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in they are sent out to minister for their good, they learn much of the wisdom and love of God, and are thereby excited to honour, applaud, glorify and praise him. Somewhat of this they shall see in the least and meanest work toward any believer that is committed unto them. And they eternally rejoice in the overflowings of the love and grace of God, taking care of all the concerns of the poorest and meanest of his servants.

4. This is done, that God may in an especial manner give glory and honour unto Jesus Christ thereby." This is his will, that all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father," John v. 23. He hath therefore raised him up, and given him honour and glory; and in particular, exalted him far above the angels, putting them in subjection unto him as their head, prince, ruler and governor, Eph. i. 21, 22. Neither is it a mere shew of glory, or a titular kingdom and dominion that he hath given to Jesus Christ, but a real and absolute sovereignty, wherein all things subject unto him are at his absolute disposal; and therefore must the angels themselves be at his service in the affairs of his kingdom, and so they acknowledge themselves to be the fellow servants of them that keep his testimony, Rev. xxii. 9. Now, the heart and love of Jesus Christ is greatly upon that part of his church and people which are labouring with sin, affliction and persecution, here below, Heb. ii. 17. ch. iv. 15. It is then greatly for his honour and glory, (which in all things the Father aimeth at, Col. i. 18, 19.) that the glorious angels should be employed for the good and in the behalf of all his poor labouring saints. This honour is done to Jesus Christ in heaven, when all the attendants of the throne of God do see the care that is taken about the meanest that believe in him.

5. The love and care and condescension of God unto his saints is hereby manifested to the saints themselves. God employeth the angels for their good, that they may know how he careth for them, and be comforted thereby, Psal. xci. 10. The saints of God have mean and low thoughts of themselves, as it becomes them to have. They know and confess that they are less than all the mercies of God, and unworthy that he should have any regard of them. Such thoughts as these, their mean terrene condition, and their manifold sins and failings do fill them withal. Of the glorious angels, their thoughts and apprehensions are high and honourable. Their nature, their state and condition, their power and greatness, their holiness and enjoyment of the presence of God, do all present them unto their minds under a notion of much excellency and glory. Hence, some weak, superstitious and curious minds have been drawn to adore them with religious worship and adoration; the saints know sufficiently the folly hereof. But yet when they consider

that God is pleased to use, employ, and send out these glorious spirits to take care of them, to do them good, to watch over them and round about them, to keep them from evil: this fills them with a holy admiration, both of the infinite love and condescension of God towards them, and also of the excellency of the mediation of the Lord Christ, who hath brought them into this condition of favour, from both which, much spiritual comfort and rejoicing in the Lord do arise. And for this end also doth God choose to do that mediately, by the ministry of angels, which otherwise by an inconceivable facility he could do by his own immediate power.

6. A blessed intercourse, society, communion and fellowship is hereby maintained and kept up between the several parts of the family of God; that of angels above, and this of believers below. It hath been formerly declared, how the angels in heaven, and all elect believers were reduced into one family, when God reconciled the things in heaven and earth unto himself, and brought them all into subjection unto, and dependance upon one common head, Christ Jesus, Eph. i. 10. From hence are angels and men reduced into one family; the family in heaven and earth; the angels by transition, men by adoption. Now it is the will of God, for the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, the immediate head of this family, that there should be an intercourse and an helpful communion between the several parts of it; for to this end we are brought into the society of the innumerable company of angels, Heb. xii. 22. Now, because our goodness, our usefulness, our helpfulness is confined and limited unto the saints that are in the earth, Psal. xvi. 3. not extending itself unto God, or to any of his holy ones above, we cannot help, assist, counsel nor advise the angels, nor do they in any thing stand in need of our aid or assistance. And since the communication of our minds unto them, by way of religious subjection, adoration, faith, trust, affiance, is absolutely forbidden unto us; it remaineth that this fellowship and society must be maintained by tl.e aid, help and assistance which they are able to afford unto us, and which we stand in need of. And on this account doth God employ them about the affairs and concernments of believers, that so, a becoming fellowship may be kept up in the family of Christ, and an usefulness between the several parts thereof.

7. God makes use of the ministry of angels in the service of the church, to reproach, awe, restrain and torment the devil. It is a continual reproach cast upon Satan, when he sees those unto whom he is like in nature, and with whom he was sometime a companion in glory, willingly, cheerfully, triumphantly obeying the will of God in the service of Christ, having by his wickedness cast out himself from the same honourable employ VOL. III.

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ment, and mancipated himself to the vilest services that any part of the creation of God is cast down unto. The whole work of the angels is a continual reproach unto Satan for his sin and folly. It cries unto him, this might have been thy work, this might have been thy condition; the gnawing of which consideration, is no small part of his torment and present restless vexation. They also put an awe upon him in all his attempts. He knows well their power, their authority, their commission, and that it is not for him to contend with them. With one word they can at any time defeat him: "The Lord rebuke thee, Satan, the Lord rebuke thee." And he knows not where he may meet with them in his attempts. And this keeps him in continual awe, and perpetual uncertainty of success in all that he undertakes or goes about. And hereby God also in many things frustrates his endeavours, restrains his power, and disappoints his malice. It is inconceivable what havock he would make of the lives and liberties and estates of the saints, did not these watchers from the Holy One disappoint him. And all these things add to his torment. Much of his present punishment consists in the endless workings of wrath, envy, malice, blood thirstiness and rage. Now, as these, whereever they are found but in the least degree, are tormenting passions, so where they are all in their height, rage and fury, and are not by any considerable vent abated or slacked, what can be worse in hell itself, but only the immediate wrath of God? But thus is it with Satan from this ministry of angels. He sees the church and every member of it, all of whom he seeks to devour, encamped about, protected and defended by this heavenly host, so that he cannot in any measure have his will at them, nay, that he cannot touch the soul of any one of them, nor cause a hair of the head of any one of them to perish. This fills him with self-devouring rage, envy and wrath. And thus doth God by this way accomplish his judgment upon him. And these are some of the reasons which the Scripture intimates unto us, why the Lord is pleased thus to make use of the ministry of angels; which may suffice for an answer to the first question before proposed.

