〈◊〉 Mathusael and Mathusael begat Lamech And Lamech took unto him two wives p. 468 Assumpsit autem sibi Lemec uxores duas prior is nomen suit Hada nomen secundae Tkilla Peperitque Hada Jabalum 〈◊〉 aut or habit antium in tentori is pecuariae Nomenque fratris ejus fuit Jubal hic fuit autor omnium tractantium citharam organon Tzilla verò ipsa quoque peperit Thubal-Kajinum qui erudivit omnem fabrum aerarium ferrarium sororemque Thubal-Kajini Nahamam 19.20.21.22 And Lamech took unto him two wives the name of the one was Adah and the name of the other Zillah And Adah bare Jabal he was the father of such as dwell in tents and of such as have cattell And his brothers name was Jubal he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ And Zillah she also bare Tubal-Cain an instructer of every artificer in brasse and iron and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah p. 474 Tum dixit Lemec suis uxoribus O Hada Tzilla audite vocem meam uxores Lemect auribus percipite sermonem meum nam virum interfecero ad vuinus meum etiam adole scentem ad tumioem meum Cum septuplo sit vindicandus Kajin utique Lemec septuagtes septies tanto 23.24 And Lamech said unto his wives Adah and Zilla Hear my voice ye wives of Lamech hearken to my speech for I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt If Cain be avenged seven fold truly Lamech seventy and seven fold p. 480 Cognovit autem denuo Adam uxorem suam quae peperit filtum voca vit nomen ejus Schethum nam reposuit mihi Deus inquit semen alterum pro Hebelo quem ipsum intersecit 〈◊〉 25. And Adam knew Eve his wife again and she bare a son and called his name Seth for God said she hath appointed me another seed in stead of Abel whom Cain slew p. 486 Sed ipsi Schetho genitus est filius cujus nomen vocavit 〈◊〉 tunc 〈◊〉 est in 〈◊〉 nomen Jehovae 26. And to Seth to him also there was born a son and he called his name Enos then began men to call upon the Name of the Lord. p. 492 Index Concionum diversarum ex veteri novo Testamento The Contents of the Sermons preached upon severall choice Texts both out of the Old and New Testament SED advolavit ad me unus ex istis Seraphim habens in manu sua prunam quam forcipibus sumpserat ab altari Admovitque ori meo dicens Ecce attingit hoc labia tua jam amovetur iniquitas tua peccatum tuum expiatur Isai. 6. 6.7 Then flew one of the Seraphims unto me having a live coal in his hand which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar And he laid it upon my mouth and said Lo this bath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sinne purged p. 515 Atendite ne justitiam vestram exerceatis coram hominibus ut fpectemini ab eis aliquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum qui est in coelis Matt. 6. 1. Take heed that ye doe not your alms before men to be seen of them otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven p. 522 Operemini non cibo qui perit sed cibo illi qui permanet in vitam aeternam quem Filius hominis dabit vobis hunc enim Pater obsignavit id est Deus Joh. 6. 27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of man shall give unto you for him 〈◊〉 God the Father sealed p. 〈…〉 Dixit igitur cis Videte cavete ab avaritia nec enim cujusquam vita ex iis quae ipsi suppetunt in eo sita est ut redundet Luc. 12. 15. And he said unto them Take heed and beware of Covetousnesse for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which hee possesseth p. 538 Nam cui baec non adsunt is 〈◊〉 est nihil procul cernens oblitus sese à veteribus peccatis suis fuisse purificatum 2 Pet. 1. 9. But he that lacketh these things is blinde and cannot see far off and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sinnes p. 544 Abrahamus pater ille vester gestivit videre diem istum meum vidit gavisus est Joh. 8. 56. Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day and he saw it and was glad p. 550 Principes populorum congregantur populus Dei Abrahamt quid Dei sunt protectiones terrae valde excelsus est Psal. 47. 10. The Princes of the people are gathered together even the people of the God of Abraham for the sheilds of the earth belong unto God he is greatly exalted p. 555 Et inutilem servum ejicite in tenebras illas extimas illic erit fletus stridor dentium Matt. 25. 30. And cast yee the unprofitable servant into outer darknesse there shall bee weeping and gnashing of teeth p. 561 Pro puero isto supplicabam praestititque mihi Jehova petitionem meam quam petebam ab eo Quamobrem ego quoque precario datum sisto eum Jehovae omnibus diebus quibus fuerit 〈◊〉 rogatus precario est Jehovae Incurvavitque se Schemuel ibi Jehovae honorem exhibens 1 Sam. 1. 27,28 For this child I prayed and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him Therefore also I have lent him unto the Lord as long as he liveth he shall be lent unto the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there p. 565 Victori dabo edere ex arbore illa vitae quae est in medio Paradisi Dei Apoc. 2. 7. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God p. 572 Cupimus autem ut unusquisque vestrûm idem studium ad 〈◊〉 usque ostendat ad certam spei persuasionem Heb. 6. 11. And wee desire that every one of you doe shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end p. 578 Et factum est praelium in Coelo Michael angeli ejus praeliati sunt cum Dracone Draco pugnabat Angeli ejus Sed hi non praevaluerunt neque locus eorum 〈◊〉 inventus est in Coelo Apoc. 12. 7,8 And there was war in heaven Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon and the Dragon fought and his Angels And prevailed not neither was their place found any more in heaven p. 586 Quicquid dat mihi Pater ad me veniet eum qui venit ad me nequaquam ejecerim for as Joh. 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that commeth to me I will in no wise cast out p. 594 Qui verò haec
feeble but of full measure even the full assurance of hope which shall not be for a time or an hour and so fail but it shall continue even to the end Et factum est praelium in Coelo Michael Angeli ejus praeliati sunt cum Dracone Draco pugnabat Angeli ejus Sed hi non praevaluerunt neque locus eorum ampliùs inventus est in Coelo Apoc. 12. 7.8 Septemb. 29. 1599. AS the Christian Religion is not a Religion of Angels for we doe not adore them with divine honour Colossians the second chapter and the eighteenth verse and though we offer to worship them yet they will not admit of it Apocalyps the twenty second chapter and the ninth verse so on the other side it is not a Religion of Saduces that hold there is no Angels nor spirit Acts the twenty third chapter and the eighth verse but it doth acknowledge that such blessed spirits there be and that God hath erected a ladder that reacheth up to Heaven by which the Angels of God goe up and down to convey Gods blessings to men Genesis the twenty eighth chapter And therefore by all means it opposeth it self against the opinion of those that seek to remove this ladder as if there were no duty to be performed by them towards us For in thankfulnesse to God for this benefit that the Angels have a care of us the Church have thought it good weighing both the one extremity of superstition which Moses compareth to drunkennesse and the other extremity of prophanenesse which he likeneth to thirst Deuteronomie the twenty ninth chapter and the nineteenth verse to keep this Feast And indeed if we consider that those glorious spirits who have the continual fruition of Gods presence Matthew the eighteenth chapter and the tenth verse In whose presence is the fulnesse of all jay Psalm the sixteenth can be content to abandon that place of this felicity to come down and perform duties to the sonnes of men namely to take charge of us and keep us from danger Psalm the ninetie first and the eleventh verse to be as ministring spirits for their sakes that shall be heirs of salvation Hebrews the first chapter This cannot but be reckoned a special favour Secondly Especially if we goe a degree further and consider that they leave their assistance in Gods presence where is all glorie and happinesse to Minister to us that dwell in houses of clay Job the fourth chapter and that for our nobility must derive our selves into corruption and worms Job the seventeenth chapter and the fourteenth verse that such holy spirits should come down upon such sinfull spirits such glorious spirits should Minister to such vile bodies this gives us further cause to remember this benefit Thirdly The manner of this Ministry may be a special motive to stir us up to thankfulnesse This ministry and service done to us is as farre as any can reach that is usque ad consilium fideli auxilium For 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 we see Jacob 〈◊〉 an Angel of God gave him direction what to doe Genesis the thirty first chapter and the eleventh verse So an Angel came forth to teach Daniel to give him knowledge and understanding Daniel the ninth chapter and the twenty second verse And this very book contains nothing else but that which Christ revealed to his servant John by an Angel Apocalyps the first chapter and the first verse that is for matter of counsel And for matter of help there is between Angels and Men 〈◊〉 sociale a holy league indeed whereby they binde themselves that for our 〈◊〉 they may wage warre not only with men but with wicked 〈◊〉 That they doe continually defend us the Prophet teacheth 〈◊〉 the thirty fourth The Angels of the Lord pitch their tents 〈…〉 this fear him whereof we have a plain example in the second of the Kings the sixt chapter and the seventeenth verse For the offensive part of help which they perform to men it is plain that as they defend us from danger so they shew themselves enemies not only to men that seek our hurt but to evil Angels That the Angels are enemies to men that are an enemie to the Elect and Church of God we see it plainly affirmed Psalm the thirty fift and the sixt verse The Angel of the Lord persecuteth them whereof an example in the Egyptians that were enemies to Gods people among whom God sent an Angel to destroy the first born in every house 〈◊〉 the twelfth chapter and Isaiah the thirty seventh chapter where an Angel is sent in the behalf of Ezekiah to destroy the host of Senacherib who was an enemie to Gods people And in this place we see offensive 〈◊〉 in the behalf of Angels against the wicked Angels 〈◊〉 David had relation in those words Psalm the ninty first and the thirteenth verse Thou shalt walk upon the Lyon and Adder the young Lyon and the Dragon thou shalt tread under foot Wherefore that spirits of such excellencie shall defend us against both wicked men and Angels this is a benefit to be remembred with all thankfullnesse to God and likewise we are to congratulate them that are made by God of such power as Melchizadeck did gratulate Abraham after he had 〈◊〉 the five Kings Genesis the fourteenth chapter and blessed God 〈…〉 his enemies into his hands and as the servants of 〈◊〉 did congratulate David when he saw that the Army 〈◊〉 before 〈◊〉 the second book of Samuel the eighth chapter and the 〈…〉 So that these congratulations of these blessed 〈◊〉 above all our thankfulnesse to God that hath appointed us such helps is the ground and cause of this solemnity The words divide themselves into two 〈◊〉 First the 〈◊〉 Secondly the Victory or Conquest Concerning the former we are first to consider the 〈◊〉 Combatent and then the fight In the Conquest we are also to 〈◊〉 two degrees For it is said not only That he had not the 〈◊〉 for then he had been of an even hand and might have 〈…〉 but that the Dragon and his Angels were so farre from 〈◊〉 and getting the Victory of Michael and his Angels that they 〈◊〉 the foyl so that their place was not found any more in Heaven Touching the persons that waged this battail they are on the one side Michael and his Angels On the other side the Dragon and his Angels Wherein the first thing is what we must conceive concerning Michael It is sure the Church of God upon many and weighty reasons doth not favour the opinion of those that make Christ to be Michael Michael Daniel the tenth chapter and the thirteenth verse is said to be one of the first Princes or Rulers which is to be understood of some principal Angel and not of Christ who is set up above all Princes and is not to be reckoned among them being the Prince of Princes and Lord of Lords And the Annotation of those that hold this opinion sheweth that
child and the woman to be in his Throne the Angels are ready to fight for them In that it is said The Dragon prevailed not it may be gathered that for all that he might begin again but where it is added And their place could no more be found in Heaven thereby we learn that Michael and his Angels set upon the Dragon and his Angels and drave them out of Heaven That which ariseth from hence on our parts is of two sorts First The thankfulnesse we are bound continually to render to God that we are of such regard in his sight that in Heaven they fight for us the elect angels with the evil angels Michael with the Dragon and his companie It is that which Christ tells us Luke the eleventh chapter When the strong men keep the Palace all things are in peace but then comes a stronger c. Man is even in the estimation of the Devil a Palace howsoever we by our sinnes make our selves a Hogstie therefore both Christ and the Devil esteeming so highly of us we may not esteem basely of our selves The angels have charge not only to keep us Psalm the ninty first but to wage battail about us and therefore it is plain the soul of man is no mean thing The Angels as we see are ready to enter field with the Dragon and his Angels Neither doth Heaven only take this care of us but the Earth also is ready to help us and openeth her mouth and swalloweth up the flood which the Dragon casts out of his mouth Apocalyps the twelfth chapter and the sixteenth verse Therefore if they have such care of us it is reason we should have care of our selves if they take such care for man that is but earth then ought we for Heaven to be carefull If no man be crowned no not the Angels themselves except they strive aright the second epistle to Timothy the second chapter no more shall we be crowned unlesse we be as carefull of our selves as the Angels If the Angels were so busie to defend the earth we must be more diligent to fight for Heaven Again here we see that to come to Heaven is a matter of fight and wrastling Ephesians the sixt chapter If we look upon Christ and the Apostles we will say it is Lucta a wrastling but if upon common Christians it is but Ludus a pastime and sport And he that stirrs up this warre and conflict is not dead howsoever he was put to the worst but only driven out of Heaven That battail which was in Heaven among the Angels is come down to men on earth and now the Dragon fights with the womans seed and therefore it imports the womans seed to fight with him For the warre we have is not only with flesh and blood that is with our own passions and affections which is the philosophical warre though we must fight with them also because fleshly lusts fight against the spirit the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the eleventh verse But our wrastling is chiefly with the spirits with spiritual wickednesse in heavenly