no part in the first Resurrection THIS is the dregs of the fury of the Lord the Cup of his sorest indignation which requireth eternity to drink it to the bottom This is the gnawing worm and unquenchable fire the sense whereof doth cause them on whom it is inflicted to meditate terror for ever THESE are the sparks which the wicked have kindled from the fire of their own lusts and wherein God will cause them to lye down in sorrow THIS is that Devouring fire who among us shall dwell with it Who among us shall dwell with these everlasting burnings Every one shal thus die for sin who is before dead in sin The next Question I am to resolve is Quare sit Wherefore it is which will be answered by inquiring Vnde sit Whence it is And there is a threefold rise of Death 1. Satan 2. Man 3. God The first by Temptation The second by Consent The third by Infliction 1. SATAN is the grand contriver of mans destruction and therefore is the Author of it not by a Physical but moral causality He is the Father of sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam 1.15 Sin the parent of death He who is the Antient of daies tells us the Devil is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A murderer from the beginning And through mans cowardise in consenting to iniquity he who at the first did but usurp hath now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the power of death and is not to be overcome but by Christ who is stronger then he And blessed be God that the Author of Death is overcome by him who is the Prince of life Heb. 2.14 15. and the Author and finisher of that faith against which the gates of hel shal not prevail But 2. Man consenting This is another cause of death to prove this see that remarkable place Rom. 5.12 Hic enim duo concurrunt tentator et obtemperator Zeged loc◠commu As by one man sin entered into the world Death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned We were no sooner children of Adam but we were sons of Death Our first Father Adam we in him did eat of that apple the core whereof doth yet stick in our throats and will at length choak us one by one Sin is our own work death is the Wages of sin which brings me to the third cause God inflicting If man by his sin saith he will die God by his decree saith he shall die so that man shal have his will though it end in his woe If Adam will needs entaile an hereditary curse upon his posterity God will so ratifie it by his supreme Act in heaven that it shall never be cut off it shall be inevitable seeing he hath appointed for men once to die And thus we have the resolution of these three Questions I shall only answer an objection and so proceed to use Object But is this true It is appointed to men men indefinitely to all men to die What is the reason we read of some persons who did not of some who shall not taste of Death Answ I. Answer Particular exceptions destroy not the verity of general rules because some go out of the backdoor we doe not therefore cease to say that the gate is the ordinary way out of the house and because some hath not seen death or others shall not we need not cease to affirm It is appointed for men once to die for men are said to die either properly and really or by way of aequivalency when they ungergo a Change equal with death Thus did Enoch when he was translated Elijah when carried to heaven in a fiery Charriot and this shall they undergo who shall be found alive when Christ shal come to judgment The essence of Death or rather its nature not consisting in cinerefaction but as I have before affirmed in a separation of life from its subject which in Gods people is accompanied with a blessed dis-union of sin from their soul They are no longer subjects of sin when once vessels of eternal glory The next thing in order of method will be to make some inference from what hath been said and let me premise this it will be wisdom for us to look this King of Terror in the face and to consider whether we are able to encounter with him or no and what Nero did when he heard he was sentenced by the Senate as an enemy to the Publick Weale to be punished More majorum despairing to live he tried the points of the Ponyards wherewith he had resolved to dye to feel their sharpness before he sheathed them in his bowels So it would be wisdome in us by serious reflection upon our frailty to die daily that so the day of our death may not surprize us unawares Storms are most terrible when they surprize us suddenly and without a shelter Death will then be most unwelcome when it overtakes us unprepared or unresolved to grapple with it I shall now endeavor to apply this Doctrine If this be true That death is inevitable Vse 1 then let us live as such who are to die Because death is an evil to nature let us not hasten it because it is a necessary consequent of our sin Let us endeavour that though it separate our souls from our bodies yet it seize not on us in such an estate which will separate both from God Because by Christ it is overcome and proves a friend to Grace by hasting its consummation in Glory let us not be afraid to encounter with it But alas how few of us make this improvement of the