The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 2, Section 9 (1 of 3)

The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 2 · Section 9 (1 of 3)

p. 314SECT. IX. Concerning the Ministers of the Kingdom of Christ.

HAving in the foregoing Section treated at large concerning the Nature and Constitution of Christ's Kingdom, I shall in the next place shew who the Ministers are, by whom he Rules and Governs it. And these are all included under a fourfold Rank and Order.

First, The first and supreme Minister by which Christ rules his Kingdom is the Holy Ghost.

Secondly, The second and next to him are the Angels of God.

Thirdly, The third are Princes and Civil Governours.

p. 315Fourthly, The last are the Bishops and Pastors of the Church.

I. The supreme Minister by which Christ rules his Kingdom is the Holy Ghost, or Third Person in the Holy Trinity, of whose Person and Ministry under our Saviour in his Kingdom I have treated at large from P. 49. to P. 98.

II. Therefore the next Order of Ministers by which Christ rules his Kingdom are the Angels of God, that is, the whole world of Angels, whether they be good or bad, Angels of Light, or Angels of Darkness. In the prosecution of which Argument I shall endeavour first to prove the thing, viz.

That the Angels, both good and bad, are the Ministers of Christ in the Government of his Kingdom.

Secondly, To shew wherein their Ministry doth consist. First, That the Angels, both good and bad, are Christ's Ministers in his Kingdom; For as for the good Angels, they are subjected to Christ by the Order and Appointment of God himself; who is the Father of Spirits, and to whom they are inviolably obedient: And for the bad, they are subjected to him by just Conquest, contrary to their own Wills and Inclinations. Of each of which I shall endeavour to give some brief account.

First, The good Angels are subjected to Christ by the Order and Appointment of God, to whom they are always inviolably obedient. It seems at least very probable, that before our Saviour was Exalted upon his Triumphant Ascension into Heaven to the universal Empire of the p. 316World under God the Father, the Angelical Powers were not all of them subjected to his Mediatorial Royalty, but that some of them had their distinct Regencies and Presidentships, immediately under God the most high Father, over such and such Nations and Countries as he in his Grace thought meet to allot to them, for so it is evident the Septuagint thought, when in Deut. 32.8. instead of he, (i. e. God,) set the bounds of the Nations according to the number of the Children of Israel, they render it, He set the bounds of the Nations according to the number of the Angels of God; for as the ancient Jews distributed the Gentile world into seventy two Nations, so they also reckoned seventy two Angels that presided over them; and indeed considering what follows, ver. 9. For the Lord's portion is his People, Iacob is the lot of his inheritance, it seems very probable that this translation of the Septuagint was the true sense of the Original, viz. that whereas God distributed the Gentile world into so many Nations as there were President Angels to be their Guardians and Governours, he reserved Israel to himself as his own Lot and Portion, over which he intended to preside immediately in his own person; and therefore, as a learned Writer of our own hath observed, it is not at all improbable but that instead of foreign i. e. the Sons of Israel, as it is now in our Hebrew Copies the ancient reading whence the Septuagint translated might be foreign i. e. the Sons of God, and that El might either be mistaken by the Transcribers for a final abbreviation of Israel, or changed into Il, which is the contraction of Israel, and if in the ancient p. 317Hebrew it was the Sons of God, it is no wonder that the Septuagint rendered it the Angels of God; the Sons of God being in Scripture a very common Appellation of Angels.

But whether this be so or not, it is evident, that when God threatned to withdraw his personal presence from Israel upon their worshipping the golden Calf, and to put them under the Conduct of an Angel, Exod. 33.2, 3. the meaning of it was, that he would no longer preside over them in his own Person, but subject them to the Government of a President Angel, and therefore ver. 20. he bids them beware of this Angel, and obey his voice, and not provoke him; for, saith he, he will not pardon your iniquities: which plainly shews, that this Angel was to have had a ruling power over them to pardon or punish them at his own pleasure; so that that which God here Threatned was, that he would put them in the same condition with other Gentile Nations, who were subjected to the Government of particular Guardian Angels, and so change their Theocracy into an Angelocracy. And so as it is evident Moses understood him, for ver. 15, 16. he thus prays, If thy Presence go not with me, carry us not up hence, for wherein shall it be known here that I and thy People have found grace in thy sight, is it not that Thou goest with us, so shall we be separated, I and thy People, from all the People that are on the face of the Earth: where it is very plain, that that which distinguished Israel from all other Nations was this, that God himself in his own Person immediately presided over them, and that if this distinction were taken away by God's withdrawing p. 318from them, and subjecting them to the Presidence of an Angel, they would be left in the same condition with other Gentile Nations, who must therefore be supposed to be under the immediate Conduct of President Angels. And this is most evident of the Kingdom of Persia, and the Kingdom of Greece in particular, Dan. 10.13, 20. where there is mention made of two Angels under the Character of the Prince of Persia, and the Prince of Greece, and also of a Third, viz. Michael who is stiled one of the chief Princes, and Michael your Prince, ver. 21. and elsewhere the great Prince which standeth for the Children of thy People, Dan. 12.1. and upon what other account can we suppose them to be stiled the Princes of those Countries, but because they presided over them as their Guardians and Governours. It is true, as for the last of them, viz. Michael, he is supposed by very learned Expositors to be no other than God the Son, who, as I have proved at large, was always the Prince and Guardian of Israel; but if he were not God the Son, but merely a created Angel, it is certain he was not the President or Guardian of Israel; since, as was shewn before, they had no other Guardian but God himself; but in all probability he was the Prince of those Angels that ministred to God the Son in his Guardianship and Government of Israel; and consequently that Angel of his to whom he intended to subject them, when he threatened to withdraw his personal Conduct from them, upon which account he might be called their Prince, because under Christ he had a Principal share in the Protection and Government p. 319of them. Now these Guardian Angels seem to have been Archangels, or the Princes of the distinct Orders of Angels; for so Michael is not only stiled an Archangel, Iude 9. but he is also said to have an Army of Angels under his Command and Conduct, and with them to have fought with the Dragon or Satan (who was also an Archangel) and his Angels, Rev. 12.7. Now though Michael (supposing him to be a created Spirit) was not a Guardian Angel, yet the Prophecy of Daniel by stiling him one of the Chief Princes plainly assures us that he was an Angel of the same Rank and degree with the Princes or Guardian Angels of Persia and Greece; from whence it follows, that those Guardian Angels were Archangels, as well as he, and consequently that they also had their Angels or appropriate Armies of Angels, under their Conduct and Command, in which Armies of theirs (whose Ministry without doubt they always used in the Administration of their respective Guardianships) there is no question but there was an exact Order and Regiment, which cannot well be supposed without supposing in them particular Officers subordinated to each other under their respective Princes or Archangels; and this seems to be implied in that distinction which the Apostle makes between these heavenly Spirits, Col. 1.16. Whether they be Thrones, or Dominions, or Principalities, or Powers; where by Thrones he seems to mean the respective Princes or Archangels of the several Orders; by Dominions or Lordships, the Reguli or chief Dignitaries under the Archangels; by Principalities, their Governours of such p. 320Provinces or Cities as were within their Guardianships; by Powers, their inferiour Magistrates or Officers.

