for Omnipotency to have frozen this Sea into firm Ice in a Moment that Israel might pass over as upon a Christal Bridge but seeing Nature frequently freezes Waters gradually into a firm Floor or plain Pavement this Fact would have been more questionable and less glorious therefore the great God Works in a way far above the reach of Nature thereby the more to manifest his own matchless Glory how the Waters were congealed Exod. 15.8 is before explained from Job 10.10 Some say the soft and muddy Bottom might be frozen into a firm Floor c. But the Prophet makes this Way the more wonderful in his Poetical Ratures saying The Deep uttered his Voice and lifted up his Hand on high Hab. 3.10 Both Voicing and Voting with Waves and Walls lifted up as its hand in concurrence with it's Creator's Will in giving way and making a way for Israel's Passage and then for the Egyptians Ruine helping forward the Execution both of his Mercy to the one and of his Judgment to the other not as if God had been angry with it ver 8. did the Sea lift up it's Hand intreating God to spare it But ver 15. he saith God made a way through it for himself to walk in as well as for Israel through the heap of great Waters So that instead of Israel's being swallowed up they were preserved thereby Thus Habakkuk strengthens his Faith Thou Lord hast done this when all Hope failed and so I trust thou wilt open a fair Way for thy Servants safe Deliverance from inextricable Dangers when they stand in most need of thy Heavenly help Thou reservers thy Hold Hand for a Dead lift and wilt be seen of thine in the Mount Gen. 22.14 This Miracle was so memorable that it is oft Recorded that it might appear sufficient to fix our Faith on God's Omnipotency The Prophet Isaiah also insists upon this very Theme Awake awake thou arm of the Lord c. Isa 51.9 even that Arm which God had promised should protect his People ver 5. and that had dried the Sea ver 10. so could do it again in the like Case This is an excellent way of arguing with God in Prayer to wit from his Antient Acts and hereupon was grounded the Church's Confidence to say Therefore the Redeemed of the Lord shall return c. ver 11. which God accepts and effectually Answers I even I am he that comforteth you c. ver 12 13 14. be not heavy-Hearted I divided the Sea when it roared ver 15. much more the Rage of Man I can restrain Ps 76.10 and much more he saith of it Isa 63.11 12 13 14. leading Israel gently and leisurely through this Way c. see also Isa 50.2 3. It was marvelous in respect of the Journey as well as time and way God did not only make a plain Path for Israel and carried them safe in the depths of the Red Sea but also brought them safe out of the bottom of it to firm shore where they had Rest and Sang Praises to their Deliverer Isa 63.11 12 13 14 15. Exod. 14.29 30. and 15.5 8. This was one of the greatest Miracles that God ever wrought for his People which God himself therefore mentioneth as one of his Master piece works Isa 50.2 Behold at my Rebuke I dry up the Sea I have done it and can do it again Be not therefore faithless but believing Joh. 20.27 For this cause likewise this great work is so oft commemorated by God's People Neh. 9.11 Psal 66.6 and 68.22 and 77.19 and 78.13 and 106.9 and 114.3 5. and 136.13 14. especially in times of their greatest distresses and extremities as Psal 74.13 14. Isa 51.9 10 15. and 63.11 12 13 14. all intimating that God did not only divide the Sea to make for them a way through it for had he done no more they might have been stifled and buried in the Mud or have stumbled upon Stones and tumbled down head-long in the deep Descent on the one side or never been able to climb up the high and steep Ascent on the other side but God also made that muddy Soil as a firm Floor for their feet all along as well as the fluid Waters to be as solid Stone-walls on each side of them And this was the more marvelous if the length of their Journey be duly considered Ptolomy Chytraeus and others affirm that the breadth of the Red Sea where Israel passed thorough was twelve or fifteen German Miles which make thirty six of our English Miles and therefore required no fewer than four or five days time after an ordinary course for six hundred thousand Men together with many thousand of Women Children Strangers and much Cattle and Lumber all which together must needs march but a soft and slow pace to pass over so many Miles in Yet seeing the Scripture mentions but one night for doing all this it was the more extraordinary and miraculous to convey so much People and Cattle so long a Journey in so little a time This was the work saith the Prophet of God's glorious Arâ—â— leading Israel through the deeps as the Rider doth his Horse in the Plain without stumbling c. Isa 63.13 c. not one Israelite being lost either young or old in this long Journey as not one Egyptian was saved c. They were all enabled to travel through the Sea which waited so long upon them with its two Wills as Elijab was enabled to foot it so fast as to keep Pace with Ahab's swift Chariots 1 King 18. last and that promise was made good to them They shall run and not be weary walk and not faint Isa 40.31 4. Israel's Deliverance was as miraculous in respect of the means First God's Rod was the outward means or Instrument for dividing the Sea There is the Rod of God's Mouth Isa 11.4 and the Rod of God's Hand Isa 10.5 for correction in order to Instruction or Destruction but this was the Rod of his Power lifted up here Moses's Rod will do nothing unless it be God's Rod also The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon works wonders together The Arteries run along with the Veins as some say thoughout the Body animating the blood with spirits Thus the Spirit with the Word works wonderfully Acts 14.3 Luke 5.17 The Waters felt the Rod of God's Power striking them and at that Rebuke they fled away like persons dreadfully affrighted Psal 114.3 Hab. 3.8 15. tho' that stroke was not from anger to the Sea but from favour to Israel N.B. If it ran back at God's Rebuke dare we run on in sin when rebuked Secondly Israel's Faith was the Inward Means whereby they passed safe through the Sea Heb. 11.19 Every step they took from side to side in the Red Sea was an exercise of their Faith which was most eminently seated in Moses yet was there the concurrence of the Faith of Israel tho' there were many unbelievers among them 1 Cor. 10. v. 5 9. and all
