The Retired Mans Meditations, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.
Shewing, that God on the ſeventh day ended the works which he had made, and produced the Reſt and fixed eſtate appointed to the firſt creation; which Chriſt the Mediator, as he is the Miniſter of Gods ſecond appearance, is the Author and Accompliſher of.
THis Sabbathiſm or Reſt of God was a ſtate of glory and exaltation, which was remaining unto the firſt works (whereof the principal are men and Angels) to be made partakers of, and into which they were capable to be led and taken, or from which to be denyed and excluded, as in righteouſneſs they ſhould be judged by God, to have rendred themſelves worthy or unworthy by the deeds done by them in the natural body or ſtate of life. The extent and latitude whereof as to men, is declared by the Apoſtle Paul, 1 Cor. 15. where he comprehends under that term the whole life and operation of the natural man as he is a living ſoul, in compariſon with the whole life and operation of the ſpiritual man or heavenly Adam, as he is made a quickning ſpirit, and contains in him this glorious change under the term and expreſſion of the ſpiritual body or heavenly image to be wrought out in man, through the reſurrection from the dead, in conformity to the perfection or glory of this laſt Adam.
This change, as well in reference to Angels and men, as the reſt of the creation (which are alſo to be brought from under the bondage of corruption, by the means hereof, into the glorious liberty of the ſons of God) is the effect of the miniſtry of Chriſts ſecond appearance, which hath been in operation from the beginning, diſpelling the night, which did precede it, which is now far ſpent, ſo as this day of the Lord is at hand, ready to be revealed in the compleat victory and conqueſt it hath obtaind over all the oppoſition and reſiſtance, with which Angels and men have gone forth againſt it from the time of their firſt defection from God, unto this day.
That which in this place is proper for us to treat of in reference hereunto, is only to ſhew what change might & would have been wrought upon the righteous and holy beings of angels and men by the influence and power of this ſecond appearance of God in the face of the Mediator, actually ſhining forth on the ſeventh day, if the fault had not been in themſelves: by reaſon whereof, inſtead of this glorious and bleſſed change, they brought upon themſelves a ſtate of ſin and death, wherein by the power of this all-ſearching light and preſence of Chriſts ſecond appearance, they were detected, convinced, judged and condemned.
The effect which is produced by the power of Chriſts ſecond appearance upon the natural body or firſt conſtitution of being in Angels and men, is called in Scripture a new creation (and doth indeed require the putting forth of an exceeding mighty power, Eph. 1. 19. for the effecting thereof; even beyond (if it were poſſible) that that was declared and exerciſed in the firſt creation or the making of all things out of nothing) which conſiſts in a change and tranſlation that is given unto Angels and men in the beings they have already received, through the power of a reſurrection; wherein their firſt beings are not annihilated, but altered and made other then they were at firſt, as they are rarified, exalted and made to receive by way of ſuperinduction, a better and more excellent form and glory, in harmony with which, they are ſo far from loſing what they had, that they receive their own again with uſury. Therefore it is deſcribed by the putting off the old, and putting on the new, without being found naked or deſtitute of the being and righteouſneſs they had. In it old things indeed paſs and are done away, as they are corruptible and mortal, ſtanding ſingle upon the firſt root: but they are brought forth and reſtored again, upon a new account, without having totally or finally ceaſed to be; as it fares with the natural body, in the loweſt and moſt literal ſenſe it can be taken in; it is not ſo properly new created at the reſurrection as raiſed up and exalted into a better tenure and exerciſe of the ſame life and operation, then at firſt it had, as is evident in the body of Chriſt himſelf, giving the demonſtration thereof fourty daies together, whilſt he was upon earth, between his Reſurrection and Aſcention.
