Gospel Public Worship, Method 2
The ſecond Method.
MAN, microcoſmus, micraner, micricon, at and by his Creation or Earthizing, was firſt in reſpect of God as the
Father, an exiſting, reſpective and operative perſon, as earthy, ortive, ordive, ardorive, odorive.
Sonne, the Form, Character, Image, and Impreſſion of Gods Natural Order, Law, Light, and Wiſdome.
Spirit, the life, ſight, might, and emphaſis of the Holy Ghoſt, as natural enliver and acter of all.
Trinity, or triunity of all three, the compleat natural foreign of Earth, Water, and Air, encorporate and enſpired with the ſecond-heaven fire, as its conſtituting and diſtinguiſhing form.
Secondly, as Stative, he had
Right to enter into a legal Covenant of Works, meriting heaven with God, its, and his Creator, and ſo King, Monarch, Supream, &c. in all ſuperiorities.
Light to underſtand that right, Covenant, merit, Heaven, God, King, &c. and the tye, bond, duty, and Religion on both ſides.
Sight to know the particular Covenant made, at and by his entring into Paradiſe, with all its reſpects, as the minor to the major of the two former heads, and that perſonally, voluntarily, freely, and in confidence of his good thereby.
Bright print of that Covenant viſibly expreſſed and deſcribed by the Sacraments of Paradiſe, Adam as the official dreſſer & orderer thereof, Gen. 2.15.
And the trees and fruit thereof, eſpecially thoſe of Life and Knowledge, ſignifying Heaven, or Gods Palace, City, and Kingdome, and God dwelling and raigning with Adam therein, and life and all eternal, and perfect, heavenly, and divine happineſs therein unto man, if he obſerved and fulfilled that Covenant; or the contrary, if he broke it; and that not naturally, but mentally, medially, inſtitutively, and ſtatively, ſacramentally, inſtrumentally, ſealingly, poſſeſſingly, enrightingly, deliveringly, and ſeiſingly, ſo ſignifying by Gods expreſſion therein; which ſo cleerly ſignifying and eſtating Covenant, if he entred into, he knew that it bound both parties to exact keeping thereof; whereby, and not before, nor otherwiſe it became a Law conſequently, not originally and ſimply; for though God had inſtituted all that to be his worſhip, ſo far as the ſecond Commandement extendeth only: yet neither it, nor Adam had any heavenly or divine eſtate upon them thereby. And though Adam and Eve ſuppoſed it a glorious and free gift of heaven (as it had been, if he had been of a divine and heavenly nature) yet in Gods purpoſe, project, intent, & end, it was an inevitable expoſer of all to Gods juſtice, and juſt condemnation, Rom. 8.3. Gal. 3.21, 22. and to his glory therein. And ſecondarily, God ordered this to be the firſt matter of Gods greateſt work of grace and mercy in mans redemption from hell, and adoption unto heaven, v. 23, 24, 25. for Adam did, and could not but eat of the forbidden fruit, and ſo became a breaker of Gods Covenant and Law, and loſt his wager, even earthly perfection and happineſs, which he wagered againſt heavenly, & obtained it not, but became guilty of its contrary, even of hell, and perfect and eternal curſe, malice, and miſery. The preceding, worſe, and corruining fall of the Angels upon the ſame rock, and the proofs of both, with their illuſtrations and controverſies are not of this indical ſynopſis, but of its ſucceeding vindical illuſtration. But to paſs on toward the third quarter of this quaternity: 1. Man by this his entry into this inſtituted, mental, and ſupernatural Covenant, became ſtative from perſonal, and from earthly to heavenly, and from perſonal to practional or federal. 2 And as it was meritorious, and upon condition of perfect heavenly works and obedience, it fitteth the uſual Scripture terms of the Law, Law of Works, Works of the Law, legal, &c. as oppoſite to the Goſpel, Faith, Evangelical, faithful. And thirdly, as it was broken on mans part, it is called enmity, our ſpecialty againſt us, the curſe, condemnation, &c. by a Metonymie of the effect for the cauſe, it being the cauſe of all mans ſinfulneſs and miſery here and hereafter. In a fourth reſpect, as it is a means, order, eſtate, project, courſe, ſchoolmaſter to bring us to Chriſt and to heaven by him; and man being in that ſtate, it and man may be termed ſignificantly; medial, ordal, artal, ſtative, projective, entactive, relative, capital, or mental; which four reſpects of the ſame thing yield this quaternity, federal, legal, enmial, medial, and ſo of other terms of the like uſe. Now as this ſecond part of this microcoſmal quaternity hath a Janal aſpect upon the create & recreate caſe of man, it leadeth us to the recreate caſe; the create being to our purpoſe competently handled.
3. This is Gods Goſpel-power unto ſalvation, i. e. Gods Goſpel power ſaving, or Chriſts Evangelizing effective of ſonſhip, or the Holy Ghoſts brooding, working heavenſhip, heavenlyneſs, or ſonlikeneſs: heavens patterning, effected heavendome, or ſondome, all grounded on Rom. 1.16.
The oppoſite to which is Gods heaven-revealed wrath full curſe, v. 18. i. e. hell. Chriſts Word revealed in efficacy not-ſonning, i. e. hellſhip, the Holy Ghoſts convincing the Conſcience unto deſpair or helliſhneſs; Heavens unpatterned, uneffected oppoſite, i. e. helldome, againſt the unregenerate, ungoſpel, unconſcionable deſperateneſs, or enmity.
