But first, among the priests diffenfion fprings;
Men who attend the altar, and should most
Endeavour peace: their ftrife pollution brings
Upon the temple it felf: at laft they feize
The fceptre, and regard not DAVID'S-fons:
Then lofe it to a ftranger, that the true
Anointed King MESSIAH might be born
Barr'd of His right: yet at His birth a star,
Unfeen before in heav'n, proclaims him come;
And guides the eastern fages, who inquire
His place, to offer incenfe, myrrh, and gold:
His place of birth a folemn Angel tells
To fimple fhepherds, keeping watch by night:
They gladly thither hafte; and, by a choir
Of fquadron'd Angels, hear his carol fung.
A virgin is His Mother, but His Sire
The Pow'r of the Moft High! He fhall afcend
The throne hereditary, and bound His reign
With earth's wide bounds, His glory with the heav'ns !
He ceas'd, difcerning ADAM with fuch joy
Surcharg'd, as had, like grief, been dew'd in tears
Without the vent of words; which thefe he breath'd.
O prophet of glad tidings! finisher
Of utmost hope! now clear I understand,
What oft my fteadieft thoughts have search'd in vain;
Why our Great Expectation fhould be call'd,
The feed of woman: Virgin Mother, hail!
High in the love of heav'n! yet from my loins
Thou fhalt proceed, and from thy womb the SON
Of God Most High; fo GoD with man unites.
Needs must the ferpent now his capital bruife
Expect with mortal pain: fay, where and when
Their fight, what ftroke fhall bruise the victor's heel?
To whom thus MICHAEL. Dream not of their fight, As of a duel, or the local wounds
Of head or heel: not therefore joins the Son
Man-hood to GоD-HEAD, with more strength to foil
Thy enemy nor fo is overcome
SATAN, whofe fall from heav'n (1 deadlier bruife!)
Difabled not to give thee thy death's wound:
Which He, who comes thy Saviour, fhall recure,
Not by destroying SATAN, but his works,
In thee and in thy feed. Nor can this be,
But by fulfilling (that which thou didst want)
Obedience to the law of God, impos'd
On penalty of death, and fuffering death;
The penalty to thy tranfgreffion due;
And due to theirs which out of thine will grow.:
So only can high juftice reft appaid.
The law of GOD exact He fhall fulfil,
Both by obedience, and by love; though love
Alone fulfil the law: thy punishment
Wehall endure, by coming in the flesh
To a reproachful life, and curfed death:
Proclaiming life to all who fhall believe
In His redemption: and that His obedience
Imputed, becomes theirs by faith; His merits
To fave them, not their own (tho' legal) works.
For this He fhall live hated, be blafphem'd,
Seiz'd on by force, judg'd, and to death condemn'd,
A fhameful and accurft! nail'd to the cross
By His own nation; flain for bringing life.
But to the cross He nails thy enemies,
The law that is against thee, and the fins
Of all mankind, with Him there crucify'd,
Never to hurt them more, who rightly traft
In this His fatisfaction. So He dies,
But foon revives; death over Him no pow'r
Shall long ufurp: ere the third dawning light
Return, the ftars of morn fhall fee Him rife
Out of His grave, fresh as the dawning light,
The ranfom paid, which man from death redeems,
His death for man, as many as offer'd life
Neglect not, and the benefits embrace
By faith, not void of works. This God-like act
Annuls thy doom, the death thou shouldst have dy'd,
In fin for ever loft from life: this act
Shall bruife the head of SATAN, crush his ftrength,
Defeating Sin and Death, his two main arms :
And fix far deeper in his head their ftings,
Than temporal death fhall bruise the victor's heel,
Or theirs whom he redeems: a death-like fleep!
A gentle wafting to immortal life!
Nor after Refurrection fhall He stay
Longer on earth, than certain times t'appear
To His Difciples; men who in His life
Still follow'd Him: to them fhall leave in charge
To teach all nations what of Him they learn'd,
And His falvation; them who shall believe
Baptizing in the profluent ftreain, the fign
Of washing them from guilt of fin, to life
Pure, and in mind prepar'd (if fo befal)
For death, like that which the Redeemer dy'd.
All nations they shall teach: for from that day,
Not only to the fons of ABRAHAM's loins
Salvation fhall be preach'd; but to the fons
Of ABRAHAM's faith: where-ever thro' the world:
So in his feed all nations fhall be blefs'd.
