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wherein he beholds all paft, prefent, and future Things, and forefeeing what was afterwards to be, thus fpoke to his only SoN:

ONLY BEGOTTEN, doft thou behold what Rage transports our Adverfary, whom no prefcrib'd Bounds, nor Bars of Hell, nor all the Chains heap'd on him there, nor yet the vast Gulph now feparated from the new Creation can hold? So eager he seems for defperate Revenge, which fhall fall upon his own rebellious Head; now broke loofe from his Confinement, he takes his Flight not far from Heaven, and upon the Borders of Light, directly towards the World newly created, and towards MAN plac'd there, with Purpose to try if he can deftroy him by Force, or what is worfe, by fome Allurement pervert him; which laft will be the Cafe; for MAN will give Ear to his flattering and deceitful Lies, and tranfgrefs the only Command which is the Pledge of his Obedience; fo will he fall, and with him his faithless Progeny. Whofe is the Fault? Whofe but his own? Ungrateful, difobedient MAN! I made him just and right, with Power fufficient to have stood, yet left him free to fall; and fo I created all the Powers and Spirits of Heaven, both them who ftood and them who fail'd; freely they ftood who ftood, and they vho fell had the fame Freedom. Had they not been free, what fincere Proof could they have given of Allegiance, true Love, or conftant Faith, where nothing would appear but what they needs must do, not what they would? What Praife could they receive, or what Pleasure I, from fuch an Obedience? When Will and Reafon (for Reafon alfo is Choice) ftripp'd of their Freedom, both become useless and vain, and would ferve Neceffity, not me; they therefore as belong to Right, were fo created; nor can they with Juftice accufe me, their Maker, or their Making, nor blame their Fate, as if Predeftination had over-rul'd

their Will, difpos'd by high Fore-knowledge and an abfolute Decree: Their own Revolt they decreed themselves, and not I: If I did fore-know, my Foreknowledge had not the least Influence over their Fault, which had I not fore-known, had prov'd no lefs certain: So without the leaft Enforcement or Imagination of Fate, or any Thing foreseen by me, which may hereafter happen, do they offend; Authors to themfelves in every Thing, as well of what they judge, as of what they chufe; for I form'd them free, and fo they must remain 'till they enflave themselves; elfe I must change their Nature, and abolish the high, unchangeable, and eternal Decree, which ordain'd their Freedom: It was they themselves ordain'd their Fall: The first Sort fell felf-deprav'd, felf-tempted, voluntarily, and by their own evil Thoughts: MAN falls too, but is firft deceiv'd by the other: Therefore MAN fhall find Grace, but the other none; fo fhall my Glory, both in Juftice and Mercy, fhine through Heaven and Earth; but that which first and last shall fhine the brighteft, fhall be Mercy.

CHA P. II.

The SON of GOD on his Father's declaring that Divine fuflice must be fatisfied for Man's Sin, freely offers himself a Ransom for them; which the FATHER accepts.

W

HILE GOD fpake, a fweet Fragrance fill'd all Heaven, and diffus'd a fresh and unfpeakable Pleasure in the blefs'd and elect Angels. The Son of GOD was feen moft glorious and beyond Compare; all his Father fhone in him, exprefs'd fubftantially, and in his Face appear'd vifibly divine Compaflion, Love without End, and Grace

without

without Measure, which to his Father he thus gave Utterance:

OH Father! that Word was gracious which clos'd thy fovereign Sentence, and which promis'd that MAN fhould find Grace; for which both Heaven and Earth fhall highly extol thy Praifes, with the Sound of innumerable Hymns and holy Songs, which round about thy Throne fhall proclaim Thee ever bleft: For fhall MAN, thy Creature late fo belov'd, created fince the Angels, be finally loft, and fall circumvented thus by Fraud, tho' join'd with his own Weaknefs? Far be that from Thee, great Father! who art Judge of all created Things, and who alone judgeft right. Or fhall the Enemy thus obtain his Ends, and fruftrate Thine? Shall he fulfil his Wickedness, and render thy Goodnefs ufelefs, or proudly return to Hell, (tho' to a heavier Doom, yet with his Revenge accomplish'd) and draw after him the whole Race of Mankind corrupted by him? Or wilt Thou thyself unmake and abolish for him, what thou haft made for a Purpose of thy own Glory? So fhould thy Goodness and thy Greatness both be call'd in Question, and be blafphem'd without Defence.