These Archangels therefore, who were the Tutelar or Guardian Angels of Countries, together with their respective Cohorts or Armies of Angels, seem not to have been subjected to the Mediatorial Dominion of our Saviour, till after his Ascension into Heaven; at which time it seems God totally dissolved those Angelocracies, or Angelical Governments of Countries and Nations, and subjected both them and the Archangels (together with their Armies of Angels) that governed them to the Mediatorial Scepter of our Lord and Saviour; upon which he who before was King only of the Iews, vid. P. 224, 225. became universal Lord and Emperour of the World, for so Heb. 2.5. we are told, That to the Angels God hath not put in subjection the World to come, or future Age, as it is in the Greek; where by the future Age it is evident he means the time of the Gospel; for this is the very Phrase used by the Septuagint: to express the State of Christianity, Isa. 9.6. where Christ is called foreign, The Father of the future Age. This passage therefore of God's not subjecting the future age to the Angels, plainly implies that he had subjected the past age to them, by constituting them the Guardians of Nations, but that now in this age of the Gospel he hath wholly dissolved that Oeconomy by subjecting both the Guardians, and the Nations they guarded, to the Dominion of our Lord and Saviour; so that now the whole world of Angels is in the same subjection to Jesus p. 321Christ, as it seems Michael and his Angels were before Christ's Exaltation, that is, they are now no longer subject as Deputy Governours of Provinces and Nations, who as such were impowered to do good or hurt to those who were under their Government, according to their own discretion, but as the immediate attendants of his person to whom nothing is left arbitrary, but all they do is determined by the sovereign Will of him who imploys them; for thus the Scripture declares, that upon his Ascension into Heaven he was vested with a new Dominion over the Angelical World; so 1 Pet. 3.22. we are told, that it was upon his going into Heaven, and sitting down at the right hand of God, that Angels, and Authorities, and Powers were made subject to him; and in Eph. 20.21. that God raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all Principality, and Power, and Might, and Dominion, i. e. above all Angels of what rank and quality soever, and every name that is named, not only in this World, but also in that which is to come; and accordingly, Col. 2.10. he is said to be head of all Principality and power, i. e. of all the heavenly Hierarchy, as well as earthly Dominions; thus also the Apostle tells us, that upon his Ascension into Heaven God hath given him a name above every name, that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow, i. e. that every Being should acknowledge subjection, either of things in Heaven, or of things on Earth, or things under the Earth; i. e. whether of Angels, or Men, or Devils. And as all these Angelical Powers are now subjected to Christ, so do they all of them minister p. 322under him in his Kingdom; for so Heb. 1.14. they are said to be all of them ministring Spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation, and in so doing they must necessarily minister under him who is the Captain of our salvation; and accordingly in Rev. 5.6. those seven Angels which in Z…ch. 4.10. are said to be the seven eyes of the Lord which run to and fro the whole Earth; and therefore stiled the Watchers, Dan. 4.13. as being the chief Instruments of the divine Providence, are called the seven eyes of the Lamb, by whose Ministry and Agency he inspects and governs his Kingdom, which plainly implies, that they now minister to the Exalted Mediator in the same capacity that they heretofore ministred to God Almighty himself.

2. And then secondly, as the good Angels are subjected to Christ by the Ordination and appointment of God, so the bad are subjected to him by just and lawful Conquest, for so the Scripture assures us, that our blessed Saviour subdued them to his Mediatorial Empire by pure dint of just force and violence; for so we find in his life-time he frequently contested with these evil spirits, and in despite of all their power and malice continually vanquished and repelled them. Thus in his Temptation in the Wilderness with only that powerful Command, Get thee hence Satan, he put the Devil to flight, Matth. 4.10, 11. so also upon his approach towards the two possessed Gergesens the Devils that possessed them made a hideous outcry, What have we to do with thee Iesus thou Son of God, art thou come hither to torment p. 323us before the time? and were forced to depart immediately upon his Command, Matth. 8.29.— Nor did he only vanquish them himself in all the personal conflicts he had with them, but he also gave his Disciples authority over all Devils, Luke 9.1. insomuch that, Luke 10.17. his Disciples acquaint him, Lord even the Devils are subject unto us through thy Name; but these were only so many successful skirmishes with those Powers of darkness in which they fought against him, sometimes in single Combate, and sometimes in smaller Parties; but the main Battel in which they engaged him with all their power and might, and by winning of which he compleated his Conquest, and finally subdued them to his Empire, seems to have been that which he fought in his last Agony, wherein after they had reduced him to the utmost distress, he struck them with the spiritual Thunderbolts of inward horror and confusion, and in a Panick Dread forced them to turn their backs and flee from him. For first, it is evident that before he entered the Garden where his Agony seized him, he expected some terrible assault from these Infernal Powers; so he tells his Disciples just before he went thither, Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me, i. e. give me leave now to discourse freely with you, because within a very little while I shall be so engaged, that I shall not be at leisure to discharge my mind to you; for the Prince of Devils is just now mustering up all his Legions against me, and is coming to make his last effort upon me; but this is my comfort, he will find p. 324nothing in me, no sinful inclination to take part with him, no guilty reflection to expose me to his Tyranny, Iohn 14.30. and accordingly, Luke 22.53. when the Jews had apprehended him, he expostulates the case with them, why they did not lay hands on him before, when he was daily with them in the Temple; and then answers himself, But now is your hour and the power of darkness; as much as if he should have said, I need not wonder you did not seize me sooner, for this alas is the appointed time wherein my Father had decreed to let loose the Devils and you upon me. Which plainly shews that in that dismal hour he was assaulted by the Devils as well as by the Iews; for in all probability those crafty and sagacious spirits had smelt out the merciful design of his approaching death, viz. that it was to be a ransom for the sins of the World; and therefore though they were desirous enough of his death, as is apparent by their animating Iudas and the Jews against him, yet dreading the end and intention of it, they resolve to imploy all their Art and Power to tempt and deter him from undergoing it, and either to prevail with him to avoid it by a shameful Recantation, or at least not to consent to it; that so being forced and involuntary, it might be void and ineffectual. In which black design of theirs God himself thought meet so far to favour them as to give them his free permission to try him to the utmost; that so having experienced in himself the utmost force of Temptation that Humane Nature is liable to, he might thereby be touched with a more tender sympathy with it, or as the Author to the Hebrews expresses it, That p. 325having suffered himself being tempted he might be able to succour them that are tempted, Chap. 17.18. But then secondly, if we consider the woful Circumstances of his Agony, it is evident, that it was the effect of some far more powerful cause than meerly a natural fear of his ensuing Death and bodily Torment; for no sooner was he entered on that Tragick Stage, but he began to be sorrowful, saith S. Matthew, Chap. 26.37. or to be sore amazed, as S. Mark, Chap. 14.33. or to be very heavy, as both; which words according to their native signification declare him to have been all on a sudden oppressed with some mighty damp, which arising from some fearful spectacle or imagination, overwhelmed his Soul with an unknown and inexpressible anguish, an Anguish that sunk and depressed him into as deep a dejection as it was possible for an innocent mind to endure, causing him to groan out that sad complaint, My Soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death, foreign, i. e. My Soul is encompassed with grief, and like a desolate Island surrounded on every side with an Ocean of sorrows, and that even unto death, as if it had been strugling under some mortal Pang, and the pains of Hell had got hold upon it. And so intolerable was his Passion, that though he liberally vented it both at his Eyes and Lips in Tears, and Sighs, and sorrowful complaints; yet that was not a sufficient discharge for it, but through all the innumerable Pores of his body it poured out it self as it were in great drops of bloud, Luke 22.44. All which considered, I can by no means think that that which occasioned this bitter Agony p. 326was meerly the prospect of what he was going to suffer from the hands of men, since not only some Martyrs, but some Malefactors have suffered much more with less dejection; and if you consult the History, you will find that he bore his death far better than his Agony, from whence we have just reason to believe that the later was more grievous to him than the former, and that the Crucifixion of his body on the Cross was nothing near so painful to him as the crucifixion of his mind in the Garden. And since his sufferings in his Agony are described with more Tragical Circumstances than his sufferings on the Cross, we have just reason to conclude they were inflicted on him by more spiteful and powerful executioners, and consequently that he endured the Tortures of men only on the Cross, but of Devils in the Garden, where being left all alone naked and abandoned of the ordinary supports of his Godhead, and having only an Angel to stand by and comfort him (i. e. to represent such considerations to him of the benefits and advantages of his Death, as were most proper to fortifie him against the Temptations which the Devils were then urging to deter him from it) he was in all probability surrounded with a mighty Host of Devils, who exercised all their power and malice to persecute his innocent soul, to distract and fright it with horrid Phantasms, to afflict it with dismal suggestions, and vex and cruciate it with dire imaginations and dreadful spectacles. Thirdly, If we consider that strange unaccountable drowsiness which seized his Disciples whilst he was in his Agony, it seems to have been the effect p. 327of a Diabolical power; for before he entered into the Garden he had expresly told them that the Hour was come, wherein he was to be taken from them by an untimely death; so that one would have thought the dear love which they bore him, together with the infinite Concern they had in him, might have been sufficient to have kept them awake for a few hours; yet, notwithstanding he desired them to watch with him, (being loth it seems to be left alone in a dark night among a company of horrid and frightful Spectres) upon his return to them he found them fast asleep, and though he gently upbraided them with their unkindness, What could ye not watch with me one hour? Yet he no sooner left them but they fell asleep again; for as the Text tells us, their eyes were heavy. Heavy indeed, that could not hold up for a few hours upon such an awakening occasion. It is true indeed S. Luke attributes this prodigious drowsiness of theirs to their sorrow, and so it is usual in Scripture to put the apparent cause for the real, when the real cause is secret and invisible. But how can we imagine that meer sorrow should necessitate three men to fall asleep together under the most awakening Circumstances, all things considered, that ever hapned to Mortals? Why did it not as well force them to fall asleep again afterwards, when their Lord was apprehended, condemned, and crucified? At all which times they were doubtless rather more sorrowful than they were in the Garden; and therefore it seems very probable that there was a much more powerful cause than sorrow in the case, viz. a preternatural stup…faction of p. 328their senses by some of those malignant spirits that were then conflicting with our Saviour, who perhaps to deprive him of the solace of his Disciples company, did by their Diabolical Art produce that extraordinary stupor that oppressed them; that so having him all alone, they might have the greater advantage to tempt and terrifie him. Fourthly and lastly, If we consider the warning our Saviour gave his Disciples, when they entered the Garden with him, of the extraordinary danger they were in of falling into temptation, it seems very probable that he expected and found there an extraordinary Concourse of Tempters or evil Spirits; for as soon as they were entered with him into the Garden, S. Luke tells us, that he bid them pray that ye enter not into Temptation, Luke 22.40. and when notwithstanding this admonition they fell asleep the first time, he bids them again, watch and pray that ye enter not into Temptation, Matth. 26.41. which words plainly imply our Saviour's apprehension of some extraordinary danger they were in of being tempted in the very time and place of his Agony, and what more probable account can be given of this apprehension of his than this, that he …ound vast numbers of evil spirits there, by whom he himself at that very time was furiously tempted and assaulted, and that therefore having experienced their power and malice in himself, he thought meet to admonish his Disciples (who were much less able to resist them than he) to stand upon their guard lest they should tempt them as they had tempted him.

