or are ordered to smite the bodies of men with diseases; as the men of Sodom with blindness, yea, with death itself, as seventy thousand Israelites, on account of David's numbering the people; and a hundred and forty-five thousand Assyrians in one night, as they lay encamped against Jerusalem. Herod the king, being smitten by an angel, was eaten of worms, and died.

IV. Their office and employment. 1. With respect to God; their work is to praise him, to celebrate the glory of his perfec tions; Praise ye him, all his angels, Psal. cxlviii. 2. and their work also lies in keeping the commandments of God, and to do his will in heaven and in earth, Zech. vi. 4, 5. II. With respect to Christ, on whom they are said to ascend and de scend, as they did on Jacob's ladder, a type of him, Gen. xxviii. 12. John i. 51. they attended at the incarnation; they had the care and charge of him in his state of humiliation; when he had fasted forty days they came and ministered food unto him, Matt. iv. 11. and one of them attended him in his agony in the garden, Luke xxii. 43. they were present at his resurrection, Matt. xxviii. 2. Luke xxiv. 4, 6, 23. they accom. panied him at his assension to heaven, Psal. lxviii. 17, 18. Acts i. 10, 11. 1 Tim. iii. 16. and by them he will be attended at his second coming, 2 Thess. i. 7. Luke ix. 26. 111. With respect to the saints, to whom they are sent as ministering spirits instances of which are-1. Preserving them in their infant state, which is what the apostle means when he says, that God separated him from his mother's womb, Gal. i. 15. which providence may be thought to be chiefly executed by the minis try of angels. Though it is not certain, yet some scriptures countenance, Matt. xviii. 10. Act xii. 15. that every one has his guardian angel, since sometimes more angels are deputed to one, and sometimes but one to many; yet doubtless saints from their birth are under the care of angels.-2. Providing food for them when in want of it, as an angel dressed food for the prophet Elijah, and called upon him to arise and eat, Matt. iv. 11. Psal. lxxviii. 25. 1 Kings xix. 5—8.-3. Keeping off diseases from them, He shall deliver thee from the

noisome pestilence-neither shall any plague come nigh thy dweling; for he shall give his angels charge over thee, &c. Psal. xci. 3, 7, 11.4. Directing and protecting in journies, Gen. xxiv. 7, 27, 48. so Jacob as he was travelling, was met by the angels of God, who divided themselves into two hosts for his guard.5 Keeping from dangers, and helping out of them; Lot and his family were in danger of being destroyed in Sodom the angels laid hold on their hands, Gen. xix. 1517. the preservation of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, in the furnace of fire, and of Daniel in the lions' den, is ascribed to angels, Dan. iii. 28. and vi. 22. the opening of the doors of the prison where the apostles were, and setting them free; and the deliverance of Peter from prison, were done by angels, Acts v. 19, 20. and xii. 7, 10. With respect to things spiritual-1. Angels have been employed in revealing the mind and will of God to men. They attended at mount Sinai, Deut. xxxii. 2. An angel published the gospel, Luke ii. 10. 11. An angel made known to Daniel the time of the Mes siah's coming, Dan. viii. 16—19. And an angel was sent to signify to the apostle John, the things that should come to pass in his time, and in all ages to the end of the world, Rev. i. 1.-2. Though the work of conversion is the sole work of God, yet as he makes use of instruments in it, as ministers of the word, why may he not be thought to make use of angels? This is certain, they are acquainted with the conversions of sinners, Luke xv. 7, 10.-3. They are useful in comforting the saints when in distress; as they strengthened and conforted Christ in his human nature, when in an agony, so they com➡ fort his members, as they did Daniel, when in great terror, and the apostle Paul, in a tempest, Dan. ix. 23. Acts xxvii. 23, 24 If evil angels are capable of suggesting terrible and uncom fortable things, good angels are surely capable of suggesting comfortable things. For-4. They greatly assist in repelling the temptations of Satan; for if they oppose themselves to, and have conflicts with evil angels, with respect to things political and civil, the affairs of kingdoms and states, in which the interest and church of Christ are concerned, see Dan. x. 13,

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20. Rev. xii. 7. they, no doubt, bestir themselves in opposition to evil spirits, when they tempt believers to sin, or to despair, Eph. vi. 12. Zech. iii. 1, 2, 3, 4.-5. They are exceeding useful to saints in their dying moments; they carried the soul of Lazarus into Abraham's bosom, Luke xvi. 22. and thus Elijah was carried to heaven, soul and body, in a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which were no other than angels, 2 Kings ii. 11-6. Angels, as they will attend Christ at his second coming, so they will be made use of by him, to gather the risen saints from the four quarters of the world, Matt. xiii. 40, 41. and xxiv. 31. From the whole it appears, that angels are creatures, and so not to be worshipped, Col. ii. 18. the angels themselves refuse and forbid it, Rev. xix. 10. and xxii. 8, 9. yet, notwithstanding, they are to be loved, valued, and esteemed by the saints, see 1 Cor. xi. 10. it is no small part of their gospel-privileges, for which they should be thankful, that they are come to an innumerable company of angels, Heb. i. 14. and xii. 22.

