· ofthei~ State by Creation. l'a.rents, and 'ro of us, in that firl\ Creation life and- happy EO:ate;whill\ they ~ continued obedient , was but an exteofion of that firO: Creauon goodnefs out of Chap. •· which God firJ1 put them in that EO:ate; nod fo, but a continuation of the ~ fameLaw, and but a repeating, every moment they Hooa, that Complacency he had at firl\ in them, when he made them ; and 1t was but the_ l!ke , in itsproportion,unto what he continues to all h~s other Creatures m their fphere, tha~ keep his Ordinances eo this day: And 1t IS a duenels that 10 meet.nefs and equitablcnefs is to be difpenfed to his that worketh and .co~tinueth .therein, out of that JuO:ice_that IS in God, as a Creator, to Ius unfinmng Creature,contiouing holy. This Condition of Angels by the law of their Creatron, and of Man, for fubtkoce , Is common to them both : Howe.ver Men and Angels might and do differ in degrees of Excellencies, in refpet! of their meer Creation Holinefs even as they differ in their l\rength( The Excelling wherein is given eo the Angels) os alfo in their habitation pr«p'er to each, as Jude 6. the one Created on Earth , the otl.1er in fame of the Heavens ; yet it is a difference but of rank or degree , fuch as between )llobles and Commons ; in an higher and lower Houfe, God mad, Mtm a little lower thall the /h;gtls; That is in refpeC.l: of degrees fo far, as that Pfalm is to_be underl\ood of Admm_ or Mans Condition by Creauo~. Though 1t bath a_n h1gber reference ?nto C_~ll Jefus , as Man ; yet !\ill this degree of lownefs m the one, and he•gpt m the othe~, had for t he subftratumpf it, in either, the fame Common Law of Creatiqn Per– feClions,and the Kules thereofdo take hold ofboth alike in their fe liera.\ ranks, and with their feveral degrees, I will not therefore now debate what differing excellencies:eacn of thefe had proper te themfelves in their leveral Capacities and Spheres; or the differences of the Original Condition of both there, An– ~els and Men , from what their now prefent llanding in Grace, and hereafter tn Glory , do afford. · This we may fafely fay, That the difference of their Condition was not .fo great, as that they lhould fee God's face in that manner, asChrifi doth, Th!! Angels, though created in one of the Heavens, by their Creation did not fo enjoy God; 'Tis Cluil\'s foie honour to bring that firll up; Who bathjeenGod at any time? No Ma11 bath [ten God at any time, the only begotten Son,which u in the bofom of th• Father; he bath declar•d him.John I .I E. This Grace and Truth came only by Jefus Chrifi, Ver{. 17. The Law was the fame for fubl\ance that ours. That under a Law they were made , is evident, for elfe there had not been fin in them that fell : But 'tis ex· prefs, they did; 2 Pet. 2, 4· and fin is a tranfgreflion , of not onlya Law, as Rom. 5· 13. but ofthe Law, as being one in Common to all Creatures, I John h4· Andevery Man that bath this hopt in himpurifieth him{elf, evm as he is pure. Whofoev•r commituth fin, tran(grejfoth al(o the L aw : For Ji• is tbe trmtfirejfionof the Law. Thatthe firl\ Commandment Duty is the Com– mon Law to Angels and Men, as to love God, f e-ar God f!Jc. This is fo plain asnonc may deny it . 2. The third, Jllot to take God's Name i11 v aitt;the Devil is a Blafphemer, and fo breaks this Command, 3· If there be Superiourand fnferiour Ranks of Angels, as Michael an Ar• change!, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities and Powers, Col. 1. 16. Then a reverence from the Inferior Orders to all their Superiours mull be due; and fo the fifth Command is an Obligation upon them. 4• The S1xth Command, Thou jhalt not k;/1, binds the Angels as a Law,' For J'ata11 is aMurthererfrom the !Jegimting; whichcould not have been faid, if that Command had not been violated by him in feeking Mans del\ruC.l:i– on, )· The ninth Commnnd , Thou jhalt not bare f alfe witnefs, reaches the Angels thcmfelves ; for the Devil, as a breaker of this Law, is A L~c;r f rom the 6egi m:ing; and Michaet, in Jt~de g. as obliged by this Commarid,Vurft not 6rmg a rmtmg acmfation againft Satan. 6. The
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