fÌ 15 8 1 he Nature, Office, and Employment Vol. L try, in the Worship of Mofes after his Death ; if he could have gotten the Dif- pofal of his Body, to have buried it in force known and publick Place. And, no doubt, it would have gratified him not a little, to have made him, who was, fo declared an Enemy to Idolatry all his Life, an Occafion of it after his Death. But this God thought fit to prevent, in Pity to the People of Ifrael, whom he faw upon all Occafions fo prone to Idolatry ; and for that Reafon committed it tó the Charge of Michael the Archangel, to bury his Body fecretly ; and this was the thing which Michael the Archangel contendedwith the Devil about. But before I pafs from this, I cannot but take notice of one memorable Circum- Itance in this Conteft, mentioned likewife by St.'7ade, in thefe Words, The Mi- chael the Archangel, when contending with the Devil, he difputed.about the Body ofMofes, droll not bring againfl him a railingAccufatiòn. His Duty reftrained him from it, and probably lais Difcretion too : As he durst not offend God, in doing a thing fo much beneath the Dignity and Perfeftion of his Nature; fo he could not but think, that the Devil would have been too hard for him at railing; a Thing to which as the Angels have no Difpofition, fo I believe that they have no Talent, no Faculty at' it. The cool Confideration whereof fhould make all Men, efpecially thofe who 'call themfelves Divines, and efpecially in Controver- fies about Religion, afhamed and afraid ofthis manner of difputing.; fince Michael the Archangel, even when he &Outed with the Devil, durf not bring againfl him a railing Accufation. But to proceed. This we are fure of, that the Angels fhall be thegreat Mini- fters and Inftruments ofthe Refurredion of our Bodies, and the Re-union of them to our Souls. For fo our Bleflèd Saviour has told us, Matto. 24. 3ó, 31. That when the Son ofManfhall come in the Clouds of Heaven, with Power and great Glory ; he (hall fend his Angels to gather the Elell, from the four Winds, from one end ofHeaven to the other. Thus I have as briefly as I could, and fo far as the Scripture bath gone before us, to give us light in this Matter, endeavoured to thew the feveral Ways wherein Good Angels do minifler in behalfof them whofhall be Heirs ofSalvation. All that now remains, is to draw fonte'Inferences from this Difcourfe, and fo I .fhall conclude. Firfl, . What hath been Paid upon this Argument, and fo abundantly proved from Scripture, may ferve to eftablifh us in the Belief of the Truth, and to awaken us to a due Confideration of it. That the Angels are invifible to us, and that we are feldom fenfible of their Prefence, and the good Offices they do us, is no fuf- ficient Reafon againft the Truth and Reality of the Thing, if by other Argu- ments we are convinced of it. For by the fame Reafon we may almoft as well call in queftion the Exiftence ofGod, and of our own Souls; neither of which do fall under the 'Noticeof our Senfes; and yet by other Arguments we are fuf- ficiently convincedof them both. So in this Cafe, the general Confent and Tra- ditionof Mankind, concerning the Exiftence of Angels, and their Miniftry about us, efpecially being confirmed to us, by clear and exprefs Teftimony of Holy Scripture, ought to be abundant Evidence to us, when we confider that fo general a Confent inuit have aproportionable Caufe; which can be no other but a gene- ral Tradition grounded at firft upon Revelation, and derived down to all fucceed- íng Ages, from the firft Spring and Original of Mankind ; and line confirmedby manifold Revelations of God, both in the Old and New Teftament. But yet I am fenfible, that all this is no Convi&ion to the Perverfe and Conten- tious. Men will not believe even the Evidence of Senfe it felf, when they are ítrongly prepoffef èd and prejudiced to the contrary : For do we not fee great Numbers of Men, even fo many as have the Face to call themfelves the Catholick Mirth, that can make a fhift, when they havé a mind, either to' believe or disbelieve things contrary to the plaineft Evidence of their Senfes ? All that I fhall fay further about this matter, is, that this Doftrine of Angels is not a pe- culiar Doftrine either of the 7ewifh or Chri/lian Religion, but thegeneral Doftrine of all Religions that ever were; and therefore cannot be objefted againft by any but the Atheifts. And
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