This is the END which comes and takes its place, after that to the natural eye of Angels and men, all things appeared to have had their finiſhing, by reaſon of the good eſtate of being, which they judged themſelves to be already brought into, and in poſſeſſion of: And indeed this was ſo truly and really a ſtate of good and of perfection in its kind, that God himſelf acknowledged it to be ſuch, by a general approbation of all thoſe firſt works of his hands. However, as good as it was, it was mutable, fading, wearing off, and vaniſhing away, in the principles of its natural body, and firſt viſible conſtitution, as it is ſaid, Heb. 1. 10. 11, 12, Thou, Lord, in the beginning, haſt laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They ſhall periſh, but thou remaineſt: and they all ſhall wax old as doth a garment; and as a veſture ſhalt thou fold them up, and they ſhall be changed: evidently aſſerting the change they were ſubjected unto by God from the beginning: not (as we may ſay) willingly but in hope, or in reference to a better ſtate of being intended of God through this change to be brought upon them by Chriſt, conſidered in his ſecond appearance, ſitting on the Throne, as is in the ſame chapter declared, ver. 8, 9. unto the Son he ſaith, Thy throne O God, is for ever and ever; a ſcepter of righteouſneſs is the ſcepter of thy Kingdom; thou haſt loved righteouſneſs and hated iniquity: therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladneſs above thy fellows. So that it is not without cauſe, that the Apoſtle Paul ſaith 1 Cor. 15. that the natural body is ſown in corruption, in order to be raiſed in incorruption. Where corruption ſignifies no more then that mutability or changeableneſs which the firſt creation was ſowen in, in its innocent and good eſtate of being, capable to be made better by being clothed upon with what is more excellent, or to decline and ſink down into a ſinful corruption and in that to become unchangeable, in which as in chains of darkneſs, the wicked are detained unto the judgement of the great day: no more place or change or repentance being left unto them.
And in this, as in one chief particular, the weakneſs of things in the natural body or firſt creation doth appear (notwithſtanding the good and perfection it was ſet up in) which was common and univerſal to all that was made in the ſix daies.
But ſecondly, there was a faultineſs and weakneſs, which the Scripture acknowledges incident to this innocent ſtate, which properly and only refers to Angels and men (as made under the firſt covenant) reſpecting the operation of their minds and inward powers, wherein they were fitted and prepared for meetneſs of converſe with God, under that covenant: which faultineſs is ſpoken of, Heb. 8. 7. 8. in the caſe of men: which compared with Jude ver. 6. ſhews that the Angels alſo were comprehended under the ſame.
This faultineſs ſprang up partly from the terms of the firſt covenant requiring the creatures continuance in all things commanded, under pain of the curſe: which terms though good and juſt to be impoſed by God upon them, yet were capable of being ill made uſe of by the creature; as it is ſaid, 1 Tim. 1. 8. The Law is good, if a man uſe it lawfully; importing, that what was good in itſelf, and in its firſt inſtitution, might by the unlawful and contrary uſe made of it, become evil to them who ſo abuſed it.
2ly This faultineſs ſprang up alſo from the creatures weakneſs, as not long able to bear the glory of its firſt ſtate with ſobriety of mind, occaſioned by the good and perfection already received, which it thought could never be valued at too high a rate; ſo that it judged itſelf enabled thereby to do all that God required and commanded, in the wiſdom and ſufficiency already communicated and imparted to it; which weakneſs and miſtake in the creature was not cauſed by its creation, nor came neceſſarily from it, but occaſionally and accidentally, by the creatures voluntary overvaluing and over-truſting in the ſtrength and power received, putting more ſtreſs upon it then was meet, and putting it to other uſe then God intended it. Whence it is ſaid, Rom. 8. 3, 4. what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the fleſh, it pleaſed God to fulfil, by ſending his own Son in the likeneſs of ſinfull fleſh, and for ſin condemning ſin in the fleſh. For through this weakneſs ſin made its entrance, which weakneſs and faultineſs therefore in all the reſpects before mentioned, was that which God thought requiſite to provide againſt, and ſupply, by the ending and finiſhing hand which he reſerved to put unto the work he had made on the ſeventh day, by tranſlating the creature (without the intervening of ſin) into that Reſt and incorruptible ſtate, which was the true end for which the firſt creation was brought forth, and unto which it was appointed to ſerve and be ſubject, in the changeable condition it was at firſt ſet up in, as the means to bring all things into their everlaſtingly good or bad eſtate, fore-known unto God from all eternity: who therefore in his wiſdome thought meet, that the natural body ſhould be firſt, and then the ſpiritual and that the natural body ſhould be ſowen in weakneſs, corruption or mutability, that it might be raiſed in power and in incorruption, and ſo be made a ſpiritual body, and brought into its true Reſt, if through the creatures own default it fell not ſhort, & came to be excluded.
