A treatise of Mr. Cottons clearing certain doubts concerning predestination together with an examination…A treatise of Mr. Cottons clearing certaine doubts concerning predestination together with an examination…

yet so far in subjection to work our good, that it becomes us not to rejoice in any of them, but rather in God, who hath thus ordered them for our good, and Christ for whose sake they are thus ordered: An Argument, like to that the Lord useth, Deut. 4. 19. Take heed lest thou lift up thine eyes to heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, with all the host of heaven, shouldst be driven to worship them, and serve them. Now mark the reason whereupon the Lord dehorts them from this, which the Lord thy God hath distributed to all people under the whole heaven: as much as to say, God hath made them to do you service, therefore do not you make them your gods: So Pastors, and Apostles, and Angels, are made by God to do us service, therefore set not us make them our gods. Thus we see plainly by All, in this place, not the world only, but the Church of God is signified; every one of them being made to do service unto the Church, that is, one unto another; For, are they not all members of one body, though some perform more honourable service then others? like as in a natural botly, some members are more honourable, and for more honourable uses than others. Unless we thus understand it, we shall exclude the Apostles out of the Church. And when it is said, We are Christs, this seemeth ⟨p. 24⟩not to admit the same sense with the former; for, undoubtedly, Christ is as much for our good as any, nay more then all the world, the Apostles, and Angels, and all; for unto us he was born, unto us he was given, Esa. 9. 6. given by the Father, Joh. 3. 16. given by himself, and that for us, Tit. 2. 14. Gal. 2. 20. and that to dye for our sins, and rise again for our justification, Rom. 4. and, to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purge us a peculiar people unto himself, zealous of good works, Tit. 2. 14