one Sabbath might pass over the Child to prepare it for the Ordinance Thirdly Yea this Eighth Day was so precisely observed that if it did fall upon the Sabbath-Day yet they Circumcis'd the Child from thence came their vulgar saying Circumcisio sabbatum pellit Circumcision drives away the Sabbath and upon this Christ made some reflections saying Ye on the Sabbath Day do Circumcise John 7.22 Intimating thereby If you may wound a man on the Sabbath day for that was done in Circumcision Why may not I heal one And if you may heal one Member of the Circumcised on the Sabbath-Day why may not I make a man every whit whole thereon If you be at some pains to cure the Circumcised Member with your Hand why may not I without any pains cure this man with my word only May not my Miracles as well as your Sacraments Glorifie God on the Sabbath-day Fourthly Others say the eighth Day was appointed for Circumcision because the Life of a Child is very uncertain all the first seven Days and certainly less able to undergo the pain thereof therefore was it deferred till that Day which may serve to convince those that think God hath simply tyed Salvation to Sacraments for it might have been accounted Cruelty in God to forbid Circumcision till the eighth Day had Salvation depended upon it because the Infant might dye before The Covenant indeed is absolutely necessary to Salvation but the Seal thereof is not so but respectively only as the Sacraments are the Counsel and Command of God they ought not to be rejected Luke 7.30 The want of them is therefore dangerous but the contempt of them is in the Fathers Phrase plainly Damning Lastly The Sentiments of the Antients Ignatius Cyprian and Austin concurr in this that the first Day Sabbath or Lord's Day was wrapp'd up in the Institution of this eighth Day for Circumcision as well as intimated by the number of eighth Persons saved in Noah's Ark and by the Title Shemenith which signifies eight set upon several Psalms to signifie that the eight Day next to the seventh or Jewish Sabbath or first Day should be the Day of our Lord 's rising both to revive us and whereon to bestow Spiritual Circumcision upon us When the Shadow ceased the Truth and Substance prefigured thereby did take its place The Jewish Synagogue and Sabbath ceased at the entrance of the Christian Church and Lord's-Day See more of this Point in my Christian-walk and Chapter upon the Lord's-Day-Sabbath c. The Second Thing considerable is the performances of it to wit the Act of Circumcision which was a cutting away the Praeputium round the Instrument of Generation When God intended to root out the cursed Canaanites and to plant his People in their Place the Covenant was that they should fear the Lord and not walk in the ways of those Nations Lev. 20.23 So the sign of that Covenant was such as had reference to those Sins of the Flesh wherein the Canaanites had wallowed Lev. 18.24 25 to the end Therefore the Amputation of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 superfluity of Naughtiness so call'd James 1.21 was commanded the People of the God of Abraham lest their Vncircumcision should usher in their utter Excision This Circumcision of the Foreskin signified that they had better be flayed and have their Skin quite stripped off than to have it as a Skin-bottle hanging in the Smoak of filthy Desires land blown full of unclean Motions with the breath of Beelzebub Hence Esau was call'd prophane because He was the first that drew forth the Foreskin after he was circumcis'd whereby He denyed God and the Character of God's People saith Epiphanius This Act of Circumcision had a fourfold Use 1. A Political to distinguish the Jews from the Gentiles 2. A Moral Vse to mind them of mortifying their Sins 3. A Theological Vse to remind them both of God's Holy Covenant with them and of their being an Holy Seed to God And 4. An Eternal Vse in the thing signified by it The Mystery that this History Points at is that Circumcision of the Heart which Origen describes is Purgatio animae abjectio vitiorum And the Apostle calls it the putting off the Old Adam with his Actions by the Circumcision of Christ that is through his Merit and Spirit Col. 2.11 Rom. 2.28 29. The true Circumcision is made without hands and is that of the Heart in the Spirit not of the Letter c. Oh how honourable is the work of Mortification to be call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if equal with a Mansion of Glory not made with hands 2 Cor. 5.1 yet this wonderful Work of the Spirit is wrought by the Word upon the Hearts of Christians at their first Conversion when they are let blood in the heart-Heart-Vein as those were Acts 2.37 whereby Corruption of Nature that sink of Sin is wounded beloved Sins cast away with Sorrow and the Sinner received into Everlasting Communion with God and his People The Word Gnorlah Praeputium or Foreskin is applyed to the stoppage of the Mouth Exod. 6.30 of the Ear Jer. 