For though it may be objected; that God, who did eternall, foreknow all events, and who thoſe were that ſhould be everlaſtingly ſaved, or everlaſtingly periſh, would ſeem by this way of his ordering of things in the firſt creation, to be very acceſſory to the ſin and fall of Angels and men, ſeeing it was in his power to have made them otherwiſe, not at all ſubjected to this weakneſs; it is very true, God could have made them otherwiſe; but when both in wiſdom and juſtice, he thought fit to make them thus, who art Thou, O man, that replieſt againſt God? And how unſeemly is it for the veſſel to ſay to the potter, why haſt thou made me thus? (that is ſubject to ſuch mutability and weakneſs, as may end in everlaſting contempt and miſery?) ſeeing that God puts no influencing neceſſity upon thee, either by his decree or otherwiſe, but leaves thee to the free motion and choiſe of thy own mind and will herein: and for this very reaſon made thee a creature indued with free will, that no turning of the ſcale towards thy miſery and ruine might proceed from him, but from the moving and enticing of thy own hearts luſt; which ſtate alſo miniſtred occaſion to thee by the weakneſs and mutability thereof, to have looked after that better ſtate that was provided and was approaching, even ready to be revealed, whereby all the faultineſs of thy firſt ſtate might have been remedied, and ſuch a change attained unto, as was more worth then all the hazard and loſs that lay in the way of coming to the enjoyment of it, amounted to.
The wiſdom and juſtice then of God is very perſpicuous in ordering that ſtate of things which by creation was firſt brought forth, as a preparatory and fore-running diſpenſation to the glory of the ſpiritual body, that was to follow and ſucceed. And the folly and weakneſs of Angels and men is very inexcuſable, that in this eſtate made ſo bad uſe of thoſe gifts and communications of God, ſo freely received from the hand of a bountiful Creator, as to make him weary of giving more, and repent (as it were) of what he had given already, in that it was ſo ſhamefully abuſed by the receivers thereof, as to reproach the maker, and provoke him to exclude them for ever from the true Reſt.
Now what this ſecond and more excellent ſtate is, into which the creature is to be tranſlated, may partly be underſtood by the oppoſite weakneſs and faultineſs in the other, that hath been already opened, foraſmuch as it contains in it the full cure and remedy thereunto, and in general doth procure a full redemption unto the natural body, out of its firſt bondage of corruption and mutability, in all reſpects, which therefore the whole creature waits for, Rom. 8. 19. but as for the manner and particulars of that glory wherein they ſhall be brought forth, we are to wait till thoſe times of refreſhing that ſhall come from the preſence of the Lord for this reſtitution of all things do themſelves give the explanation thereof in viſible characters.
But that which lies moſt properly before us in the matter we are now handling, is the conſideration of what that change is, in reference to the inward, intellectual, and rational powers in Angels and men reſpectively; who having received at the firſt, immortal and inviſible ſubſtances, as hath been ſhewed, are not in the eſſential parts of their firſt conſtitution to be annihilated, but the Angels are ſtill ſpirits and flames of fire, and men do ſtill conſiſt of ſpirit ſoul and bodie, retaining the powers and operations incident and proper thereunto, after that they have paſſed by a conſiderable and irrevocable change, through the reſurrection from the dead, into everlaſting honour, or everlaſting contempt.
That the perfection of Angels and men, which was communicated to them by creation, was mutable and corruptible, is generally confeſſed and experienced; likewiſe is it as little to be doubted but that the inſtability and change in both by their ſin and fall did proceed from that freedom of will & proper motion of their own which they were enabled to exerciſe according to the firſt conſtitution and natural frame of their minds and ſpirits, wherein they poſſeſſed an arbitrary, independent and free exerciſe thereof without any interruption by God, who was pleaſed to ſuffer this for his own moſt wiſe and holy ends, intruſting them with what they had received, to uſe and employ it for the glory, and in the ſervice of their Creator, and not to ſerve their own private luſts and intereſts therewith.
In this honour and truſt received from God, it would well have become as well Angels as men, to have found themſelves not a little burthened under the ſtraits and difficulties attending the right managing ſuch ſoveraignty and arbitrarineſs of power, which ſeems ſo much above the weakneſs of meer creature-beings, that until God take them into ſuch intimacy of union by the ſecond Covenant, as not to leave them alone in the exerciſe of this power, they are every moment ſubject to miſcarriage in the uſe thereof.
