Of the Creatures, and the Condition ~ Yea 5ly, I think that Adam's Covenant, ar.d the Obedience Unto it BooK II. was not able to do fo much as confirm him , and fccure him in that Cou: V""V""oo.' clition he was created in; fo far was it from being able to have tranfplant<d him into Heaven. For, 1. I !mow no Promife for it, that after fuch a time, and fo long Obe. dience performed, he lhould !\and perpetually, And without fuch a Pro. mife , we have no warrant fo to think, or judge of it, . And 2ly, Surely, a Crc~ture being defeCl:ible, the Covenant of Nature with that Creature ( whtch proceedeth accordmg to tts due) and the Q . bedience of that Creature could never have procured indefeCl:ibility; lor that mu!\ be of Grace: And be was more than a Creature that dtd that !or Elect Angels and Men, even Chrifl: God-man. . . And if Men will fay , That the Elect Men in Chrifl: ( and fo Adam a– mong the refl:) lhould in the end have been tranllated to Heaven by Chrilt, although Man had never fain; I !hall not gamfay tt: But then, it is by anothers Rtght and Covenant, and would have rcgutred a Super– natural Grace firfl: wrought in them, to have owned and taken Chrilt for their Head. And if it be Objected, That Hell, which the Devils are in, was the Re– ward of the Difobedience of ihat Covenant of Works; and therefore oppo– fitely, the Heavens, where th<: Angels are, 1lwuld be the Reward of the Q. bed icoce of the fame Covenant, The Anfwer is ready, (even That which we give the Papifl:s in the like cafe, in the point of Merit; who argued, that becaufe Sin deferves Hell, Grace therefore lhould merit Heaven) That there is not a like proportion between the fin of the Creature, which is an undue ACl: againfl: the great God, and the grace of the Creature, which is a due ACl: from the Creature unto God ; and fo, that Grace deferveth not well , like as Sin doth ill, The [wagts] of ji11i.death; but the [gift]ofGod ismrnaiLtfe, through Jefiu Chrifl our Lord, Ram, 6. tdt. And if it be askt, What Reward 1l10uld J/dam then have had, if he had fiood? I Aofwer; Much every way. As namely, That bleffed Life in Pa· radife, which God planted for him; Communion with God in a Natural way, through the Creatures, and by the Light of the Law of Nature ; frequent Ap· paritions of God, and Communications with him, ( of which I am yet to fpeak); and alfo Immortality in that his !late ofBie!Tednefs; which Immorta– lity arofe not out of the inward Confl:itution of hi! Body, which !Iill was de– pendent on God's prefervation and protection. And further, In his Confci– eoce he lhould have had a Perfwafion of ·God's favour, through 0 bedience, which was his Life. His heart tlJould have lived in the fenfe of Gods Love; fo as, indeed, much fruit he_fhould have had in ·Holint{s, bur !Iill, not the end, evertajling Life, namely, Htavm; which is not ex de6tto, is not due to Nature under the Covenant of Works. Htavm u the gtft of God throt1gh Jefur Chrif/, Rom. 6. utt, and is the foie fruit of Election. And theretore the voice at the great Day will be, Come ye bteffid of my hi· ther. But it may haply be ObjeCl:cd, That the Beatifical Vifioo being rhe highefl: perfection of Blifs, and the Uoderflaoding of Mao being of capaci– ty tor it; the Mind therefore would have defired ir, and nor have been fatisfied without it ; and wanting fuch a farisfaCl:ion , it had confeguemly been not fully bleffed. I Anfwer, 1. That 'tis true, that Adam·was capable of that Blifs, ({or fo are Sinners); but yet, by a way above his Sphere; his Body and Soul muft firfl: have been changed : For his flelh and blood could not have born the glory of it; and t~erefore in that fl:ate he was in, he could not have defired ir, os be· ing a Condition that would deftroy him; even as for the fame Reafon the Eye ha<h nodefire to look upo.n the Sun, it being rxaUms {r11ji6ilr, fuch a tran· fteodent ObjeCl:, that it does deflrurrr jmfiJm, it defiroys the fight. :, If
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