places Ephesians the sixt chapter And what is this enemy the Dragon foolish and weak after his conquest had over finne No he is the old Serpent therefore full of experience These enemies or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephesians the sixt chapter therefore they want no power But are they discouraged upon this overthrow No but he is the more fierce and his wrath kindled knowing his time is but short Apocalyps the twelfth chapter and the twelfth verse Then seeing we have such an enemy we must strive rightly if we will be crowned si place at Corona place at studium we must take the more heed to our selves because as Gregory saith Magis est fortis nostrâ negligentiâ quà m 〈◊〉 potentiâ Secondly As we give God thanks that he makes this account of us so are we to thank him that he hath created and commanded such excellent spirits to fight for us and to pray that they which have thus fought for us in Heaven may in earth fight with us to help us that as they have cast him out of Heaven so 〈…〉 come him in earth We are to thank God that we which by our sinnes have made our selves like the beasts that perish 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke the twentieth chapter and to 〈◊〉 that we may drive the Dragon into the bottomlesse 〈◊〉 Thirdly we are to take heed that we provoke not the Angels with our misdeeds Exodus the twenty third chapter and twenty first verse nor alienate them from us with the wicked words of our mouths Ecclesiastes the fift chapter and the fift verse If we suffer our selves to sinne by filthy words and speeches we make them turn their favour from us When we come into the Church we must come with a due regard and reverence propter Angelos the first epistle to the Corinthians the eleventh chapter for by rude and uncomely behaviour in the Congregation and by suffering our mouths to utter offensive speeches we offend the Angels and deprive our selves of their favour so as they will not care for our safeguard But if as the Angel tells Danil Daniel the tenth chapter and the twelfth verse We set our hearts to understand and to humble our selves by fasting before God that may draw their affection towards us for repentance is that which doth minister joy to the Angels in Heaven Luke the fifteenth chapter Lastly By this means though we obtain not such a perfect conquest over the Dragon as the Angels did yet we shall attain to the first degree though we cannot drive him out of earth as they did out of Heaven yet we shall obtain thus much That he shall not prevail against us no more than he did against them We see it in Paul though he fought never so much yet he could not avoid it but sinne would dwell in him Romans the seventh chapter but this victory he obtained that it did not reign in his natural body Romans the sixt chapter Though till our corruption be dissolved we shall not drive him out we shall so be armed That he shall not prevail against us We must indeavor our selves that by thankfulnesse to him for vouchsafing to us this help and by intercession to continue the same we may still resist the Dragon not suffering our selves to take the soyl howsoever we cannot utterly drive him out And in this respect when we shall be like the Angels then shall we tread Satan under our feet then shall the Dragon be bound in chains and cast into the bottomlesse pit so shall we have a final conquest over him Now we must labour to 〈◊〉 to the first degree of the Angels victory and so shall we be crowned Quicquid dat mihi Pater ad me veniet eum qui venit ad me nequaquam ejecerim foras John 6. 37. Octob 7. 1559. THE words are Christs and are
there is an Angel under Christ which takes charge for the defense of the Church on earth which is Michael your Prince Dan. 10. 21. Secondly Out of Judes epistle verse the ninth the ancient Fathers prove that by Michael we are not to understand Christ for that which he affirmeth that Michael durst not check the Devill with cursed speaking cannot be ascribed to Christ which not only dare but hath trodden down Satan under his feet much more dare he check him which unlesse he could doe it were a plain signe that he is not Omnipotent Therefore by Michael here we are to understand some other and not Christ. Thirdly Out of this place Apocalyps the twelfth chapter and the fift verse In as much as the Child that was born was Christ it is not like that this Childe should suddenly be translated into an Archangel and fight with the Dragon And therefore both Theodoret and others say that Michael is a chief spirit among the created spirits that then took care of the Church in Jury and still is carefull of Christs Church unto the end of the world And to this we may add the judgement of the Church which on this holy-day doth thank God for the service of the Angels but makes no mention of Christ that it is he that in this place warreth with the Dragon and his Angels For the Dragon there is a farre more easie passage so as we may soon guesse what is meant by him for in this chapter he is called the Devil and Satan whereof their name signifieth a slanderer and he is justly so called for that he both slandereth God to man as if God did envy mans prosperity Genesis the third chapter and slanders man to God as he did Job whom albeit he were a blessed Saint yet he accuseth before God as an Hypocrite Job the first chapter The other name Satan signifieth a great enemie not only to the good whom he hath most cause to hate as being contrary to him but also to the bad That he is an enemy to the good it appears by this That he persecuted not only the child that was new born but the woman also and because he cannot shew his malice upon him he makes warre with her seed Apocalyps the twelfth chapter the thirteenth seventeenth verses That he persecuted also an enemie to the bad appears verse the ninth where he is called The seducer of of the whole world and the accuser of the brethren for that he first brings them to commit grievous sinnes and then pleads against them that the plague of God may come upon them These are the Leaders The Bands and Souldiers under their conduct are Angels on both sides The Angels that serve under Michael are they that excell in strength and doe the command of God in obeying the voice of his word Psalm the hundred and third and the twentieth verse they that the Apostle calls elect Angels the first epistle to Timothy the fift chapter and the twenty first verse The Angels that warre on the Dragons side are the evil Angels Psalm the seventy eighth and the fourty ninth verse The Angels that sinned the second epistle of Peter the second chapter And they that kept not their original as Jude saith these fight for the Dragon and he is their Captain as Christ saith The Prince of the Devils is 〈◊〉 Matthew the twelfth chapter For as among the good Angels there is principatus primus principatus so it is among the wicked Angels for there must be order in all companies Touching the Battail it self we are first to remove some things of offence not to think it strange that the Angels are here said to move battail For albeit they be called Angeli pacis Isaiah the thirty third chapter and the seventh verse because they bring peace yet in many places they are called Gods Hosts as Jacob seeing the Angels of God called the place where they were Nahanaim Genesis the thirty second chapter and the second verse and they magnisie God by that title Isaiah the sixt chapter Lord God of Hosts Luke the second chapter the Angels are called Heavenly Souldiers And where Christ saith If I pray to the Father he will give me more than twelve 〈◊〉 of Angels Matthew the twenty sixt chapter He compareth them to Troops and Bands of Souldiers for that they are not only Angels to Gods friends and servants but souldiers fighting against them that oppose themselves against God Further where their state is in a continual motion that must not offend us for the Angels themselves are not yet in the perfection of their felicity for we see they are imployed in doing service for us they continually aseend and descend from Heaven to Earth and from Earth to Heaven for the good of the godly for God saw it good that as well they as the Saints departed out of this life should not be made 〈…〉 Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the fourtieth verse which is illistrated Matthew the thirteenth chapter where the Angels are called Reapers giving us to understand thereby that as the 〈…〉 is not at rest till the Harvest be all in so it is with the Angels they must continually be imployed in doing service for them that shall inherit Salvation till the number of the Elect be accomplished So neither needs that to offend any that the Dragon is 〈◊〉 to have fought in Heaven for so he is said to have appeared before God among the sonnes of God And when Ahab was to be deceived a lying spirit stood before God the first book of the Kings the twenty second chapter All this was only by Gods permission For all this doth no make the Devil blessed no more than Adam was blessed being in paradise For having sinned and being thereby out of Gods favour he no more enjoyed that comfort of Paradise which he took before his fall but quaked and hid himself from the presence of God for tear Genesis the third chapter The Dragon is no more blessed for being in Heaven or appearing before God than a prisoner that for a time is brought out of prison into the Court to be arraigned for he takes no delight of the pomp and glorie of the Court knowing it is not for him but he must return to the 〈◊〉 from whence he was taken So it is with the Devil These offences being removed we come now to the Fight it self which was not in any bodily manner for they are spirits 〈◊〉 the hundred and fourth and therefore their fight is a spiritual fight Ephesians the sixt chapter And their 〈◊〉 not carnal but spiritaul the second epistle to the Corinthians the tenth chapter That as the Angels fight by temptations on the one side and by resistances on the other they fight by agonies and inward conflicts which is more truly called conflicts than any combat The other fight with bodily enemies for as some note Abraham would rather fight wich five Kings than abide that conflict
an instant the world must needs bee by fatall destiny and necessity and might not bee otherwise Epicuremum The other were the Epicures which taught The world was a thing made at a venture by casual chance and happy hazard by a divine essence the one taught that God could doe no otherwise then but make it the other thought that God did hee could not tell what But Psal. 115. 3. Deus fecit quecunque voluit in Coelo Terra And Revel 4. 11. All things were made for him and by his will And Esai 45. 18. God made not Heaven and Earth in vain to no end but the word fignifieth that hee made it with Wisdome and Counsell Esai 43. 13. God was before any day was and hee asketh Who could constrain him by necessity to make it or not to make it Heb. 3. 4. If a man being in a strange Country shall see a house hee will certainly affirm that there hath a man builded it that it is a mans worke so saith hee when wee see all Creatures Heaven and Earth wee know that God made them all A reason against that opinion of Fortune is this That things done by Chance are without cunning But God with infinite wisdome devised all things the Eye to see Colors to bee seen and the Light as the meanes by which wee see also all things are in such wonderfull order succeeding one another in their course as the seasons of things which shew them not to bee by Chance therefore the Philosophers were glad when they found out that 〈◊〉 intelligentia that was the cause of all so that they confesse all things to bee made by a wonderfull wise Counsell and discourse of an understanding minde So that it was made by another not by Necessity nor Chance Creavit Coelum Terram omnia in illis Gen. 1. vers 1. NOw are wee come to the fourth and last point which wee are to consider in this verse and that is That the things which were Created by God are both Heaven and Earth which here is said to bee his workmanship Which though it be here set downe in two generall things yet are his works manifold yea infinite and cannot be numbred All which Creatures and things Created cannot bee better expressed then in these two which contain all the rest for hee so faith Exod. 20. 11. In six dayes hee made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that is therein So doth David expound his meaning Psal. 146.6 and Revel 10. 6. therefore Job saith 38. 6 7. That God made not only the Starres with the Heavens but also the Angels or Children of God which are in them and Psal. 24. 1. God when hee is said to make the round World he meaneth also all that dwell therein that is Man also yea hee is also the Lord and Creator of the Soules and Spirits of all Flesh as well as their bodies Numb 27. 16. So that to conclude with Saint Paul by these two is understood and comprehended all the Creatures visible and invisible which God made Coll. 1. 16. For the Heavens are the bound upward and the Earth is the bound below which conclude all between them Let us therefore first consider these two joyntly then in the order wherein they stand and in the last place severally Touching the first David saith Psal. 102. 25. Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the Earth and the Heavens are the worke of thy hands Esay 40. 12. It is God that made Heaven and Earth Job 37. 17. 18. Job 38. 5 6. The Heavens doe shew this in that they resemble their Creator because they are moveable and yet subject to alteration and the Earth unmoveable and not subject to motion 2. Point Moses meaning is That not the Earth alone was made by God but also the Heavens that is both of them and all in both were his worke not the Earth only but also the Heavens against the Philosophers which thinke therfore that the Heavens were not made because none can assigne the point where the Heavens began nor in what part God began to make them nor where the Heavens first began to move by which reason they might hold that the heart of man was not made because none can tell how it began its motion to pant and beat whether by sustole or diastole but as the heart was made though unknown where the first motion of it is so were the Heavens That hee made not the Heavens only but also the Earth below against the errors of the Manichees which hold that there were two causes of Heaven and Earth That the good and white God made the Heaven and Man from the middle upward And the black and evill god was the efficient cause of the Earth and of Man from the middle downward but as Gods power and wisedome is shewed and seen as well in an Ant as in an Elephant as one saith as well in the creeping Wormes and basest Creatures as in the Angels and most excellent Creatures So doth his Majesty and Might appeare in the Earth as well as in Heaven 3 Point Now in regard of the order here set downe wee have a consideration first of the Heavens for if there were any Order observed in Gods Creation surely the Heavens were made in the first place which sheweth the glory of the Creator for who ever in building his house would or could begin it at the Roofe first and then afterwards lay the Foundation of the Earth but his omnipotency is such that hee beginneth to make his house from the Roofe downeward as wee see in the second and third verses And this is strange saith Job 26. 7. That hee hath made the Heavens turn round like a wheele without an axeltree and that hee hath caused the Earth to hang and stand without any prop to uphold it When wee therefore consider the Heavens and Earth the worke of thy hands wee must needes know that the corners of the Earth are upholden by his hand 4 Point Let us consider them severally and apart in which wee must regard them after three sorts 1. First in respect of God as they are compared with him 2. Secondly as they are compared to themselves 3. Thirdly comparing them to us 1. Esay 66. 1. Comparing them with God Heaven was made to bee his Seate and Earth to be his Foot-stoole 2. In respect of themselves Heaven was made as the male part of the World by whose influence motion and dewes the Earth as the female part should as it were out of her womb bring forth all living and necessary things Hermes the AEgyptian the Persian wife men and Orpheus the Grecian appoint these two as the matter of all things that are 3. In regard of us our selves Heaven and Earth are the meanes of our moving and rest for the motion of the Heavens is the beginning of our bodily motion and the unmoveable Earth is
