Sea-shore or as the Stars in Heaven then the same Spirit of Christ strived with their spirits also in the succeeding generations to preserve and increase the one and to depress the other to bring them into the said posture in which they might receive the said gift of life as saith Nehemiah unto God Neh. 9.20 30. Thou gavest them thy good Spirit to instruct them Hagg. 2.5 and saith God to them According to my Covenant with you when I came out of Egypt so my Spirit remaineth with you And Nehemiah saith also Yea many years didest thou bear with them and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy Prophets but for their gain saying this Spirit so striving with them all the day-long in their generations God put a period to this striving of Christs Spirit so denying them the gift of faith to believe that they might not receive his said gift of eternal life and therefore saith the Text excepting to some few of them Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish for I work a work in your daies Esa 49.6 Luke 19.41 42 Hab. 1.5 Acts 13.41 which ye shall in no wise believe although a man declare it unto you Hence it is our Saviour said If thou hadst known even thou in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hidden from thine eyes Again under the Gospel now it is unvailed of Moses vail and that the visible Churches of Christ stand constituted not as Family-Churches only as to the daies of Moses nor constituted a visible Church as was that one Nation a part of Humane Nature as such were they good or bad but now under the Gospel constituted of Believers as such according to the judgement of harity And thus the Spirit of Christ also strived with the spirits of men in the visible Churches as well as unto the men of the world to cherish and increase one and to depress the other to keep them in the said posture in a right reception of the gift of life Hence saith the Spirit of Christ to the Church of Smerna Be thou faithfull unto the death and I will give thee the Crown of Life Thus the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of men in the Church of Sardis Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent If thou therefore wilt not watch Rev. 2.10 I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know the hour when I will come upon thee Rev. 3.11 And so likewise to the Church of Philadelphia Christs Spirit striveth with their spirits Rev. 1.4 Behold I come shortly hold that which thou hast let no man take away thy Crown And this Point is apparent for the seven Epistles were sent to the seven Churches So much for the Spirit of Christ striving with the spirits of men in the visible Churches under the Gospel Again Not only with the visible but the same Spirit strives with the spirits of the invisible Members of Christ's mystical body to preserve and increase their internal and spiritual graces and to depress the power of original sin in them as in others to keep them in the said posture and right reception of the said gift of eternal life for saith the Text to the said visible Churches Let him that hath an ear hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches these words four times repeated implies That in these visible Churches there were some whose spirits did hear and understand what the Spirit spake And thus the Spirit of Christ strived with the spirits of the eleven Apostles Mark 16.14 which were invisible Members Judas being dead for the Text saith He appeared unto the eleven and upbraided them with their unbelief at another time Thus strives his Spirit with theirs saying As the Father hath loved me so have I loved you continue in my love John 15.9 10. if ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love Another time thus the Spirit strived with theirs Oh faithless and perverse generation Mark 17.17 how long shall I be with you how long shall I suffer you At another time thus the Spirit strived with the spirit of Nathaniel to establish him Because I said I saw thee under the Figg-Tree John 1.50 Believest thou Thou shalt see greater things then these Is is so that Christs Spirit thus strives with the spirits of all sorts of men in the world Hence observe That all those who have not yet received the gift of Faith nor the gift of eternal Life and so do fall into eternal death shall be left without excuse in their own consciences to eternity because it will witness to them that God would have given them both but they refused and if they had received it then their salvation was of God because attained by his Son given by himself As also Christ's Spirit thus striving with their spirits and therefore it will also witness that their destruction is of themselves and so Gods most sweet righteousness in this administration will shine to his glory in their ruine to eternity Again Is it so that Christ's Spirit thus strives with all men to cherish and increase the said light of Christ in them and to depress the seed of the Serpent in them and that they are thus internally meetly disposed towards the said posture Hence observe it must needs follow that all men which become totally dead in sins and in trespasses to that posture so as that they cannot change or alter their operations thereunto no more then the Black Moor can change his skin or the Leopard his spots I say Hence observe That all men that are thus dead in sins and in trespasses in the world it ariseth not from the seed of original sin but as an occasion and only from their custom in sin and wickedness unto the acquired habits therein as the cause for it is custom in any thing that brings another nature Again Is it so that the Spirit of Christ strives with the spirits of all men to preserve and repress as is proved Hence observe That when God by Christs Spirit is pleas'd to inliven the spirits of some men to the said posture which were dead in sin and in trespasses and leaves other some in the same condition so to perish I say hence observe That God in this case neither inlivens the one nor leaves the other from love or hatred to either of them personally considered but out of love to himself in pursuance of his final end for thus he took up the Jews when they lay polluted in their bloud being Terah's Idolatrous brood and said they should live that is in this posture that they might receive his gift of life and that not for their sakes but for his own names sake and thus he had mercy upon some of the Gentiles in the fulness of time that were dead in sins and in trespasses that they might live in this