necessity of death How many by intemperance and disorder do dig their graves with their own teeth How many are there whose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whilest they are Somno vinoque sepulti before their passing-bell hath tolled and even whilest their bones are full of marrow Job 20 11. their souls are replete with the sins of their youth These are such who put far from them the evil day They consider not the daies of darknesse neither think of them any more then as the Prophane proverb is Their dying day Their inward thought is that not only their houses Psalm 49.11 but they shall abide for ever not considering there is a God in whose hands are their life breath and all their waies that their breath is in their nostrils and their life ere long may be as water spilton the ground that it will lay the greatest Prince leveld with the poorest Peasant Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque turres Hor at lib. 1. Od. 4. that Death regards not the scepter of a mortal Prince nor compassionates the sad estate of any nor will be bribed to give a release from natures bonds that the grizly hand of death will cover many a naked brest which formerly hath been the looking-glasse of lust and pride with a
winding-sheet That this which is called death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Serm. de Fid. Leg Natur. Psal 49.14 shall cool the valour of all the hot-spurs in the world who in their life time could not put up an injury without a challenge That they shall roll in the dust who sometimes did wallow in pleasures like the swine in the mire when like sheep they are laid in the grave and death shall feed upon them And how few of the heirs of life do walk as if they were to pass to an inheritance but after death whilst some do either with persecuted Elijah or peevish Jonah seek after death exceedingly desirous of the penny but yet so delicate that they they are loth to work in the heat of the day Others of them though they have set their faces towards the new Jerusalem and are on their journey thither yet by the way they remember the flesh-pots of Egypt Num. 11.5 and their present enjoyments do make them the lesse active in the expectation of future felicity God is forced to cast wormwood upon the brests of the Creature that he may make them the more earnestly draw water out of the wells of Salvation Others of them conceive God may have honour by their lives and therefore they are loath they should be deprived of such an opportunity by their deaths For this cause possibly the Psalmist might say Psalm 102.24 O my God take me not away in the midst of my dayes And upright Hezekiah might beg for a reprieve after God had said unto him Thou shalt dye and not live All these though their intentions might plead an excuse yet their actions are not commendable Yet we know a found constitution is consistent with some qualmes and we ought to conclude that strength of grace is consistent with some weakness in this particular Gods people cease not to be men by becoming Christians as they are the former they may be afraid as the latter they do dare to dye Aaron upon Mount Hor can be stripped of his clothes Num. 20.18 and without repining go to bed Blessed Simeon wil depart in peace Luke 2.29 30. after his eyes have seen the Lords Salvation Act. 21.13 The holy Apostle is indifferent whether to live or dye but if it be for the name of the Lord Jesus he is ready not to be bound but to dye also Thus we see the Shepherd of Israel hath sheep as well as Lambs in his fold men of riper years as well as babes in Christianity Such as dare encounter the King of terrors as well as such who are afraid at his presence Vide Bullinger in 1 Thess 4.8 Morteâ—n mali vitant sancti in vitant quibus non tam vitae hujus interitus quam aeternae interitus est Heidfel Sphis Theo Phil. c. 38. p. 908. But all believers have this happinesse though few live in the comfort of it that death to them is but a sleep the grave an hiding place both a resting from their labours their passage from this vale of misery is but an entrance into their Masters joy This notwithstanding is not sufficient for a Christian to know that though he die yet his life is hid with Christ in God He must so dye that God may be glorified by his death the which that every one of us may do we must prepare our selves for so great a change The which preparation consists in three things 1. Dying unto sin 2. Living unto righteousness 3. Mortification to the world A word to each of these First Dying unto sin * The sting of death is sin 2 Cor. 15.56 he then that dyeth unto sin destroyeth death And frequent reflections upon death would prove an excellent meanes hereunto But oh how hard is it though we have daily Spectacles of others mortality to live under convictions of our owne we should live more in heaven if we did believe we were to die and so to goe from hence This would season our discourse lives and check the exorbitancy of our rising lusts to consider it is appointed for all men once to die and consequently alleviate the feare of death For that which maketh death terrible to a considerative mind is not so much the