hour every day to perswade us that are men which are farre more beholden unto God than any Creature else and yet it will not avail to make us obedient to his word As for conformity to his word it was sic even after the manner and form in all respects as he would have it But if we doe a thing it is lame and unperfect in some respect and not conformable to his will Last of all constancie and perpetuity Psal. 119. 91. they continue still according to their ordinance for all things serve thee He hath set thee a Law which shall not be broken Psal. 148. 6. For it is a wonder that such Seas of waters which hang and fly over our heads daily doe not fall on us and with their weight destroy us for we see what a bucker of water is for heavinesse in his fall yet the pillers of God uphold them that they fall not which pillers one would think should be aere that is made of brasse but they are aëreae airie pillers and yet last longer and are more durable then the greatest brasen pillers that we can imagine for in time they would corrupt and be eaten up of the waters but yet the power of God hath so strengthned the Aire that being the weakest thing that is as our Proverb saith As weak as Water not being able to sustain it self no not to be a piller to hold up a feather from the ground yet it is made a Firmament that is a most firm sure and durable piller to uphold all these Clouds and bottels of water above they move motu immobili varietate invariabili and so they continue after Gods ordinance even unto this day as the Psalmist saith Expansum autem hoc Deus Vocavit Coelum sic fuit vespera fuit mane diei secundi Gen. 1. 8. WHich words contain in them the second principall part of the second dayes work which is the word of denomination and entitling the Firmament thus with a new name When God made Abraham the Father of the faithfull he exchanged and gave him a new name Gen. 17. 5. When Jacob was exalted to the like dignity his name was also changed and he called Israel Gen. 32. 28. So here having made ex abysso Coelum that is as some say Coelum a coeno of the dreggs of that gulfe then he vouchsafeth according to the dignity of 〈◊〉 to give it a name agreeable thereunto Touching the denomination in general I shewed four things before which I will not repeat now but only call to your remembrance The first was The name of things are of freehold and therefore must move us to attention because though these works are beneficiall to all Creatures yet the apprehension of their names belong only to man at whom God did aime and levell in this work The second That the things which are divers in nature must be distinguished in name The third The manner of giving names must be in proportion agreeable to the nature of them And lastly What the significations of the names are Not repeating this generality we will now descend to the particularity of this name and see by the notations of the word what is signified thereby The old English called the Heavens aloft as though it were lifted up as it was out of the deep The Latines call it Caelum quasi caelatum that is embroidered and garnished as it is The Grecians call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi terminus mundi as it were the border and bound of the World The Hebrews call it Shameshe Concerning which word there is three several opinions all which may be well and to good purpose received There are of the Hebrews which deduce the word from the verb Shama which is to wonder because of the admiration which all men have of this glorious World especially if we consider with David Psal 8. 4 5. that God having such excellent and glorious Creatures in Heaven should so notwithstanding regard man which is but a clod of earth as to endue him with these divine graces and with a reasonable soul The admirablenesse of this work consisteth first In that they being made of the dreggs of the deep are notwithstanding the most splendent and glorious Creatures of God Also in that they moving continually are immobilia and varying and changing in their courles alwaies are notwithstanding invariabilia for they move motu immobili varietate invariabili Also in that they consisting of water which is most weak and infirm are nothwithstanding most sure and firm of all other things The other opinion taketh it from the verb Magam and the adverb Iham as if God had appointed with his finger to the Heavens and said Here are all things if you want light waters either for soul or bodie here they are to be found and here you may have it as indeed all good graces come from above from our Father in Heaven Jam. 1. 17. The second note touching the word is in that it is of the duall number which implyeth that the Heavens are double and two fold which is apparent in the 17. verse where it is said that the Starres are in Heaven and in the 26. verse it is said that the Fowls also flye in Heaven Now this is plain and sensible in every mans eyes that the starres are not where the Birds doe flie neither doe the Fowles flie where the Starres are Out of Psal. 68. 33. the ancient Hebrews doe note to us that there was a former and later Heaven a higher and a lower Heaven made by God the lower Heavens in the Scriptures are usually termed and called Coeli Psal. 148. 4. and the upper Heavens which is the Seat of God is called Coeli Coelorum 1 Reg. 8. 27. and in other places for as there was in the Temple of Salemon Sanctum Sanctum Sanctorum so in the the great Temple of the world there is Coelum Coelum Coelorum to answer to it in the upper and higher Heavens as was shadowed in the Temple is the mercy Seat the Altar and the Propiciatory but in the nether is atrium I. Benjamin c that is a division of severall Courts for Starres Clouds Fowls Men c. Between the higher and the nether Heavens as it was in the Temple there is a Vail or Curtain spread Heb. 6. 19. which doth part the one from the other Besides these two Heavens we read of a third Heaven 2 Cor. 12. 2. which is the highest number we read of in Gods word so that besides the Merchant mans Heavens which is prosperous winde and besides the Husbandmans Heaven from whence commeth seasonable weather in Summer and Winter there is a third Heaven which we must seek for which is Regnum Coelorum for the Fowles doe flie per medium Coelorum 17. and 26. verses as the Angell did Rev. 8. 13. therefore there is a Heaven on both sides of this middle Heaven The impressions of the Aire are the
Host and Army of the nether Heavens and the Starres are the Hostes of God which inhabite and are in Garrison in the second Heavens and the Hosts of Heavenly Souldiers Saints and Angells are the Armies of the third Heavens Luke 2. 13. which Heaven is called solum gloriae for Heaven is his throne it is called the habitation of Gods holinesse Esay 63. 15. And God is described by this place Matth. 5. 34. Deus qui sedet in Coelum Psal. 121. 2. so his place is in the third and highest Heavens and from thence cometh the true winde and spirit John 3. 8. and the true rain and dew and water of Grace and life John 4 14. and from thence discended the true bread of life John 6. 32. and the oyle of joy and all good things spirituall whatsoever and from thence we are to look for them Thus we may consider of Heaven though we might here rather know and learn the way thither then curiously to search what it is which we cannot finde nor comprehend 1 Cor. 2. 7. I come to the two other Heavens because this place teacheth and warranteth us only but of these two Touching the second Heaven this we finde that it is a glorious body Exod. 24. 10. though it consisteth of and by the waters as St. Peter saith 2 Pet. 3. 5. as in the water we see no diversity or variety yet in the bodie of the Heavens there is great variety for it is as it is in natural things In a kernel we can perceive no variety but yet it bringeth a tree forth which hath great variety as a body of wood bark leaves blossoms and fruit and by this incarnation we have participation of those graces Heb. 10. 20. and he calleth all to him to buy these waters John 7. 38. 39. and by his spirit he will power them into our souls Rom. 5. 5. Water of Meditation and of these waters the Patriarchs and we tasted 1 Cor. 10. 3. and by these waters of Grace we have passage and navigation from Earth to Heaven Act. 2. 17. 18. by our waters we can passe from one Country to another Waters of Grace These waters of Grace are contained in the clouds of the Law the preaching thereof doth drop gratious words as the dew Deut. 32. 2. and therefore the wiseman saith that the lipps of instruction are a well-spring of life so the preaching and ministery of Gods word is the clouds and bottels which hold this water Therefore Acts 14. 3. and Acts 20. 32. Gods word is called verbum gratiae which doth contain heavenly grace as the clouds doe water which by the inluence of Gods spirit is made aqua vitae vivificans John 6. 35. for the word is as seed but the spirit giveth life and so that is made effectuall in us and we made fruitfull unto God and as a sweet ground whom God hath blessed Gen. 26. 12. Now as God in the name of Heaven holdeth up the finger as it were and saith here is waters to be had and looked for so the same word of God which made the Heavens must give these waters from thence and therefore they which want wisdome and knowledge let them ask and seek them of God Jam. 1. 5. 17. The bucket by which we must draw this water is a true faith Esay 12. 2 3. Prov. 12 17. 19. and then our souls became like a well watred garden Jer. 31. 12. This water it yeeldeth for meditation There is also profitable matter to learn for 〈◊〉 For as we see God doth here we must expresse the like in our actions that we may be like unto God First When we have received our light of knowledge we are taught by the order of Creation that the next course in regeneration is to extenuate our earthly affections and to sublime and elevate and to lift up our mindes to Heaven Phil. 3. 20. So St. Paul willeth us Col. 3. 2. this is the laying up of treasures in Heaven Matth. 6. 20. we must think on Jerusalem which is above if we will be free Citizens in it Gal 4. 26. Secondly for the division As there is a Heaven and Earth the two parts of the world so is there in man two parts correspondent the earthly Adam made of the dust and the spirit and soul which God gave 〈◊〉 12. 7. which is called the Heavenly Adam 1 Cor. 15. 47. 48. God will first say let be a separation our souls must be separated from earth earthly and carnall things as we said before and ascend And as all earthly things which make for the flesh are brought into a narrow compasse of the Earth which is but a prick in a circle whereas God hath reserved the large spatious roome of the Heavens for our souls so must we bring our carking cares of this life into a narrow room of our hearts and let the whole compasse of our souls and thoughts be filled with the study and care of the Kingdome of God Thirdly As the part of waters which ascended became a Firmament and are most sure and immutable unto the end of the World so must our souls having begun in the spirit ascend to Heaven be constant firm and immutable to the end of our lives and never end in the flesh Gal. 3. 3. nor fall to the Earth as those starres did Rev. 6. 13. for it it is the part of a foolish and wicked man that is mutable and wavering Prov. we must not be Rubenites Gen. 49. weak and inconstant as water for a just mans heart is firm and shall not shrink nor be moved but 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 in God Psal. And this is the part of Martyrs for though they are by nature weak and fearfull and as waters yet by Gods grace are made as the Firmament more sure against all Gods enimies than a wall of brasse Matter of thankfullnesse The last use is for matter of thankfullnesse and gratefullnesse with which we will close up all For we see that when the Earth sendeth up but a thin and a small myst the Clouds requite it by powring down showers So Cursus Dei gratiae dependet in recursu nostrarum gratiarum actionis for as the Clouds will send no more rain if the Earth will send up no vapours nor breathe up any mists so only Gods Graces will discend into our Souls when our gratefullnesse doth from thence ascend up to God for then they cease distilling down on us when we leave off to be thankfull Wherefore let us be thankfull for Coelo aëreo for without the benefit and purenesse of it we cannot breathe and live Psal. 65. and let us be thankfull pro Coelo aethereo for the comfortable and sweet influence of the starres because the Earth hath no power to bring fruit without the virtue of the Heavens And lastly Let us 〈◊〉 thankfull pro Coelo Coelorum or Coelo Coelesti that is for the third Heavens for as we must praise God for
