Of the Creaturer, and the Condition - ---- ·,.-.....A..~ this gloriotts frame: When He lazd the Fotmdatzon of the £,.rzh and took BooK !I. MM/tlrfOf all the ProportiOns, of every Creature which he made in it, then ~ ( ver{' 7· )the Morni1zg Stars jm1g togtthtr, and all the Sons of Godjbouttd for joy ; that is, the Angels, who are called Stars, bfcaufc they are the Creatures appointed to live in the Third Heaven, their Element, as filltes in the Sea, and fowl in the Air: And but Stars, for there was a Sun to rife would m•kc them hide their faces, and pull in their Beams, even Chri!\; btforc whofe Glory (fortis his Glory fpoken of, Ifr•i. 6. as appears by Johfl 1 o. 12. ) They cover their FaceJ, es the Stars, like Tapers are put out before the Sun. And they are called the Morning Stars, becaufc they were up e>rly, being Created in the Morning of the Firfi Day, He that is early up is in Latin called M rztut imu, and fo iA Hebrew. They both at the foundation, and at the finifhing of this Building ( efpecially when they faw Man brought in , the owner of all ) lltouted tor joy , admiring at Gods handy-works, and Wif· dom mani!clled in them: God herein alluding to the cu!\om of Men , who when they lay the Foundation of a work, and efpecially , at the findhing of fume Great Btulding , have all their Friends with acclamations and fhoming5 about them; as at the firfi Stone of the Temple laid, Ezra, 3· 10 , and Z ach. 4· 10. the Lafi Stone was brought forth with joy and fhouting,cryingGrace, Grace , to ir. Jufi fo was it here, And as a Skilful aud curious Ani!\ will fiand looking upon the exquifite workmanfhip of fome one part ( fuppofe up– on an Eye or Hand in a Picture) many hours together, with much delight; fo did the Angels greedily view every part of this World, admiring and praif10g God's artifice in it: (Which likewile God himfelf did , as dd1ghtirg tofee how good all was that he had made) andwhilft they were doing fo,they might behold God (as if he had been difpleafed at the courfnefs of this his work which he had Drawn) fuffer all to be dafhed by one unwary firoke of the pen– cil; fuffering his Image in Man to be razed , and this whole Frame Subjected ro vanity, confulionand diforder: Which made them wonder, in that they furely thought that this was all the works of wonder that ever God mennt to 'make; efpecially, when they faw himat firft, reft from a/J hi& works , and fit down , as delighted in them, and to appoint a Day for the Memorial of them : They could not chufe but wonder, to fee that God fhould throw fo collly a Piece away; being fuch a World as they could never imagine, how a better could ever be framed : And how Great a God mu!\ they needs think him to be, that regarded not the lofs and fpoiling of fuch a World ! But alas 1 God hnd a further Plot , and Platform of another A· dam ,. aod another World , in his Head , whereof all this ( though fo perfed) was but the Type, and Shadow; and of all which they knew not one tittlc, nor hac) the lcafl: inclding; Therefore, Ephe[, 3· 9· it is cal· led a Myfter~ hid itl God: God had not fpoken one word of it to them (as not of his Temple to 'DrJvid) In comparifon of which, this World was but a Stage tc;l ACt a Part upon a while, and Man (the Lord of it) but as a King in a Play , a meer Type and refemblance of another King, the Kz ng of Glory; who when he fhould be brought into the World,thefe Angels mufl all down upon their knees and worfhip : Them(elves are but the Stars , as Job cal!s them, and David too, in P[al. 8. 3· where he fpeaks ( aswas faid) of Chril\s World, and the Creatures thereof, the Angels, who become Subjects of it, are but the Stars, and the Church the Moon· bm there is no Sun mentioned, for Chrift himfelf is the Sun , and th; Light thereof; before whom. thefe Stars were to lofe their. Light, with which at befi they do but tw10kle. And when Chnft and bts World !hall appear , then .this Moon jba/J be conjom1ded, and this Sun afbamed, wbm hr {b.1fl raig11 w motmt Szo11, and be(o't his AncitntJ gloriou/ly: Jf,i. 24. ult. And how mull this needs fhew forth the manifold Wi{dom of God; that he hath plots beyond pl6ts , though he begins with a ruder fhew at firil; as in the making of the World , in which the Wifdom tha .)ies in it ta· ken fimply by it felf, how glorious is it! [t is cal!"d tfle TVtfdom of God, J Cm·. 1. zr. And if that even the Heathen fl:udicd, and admired this, when without relation to God , when his W1fdom in it was not difcorer· cd
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=