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woman was now come to break the ſerpent's head;
that is, to cut ſhort his power, to contract the
limits of his kingdom, and in a horrible manner,
whenever Chriſt met with him; or elſe very
humble and ſubmiſſive, as when he begged leave
to go into the herd of ſwine, a thing he has often
done ſince.
Defeated here, the firſt ſtratagem I find him
concerned in after it, was his entering into Judas,
and putting him upon betraying Chriſt to the chief
prieſt; but here again he was entirely miſtaken;
for he did not ſee, as much a Devil as he was,
what the event would be; but when he came to
know that if Chriſt was put to death, he would
become a propitiatory and be the great ſacrifice
of mankind ſo as to reſcue the fallen race; from
that death they had incurred the penalty of by
the fall; that this was the fulfilling of all ſcrip-
ture prophecy; and that thus it was that Chriſt
ſhould be the end of the law: I ſay, as ſoon as he
perceived this, he ſtrove all he could to prevent
it, and diſturbed Pilate's wife in her ſleep, in or-
der to ſet her upon her huſband to hinder his de-
livering him up to the jews; for then, and not
till then, did he know how Chriſt was to vanquiſh
hell by the power of his croſs.
Thus baffled and thwarted the Devil reſolved
on this truly helliſh thing called perſecution, and
armed the whole Romiſh empire againſt God's
Church; but tho' for a long time he was glutted
with blood and ſatisfied with deſtruction, yet un-
der Conſtantine the Chriſtian Church was eſta-
bliſhed and religion flouriſhed in peace, which
continued till the days of Arius, who was zea-
louſly oppoſed by the orthodox biſhop of the
Eaſt Athanaſius, whom they baniſhed and called
ſeveral times, as error ran high, and as the Devil
either loſt or got ground. The emperor Arian a