he hath done whether it be good or bad and in reference to this point saith God himself When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity and dieth in them for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die 2 Cor. 5.9 10. and therefore saith God unto the Prophet Thou Son of man say unto the children of thy people The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression and for the wickedness of the wicked he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth Ezek. 18.26 And in reference to this point to these invisible members Ezek. 33.12 the Apostle saith Know ye not that ye are the Temples of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you if any man destroy the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are let no man deceive himself and so forth Again in reference to this Point the Lord Christ himself speaks to his eleven Apostles which were invisible members also for John 13.10 11. when he had said Ye are clean but not all for he knew who should betray him therefore he said saith the Text Ye are not all clean but when Iudas was gon forth from them verse 30. then in the fifteenth Chapter and third verse Now saith he unto them ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you that is your hearts are purified by belief and love to me thereupon saith he Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of it self except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in me Joh. 13.10 11.30 Joh. 15.3 4 5 6 7 8 10. And saith he I am the Vine he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit and yet in the next words he tels them Their evil works will bring them to be vessels of dishonour for ever saying If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burnt implying And so shall you if ye abide not in me But on the contrary If they rightly operate in the said posture they shall be vessels of honour for ever saying If ye abide in me and my words abide in you ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you herein is my Father glorified that ye bring forth much fruit so shall ye be my Disciples that is ye shall continue so for ever for they were his Disciples before And saith he If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love even as I have kept my Fathers Commandments and abide in his love that as I abide for ever in his love so shall you if ye keep my Commandments or otherwise not for that is implyed Thus we see that God executes his final end upon the invisible members of Christ some to honour and some to dishonour as to all men else Again That the full consummation and final execution of this final end shall fall in at the great day Jude 6. Joh. 11.24 as Iude cals it and the day of the resurrection as Marcha cals it And then the Sea and the Grave shall render up their dead and then shall every man saith the Text Rev. 20.13 John 5.19 be judged according to his works and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation and before him shall be gathered all Nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd his sheep from the goats and he shal set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on his left then shall the King say unto them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father Mat. 25.33 34 41 46. inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world then shall he say also unto them on his left hand Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels and these shal go into everlasting punishment but the righterous into life everlasting So upon this last and final execution of Gods final end then cometh the end when Christ shal have delivered up the Kingdom to God even the Father when he shal have put down all Rule and all Authority and Power that is all Authority Rule and Power raised in a world of ungodly men by the Apostate Angels delusive lies and temptations against the truth of Gods said final end in the foresaid particular branch for till then Christ must reigne 1 Cor. 15.24 25 28. as it is in the next words untill he hath put down all enemies under his feet implying and no longer in this Government by his Spirit striving in the Gospel and its Tenor a just and merciful Rule as is implyed in the 28 verse when all things shal be subdued unto him then shal the Son himself be subject unto him that did put all things under him yet it is one thing that this Administration Heb. 1.6 Psal 45.6 as such shal cease for ever as we see it shal and another thing that the personal union in Christ God-Man shal cease for that shal never be for so he is and ever shal be above the Angels and they shal worship him for ever as it is written Thy Throne is for ever O God and so forth and let all the Angels of God worship him and so shal he be worshiped of all the glorified Saints for ever for if by the Angels much more by them notwithstanding he is their head and they members of his triumphant body yet he as head and members shal as is said before be subject to God the Father in this respect for as there was a time when Christ should have the preheminence in all things for the prosecution of his Fathers final end so now that end being attained and time shal be no more Now God must have the preheminency to all eteruity CHAP. XIII In which is proved how God ordained and executed his final end upon all the Angels to their final ends for ever according to their works some to honour some to dishonour IN the prosecution of this Point I will briefly touch these six particulars First That some of them God elected secondly That some of them he rejected Thirdly lay down the ground of that rejection Fourthly That they transgressed Gods Law Fifthly lay down what that Law was Sixthly I will lay down the ground why God elected the other Angels and to what they were elected more then they had together with the rest before any fel of these in their order First The Text affirms that some of them are elected 1 Tim. 5.21 as appears by Pauls charging