6.10 and of the Heart Lev. 26.41 Isa 6.10 Acts 7.51 hindring the Operation of all these to good Oh pray that Christ may thrust his Holy Hand into thy Bosom and pull off that abominable Foreskin Sin is the Devil's Vomit the Soul's Excrement and the very Garbage of the World therefore must it be cast away into Kidron or Town-ditch as Hateful to God and hurtful to Man James 1.21 The Duty is ours Deut. 10.16 but the ability for doing it is God's Deut. 30.6 in the former God bids us Circumcise our Hearts in the latter he says He will do it for us Urge him with his Promise and doubt not of his Power jubendo juvat while God gives out the command He gives Power to obey as to the Man with the wither'd Hand Stretch it out c. Mark 3.5 The Third Thing considerable is the Reasons why Christ was circumcised seeing He needed it not upon accounts aforesaid The Reasons were these First That He might shew himself a Member of that circumcised People John 1.11 Secondly To testifie that He was our surety and took our Sins upon himself so as to satisfie for them Gen. 44.22 Psalm 119.122 and Heb. 7.22 Thirdly To signifie that he was a Debtor to the Law and came fully to fulfil it on our behalf Gal. 5.3 and Matth. 3.15 and 5.17 Rom. 2.17 Fourthly This was a part of his Humiliation and bleeding Passion Fifthly Christ was both Circumcised and Baptized to teach us that 1. The whole Efficacy of the Sacraments depend wholely and solely upon him 2. That he was the Mediator of Mankind both before and under the Rigour of the Law as well as under the Grace of the Gospel 3. That he is the Knot and Bond of both Covenants 4. That all kind of Sinners both Jews and Gentiles might have all kind of Comfort in Christ as in an
Chaff or Tares or Darnel but Hordeum Triticum Signatum Isa 28.25 the most precious and the soundest grain c. So Christ sows not Jewish Genealogies Fables or Fancies 1 Tim. 1.4 Tit. 3.9 to search into which is but a laborious loss of time a mere Trifling the Task is not worthy the Toil nor the Gains pay for the Pains but Precious Seed Psal 126.6 Precious Treasure though in Oyster-shells 2 Cor. 4.7 as the Seed-Basket in it self is contemptible â—ilis saepe cadus nobile nectar habet The Seed is the Word of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sincere Milk 1 Pet. 2.2 The Wisdom of God Luke 11.49 The Word of Promise Rom. 9.9 Of Faith Rom. 10.8 Of Reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 Of his Grace Act. 14.3 20 32. Of Salvation Acts 13.26 And of Eternal Life John 6.68 Acts 5.20 Hence Christ took it unkindly his Disciples durst turn their backs on such precious Seed c. Job prized it highly Job 23.12 Luther could live better in Hell with it than in Heaven without it The Despisers of it shall be destroyed Prov. 13.13 't is Self-Murther to refuse neceslary and appointed Meals either for Soul or Body God will Magnifie his Word above all his Name Psal 138.2 This Precious Seed having all these Names must be prized c. As there is all this Congruity so some Disparity betwixt them First Every Earthly Sower soweth Seed for his own subsistency in the returns of its Increase c. But this Heavenly Sower doth not so for our Goodness extends not to him though his Goodness extendeth to us Psal 16.2 3. Job 22.3 'T is all for the good of the Soil but not at all for the good of the Sower no Man Plants a Vineyard and Eats not thereof 1 Cor. 9.7 But Christ is Perfect and all his Pains is for our Profit not His. Secondly The Seeds-Man commits his Seed to the Soil and can do no more c. but Christ drops down the Dew of Heaven upon his Seed and gives a Power of fruitfulness to it His Seed is kept by that Power to the Harvest 1 Pet. 1.4 5. as the Glory is kept in Heaven for us so our Grace is kept on Earth for it There is a double keeping express'd there From him is all our Fruit found Hos 14.8 John 15.2 4 5. Thirdly Christ is both the Sower and the Seed too for He is the Essential Word the Eternal Spirit and the Everlasting Gospel Oh what an Honour it is to have an Honest and Good Heart Luke 8.15 as the most proper Soil for such most precious Seed and as the most curious Cabinet for this Pearl of Great Price to be kept in Then is Christ formed in us Gal. 4.19 and the Church is call'd Christ Mystical 1 Cor. 12.12 Such cannot want sheaves in their Bosoms Psal 126.6 Fourthly A Wet Season is the best Season with this Seeds-man when sweet showers of Gospel-Tears distil and drop down from a Broken Heart The Vulgar Rule is Set Wet but Sow Dry yet Christ loves to Sow Wet better than Dry though Wet Weather endangers the starving of Grain yet makes it Grace to thrive and prosper Fifthly Man's Seed-time lasts but for a few days but Christ's doth last all the year long yea in the very time of Humane Harvests and when it is an Heavenly Harvest-time to some who are gathered into God's Garners by Death 't is but Seed-time in a Spiritual sense with others Then their time of Love first finds them and they are then begotten to Christ by the Gospel Ezek. 16.8 Jer. 2.24 Sixthly There is a sowing sparingly and a sowing bountifully 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in blessings 2 Cor. 9.6 the former is that of the Earthly Sower who must feed himself upon one part of his Corn and sell another part to others for sustaining his Family so can but reserve a Remnant for seed But Christ hath no such need therefore the latter is his who sows bountifully and with a blessing Vse I. Oh Man oh Woman what Husbandry hath this blessed Seeds-man made of your Hearts Examine your experiences hath he broke up your fallow ground where nothing but trash grew Hos 10 12. Innovate vobis novale are you renewed in Speech and Spirit Ephes 4.23 in Minds and Manners in Constitution and Conversation in the Purpose of your Hearts and in the Practice of your Lives Hath he turn'd up the Turf Rooted out the Weeds Old things past all New 2 Cor. 5.17 Rev. 21.5 till this be done all is undone c. Vse II. Take the right season for this saving sowing work Isa 55.6 1 Chron. 