p. 329For these reasons it seems highly probable that this last Agony of our Saviour was nothing else but a mighty struggle and conflict with the powers of darkness, who having by God's permission mustered up all their strength against him, intending once more to try their fortune against him, and if possible to tempt or deter him from prosecuting his design of redeeming the World, were in the end gloriously repulsed by his persevering resistance, and forced to flee before him; and of this his glorious victory over them he made an open shew upon the Cross, where in despite of all those terrors and temptations they had exercised him with, if possible to divert him from laying down his life for the World, he freely and voluntarily poured out his Bloud as a Sacrifice for the sins of mankind. And hence the Apostle tells us, Col. 2.15. that on his Cross he spoiled Principalities and Powers, viz. in that victorious Act of laying down his life to ransom us from their power in despite of their most exquisite temptations to the contrary, and made an open shew of them triumphing over them. And by this glorious Victory he finished his Conquest of those Infernal Powers, so that from thenceforth they never durst assault him more, but like vanquish'd Slaves, were forced to yield their unwilling Necks to the yoke of his Empire, and (though with infinite Reluctance) to obey his Will, and execute his Orders; and hence we are told, that by his Death our Saviour hath destroyed him that hath the power of Death, that is, the Devil, Heb. 2.14. so that now at his powerful Name every knee must bow, or every Being p. 330yield obeisance, not only of things in heaven, and of things on earth, i. e. of Angels and Men, but of things under the earth too, i. e. of Devils, who notwithstanding they are incensed with an implacable animosity against him, and would gladly pull him down from his Throne, if they had but Power answerable to their Malice, yet having long since experienced the might of his victorious Arms, even then when they had him at the greatest advantage, and being thereby driven into everlasting despair of prevailing against him, they have from thenceforth been forced by the mere dread and terrour of his power, to submit themselves to him, and to become his Servants and Ministers in his heavenly Kingdom; so that now whatsoever they do, it is by his Permission or Order who holds their mischievous power in Chains, and lets it loose, or restrains it as he pleases.

And thus having proved at large that both the good and bad Angels are Christ's Subjects and Ministers, I proceed in the second place to shew wherein their Ministry to Christ in his Kingdom consists.

And in the first place, I shall shew wherein the Ministry of good Angels consists.

And secondly, wherein consists the Ministry of bad Angels. And because the Philosophy of the Nature and Operations of Angels is far above the ken of our short-sighted understandings, I shall not presume to inquire any farther into the Ministry of either good or bad Angels than the Scripture gives me light, in which we find these seven following instances of the Ministry of good Angels under Christ.

p. 331First, They declare upon occasion his Mind and Will to his Church.

Secondly, They guard and defend his Subjects against outward dangers.

Thirdly, They support and comfort them upon great undertakings, and under pressing Calamities.

Fourthly, They protect them against the rage and fury of evil spirits.

Fifthly, They further and assist them in all their Religious Offices.

Sixthly, They conduct their separated Spirits into the Mansions of Glory.

Seventhly, They are to attend and assist Christ in the great solemnity of the day of Iudgment.

