Serin. XXI. of Good Angels. 155 all Affairs, and by his particular Defrgnation and Command, the Angels dó full his Word, and execute the Pleafure 6f his goodWill, towards us. Hence it is fo frequently £rid in Scripture, that God fent his Angel to fuch or filch a Perfon, for fuch or filch Purpofes. 2. You have here the general Endof their Employment ; for goodMen; they are fent forth on our Behalf, and for our Benefit ; to take Care ofus and protelé us, to fuccour and comfort, to dire& and affifl, to refcue and deliver us. 3. Here is the more fpecial End of their Employment, in regard to good Men, intended in thofe Words ; for them who fball be heirsofSalvation; Here by fignifying, that the Angels are employed about good Men, with Regard more particularly to their Eternal Happinefs, and for the concluding and firthering of the great Affairof their Everlafting Salvation. This certainly is our greateft Con-, cernment; and therefore they have a more particular Chargeand Care of us in Re gard to this. It was a'-common. Opinion among the Heathen, and a conftant and firmly be- lieved Tradition among the 7ews, (the Sadducees only excepted, who did not believe there was Angels or Spirits) that every Man (at leaft every good Man) had a' Guardian Angel appointed him by God, to take a fpecial Care of him and his Concernments, both Spiritual and Temporal ; to guard him from Dangers, to dire& and profper him in his Way, and to comfort and deliver him in his Af liciton and Diftrefs. And therefore we find among the Yewifh Prayers, ufed by theni at this day, a particular Prayer, wherein they requeft of God, to Command the Angels who have the Care of Humane Affairs, to help and aft, to preferve and deliver them. But efpecially they believed Good Angels, in their Attendance upon Good Men, to be yery a&ive and diligent to incline them to good, and to encourage them therein, by holy Motionsand Suggeftions, by fecret Comfort and Aífìftances, and by oppofing Evil Spirits, and defending us againft their Affaults, and by countermining their malicious Defigns and Attempts upon us. And accordingly we find that the belt Men among the Jews did íledfaftly believe, if not the par- ticular Guardianfhip ofAngels, and that every Good Man had his particular Angel affigned to him by God, to take the particular Charge of him; yet the common Minifiry of' Good Angels, about GoodMen ; and their more efpecial care of par-, titular Perfons, upon particular and great Occafions, to prote& them from Tem- poral Evils, and to promote and profper their TemporalAffairs and Concernments. Of this Abraham, the Father of the Faithful, and the FriendofGod, was molt firmly perfwaded (at leá8 in Matters of great Moment and Concernment to us) as appears by his Difcourfe withhisSteward, when he was fending him to treat of a Match for his Son, Gen. 24. 4o. The Lord (fays he) before whom I walk, will fend his Angel with thee, andprofper thy way.' And David the Man after God's own heart, does more than once declare his confident Belief of the watchful Care and Miiniftry ofAngels about good Men. Pfal. 34. and 7. The Angel of the Lord encampeth about them that fear bim, and delivereth them. And Pfalm 91. r r, 12. fpeaking of the good Man, who putteth his Truft and Confidence inGod, he tells him for his Comfort and Security, that the holy Angels have a particular charge of him to preferve him from all the Mifchiefs and Dangers to which . he is expofed; he (hall give his Angels charge over thee,`to keep thee in all thyways; they (hall bear thee up in their hands, lerf thou dafh thy foot again/t a ¡lone. So that according to the Perfwafion of thofe two excellent Perfons, and of greateft Renown for Piety in all the Old Teftament, very much of the Safety and the Succefs of good Men, even in their Temporal Concernments, is to be afcrib'd to the vigilant Care and Prote&ion ofgood Angels. And tho' this be feldom vifible and fenfible to us, yet we have great Reafon, upon fo great Teftimonies, toaffent to the truth of it. And there is no Reafon I think to doubt, but that God's Care extends now to Chrians, as well as it did to the yews; and that the Angels have as much Kindnefs for us, as they had for the yews ; and there is no Reafon to think, that the Angels are now either dead or idle. Our Saviour tells us, that they cannot dye ; and our Reafon tells us, that a pure Spirit is an attive Principle; and the Scripture reprefents Angels as all flame X 2 and
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=