We are now come to the phrases that imply their punishment, and that we made to be twofold — present and future. The first part of the present punishment is 2>(ena damni, their loss, implied in that clause, leaving their own habitation, in wdiich their guilt is further intimated ; for the apostle here maketh it to be their act, but Peter in the parallel place maketh it Gods act : 2 Peter ii. 4, ' God spared not his angels that sinned, but cast them dow^n to hell.' Without further diversion we may take up the point thus : —
Obs. That the apostate angels, upon their sin and fall, departed from that place of happiness and glory wdiich before they enjoyed. So Kev. xii. 8, ' Their place "was found no more in heaven, and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world : he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.' That scripture, I confess, is mys- tical, and speaketh of the overcoming of Satan in this present world, and casting him out of the church; which is there expressed by heaven, as the world by earth. For I observe in that book the church is some- times expressed by terms suitable to the Judaical state. So in Eev. xi. 2, the church is called the teinjyle, and the world the court; and sometimes by the celestial state, and so the church is called heaven, and the world earth. But, however, there is a plain allusion to Satan's first fall from heaven as the ground of these expressions, and therefore I may use that place as a proof in this matter. That you may under- stand the loss of the angels, give me leave to lay down these proposi-
VeR. 6.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 197
tions : — (1.) The pLace of their innocency was heaven, round about the throne of God, where the good angels do ' continually behold his face,' and 'stand before him,' Dan. vii. 10. In such a blessed place and in such blessed company was their olKr]T7]piov, their abode or habitation. When God disposed the several creatures into proper mansions and places of abode, he took the angels into his own train and glorious attendants, that they might still be with him ; other creatures were his servants, these his courtiers, that is, his household and ordinary ser- vants, that were to attend as in his chamber of presence. (2.) In this place they were to enjoy God and glorify God ; their happiness was to enjoy God, their duty to glorify him ; there they behold his face, ]\Iat. xviii. 10, for vision and sight of God is the happiness of rational crea- tures, and therefore our happy estate is expressed by ' beholding him face to face,^ 1 Cor, xiii. 14, and David saith, Ps. xvi. 11, 'In thy pre- sence,' or 'in thy face is fulness of joy.' In heaven, then, did God manifest himself to them ; there they were to a})plaud his counsels, re- ceive his commands, to love God with the most perfect embraces of their will, and to ' fulfil his commandments, hearkening to the voice of his Avord.' (3.) From this place they are now driven into ' the lower parts of the world,' as being a place more fit for sin and misery. That the place into which they are driven is the bottom and centre of the earth cannot be shown out of scripture ; rather the contrary, for sometimes they are said to fly up and down in the air, and therefore is Satan called ' the prince of the power of the air,' Eph. ii. 3, and the other devils, ' principalities and spiritual wickednesses in high places,' Eph. vi. 12. They aspire to get as high as they can, but they can get no further than the regions of the air ; and sometimes they are said to ' compass the earth .to and fro,' Job i. 7. The earth is Satan's walk and circuit, where he seeks to do mischief, and sometimes they are in the sea, Mat. viii. 32, for as yet they are not in that prison and place of torments where they shall abide for ever under the wrath of the Lord. Therefore when Christ checketh their ])Ower in the world, they expostulate with him, ' Jesus, thou Son of God, art thou come to tor- ment us before our time ?' Mat. viii. 29, ' and besought him that he w^ould not cast them into the great deep ;' by which some understand the final place of their residence and torments, even the lowest place of the world, most remote from the highest heavens, which place as yet they have not entered. But how is it said that they are already 'cast down into hell,' 2 Peter ii. 4, Taprapwcra^? I answer — That expression doth only note the dreadfulness of their fall, from so glorious a mansion to such a place of misery ; and because wherever they are, they carry their own hell with them, though by God's permission they are as yet suffered to remain in the air or earth. (4 ) Departing from heaven, they departed from all the happiness and glory which they enjoyed there, namely, that light which they had in their understand- ings to behold God, that power in their wills to love and serve him ; instead of which they are filled with darkness and malice, and become the irreconcileable enemies of God and man. As to their light, their gracious knowledge is quite extinct, their natural knowledge much eclipsed, and their experimental knowledge not enough to engage their hearts to God. As to their integrity and holiness, instead of a will to