I. One instance of the Ministry of Angels in the Kingdom of Christ is their declaring upon occasion his Mind and Will to his Church and People; for thus most of those Prophetick Messages which God from time to time sent to the World were conveyed to the Prophets by the Ministry of Angels; so Daniel for instance had all his Visions from an Angel of God, vid. Dan. 8.16. and Chap. 9.22, 23. as also Chap. 10.11. so also the Prophet Zechariah, vid. Chap. 1.9, 14, 19. and Chap. 2.3, 4. and sundry other instances there are of it in the New Testament, vid. Matt. 1.20, 21. as also Chap. 2.13, 20, 22. and Luke 1.13, 30, 31. and many other places; and it was an ancient and Catholick Doctrine among the Jews, that all Prophecy was communicated by the Mediation of Angels; whence the Pharisees, describing St. Paul as a Prophet, thus pronounce concerning him, We find no evil in this man, but if a Spirit or Angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against p. 332God, Act. 23.9. And accordingly we find our Saviour sending forth his holy Angels on Prophetick Messages to his Church; for so St. Iohn received his Revelations from Christ by the hand of an Angel, Rev. 1.1. Rev. 22.16. And an Angel is sent from Christ to Philip to bid him go to the Ethiopian Eunuch to expound to him the Prophecy of Isaiah, Acts 8.26. And Cornelius received a Message from Christ by an Angel, requiring him to send to Ioppa for St. Peter to instruct him in the Christian Religion, in Acts 10.3, 4, 5. But since that Christ hath revealed his whole Will to his Church, and transmitted it down by a standing Scripture, this Ministration of the holy Angels is in a great measure ceased, and to this written Word of his we are intirely referred, as to the perpetual Rule of our Faith and Manners; insomuch that if thenceforth even an Angel from heaven should preach any other Gospel to us than what we have there received, he is pronounced accursed, Gal. 1.8. Not but that sometimes, and upon great Emergencies, they may be still sent from heaven with new Messages to us to discover some useful secret, or to inspire our minds with the notices of some future contingencies, that are of great moment to us, though this very rarely, it being no part of their ordinary Ministry. But since the Revelation of the Gospel was compleated, to be sure they never reveal any new Doctrine to us; they may be assisting Geniuses to our understandings, to excite in them a true apprehension of what is already revealed, by impressing our imaginations with clear and distinct Idea's and Representations of things p. 333that are revealed more obscurely: But to suppose that they still reveal new Doctrinal truths to us, is not only to deny the perfection of written Revelation, but to open a wide door to all manner of Enthusiasm.

II. Another instance of the Ministry of Angels in the Kingdom of Christ is their guarding and defending his Subjects against outward dangers; for thus the Angels are said to encamp round about those that fear God to deliver them, Psal. 34.7. And though I see not sufficient reason to be fully persuaded that every faithful Subject of the Kingdom of Christ hath an appropriate Guardian Angel appointed to him, yet from that Caution of our Saviour, Matt. 18.10. it is evident that he imploys his Angels to attend as an invisible Lifeguard upon the persons of all good Christians; for, saith he, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you that in heaven their Angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven, i. e. those blessed spirits which are appointed by God to be their Guardians upon Earth have yet their continual returns and recourse to God's glorious Presence in Heaven; and having always access to him to offer up requests or complaints in their behalf, it must needs be a very dangerous thing for any to presume to despise or offend them, lest he thereby provoke those mighty spirits to sue out and execute some Commission of vengeance upon him. From whence it is evident that the blessed Angels are greatly concerned in the vindication and protection of the faithful, and that that promise, Psal. 91.10, 11, 12. is still in force, viz. p. 334There shall no evil befal thee, for he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways; they shall bear thee up in their hands left thou dash thy foot against a stone: And this they do sometimes by removing such evil accidents from us as in the course of necessary causes must have befaln us; for there is no doubt but these powerful Spirits have a mighty influence upon necessary causes, (at least upon a great many of them) and can retard, or precipitate, or vary, or divert their motions, as they see occasion, and thereby prevent a great many accidents which must otherwise have befaln had they permitted them to proceed in their natural courses. Other times again they divert the mischievous intentions of our Enemies by injecting sudden fears into them, and brandishing horrid Phant…sms before their imaginations (as the Angel did the flaming Sword before Balaam) when they are just upon executing their Malice. Sometimes again they warn us of dangers approaching, either by some external sign, or unaccountable impression on our fancies, by which we are vehemently solicited, without any visible Cause or Reason, either to proceed very cautiously in the ways where our danger lies, or to stop and forbear a while, or steer some other course. Of all which there are innumerable instances to be found in History.

III. Another instance of the Ministry of Angels in the Kingdom of Christ, is their supporting and comforting his faithful Subjects upon difficult undertakings, and under great and pressing p. 335Calamities: for thus not only our Saviour himself was comforted in his last Agony by an Angel from Heaven, Luk. 22.43. but St. Paul also tells us, that being in imminent danger of being shipwreck'd in a storm in his voyage to Rome, there stood by him in the night an Angel of God, whose he was, and whom he served, saying, fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar, and lo God hath given thee all them that sail with thee, Acts 27.23, 24. So also when the Apostles by an Order from the High Priest were cast into the common Prison, the Text tells us, That an Angel of the Lord by night opened the Prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, go stand and speak in the Temple to the People all the words of this life, Acts 5.19, 20. So also in the ancient Martyrologies of the Church we meet with sundry relations of the appearances of Angels to the suffering Martyrs, and of the wonderful Comforts they administred to them to support their Faith and Patience under their Agonies and Torments. And although since the Cessation of Miracles they do not Ordinarily perform this Ministry to us in visible appearances, yet there is no doubt, but as they are Spirits, they have spiritual and invisible ways of conversing with our Spirits, and of administring Comforts to us in our needs and extremities; for though they can have no immediate access to our mind, which is a dark Mysterious Chamber, into which no other Eye can penetrate but his who is the searcher of all hearts, yet that they can vehemently impress our Fancies with joyous Representations, and thereby exhilarate our drooping spirits to that degree, as to transport us into Raptures of p. 336bodily passion, is not to be doubted, there being so many sensible experiments of it in the ancient Prophets, whose imaginations were sometimes so vehemently impressed with frightful Idea's by the Angels which conversed with them, as that they immediately fell into an Agony, and were seized with unaccountable horrors and tremblings; and not only the Prophets themselves that saw the Angel were thus affected, but sometimes their Companions too that saw him not, of which you have an instance in Dan. 10.7. where Daniel tells us, that he alone saw the vision of the Angel, and that the men that were with him saw not the Vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves; which is a plain evidence of the great power which the Angels have over our bodily passions, even when they are invisible to us; so as to strike what note soever they please upon them, whether it be Fear, or Sorrow, or Ioy; and it being in their power to excite our Passions to what degree they please, there is no doubt but that being ministring Spirits they can and do minister Ioy and Comfort to us, when ever our case and circumstances require it.

