speaks of dæmons or devils, as expelled by the gods, and fallen from heaven. These angels, in their original estate of creation, were in a capacity of obeying the law that was given them; the estate they are now in, is not that in which they were made; it is expressly said of them, that they kept not their first estate, and abode not in the truth, Jude 6. which supposes a better estate than what they are now in ; but being left to the freedom of their will, which was mutable, they sinned and fell, to which fall of theirs, our Lord has respect, when he says, I beheld Satan, as lightening, fall from heaven, Luke x. 18. Now concerning this the following things may be enquired into. 1. What was the sin of the angels, by which they fell? this cannot be said with precision, the scriptures being silent about it; yet it is generally supposed, and it is probable from the scriptures, that their sin was, 1. Pride; and which seems probable from 1 Tim. iii. 6, Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil; being guilty of the same sin, he is in danger of the same condemnation, pride goes before destruction, Prov. xvi. 18. They might first begin with contemplating their own perfections and excellences; as their wisdom, knowledge, strength, &c. which might issue in an over-weening opinion of themselves. This may be thought to be confirmed from the manner in which they tempted our first parents to rebel against God; Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil, Gen. iii. 5. as also by all the methods they have since taken to get themselves worshipped as gods, 2 Cor. iv. 4. 1 Cor. x. 20. Satan has prevailed upon the poor Indians, both eastern and western, to worship him openly as a devil; and nothing can be a greater instance of his pride, arrogance, and impudence, than the proposal he made to Christ, to give him all the kingdoms of this world, if he would but fall down and worship him. 2. Some have thought that envy was the sin of the devils by which they fell; led thereunto by a saying in the Apocryphal book of Wisdom, Chap. ii. 24. By the envy of the devil, death entered into the world: envy and pride are inseparable;

self.

the apostle joins these sins together, James iv. 5, 6. the angels might envy the superior power and excellencies of God himAnd especially they might be envious at the Son of God, who they might understand, would in time assume human nature; though the end and design of it they might not know ; and that in that nature he would sit at the right hand of God, which they were not admitted to. Satan always sought to oppose Christ in his person and offices; and hence he set up antichrist, whose doctrines are doctrines of devils. 3. Unbelief may also be taken into the account of the sin of the angels; they must disbelieve the eternal power of God, and his truth and faithfulness to his word, or they would not have dared to have sinned against him; indeed their sins seem to be a complication of iniquity; of pride, envy, and unbelief.— II. There are several questions commonly asked, relative to the fall of angels; to which a short answer may be returned; as. 1. How and by what means they came to fall? they had no tempter; there were no creatures in being capable of temptin them to sin: this is always spoken of as their own voluntary act and deed. It is very probable, that one of them famous above the rest for wisdom and strength, might begin the apostacy, and others followed his example. 2. It is sometimes asked, When the angels fell? to which may be answered, Not before the sixth day of the creation; for on the sixth day, when all the creatures were made: God saw every thing that he had made, and beheld it was very good. However, certain it is, that the fall of angels was very early: since the devil is called a murderer from the beginning, John viii. 44. 3. This question is sometimes put, What number of the angels fell? This cannot be said with any precision; some have thought that as many fell as stood; grounding it on a passage in Ezek. xli. 18. where it is said, that on the wall of the temple were carved, cherubim and palm-trees, a palm-tree between a cherub and a cherub; by cherubim they understand angels, and by palm-trees good men, said to flourish like the palm-tree; and who are supposed to fill up the places of fallen angels;

but such a sense of the text cannot easily be established.-Others have thought, that not so many fell as stood; since evil angels are never said to be innumerable, as the good an. gels are, Heb. xii. 22. Others fancy that a third part of the angels fell, this they take from Rev. xii. 4. where the dragon. is said to draw with his tail the third part of the stars of hea ven. It is certain that not a few of the angels, but many of them fell; so many possessed one man as to be called a legion, which consisted of some hundreds : yea, it seems there are various kinds of them, our Lord says, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting, Matt. xii. 24, 26. III. The state and condition into which the angels were brought by sin, may next be considered. They were originally angels of light; full of light, knowledge, and understanding, but by sinning are become angels of darkness. They were once pure and holy creatures, but through their sin and fall, became unclean spirits, Matt. xiii. 38. Once they were lovers of God, and of their fellow-creatures, but now at enmity to God, and all that is good, and spiteful and malicious to mankind. Satan is called emphatically the enemy. iv. Their punishment; and which is both of loss and sense; they have lost the favour and presence of God, and they sensibly feel his wrath and indignation on them; the apostle Peter says, they were cast down to hell, 2 Pet. ii. 4. but where that is, it is not easy to say; very probably upon their ejection out of heaven, they fell down into the air, since Satan is said to be the prince of the power of the air,* Eph. ii. 2. from whence by divine permis sion they descend and patrol; they do not seem to have their full punishment inflicted on them; or are not yet in full torment, as may be learned from their words to Christ, Art thou come hither to torment us before our time? Matt. viii. 29. and are said to be reserved unto judgment, and unto the judgment of the great day; when their full sentence will be pronounced upon them.