Earth God is Chieftain and highest Commander of them For if God send out his swift watch-word all Creatures doe carefully obey and muster themselves to doe his will Psal. 147. 15. If he doe but hisse or whistle they come out and set forward Esay 7. 18. And for retreat Mark 4. 39. if he say Peace and be still the windes cease are still and goe no further 5. Last of all because if they had been expressed by the term of apparel or furniture it might have been thought that all things had been made for pleasure but by the comparison of Soldiers they are made known to be made for service also as Soldiers are All other kindes of service are but for one use as a Servants service is only obedience either to doe or not to doe but there is a double use and service of a Soldier Miles pro contra The one is to apply himself to the good of his Captain and Country The other to be ad oppositum against his enemies to defend his Captain and to offend his Adversarie So mans life is called a Warfare and Christians are Soldiers in both virtues endeavoring to doe good and to resist evil and to throw down all that doth oppose it self against God Also wheresoever mention is made of an Army there is implyed an Enemie which therefore giveth some occasion out of this to gather the fall of Angels which Heavenly Creatures are made not only to serve ad muniendum sed ad puniendum for the benefit of the good but for the punishment of disobedient and disloyal servants for against such all things in Heaven and in Earth doe arme themselves for revenge and oppose them selves against them We may if you please muster these Armies in their several ranks and orders Armies in Heaven celeftiall Spirits as the Angells And first concerning the Armies in Heaven they are of two sorts The first are in the uppermost Heavens in which are the Angels which being spirits are called by implication Heavenly Souldiers or Gods host as Jacob in the old Testament called them Gen. 32. 2. and St. Luke in the new Testament 2. 13. These are the first order which have the name of an Host concerning which celestial Creatures we read that they are 〈◊〉 Psal. 104. 4. Called Souldiers in respect of their ministery and fitly compared to Soldiers in respect of their service and ministry Heb. 1. 14. Multitude and also in respect of their multitude Psal. 68 17. and Dan. 7. 10. And in the New Testament Matth. 26. 53. Christ speaketh of twelve Legions which surpasseth the greatest Host that ever was Power Also in respect of their power they deserve the same name 2 Thes. 1. 7. Also in respect of their wisdome for policie 2 Sam. 14. 20. these are continually present and affistant with God Job 1. 6. 1 King 22. 19. And God doth send and imploy them to our service Gen. 28. 12. and are often messengers between God and man Their care and charge and their care and charge is not only to look to whole Countries and Nations Joshua 5. 14. as of Israel and Dan. 10. 13. of Persia and Grecia but also of singular persons as St. Peter had his Angel Act. 12. 15. So had Agar Gen. 16. 7 8. And little Children had their Angels Matth. 18. 10. Abrahams servant an Angel Gen. 24. 7. and Tobias an Angell Having their charge generally of Countries and especially of several men They are present with us it followeth consequently that they are present with us and about us Preach 5. 5. In which regard we must take heed to our behaviour propter Angelos 1 Cor. 11. 10. To guide and direct us They are not only present but also doe goe before us as guides for directions in good matters as Abrahams servant Gen. 24. 40. To hinder some in bad matters And as they serve to further us in good things so doe they hinder some men in bad courses and enterprises Numb 22. 31. as they did Balaam And they doe rejoyce if we prevail in that which is good Luke 15. 10. And the last service they perform is to carry and convey us into Abrahams bosome Luke 16. 22. The Militarie service of Angells Now touching their militarie service they doe pitch their Camp about the Godly ad muniendum for defence Psal. 34. 7. and ad puniendum they doe pursue and scatter the wicked They are in Cherubins spreading their wings over the good Exed 25. 22. and 〈◊〉 out a fiery sword against the evill Gen. 3. 24. There is friendship and fidelity to the one and opposition and open hostility with the other So they served for Elishaes protection and defence 2 Kings 6. 17. and for opposition and defiance to the Enemies of God Esay 37. 36. We see both together Gen. 19. 15. they defend Lot and 〈◊〉 Sodom And Acts 12. 7 8 9. the same Angell which delivered 〈◊〉 out of 〈◊〉 smote Herod with the disease of the worms that he died In the Firmament the Stars Touching the nether Heavens The Host of the firm ament is the celestial bodies Deut. 17. 3. for so are the Starres and the Planets called Act. 7. 43 44. And their Militarie service is Judg. 5. 20. to fight in their courses against Gods enemies Armies in the Aire For the lowest Heavens which is the Aire There God hath his Host viz. the Winde for the Winde though it be but a puffe of Aire yet when God doth stirre it it hath such a militarie and violent force both on the Seas Psal. 48. 7. and also on the Land 1 Kings 19. 11. Job 1. 19. Leave the body of the Aire and goe to the furniture of it There shall you see that God hath his store-house of Snow and Hail Job 38. 22. both for reward of the good and revenge of the wicked for from thence came fire and brimstone on Sodom Gen. 19. 24. and from thence came the storm of Haile upon the Egyptians Exod. 9. 22. c. If you come to the fowls of the Aire they are Gods Armie for our good to feed us 1 King 17. 6. or else for our punishment to feed upon us Ezech. 39. 4. And Gods power doth not shew it self in the great Fowls as Ostriches and Eagles but in his Army of little poor Flies which are in the Aire Exod. 8. 24. and his swarms of Hornets Deut. 7. 20. for by them he can compell People to forsake and leave their Land and dwelling places Armies in the Earth Let us come to his Armies on Earth and Waters And first concerning the Waters doe not we see Gen. 7. 21. that there were such huge Armies thereof that at Gods commandement they overflowed the whole Earth That they drowned the Egyptians Exod. 14. 27. And the Whales in the Waters are Gods Host to devoure Jonas Jon. 1. 17. Yea to leave the great Army of Whales and come to the
Paradise of Angels Psal. 103. 20. by which is meant the joyes of Heaven of which man also communicating in this life with their holinesse shall be made partaker in the life to come yet notwithstanding it is as true that there is an historicall Paradise on Earth which is truly called the Garden of the Lords planting garnished with all trees for delight and profit It is no question but that man had his Interest then in both these Paradises and that above is farre more excellent and glorious than this below when it was in his best estate wherefore we must so place the one which is spirituall and invisible as that we take not away the other which was visible and temporall For Adams posterity dwelt neere to Eden afterwards and serveth in the Scriptures to describe their certain places by 4. Gen. 16. For Cain dwelt towards the East side of this Garden Eden and the South side of it was a Plot which after the flood Noah chose as the best soyl to dwell in Esay 37. 12. The Merchants which dwelt thereabouts and were planted about Eden had all manner of 〈◊〉 commodities as we read Ezech 27. 23. All which places were in Asia which as we know is the most 〈◊〉 and fruitfull part of all the world being set at the right hand of the earth as having the preheminence of it for our right parts are most apt for motion or doing any action and men doe 〈◊〉 that people were first in Asia inhabiting it and from thence came to all other parts of the earth This also for the certainty of the place is set out by the description of Rivers which have their heads there and flow from thence 〈◊〉 other parts Also by the fruits of the earth which abound there as Gold Precious stones Spices c. Also the certainty of the particular place where this garden was is made known to man by the description of the obstacle and let which keepeth men out of that place for as Pliny and Toletus say in fontibus Paradisi even in the entrance by which we should goe to it even unto this day the place yeeldeth out flames of fire which no doubt is the fierie Sword which God placed there Gen. 3. 24. We finde by writers that it was neer the City called Babilonia 〈◊〉 And that three Cities in the 〈◊〉 of Eden were builded and planted upon three of the Rivers which ran out of the Garden which Cities were called Babilonia 〈…〉 and 〈◊〉 which were builded there in Eden for the great store of all fruits which by Gods blessing abounded for it is recorded that they had harvest twice a yeer and before the first harvest they were fain to eat it twice so exceeding fertill it was That which is set down to be the greatest and rare encrease of Gods blessing Gen. 28. 12. Pliny recordeth was an usuall and ordinary encrease in those parts that is to yeeld a hundred fold And whereas it is usuall amongst our husbandmen to hearten and make fat our land their industry and labor was contrary to take away the heart and strength of the ground and to prevent the ranknesse of it for the which they had barren waters contrary to the nature of Nilus wherewith they watered their ground because otherwise the eares of Corn would be so great and waighty that the stalk could not bear it These things remaining as yet in Eden neer about the borders of the Garden by the testimony both of the Scriptures and of all other writers doe prove unto us that there is such a certain and undoubted place upon the earth The word Eden doth signifie pleasure Gen 13. 10. which doth shew us that all the Country was pleasant and delightfull and therefore the Garden of Eden is shewed thereby to deserve the name of pleasure it self as we shall see hereafter both in respect of the pleasant Waters and Rivers as also of the pleasant Ayre for in the 3. Chap. it is said that God did walk in it as also in respect of the most rare and delightfull sent verse 9. not only for Flowers and Trees but for Spices precious Stones and Metals which grew 〈◊〉 of their own accord as also in respect of the pleasant prospect and view of the place being as it were a hollow bottom as Balaam describeth this Garden Numb 24. 6. Thus we have seen the seat of man the kind of place the dignity and scituation of it Secundae pars generalis Now for the placing of man in it Deus locavit hominem quem formavit in horto quem plantavit for after man was made God removed and brought him hither into Eden and put him in the Garden 15. verse God saith Levit. 25. 23. quoniam terra mea est vos Coloni estis c. So this Garden was Gods planting and his ground Adam was a forreiner and brought in to be Gods Farmer and Tenant in it that Adam not being born in it might know that God which placed him there was the right and only true owner of it and therefore all homage was to be performed to him alone for this taught him that Paradise was vos gratiae non naturae for God might have left him in the place where first he made him Seeing then God of his free Grace brought him thither it was not of desert or merit because as yet there was no Law given unto him untill after he was put in possession of it This then teacheth him thankfulnesse and obedience in that it was without any desert of his Secondly it might teach him that as he was in mercy brought in so he might in Justice be cast out if he sinned and became ungratefull Wherefore we see that as it was Gods great favor by which he was brought hither so when he had transgressed there was no wrong or rigor shewed in thrusting him out again God first planted the senses in man Psal. 94. 9. And then he planted a Garden this is the first order and another order he took which is this that they whom he planted in the Garden Psal. 92. 13. 14. might strive with Paradise in fruitfulnesse that seeing God had caused Paradise not to be barren or unfruitfull to us Jer. 2. 27. Therefore we should not be a wildernesse unto God but to be plentifull in good works being thus gratiously planted in Gods Church Concerning Paradise now we must know it was not the deluge but the cause of the deluge that is sinne which took away the excellency of Paradise as is here mentioned But you will ask what is become of it now This question may be well left out because as St. Augustine saith there is no use of it in regard of our habitation but of our instruction this for use we see and learn that Adam did loose that happy place of joy by negligence sinne ungratefulnesse and unbelief therefore let us beware lest the like sinnes make us loose the hope and fruition of our
brothers supplanter Genesis 25. And Peleg had his name aright namely division Adams names of inward properties But Adams names came from inward qualities which he could perceive partly by the light of nature wherein are to be considered three things as you may see by 1 Kings 4. 29. Adams knowledge In Salomons wisdome was knowledge By the light of nature Secondly intelligence or understanding Of grace And thirdly he had a large heart even as the sand on the Sea shoare that is he was able to comprehend all things by the capacitie of his memory But these were more excellently in Adam than in Salomon who had no vanity to seduce him no sicknesse to weaken him no temptation to hinder his wisdome as Salomon had He could also see these inward qualities by the light of Grace In lumine tuo videbimus lumen saith David Psal. 36. 9. In thy light O Lord shall we see light The divisions of the light of grace The Fathers doe say that lumen gratiae is either per Deum or Angelos This light of God came to men either by apparition as to Noah Moses c. or by revelation which is inspired into us By vision many saw this light Wisd. 17. 6. and Gods knowledge slideth into our hearts The other light we see is of Angells by their visitation as Gabriel visited Daniel and made him understand the vision Daniel 8. 16. Which visitation of Angels Adam had The light of glorie Beyond these there is lux gloriae the light of glorie Whereby Adam saw his reward in the Heavenly Paradise by obedience visio essentiae divinae is the reward to see and enjoy the essence of God was his reward whereunto Adam whilest he lived obedient in Paradise hoped to be translated from the earthly to the heavenly Paradise To him that overcommeth shall be given a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it the name is reward and honour Revel 2. 17. Then shall we see God face to face that is in lumine gloriae in the light of his glorie whom now we see through a glasse darkly 1 Cor. 13. 12. Two glasses whereby we see God The Glasses whereby God is seen in this world are of two sorts the one is dark the other bright the one is dimme as the light through an horn the other is a light through a Glasse Adam we the Angells see God We see God in this world as through a dimme light Adam in Paradise in state of innocencie as through a bright Glass The Angels see him in heaven essentially Our sight was from the earth where is miserie Adams from Paradise where was grace The Angels sight is in the heavenly Paradise where glorie beholdeth glorie Our knowledge of God is inaenigmate is as in a Riddle The knowledge of God by Adam in Paradise was as through a clear Glasse But the Angels in the heavens knew God face to face The things named Now of the object and what was named by man There were Six names God giveth six individuall names given by God himself as the light God called day a time active Seconly The darkness he named night a time to recover strength called lagela leagala Thirdly The firmament he called heaven from whence is the influence of the aire and the winde Fourthly The drie land he called earth Fistly The Sea which of its own nature would swell fifteen cubits above the highest hill was altered by the name from turning magim to jagim Lastly he called Man Adam that is of the earth Adam giveth apt names Here Adam giveth names first to the beasts that are serviceable and then to the birds and fowls that flie in the Aire To the Beasts He at the first sight without a Counsellor gave apt names to every beast to all the Cattell of the field which are infinite and this we may see for all the Cartell in the names of three to the Horse he gave a name to be mans currer to the Sheep to be his Clothier to the Asse to be his Porter for so the names of these doe sound in the Hebrew tongue To the Fowl Likewise he gave apt names unto the Birds as the Eagle is a noble bird for it preyeth not upon the bird that keepeth him warm all the night neither doth he flie that way in the morning that that bird flyeth the Peacock is proud the Stork is kinde the Serpent a slider the Ant bites the end of the Corn that it should not grow the Ant called a Gnawer from the Elephant to the Ant did he give apt names The Locusts of the swarms the Bees of their government have their names Naming for distinction of kinde and propertie So the virtues of naming are two for the distinguishing of kinde and of propertie So that the argument is good from the thing to the name and from the name to the thing according to the name is the nature and according to the nature is the name Jacob had his name aright his name was Supplanter and he supplanted his brother But for Adam there was not a meet help Briefly of the return But for Adam was not found an help meet for him A Non est inventus is returned a Creature suitable to mans nature found he not and that he should not want a meet help Woman was taken out of man Not finding implyeth a seeking seeking a desiring and desiring implyeth a want A neccessarie conversion And that we doe want we desire and that we desire we seek and that we seek we shall finde Adam among the beasts found not a meet help yet he sought an help which he desired because he wanted Non invenit 〈◊〉 bestias adjutorem 〈◊〉 sibi yet did he behold the beasts and the end of this contemplation is not fruitlesse there is a curious contemplation such was that of Hevah chap. 3. 