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when their Prince comes in his, and the glory of the angels.*

APOL. Thou hast already been unfaithful in thy service to him; and how dost thou think to receive wages of him?

CHR. Wherein, O Apollyon, have I been unfaithful to him?

APOLLYON PLEADS CHRISTIAN'S INFIR

MITIES

HIM.

AGAINST

APOL. Thou didst faint at first setting out, when thou wast almost choked in the gulf of Despond. Thou didst attempt wrong ways to be rid of thy burden, whereas thou shouldest have stayed till thy Prince had taken it off. Thou didst sinfully sleep, and lose thy choice things. Thou wast also almost persuaded to go back at the sight of the lions and when thou talkest of thy journey, and of what thou hast heard and seen, thou art inwardly desirous of vainglory in all that thou sayest or doest.†

CHR. All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honour is merciful, and ready to forgive. But, besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy country, for there I sucked them in, and I have groaned under them, being sorry for them, and have obtained pardon of my Prince.

Here is the precious reasoning of faith. Well might Paul say, “Above all, (or over all,) taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one," Eph. vi. 16.

Satan is justly styled the accuser of the brethren of Christ, Rev. xii. 10, for he accuseth them before God, and to their own consciences. But " they overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony," Rev. xii. 11, namely, "that they have redemption in the blood of Christ, even the forgiveness of their sins," Eph. i. 7.

This is the best way-to own Satan's charges if they be true, yea, to exaggerate them also, to exalt the riches of the grace of Christ

APOL. Then Apollyon broke out into a grievous rage,

APOLLYON IN RAGE,

FALLS
TIAN.

UPON CHRIS

saying, I am an enemy to this Prince;

I hate his person, his laws, and people:

I am come out on purpose to withstand thee.

CHR. Apollyon, beware what you do, for I am in the King's highway, the way of holiness; therefore take heed to yourself.

APOL. Then Apollyon straddled quite over the whole breadth of the way, and said, I am void of fear in this matter. Prepare thyself to die; for I swear by my infernal den that thou shalt go no farther: here will I spill thy soul. And with that he threw a flaming dart at his breast; but Christian had a shield in his hand, with which he caught it, and so prevented the danger of that.*

Then did Christian draw, for he saw it was time to bestir him; and Apollyon as fast made at him, throwing darts as thick as hail; by the which, notwithstanding all that Christian could do to avoid it, Apollyon wounded him in his head, his hand, and foot.

CHRISTIAN WOUND

ED IN HIS UNDER-
STANDING, FAITH,

AND CONVERSATION.

This made Christian give a little back: Apollyon, therefore, followed his work amain, and Christian again took courage, and resisted as manfully as he could. This sore combat lasted for above half a day, even till Christian was almost quite

above all, in pardoning all of them freely. By thus humbling ourselves, and exalting Christ, Satan can get no advantage over us, though this will put him into a rage against us.

* The shield of faith; the belief of what Christ had done for him, was to him, had done in him, and what he was in Christ-pardoned, justified, and sanctified. This glorious confession of faith honours Christ, repels and quenches all the fiery darts of Satan, and gets the victory over him. This is what Peter exhorts to "resist the devil, steadfast in the faith," 1 Pet. v. 9.

spent; for you must know that Christian, by reason of his wounds, must needs grow weaker and weaker.*

Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began to gather up close to Christian, and, wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall; and with that

APOLLYON CASTETH CHRISTIAN DOWN TO

Christian's sword flew out of his hand. THE GROUND. Then said Apollyon, I am sure of thee now and with that he had almost pressed him to death, so that Christian began to despair of life. But, as God would have it,† while Apollyon was fetching his last blow, thereby to make a full end of this good man, Christian nimbly reached out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy! when I fall, I shall arise! and with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his mortal wound. Christian, perceiving that, made at him again, saying, Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us." And, with that, Apollyon spread forth his dragon's wings, and sped him away, that Christian saw him no more.

CHRISTIAN'S VICTORY OVER APOLLYON.

In this combat no man can imagine, unless he had seen and heard, as I did, what yelling and hideous roaring Apollyon made all

g Mic. vii. 8.

A BRIEF RELATION OF THE COMBAT EY THE SPECTATOR.

h Rom. viii. 37, 39. Jam. iv. 7.

* We may think this is hard work ;-why should a Christian be so severely attacked by Satan? The Lord does not give us armour to be useless, but to fight with, and to prove its excellency, and in the use of it to experience his almighty power and unchangeable love; for though we are weak, he is almighty to strengthen us, therefore we are called upon to be " strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might," Eph. vi. 10.

+ Mind that the Lord does not look on as a mere spectator of our conflicts; but he strengthens us in every evil day, and in every fight of faith, and brings us off at last more than conquerors through his love.

M

the time of the fight: he spake like a dragon; and, on the other side, what sighs and groans burst from Christian's heart. I never saw him all the while give so much as one pleasant look, till he perceived he had wounded Apollyon with his two-edged sword; then, indeed, he did smile and look upward !* But it was the dreadfullest sight that ever I saw.

CHRISTIAN GIVES

GOD THANKS FOR
HIS DELIVERANCE.

So when the battle was over, Christian said, I will here give thanks to him that hath delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, to him that did help me against Apollyon. And so he did, saying

Great Beelzebub, the captain of this fiend,
Design'd my ruin; therefore to this end

He sent him harness'd out; and he with rage
That hellish was, did fiercely me engage:
But blessed Michael helped me, and I,
By dint of sword, did quickly make him fly:
Therefore to him let me give lasting praise,

And thank and bless his holy name always.

Then there came to him a hand with some of the leaves of the tree of life, the which Christian took and applied to the wounds that he had received in the battle, and was healed immediately.† He also sat down in that place to eat bread, and to drink of the bottle that was given him a little before so being refreshed, he addressed himself to his journey with his

*Not a vainglorious and self-applauding, but an humble, thankful smile. He looked up, and smilingly gave the Lord all the glory of his victory.

No matter what wounds we get in our conflicts with Satan, for Jesus will heal them all. But who will heal those which we get by complying with the devil, instead of resisting him?

sword drawn in his hand; for he said, I know not but some other enemy may be at hand. But he met with no other

CHRISTIAN GOES ON HIS JOURNEY, WITH HIS SWORD

DRAWN
HAND.

affront from Apollyon quite through this valley.

IN HIS

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH.

Now, at the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death ;† and Christian must needs go through it, because the way to the Celestial City lay through the midst of it. Now, this valley is a very solitary place. The prophet Jeremiah thus describes it: "A wilderness, a land of deserts and of pits; a land of drought, and of the Shadow of Death; a land that no man (but a Christian) passeth through, and where no man dwelt."i

Now, here Christian was worse put to it than in his fight with Apollyon; as by the sequel you shall see.

I saw then in my dream, that when Christian was got to the borders of the Shadow of Death, there met him two men, children of them that brought up an evil report of the good land, making haste to go back ;§ to whom Christian spake as follows.

THE CHILDREN OF THE SPIES GO BACK.

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* Conflicts with Satan make Christians wary, and value their sword, so as to walk with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, in their hands.

This signifies darkness and desertion of soul.

None but the heart of a Christian knows the bitterness of God's hiding his face. It is death to all his comforts: his mourning under a sense of it, manifests his love to the Lord, and delight in his presence.

§ Such we frequently meet with, who set out without a sense of sin, true faith, real hope, and sincere love to Christ; and as sure as they go back from a profession, they bring up an evil report of the way to the kingdom of Christ.

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