IV. Another instance of the Ministry of Angels in the Kingdom of Christ is their protecting his Subjects against the Rage and Fury of evil Spirits; for considering with what a fierce and indefatigable malice those malignant spirits, which in vast numbers rove about in the Air, are animated against mankind, and especially against the Subjects of Christ, their most dreaded and implacable enemy, and considering also the mighty power they have, as they are Angels, to do mischief, p. 337it is not to be imagined but that were they not opposed and restrained by a mightier power than their own, they would never be able to forbear exercising their direful rage and cruelty upon us, till they had converted this Earth into Hell, and made this School of our Probation the place of our Torments; and as for the Kingdom of Christ, whose Subjects have so solemnly renounced their Yoke and Dominion, to be sure they would never cease infesting it with the fiery darts of their malice, till they had utterly ruined and destroyed them; and therefore to prevent their mischievous attempts, God in mercy hath thought meet to commit us to the Guardianship of his holy Angels, and to send them forth under the Conduct of Iesus our Mediator, to fight against these Hellish powers in the defence of his Church and People, for so God promised Ierusalem, Zech. 2.5. that he would be as a wall of fire round about her, i. e. as the most learned Expositors suppose, by surrounding her with a Guard of Angels, whom in the defence of his People against evil Angels he maketh a flaming fire, as the Psalmist expresses it, Psal. 104.4. and in Rev. 12.7. we read of a War in Heaven, (or the airy Region, of which the Devil is called the Prince) Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon, and the Dragon fought and his Angels; which War Michael undertook, as the foregoing verses tell us, in the defence of the Woman that was cloathed with the Sun, which all agree was the Christian Church; so also in verse 9. of S. Iude's Epistle we read that Michael the Archangel contended and disputed with the Devil about the body of Moses, or Jewish Church, p. 338so called for the same reason that the Christian Church is called the Body of Christ. And it is very probably supposed, that that Hedge which the Devil complained God had set about Iob, and about his house, by which he was hindered from breaking in upon him, was no other than a Guard of Angels, by which he was driven back as oft as he attempted to execute his Rage and Malice upon him, Chap. 1.10. Now by what means or instruments the good Angels war against and repel the evil ones, is, I conceive, an enquiry beyond our Cognisance, Revelation (from whence we receive all our notions of the state and Oeconomy of the invisible world) being wholly silent in the case, only thus much we may say without any way presuming beyond our Capacity, that spiritual Agents can as easily strike upon spirits as bodily Agents do upon bodies; and though we, who are Spectators only of corporeal motion, can give no account of the manner how one spirit acts upon another, yet there is no reason at all to doubt but that they have some way of impressing one another, and communicating to each other a mutual sense and feeling of each others pleasures and displeasures; and if so, then it is easie to suppose, that the more powerful any spirit is, the stronger and more exquisite impressions of its displeasure it can make upon other Spirits, and consequently that the Good Angels, who by preserving their innocence, and improving their perfections, have augmented and redoubled their natural strength and vigour, are much more powerful than the bad ones, (who have rather impaired it) and so are much more able to withstand and repel p. 339the violent impressions of the bad Angels, than the bad Angels can theirs; so that though the bad Angels may, and oftentimes do resist and oppose the good, yet they can never conquer them, but in the conclusion are still forced to flee before them, as being unable to withstand their more powerful impressions. Since therefore we wrestle not with flesh and bloud, i. e. only with flesh and bloud, but against Principalities, against Powers, against the Rulers of the darkness of this World, against spiritual wickednesses in high Places, i. e. against the several Ranks of Devils that are in the Air under the Command and Conduct of Beelzebub their Prince, Eph. 6.12. And since these Apostate Spirits are by much too strong and powerful for us; so that were we left to grapple with them alone, by our own single strength, they would infallibly vanquish and lead us captive to eternal ruine, God hath thought meet to subject his holy Angels to the command of our compassionate Mediator; that so when ever we are too hardly beset by these evil spirits, he might send them forth to guard and protect us against them, and either to assist us in our conflicts with them, or to chase them away from us, when we are no longer able to withstand them; and accordingly we have a sure word of promise, that if we resist the Devil he shall fly away from us, Iam. 4.7. not that our weak resistance is in it self sufficient to put those daring and mighty Spirits to flight, but the meaning without doubt is, that if when they assault us with any temptation to sin, we do but oppose them with a sincere resolution, God will not permit us to be vanquished by them; but when ever p. 340they press too hard upon us, will be sure to send down some good Angel to us to repel and drive them away from us; for so he hath promised, that he will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able, but will with the Temptation also make a way to escape that we may be able to bear it, 1 Cor. 10.13. which plainly implies, that should God suffer him, the Devil can tempt us above what we are able; and this without doubt he is ordinarily hindered from by the timely interpositions of the holy Angels, who when our strength begins to fail, are always ready to second us, and with their victorious arms to encounter and put to flight those evil spirits that do so importunately tempt us.

V. Another instance of the Ministry of Angels in the Kingdom of Christ is their furthering and assisting his Subjects in the Works and Offices of Religion; for since they are said to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation, there is no doubt but that they minister to them in the discharge of their Religious Obligations, upon which their Salvation depends; and since, as our Saviour assures us, there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repents, Luke 15.10. we cannot but suppose that so far as their own ability, and the Laws of the invisible World will permit them, they do promote and further our repentance; since in so doing they contribute to their own joy; and in a word, since the Scripture assures us, that the Angels are present in our holy Assemblies (which that passage of S. Paul seems necessarily to imply, 1 Cor. 11.10. For this cause ought the woman to have p. 341power over her head, i. e. to be veiled in the sacred Assemblies, because of the Angels, or out of a decent respect and reverence to those blessed Spirits who are supposed to be present there) since, I say, they are present in our Religious Assemblies, we cannot reasonably suppose them to be present merely as Idle Auditors and Spectators, who have nothing else to do but only to observe and gaze upon our holy solemnities; and therefore must conclude that their great business there is to assist us in the performance of them, to remove our indispositions, and recollect our wandrings, to fix our attention, excite our affections, and inflame our devotions: for besides, as they are the Ministers of the divine Providence, they have many opportunities of presenting good objects to us, and removing temptations from us, of disciplining our natures with prosperities and afflictions, and of so ordering and varying our outward Circumstances, as to render our duty more facile and easie to us; besides which I say, as they are Spirits they have a very near and familiar access to our souls; not that they can make any immediate impressions on our Vnderstanding or Will, which are a sphere of light to which no created spirit can approach, it being under the immediate Oeconomy of the Father of Spirits; but yet being Spirits there is no doubt but they may, and oftentimes do insinuate themselves into our fancies, and mingle with the spirits and humours of our bodies, and by that means never want opportunity both to suggest good thoughts to us, and raise holy affections in us. For that they can work upon our fancies, is apparent, else there could be neither p. 342Angelical nor Diabolical dreams, and if they can so act upon our fancies, as to excite new images and representations in them; they may by this means communicate new thoughts to our understandi…g, which naturally Prints off from the fancy those Ideas and Images which it there finds set and composed. And as they can work upon our fancies, so there is no doubt but they can influence our spirits and humours; else they have not the power so much …s to cure or inflict a disease; and by thus working …pon our spirits they can moderate as they please the violence of our passions, which are nothing but the flowings and reflowings of our spirits to and fro from our hearts; and by influencing our humours they can compose us, when they please, into such a sedate and serious temper as is most apt to receive religious impressions, and to be influenced by the Heavenly motions of the Holy Ghost. These things I doubt not the blessed Angels can and frequently do, though we perceive it not, and though by the Laws of the world of Spirits they may probably be restrained from doing their utmost for us, that so we may still act with an uncontrouled freedom, and be left under a necessity of a constant and diligent endeavour; yet this we may be sure of, that as the evil Angels are always busie to pervert and seduce us from our duty, so the good are no less active to reduce us to, and assist us in it.