To whom the great Creator reply'd thus: My Son, in whom my Soul hath its chief Delight, Son of my Bofom, who art alone my Word, my Wifdom, and my effectual Power! all the Words that thou haft fpoken are my Thoughts, and as my eternal Purpose hath already decreed: MAN fhall not be quite loft, but who will fhall be fav'd, yet not wholly of Will in him, but Grace in me, freely bestow'd on him; I will once more renew his impair'd Faculties, though forfeited, and dragg'd by Reafon of Sin to foul and exorbitant Defires; yet once more upheld by me, he fhall ftand on even Ground against his mortal Foe, upheld by me; that he may fully know how frail his

fallen

fallen Condition is, and to me, and none but me, owe all his Deliverance. Some, out of my peculiar Grace, I have elected and chofen above the rest, fuch is my Will; the reft fhall hear me call, and have frequent Warnings to leave their finful State, and to appeafe betimes (while Grace is yet offer'd) an angry GOD; for I will fufficiently clear their dark Senfes, and foften their ftony Hearts, 'till they pray and repent, and bring due Obedience. To Prayer, Repentance, and due Obedience, mine Ear fhall not be flow nor mine Eyes fhut. And I will place within them, as a Guide, the great Witnefs, CONSCIENCE; whom if they will hear, they fhall attain Light after Light, and perfevering to the End, fhall at last obtain eternal Happiness: They who neglect and fcorn the Day of my Grace, and this my long Sufferance, fhall never enter into my Reft, but being hard fhall be the more harden'd, and being blind fhall be the more blinded, that they may make the more Errors, and their Fall may be the greater; and none but fuch have I excluded from Mercy. But all is not yet done; MAN difloyally disobeying me, has broke my Commandment, and fins against the high Supremacy of Heaven, coveting to be a God, and lofing all: To attone for his Treafon there is nothing left, but he with his whole Pofterity muft die, devoted for Destruction; he must certainly die, or elfe Juftice muft; unless fome other, both able and willing, pay for him the compleat Satisfaction. Speak, Powers of Heaven! where fhall we find fuch Love? Which of ye will become mortal to redeem Mankind, and being juft, be willing to die to fave the Unjuft? Dwells there in all Heaven fo dear a Charity?

GOD afk'd the Question, but the Angels all were mute, and there was Silence in Heaven; there was none who so much as appear'd on the Behalf of MAN, either to defend him or intercede for him, much less

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that durft draw upon himfelf the deadly Penalty, or pay the Ranfom requir'd. And now by the fevere Sentence of the FATHER, all Mankind must have been loft, and condemn'd to Death and Hell without Redemption, had not the Son of GOD, in whom dwells the Fulnefs of divine Love, thus renew'd his dear Mediation:

FATHER! thy Word is paft, that MAN fhall find Grace, and fhall not Grace find out Means, that finds her Way the fpeedieft of all thy Meffengers? That vifits all thy Creatures, unfought for, unafk'd for, and unmerited? Happy for MAN that fo it comes, for he once loft and dead in Sin, can never feek her Affiftance, and being indebted and undone, hath no Attonement or fit Sacrifice to bring for himfelf. Behold me then! I offer myself for him, my Life for his; let all thy Anger fall upon me; account me as MAN: For his Sake I will leave thy Bofom, and freely put off this Glory, which I poffefs next to Thee, and laftly with Pleasure die for him: Let DEATH execute all his Rage on me, I fhall not lie long under his gloomy Power: Thou haft given me to poffels Life in myfelf for ever, and by Thee I live: Though now I yield up and give to DEATH all of me that can die; yet that Debt once paid, Thou wilt not leave me, his Prey, in the loathfome Grave, nor fuffer my unfpotted Soul to dwell with Corruption there for ever; but I fhall rife victorious, and overcome my Vanquisher, and rob him of his Spoils; DEATH fhall then receive his laft Wound, and difarmed of his mortal Sting, fhall be deftroy'd; I fhall lead Hell captive in Triumph, fpite of Hell, and fhew all the Powers of Darknefs bound; Thou at the Sight fhalt look down pleas'd out of Heaven, while I fupported by Thee ruin all my Foes; DEATH the laft of all, and with his Carcafe fhall glut the Grave; then after long Abfence fhall return and enter Heaven,

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