6. The end of Mans contemplation in Paradise was in humility and the end of the contemplation of the Beasts and Fowls here you see is a supply of an help For the first you doe see Preach 3. 10. that the travell of men is given them by God to humble them David in Psal. 8. 5. saith Quid est 〈…〉 memor es ejus Domine When he hath considered the natures and beheld the beasts and finding among them no meet help then he desireth a supplie And happie is the meditation when it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oratione in prayer Among Beast helps not meet helps Among so many beasts no doubt he found some helpers but they were mute without conference bruitish without reason all of them looking downward But man before his fall was in honore positus he was straight both in body and in minde Psal. 49. 20. Among them as I have shewed he found many helpers as the Horse to ride upon the Sheep to cloath him the Asse to bear
farre forth as it necessarily pertained unto them but as for the other kind which deserveth not the name of Ignorance but Nescience it is a not knowing of things needlesse and impertinent to our duty that is of superfluous and curious points which belong not to us and this is that holy and godly Ignorance which is said to bee even in the Angels of heaven and in the Son of God as he is man 24. Matt. 36. and of such things Christ saith to his disciples vestrum non est haec scire 1. Acts. 7. Therefore this is no sinne or defect in them though we grant it to be in them yea it rather well agreeth with the holy estate of innocency not to know needlesse points of curious knowledg But now to the answer In which wee may observe divers steppes and degrees by which shee descended to him untill at last shee came even to him in opinion and consented to him And the first descent is because shee being a woman and therefore the weaker would notwithstanding without the helpe and counsell of her husband take upon her to dispute and reason with the devill which is most deceitfull for if she had given no answere the devill should have had no advantage but by her answer to this question she gave him som holdfast by which his temptation might somwhat fasten on her It had beene her wisest course to have stopped her eares and not to have vouchsafed him the hearing but if shee would needs hear the Serpents talk yet she might have set a watch before the door of her lips Psal. 141. 3. and so condemned his speech as not worthy the answering Si enim aut non audiverat aut nil dixerat saith one bene esset but seeing she must needs fit him an answer she should have done well to fetch an answer from her Husband and to say I will goe to him which heard God speak that thing which you doubt of he can better answer and resolve you in this point than I can for if Paul would not permit a Woman to speak in the Church but to be silent then much less would he suffer Women to dispute and keep Probleme with the Devill for their duty is to learn of their Husband at home if they doubt but she according to the nature of Women will not answer per aliam they think themselves able to answer alone and therefore let us see the tenor and contents of her answer which we see is a rehearsall and repetition of Gods Commandement Genesis 2. 16. 17. but yet so faintly and coldly set down that the Devill might easily perceive that his temptation had begun to corrupt her minde for first in that she is able to say Gods Commandement without book the Devill took this hold against her that she did not sinne upon ignorance but wilfully against her knowledge which proveth that she did it presumptuosly which augmenteth her sinne that so he may well say to her ex ore tuo te judicabo If we look into the particulars of her answer we shall see it stand upon two points the first is Gods graunt the 2. verse the other is Gods restraint the 3. verse by both which we may see that Eve simply and plainly instructeth the Serpent as her friend in all the whole will and counsell of God first she setteth down Gods goodness and liberality and in expressing it she doth extenuate and lessen the greatness thereof but when she cometh to the restraint she doth so amplifie and enlarge that that the Devill might easily perceive she received the one not thankfully as she should nor yet was well pleased but murmured as much misliking the other whereas she should have said God is not bound to us either by duty or desert to give us any thing yet of his gracious goodness he hath freely permitted us the use of the trees of the Garden which are many in number and in variety divers and choise therefor he is not durus avarus pater as thou wouldst have us to think but he is bonus benignus and therefore we will thankfully keep this easie Commandement Thus the consideration of his bounty and free goodness should have been a prick to stirr her up to thankfull obedience but her unthankfull minde which regardeth not his goodness was a preparation to disobedience Thus we see what her answer should have been to have stopped the Devills mouth but she did not so therefore we are now to consider what she did say and what answer she gave unto him De fructu quidem arborum hujus horti comedemus At de fructu arboris istius quae eft in horto hoc dixit Deus Ne comedatis ex isto neque attingatis eum ne moriamini Gen. 3. 2.3 Novemb. 18. 1591. WE have considered the temptation both on the Serpents part and also on the Womans behalf and we have seen what occasions she offered unto him before he could doe her any hurt Touching which it is our part to learn to beware by her hurt and evill quia as one saith Ruinae praecedentium sunt cautiones sequentium Therefore God hath set down the manner of the fall of our first Parents ut illorum pathemata nobis essent mathemata for all is written for our instruction 1 Cor. 10. 11. Now for the better observation of her answer we shall see it doth consist of two parts the first is Gods permission in the 2. verse the other is Gods prohibition in the 3. verse for the first we have seen that the Woman had just occasion to amplifie Gods loving and most liberall dealing with them but she clean contrary being tickled by the Serpents speech doth 〈◊〉 it as if it had been a matter of very small regard and therefore in a word lightly passeth it over making a very sleight and slender confession of Gods goodness in so much as we may well say that it is oratio magis querelae quam 〈◊〉 rather complaining at Gods hardness then giving thanks for his goodness Now for the prohibition in the 3. verse because she doth enlarge it we must stand longer upon it It 〈◊〉 therefore partly on the restraint of the Commandement and partly on the penalty thereof which we will handle severally where good will and willingness is there every duty commanded will seem very easie and then we are ready to doe it but è contra when any doe injoyn us any duty whom we fancy not nor esteem as a friend by and by want of good will maketh us cavell with the difficulty and hardness thereof Therefore this making so much adoe and so many circumstances of the restraint as if it were a heavy burden an uneasie yoke doth plainly bewray an ill willing minde and murmuring against God the Commander To this end as being malecontent she nameth not the tree as God did but describeth it by the place where it standeth quasi pigeret nominare quia non liceret
graved with Cherubims the first of Kings the sixth chapter and the twenty seventh verse And likewise in the second building of the second Temple in the fourty first of Ezekiell were there many Cherubims And likewise the Angell in the fourteenth of the Revelations and the seventeenth verse with the sickle that came from Heaven was taken for a Cherubim and why was it a Cherubim that was appointed to defend this passage to the Tree of life to punish Adam and debarre him of Paradise with Sword and Fire It 〈◊〉 by the 〈◊〉 of Ezekiell and the twelfth verse That the Cherubim had a body with wings took 〈◊〉 coals and scattered them over the City and being appointed for a guard for Paradise therefore it is requisite they should be watchfull therefore it is said they were full of eyes round about or according to the fourth of the Revelations and the seventh verse they were full of eyes before and behinde which sheweth their knowledge which is requisite in them To this also it is necessary that there be added that they be armed with power of Fire and Sword for as the Cherubims of themselves were fearfull so Fire and Sword makes the passage more fearfull for to behold the Sword which will cut and the Fire which will burn it is dreadfull for incisio in the one and insentio in the other the edge of the Sword and the flame of the Fire are both more terrible and it is very usuall in the Scriptures to see them armed The Angell that stood in the way of Balaam riding upon his 〈◊〉 the twenty second of Numbers and the twenty third verse had his Sword drawn in his hand And in the first of the Chronicles the twenty first chapter and the sixteenth verse The Angell that appeared to David was armed with a drawn Sword in his hand And the Cherubim in the tenth of Ezekiell and the seventh verse was armed with Fire against Jerusalem and again in the second to the Thessalonians the first chapter and the eighth verse The Angels of God doe appear in flaming fire rendring vengeance to them that doe not know God nor obey the Gospell And here the Angell of God appeareth to Adam both with a Sword and with Fire to punish him because he would not obey God nor his commandment That we may conclude then that God hath sufficiently fenced this passage with his Angell thus armed with a burning Sword the very Asse which is of least understanding feared the Angell armed with a drawn Sword and perceived it before Balaam but to be armed with Fire it is more fearfull than with a Sword for many a one would run upon a Sword that by all means would shun the Fire look what scapeth the sword shall be devoured by the fire and the ancient Fathers upon Job 22. 20. And S. Jerom upon this place saith That the Cherubims are thus armed to shew that they have not only plenitudinem scientiae by their many eyes but plenitudine mpotentiae by being armed in this sort God taketh order that they should have both to be watchfull and powerfull But what doth this visible sign of Cherubyms and of a Sword shaken mean To make them to have a continual remembrance of their sin and likewise a 〈◊〉 griese to thinke of the pleasure and happy place that they 〈◊〉 and to see themselves lest to misery and 〈◊〉 of returning to that blessed Paradise by so strong a guard so strongly armed that there is no hope left to enter again into that former state happiness and again how grievous is it to see the elect Angels above and the damned Angels beneath yea all Gods creatures to become his enemies and to be banisheed from Gods presence all his pleasure turned to labor all plentie to necessity all joy to sorrow so that all that he saw without him was terror and fear and all that was within him was lamentations and mourning and woe as it is in the second of Ezekiell and the nineteenth verse And as we see when the Angell appeared unto David in the time of the great mortality that slew with the pestilence seventy thousand David in sack-cloath mourned and said it is even I that have finned but what have these sheep done alas they have not sinned I should have been punished and my fathers house and not this people the first of the Chronicles the twenty first chapter and the seventeenth verse And what greater grief could be devised than to be banished Paradise and to have no hope left of return not to live any longer there but to live in the barren earth in the valley of Achor the second of Osee and the fourteenth verse which is interpreted the valley of mourning and yet as the Prophet saith there that valley shall be for a gate or dore of hope for in that God doth not pull up the Tree by the root nor doth he cut it down as unprofitable we have hope that we shall have use of it hereafter for it is fenced to some use neither is Paradise layed waste nor utterly destroyed which giveth us a gate of hope The shaking of the Sword Secondly the Fathers say we have further matter of hope in regard the Sword is but shaken the Angell shakes the Sword but strikes not with the Sword St. Austin upon this shaking of the Sword saith that qui dicit percutiam non percutit minatur mortem non occidit minae ejus medicinae ejus He that saith I will strike striketh not he that threatneth death slayeth not his threatnings are as his curings and again he placeth the Cherubims armed in the East of Eden at the entrance into Paradise as the evill Angell that provoked them to sinne came with fair words and was in shew a friend but proved a deadly enemy so they say that though the Angell that keepeth the passage of Paradise doe seem an outward enemy yet in the end he will prove our very friend Versatilis Thirdly there is matter of hope in this that it is a moving Sword why then saith St. Jerome may it not be removed if Adam repent and remove himself far from his former sin Why may not God likewise repent of this Punishment neither is it unusuall that God doth so for in the first of the Chronicles the twenty first chapter and the fifteenth verse After God had sent his Angell to destroy Jerusalem as he was destroying God repented of the evill and said to the Angell that destroyed it is enough let thy hand cease and that Angell had a Sword drawn in his hand and after that David had built an Altar and made a burnt-offring in the twenty seventh verse of the same chapter The Lord spake again to the Angell and he put up his Sword again into his sheath It was Davids case the seventy seventh Psalm and the seventh verse In sorrow and great grief he said Will the Lord absent himselfe for ever and will be shew
