way, then he will &s;eek to devour the woman that brings forth Chri&s;t; when he cannot do that, then he will &s;eek to devour her &s;eed.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, If it be &s;o, That no &s;ooner is the Church of Chri&s;t ready to bring forth Je&s;us Chri&s;t, but the Dragon &s;tands ready to devour him, then let the woman and her &s;eed beware
<PB REF="31">
of him, let her &s;eed e&s;pecially: And as for the woman, &s;he hath a <HI>place prepared for her in the Wilderne&s;s, from the face of the Serpent, Revel.</HI> 12. 14. A great ble&s;&s;edne&s;s it is, though it be in the wilderne&s;s, that is, in a bewilded &s;tate, for there the child Je&s;us is kept from the Dragons mouth. O ye remnant of the wo|mans &s;eed! therefore the Dragon went to make war with you; and therefore I will di|rect my &s;peech to you: It is you the Dragon aims at, it is you the Dragon will have about with, it is you that he will make war with; &s;tand to your arms therefore, be not without your weapons always in your hands; be al|ways girt about with truth, and having on the <HI>brest-plate of Righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and your feet &s;hod with the preparation of the <HI>Gospel of Peace;</HI> and <HI>above all, take the &s;hield of Faith, wherewith you &s;hall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the Devil: And take the hel|met of Salvation, and the &s;word of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; praying always with all prayer and &s;upplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all per&s;ever|ance,</HI> le&s;t you be conquered, and your Je&s;us de|voured before your face. <HI>Above all take the &s;hield of Faith:</HI> The be&s;t weapon to fight a|gain&s;t the Dragon is Faith.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> But you will ask me, What is it? and how &s;hall we u&s;e it? I &s;hall according to
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my light &s;hew you that, becau&s;e Faith is little &s;poken of now adays, and &s;o make an end.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Fir&s;t, I &s;hall &s;hew you what Faith is; It is the fixing of the heart on Chri&s;t, <HI>P&s;.</HI> 57. 7. It <HI>is the &s;ubstance of things hoped for,</HI> and <HI>the evidence of things not &s;een, Hebr.</HI> 1. 1.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t of all, <HI>Faith is the &s;ubstance of things hoped for</HI> by us; that is, it is the ground or confidence of things hoped for; it gives us ground and confidence of things that are ho|ped for by us.</P>
<P>Secondly, It is <HI>the evidence of,</HI> or it is that which evidenceth to our &s;pirits, <HI>things not &s;een;</HI> that is, things we do not &s;ee, it is that which evidenceth to us things not &s;een, or it is the conviction of things not &s;een by us, it convinceth us of things not &s;een.</P>
<P>The next thing is, how faith is to be u&s;ed a|gain&s;t the Dragon; ju&s;t as <HI>Iacob</HI> u&s;ed it when he wre&s;tled with the Angel: But how was that? See <HI>Gen.</HI> 32. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29. <HI>And Iacob was left alone; and there wre&s;tled a man with him, until the breaking of the day: And when he &s;aw that he prevailed not a|gain&s;t him, he touched the hollow of Iacobs thigh, and the hollow of Iacobs thigh was out of joynt.</HI> Here is <HI>Iacob</HI> and an Angel wre&s;t|ling together till break of day; here is the Angel not prevailing: when the Angel &s;aw he prevailed not again&s;t <HI>Iacob,</HI> he put <HI>Iacobs</HI>
<PB REF="32">
thigh out of joynt as he wre&s;tled with him, which was to try <HI>Iacobs</HI> faith. See here the hollow of <HI>Iacobs</HI> thigh out of joynt: After the doing of which by the Angel, he &s;aith, <HI>Let me go, Iacob:</HI> The Angel would have been gone, had not <HI>Iacobs</HI> faith kept him from go|ing: Saith <HI>Iacob, I will not let thee go with|out a ble&s;&s;ing:</HI> As if he &s;hould have &s;aid, Ble&s;s me, and then thou &s;halt go; I mu&s;t be ble&s;&s;ed, and I am re&s;olved to be ble&s;&s;ed, notwith&s;tand|ing the hollow of my thigh is out of joynt: Here is <HI>Iacobs</HI> faith, he would not let go, but he would hang upon the Angel &s;till. Ju&s;t as if two were wre&s;tling together, and the one &s;hould put out the hollow of the thigh of the other, and that other, though he could not wre&s;tle, &s;hould hang upon the other, and hold him with his hands: So it is here; <HI>Iacob,</HI> though he cannot wre&s;tle, yet he hangs upon and holds with his hands the Angel, and is re|&s;olved he will hang there, and if the Angel went he would go with him, hanging upon him, unle&s;s the Angel ble&s;&s;ed him: Behold, what faith is here? When the Angel &s;aw he would not let him go unle&s;s he ble&s;&s;ed him, the Angel asked him his name; and he &s;aid his name was <HI>Iacob: And the Angel &s;aid, Thou &s;halt no more be called Iacob, but I&s;rael;</HI> which &s;ignifies a prevailer and conqueror: There is the ble&s;&s;ing. So that let your hearts
<PB REF="33">
be fixed on Chri&s;t, as one that is not only a|bove you, that is to &s;ay, in the Heavens, but al&s;o within you; and do not mind the Dra|gon &s;o much as faith in Chri&s;t: We fight a|gain&s;t the Dragon and &s;in many times, and never think of Chri&s;t; but let your eyes be &s;et upon him, and do not wre&s;tle with the Dragon, but with Chri&s;t again&s;t the Dragon, and then you wre&s;tle aright. We wre&s;tle with the Dragon, and not with Chri&s;t again&s;t the Dragon, we never think of him, and that is the rea&s;on we do not prevail: Wre&s;tle with Chri&s;t again&s;t the Dragon, and let your eyes be placed on him, and though he touch the hollow of your thigh, &amp; put it out of joynt, as I may &s;o &s;ay, that is, take away your &s;trength, &s;o that you cannot wre&s;tle with Chri&s;t, as many times he doth take away our power, to &s;ee whether we, though we cannot wre&s;tle, yet will depend and hang upon him; tell Chri&s;t, if he attempts to go away from you, that though you cannot wre&s;tle with him, yet you will depend and hang upon him, that if he go away, it &s;hall be with you hang|ing upon him; though he &s;ay to you, Let me go, yet do you reply again to him, and &s;ay, We will not let thee go, except thou ble&s;s us: Then he will enquire of your names, and give you other names, and call you I&s;raelites, that is, Prevailers over the Dragon.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