God therefore was willing to take a Riſe from hence to diſcover to the creature the needfulneſs of its being taken out of this wavering ſtate, and tranſlated into the permanent glory that was to follow; whereby to ſecure it in the midſt of all its preſent excellency and perfection, from deſtroying itſelf by forfeiting and loſing all that it had already attained; and to ſet up in the creature a houſe and an abiding place for himſelf, wherein he may reſt for ever, Eſai. 66. 1. when all things that his hands had made, and are ſaid by him to have been, by virtue of the firſt creation, came ſhort of ſo glorious an end and uſe, as left to themſelves, and were by him laid by as unregarded.
That then which God had in his eye, and which his heart and regard was ſet upon, conſiſts in a frame of ſpirit and mind reſerved by him to be brought upon Angels & men, that ſtood in direct oppoſition and croſs conſtitution unto this, eminently ſhining forth in the crucified ſpirit of Jeſus the laſt Adam, which God by the vertue and means of his death and reſurrection, deſigned to ſuperinduce upon the natural beings of Angels and men, as in the way of a new creation, before which the old ſhould vaniſh & wear away. This, Iſa. 66. 2. is lively ſet forth, where, to thoſe expreſſions, all theſe things hath mine hand made, and all theſe things have been, the Holy Ghoſt ſubjoyns, but to this will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite ſpirit, and that trembleth at my word.
The like is to be found, Pſal. 109. 16. where Judas and ſuch enemies unto Chriſt are propheſied of, as perſecuted the poor and needy man, that they might even ſlay the broken in heart. This poverty, needineſs and brokenneſs of ſpirit, is that which Chriſt cals bleſſed (Mat. 5. 3. ſaying, that theirs is the kingdom of heaven) being ever accompanied with a purity, and a purifying through faith, whereby they come to ſee God, v. 8. This was that which Chriſt told the young man was yet wanting to him, that had kept the commandments from his youth, and is the ſtrait gate that all muſt enter at, that come into the true Reſt.
This is effected only by believing and partaking with Chriſt in conformity with him in his death, and is a making of us weak with Chriſt, amounting in the end to a perfect diſenabling of the mind (wherein this ſpiritual and bleſſed change is wrought) to exerciſe that arbitrary, independent, free and proper motion of its own, before mentioned (in the ſingle light and life of the creature-excellency and perfection, communicated and enjoyed by the miniſtry of Gods firſt appearance under the firſt covenant) which is apt to puff up, and lead the creature to an unwarrantable boaſting and glorying in the firſt light and voice of God, Iſai. 40. 3. the word of the BEGINNING. Heb. 6. 1. without ſtaying for the glory of the word that comes in the end, and is to follow by the miniſtry of his ſecond appearance: which ſecond voice cries, Iſa. 40. 6, 7, 8. All fleſh is graſs, and all the goodlineſs thereof is as the flower of the field. The graſs withereth, the flower fadeth, becauſe the ſpirit of the Lord bloweth upon it; ſurely the people is graſs. The graſs withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God ſhall ſtand for ever.
Through this puffing up and heightning property that is incident to the natural frame of mind in Angels and men, ſo ſoon as they come to the uſe of this ſhadow of divine ſoveraignty, ſet up in them by the exerciſe of their own free-will, their luſt preſently finds ſomething to work upon, and is ready to conceive and bring forth ſin: whereas the contrary poor and needy frame of ſpirit, is ſet up by God in Chriſt for the cure and remedy hereunto: by reaſon whereof as we may find John 14. 30. when the Prince of this world came, he found nothing in him.
The effects then of Chriſts ſecond appearance, cauſed by the dawning light of that day upon the natural beings of Angels, are,
Firſt, the hiding and covering of their faces, as thoſe with whom God might juſtly find fault, if they ſhould by any thing they had received glory in his ſight: and,
Secondly, the ſenſe of the weakneſs and fickleneſs of their firſt eſtate, and thereupon a waxing weary of the burthen they were under, whilſt they were left by God to ſuch an arbitrary independent exerciſe of mind as they were intruſted with in their operations under the firſt Covenant: and therefore,
Thirdly, it did cauſe them to ſing and ſhout for joy, to ſee the remedy and cure which was brought hereunto by God, through the power of the Croſs of Chriſt; when they came to diſcern, that upon this corner ſtone the foundations of the firſt creation were faſtned, and the inſtability thereof healed and helped. This they found to be the Lords doing, and it was marvellous in their eyes: the ſight whereof they obtained on the ſeventh day, the day which the Lord made, in which they did rejoyce and were glad, Pſal. 118. 22, 23, 24.