12.32 Psal 32.6 as Sea faring Men take Wind and Tide Way faring Men the Day-light the Smith strikes while his Iron is hot the Lawyer labours hard while the Term lasts and the Plow man plies his Plough after a Shower So do you when the Heart is best Affected when the Gospel saith to you as Jael to Barak Come and I will shew thee the Man Christ whom thou seekest Judges 4.22 When Christ shews thee where He dwelleth John 1.39 Brings thee into his Banqueting-house Cant. 2.4 And Salvation comes to thy House Luke 19.9 Plow no â—â—â—ger Wickedness Hos 10.13 be no more not only Satans Soil but also his very Hâ—nds and Horses putting forth your strength to further sin Prov. 21 4. Job 4.8 Oh take the same pains for Grace and Glory Psal 68.9 Job 28.26 The Second part of the Parable is the Seed which also is two fold 1. The External the Word And 2. The Internal Seed to wit the Spirit As the Veins and the Arteries run all along through all pâ—rts of us for the good of the Body so the Word and the Spirit do likewise concuâ— for the good of the Soul of Man and must not here be divided for otherwise we hear only a sound and a noise vâ—x praete â—a nihil but not the Voice of Christ as those in Acts 〈◊〉 compared with Acts 22 9. They heard only a confused sound but not the Voice thâ—â— spake convertingly to Saul When Word and Spirit come together to us then the Lord speaks to us with a strong hand as He did to the Prophet Isa 8.11 There is a Working of the Word which is not Effectual as is intimated 1 Thes 2.13 When received as the Word of Men only and not as the Word of God also First The Congruity betwixt this Temporal and Spiritual Seed As 1. Seeds are small things yet produce great substances as an Acorn doth an Oak Mustard seed a Tree c. So the Word of God that Seed of Immortality 1 Pet. 1.23 seems a small contemptible thing and the Preaching of it be accounted foolishness 1 Cor. 1.21 yet is it the Power of God unto Salvation Rom 1.16 and thereby many Souls be saved as the Rams Horns were but despicable devices yet the Divine Institution Indued them with such a prevalent power as to blow down the strong Walls of
and my Judgment-Hall which consisted at least of Three So by we is meant in the Hebrew succinct Speech God Three in One and One in Three Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa All the Three Persons are undivided all concur in External Actions Hermes that antient Aegyptian who flourished before Pharaoh did acknowledge something of this Great Truth from whence he had his Name of Trismegistus for owning the Three great ones And the Heathen Sages after him had some blind Notions hereof as appeareth by Plutarch who reporteth that in Thebe a Town of Aegypt they worshipped a God whom they acknowledged to be Immortal and painted him in the likeness of a man blowing an Egg out of his mouth to signifie that he made the round World by his Word and Breath of his Mouth But Christian Faith reacheth farther than Heathens Reason for by Faith we understand that the World was made by the Word of God Heb. 11.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Christ who is the Essential Word and the flowings forth as the word signifies or lettings out of Divine Wisdâ—â— Power and Goodness for God was as it were contracted and contained all within himself from all Eternity but now in the Creation he becomes Deus expansus explicatus letting out himself to the Creature Thus Christ is called the Manifestation of God and the Declarer of the Father Joh. 1.18 John Baptist is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a voice but Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word by which the world was made As Verbum est animi Index the Speech discovers the Spirit so Christ unbosoms the Father and the Creation is nothing else but the Creator unfolding himself and dispersing his Divine Essence into several Veins and Channels of the Creature Mundus Vniversus nihil aliud est quà m Deus Explicatus the world is onely God expressed the Invisible is clearly seen as in a Mirrour or on a Theater in things that are visible Rom. 1.19 20. as the Sun is beheld in the waters so is God in his works either by way of Negation Causality or Eminence per species Creaturea The second Enquiry is What is the Material Cause out of which all things were Created Answ God made something out of nothing and out of that something all things Nothing here is not taken privatively as 1 Cor. 8.4 an Idol is nothing to wit privatively as having nothing of a Divine Essence in it yet positively it is something that is Wood or Stone c. Nor 2. is it taken Comparatively as Isa 40.17 All the world is nothing to wit in comparison of the Great God But 3. 