OF THE CREATION OF MAN.

MAN was made last of all the creatures, being the chief and master piece of the whole creation on earth. He is a compendium of the creation, and therefore is sometimes called a microcosm, a little world, the world in miniature. Man was made on the sixth and last day of the creation, and not before; nor were there any of the same species made before Adam, who is therefore called the first man Adam. What puts this out of all question, with those that believe the divine revelation, is, that it is expressly said, that before Adam was formed, there was not a man to till the ground, Gen. ii. 5. Man was made after, and upon a consultation held concerning his creation; Let us make man, Gen. i. 26. which is an address, not to second causes, nor is it an address to angels; but the address was made by Jehovah. the Father, and the consultation was held by him, with the other two divine Persons in the Deity, the Son and Spirit; a like phrase see in chap. iii. 22. and xi. 7. Isai. vi. 8. The following things may be observed,

I. The author of his creation, God; So God created man, Gen. i. 27. for we are all his offspring, and therefore are exhorted to remember our Creator, Eccles. xii. 1. or Creators; even Father, Son, and Spirit; hence we read of God our Makers, in various passages of scripture, Job xxxv. 10. Psal. cxlix. 2. Isai. liv. 5. It is pretty remarkable that the word created should be used three times in one verse, where the creation of man is only spoken of; as it should seem to point out the three divine persons concerned therein, Gen. i. 27.

II. The constituent and essential parts of man, created by God which are two, body and soul; these appear at his first formation; the one was made out of the dust, the other was breathed into him; and so at his dissolution, the one returns to the dust from whence it was; and the other to God that gave it. 1. The body which is a most wonderful structure; every muscle, vein, and artery, yea, the least fibre is set in its proper place, to answer its designed end; and all in just symmetry and proportion: to enter into a detail of particulars, more properly belongs to anatomy; that art is now brought to such a degree of perfection, that by it most amazing discoveries are made in the structure of the human body; as the cir culation of the blood,&c. so that it may well be said of our bodies, as David said of his, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Psal. cxxxix. 14. The erect posture of the body is not to be omitted, by which man is fitted and directed to look upward to the heavens, to contemplate the glory of God. In the Greek language man has his name, Anthropos, from turning and looking upwards. The body of man was originally made immortal; not that it was so of itself; but God, who only has immortality, conferred it on the body of man. It is most clear from the word of God, that death did not arise from a necessity of nature, but from sin; it is expressly said, the body is dead because of sin, Rom. v. 12, 15. II. The soul is the other part of man created by God; it is an inhabitant of the body, dwells in it, as in a tabernacle, and exists in a separate state after it; all which shew it is a substance, or subsistence

of itself. It is not a corporal but a spiritual substance; not a body as Tertullian, and others have thought; but a spirit, as it is often called in scripture, Eccles. xii. 7. Matt. xxvi. 41. Acts vii. 59. The souls of men are called the spirits of all flesh, to distinguish them from angelic spirits, Numb. xvi. 22. The body may be killed by men, but not the soul. Some have been, and are of opinion that the souls of men are ex traduce, as Tertullian. But if souls are by natural generation from their immediate parents, they must be derived either from their bodies, or from their bodies and souls, or from their souls only; not from their bodies, for then they would be corpore. al, whereas they are not; not from both bodies and souls; for then they would be partly corporeal, and partly incorporeal, which they are not ; not from their souls only, for as an angel is not generated by an angel, so not a soul by a soul. Besides, if the souls of men are derived from the souls of parents, it is either from a part of them, or from the whole; not from a part, for then the soul would be partable and divisible, as matter is, and so not immaterial; and as not a part, so neither can their whole souls be thought to be communicated to them, for then they would have none, and perish; to such absurdities is this notion reducible. Besides, what is immaterial, as the soul is, can never be educed out of matter; if the soul is generated out of the matter of parents, then it is, and must be material; and if material, then coruptible; and if corruptible, then mortal. But what puts this matter out of doubt is, the distinction the apostle makes between the fathers of our flesh, and the Father of Spirits Heb. xii. 9.

III. The difference of sex in which man was created, is male and emale, Gen. i. 27. Adum was formed, then Eve, 1 Tim. i, 13. Man is a social creature, and therefore God in his wisdom thought it not proper that he should be alone, but provided a help-mate for him, to be a partner and compan ion with him, in civil and religious life. There were but one male and one female, at first created, and which were joined ogether in marriage by the Lord himself, to teach, that but