Here was the joy of the good Angels, when (by the manifeſtation of the true Reſt, revealed in the face of the Mediator, the Lamb ſlain from the foundation of the world) they came with a holy curioſity to pry into the ſufferings of Chriſt and glory that was to follow; who though he were not yet exhibited but in promiſe, & ſeen by them, as ſubſiſting in his head, the word of life: yet by a diſcerning agreeable to that of faith in man, they had a ſight of him as the ſeed of the woman, that was to come, and knew him to be the Son, by whom God made the worlds, and who was the brightneſs of Gods glory, and expreſs image of his ſubſtance, who upheld all things by the word of his power; and through the ſacrifice of himſelf, was to ſit down on the right hand of the majeſtie on high, and thereby obtain a more excellent inheritance then they, concerning whom as the firſt-begotten they had received this charge from God, Let all the Angels of God worſhip him. So then through faith in the death and Reſurrection of Chriſt, as the Mediator, ſet up from everlaſting, the Angels by the power of Chriſts ſecond appearance came to the ſight of the heavenly Image and perfection of the laſt Adam: unto which they were in their places to bear a conformity in the true Mount Sion and heavenly Jeruſalem: where the Elect and holy Angels are to have their reſidence, howbeit in ſtation inferiour to the Church or general aſſembly of the firſt-born, whoſe names are written in heaven, and who are the Lambs Bride and wife, whilſt the Angels are but friends of the Bridegroom, and admitted into the ſecrets of the Bride-chamber; whoſe conformity to Chriſt in this his ſpiritual body or heavenly Image, changes their natural frame of minde into the like ſpiritual & heavenly-mindedneſs with their head, whereby there is conſumed, taken away, wholly removed and aboliſhed, the power and exerciſe of their firſt, arbitrary, and ſelfdiſpoſing property of mind: which now being quitted through voluntary reſignation, they have in the room and place thereof, by a tranſlation and engrafture into the ſpiritual life, will and mind of their head, the life and motion of all their natural powers more excellently then before, in a ſtate of life, incorruptible and unchangeable, being now throughout partaking and co-operating in a joynt way of life with their head, who before ſtood ſingle and alone in their natural motions and operations.
Through the refuſal and want of this change to have been wrought out in them, the wicked angels fell and ſet up for themſelves, in a fixed enmity and oppoſition of ſpirit hereunto. And this ſhall ſuffice to have been ſpoken, in reference to the change that is wrought out in the good and Elect Angels.
In the next place, we are to conſider the change that is hereby wrought upon the natural being of man, conſidered as a living ſoul, which Adam ſhould have experienced without falling, this being appointed by God as the only effectual means to bring him into a fixed and durable ſtate, which ſtability is ſaid, Rom. 11. 20. to come by faith, through the operation whereof man ceaſes from the power of ſtanding on his own bottom, for the ordering and directing of his ſteps, by the motions of his natural mind (which he is enabled to by the firſt Covenant, conſidered either as it was firſt given at his creation, or as ſince renewed by the blood of Chriſt) and is made the ſubject in his underſtanding and will (now crucified and reſigned) wherein God himſelf joyns in the exerciſe of this power with him, working in him both to will and to do of his own good pleaſure, in ſtead of leaving it to the good pleaſure of man, who nevertheleſs is a free and willing co-worker with God, in this day of Gods power: whence it appears that Adam fell through unbelief, and for want of being kept in his innocent ſtate through the power of faith, unto ſalvation: without which the Scripture ſaith it is impoſsible for any to pleaſe God: no, not for Adam himſelf in innocency. For though whilſt he ſtood, he did that which was juſt and right, as the righteous man, Ezek. 18. yet in all this he was converſant only about natural good and righteouſneſs, the acceptation whereof depends upon its continuance, and is ſuch (by way of compariſon) as renders any acceptable to the Magiſtrate that keep his laws; whereas the filial obedience that is performed to God through beleiving, anſwers the very love and complacency of God in a way of intimate friendſhip, as proceeding from the man that is made after Gods own heart, and is bleſſed in himſelf and in his deed. But as many as are of the works of the law are under the curſe, as it is written: curſed is every one that continueth not in all things wch are written in the book of the law, to do them.