no more favor hath God forgotten to be mercifull no doubt God will shew the mercy that hee found in his misery or if with the Prophet Jer. 47. 6. we fay Oh thou sword of the Lord how long will it bee ere thou cease turne again into thy scabbard rest and be still no doubt God will be mercifull And for the Cherubyms the Cherubyms that covered the two ends of the mercy seate in Exodus the 25. chapter and the 18. verse were Cherebims of protection that covered with their wings the Mercy-seat And in Ezekiel 28. it is said That the king of Tyrus had been in Eden the garden of God and verse 14. That he was the 〈◊〉 Cherub that covereth it was a Cherubym of protection They no doubt that accompanied the Lamb Revel 14. were Angells and Cherubyms singing and harping for joy and these Cherubyms that here are appointed with fire and sword if it please God to be mercifull may turne their shape and lay downe the Sword for if Gods wrath be appeased no wrath is executed as in the case of David and of Jerusalem and of Ninivie where God stayed the hand of his Angell and his wrath ceased for God giveth power to Angells in Heaven and Princes on the Earth and all the shields of the world belong unto God Psal. 47. so that if he be appeased they yeeld their power and if God will have mercy upon man and will say deliver him that he goe not downe the pit for I have received a reconciliation then shall he be restored to his former state Job 33. 24. Upon mans repentance God will deliver his soule from destruction and if here God were once reconciled the sword should be taken away from the Angell and he should put it up into his sheath and man should recover his former state and the Angell shall become an Angell of mercy like the Cherubyms Exod. 25. 〈◊〉 covered with their wings the mercy seat or Propitiatory Now the meanes of reconciliation is a Propitiatory sacrifice for Sacrifice is the way of Reconciliation When Abraham with his offering of his sonne had pleased God the Angell stayed Abrahams knife and he found favor with God chap. 22. After David by his sinne had procured the punishment of his people he repented him of his sinne ond offered him up a burnt offering and a peace offering and then the Lord answered him by fire from heaven upon the Altar of burnt-Offering and when the Lords wrath was appeased the Angell sheathed up his Sword 1 Cron. 21. 26. and here if in Adams Case Gods wrath be appeased and he reconciled the Angell will lay down his firySword and flamma quae ardet gladius qui mactat the fire that should burne shall be extinguished and the sword that should slay shall be sheathed and by a Sacrifice Gods wrath shall be appeased for Exod. 12. chapter Where God seeth the blood upon the 〈◊〉 of their houses God and his Angell will passe over their houses and plague nor destruction shall not fall upon them the token of blood shall be a reconciliation of Gods favor and the Angell passed by This brings us to the great Propitiatorie Sacrifice the like whereof never was in the world in the which is not the blood of Lambs Goats or beasts but the blood of the immaculat Lamb Jesus Christ Gods sonne and mans Saviour who offered his pretious blood for the sinnes of us all who was the only and all sufficient Sacrifice to apapease the wrath of God and reconcile man to his Love this Sacrifice drew the alliance of Men with Angels made a reconciliation with God and restored man to the tree of life and the Paradise of God and the Angels shall rejoyce and be glad at this reconciliation and that Christ was exalted the eleventh of the Revelations and the fifteenth verse And the seventh place the Fathers doe alledge that this place is a poynting even unto the Gospell that in the fencing thus of Paradise it was foretold that one should come that through his obedience should remove the armed Cherubyms and give unto mankinde a passage into Paradise and this they ground upon the first of Ezechiell and the tenth verse and upon the tenth of Ezechiell and the fourteenth verse and the fourth of the Revelations and the seventh verse they agree that there were foure Cherubyms in the first of Ezechiell and the tenth verse they had the face of a Man the similitude of the face of an Oxe of a Lyon and of an Eagle and in the tenth of Ezekiell and the fourteenth verse one had the face of a Cherubym the other of a Man of a Lyon and of an Eagle and for the Cherubyms in the fourth of the Revelations and the seventh verse The one was like a Lyon the other like an Oxe the third like a Man the last like an Eagle and these foure beasts in the Revelation theydoe referre unto the foure Evangelists But the other places and this also they doe referre unto the four principall acts of Christ in our reconcillation They doe apply the face of the Man to Christs nativitie who was borne man of a pure virgin The face of the Oxe to his passion who resembled his death to the death of an Oxe sacrificed for the sinnes of the People and the face of the Lyon to his Resurrection who thereby triumphed over death even he that was a Lyon of the Tribe of Judah And lastly they compare the face of the Eagle to his glorious ascention whereby he mounted like an Eagle above an Eagles pitch only to reconcile us unto Gods favor And if the Sacrifice of Christ be applyed unto us then doth it appease Gods wrath to us David applyeth Nathans rebuke to himselfe after all his sorrow and acknowledgment of his sinne in the one and fiftith Psalme with deepe and hearty repentance he sheweth that the Sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit and a broken heart he despiseth not and if with David in the fourth Psalme and the fist verse We examine our owne heart and offer the Sacrifices of righteousnesse and trust in the Lord this application of our Sacrifice to this Sacrifice is by our hearty repentance and then shall the Sacrifice of Christ Jesus be unto us a reconciliation and a propitiatory Sacrifice even to us that are penitent for hee that mourneth and sorroweth for his sinnes that repenteth from his heart of his former wickednesse shall be sure to have a part of this blessed Sacrifice once offered for all upon the Crosse And this is Pauls Sacrifice in the twelfth to the Romans and the first verse offer upyour bodies a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable serving of God these then that sacrifice their Soules and Bodies by Repentance shall be assured to have a part in Christs sacrifice If thy eye offend pull it out the ninth of Marke and the fourty seventh verse apply by thy repentance Christs passion
in all diligence and in your love to us so see that ye abound in these graces also Respexitque Jehova ad Hebelum ad munus ejus Ad Kajinum verò ad munus ejus non respexit Gen 4. 4.5 April 29. 1599. WHich words contein the acceptation of the service of Cain and Abel with God which is the matter of greatest moment and which putteth the greatest difference between them and all the world and is a pattern of the distinction which is between the godly and the wicked begun in this life and perfected in the great day of the Lord when he shall set Abell and histure Worshippers on his right hand and Cain and his false Worshippers on the left In the denomination of the name which Eve gave her first Son I told you what is the worlds censure viz. that Cain is a name of great price in the judgment of the world but as for Abell that is a name of great contempt and such as Abell was are persons of no account but here we see Gods censure upon them both is otherwise for as the Apostle saith He that praiseth himself is not allowed but he which God praiseth the second to the Corinthians the tenth and the eighteenth verse so Cain that was so precious in the eyes of the world is of no account with God but Abel which was of no reckoning with men but despised as a thing of nought he is highly accounted with God for he hath respect to his oblaion but as for Cain and his oblation he respected them not So we see that as on the one side God makes the stone that was refused to be the head stone of the corner Psalm the one hundred and eighteenth and the twenty second verse so on the other side we see it true in Cain and Abel which Christ affirmeth in the sixteenth of Luke and the fifteenth verse that which is high in the account of man is abominable with God The words contain two points first Gods regard to Abel and his offering secondly his want of regard towards Cain and his oblation first that we may understand what is meant by regarding respicere is not only aspicere for God beheld Cain and his offering no less than Abel God seeth all things be they never so private he seeth Sarah when she laugheth behinde the Tent door Genesis the eighteenth and the twelfth verse whether we flie up to heaven or lie down in hell he is present with us we cannot goe from his spirit nor flye from his presence Psalm the one hundred and thirty ninth and the seventeenth and eighteenth verses but respicere is when one likes a thing so well that he looks on it again as we behold those things that we love God seeth all things and all present when he loves he beholds with an amiable look for ubi amor ibi oculus so God beheld Abel and his offering with an amiable look as not contenting himself to look once upon it The example of a Nurse Isaiah 66. 12. which gracious respect of God is set out by a loving regard that a Nurse hath to the Child when she beareth it on her lap Isaiah the sixty sixt and the twelfth verse Of the next oblation offer this which Noah offered to God it is said that the Lord smelled a savor of rest the eighth chapter of Genesis and the one and twentieth verse by which smelling and by this seeing and beholding with the eye is meant nothing else but that God received them in good part and therefore the Paraphrast expoundeth these words suscepit Dominus which exposition is grounded upon the words of the Prophet Malachy the first chapter and the eighth verse the offering is no more regarded nor received acceptably in his hands On the other side the Lord beheld Cain and his offering but he suffered not his eye to stay upon it for hee did not allow of it Testified by visible signs this acceptation the Fathers say was testified by a visible signe and they ground this opinion upon the word for the Apostle saith the eleventh chapter to the Hebrewes and the fourth verse God bears Abel witnesse that hee was just for it was usuall with God to testifie his liking of the service of his servants by outward and visible testimonies Leviticus the ninth chapter and the twenty fourth verse there came fire from the Lord and wasted Aarons burnt offering to shew that hee allowed it so hee approved Gedeons Sacrifice Judges the sixth chapter and the one and twentieth verse when the Angell touching the flesh with the end of his staffe caused fire to come forth and consume the flesh whereby hee knew that his offering pleased God So when Salomon had ended his Prayer fire came downe from heaven and consumed his Sacrifice and Oblation the second of the Chronicles the seventh chapter and the first verse but it is plain in the first of the Kings the eighteenth chapter and the twenty fourth verse By fire The God that answereth by fire let him bee God saith Elias to shew that the true God doth by outward tokens testifie who bee his true worshippers But to come in particular to Abels Oblation Gods liking is upon two things upon the Person and then upon the Gift for non ex seipsis placent munera sed ex offerentibus and St. Augustine non ex muneribus Abel sed ex Abel muner a placuerunt And St. Ambrose priùs is qui dabat quam ea quae 〈◊〉 placuerunt so the person hath the first place but he respected not the person only nam ne vanae putentur oblationes it is not said he had respect to Abel and not to his offering but respexit ad Abelem munera that is not to Abel alone but to him and his gift The person must first be pleasing to God before his gift be accepted the person must first please before the gift can be accepted but as he respects the person so will he have the gift withall and therefore God that said I will have no Bullock out of thy house nor Goats out of thy folds saith gather my Saints together that make a Covenant with me with Sacrifice the fiftieth Psalm and the fifth verse and where he saith thou desirest no sacrifice he means God chiefly respects the persons of men that they be such as may please him otherwise all their oblations are to no purpose but when they are so qualified that they can offer to him a contrite and a broken heart then God will accept of their Sacrifices which they offer upon his Altar the fifty first Psalm and the ninteenth verse non est detrahendum oblationis sed adjiciendum 〈◊〉 as Abel offered by faith the eleventh to the Hebrews and the fourth verse so we may not take away obtulit but joyn fides with it so shall our oblations please when our persons are by faith in Christ reconciled to him the person