VI. Another instance of the Ministry of Angels in the Kingdom of Christ is, their conducting the separated Spirits of his faithful Subjects to the Mansions of Glory. It was an ancient Tradition among the Jews, that the Souls of the Faithful p. 343were conducted by Angels into Paradise, of which the Chaldee Paraphrase makes mention on Cant. 4.12. and this Tradition of theirs is confirmed by our Saviour, Luke 16.22. where he tells us, that when Lazarus died, he was carried by Angels into Abraham's bosom, i. e. into that place of refreshment where the Soul of Abraham, who was the Father of the Faithful, dwells, and in all probability that fiery Chariot and Horses wherein Elias was mounted up to Heaven, 2 Kings 2.11. was nothing but a Convoy of Angels; and accordingly Tertullian de anima, c. 52. stiles the Angels Evocatores animarum, i. e. the Messengers of God, that call forth the lingring souls out of their bodies, and shew them the Paraturam diversorii, the preparation of those blessed Mansions where they are to abide till the Resurrection. And this Office the good Angels do perform to the Souls of the faithful, not meerly to congratulate their safe arrival into the world of blessedness, though there is no doubt but that they, who do so heartily rejoyce in the Conversion of sinners, are ready enough to congratulate their Glorification; but that which seems to be the great reason of this Ministration of theirs, is to guard holy Souls, when they leave their bodies, through those lower Regions of the Air, which are the Seat and Principality of the Apostate Angels, who may therefore be very reasonably supposed to be continually lying in wait there, like birds of prey to seize upon the Souls of men, as soon as they are escaped out of the Cage of their bodies into the open Air, and either to s…are and terrifie them in their passage to Heaven, or p. 344to lead them away captive into their dark Prisons of endless horrour and despair; and therefore to prevent their affrighting good souls (which is all the hurt they can do them) as they pass along through their Territories, they are no sooner parted from their bodies, but they are taken into the custody of some good Angel or Angels, who guard them safe through the Enemies quarters, and beat off those evil Spirits from them that would fain be infesting and assaulting them; and it is not at all improbable, but that by this very thing those evil Spirits do distinguish what Souls do belong to them from what do not, viz. their being destitute of, or attended with this holy Guard of Angels. When they behold a separated Spirit under this Heavenly Convoy, they fly away from it with infinite rage and envy to see it irrecoverably rescued out of their power to make it miserable; but when they perceive one destitute and abandoned of this Angelick guard, they immediately seize it as their own, and so commit it to their Chains of darkness. And as the good Angels do guard good Souls as they pass through the Air, against the power and malice of the Prince of the power of the Air; so they also conduct and guide them to their Mansions of blessedness. For when the departed Soul is waf…ed through the Air into those immense tracts of Aether, wherein the Sun and all the Heavenly bodies swim, how would it be possible for it in such a vast and unknown Continent ever to find its way to the Seat of the blessed, without the conduct of some experienced guide? And who can be better experienced in that Celestial p. 345Road, than those winged Messengers of the Almighty King, who in the execution of his high behests are always travelling to and fro between Heaven and Earth? And therefore our Saviour hath committed the separated Spirits of his faithful Subjects to these most skilful and faithful Guides, who in pursuance of his Commission are some or other of them still attending upon every good man's decease, to receive his Soul into their Custody, as soon as ever it is expired, and to guard it against evil Spirits, as it passes through the Air, and thence to conduct it through all those spacious fields of Aether, which extend themselves far and wide beyond all the visible lights of Heaven, to those happy abodes which the divine goodness hath prepared for glorified Spirits.

VII. And lasty, Another instance of the Ministry of Angels to our Saviour in his Kingdom, is their attending and assisting him in the great solemnity of the day of Iudgment; for thus in all his most solemn and conspicuous works of Providence our Saviour hath still been pleased to make use of the Ministry of his holy Angels; so when he came to ratifie his Covenant with Iacob, the mysterious Preface of that great solemnity was a Ladder reaching from Heaven to Earth, and the Angels ascending and descending upon it, which was doubtless intended for an Emblem of that Everlasting Covenant by which Man was to ascend to God, and God to descend to Man; so also when the Law was delivered by him upon the Mount, the Angels descended with him, and pitched their Tents about it in Circles of flaming fire, to signifie to the People those flames p. 346of vengeance that would certainly pursue and seize them, if they were not obedient to those words that were thence delivered to them; so also when he was born into the world, the holy Angels came down to sing his Christmas Carol, and at once to proclaim and celebrate his Nativity; and it is the opinion of some learned men, that that multitude of the heavenly Host, which St. Luke speaks of, and who sang that Anthem of Glory be to God on high at our Saviour's Nativity, Luke 2.13. contained the whole Nation of Angels, because in Heb. 1.6. it is said, that when God brought in the first begotten into the world he said, let all the Angels worship him, that is, as they understand it, when our Saviour was born, God gave order to all the Angels of Heaven to come down and do homage to him, who was ere long to be their Sovereign Lord under the most high Father. Thus also a little before Ierusalem was destroyed, Iosephus tells us, that the Heavens were spread with Troops of armed men, who without doubt were the blessed Angels that by their phantastick combats in the Air did presignifie the ensuing Tragedy of that bloudy City. It is no wonder then if the great solemnity of Doomsday, of which Ierusalem's desolation was only a mournful Type, shall also be adorned and illustrated with the presence and attendance of the holy Angels: For this great Transaction is to be the winding up of the vast bottom of divine Providence over the whole Race of faln and degenerate Mankind, and the close and conclusion of the Mediatorial Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour; and therefore will without doubt be performed with p. 347the greatest Grandeur and Magnificence. This is to be the great Day of our Saviour's Triumph, wherein his Friends shall be Crowned, and his Enemies made his foot-stool; and such a solemnity may well deserve the attendance and Ministry of all the heavenly Angels, who accordingly shall then descend with our Saviour from the highest Heavens in bright aetherial bodies, such as shall render them gloriously conspicuous to all the lower world, and so fit to adorn the Triumphs of that glorious day; for so the Scripture assures us, not only that he shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the Trump of God, 1 Thes. 4.16. but also that he shall come in his glory, and all his holy Angels with him, Matt. 25.31. and that he shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels, and that he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of his holy Angels, Luke 9.26. and in a word, that he shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels, Mar. 8.38. But what their Ministry is to be in that great Day, I shall hereafter have occasion to shew, when I come to discourse of that solemn transaction.

And now having explained the Ministry of the good Angels under Christ, I proceed to treat of the Ministry of the evil Angels to him, which principally consists in these four particulars:

First, In trying and exercising the vertues of his Subjects.

Secondly, In chastening and correcting their faults and miscarriages.

Thirdly, In searing and hardening his incorrigible Rebels.

p. 348Fourthly, In executing his vengeance on them in another World.

I. The Ministry of evil Angels to Christ, consists in trying and exercising the vertues of his Subjects; for this being the state of our trial and probation, wherein we stand Candidates for those everlasting preferments in the other World, our blessed Lord hath thought meet to surround us with Difficulties and Temptations, that so being in continual conflict with them we may never want opportunity to exert and exercise our vertues, and to give the most glorious proofs of our Courage and Constancy: For difficulty is the Spur of Endeavour, and the Whet-stone of Vertue, without which the fairest Graces that belong to Humane Nature would be altogether Vseless, Worthless, and Vnactive; such as Faith and Patience, Temperance and Equanimity, Courage and Resignation to God, all which would scarce deserve the name of Vertues, if they had not some difficulties to contest withal. Now one of the greatest difficulties with which our blessed Lord tries and exercises these Graces of our Nature, is the Temptations of evil Spirits, who as so many assisting Geniuses to the corrupt inclinations of our Nature, are permitted by him to rove about the World in innumerable swarms to Tempt and Elicite those inclinations into action, and these being Spirits, have a much nearer access to the Souls of men than any material Agents whatsoever; for though they are totally debarred from all kind of intercourse with the immediate operations of the reasonable Soul, and can no more look into its thoughts, than we can into the bowels of the Earth, yet our Fancies and p. 349Imaginations lying open to them, there is no doubt but they can and oftentimes do make what use they think fit of the Animal Spirits there, and dispose, and order, and distinguish them, just as the Painter doth his numerous Colours that lie confusedly before him in their several Shells into the Pictures and Phantasms of whatsoever Objects they please, and continue and repeat those Pictures in our fancies as long and as oft as they think meet; and then considering what the natural use of the fancy is, both to the Vnderstanding and Will, and how it prompts the one with matter of Invention, and supplies it with variety of Objects to work on, and draws forth or elicits the other to choose or refuse those Objects it presents according as they are amiably or odiously represented; considering these things, I say, it is notorious what mighty advantages the evil Spirits have of insinuating their black suggestions to our minds. And then they being very subtil and sagacious by nature, and having had above five thousand years experience to cultivate their Talent of tempting and seducing us, (that having been their trade ever since they became Devils) to be sure they can never be at a loss when or how to apply themselves to us, and to nick us with such temptations as are most convenient to our several inclinations, conditions, and circumstances; and accordingly, 2 Cor. 2.11. the Devil is said to have his Methods or Devices, i e. his stated Rules by which he governs his mischievous practice of tempting and seducing souls, and 2 Tim. 2.26. we are told of the snare of the devil, or his crafty devices to intangle and captivate mens Souls.

