An Expojition of the Epijlle S~ the Air, Luke 8. 5.& 12 veri. compared. There isa Story reported.by Frar.tu 111 ~of a holy Man in Germany, that that Ni~ht that the great Ma1T.1cre was i~ France, he knowmg ilothnig thereof, he fanh, he f.1w Spmts m the Air· and therefore ~ertainly, f.1ith he, there is f'ome great thing done in the World this night. My Brethren, there isf'uch an Affinity between Air and Spirits, that the good Angels, tho they are not called the Powers of the Air, for Heaven is their Place, and they are thofe. that behold the Face of God ; yet when they come down to minifler,, they are cornpored to the Me~eors of the A:r, as it is a good · Obfcrvauon of Camcro11, upon Heb. I. 6. In Pjal. 104• 4· he mak,gs f.is An,e/s Spirits, and his Minijlers [:_lames of_ Fire.. He fpea~s both of Angels, faith 6 be, and he [peaks of Meteors Ill the A1r, Wmds, and Flames of Fire, that ate in the Air; for the Motion of An!(els; it is as Lightning; which is the ncarefl thing to compare them to. That he fl'.eaks there of Meteors, it is clear, becauf'e he !peaks of the Works of God m the Elementary World, whtch m Heb. t. he applies to the good Angels, namely, then when they are in the Air, fcnt forth as miniflring Spirits, to minifler for them, who fba/1 be Heirs of Sa!Vtttion. But now, rho they are as Meteors in the Air, for he compares them to Wind, fent up and down by God, and to Flames of Fire; yet that is not their place : But take thefe bad Angels, asrhey are as Wind, as _Meteors in tbe Air? fo the Air is their proper Place, or at !eafl, that Place whtch the1r Kmgdom IS m; therefore now if they do not poffeG Mens Bodtes, or the hke, they fly up and down m the Air. It is the 'Prince of the 1JoJver of tf.e Air. · • There is a great Difpute, and I confefs If!myet exceeding doubtful, and know not well how to determine it, and· that is this: Whether yea or no, the ordinary Place for thefe Devils be Hell, the AbJ:Jliu, the Deep, as 'tis called, which cer– tainly is a differing Place from the. Air ; for when they were here in the Air in this World, they defired that they might not be thrown into the Deep, that is, into Hell, into the Abyjfiu, which is put for Hell, Rev. 20. 3· where it is faid, the Devil was taken, and cafl into AbJ:JfiH; it is the f.1me word that is ufed in Marft 9· Whether, I fay, that the ordinary Place for their Abode is to be iri Hell; but by way of Liberty only, now and then fi>r tentation, or the like, as God is pleafed to let them out, they are in the Aire, (for whilfl they are in the Air, they cannot be in this AbJ:Jliu, for the reafon I now mentioned)? Or whe• ther yea or no, that the ordinary Seat of them is the Air, and that therefore they are called the Spirits of the 'Power of theAir f I f.1y, it is a very hard thing to , determine, bccaufe indeed the Scriptures do teem to fpeak both one 'way, and ano– ther way; and how to reconcile them perfel.l-ly,for my part,! confefs I fully know not. For in 2 Pet. 2. 4· it is faid, That he JPared not the Angels th,,t (inmd, h•t caff them dow1J to Hell, and delivered thent into Cbaii1s of D<~rftnefs, to "be refcrved unto ']udgme11t: And fo in 'Jude, veri. 6. He hath refcrved tf.ent in. everlajliug Chai111, 1111der Dark!tefi, unto the ']11dgment of the Great Day. 11t on the other fide, fay the Devils unto Chrifl, Art thou come to torme11t "'before 011r time ? As having the Day ofJudgment in their eye. They knew not indeed when the Day of Judgment lhould be, yet they knew it was not yer. And they adjured Ghrifi by his Truth and Faithfulnefs: I adj11re thee by God, f.1ith he, t!Mt thou tormmt me not; that is, I adjure thee by that Righteoufnefs, and Faithfu!nefs of God, who, in his fentencing of us to Condemnation, bath given us time till the Day of Judgment, that thou torment us not now: For Chrifl being the Son of God, they knew not but that he might !hew his Pverogative upon thofe ( themfelves being but a few) Devils that were there, which makes them therefore fo fub– mi!live. The Scriptures therefore looking thus to both ways, I fay, it is ex· ceeding hard to determine: I only refer you to what Mr. .JI1eade bath written in his Diatribe, where he haudles both that Place in Peter, and that in 'Jude: And he faith, that the word in 'Pet,.,-, He hath caff them down to Hell, cloth not neceJTaril}' fignify a pretent throwing them down to Hell; but a judging of them to Hell: And fo, they are refcrved in Chains to tl>e Day of 'Judgment; that is; i11 the mean feafon he lets them be in the Air. As we C1y of a Judg, when-he con· demns a Man tobe hanged, that he bath hanged the Man, rho ·the Man be not ha,nged a long time after : So God judged them unto Hell, and imprefl upon their Confciences a re•eiving of Judgment, and an everlafiing- Sentence of Condem-
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