to theEP HE S I A N S. els that fell, that God put no confidence in them; ~ut it fpeaks J>lairily of thew ~cod Angels that God put no confidence m them, leetng the evil Angels fall, Serm.Xl. Job 1 i · 1I'· c~mpared with that place I quoted before, Job 4.18. Behotd (faith 1./"V"".J he) hept~lteth 110 trufl illhts,S,m Jts, yea the I;i<avensare11ot clemJ m. hts fight, how mttch mort a6omiiJfJ61t mtdfilthy ts mmt1 Whom doth he call Samts here ? He meaneth the Angels. It is the fame parallel'cl fpeech with the other, He pttt 110 t>·ufl inhis Servants, a11dhts Angels he chargnh with foil)·. And iris plain he meaneth the Angels by Sa!nt• h~re, for he oppoferhthem to Man; howmuch more a6omi11a6le,a1Jd filthy ts Ma11? They are called m Stnprure the ,f.mtts of Godofrenrimes, as in 'Dm1.8.q. I heard one Sai11tjpeah1tg, andanother Saint jpoke to that certl)i11 Sai11t, thafJPalu, (!)c. Then fa1th he, The Hravnu art not cleatJ ill hisfight. By Heavens he meaneth Angels too, or at leafr-w1fe they may be meant by Heavens, for in Scnprure often they are; as the Devils are ~alled the Gaits of Hell, fo the Angels are Falled Heavm, from the place where they are. Now (faith he) thefe,Heayens, thefe heavenly Creatures, .thefe. Holy ones, the A1tgels, they are not (lean m h1s fight; he feerh a potiibilJty in them of finning. And as he repented that he made Man, wh~n he f'l'~ Man fall from him : fo when he faw fqme of the Angels fall from h1m, there was Jllfl: ground of repenting for making Angels; for, faith he, all thefe mayfat/ too, tf ltt alo11t. He could rake no contentment in them. Here is fome ground for a Re– conciliation, to rake away all this difconreqt. God could not love them perfectly, unlefs they could fl:and for ever: Why? Becaufe he mufl: fo love, as !ometJme he muft hate; and that you know, is not every way perfect love; Amare tan· qt~am aliq11ando ofurtu, Therefore now, as 1\i!ercy, it is not only called mercy to deliver the· Creature out of m1fery, ~ut lt JS truly mercy to prevent from mifery"; it is more th~n Goodnefs w do fo, It Is Mercy. Mercy refpecteth mifery , either mifery that it may fallmto,as well as mercy to deliver out of it; it i~ a)lalogically lnercy, though the other Js !llor~ properly mercy: So there is qutrdam a11alogica rtto11cilia:io; ·wheth~r.this was by rh~ Blood of Chrifl:, or no, I will not now ftand to d1fpute. Th1s JS certam, Chnfl: needed not to have died ro preferve Aggels ~n thei~ ftanding, the t)ecetiity was only on man's part for fatisfaction; there IS a plam place for Jt, :z. Cor.5. 14- !11 that h~ dud for alt w~ cotz.clt<dt I hat alt were dead. That he <lied thus out of necetiity, i~ muU be for them only that are dead. Yet dying for men, t.here might be this over-plus in it, that forthe merit of his Obedien<e fake, he having relation to Angels, they m1ght have not afansfactJOn, but a benefit by Jt. And 1f Jt be true, which fome Divines, not Papifts only, fay, that he did Mereri ji6i, merit for himfelf. he hath the benefit of his death , being ex~lted· on high, he hath a doubt~ right to Glory; fo likewife he might for them too, And fo l have done wita · this thing, things i11 Heavm, the Angels; a.nd thus much for them. I will but anticipate a Ufe, or Obfervarion or two. The Firfr is this. Hath Go.d now·purpofed in himfelf, (as the Text tetleth 0 6(rrv 1 • you here, ) fuch a g~eat and a vafl: price as this is, and is this the ftory ofthe pur- ' pofe of his heart? ( and I have not told it o.ur,) My Brethren, I appeal to you all, whether the heart of man could ever have mvented fuch a fiery as this is; One God! makmg the Creature one.wuh h1mfel.f, and ~he Creature falling from him, makmg lum one agam, mmakmg of all th.mgs, m fumming up of all in Chrift, that IS the founder of this gathermg agam, makmg up abodv of all things in Heaven and in·Earth unto the Lord Jefus Chrifl:. .1 cannot ftan'd to lay open.the paruculars of Jt, Y?U have heard Jt: The Tex~ faub, He pmpojed it i11 himfe!f 1 · Jt c~uld have come mto no ones heart but h.Js, Jt was hid in God, it was purpofed m h1mfelf; the wtfdom of God therefore, Jt is called, Eph. J. · Daft thou not believe that there is a God? Come hither, let this convince thee. Could all Intelligible Natures, all Reafonable Creatures invent fuch a fl:ory as this? • You think the Gmtpowder-Piot to have been a Plor· fo defperate, that it mufl: have been hatched in Hell, it could nor be formed·in any man's brain. My Brethren, This Plot here could be hatched no where but in Heaven, ann in the heart of God. Go, and take Angels and Men, lay all your heads toge– ther and make fuch another. Such a God, fl1ch a Chrift,rhus Grcat,having fi1ch a X :z. • King·
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