p. 350Now though the design of these evil Spirits in tempting Christ's Subjects is doubtless to seduce and ruine them, yet it is evident that the design of Christ in permitting them to tempt them is only to try and exercise them, and rouse them out of their sloth and inactivity, and by the continual alarms of these their restless Adversaries to keep them upon their guard, and make them more watchful and vigilant; and accordingly from the consideration of that permission which these evil Spirits have to tempt us, we are in Scripture frequently exhorted to activity and vigilance; so 1 Pet. 5.8. Be sober, be vigilant, for the Devil your Adversary goeth about like a roaring Lion, seeking whom he may devour; So also, Ephes. 6.11. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the Wiles of the Devil. Since therefore the Devil's tempting us is used by Christ as a motive to excite our activity, it is evident that Christ's intention in permitting him to tempt us is to excite and stimulate us thereunto. It is true, the Devil's Temptations may, and often have a quite contrary effect on us than Christ intended; they may seduce us from our innocence and duty, and thereby involve us in everlasting perdition; but if they do, it is our own fault, and through our own consent, without which they can never prevail against us, for we are assured, that if we resist the Devil he will fly away from us, and that we shall not be tempted by him above what we are able: and we are furnished by our Saviour with sufficient strength and assistance to repel his most powerful temptations; but if instead p. 351of imploying our strength, and exercising our vertue in a vigorous resistance of him (which is the thing Christ intended in permitting him to tempt us) we will tamely suffer our selves to be led Captive by him, we must thank our selves for all the dire and miserable consequents of it.

II. Another instance of the Ministry of these evil Angels to Christ is their chastening and correcting the faults and miscarriages of his Subjects. Thus upon great and high provocations he many times lets loose these evil Spirits upon us, and permits them to pain and punish us either immediately by themselves, or mediately by their Instruments; for so only to prevent St. Paul's being exalted above measure through the abundance of his revelations, there was given a Thorn in the flesh, the Messenger of Satan to buffet him, i. e. as it seems most probable, some evil Spirit was sent to him from Satan, the Prince of Devils, to inflict some corporal pain or disease on him (for so the grieving thorn, Ezek. 28.24. signifies a sore bodily affliction) and though he sought the Lord thrice for this thing that it might depart from him, yet could he receive no other Answer, but My grace is sufficient for thee, see 2 Cor. 12.7, 8, 9. and it is very probable that those weaknesses, diseases, and deaths which were inflicted on the Corinthians for their irreverent communication of the Lord's Supper, vid. 1 Cor. 11.30. were inflicted by the Ministry of evil Angels, to whose power and malice they were abandoned by our Saviour, as a just Chastisement of their prophaneness; for so it is evident the incestuous person was corrected upon the Sentence p. 352of his Excommunication, which was, that he should be delivered up unto Satan for the destruction of his flesh, 1 Cor. 5.5. where the delivering him up to Satan seems to have been in answer to Satan's demanding of him; for so in Scripture the Devil is sometimes called, The accuser of the Brethren, which accuses them before God day and night, Rev. 12.10. and sometimes the foreign, which signifies, an Adversary in Court of Iudicature, that impleads and accuses us before God, 1 Pet. 5.8. Now this accusation of his is sometimes false and groundless, as in the case of Iob, upon which account he is called, foreign, the Calumniator; but sometimes he accuses us truly, for faults that are real and highly criminal, upon which he requires us of God as he did St. Peter, Luke 22.31. i. e. he requires us as the Executioner doth a Malefactor, to sift or winnow us as Wheat, i. e. to shake and afflict us; and when ever God is pleased to answer this request, he is truly said to deliver us up to Satan; and this power of delivering up to Satan such persons as are justly accused of great and scandalous sins, God hath communicated to his Church, upon which delivery in the Primitive Ages (when there were no Magistrates to second the Churches Censures with Corporal punishments) Satan as the Lictor or Executioner of our Saviour immediately seized the Criminal, and inflicted on him some bodily disease or torment, which St. Ignatius calls, foreign, the punishment of the Devil, Epist. ad Roman. for so in our Saviour's time, and before and after it, it was usual for evil Spirits, by God's permission, to inflict diseases p. 353and torments on mens bodies, of which there are innumerable instances in the Gospels, and the Writings of the Primitive Fathers; and that this was then the usual consequence of Excommunication, is evident from that phrase, For the destruction of the flesh, which plainly signifies some corporal punishment consequent to that Tremendous Sentence ▪ which is therefore called a Rod, 1 Cor. 4.21. because of the bodily correction that followed it.

But since the power of corporal punishments hath been derived by Christ upon Christian Magistrates, he very rarely chastens his Subjects with any bodily pains by the immediate Agency of evil Spirits, but hath wholly deposited it in the hands of the Temporal Powers, who are now his sole Ministers and Revengers to execute wrath upon those that do evil. But yet still upon occasion he so far makes use of the Ministry of the Devils in correcting us, as to permit them to excite wicked men, and especially wicked Princes and Governours to plague and persecute us: When he sees his Church or any particular part of it degenerating from the purity of his Religion, or waxing cold and remiss in their love and duty to him, he many times gives a loose to these malignant Spirits, who always burn with inveterate rancour against it, and permits them to provoke and stimulate its Enemies to exert and imploy their power against it; So that whatsoever mischiefs wicked Princes or men do to the Church of Christ, or to any part of it, they do it only as the Instruments of these evil Angels ▪ and by their mischievous suggestions and instigations; for so Christ tells the Church of Symrna in Rev. 2.10. The Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that is, p. 354the wicked Governours there shall do it by the instigation of the Devil, to whom I will certainly give permission to instigate them thereunto, for so Christ is said to have the Keys of the bottomless Pit, Rev. 1.18. that is, power to confine or let loose those evil Spirits, that inhabit it, at his pleasure; and when he thinks fit, to confine them, we find the Church enjoys peace, and rest, and prosperity, Rev. 20.1.2, 3, 4. but no sooner doth he let them loose again, but they are immediately instigating the wicked powers of the Earth to fight against it and persecute it, Ibid. ver. 7, 8, 9. from whence it is evident that the power of these evil Spirits to excite evil Princes or men to persecute his Church is under the restraint and determination of our Saviour, that they can proceed no farther in this their mischievous design, than he thinks meet to permit them, and consequently, that in all those persecutions to which they excite their Instruments, they are but the Ministers and Executioners of Christ, even as the Dog is the Shepherds in worrying the straying sheep into the fold.

