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Show --._..,...-------:----=-~=----:::-:;----~----- -_, A Confefsiou of tbe Faitl1. , . ------:---:-:--:;:-:--IT--;:-:--;-:-·- i have enjoyed, the Bldf~d, and Individuall Society, of three Perfons, : in Godh~ad, ond y, fo~ ev~r • . . . . I But that; out ofh1s Eternall, and wfimte; Go~dn~Je, an~ Lo"lle, urpofing to become a Creatour, and to commumcate t? l11s Creafures, He ordained, in his Eretnall Counfdl, that one! Perfon_, of the Godhtad, iliould be united, _to one Nat.ure, a_nd to one_ PartKu- I lar of his Creatures; That fo, m the Perfon, of the Medtatour, tb_e i true Ladder, mought be fixed, whereby God mought de[cend to h1s t creatures, and his Creat!lres mought a[cend ~o Go~; So that God, by I the Reconcilement, of the Medratou~, tunung h_1s Countenance to-wards his Creatures, (though no_t 111 equa~l Ltght, and Degree,) 1i made way, unto the Difpenfauon, ot h1s mofi: holy, and fecret l Will; whereby [orne of his Creatures, tnought fi:and, and keep their frate; Others mought, ( poffibly) ~all, a~d be rdlored; And · others mought fall, and not berdl:ored, 1n thetr Efra.te, but yet ~e. main in Being, though under Wr.ath? and Corrupuon; All w1th : Refpeet, to' the Mediatour: VVh1c~ 1s th~great Myftery, and per- ~ feet Center ., of all Gods wayes, wuh h1s Creatures ; And unto \ which all his other ·works, and wondas, doe but fervc, andre- , , . l ferr. . l t That he chofe, ( ao:ording to his good pleafurc,) Mt~n, to be f ~ that Crtature,towho[e NAtMre,the Perfon,o~t~c Eternall Soflof God; j · fhould be united : And amongfr th_e r;;em~attons o~ Men, elecred a i i frnall Flock, in w.~oin, (by the Pa!t1Ctpatt6n of Htm{~lf?) H~ pur- ~ pofcd, to expreffe, the Riches of h1s Glory; All the M11~1fi:rauon of: , Angels, Damnation of Devils, and_Reprohat~s, an~{ Un_1verfall ~d- minifiration ofa ll CreatureJ,and D1fpenfauon of all T1mes, havmg 1 , no other End, but as the VVayes, and .Am_hages ~f God, to be fur- 1 : ther P"lorificd in his S&ints; who are one w1th therr Head, the Me-l ·diato~r, who is one with God. . ~ That by the Venue of this his Eternal! Co~nfell, He c~n?e- 1 , fcended of his own good plea[ure, and accordmg to the T1rne~, ~ I and Seafons, to himfdf known, to become a Creatour; An.d by h1s \ I eternall word, created all things ; And by his eternal! Spiritl doth 1 , comfort, and pre[erve them. · : 1 That he made all thinP"s, in their firft Efiate, Good; And removed from ~imfelf, the Beginning of all_ Evil, and Vanity, i_nro_ the ! Lihtrty, of the Creature; But rcierved, 111 h1mfelf, the Begtnmng, \ l of all Re~itution, to the Liberty of his Grace: Uftng, neverrheleife, !. land turning, the Falling, and Defecrion of the Creature, (_which ~ I to his Prf[crmce -was eternally known,) to make way to hts eter- \ t, naall Counfell, touching a Mediatour, and the VVork he purpo- ; :fed to ac~omplifh in Him. ; I That God created Spirits, whereof fame kept their fi:anding, . ! and others fell. He created Hea·ven, and Eartb, and all their Ar- · ~ mies, and Generations; And gave,.unto them, confiant, and ever- , ' ' laH:ing, Lawes, which w~ call Nature; which is nothing, but the , Lawes · .A Conftjiion of the Faith. Lawes of the Creation; which Lawe~, n~~ertheleffe, have had th1:ce Changes, or Times; _and are to have, a Fourth, or Laft. The Firfi, when the Matter of Hea"ll·en,and Earth, was created without Forms: The Second, the Interim of PerfeElion, of every Dayes work ; Tile Third, by the Curfe; which, notwithHanding, was no new Creatign; And the Lafi:, at the End of the world, the Manner whereof is not yet fully revealed: So as the Lawes of Naturr, which now remain, and govern inviolably, till the end of the world, began to be in force, ~~hen God firfr refred from his works; and ceafed to cre- ' ate; But received, a Revocation, in part,by the Curfe; Since which Time, they change not. That notwithi1anding, God hath refied, and ceafed from Creating, ft.nce the firfi Sahbath, yet neverrheleife, he doth accomplifh, a,nd fulfill his Divine VVill, in all Things,great and [mall, fingular, and gene.rall, as fully, and exacrly, 6y Providence, ashe could by Miracle, and new Creation; Though hi~ wo~king be not i!1lmediate, and direCt:, but by compafs; Notv10laung .Nature,whKh is his own Law, upon the Creature. That, at the firfr, the Soul of Man, was not produced by Heaven, or Eartb, but was breaLhc.:d immediately fr01n God; So that the Wayes, and proc~edi_ngs of God, with Spirits, are not included in Nature; That ts, 1n the Lawes, of Heaven, and Earth; But are referved, to the Law, of his [ecret Will, and Grace ; wherein God worketh H:ill, and refl:eth not, fr01n the Work of Redemption as he refreth from the Work of Creation: But continueth wo;king, till the en,d of the VVorld; What time, that work alA [o, {hall be accompliilied, and an eternal sabkath iliall enfue. Likewife, that when[oever God doth tranfcend, the Law of Nature, by Miracles, (which may ever feem as new Creations,) He never commeth, tO that point, or pafs, but in regard of the W?rk of Re-. demption; which is the greater, and whereto all Gods Stgnes, and Miracles, doe referr. . That God created Man in his own Image, in a Rea[onable Sou!, 111 Innocency, in Free-wiU, and in So'lteraignty : That he gave h1n1 a Law and {ommandement, which was in his power to keep, but he kep~ it not. : T~at Man tnade a total Defecrion from God , I?r~[ ummg to 1mag1ne, that the Commandeme~ts, and. Proh1b1- . tions of God, were not the Ru!es, of Good and Evtl; But that Good, and Evil, ,had their own principles~ an~ beginn~ng~: And lufl:ed, after the Knowl~dge, of thofe u:nagmed Begmmngs; To _the end, to depend no more upon Gods wlll, revealed'· but upon hunfelf, and his own Light, as a God: Than the whtcb, there could not be a Sinne, more oppofite , to the whole La'! ?f fiod. That yet, nevertheleife, this great Sin~e) was not ongmally mo~ed, by the Malice of M'an, but was mfi.nuated, by. the Suggefi:10n, and Infiigation, of the Dev1l; who was th~ F1rf1 DefetledCrtature; and fell of Malice, and not by Temptauon. Qqq2 That - --- ... v--...-~ , .. :\ . . |
