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of grace, and peace, and love! Will ye allow hunger to break down ftone walls? And will you neither allow the hungry foul to break down these mud walls, nor to wifh within itself that they were broken down? In a word then, give me leave earneftly to prefs you to an earnest preffing after perfect fruition of, and eternal converse with God, and to change the apostle's words, Heb. xii. 1. Seeing we are compaffed about with so great a divine light, and glory, and brightness, let us be willing and defirous to lay afide this weight of flesh, and this body that fo eafily refifts us with fins and fnares, and run with eagerness to the object that is fet before us. Amen. Amen.

Draw me, we will run after thee. Cant. i. 4.

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ANGELICAL LIFE.

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MATT. XXII. 30.

--- Are as the angels of God in heaven.

HE doctrine of our Lord Jefus Chrift, and the great things of the Chriftian religion, as they were accounted a ftrange thing by all the world, when they were first published and preached, fo indeed by none lefs entertained, or rather more oppofed, than by the wifeft of men living in that age, viz. Scribes, Pharifees, Sadducees; who were the difputers of this world, as the apostle's phrafe is, I Cor. i. 20. A thing of wonderful observation, not only to us in our day, but even to our blessed Lord himself, in the days of his flesh, who fetches the cause of it from heaven, and adores the infinite wisdom of God in it, Matt. xi. 25. Amongst other fet difputations that the Sadducees held with our Saviour, this, in this chapter, is very famous ; where they difpute against the refurrection of the dead, by an argument fetched ab abfurdo, ver. 25. grounded

grounded upon an instance of a woman that had been married to feven hufbands fucceffively: Now, fay they, if there be a refurrection, whose wife fhall fhe be then? Our Saviour answers, by deftroying the ground of their argument, and thewing that they difputed upon a false supposition : For, faith he, In the refurrection there fhall be no marrying, but men fhall be as the angels of God. In which words this doctrine is plainly laid down, for I shall not meddle with the controversy.

Do&t. That the glorified faints shall be as the angels of God in heaven. The other evangelifts lay down the fame truth, as you may find, Mark xii. 25. Luke xx. 36. In the explication of which point I will fhew, 1. Negatively, wherein the faints fhall not be like the angels. 2 Affirmatively, wherein they fhall be like unto them, or as St. Luke hath it, equal to them.

1. Negatively. The glorified faints shall not be like the angels in effence. The angelical effence, and the rational foul are, and fhall be different. Souls fhall remain fouls ftill, keep their own effence the effence fhall not be changed, fouls fhall not be changed into angelical effences.

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2. They shall not be wholly fpirits, without bodies, as the angels. The fpirits of juft men, now made perfect, are more like to the angels, in this sense, than they fhall be after the refurrection: for now they are spirits without bodies, but the faints fhall have bodies: not fuch as now (fo corruptible, fo crazy) not in any thing defective, not needing creature-fupplies; but incorruptible, glorious bodies; in fome fenfe, fpiritual bodies; which are defcribed by three characters, 1 Cor. xv. 42, 43

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Incorruptible, (fomewhat more than immortal) glorious, powerful. Neither doth their having bodies any whit abate of their perfection or glory, nor render them inferior to the angels; for even the glorious Redeemer of the world hath a body, who is yet fuperior to the angels: and he shall change the vile bodies of the faints, and make them like unto his glorious body, Phil. iii. ult.

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4. Neither have we any ground to believe that the faints fhall be altogether equal to the angels in dignity and glory; but rather, that as man was at firft made a little lower than the angels, fo that he fhall never come to be exalted altogether fo high as they for it seemeth, that the natural capacity of an angel is greater than that of a man; and fo fhall continue, for they are distinct kinds of creatures. As a beaft cannot become so wife and intelligent as a man, (for then he would cease to be a beaft) so neither can a man become so large and capable as an angel; for then he would cease to be a man.

2. Affirmatively. The glorified faints shall be like the angels of God in heaven. First, In their qualities; that is,

1. In being pure and holy. Whether they fhall be equal to them in pofitive holiness, or no, I know not; whether they fhall understand, and know, and love God, in all degrees, as much as as the angels? It feems rather that they shall not; becaufe, as I faid before, their capacity fhall not be fo large. But if in this they be not altogether equal to the angels, yet it implies no imperfection; for they fhall be pofitively holy, as far as their nature is capable, and fo shall be perfect

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in their kind, Heb. xii. 23. The spirits of just men made perfect. They fhall in this be like unto the angels, if not equal to them, yea like unto God himself in it; Be ye holy as I am holy, 1 Pet. i. 15. Mat. v. ult. But as to negative holiness, the faints fhall be even equal to the angels of God in heaven, i. e. they shall have no more fin, no more corruption than they have. They fhall be as perfectly freed from all iniquities, imperfections, and infirmities, as the angels. What can be cleaner than that which hath no uncleannefs at all in it? Why, fo clean fhall all the faints be, Rev. xxi. 27. No unclean thing shall enter into heaven. They fhall be without any kind of pot or blemish, Ephef. v. 27, which is a perfect negative holiness; more cannot be faid of the angels in this refpect. As branches of this,

2. As the holy angels reverence the Divine Majefty, Ifa. vi. 2, 3. they cover their faces with their wings, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord of Hofts! fo fhall the glorified faints. You may fee what sweet harmony they make, confenting together to give all the glory of all to God, Rev. vii. 9, 11, 12. The faints ftood and cried, Salvation to our God who futteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. The angels ftood round about, faying, Amen. Amen.

3. In their readiness to do the will of God, and execute his commands; therefore the angels are defcribed to have wings, Ifa. vi. 2. with twain they did fly. How God fhall please to employ angels or faints, in the world to come, is not for us to enquire; but they fhall be alike ready to do his will, and serve his pleasure, whatever it shall be.

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