II. The second is, unto what ends and purposes doth God make use of the ministry of angels, for the good of them that do believe.

The thing itself we suppose in both these questions. It is so directly asserted in the words of the apostle, and so many instances are given of it elsewhere in the Scripture, that it needs not any special confirmation. It will also be farther declared in our enumeration of the ends and purposes of it ensuing. As,

I. In general, God doth it to communicate by them the ef

fects of his care and love unto the church by Jesus Christ. This God represented unto Jacob in the vision that he gave him of the ladder which stood upon the earth, and whose top reached unto heaven, Gen. xxviii. 12, 13. For although the Jews say somewhat to the purpose, when they affirm this ladder to have denoted the dependance of all things here below on them above, under the rule of the providence of God, yet they say not all that was signified thereby. Our Saviour tells us, John i. 52. "That from thence his disciples should see heaven opened, and angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man." Plainly alluding unto this vision of Jacob. For those words, I TOY VIDY TO AVIEWIT,' upon the Son of man,' cannot denote merely the object of angelical ministration, that they should be exercised in their work about his person, but also, that by him, by means of his mediation, the angels ascend and descend in the work of ministering unto the saints. It is true, the great instance of their ministry was given in and about the person of Christ as head of the church. They declared his conception and nativity, Matt. i. 20. Luke i. 35. Luke ii. 11, 12. They ministered unto him after his temptation, Matt. iv. 11. They strengthened him in his agony, Luke xxii. 43. They were witnesses of his resurrection and ascension, Luke xxiv. 4. Acts i. 10, 11. But by him, and on his account, they perform the offices of their mission towards others also, even all the heirs of salvation; but this still upon the account of Christ. They ascend and descend on his mediation, sent by his authority, aiming at his glory, doing his work, carrying on his interest, as in the following particulars will appear: For,

1. They are sent in an extraordinary manner, to make revelations of the will of God, about things tending unto the obedience and spiritual advantage of them that do believe. Hereof we have many instances in the Old Testament, especially in God's dealing with the patriarchs before the giving of the law. For although the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God himself, did often appear unto them, as to Abraham, Gen. xviii. 1, 2. xix. 24. and unto Jacob, chap. xxxii. 24. whom he calls, Gen. xlviii. 16. yet God also made frequent use of created angels, in the revelation and discovery of his mind and will unto them, as is evident from many passages in their story. That he used their ministration in the giving of the law, we have before abundantly shewed, the Holy Ghost declaring and affirming of it, Psal. Ixviii. 17, 18. Acts vii. 53. The like also he continued to do in the visions of them granted unto the prophets that ensued unto the end of that dispensation, especially unto Ezekiel and Zechariah. So also the same was done under the New Testament, as to omit

others we have an especial instance, Rev. i. 1. How far God is pleased to continue this ministration of angels unto this day, is hard to determine. For as many have pretended unto revelations by angels, which have been mere delusions of Satan, or imaginations of their own brains: so to say, that God doth not, or may not send his angels unto any of his saints to communicate his mind unto them, as to some particulars of their own duty, according unto his word; or to fore-shew unto them somewhat of his own approaching work, seems, in my judgment, unwarrantably to limit the Holy One of Israel. Howbeit, such things in particular are to be duly weighed with sobriety and reverence.

2. God by them suggests good motions into the minds of his saints. As the devil sets himself on work to tempt them unto evil, by suggestions suited unto the principle of sin within them; so God employs his holy angels to provoke them to that which is good, by suggesting that unto them which is suitable unto the principle of spiritual life and grace which is in them. And as it is difficult to discover the suggestions of Satan in most cases, from the workings of our own minds, and our unbelief in them, partly because of their co-naturalness one to the other, and partly because his impressions are not sensible, nor produce any effects, but as they mix themselves with our own darkness and lusts; so it is no less difficult, distinctly to take notice of these angelical motions, upon the like account, on the other hand. For, being suitable unto the inclinations of that principle of grace which is in the hearts of believers, and producing no effect but by them, they are hardly discerned. So that we may have the benefit of many angelical suggestions of good things, which we ourselves take no notice of. And if it be inquired, how these good motions from angels, are or may be distinguished from the motions of the Holy Ghost and his actings in believers, I answer, that they are differenced sundry ways; as, 1. These angelical are ab extra, from without; angels have no inbeing in us, no residence in our souls, but work upon us as an external principle, whereas the Holy Spirit abideth with us, and dwelleth in us, and works ab intra, from within the very principles of our souls and minds. Whence it follows, 2. That these angelical motions consist in occasional impressions on the mind, fancy and imagination, by advantages taken from outward objects and present disposition of the mind, rendering it meet to receive such impressions, and so disposing it to affect the heart, the will and the affections; whereas the Holy Ghost closeth in his operations with all the faculties of the soul, really and immediately exciting every one of them to gracious actings according to their nature and quality. Whence also it appears, 3. That angelical motions communi

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