4. The difference between which Kingdome of heaven competent, and that compleat and third heaven, is this; the real exiſtency and relative ſtate hereof prayeth, as in earth, ſo in heaven; but the reant efficacy, and the reate effect and fruit of all pray, as in heaven, ſo in earth. Here; is our ſon and ſonſhip, king and kingſhip, wife and wifeſhip, heaven and heavenſhip; all in being and ſtate as abſolute and perfect; as there; in Gods and true account: and alſo our ſonlikeneſs and ſondome, kinglineſs and kingdome, wiſelineſs and wiſedome, heavenlineſs and heavendome (or lordlikeneſs, and lordome; in vulgar phraſe, a Mannour, Manerial Dominion, or Demeſne, or poſſeſſed Inheritance) are as true in nature and livery of ſeiſin, i. e. in divine love and its vertues, and heavenly hope and its fruits, here as there: But the two former do not ſo appear to Chriſtians; and the two latter are not ſo perfect in and unto them here as there; all ſhewn in one verſe, 1 Joh. 3.2. we are now the ſons of God, but it doth not yet appear what we ſhall be.
We are as true ſons of God the Father now, as then; as true annointed Princes, Prophets, Prieſts, and parts of Chriſt; as true coïents, bedders, corunners, communicants with the Holy Ghoſt; and as truly adopted unto, authorized in, endowed with and ſeized of heaven: by 1. perſonal faith. 2. publike Church-worſhip, or inſtituted order. 3. divine graces operative in and by both. 4. and by autarchy, ſelf-content, full-joy, free-pain, by and in them all three now as then, in kind, though ſo far off, in degree of aſſurance, wiſdome, power, and plenty, as the Eaſt from the Weſt, or Earth from Heaven; for nothing native, ſtative, dative, rative is there, which is not here; nor here, which ſhall not be there: yet the two firſt in noture, and the two laſt in nature, are ſo different in degree of evidency and eminency, cleerneſs and clareneſs, and of purity, power, perfection, and pomp, as the two bodies, 1 Cor. 15.40, 42, 44, 49, 53, 54. For by bodies are there meant perſons, by a Metonymie of the continent for the content; for the natural ſoul muſt there be alſo meant; elſe it is not there declared what ſhall then become thereof; and by ſpiritual bodies are meant the glorified natural bodies of the Saints or ſpiritual ones; elſe it is not ſhewn that they ſhall have any; but footing is left for the Hymenean and Philetian Familiſts, who hold that of the degree, that I ſaid of the kind, confounding that oft-expreſſed diſtinction in the word and world; and ſo deſtroy Faith and Hope on earth, Heb. 11.1. 2 Tim. 2.18. Rom. 8.24. The four reals or naturals of that ſpiritual body or perſon vulgarly confounded, need here to be diſtincted; i. e. the 4. ingredients of Adam's created body: his body was clay, red-earth, or wet-duſt; i. e. of 1. earth; and 2. water; his ſoul was breath; i. e. 1. air, and 2. fire; for it is air drawn into the lungs, heated by, and ſo mixed with the ſpirit, fire, or heat of the heart, and breathed out of the body: Thus is mans enſouling by God expreſſed, Gen. 2.7. and that he thereby became a living ſoul; So that natural air was the immediate veſſel of the more then natural ſpirit of man, and communicant with the divine ſpirit of God, and ſo different from fire mixt with air the common matter of the ſenſitive ſouls, and from the Angels, becauſe mixed with air; and that it differeth from the eſſence of the deity, needeth no proof: yet is it a living Image of God, imbreathed by himſelf into mans ſoul, whereby he is a living ſoul, and ſo different from all other creatures of a more than te…rene nature: yet our vivifying ſpirit in hand much differeth from them all, they being all real, as of God the Father; and this relative to God the Son; or rather real, as of God the Son, whoſe divine nature is infuſed into it, according to his Divine-man, or Man-God ſtate imputed unto him, both which co-operate divine vertues and glory; for as heaven is of a reality different from earth, ſo is the heavenly man from the earthy, and ſo therefore his works and wealth: but this ſpiritualneſs (for thoſe terms are promiſcuous) came by divine promiſe and covenant of heaven (of a ſpiritual and ſupernatural nature) ſigned, ſacramented, ſealed, conveyed by types of Gods own inſtituting and ſanctifying to that end; and therefore they did effect that end of making men that were transformed by Faith in them, to be ſpiritual in our ſenſe of 1 Cor. 15.44. to ſay hereon that the air was the immediate veſſel and baſis of Gods imbreathed Image, ſpiritual nature, and immortal being in man, were a parergon & paradox; more to ſay that the heavenly ſpiritualnes, or ſpiritual heavenlines of the new man, is more properly imputative, inſtitutive, or relative than real; (though its proper gifts, moral and moral, and bleſſings perſonal & poſſeſſal be real) and therefore I refer the cleering to a larger and fitter place, becauſe I conceive them more precious and uſeful; than may here be fully ſhewn; where I will add a third, that mercy and repentance ought to have been expected, endeavoured, and prayed for by Adam before Chriſt was promiſed: And a fourth, that the means thereof muſt be by the union of perſons offended and offending: A fifth is, that unitable perſon of the Trinity, muſt be the relative, ordive, authoritive, inſtitutive, &c. perſon. A ſixth, that glorious and free mercy, compaſſion, and pitty, muſt be the communicative faculties of this new procreation and birth; but I ceaſe theſe for the preſent: But to return to likeneſs and unlikeneſs of theſe two laſt which is onelyonly in the degree, and that onelyonly in the two latter quarters of them; yea for ought I know onelyonly in their bodily, earthly, external part. As for the other kind of glory of heaven ſpoken of the new Jeruſalem, Rev. 21. & 22. Ezek. 40. to 48. they are only typical, (and to our preſent capacity, of outward glory) promiſing all perfect content, joy, life, and glory of the whole man; which being immortalized, heavenized, and perfectly ſpiritized, ſhall raign in the height of glory.