are taken away There are two natures in a Cole that is the Cole it selfe which is a dead thing and the burning nature and heate that it hath which setteth out first Christs humane nature which is dead in it selfe And then his divine nature containing the burning force of that is represented in this burning Cole So the element of bread and wine is a dead thing in it selfe but through the grace of Gods spirit infused into it hath a power to heate our Soules for the elements in the Supper have an earthly and a heavenly part Secondly that Christ is to bee understood by this burning Cole wee may safely gather because his love to his Church is presented with fire Cantit the eighth chapter and the sixth verse It is said of Christs love the Coles thereof are fiery Coles and a vehement flame such as cannot be quenched with any water nor the floods drown it even so all the calamities and miseries that Christ suffered and endured for our sakes which were poured upon him as water could not quench the love that he bare us Thirdly quia non solum ardet ipse sed alios accendit so saith John the Baptist of him There cometh one after me that shall Baptize with the holy-Ghost and with fire as it is in the third chapter of Luke the sixteenth verse therefore the graces of the holy-Ghost are also represented by fire Acts 3. the union whereof hath a double representation First it is signified by water in Baptisme for sinne that is derived 〈◊〉 us from another being as a 〈◊〉 may be washed away with water and therefore the Propher saith there is a fountaine opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of 〈◊〉 for sinne and 〈◊〉 Zach. the thirteenth chapter and the first verse therefore 〈◊〉 said to Saul bee Baptized and wash away thy sinnes Acts the twenty second Chapter and the sixteenth verse that is meant of originall sinne and the corruption of our nature by which wee are guilty of the wrath of God but because through the whol course of our life sinne by custome groweth more to be strong and to stick fast in our nature so as no water can take it away therefore 〈◊〉 Grace of God is set out by fire as having a power and force to burn 〈◊〉 sinne for by custome sinne is bred and setled in our nature and is 〈◊〉 drosse that must be tryed and purged by fire so the holy Ghost speaketh of actuall sinnes the first of Isaiah and the twenty fift verse and the sixt ter of Jeremiah and the thirttieh verse Ezech. the twenty second chapter and the eighteenth verse The house of Israel is to mee as drosse that is by custome of sinne and in regard of this kinde of sinne there needs not only water to wash away the corruption of our nature and the qualitie thereof but fire to purge the actuall sins that proceed from the same The sinnes of Commission came by reason of the force of concupiscence and from the lusts that boyle out of our corrupt nature and the grace that takes them away is the grace of water in Baptisme but the sinnes of omission proceede of the coldnesse and negligence of our nature to doe good such as was in the Church of Laodicea Rev. the third chapter and the fifteenth verse and therefore such sinnes must bee taken away with the fiery Grace of God Secondly for the quality of the Cole it is not only a burning Cole but taken from the Altar to teach us that our zeale must bee 〈◊〉 and come from the spirit of God The fires that are appointed by earthly Judges to terrifie malefactors from offending may draw a skinne over the spirituall wounds of their Soules so as for feare they will eschue and sorbeare to sinne but it is the fire of the Altar and the inward Graces of Gods spirit that taketh away the corruption and healeth the wound therefore as in the Law God tooke 〈◊〉 there should ever bee fire on the Altar Leviticus the sixt chapter and the ninth verse so for the sinner that is contrite and sory for his sinne there is alwaies fire in the Church to burne up the Sacrifice of his contrition and repentance even that fire of Christs Sacrifice The love which hee shewed unto us in dying for our sinnes is set 〈◊〉 unto us most lively in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood unto which wee must come often that from the one wee may fetch the purging of our sinnes as the Apostle speaks and from the other qualifying power si in luce John the first chapter the seventh verse wherefore as by the mercy of God we have a fountain of water alwaies flowing to take away originall sinne so there is in the Church fire alwaies burning to cleanse our actuall transgressions for if the Cole taken from the Altar had a power to take away the Prophets sinne much more the body and blood of Christ which is offered in the Sacrament If the hem of Christs garment can heale the ninth chapter of Matthew and the twentith verse much more the touching of Christ himselfe shall procure health to our soules here we have not somthing that hath touched the Sacrifice but the Sacrifice it self to take away our sins Secondly the Application The application of this Cole is by a Seraphin for it is an office more fit for Angells than men to concurre with God for taking away sinne but for that it pleaseth God to use the service of men in this behalfe they are in Scripture called Angells Job the thirty fifth chapter and the twenty third verse Malachi the second and the seventh verse The Priests lips preserve knowledge for hee is the Angell of the Lord of Hosts and the Pastors of the seven Churches in Asia are called Angells Apoc. the first chapter and the first verse for the same office that is here executed by an Angell is committed to the sonnes of men to whom as the Apostle speaks Hee hath committed the ministery of reconciliation 2 Cor. the fift chapter and the eighteenth verse to whom hee hath given this power that whose sinnes soever they remit on earth shall bee remitted in heaven the twentith chapter of Saint John and the twenty fift verse So when Nathan who was but a man had said to David etiam Jehova transtulit peccatum 〈◊〉 the second booke of Samuel the twelfth chapter and the thirteenth verse it was as availeable as if an Angell had spoken to him And when Peter tells the Jewes that if they amend their lives and turn their sinnes shall be done away their sinne was taken away no lesse than the Prophets was when the Angell touched his lips Acts the third chapter and the ninteenth verse for not hee that holds the Cole but it is the Cole it selfe that takes away sinne and so long as the thing is the same wherewith wee are touched it skills not who doth hold it but wee
either promise that which they cannot perform as being weak as Psalm the twenty first and the tenth verse or which they will not perform as Naball in the first book of Samuel and the twenty fist chapter But if we can finde one that is both able and willing to keep his promise that is a great kindnesse not to be distrusted And such a one is God who of his own goodnesse is become indebted to us by making us most great and pretious promises he is true of his word for he is Deus mentiri nesciens Titus the first chapter he cannot lye And for his power and ability Apud eum non erit impossibile omne verbum Luke the first chapter And for his willingnesse the Angels testifie of it that there is in God good milk towards men even the same which he heares to Christ his own Sonne of whom he 〈◊〉 from heaven in the third chapter of Luke This is my 〈◊〉 Sonne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly For the thing promised Though it be God that 〈◊〉 yet if the thing promised be a matter of no great value wee respect it the lesse but this is a great and most 〈◊〉 promise Now that is pretious for which a man will give any thing as for a pearle a man will sell all that he hath to composse it Matthew the thirteenth chapter and what will 〈◊〉 a man give for the ransome of his soul the whole world nay a thousand of worlds is little enough to give for it Matthew the sixteenth chapter and the sixteenth verse So then this promise is pretious in respect of the thing promised Secondly It is pretious in regard that it cost dearly For wee are bought not with corruptible things as silver and gold 〈◊〉 with the 〈◊〉 blood of Christ in the first epistle of Peter the first chapter and the eighteenth verse Thirdly It is a pretious promise in this respect because our blessednesse here promised stands not only in having our sinnes forgiven or in being made righteous that is not the thing we are 〈◊〉 with or to be with God which was the desire of our first Parents Genesis the third chapter and of Lucifer Isaiah the fourteenth chapter ero similis 〈◊〉 but it stands herein that we shall be made partakers of the Divine nature and enjoy those things 〈◊〉 eye bath not seen c. in the first epistle to the 〈◊〉 the second chapter and the third verse he doth not promise that we shall be partakers of Gods glory joy and felicity as 〈◊〉 sonnes would have been Matthew the twenty first chapter but 〈◊〉 of his nature That as we are subject to sicknesse death and all crosses by being partakers of the nature of the first Adam so we shall be partakers of glory joy and 〈◊〉 And being partakers of the second Adam as the branches receive life from the vine John the fifteenth chapter so it shall be between Christ and us he will derive his benefits to us As the 〈◊〉 is holy so wee that are branches 〈…〉 shall be 〈◊〉 Romans the eleventh chapter and the sixteenth verse As we partake of the miseries of the first Adam so of the joy and 〈◊〉 of the second Adam As we have been partakers of the 〈◊〉 so of 〈…〉 in the first epistle to the 〈◊〉 and the fifteenth chapter Fourthly If we consider from how base estate we to whom this promise is made are 〈◊〉 not only from the nature of 〈◊〉 Psalm the fourty ninth Of wormes and 〈…〉 17. and which is more base from being the Children of wrath 〈◊〉 the second chapter and Children of the Devil Acts the thirteenth chapter to be partakers of the divine nature that will 〈◊〉 to be a 〈◊〉 promise containing matter of so great comfort whereby that is by the knowledge of God that hath called us to glory and 〈◊〉 or by whom that is by Christ taking knowledge of him as in the fifty third chapter of Isaiah My 〈…〉 by his knowledge shall 〈◊〉 many and in the seventeenth chapter of John and the third verse This is eternall life to know thee and Jesus Christ. The Heathen and Turkes are not capable of this pretious promise because they take no notice of Christ It is a promise made to Christians for because they are partakers of flesh and blood He also took part with them Hebrews the second chapter As Christ took part of our nature so he makes us partakers of his It is the Christian only that beleeves this and therefore he is capable of this so pretious promise for albeit Christ were man yet it pleased God that the fulnesse of the God head should dwell in him bodily Colossians the second chapter and the ninth verse and as he is in us by his humanity so are we in him in respect of his Divinity God partakes with Christ because of his Divine nature and man partakes with Christ in as much as he hath assumed our humane nature He is partaker of our humane nature for he is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone Ephesians the fifth chapter and we by his Spirit are partakers of his Divine nature for in the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixth chapter He that cleaveth to the Lord is one spirit Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us by the spirit which he hath given us in the first epistle of St. John the fourth chapter and the thirieenth verse Christ imputeth his nature two wayes First by regeneration in Baptisin for except ye be born again of water and the holy Ghost John the third chapter Secondly by eating and drinking in the Sacrament In which respect the Apostle saith that we must bibere spiritum the first epistle to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter and the thirteenth verse In this life we must seek for Gods grace and glory and he hath promised to give both Psalm the eighty fourth and then we shall Intrare in gaudium Domini Matthew the twenty fift chapter and so we shall be alwaies with him the first epistle to the Thessalonians the fourth chapter and see him as he is the first epistle of John the third chapter and the first verse that is be partakers of his divine nature and which goes beyond all he shall not be glory in one and joy in another and immortality in a third but he shall be omnia in omnibus the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the twenty eighth verse Now the promise is with a restraint nobis qui that is to us which eschue the corruption The like we have in John the third chapter and the sixteenth verse ut omnes qui credant and Matthew the eleventh chapter Come to me omnes qui And great reason it is that if we will have God to perform his promise to us we keep the condition on our part towards him so the Apostle disputes in the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the
verse they say Angells were created yesterday as it were the next day before after David saith in the hundred fourty eighth Psalm and the second verse Praise ye him in the high places he saith first Praise him all his Angells In six dayes the Lord made the Heaven and the Earth and all that in them are in making Heaven he made all things as Angels in the Heaven Exodus the twentieth chapter As Hell hath been prepared of old so the Devill hath been a murtherer from the beginning John the eighth chapter and the fourty fourth verse It hath been questioned whether the fall of Angels was the first or second day Secondly They say there is no mention made of goodnesse because division was in the second day and therefore no goodnesse but notwithstanding the division there is a union In the dayes of Peleg the earth was divided the tenth chapter and the twenty fift verse At the building of Babel was the division of tongues which was confusion the eleventh chapter and the ninth verse This division of the second day is of things of diverse natures therefore good Likewise they say there is no mention of good because that was made that day namely the divided waters the upper and nether waters were the deluge and destruction of the world afterward But by them he punished mans wickednesse and the worlds sinfulnesse but to give to give to each his reward and desert to the godly glory to the wicked punishment this his Justice is full of Goodnesse Num 〈…〉 is Infâ—…stis say the Papists yet Matrimonium eft binorum So litarinesse is not good which God perceiving he made to man an helper the twenty eighth verse of the next chapter We say in a Proverb Secâ—… omnia sunt prospera yet it was said dies secundâ—… was infâ—…stus But it was Jeroms blemish who is not to be excused for who is blamelesse for he that first devised that opinion did first strangle it Division signifieth as well conformity as confusion and where reward is for desert that is good All that God made was very good the thirty first verse of this chapter The action of goodnesse is suspended the number is suspended till both be perfected which is after in the third day in the which day you shall finde goodnesse twice when the second day as the Seâ— was perfected the day was pâ—…ed but the work was ended This I doe take in the course of 〈◊〉 reason Et fuit ita Nam produxit terra herbulas herbas sementantes semen in species suas arbores edentes fructum in quibus semen suum est in species suas vidit Deus id esse bonum Sic fuit vespera fuit mane diei tertii Gen. 1. 11.12.13 Place this in pag 72 after the Sermon upon Gen. 1. 11 WE have heard of Gods Decree commanding and the returne executing it and his censure approving that is made which in every dayes work is set down in these three phrases fiat erat sic bonum erat Of this third dayes work we have handled before we have heard the first part namely Gods word commanding the Earth to bud forth hearbs and seeds and trees c. now it remaineth to speak of the other two And first of the return and execution And it was so For the Earth according to every 〈◊〉 and title of Gods word fulfilled Gods will and brought forth all sorts of hearbs and trees and buds and fruits and seeds leaving nothing undone which was commanded Touching which besides the obedience of this Element in executing Gods Decree we note a special Certificate under Gods hand as it were for the discharge of this Creature in the dispatch of his work and that without delay with all haste and speed Which reproveth not only our disobedience to God but also our dulnesse and slownesse in doing any thing which God commands For with us it is one thing to doe a thing and another to doe it willingly and quickly with expedition and speed For when God doth command any thing we put it off with this delay erit sic it shall be so hereafter when we can finde leisure and fit time It can seldom be said in the present tense erat sic it was performed without delay For we are as Salomons debtors which bid God stay till tomorrow or the next day Proverbs the third chapter before he can finde leisure to pay this debt and duty of obedience Secondly In that the return in the end of the eleventh verse was erat sic it was so two things are to be noted out of the nature of the word First a congruity of the performance answerable to the commandement in every point for here is specified just so much done as was required nothing too much or too little to teach us that our obedience must be such We must not deficere in necessariis nec abundare in superfluis The other point is for continuance or perpetuity for the word signifieth that it was so surely and firmly done as if it had a sure basis or foundation for continuance that it might never fail we see it holdeth and endureth ad hunc usque diem our eyes and experience seeing that it is 〈◊〉 The last thing we gather by opposition That Gods word was the cause and is that hearbs and trees doe bear fruits and trees So è contra it is the same word of God saying Let not the Earth nor the trees bear which is the cause of 〈◊〉 and want If for our sinne they fail any year ab ejus 〈…〉 interdicto 〈◊〉 If therefore we disobey Gods 〈…〉 be our punishment That his word shall 〈◊〉 the Earth to 〈◊〉 encrease and to deny us his fruits The second part is the censure and approbation of God saying that it was good I said before there are 〈◊〉 sorts of good 〈◊〉 honestum secondly utile thirdly 〈◊〉 each of which we shall see in the earth and the fruits thereof For honesty and moral good we see it is gratefull to the owner or 〈◊〉 which laboureth therein faithfully and gratefully repaying and requiting his 〈◊〉 and labour thereon For profit it veeldeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both for man and beast and so necessarily good is it in this 〈◊〉 that without it the King cannot live Ecclesiastes the fift chapter and the eighth verse For pleasure and delight either of the eye to behold it or of the taste to relieve it it is most delicious and delightfull Milk Wine and Oyle Wheat and all other grain which are both for variety and necessity we receive by Gods 〈◊〉 from the fruit and increase of the earth and trees And therefore is every way good Postea dixit Deus Abundè progignunto aquae reptilia animantia volucres volanto supra terram superficiem versus expansi Coelorum Gen 1. 20. Place this in the beginning of pag. 84. THIS verse and the three following 〈◊〉 contain in them the first dayes work by which both the