Christ by Jude 2 Epist Joh. 3.12 Jude ver 7. concludes the execution of the justice of the said Rule upon Cain as upon Balaam and Corah and so a vessel of dishonour for ever consequently thus God executed his final end upon those of the old world who were without the Church 2 Pet. 2.5 that is which were not of the Family-Churches of the first ten Fathers before the Flood for the Text saith God spared not the old world and brought in the Flood upon the world of ungodly and the like execution after the Flood on men without the Church namely Noah's posterity Rom. 2.11 12. when they became Heathens upon their confounding and scattering at Babel for of them the Text saith As many as have sinned without Law shall perish without Law and God will render to every man according to his deeds Consequently thus this execution doth and shall proceed upon men without the Church to the worlds end So much for those without the Church Secondly concerning the visible Church God declared this execution impartially unto Cain when he was a member of the visible Church when he said unto him If thou dost well Shalt thou not be accepted meaning as is Abel thy brother implying Yea most certainly thou shalt But if thou dost not well sin lies at thy dore And accordingly the justice and mercy of this Rule was executed upon Abel for because his operations were Right in belief Heb 11.4 therefore according to the justice of this Rule God rewarded his labour of love by mercy receiving him into glory in the imputed righteousness of his Son both which is implyed in the Text which saith By faith Abel offered unto God a more acceptable sacrifice then Cain and obtained witness that he was righteous consequently thus the Lord proceeded in execution in the Families of the ten Fathers before the Flood and it is implyed Genesis the fixth in that he took special notice of their degeneration from their operations to him in their posture to amity with the world in that the Text saith The Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and took them wives of all which they chose for thus did God when there was but one Family-Church of Christs left and that was Noahs for saith God to him Come thou and thy house into the Ark for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation that is Thee only for that is implyed Again this execution proceeded thus upon the Family-Churches of Christ after the Flood as is implyed in the eleventh of Genesis For there all that did apostate at Babel and were scattered from being a visible Church of Christ their names are wholly left out in the Genealogy of Noah in that Chapter implying this execution had cut them off and left them in the vanity of their minds to perish excepting some few of them which did seek honour and glory in that narrow way to eternal life as before is proved but the contrary it implies the mercy of this rule was executed upon Shems Family-Church of Christ Gen. 11.10 to verse last which kept to this posture and so were preserved to be vessels of honour as is implyed in this that Shems Family their names are all upon Record their births their lives their deaths written as it were in the book of life Again thus this impartial execution proceeded upon the next visible Church which sprang out of Terah's idolatrous brood namely elect in Abrahams seed then unborn to be a visible national Church of Christ as before is proved and of this Church the Text doth say Although the number of the children of Israel be as the sand on the Seas shore a remnant shall be saved for God will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness that is according to this righteous rule of justice and mercy and therefore when the generality of that people did degenerate by undervaluing the righteousness of Christ which as to us so to them was the righteousness of God in which was included life and glory for them by overvaluation of their own works and operations in that posture they were in by this they brought on the execution of the justice of the said rule of mercy as is implyed in the Text which saith They sought it not by faith but as it were by the works of the Law and they stumbled at that stone they being ignorant of Gods righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God and thus they fell by degrees under the execution of Gods said final end this sixteen hundred years and now are to this day no visible Church of Christ Again the next visible Churches of Christ to this were those under the New Testament and were chosen and elected into those Churches by a new way as never none was before that is only of believers according to the judgement of charity and not mixt of believers and undbelievers as it was in the said Family-Churches from the beginning now as in the Jewish Churches to the times of the Gospel and the said admittance into the Church as believers only under the Gospel unvailed is implyed in the words of our Lord in his great Commission Rev. 2.12 Rev. 2.7 And as more may appear at large in c. 2 3. He that believeth and is baptized that is he that believeth and is received into the Church by Baptism is in the Ark of salvation and God executes his final end by the said just and mercifull rule as before some to honour some to dishonour according to their works to eternity as appears in those Epistles to the seven Churches of Asia in that the Lord Christ takes special notice of their good works and their bad to their good works in the said posture he makes gracious promises and incouragements as that he will give them a Crown of life and so forth and for their several evil works many grievous threatnings among the rest to remove their Candlestick of light and life in him and so to leave them in darkness as vessels of dishonour for ever that is to be no Churches of his Again thus God executes his final end by the justice and mercy of the Gospels Tenor upon the invisible members of Christs mystical body according to their works good or bad some to honour some to dishonour for ever for Paul speaking of these men as of himself saith We walk by faith and not by sight implying they were the invisible members of Christ which walk not by sight only as do those which are only visible members Wherefore we labour saith he being present or absent we may be accepted of him And in the next words he gives a reason why they do so 1 Cor. 3.16 17. namely We must all appear before the judgement Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that