It was a notion of the Chaldeans, that the air is full of Dæmons, Leart Proem. ad. Vit. Philos. p. 5

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OF MAN IN A STATE OF INNOCENCE.

HAVING considered the first and principal events of provi dence respecting angels, I shall proceed to consider such as respect man.

I. His being placed in the garden of Eden, as an inhabitant to dwell in, for the support of his animal life; and for his exercise in the culture and dressing of it. I. As his habita tion; And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed, Gen. ii. 8. Though Adam was heir and lord of the whole world, yet there was one particular spot more excellent than all the rest, assigned him for his residence; even as a king of a large country has his royal seat, palace, and court in some particu lar part of it: this garden of Eden was not the whole world, as some have thought: this is clear from the man being said to be put into it when created, which shews that he was form ed without it: we read of a land that was at the east of it; see Gen. iv. 16. It is called the garden of God; any spot that was uncommonly fruitful and delightful, is compared unto it, Gen. xiii. 10. Where this garden was, cannot be said with any certainty, whether in Armenia, Assyria, or in Judea ; most probably it was in Mesopotamia, since we read of an Eden along with some places in that country, Isai. xxxvii. 12: However, it was so delightful a spot, at its first plantation, that the church of Christ is compared unto it, and is called, in allusion to it, a garden inclosed—and her plants, an orchard, or paradise of pomegranates, Cant. iv. 12, 13. Moreover, it was an emblem of the heavenly state, which is therefore called paradise, Luke xxiii. 43. II. Adam was put into the garden of Eden for the support of his animal life, where grew trees, not only pleasant to the sight, but good for food; and Adam was allowed to eat of them all excepting one, Gen. ii. 16, 17. There are two trees particularly taken notice of; the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil: the former is so called, because with the other trees of the garden, it was a means of maintaining Adam's animal

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life, and perhaps the chief means of it: it was a token that Adam had his natural life from God, the God of his life; and that it depended upon him, and that he might expect the continuance of it so long as he kept his state of integrity: it was also an emblem of Christ, who is therefore called the tree of Ilfe, Rev. xxii. 2. There was another tree, called the tree of knowledge, of good and evil, what that tree was, cannot be said; it is generally supposed to be the apple tree, founded upon a in cant. viii. 5. passage It had its name, not from any virtue it had of ripening the rational powers of man, and of encreas`ing and improving his knowledge, as say the Jews, who take Adam to be but a great baby, an infant in knowledge; whereas his knowledge of God, and of things natural and moral, was very great and besides had he wanted knowledge, this tree could not be the means of accelerating and increasing it, since he was forbid to eat of it. But it was so called, either because God hereby tried and made known, whether Adam would obey his will or not; or eventually, since Adam knew by sad experience, what the good was he had lost, and might have enjoyed. 111. Adam was put into the gården of Eden to dres it and to keep it, Gen ii. 15. for the culture of it. This was a proper exercise for man in his state of innocence; for it was never the will of God that men should in any state live an idle life. Yet the work of man in the garden, was without toil and fatigue, he did not eat his bread with the sweat of his brow, as after his fall; but his service in it was attended with the utmost delight and pleasure; nor was it at all dishonourable to him, nor inconsistent with the high, honourable, and happy estate in which he was. iv. What added to the delight and fruitfulness of the garden of Eden, was a river that went out of it to water it; which was parted into four heads or branches, the names of which were Pison, Gihon, and Hiddekel or Tigris, and Euphrates; symbols of the gospel, and of the everlasting love of God.

II. Another remarkable event in providence, relating to the honour of man in his state of innocence, is the bringing of all