Then to the heav'n of heav'ns fhall He afcend
With victory, triumphing through the air
Over his foes and thine; there fhall surprise
The ferpent, prince of air, and drag in chains
Thro' all his realm, and there confounded leave :
Then enter into glory, and refume
His feat at God's right hand, exalted high
Above all names in heav'n: and thence shall come,
When the world's diffolution shall be ripe,
With glory, and pow'r, to judge both quick and dead:
To judge th' unfaithful dead, but to reward
His faithful, and receive them into blifs :
Whether in heav'n, or earth: for then the earth
Shall all be Paradife, far happier place
Than this of EDEN, and far happier days!
So fpake th' Arch-Angel MICHAEL: then paus'd,
As at the world's great period: and our fire,
Replete with joy and wonder, thus reply'd,
O goodness infinite! goodness immense !
That all this good of evil fhall produce,
And evil turn to good! more wonderful
Than that which by creation first brought forth
Light out of darkness! Full of doubt I stand,
Whether I should repent me now of fin,
By me done and occafion'd; or rejoice
Much more, that much more good thereof fhall fpring:
To GOD more glory, more good-will to Men
From God, and over wrath grace fhall abound.
But fay, if our Deliverer up to heav'n
Muft re-ascend, what will betide the few
His faithful, left among th' unfaithful herd,
The enemies of truth? Who then fhall guide
His people who defend? will they not deal
Worfe with his followers, than with him they dealt ?
Be fure they will, faid th'Angel; but from heav'n He to his own a COMFORTER will fend,
The promife of the FATHER: Who fhall dwell
His SPIRIT within them; and the law of faith
Working thro' love, upon their hearts shall write,
To guide them in all truth; and also arm
With spiritual armour, able to refist
SATAN'S affaults, and quench his fiery darts:
What man can do against them, not afraid,
Though to the death; against fuch cruelties
With inward confolations recompens'd;
And oft fupported fo as fhall amaze
Their proudest perfecutors: for the SPIRIT
(Pour'd firft on His Apoftles, whom he sends
T'evangelize the nations; then, on all
Baptiz'd,) fhall them with wondrous gifts endue,
To fpeak all tongues, and do all miracles,
As did their LORD before them. Thus they win
Great numbers of each nation, to receive
With joy the tidings brought from heav'n: at length,
Their miniftry perform'd, and race well run,
Their doctrine, and their ftory written left,
They die. But in their room, as they forewarn,
Wolves fhall fucceed for teachers, grievous wolves!
Who all the facred myfteries of heav'n
To their own vile advantages fhall turn,
Of lucre, and ambition; and the truth
With fuperftitions, and traditions taint,
Left only in those written records pure;
Though not but by the SPIRIT understood.
Then fhall they seek t'avail themselves of names,
Places, and titles; and with these to join
Secular pow'r; though feigning ftill to act
By fpiritual: to themselves appropriating
The SPIRIT of GoD, promis'd alike, and giv'n
To all believers: and from that pretenfe
Spiritual laws by carnal pow'r fhall force
On every confcience, laws! which none shall find
Left them inroll'd; or, what the SPIRIT within
Shall on the heart ingrave. What will they then
But force the SPIRIT of Grace it self, and bind
His confort liberty? what, but unbuild
His living temples, built by faith to stand,
Their own faith, not another's; (for on earth,
Who against faith and confcience, can be heard
Infallible?) Yet many will prefume:
Whence heavy perfecution fhall arise
On all, who in the worship perfevere
Of fpirit, and truth: the reft (far greater part)
Will deem in outward rites, and fpecious forms,
Religion fatisfy'd: truth fhall retire
Beftuck with fland'rous darts; and works of faith
Rarely be found. So fhall the world go on,
To good malignant, to bad men benign;
Under her own weight groaning; 'till the day
Appear of refpiration to the juft,
And vengeance to the wicked: at return
Of HIM fo lately promis'd to thy aid,
The Woman's Seed; obfcurely then foretold;
Now amplier known thy SAVIOUR, and thy LORD;
Leaft, in the clouds, from heav'n to be reveal'd
In glory of the FATHER, to diffolve
SATAN, with his perverted world; then raise
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