And as thus it was with Adam in his righteous and holy ſtate wherein he was created, ſo is it ſince with all thoſe ſons of Adam that are of the works of the law, and are made living ſouls again, in their meaſure and degree, by the renewal of the firſt covenant upon them, in the blood of Chriſt, through which they are brought into that which Jude cals a ſtate of common ſalvation, obtained as through the ranſom which Chriſt was made for all, v. 3. and which v. 5. the children of Iſrael were ſaid to ſhare in, when they were brought by God out of Aegypt, and were made to live unto God, by the firſt Covenant, Ezek. 16. Deut. 32. Iſai. 63. 10. yet many or moſt of them God deſtroyed, and was not well pleaſed with, through their unbelief, having diſcovered them to be curſed children, in whom was no faith, or who, under all the light received, proved bitter enemies and reſiſters of the work and voice of the Holy Ghoſt, calling them to believe and receive the change that was to be wrought out in them, and ſo enter into Reſt. This change is comprehended in the life and perfection of the new creature and glory of the ſpiritual body or heavenly image of the laſt Adam. For ſo it is written, The firſt man Adam was made a living ſoul, the laſt Adam was made a quickning ſpirit; and again, it is not circumciſion that availeth any thing, or uncircumciſion, but that which is required, is to be the new creature, having a new name better then that of ſons and daughters by the firſt covenant: through which we are made pillars in the houſe of God, never to go out more, and are written among the living in Jeruſalem, whoſe names ſhall never be blotted out, dwelling on high, even upon a munition of rocks, where bread, even hidden manna is given, and the waters of the ſure mercies of David that will not fail.
And if we deſire to know what this new creature is, it is called faith, that works by love, which faith tranſlates man out of the natural into the ſpiritual body, and is his new-creature-ſtate, wherein the operative powers of his mind, are ſo formed as that he is enabled not only to exerciſe his natural judgement and will in a crucified and reſigned frame, in conformity with the dead body of Chriſt, and as quickned together with him through the Reſurrection from the dead, and made incorruptible, but,
Secondly, the believer hereby receives a raiſedneſs of diſcerning and enlargedneſs of his natural mind, anſwering that effuſion of ſpirit upon him, ſurpaſſing all natural knowledge of the uncrucified mind, cauſing him to ſee as he is ſeen: and to apprehend that for which alſo he is comprehended in Chriſt Jeſus: rendring him a co-partner and co-heir with Chriſt in the viſion of Gods proper and naked ſimilitude, as admitted to behold the glory that is within the veil; in which capacity, the ſpiritual ſeed are the bride and wife of the Lamb, that are called to ſit down on the Throne with him at the right hand of the Majeſty on high: and who by the means of this their heavenly part, do ſo influence and quicken their natural, as that thereby they are enabled to ſing both the ſong of Moſes and of the Lamb in perfect harmony together, and to do the will of God in earth as it is done in heaven.
According to their heavenly part or ſpiritual capacity they ſit down at meat with Chriſt, in the Fathers kingdom, & in the other they are as them that ſerve, in a ſtate equal with the holy Angels.
This marriage union between Chriſt and believers, is ſaid Rom. 7. to be their marrying unto him that is riſen from the dead, and this through their becoming dead to their firſt husband the Law: and Ioh. 3. 29, 32, 33. is ſaid to be the hearing the Bridegrooms voice, in what he hath heard and ſeen from the Father, and the receiving that teſtimony which no man in his natural capacity receiveth: through which the Saints do ſet to their ſeal that God is true, and partake with the Bridegroom throughout in his moſt intimate communications of glory from the Father, as it is written, Ioh. 17. 21. That they all may be one in us, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee.
Thus we have briefly intimated the change, which, by way of a new creation, is ſet up in Angels and men, through faith in Chriſt the promiſed ſeed, as he is the laſt Adam, and was the Lamb ſlain from the foundation of the world, putting on this ſpiritual body in his own perſon as the firſt fruits of life from the dead: in conformity whereunto every true believer is in his own order clothed upon with the ſame heavenly image (for as is the heavenly, ſuch are they alſo that are heavenly) which though they do not ſo attain as to be perfect therein whilſt in the natural body, yet they have the mark in their eye, and are preſsing forward for the price of the high calling of God in Chriſt Jeſus.