wake, while their brethren about them are faft afleep. They fee the fire of heaven ready to fall upon the houfe, fee through the murdering defigns of their father; they fee how they are entertained but with vain hopes and deluded in that upper house for a while, till he may get them conveyed into the lower house. And fo they fet off to come out from among them, and be feparate, that they may be received into the fa mily of heaven. But,

8. Then their natural father beftirs himself with all his might to stop their coming out from that family, and that feparation. He will fet their brethren on them, whercof fome will try to mock them from it, others with ferpentine wifdom gravely to advise them against the fancy; others, which is most dangerous, to entangle them in the work and entertainment of their fa ther's houfe. Himfelf will attack them with flatteries, fpread out his baits and allurements of temptation, promise them peace, allow them an indulgence, not to be fo hard put to it in his work as before, change their work from the coarfer to the finer, represent the family of heaven in bafe colours, that there is no liberty there, but they are pent up to intolerable strictness, &c. But if that will not do, he will fall on them with rage, and tell them, that there is no room now in the fa mily of heaven for them, that they have been too long among them to come out and be feparate now; that they are his, and he will not part with them, and therefore they may give it over. And thus by the flatteries or the rage, fome are prevailed with to turn back again, and fettle down again in their father's houfe, like Orpah returning to her gods, after she had fet off from them, Ruth i. 15. But,

9. The Spirit of Chrift preffes forward the elect, and determines them to feek to be received into the family of God, John vi. 45. He is to them a Spirit of light and faith; thereby they difcover that there is fome hope concerning their cafe, that even they may be received into the family. So they are effcc.

4

tually determined to leave their father's houfe, not to stay there, come of them what will, to come to the Lord and fue for reception, not to depart, if they fhould die at his door.

10. Hereupon the foul comes away to Chrift, the elder brother of the family, and of our nature; and joins himself to him by faith, and is received, John vi. 37. takes hold of the offer of the marriage-covenant, and confents to the fpiritual marriage with him, who is the heir of all things and the Son of God, and fo becomes his by a marriage-tie, Cant. ii. 16. The foul drawn by the Spirit to him whofe name is the Branch, is put into that branch, being cut off from the natural ftock, and knits therewith by faith. Thus the foul is united to Chrift, juftified, and reconciled to God, and fet beyond the reach of the curfe.

11. Lastly, Upon this follows the adoption of the believer, who now has received, and is ingrafted into Chrift, John i. 12. Being brought out of the ftate of condemnation, by juftification, he is further dignified by a reception as a member into the family of heaven. (1.) The Lord Jefus prefents unto the Father, the Adopter and Judge, the party to be adopted into his family, Heb. ii. 13. as Jofeph did Ephraim and Manaffeh to Jacob. And he prefents him for adoption, as one that though by nature he be of a ftrange family, yet is now his own child by the fpiritual birth, being born of his Spirit. As an elder brother he prefents the believer as his brother by common human nature, and as the head and husband prefents the foul as his fpoufe by marriage-covenant. He pleads his purchase of believers by the price of his blood, and their actual relation to him; and that therefore, in fulfilment of his Father's decree, they be adopted by him, Eph, i. 5.

(2.) The natural father, the devil, upon the account of the purchase made of his child by Jefus Chrift, and the child's lawful renouncing of his power and famis

ly, and coming unto Chrift, is obliged to renounce and give up with him, as no member of his family any more, though fore against his will. If he appear in this judgement to defend his own intereft, as Satan ftood at Joshua's right hand to refift him, Zech. iii. 1. the Mediator ftops his mouth, as ver. 2. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

(3.) Lastly, The Father of our Lord Jefus, for the fake of his Son, receives the believer into the number of his children, faying in effect, As the man Christ and the angel Gabriel, ye are mine, and shall be mine; and as a Judge he adjudges the believer to be his child, and the relation betwixt him and his natural father extinguished, If. xlix. 24. 25. as having purchafed them with the blood of his dear Son: and farther gives them a right to the privileges of his fons.

Thus is the glorious benefit brought about, by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, and the elect foul adopted into the family of heaven. And this confifts of two parts.