Timothy before the Elect Angels therefore some of them are elected Secondly The others were rejected from the good that the other were elected to to an evil equivolent contrarily for the Text affirms That God cast them down to hel that is when the rest remained in heaven and delivered them saith the Text into Chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgement and Iude saith Iud. v. 6. God hath reserved them in an everlasting Chain under darkness unto the judgement of the great day and our Lord saith For them is prepared everlasting fire therefore these Angels stand rejected by God for ever from the said good to the contrary evil Thirdly The ground of that rejection is named in the fore-cited Texts namely sin for the Text saith God spared not the Angels that sinned also Iude saith those Angels kept not their first estate but left their own habitation and our Lord points out the same For when he had said the Devil was a murtherer from the beginning he also saith and abode not in the truth therefore the ground of their rejection was sin Joh. 8.44 Fourthly if they sinned as we see it is proved this must needs follow 1 Ep. Joh. 3 4. Rom. 5 13. a law they had which they transgressed For as saith the Text sin is not imputed where there is no Law and our Lord himself implyes They stood bound by a Law to worship God their maker as they are his crreatures therefore said he to the Devil It is written Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve and therefore a Law they had for it is propper to God only to be without Law Luk. 4.8 who is without limits in his essence and therefore so in his operations Fifthly in a word the Law they had and transgressed was no more but this namely The Law of Nature that is their nature and existency which they had received from their maker bound them and by an innate principle called upon them by their operations in flames of burning love in all their strength to worship and serve him so to return him the sole glory of all that they had received from him for from this ground our Lord alleadged the same Law that God gave to man against them because they were his creatures aswell as man saying It is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve and we all know Gods Law written in mans heart and in Gods Law is one and the same thing in kind yet with this difference in man imperfect otherwise man could not do the things by nature contained in the Law having not the Law as before is proved Sixthly The ground why and to what God elected them that stood to more then what they had together with the rest before they fell was this Job 4.18 Before the fall they were all alike unstable in that estate according to that in Iob he found not steadfastness in his Angels the reason is because of the contingent events that might arise to them all being included in the natural liberty of their will from whence they all alike might refuse or chuse to give their maker his glory due unto him or might chuse or refuse to assume his glory unto themselves because the natural liberty of the will in Men and Angels consists in this as is said namely to chuse or refuse all objects as it likes or as it likes them not therefore their estate stood all alike contingent for the future to stand in it or to fall from it Therefore because these Angels did voluntarily refuse to assume Gods glory to themselves and did chuse to render the sole glory of all they had to him in all their strength therefore this was the ground why God elected them for as certainly as God rejected the others for rejecting his glory due unto him as is proved so certainly he elected these Angels to an establishment in their choice namely so to render him glory to eternity as a reward of their labour of love consequently to be blessed to eternity because they might refuse so to do as did the others Thus God did render to all the Angels according to their works good or bad some to honour some to dishonour and so accomplished his final end on them all to eternity And because this final execution hath thus passed upon them all it follows That as the rejected Angels can never will to render glory to God as once they might before they abused it because by the justice of that execution God doth deny them any influence or efflux from him to them to convey or continue any good in them more then to be that they may eternally be to be eternally miserable so on the contrary by the same execution there flows a continual influence from God to the elect Angels to keep and support them in the said choice to render him his sole glory to eternity which indeed is their blessedness for ever for the service of God is perfect freedom to men and Angels Objection If the workings of men and Angels be a moving cause to God thus to reject or elect them then the moving cause is not in or from God himself but from causes extrinsical which cannot be I answer it is true and so it is in this case because he was moved to work all things not according to their works but after the councel of his own will as he purposed in himself that is to propound this his final end and all the means suitable to accomplish it from whence issued forth the Creation of men and Angels in their natural liberty of their will that so the events of the operations of men and Angels might be contingent that from thence might arise their works good and bad and accordingly to be elected or rejected some to honour some to dishonour therefore the moving cause was and is in God himself to carry on and accomplish his final end by his own means as is described Hence we may inform our selves aright of two things Use First What it is that is Gods great decree upon which all things depend in which he is irrevocably unchangeable that is in that he decreed this final end and all the said means to accomplish it for we see for this end he created the Heavens and the Earth with all therein and both in relation to men and Angels and to carry on this end we see he elected and ordained the seed of the woman Christ the Lord the second Adam the seventh means to carry on this final end Secondly We may hence inform our selves that God made not the heaven of heavens for Angels sakes although it be their own habitation nor this world for mans sake although it be with all therein related to mans use and good I say he made it not for mans sake but all for his own names sake in reference to his final end and it must needs