't is taken negatively and simply God having no praeexisting matter to work upon as the word Bara created signifies being a word in its proper sense proper and peculiar to God himself so should not be parasitically Attributed to the mightiest of men as too oft it is in Creating Earls Marquesses Dukes unless the Creators and the Created were both holy as God is and Man was There was nothing from Eternity besides God neither is God the Matter or any part of the Creature therefore the world was made out of nothing This puts the difference betwixt Creation and Generation this latter is a production of something out of something but the former of something out of nothing There be three principal Operators Art Nature and God That worker which needeth the fewest helps is the most perfect worker 1. Art needs many helps 2. Nature needs but few But 3. God needeth none at all God is the first Cause and the World was the first effect 'T is a Rule or Maxime Inter primam Causam primum effectum nil intervenit Nothing can come between the first Cause and the first effect therefore in the Creation there could neither be any praeexisting Matter nor any Coassisting Instruments God himself was both the Father and Mother of all Created Beings God was the Father of the World begetting it by his Word and both bringing it out and bringing it up in six days by the overshadowings of the Spirit Gen. 1.2 All this arises from the Efficiency of God who is a most pure Act and is Omnipotency it self is there any thing too hard for the Lord Gen. 18.14 Job knew that God could do every thing Job 42.2 All things but Lying Dying and denying himself are possible with God Matth. 19.26 his counsel shall stand and he will do all his pleasure Isa 46.10 What God pleaseth to do without all peradventure he is able to do as he is Omnipotent yet may we not argue from his power to his will but from his will to his power Though God be Omniscient Omnipresent and Omnipotent yet is he not Omnivolent he can do more than he will do he can do whatsoever he pleaseth yet he is not pleased to do whatsoever he can God by his Absolute power is able to do all things that are possible though he never do them he can by this unlimited power make a World and unmake it again in a moment he can of stones raise up Children to Abraham Matth. 3.9 c. but by his actual and ordinate power he doth that onely which he willeth to do whatsoever he willeth that he doth both in Heaven and Earth Psal 115.3 135.6 This power God hath limited by his own will wisdom and having freely limited himself according to his own Decree of Secret will and according to his word or revealed will he changeth not because he is unchangeable Jam. 1.17 Some things God can and will not as Matth. 3.9 26.53 Rom. 9.18 c. And some things God neither will nor can to wit such as contradict his Essence and import Impotency 't is safer to say such things cannot be done than that God cannot do them but whatsoever he willeth that he without impediment effecteth as he did the Creation of the world out of nothing Why therefore should it be thought a thing incredible either that God should raise the dead to life Act. 26.8 or that God should make world of nothing 'T is a received rule Quicquid est in Deo est Deus whatsoever is in God is God and so is that Esse posse operari non distinguuntur in Deo Gods Essâ—nce Omnipotency and Efficiency are not to be distinguished in God save only as to our capacity Divine Essence being Almighty and a most pure act doth necessarily infer a Divine Efficiency which made the world of nothing the word of signifying not any Matter but only Order Creation was in Matter but not of Matter not of Matter praeexisting before but of Matter coexisting in the act of Creation The first Matter God made out of nothing was that Rudis indigestáque Moles called the confused Chaos a rude Draught and an undigested lump at the first as the Matter of all things that were afterwards to be Created This first Matter was all things in power yet nothing in act this
called the Temple of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.19 Surely that must needs yet more be an excellent House which the Spirit of Holiness designeth to dwell in 1 Cor. 3.16 17. The Spirit of God is Res delicata a great thing a good thing and a delicate thing Psal 143.10 it necessarily follows then that the Body must be a stately structure which is thus Templify'd by the Holy Ghost as is the man poor or rich so is his House a mighty Prince lives not in a mean Cottage 2ly Some of the Antient Fathers were of an opinion that Christ made mans Body with his own hands according to the form and fashion of that Body which himself would afterwards take up and suffer in that was full of glory Job 1.14 Whether this conceit hold or no I know not however this I am sure will hold That the Son of God did assume the Body of Man in one person to his Godhead which was a Dignity the Angelical Nature was not dignifyed wâ—thal for verily he took not on him the nature of Angels Hebr. 2.16 and after the making of Man he left nothing unmade but to makâ— himself Man and the excellency of the very ruines of this Temple to wit of faln Man doth plainly shew what a curious piece of work mans Body was in the state of Innocency for since the Fall Moses was exceeding fair Act. 7.20 Samson was exceeding strong Judg. 14 15 16. David exceeding lovely 1 Sam. 16.12 Asahel exceeding 〈◊〉 even swift as a Roe so as to outrun an Horse 2 Sam. 2.17 and Absolom was so exceeding beautiful that there was not a blemish found in him from top to toe 2 Sam. 14.25 All those Excellencies undoubtedly forfeited by the Fall being joyned together in one Body oh what an excellent rare body would they make and such a choice Composition was Mans Body in the state of Innocency As one finding the length of Hercules foot gathered from it the proportion of his whole Body so may we gather from those very Relicks found in faln Man what a goodly thing the body of Man had been before the fall 't was the Master-piece of Gods handy-work Sun Moon and Stars were but the works of Gods fingers Psal 8.3 but Mans Body was the work of Gods hands Psal 139.14 Job 10.8 God as it were took most special pains and laid out his choicest skill in fashioning of Mans Body in the Inner Chambers of the Earth Eph. 4.9 like curious workmen when they have some choice piece in