III. Another instance of the Ministry of evil Spirits to Christ is their hardening and confirming incorrigible and obstinate sinners in their wicked purposes. For when notwithstanding all those powerful Methods which in the administration of his Government Christ uses to reduce and reclaim men, they still persist in their Rebellion, when they have conquered his Grace, quenched his Spirit, broke through all his persuasions, and baffled all his Arts of saving them, he many times withdraws from them those powerful aids of his Spirit, and of his holy Angels, which they have wilfully p. 355neglected, and utterly abandons them to the powers of Darkness, whom from thenceforth he freely permits to tempt and seduce them, and to …oul them on at their pleasure from sin to sin, and from one degree of sin to another, till they have filled up the measure of their iniquities; and this without doubt is the severest punishment that Christ inflicts upon sinners on this side Hell; for this is a kind of Damnation above ground to be delivered up alive to those restless Furies, who having free leave to back and ride us at their pleasure, to be sure will never cease stimulating and spurring us on from wickedness to wickedness, till they have leapt us headlong into the everlasting burnings. And this, I conceive, is the meaning of Gods hardening sinners so often mentioned in the holy Scripture, which doth not at all imply, that God by any positive act of his own infuses any sinful quality into mens Wills to excite or stimulate them to sin, as some men have blasphemously enough asserted, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man; but when men have a long while hardned themselves against all the powerful impressions of his Grace, and in the pursuit of their wicked courses have turned a deaf ear to all his persuasions to the contrary, then as a just punishment of their incorrigible obstinacy, he many times withdraws from them the influences of his Grace, and delivers them up to Satan, or, which is the same thing, permits him to seize them as his own, and to take possession of them, and as a wicked soul to animate and act them in all their wickedness; for so the Devil is said foreign, to work in the Children of disobedience, so that these Children of disobedience p. 356are a sort of foreign, of persons that are possessed and acted by the Devil. And too many deplorable instances there are of wicked men that sin on at that rate as if they were really acted by some Diabolical Genius, that are hurried into such monstrous extravagancies of wickedness, as are neither pleasant, nor profitable, nor reputable; so that they gratifie no passion or appetite in humane nature by committing them, but do seem to sin merely for the sake of sinning, out of a kind of preternatural malice, when they can scarce give any other reason to themselves why they do such an action, but only this, because it is wicked; so truly Diabolical is their love of wickedness, so abstract from all those motives which are wont to affect the passions and appetites of men, that it is hardly resolvable into any other reason, but that they are delivered up by God to be informed and acted by the Devil; who having once obtained the possession of them, continually plies them with Temptation, and never ceases urging and pressing them forward from one degree of wickedness to another, till at length he hath seared and hardened them into final and incurable Impenitence. And this in particular was the case of Iudas, who having long persisted in his Thievery and Sacriledge, notwithstanding all those warnings and admonitions our Saviour had given him to the contrary, was at length abandoned to that Devil to whose Temptations he had been so obsequious, upon which it is said, that the Devil entered into him, Luke 22.3. and the Devil being in possession of him, immediatly provokes and irritates him to the foulest and most horrible villany that ever any mortal p. 357Creature was guilty of; for so, Iohn 13.2. we are told, that the Devil put it into the heart of Iudas to betray Christ. But as yet it seems he was not totally abandoned to the Devil, who had only permission to make that black and dire proposal to him; after which our Saviour attempts by the most Pathetick persuasions to prevent his compliance, Mark 14.21. notwithstanding which, the Wretch being still enticed by his own covetousness to listen to that horrid suggestion, our Saviour having marked him out for a Traytor by giving him the Sop, it is said again, that Satan entred into him; and upon this second entrance our Saviour gives him up for desperate; for, that thou dost, saith he, do quickly, John 13.27. as much as if he had said, now I find the Devil has the full possession of thee, and that henceforth there remains no more hope of reclaiming thee, go therefore and dispatch thy wicked purpose as soon as thou pleasest. So that now, it seems, he was entirely delivered up to the Devil, who thereupon immediatly hurries him to the execution of his black design.

IV. And lastly, Another instance of the Ministry of evil Spirits to Christ is their executing his vengeance on incorrigible sinners in the other World. For since, as I have shewn before, our Saviour makes use of the power and malice of these evil Spirits to correct and chasten men in this life, why may we not thence conclude, that he makes use of the same to plague and punish them in the life to come; especially considering that they bear the same malice to us in the other life that they did in this; for they tempt us to sin here for no other end but that they may make us miserable p. 358there; and therefore to be sure that same malice of theirs which excites them now to contribute all they can to our sin, will equally provoke them then to contribute all they can to our misery, and render them altogether as active in tormenting us in Hell as they were in tempting us upon Earth; and then considering that Spirits can act upon Spirits, as well as Bodies upon Bodies, and that the more powerful any Spirit is, the more vigorously it can act upon other Spirits, we may be sure that those evil Spirits being Angels by nature, are incomparably more powerful than the souls of men, and therefore can act upon them with unspeakable more force and vigour than one Soul can on another; for the weaker any Spirit is, the more passive it must necessarily be to those Spirits that are stronger and more powerful, and therefore by how much weaker wicked Souls are than wicked Angels, by so much more passive must they be to their power, and consequently, be so much more liable to be vexed and tormented by them; and since in all probability the disproportion which Nature hath made between the power of Ang…ls and Souls is far greater than that which sin hath made between the power of one Angel and another, we may reasonably conclude, that wicked Souls are far more impressible by the power of wicked Angels than wicked Angels are by the power of good Angels; and therefore since the good Angels can make such violent impressions upon the wicked ones as they are not able to endure, but are still forced to fly before them, as oft as they encounter them, vid. P. 965. what intolerable impressions can wicked Angels make upon wicked Souls when they are abandoned by God to p. 359their malice and fury, for though our Souls are no more impressible by corporeal action than the beams of the Sun are by the blows of a Hammer, yet that they can feel the force of spiritual action, we find by every days experience; for so a thought which is a spiritual action, if it be very horrible or dismal, doth as sensibly pain and aggrieve our Souls, as the most exquisite Corporeal torment can our Bodies. Now there is no doubt but evil Spirits can suggest preternatural horrors to our minds, and repeat and urge them with such Importunity and vehemence, as to render them most exquisitely painful and dolorous, of the truth of which we have a woful Example in that miserable Wretch, Francis Spira, who upon that woful breach he made in his Conscience by renouncing his Religion, notwithstanding he had received several kind admonitions from Heaven to the contrary, was forsaken of God, and delivered up alive into the hands of those dire Tormenters of Souls; whereupon though he had not the least symptome of bodily melancholy, he was immediatly seized with such an inexpressible Agony of mind, as amazed his Physicians, astonished his Friends, and struck terror into all that beheld him; for he was so near to the condition of a damned Spirit, that he verily believed Hell it self was more tolerable than those invisible lashes that his Soul endured without any intermission, and therefore he often wished that he were in Hell, and as often attempted to dispatch himself thither in hope to find sanctuary there from those direful thoughts which continually preyed upon his Soul. Now that these Horrors were inflicted on him by Diabolical suggestion is evident p. 360both by the impenetrable hardness and obstinacy of his mind against all the motives of Repentance that accompanied them, and by the horrible blasphemies they frequently extorted from him. And if now in this life they have so much power to torment our minds, whenever God thinks it meet to let them loose upon us, what will they have hereafter, when our wretched Spirits shall be utterly abandoned to their mercy, and they shall have a free scope to exert their fury on us; and glut their hungry malice with our Torment and vexation? And since it is evident they do not want power, we may certainly conclude even from that natural malignity that is in the temper of a Devil, they do not want Will to plague and torture us in the other World. And this Will and Power of theirs our Saviour makes use of as the Common Executioner of his Vengeance upon incorrigible sinners in the other Life; for as soon as ever a wicked Soul departs from its Body, it is immediatly consigned into the hands of those Diabolical Furies, who like so many hungry Hounds seize it with infinite greediness, and fall a tearing and worrying it with horrible suggestions without any pause or intermission, and by continually recording its sins to it, and reproaching it with the folly of them, and putting it in mind of that dismal eternal futurity it must suffer for them, do incessantly sting and vex it with swarms of dire reflections and tormenting thoughts, which are the only Instruments of Torment that can fasten upon a Soul. And hence in Matt. 18.34. the Devils, to whom the wicked Servant was delivered up by his Master for his cruelty toward his fellow Servant are called p. 361Tormenters, as being the Ministers of our Saviours just Vengeance upon wicked and incorrigible offenders.