The divine will considered in its eternal decrees, and holy execution of them. By…

What if his devouring Justice had broke out against devil-seduced Men, nay, against all the Race of Men? Who should accuse him for the Nations that perish, which he hath made and Sin hath marred, Wisd. 12. 12? Could not the Blood of God have washed out the blackest spots of fallen Angels? Was not the Almighty Spirit of Grace able to melt a Devil into Repentance? Had we poor Worms been to dispute with the Devil about the Body of Christ, as Michael did ⟨p. 176⟩with him about the Body of Moses, O how easily would he have reasoned us out of our Redeemer! What (would he have said) shall the tender bowels of God be let down to you on Earth and restrained to us in Heaven? Will the All-wise God repair his Clay-images in the Dunghill of the lower World, and neglect his fairer Pictures once hung up in his own Palace of Glory? May not the Son of God be a Redeemer at an easier rate, without stepping a foot out of his Fathers house, and will he travel down so far as an Incarnation? How much better were it for him to spot himself with an assumed Cherubin, than to take Flesh into his glorious Person? But the great God hath neither given Angels a day to plead for a Redeemer, nor Man a licence to pry into his Ark. Wonder then, O Man, at this astonishing difference made by the divine Will alone. Angels must be damned and men may be saved; golden Vessels are irreparably broken, and earthen Pots are set together again; Inmates of Glory drop to Hell, and Dust and Ashes fly up to Heaven. When I consider thy Heavens and the Stars glistering there, Lord, what is man that thou mindest him, Psal. 8. 4? but when I consider ⟨p. 177⟩thy Heaven of Heavens, and thy Angels dropping from thence into utter darkness, Lord! what is man that thou savest him? Misericordiâ Domini plena est terra; quare non dictum est, plenum est coelum? quia sunt spirituales nequitiae in coelestibus, sed non illae ad commune jus indulgentiae Dei, remissionémque peccatorum pertinent, as holy Ambrose expresses it. Even so gracious Father, because so it seemeth good in thy sight. Thus having found the right Captive I pass on

What if his devouring Justice had broke out against devil-seduced Men, nay, against all the Race of Men? Who should accuse him for the Nations that perish, which he hath made and Sin hath marred, Wisd. 12. 12? Could not the Blood of God have washed out the blackest spots of fallen Angels? Was not the Almighty Spirit of Grace able to melt a Devil into Repentance? Had we poor Worms been to dispute with the Devil about the Body of Christ, as Michael did