hand they perfect it in private and then bring if forth to publick view Oh what Divine Lectures may be read upon all the External and Internal parts and members of Mans Body and what Seraphick raptures may seize upon the Soul in a serious Contemplation of God in them As the great world is a whole bundle of wonderful works so is this little world the Epitome of the great no less a little Volume of wonders in respect of the body As 1. That such an excellent piece of work should be made out of such sordid and base matter as dust or dirt How doth that mean Original of the Body serve to exalt the wisdom and power of the Creator as well as to humble proud man who out of such indisposed Materials made up such an excellent Fabrick Man who is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a common workman can make his work no better than the matter he works on will afford he always uses probable Materials as Gold for Golden and Silver for silver vessels c. but God who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hebr. 11.10 a skilful Artist can out of very stones raise up Children unto Abraham Matth. 3.9 and can out of the basest Matter make up a most beautiful body here 's the true Philosophers stone 2ly That out of one Homogeneal matter to wit dust which is all of one kind in all its parts such an Heterogeneal Edifice should be erected as the Body of Man is which consists of such strange variety both of shape and substance as the Similar and Dissimilar parts do to wit the tender skin the soft flesh the tough sinews the strong bones and all out of one material dust Whereas when Man builds an House he must have many Materials as Stone Timber Iron Lead c. to make up his House 3ly That this great work of God upon Mans Body should be Internal as well as External work when a Carver Engraves the Image and Pourtraiture of Man his work is all External all the Excellency of it is outward and obvious to the eye he cannot make Internal Members Deest Intus said the Philosopher in Plutarch there wants life spirits and blood within no Anatomy Lecture can be read on the inside of any Image but the greatest part of Gods work in making Mans Body is Internal to wit in Brain Heart and Liver wherein he hath placed the Animal Natural and Vital Spirits the Animal Spirits are carried by the Nerves from the Brain the Natural by the Arteries from the Heart and the Vital by the Veins from the Liver The Motion of the Watch-wheels of Mans life is out of sight and within doors and all wonderful 4ly That there should be such a Sympathy Symmetry and comely proportion in all the parts and members of the Body every one placed after the most commodious manner The Eye is seated in the Head as a spye on a Watch-tower and the Smell is placed aloft and on the foreside that it might not be offended with the stench of the Excrements proceeding from below and on the backside A thousand more such Remarks may be made of particular Members which for brevity sake I omit adding onely that the Bulk of Mans Body is the Model or pattern for all Buildings whether of Ships or Houses and from the parts and members of it Men have learnt to make many useful Instruments as Bellows from the Lungs c. Also all measures are borrow'd from the Body as Inch Foot Palm and Cubit c. Yea several of its Members God ascribes to himself as Head Heart Eyes Ears Hands and Feet which must needs much commend the Bodies Excellency so much admired by the wisest of Heathens insomuch that Galen gave Epicurus an hundred years wherein to study and contrive a more commodious Composition or correct the place or fashion of any one part of it This famous Physician though an Heathen very well observed how the Body of Man was made Numero Pondere Mensurâ by Number Weight and Measure God indeed made all things so especially his Master-piece who was Divini Ingenii Cura Consilium made by mature Counsel and care of the whole Trinity insomuch that if all the Angels in Heaven had held a most serious Consult from their Creation to this day they could not have cast Mans Body into a more curious Mould or more exact frame nor could they have found out a fairer form or Edition 5ly That
the Body of Man before the Fall should have so much Beauty Lustre Splendour and Glory put upon it no doubt but when it came first out of Gods Mint it was a most curious silver piece and shone most gloriously hence Christ compares faln Man to the lost groat Luk. 15.8 9. As no Metal is better than Silver but Gold so no Creature was better than Man but Angels Man was made but a little lower than Angels Psal 8.5 before he became to be besmeared with sin his Body did even while naked undoubtedly glitter with a Divine glory being cloathed with a Royal Robe of Majesty and having upon him the Imperial Crown this gave Man Dominion over all Creatures Gen. 1.26 28. The Image and Superscription of God upon this Silver-piece did shine forth so splendidly that it put an awful reverence upon all Creatures towards Man who then had a most Beautiful Body every way suitable to his Divine Soul Hence the Fathers call'd Man in the state of Innocency The Cedar of Paradise the Picture of Heaven the glory of the Earth the Ruler of the World and Gods own delight The Glory and Beauty of Mans Body which was made by a Counsel called even the Master-piece of the works of Gods Head and Hands was no doubt say Divines like the Body of the Sun in the firmament Judg. 5 31. and like the Body of Christ in his Transfiguration when his Face shone as the Sun Matth. 