pain which is felt in the separation of soul body for I doubt not but men undergo more sharp agonies as to fense in a fit of the stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost expos Psal 116. or gout or such acute diseases then at the moment of their dissolution nor is it altogether that natural abhorrency of an annihilation or destruction of being which maketh death formidable but that which represents death sitting upon a pale horse as described Rev. 6.8 is conscience of sin and thereby obligation unto hell following after death but a beleever may use with a holy confidence what sometimes presuming Agag said 1 Sam. 15 32. Surely the bitternesse of death is past and with the blessed Apostle may close his eies in peace with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Rom. 8.83.39 I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers c. shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 2. Living unto righteousnesse Mala more putâ—nda non est quâ—m bona vita praecesserit August de civit Dei lib. 1. cap. 11. A holy life will usher in a happy death This is that which doth also evidence our dying unto sin and will make us die more peaceably in our beds We find that they who lived most up amongst the heathens to the principles of morality were least afraid to die when those who lived the most rudely were most unwilling to leave the world Seneca or Cate when about to die seem exceeding ready when a wicked Nero whose conscience told him what his mouth did utter Sueton in vita Neronis Vivo deformiter ac turpiter doth depart the world with an Vsque adeone mori miserum est and encourageth himself to his own ruine with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It becometh not It becometh not thee O Nero to be so daunted go to encourage thy selfe Upright Hezekiah had not such cause to weep when the Prophet brought those tydings to him Isai 38.1 2 that he should dye and not live seeing he was so well prepared for death that he could appeal to God that he had walked before him in truth and with a perfect heart and done that which was good in his sigh David his father also a man after Gods own heart did thus prepare for death and after he had served his own generation by the wil of God fell asleep Act. 13 35. Thirdly Mortification to the world this will prepare us for the stroke of death Those things which are glewed together are not without much difficulty dis-united and when our affections are set upon earthly things we shall not willingly
Prophets but respect to their own praise which put them upon that Religious shew yet Hypocritical action they persecuting the Lords anointed whilst they pretend to do his Prophets no harm yea to reverence their memory after death whom their Parents not onely hated but attempted to kill when alive Notwithstanding this we finde it the practice of the Saints to bewail the loss of their friends and decently to interre them Even the Father of the faithful Gen. 23.2 when Sarah is dead cometh to mourn and to weep and with no less care than love doth provide a Burial-place for her Thus when Jacob had yielded up the ghost the youngest Joseph shews the strongest love and fell upon his fathers face and wept upon him and kissed him and commandeth his servants the Physicians to embalm him Gen. 50.1 2. and made a mourning for his father ver 10. There was his natural affection as a Son yet but seven dayes there his moderation as a Christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eus Eccles hist l. 1. c. 4. who had hopes of a Resurrection which the Egyptians not expecting were more extravagant in their sorrow and mourned for him seventy dayes We finde it also promised as a blessing to Abijah the Son of Jeroboam that all Israel should mourn for him and bury him which was performed as to him so to good Josiah whom the Prophet Jeremiah lamented for and all the singing-men and the singing-women spake of and that not for once but made it an Ordinance in Israel to this day composing Elegies upon him when-as wicked Jehoiakim 2 Chron. 35.25 as a curse upon him had no other Monument but the burial of an Ass drawn forth and cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem neither did any lament for him saying Jer. 22.18 19. Ah Lord or Ah his glory Not to multiply Examples let that of our Saviour be the last who was decently interr'd as for otehrs so this account Vid. Polan Syntag l. 6. c. 19. That we might be careful that our burials of the dead may be so comely that it may answer somewhat the hopes we have of a Resurrection unto life Fear of Superstition must not thrust us upon a certainty of Inhumanity the former is not to be allowed the latter must ever be avoided The Medium is A due respect to those after their deaths whom we have loved in their lives which will testifie to the world they liv'd desired whilst they die lamented We in the mean time moderating our grief with this Consideration It is appointed unto men once to die HEB. 9.27 But after this the Judgement II. Of JUDGEMENT HAving spoken of Death out of this place I now come to speak of what is after it to wit Judgement Although possibly by Judgement may be