FIRST, The adopted are received into the number of the fons of God. God becomes a Father to them, and they his fons and daughters. His family confifts of many children, each one for holiness and happiness illuftrious; all refembling, what indeed they are, the children of a king. They are taken by adoption out of the black number of the devil's family, confifting of devils, damned fpirits, and an unconverted world bearing the devil's image. And they are taken into the bleffed number of the fons of God, whereof his family confifts. And who are they that make up

that number?

He

1. Jefus Chrift the Son of God, by eternal generation, who has taken on our nature, and was declared the Son of God by his refurrection, Pfal. ii. 7. is one of the number they are received into, and therefore is not afhamed to call them brethren, Heb. ii. 7. And who can recount the dignity of being of that number, whereof he is one; he who is the

brightness of his Father's glory, the luminary of heaven, Rev. xxi. 22. whofe fplendor is greater than fun and moon? He is the chief of that number, the eldest brother, not only in refpect of men, but of angels. To him belongs the dominion, priefthood, the bleffing, and the double portion. And it is fit, that while we reckon him one of the number, we notice well his pre-eminence over all the reft, remembering the dignity of the eldest brother.

(1.) The dominion is his, the fupremacy and royalty belongs unto him, and our Father has folemnly invefted him therewith, Pfal. ii. 6. Though all his brethren are the children of the King, yet he alone is the heir of the crown. On this Lion of the tribe of Judah the kingdom is fettled, and the fceptre is given him over all the glorious family of his brethren, who are in number as the fand of the fea, Col. i. 18. Him must all his brethren praise, to him must they bow down (Gen. xlix. 8.) Heb. i, 6. The sceptre put into his hand fhall never depart.

(2.) The priesthood is his. In him the crown and the mitre both meet together; Zech, vi. 13. He shall fit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a Priest upon his throne. God hath given him an eternal and unchangeable priesthood confirmed by an oath, Pfal. cx. 4. He hath offered his facrifice, and gone into the holy of holies in heaven with the blood of atonement. He hath redeemed men, and confirmed angels, being made their head, Eph. i. 10. Whatever facrifices we have to offer, God faith of Chrift to us, as of Job to his friends, Go to my fervant Job, and offer up for yourfelves a burnt-offering; and my fervant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept, chap. xlii. 8. For to him it belongs to offer for the family.

(3.) The blefing is his. Though all the children be bleffed, yet the eldest brother had a peculiar bloff ing allotted to him above all the reft. Therefore

faid Ifaac, Thy brother bath taken away thy bleffing, Gen. xxvii. 35. So our Lord Chrift hath received

the peculiar bleffing of his Father, Rom. ix. 5. He is the fountain and ftorehouse of bleffing to all the family. Others receive the bleffing in the capacity of a veffel to ferve themselves, he in the capacity of a fountain, to fhed abroad unto others. And they whom he bleffes fhall be bleffed indeed.

(4) Lastly, The double portion of our Father's goods is his, as that is understood, 2 Kings ii. 9. The greateft fulness that ever any had was never comparable to him, who is anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, Pfal. xlv. 7. Whatever portion of the Spirit men or angels are partakers of, it is ftill by a certain measure; but God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him, John iii. 34. For the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily, Col. ii. 9. And accordingly his glory in heaven is without a parallel among his brethren, who fhall all be glorious but they receive and borrow their light from him, he gives it, Rev. xxi. 23.

2. Angels, the fons of God by creation, Job xxxviij. 7. They are of this number, and are an innumerable company of. pure and spotlefs and glorious fpirits, all fons of the houfe, with whom the adopted are fellow children of God, Heb, xii. 22. The angelical nature in itself is far more honourable than man's, feeing they are pure fpirits, not clogged with bodies, as we are; therefore fays the pfalmift of man, Thou braft made him a little lower than the angels, Pfal. viii. 5. And they have never been polluted with fin, as we are. Yet they own themfelves the brethren of the adopted faints even in this life. Nay, they are content to be miniftering fpirits to them, even as the grown children of a family are employed to take care of the little children, their brothers and fifters, not capable to take care of themfelves, Heb. i. ult.

3. Lafly, The faints in heaven and earth, fons of God by regeneration and adoption, Eph. iii. 15. The faints on earth are the excellent upon it, more excellent than their neighbours. And as foon as one is ad