17.2 and well might it do so for he is the Sun of Righteousness Mal. 4.2 And that Derivative Glimpse of Divine Glory put upon Moses in the Mount which caused his face to shine so as affrighted the people from beholding it Exod. 34.29 30. may well mind us what a Primitive Beam of Beauty the Body of Man had before the Fall God did not make Man in the likeness of the Goodliest Creatures but in the similitude of God himself and therefore he could not be without some Reflexive Rays of Royalty and Majesty even from top to toe when all his Members were Weapons of Righteousness unto God Rom. 6.13 Such a dazling Angelical glory had the Proto-Martyr Stephen put upon him as the Mediator Moses had before him so that his Face was as it had been the face of an Angel Act. 6.15 As there was a Visible glory in the Body of the second Adam Job 1.14 They saw his glory exceeding all the glories of the Sons of Men and becoming him who was the Son of God so without all peradventure there was a visible glory in the Body of the first Adam though inferiour to that of the second because of his Hypostatical union Col. 2.9 seeing he is call'd also the Son of God Luk. 3.38 Having no Father as Christ had none but God himself The Image of God was fixed upon Adams Body as well as upon his Soul whereby all the Beasts of the Field all the Fowls of the Air and all the Fishes in the Sea became subject to him and to that glory he was invested with Psal 8.5 6 7 8. and therefore as a sign of his Soveraignty and of their subjection they are all brought to him to receive their Names according to their Natures from him as from their Lord and Master Gen. 2.19 6ly That the Body of Man should be made in some sense Immortal The state of Innocency had this kind of Immortality It was not impossible for Adam to dye and it was possible for him not to dye A thing is said to be Immortal in four senses 1. Essentially Thus God is onely Immortal 2. Ex dono Creationis by the power of the Creation as the Angels and the Souls of Men. 3. Ex Hypothesi upon condition onely as Adams Body had been Immortal if he had stood in his Innocency This Innocency would have embalm'd his living Body better than all the Spices of Egypt could embalm a dead one Manna that was of it self Corruptible Exod. 16.20 21. lasted long and kept sweet many hundred years when laid up according to Gods Command in the golden pot v. 33. Hebr. 9.4 Obedience to God did not onely save it sweet on the Sabbath day but for some Centuries after as their garments lasted forty years Deut. 29.5 so mans Body might have lasted a thousand years in the way of Obedience yea and have never dyed Some say that the Tree of life was to be his constant food which should not onely be a Symbol of life but also a Supporter of it in an Immortal so far as innocent state that Tree would have so preserv'd his Radical Moisture and Natural Heat in an equal temper as well as in a lasting supply that Adams Body should never have had either wrinkle or Hoary Hairs but he should have lived in youthful vigour and in a happy vivacity for a thousand years upon earth and then without either anguish or sickness or pains of Death have been translated from Earth to Heaven the Reliques of this Natural Immortality made Adam live 930 years and Methusalem 960. However this is certain that the wages of sin is death Rom. 6.23 The body of Man without sin could not have turned into Corruption Death entred into the world by sin Rom. 5.12 before he had sinned there was Temperamentum ad pondus such an equal Temperature of Qualities and the humours in him had such an happy harmony that they could neither breed Distempers nor bring Death but as soon as he had eaten forbidden fruit he came down to a condition of Mortality Gen. 2.17 Adam dyed not that day but lived 930 years after yet then and thereby was his Body made liable to such Diseases and dangers as might deliver him up to Death 4. Something is said to be Immortal Ex dono novae Creationis by the power of the Resurrection So the Bodies of the Saints raised up by the power of God are thereby preserved in mansions of glory for evermore The Body which is at Death sown in Corruption shall be raised in Incorruption 1 Corinth 15.42 it is sown in Dishonour it shall be raised in Glory v. 43. having the glory of the Soul transparent in it as we see the colour of the wine in the glass so the glory of the Soul shall be seen in the Body and this glory shall be a Corporeal glory according to the Maxim Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis non recepti Every thing received is in the thing receiving or receiver according to the nature of the thing receiving and not of the thing received Thus the body being a Corporeal thing receiveth glory from the Soul after a Corporeal manner yea the body it self shall be made a glorified body it shall be conform'd to the glorifyed body of Christ as to the standard Phil. 3.21 the Terrestrial body shall at the Resurrection be made a Celestial 1 Cor. 15.40 or a Spiritual body v. 44. it shall be more like a Spirit than a Body So Diaphanous and transparent saith