called a Serpent of creeping but other beasts though they have their brests between their leggs yet they doe not creep as the Serpent doth Another question is How this creeping can be a punishment to the Serpent seeing from the beginning they were created without feet The solution is That that which was natural before the fall after the fall became a punishment Nakednesse before the fall was no matter of shame for The man and his wife were naked and were not ashamed Genesis the second chapter and the twenty fift verse but since the fall it is a disgrace to be naked So now the creeping of Serpents is a signe of Gods 〈◊〉 inflicted upon visible Serpents because of the sinnes of him that is invisible whereas in the beginning it was no punishment Another question is How the third part of this Sentence is verified of the visible Serpent That he eats dust For one Prophet saith of him To the Serpent dust shall be his meat Isaiah the sixty fift chapter and the twenty fift verse And another saith The Serpent lick the dust Michah the seventh chapter and the seventeenth verse and yet in the Creation Moses recordeth that the Serpent hath the like food that other Creatures have of whom God saith To every beast of the earth fowl of the aire and to every creeping thing upon earth I have given every green hearb for meat Genesis the first chapter and the tenth verse The answer is That whereas at the first the Serpent had food in common with other beasts now he is excommunicated and is appointed only to feed upon the dust not upon the earth for that hath a moisture and so is apt to nourish but God did not allot unto him so much but only to feed upon the dust which is dry and altogether without moisture So that all men may evidently see both by the motion and feeding of the Serpent that the Curse of God is upon him because the Devil that old Serpent did use him as a means to perswade man to sinne against God As for the invisible Serpent these punishments pronounced by God are verified in him also but not literally for he hath no 〈◊〉 of body and therefore cannot creep but as he is a spirit so we must judge and discern spiritual things spiritually the first epistle to the Corinthians the second chapter for he hath a spiritual brest and belly he hath a spiritual creeping and feeding For his moving we are first to consider the motion as it offereth it self First It is the basest and vilest motion that is to signifie unto us that the dejection of the Devil is a more 〈◊〉 dejection and overthrow than any can be For where at the first he was an Angel of light appointed to be a Minister in Heaven now he is cast down into the deepest Hell and is there occupied in all base and vile service Now he doth busie himself in nothing so much as how to work wickednesse and to destroy the souls of men Of this dejection our Saviour speaks I saw Satan as it were lightning fall down from Heaven Luke the tenth chapter and the eighteenth verse And of him to his shame it is said How art thou fallen from Heaven that said I will ascend into Heaven and exalt my throne above the starres of God Isaiah the fourteenth chapter and the twelfth verse For it is a great shame for a Prince and noble person that hath been occupied in matters of State to be thrust into the Kitchen to be a drudge So is it with the Devil the invisible Serpent who having been before a Minister in Heaven doth now creep upon earth and compasse it Job the first chapter And as Christ saith He walks through dry places Luke the eleventh chapter and the twenty fourth verse that is he delights to be in souls that are defiled with all manner of sinne and if he cannot be received there he will enter into the Swine Matthew the eighth chapter And then doth he creep when he makes men to minde earthly things Philippians the third chapter and the second verse As this word sheweth that the reward of pride is and shall be basenesse so from his creeping we are taught what is his fraud and deceitfulnesse These things that have feet and goe cannot move without some noyse but the way of the 〈◊〉 doth passe mans understanding for that it leaveth no impression Proverbs the thirtieth chapter In this sense the Apostle saith Some false brethren have crept in Galatians the second chapter and the fourth verse and these creep into widows houses the second epistle to Timothy the third chapter This kinde of creeping is nothing else but a privy kinde of beguiling and deceiving such as we finde to have been used by the Devill the second epistle to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter Therefore we must have a special regard of the Devil when he comes to us in this manner for then is he more to be feared than when he seeks about like a roaring Lyon whom to devour the first epistle of Peter the fift chapter and the third verse The Devil is said to creep to signifie thus much That as creeping things doe not fly about our heads nor keep even pase with us so the old Serpent is alwaies aiming at our lowest part as it were at the heel tempting us by sensuality to the sinne of uncleannesse and intemperance Secondly We are to consider the manner of this motion which is expressed by the original word to be upon the brest and belly whereby we have shewed to us two main 〈◊〉 For when he creeps upon his brest by the listing up of himself he brings the temptation of the brest that is he would have us 〈◊〉 up with pride and exalt our selves When he creeps upon his belly he tempts us to desire the forbidden fruit and apple that was so goodly and pleasant to look upon and under this is comprehended both the sinnes of 〈◊〉 and lust In this manner we are to observe the means whereby he perswades men to these sinnes In the breast is the heart and when he labours to take the possession of the heart by corrupting our inward thoughts then he creeps upon his brest And his creeping upon his 〈◊〉 betokens the actual accomplishment of sinne So we see that albeit the Devil be a spirit yet by a spiritual analogie he creeps upon his breast and belly no lesse than the visile Serpent Thirdly After the casting down of Pride we come to consider the sinne of Lust and the punishment laid upon it which is To eate the dust The invisible Serpent doth not eate only corporally but spiritually he may be said to eate for in spiritual matters there is a thing answerable to eating We say in regard of the delight we take in somthing this is meat and drink to us And so the Holy Ghost also speaks I esteem of thy word above my appointed food Job the twenty third chapter
between faith and natural affection which he felt when he was commanded to offer up his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and those agonies which David selt in his own heart Psalm the fourty second Why art thou so heavy O my soul Psalm the seventy seventh and the eighty ninth verse These Combats and spiritual Battails were more grievous to David than those which he fought with the Philistims with Saul or any other outward enemies whatsoever The Battails fought between these two parties are in Scripture four The first is that which in the beginning was fought between them that when the one said Isaiah the fourteenth chapter and the thirteenth verse ascendam the other went down when the one said I will sit they said he should stand Daniel the seventh chapter when the Dragon said I will be like the most high the other said Michael who is like God The second is that which Jude speaketh of that there was a conflict between Michael the Archangel and the Devil about the doad body of Moses verse 9. The third is mentioned in Daniel the tenth chapter the thirteenth verse where when the Church was in thraldom and captivity under the Persians and Chaldeans the Dragon would have kept them still in bondage but Michael fought for their 〈◊〉 The fourth Batrail is that which is here fought by Michael for a full deliverance of the Church for we see the Dragon stood before the woman that was ready to be delivered that he might devour the child verse the seventh And because he was taken up unto God the Dragon persecuted the woman And for that he could not prevail against her he made warre with her seed Apocalyps the twelfth chapter and the thirteenth verse that is with them that keep the commandements of God For if the Devil fought with Michael for Moses body being dead de 〈◊〉 Jude the ninth verse much more will he fight for Christ being borne If he warre against the Synagogue of the Jews much more against the Church of Christ consisting both of Jews and Gentils And as the Angels offer fight for the one so will they for the other For it is plain that the Angels are first in arms when any injury is offered either to the Child or the Woman or to her seed What this Battail was between the Dragon and the Child the opinion of the Church is That albeit the Devils by their creation were glorious Angels yet they might be content not to presume so farre as to be like the most high but after the manifold wisdome of God was made known by the Church unto principalities and powers Ephesians the third chapter and the tenth verse that is when they saw it was Gods will that the Child born of our flesh and taken out of the earth was taken up into Heaven to the throne of God This was it that stirred them up to battail For howsoever they be constrained to submit themselves to God yet they cannot abide to honour a peece of clay And albeit they could not be equal with God yet they would retain a superiority above men which thing being not granted them they are incensed against Christ They think it a great indignity howsoever they have done service to men tanquam Domini as things pertaining to the Lord that now they should doe service to men tanquam Domino But this they are inforced to perform to Christ who is exalted in his Humanity and in as much as Christ hath taken our nature they must adore our nature This is that which the Dragon and his Angels would not yeeld unto But they prevail not in this fight Again the consideration of this which the Apostle 〈◊〉 That God spared not the Angels that sinned the second epistle of Peter the second chapter Angelis peccantibus non pepercit may greatly provoke the Angels to battail That albeit he spared not the Angels that sinned yet he will spare men when they sinne this is a great assault But that is more Nusquam Angelos assumpsit sed semen 〈…〉 Hebrews the second chapter and the sixteenth verse That he will not grace the names of Angels as to assume their nature but prefers the nature of man and that they must adore that person that is be come man this might be a 〈◊〉 remptation As also that which the Apostle affirms the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixt chapter and the third vorse That the nature of man shall judge Angels this might greatly offend them And the Dragon and his Angels will no doubt suggest these thoughts into Michael and his Angels but yet they 〈…〉 The more high and honourable any spirit is the lesse can it 〈◊〉 any indignity And seeing the Angels are such honourable spirits they must needs take it very ill that not only mans nature is exalted above theirs but that they mult doe service unto men not as things pertaining to the Lord but as to the Lord himself This must needs offend them That when they sinne they finde no favour but if man sinne he is spared That when the Sonne of God doth manifest himself to the world he doth not vouchsafe the Angels so much honour as to assume their nature but takes the seed of Abraham and that he will in the last time make men judges of Angels In this manner did the Dragon and his Angels oppose themselves against Michael and his Angels but we see how he doth resist all these temptations and assaults and therefore this battail is worthy to be kept in remembrance The Conquest followeth Wherein we see that in steed of perswading Michael and his Angels that they should not look at the mysterie of Christs Incarnation we see the Angels are content 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first epistle of Peter the first chapter the eleventh and twelfth verses to stoop down to look into those things that concern Christ. Whereas they were perswaded to turn their backs on Christ we see they all fall down and worship him Hebrews the first chapter and sixt verse They all acknowledge Worthy is the Lamb to receive power riches honour and glory and majesty praise and honor and glorie to him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb for evermore Apocalyps the fift chapter the twelfth and thirteenth verses And instead of exalting themselves they are ready to offer battail to them that perswade them hereunto as Davids heart was more inclined to Joab than his wicked sonne Absolom which made him make Joab a means for his restoring into his fathers favour So God is more inclined to be mercifull to men that sinne than to Angels and that is it that makes the Angels submit themselves to the nature of men So that they see Christ vouchsafeth to call us Bretheren Matthew the twenty fift chapter and the fourtieth verse so they are glad to claim brotherhood of us Apocalyps the twenty second chapter as the Angel said to John I am one of thy brethren In as much as God exalts the male