SER M. they left and forfook: They were not they XII. thought near enough to the Throne, they faw others before them, and might probably attempt to ufurp their Seats, or perhaps, to invade the very Throne itfelf. A Notion which Ifaiah feems to countenance, when he describes the Haughtiness, and Ambition of the King of Babylon, in Terms alluding to the Fall of the Apoftate Angel-How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, Son of the Morning! For thou haft faid in thine Heart, I will afcend into Heaven, I will exalt my Throne above the Stars of God: I will fit also upon the Mount of the Congregation, in the fides of the North, (i. e. the Place of God's Throne) I will afcend above the Height of the Clouds, I will be like the most High, Isaiah xiv. 12-14. This was the Subftance of my former Difcourse, in which you may remember, where I had not Scripture to avouch what I offered, I modeftly proposed Hints for Conjecture, rather than Matter for folid Belief; the fame Method which I fhall purfue now in discourfing on the Punishment or Fall of these Angels, in which I defire to engage your Belief no further, than the Teftimony of Scripture is clear. In our English Verfion St Peter's Words S ER M. run thus; God spared not the Angels that fin- XII. ned, but caft them down to Hell, and delivered them into Chains of Darkness to be referved unto Judgment. Now the firft Word to be taken notice of here is, that God fpared them not. He did not overlook, nor forgive their Sin, he gave them neither Grace nor Room for Repentance: As they had made themselves the Objects of his Wrath, fo he looked on them as Vessels of Wrath fitted for Deftruction. Nor did the merciful Son of God, that good and gracious Redeemer of Men, offer to intercede or mediate on their Behalf; but being one with his Father and present to his Mind, left them without Help in the Destruction they had wilfully drawn upon themselves: For verily (faith the Holy Penman to the Hebrews) he took not on him the Nature of Angels, but be took on him the Seed of Abraham; Heb. ii. 16. or, as the Words ought to be rendered, he taketh not hold of Angels, but of the Seed of Abraham he taketh bold; i. e. He did not take hold of the Angels when they were falling, but fuffered them to lapfe irrecoverably, and for ever into Mifery and Ruin; but he took, or caught hold of Human Nature, when it was ready to fink into eternal SERM. Perdition, and more particularly of the Seed XII. of Abraham, i. e. of all that, like Abraham, fhould fix their Faith and Dependance on him. Why God, fo inclined to Salvation, should país by Angels, Beings of fuch more excellent and fuperior a Nature, when yet he vouchfafed to feek, and recover poor loft Man; whether it was that Angels had greater Strength to ftand, and lefs Temptations to give way, their Sin, and the Motive of it, being entirely from themselves; whereas Man, being originally more weak and frail, and being alfo deluded, and feduced by a Tempter of fuperior Subtlety and Skill, could not through his Fall betray fo much internal Malice and Envy, as the Devils did; or whether it was, because by the Sin which Adam committed, the whole Human Nature was impaired, who being then all in Adam's Loins, muft, though not actually confenting to his Sin, yet partake of his Punishment (as being all born under the Disfavour and Difpleasure of God) had not a Redeemer stepped in, in their Behalf, whereas of the Angels none were punished but those who actually finned themfelves, and they perhaps but a fmall Number, compared with the Angelick Hofts that ftood; whether, I fay, both both, or either, or neither of thefe, or whe-s ER M. ther any. other Reason yet invented by Man, XII. be the true Caufe, why the Angels that fell were rejected, when Man found Mercy after his Fall, I pretend not to determine; but leave among the unfearchable Counfels of God: This is what my Text does not lead me to speak to, which only tells us that when the Angels had finned God fpared them not; he would not vouchfafe to admit them any more to his Favour and Grace. What became of them the following Words proceed to fhew, God caft them down to Hell (fays our Verfion) and delivered them into Chains of Darkness, to be referved unto Judgment. To confider thefe Words diftinctly and gradually, we must enquire, I. First, Into the Place which they were caft from: II. Secondly, Into the Prison, or Place they are thrown into. I. Our first Enquiry then must be into the Place whence they were caft from; though this is not exprefsly mentioned in the Text, that only mentioning the Place they were caft into, without naming the Place from whence they were SERM. were thrown; however, we are fure, that they were not before, must have been before in It is probable then, that the Fall which the apoftate Angels incurred, was a Fall from among |