Aquinas that all the Veins Nerves Humors and Bowels shall be discerned through the Body as wine is through a glass the Soul shall shine through the Body as the Candle through the Lantern and it shall then be so full of agility and nimbleness far beyond that of Asahel 2 Sam. 2.17 that Luther saith the Body shall move up and down like a thought and Austin saith The Body shall then move to any place it will and as soon as it will And Zanchy gives this Illustrating Example As an Egg before it be hatch'd is an heavy body and full of slimy Matter that sinketh downward but when it becometh a Bird and filled with life and spirits then it flyeth nimbly into the Firmament So the Body being dull and heavy now yet when hatch'd by the Resurrection â—nd filled by the Spirit of God it shall then be agile and nimble and thereupon the Apostle saith We shall be taken up to meet Christ in the air 1 Thes 4.17 the Body shall be so pure and Spiritual as to be able to mount up into the Heavens And as the Body shall then be a Transparent Coelestial Glorious and Spiritual so it shall be an Incorruptible Immortal Body 1 Cor. 15.53 54. It shall then be free both from all Actual and Potential Corruption 1. From Actual there shall then be neither defect nor deformity no want of Meat or Drink which are of a Corruptible Nature or of any other thing 2. From Potential Corruption for then the body shall be Impassible and can suffer nothing that can be hurtful to it no hurtful passions that may harm the body can then be yet there will be the comfortable passions such as Seeing and Hearing their most comforting Objects Those two Senses though others do not shall remain in the life to come as being more excellent Senses and receiving their Objects more immaterially are more Spiritual and shall be gratify'd with fulness of joy such ravishing and refreshing Spectacles and Musick as are both unexpressible and unconceivable such a joy so great as cannot enter into us but Christ saith we must enter into it Matth. 25.21 All the Bodies of the Saints shall then shine as the brightness of the firmament Dan. 12.3 and as the Stars of Heaven Matth. 13.43 yea as the Sun in his strength Judg. 5.31 Oh what a lovely sight will it be to see them together with God Christ and Angels and how transporting to hear Saints and Angels singing Anthems in their Hallelujahs to the Lord what manner of persons should we then be 2 Pet. 3.11 Now to make some Improvement of those Premisses take these Inferences following as 1rst Having viewed the Excellency of the body in the state of Innocency let us now consider it under the faln estate and 1. view it in the whole 2. in its parts 1. in the whole Oh who can contemplate this Burnt Temple but Mourn over it as they did Ezr. 3.12 Oh quantunt haec Niobe what Lamentations ought justly to be taken upon this account seeing this perfect glorious and Immortal Body is now by the fall become a vile Body yea vileness it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the body of vileness in the very Abstract Phil. 3.21 Now the body is Tohu Vabohu full of deformity and emptiness like that Chaos out of which all things were Created Gen. 1.2 as if the fall had reduced that Excellent Fabrick the Body to its first Chaos again Now the Body is truly called the spoil of Time this curious silver-piece that shone so splendidly when it first came out of Gods Mint hath lost its lustre its sound its weight its Divine Image and superscription and is become a poor thin overworn groat lost in the dust or dirt of the great house of this lower world Luk. 15.8 Now Satan hath set his own limbs instead of Gods Image upon it 't is now so disguised with sin that God may well say Depart from me I know thee not for my own Creature Matth. 7.23 thou hast so marr'd thy self since I did make thee God made it a Palace a most stately structure if viewed from the highest Garret to the lowest Cellar that is from the Crown of the head to the soles of the feet consisting of many specious as well as spacious Chambers and none useless yea the Body of the Woman consists of rarer Rooms more curious capacious and roomy for Conceiving and Containing her Babe which dwelleth in her Womb as in its house and hath as it were all its Houshold-stuff about it till time at its Birth bring it forth to the light of life than the Body of Man Hence 't is said in the Hebrew Tongue that Adams Body was formed â—â—t Eves Body was builded to wit with a special skill in a fitter proportion and a more exact Composition than Mans for the end aforesaid Adams Body was made out of Paradice but Eves in it The Bodies of them both were pompous Pallaces yea magnificent Temples fit Habitations for their Divine Souls to dwell in and fit Instruments to act by but now this body is become a prison a shackle a Sepulchre to the Soul it sometimes becomes so unuseful to it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sepulchrum The Body is as the Grave wherein the Soul seems to be buryed and wherewith as with many weights it is really shackled Hebr. 12.1 Hence 't is one desire of the Soul to be dissolved Phil. 1.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be released out of prison to be set at liberty from its fetters and to return unto its proper home 2 Cor. 5.6 8.9 2 Tim. 4.6 Even to God from whence it came Eccles 12.7 And this strait betwixt two and groaning in the flesh doth not arise from the Natural Original Constitution but from sinful Corruption by the fall The Body of Man is now not only called a vile Body as above Phil. 3.21 as it is become a Compound of vileness and a lump of misery but also in the whole 't is call'd 1. a body of Sin Rom. 6.6 as it is both conceived and born in sin yea and oft both lives and dyes in sin Psal 51.5 Num. 27.3 Joh. 9.34 8.21 24. Sin is incorporated into all the parts of it as will appear after 't is call'd also 2. a body of death Rom. 7.24 which lives in Diseases and dies in dishonour 1 Cor. 15.43 a body that is dying so soon as it begins to live having the principles of Mortality in it as sin so death hath a real subsistency in the body the sense whereof made the great Apostle cry out Oh wretched man who shall deliver me from this body of death from this Carcase of sin to which I am tyed 't was as noisome altogether to his Soul as a stinking Corpse to his smell yea and as burdensome to it as the stone that was tyed to the foot of Anselms Bird which when she would have flown up towards Heaven did pluck her