459 - - - Fifchl)r~ Thit alfo C011(men~s t~e Frwu[t pf pa!f.ortin' Grace, th~r wlm-eas ~b~ foUen Ailgets tbemfo'h!e! ?Vtrt ab(oluf.~'lJ. e~c~pted out ofG.oi s. ,A~f o.flnrkm~sty ~nd t;Jblwzfn},,J. p Jdllm Man;, agd,n reflor d, u,;to 6u ·Faloour. Them Gpd hatn referv cf._ m ..Chas"! pf 'f5nrkne{s unto tHe JrsJgm~on[the great Day; Ifs he hath brought mtogfo!t~~s ,E;~ht and Li&erty : Our S,Y,s are blott'd ou~ ,of the Boo~ of Gpd's Rell,lembYa11ce · whereas- their Names are blotted out of the Mufiec-Roll of God's Hca, ven.ty _Hoft.,~ .. :N'~w here ~her~ are four Things -that ?~~~~~rly aqvan,ae ~; lth.e .GlorY of free a .r_ace. r . I ' ' -. . ' );or 1 ' · 'l ml .·: ·,; lFirft, 'Fhtir lfa~tn:es· ,vere·1n'~retxcellenttha'l0urs. ~ .: · ·~: · ''· SecoJtdl)l', rTheir Ser-bicejl wO:dd have' ~ee-p _ ~uch more peiferr ,t.k,'!n Ours. ·J i lr•!J, c b_HThfrdly, Thei r Sim 1v..ere fw;;.r thtm Ours ·.~re., AAd, ! ~;. ·. · •. ·, ,' .! -;:FoUrcflly; Th~f~ P!er~6n }fi~ht ' 'bave been ptocu'(d at m ck!,ap a ra~e, .am! atltu ·l,~tk ;p~penJe-Z fi! ·l fl>tlrP Andf~~ · ~,Ot Them, - ~-~.t !Vs Godhadi cl~pfon tO be Veffels qf hiS' Mercy, . · ... ·, ._. _, , . _ . ·. ·:- ' ~!! Firft, Their NaturtJ 'vert "!SYe excellent'tkan. Oun They were Glonous .Spm.ts, «:he Top an'fQ: ream of thg ~rea~ion; we. CloGs of~arc~~ the Lees andrDrC?g$of Nature, -our S~U~1 the on\YParr by wl~tch we c:_latm Km ro AngtiJ, e\{en tl).~y are of a younger Houfc, a nO o£ a more tgnob{e Extract; how arc they deba~ d. by being confin:d eo che(c Lumps of Flcfh, \vhich, with much ado? they make ·a fhift to dra$ Wtth them up and dowli the E:uth, rattler as Fetters of thetr. Bondao-e than Inftruments of their Service? Na;;, Co low funk arc we in this Slime orM~tter, that \Ve have not Excellency enOp.gh, fo mUch as to conceive what a. pure Heavenly Oricm Subftance a Spirit is. And yet fuch as we are, Duft -and Filth~ hath God gacher'd up into his O\Vn Bofom, rho' he hach disbanded whole Legions of f11Jgeh, and fem rhem down inro Hell. .. . In rhefe Nat:urcs of ours hath rhe Son· ofGod .reveat>d, or racher hid hirnfelf: -EVen he who ehought it no Robbery to be equal .wirh God, thought icno fcorn ro 'beCome lower than Angels. He took not on him t,he Nature ofAngth, but the Seed _of Abraham. .. ... Secondly, .Theii ServiceJ 'JJotdd havt been, m0r~perfo8 upon thtir Reftoration, than Ouu can be. Indeed \yhen we 1arrive at Hea~cn, our Scrvk:es, our Love, our JOy, and Otir Praifcs, fhall then acta in to a Perfetl:ion exclufive ofallfinful Defeds : ~ut even then mufl: w:e g~ve Place to the !lngeh, as in our Beings, fo in Qlir Aamgs alfo. Had God reftor d chem, and g1ven them a Pardon, Heaven woul_d mory have refoundcd wirh rho Shouts and Hallelujahs of one f:-~llen Angtl, than it can now with a whole Con{ort of glorify'd SaintJ: They would hav e burnt much mote ardently in Lm·e, who now muft burn much more fiercely in Torments. 'Fhcy would much more mightily and fwecrly ha\•e limg forth the Praifes of Gbd rheir Redeemer> who now curfe and blafpheme him more bicrerly: And as far ha\•e Ont·fi ri pt a, Sa inc in rhe \York of Heaven, as they fh all do a SinnCr in the Punifhment of Hell. And yet free Grace paffech by them, and elects and chuft!th narrower Hearts to conceive, and feebler Tongues ro uccer the'Praifes of fhe·ir Redeemer; whofe Praifes oughr therefore ro be the more, becau(e h~ chufech nor them char may give him the mofi. Thirdlyf C,njider thiJ, their Sim 1vere fnver then Ours r.re. We cannot exactly determine what cheir Sins wcre1 only the Apoftle gi\·es us a Hint, that it was Pride ~ave 'them their Fall, 1 Tim. 3· 6. Not a Novice, kft being lifted up ?vitb Pride, he fall into the Condemnation of the Devil. Whether it was Pride, in that they affecl::cd. to be (Jod, or in that chcy fcorn'd eo be Guardians and Miniftrlng 8pl.rirs unto Man; or in that they refus'd to become fubjeC1 u,nco che Son ofGod, who was fhorrly ro become Man, the Schools boldly enough difpute, but no Man can determine: Bm whatever ic was, this is cerea in, God was lPeedy in cheEx:ecurion ofWr<!th upon then1_., ttunb!ing them all down headlong imo Hell upon their firft Rebellion: The Time of their ll:anding in their Primitive Scare is concciv'd to be v<;ry fhorc; for their Creation (cho' the Sociniam hold ic was l~ng before) mufl: f:1l l within the Compafs of fix'Dilys, for in that Space the Scripture tells us, God madeHea"t:en and Earth, and al!ThingJ therein: And therefore wirhin the Space of fix Days he ereared the Angt!J alfo. Some referr tl1eir Crcacion ro the firft- Day'sWork, ochersro chc fourrh Day: And it's probably chouhht That Adam's Continuance in lnnoccncy was noc much abc\•e one Day, and y~t even then there were fallen An~th to tempt him: So that their Glorious and Bleifed N n n n 2 Srace
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