here meant the particular Judgement of every man to wit immediately after the separation of his Soul and Body by Death Yet where God hath not expresly set us bounds I suppose it is not necessary for us to confine our selves There being therefore no such necessity of that restriction I shall take my liberty to speak of the general Judgement at the end of the World In my ensuing Discourse I shall not attempt any Division in this intire Proposition but deduce this Doctrine Doct. That God hath appointed a Day in which he will Judge the World The express words of the Apostle Act. 17.31 I shall not heap up many Arguments either from Scripture or Reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost de Laz. Con 4. to prove the truth of this Proposition though upon due consideration many from both would crowd into my thoughts But I wave them for I suppose my self to speak to Christians who believe not to Infidels who may deny at least doubt of this truth But if I must needs prove it I will go no further than that usual expression of men to put an end to strife As God shall judge me The frequency of which in mens mouthes doth testifie to their faces that God hath appointed a day wherein to judge the world For the due understanding of which Truth let these particulars be considered 1 Judex The Judge 2 Judicandi The persons to be judged 3 Modus Judicii The manner of Judgement 4 Judicii Eventus The Event of the Judgement For the first we will consider who shall be the Judge We finde in Scripture this Title The Judge of the World attributed sometimes to God sometimes to Jesus Christ To God as Gen 18.23 Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right Eccles 3.17 I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked But I suppose those and the like places may be understood of Gods Providential Exercise of Judgement in the World as being the Moderator and Governour thereof and not of the Vltimate and Definitive Sentence at the last Day Ideo antem cum diem Judicii Dci dicimus addimus ultimum vcl novissimum quia nunc judicat ab humani generis initio judicavit August de Cir. Dei lib. 20. c. 1. for thus the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgement unto the Son Joh. 5.22 not but that the whole Trinity do exercise this Work for Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa but in a more singular manner Christ as he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that upon these Accounts 1 As it is a part of his Regal Office 2 As he is iDELEGATUS DEI to this Work FIRST As it is a part of his Kingly Office to judge others to absolve the Innocent to condemn the Nocent this is a Kingly Work And that Christ hath Authority to do this is evident for in the day of his Inauguration when the Diadem of Glory was first set upon his head to wit after his Resurrection he tells us All Power is given unto him both in Heaven and in Earth He drunk of the Brook in the way and here he did lift up his head But in the last Day he shall much more be higher than his enemies when they who in their popular fury cried out We have no King but Caesar Videbunt ergo Judaei Deum hominem semper regnantem quem negande desperaverunt morientem Aug. de Sym. ad Catech. tract 4. c. 8. and would not have him to rule over them shall be brought before him and slain before his face They who would not kiss the Scepter of his Grace shall be bruised like a potters vessel by the iron Rod of his Justice Secondly As he is DELEGATUS DEI to this Work as God hath assigned substituted appointed him to or committed to him the Judgement of the World See Act. 17.31 He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained And so Rom. 2.16 God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ Rom. 14.10 2. Cor. 3.10 And hence Gods Tribunal is called the Judgement-seat
Domine tu scis quod illo die cum talia loqueremur mundus iste nobis inter verba ista vilesceret cum omnibus delectationibus suis Aug. lib. Con. 9. Cant. 504. do so refresh their Souls in this valley of tears what will be their joy when the Lord shall be their everlasting light If the Spouse her bowels are moved when Christ puts in his hand by the hole of the door how will her Soul be inflamed when she her self shall be received into those everlasting Mansions When this Sun ariseth every shadow will disappear and he who did sometimes speak roughly to his people shal then discover himself to be their Father and their hearts shall revive within them They who did bear his image here when he shall appear shall be like him They who in the world cried Hosanna to the Highest shall then chant forth Hallelujah to him that sitteth upon the Throne Secondly The Society of Saints and Angels This is another part of their Happiness Our Saviour describeth part of Heavens Happiness to consist therein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys ad Theod laps Paraen Luk 13.28 29. Mat. 8.11 They shall come from the East and the West the North and the South and sit down with Abraham Isaac Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God Cicero de Senect pag. mibi 212. If Cato the Heathen Philosopher could comfort himself in his old age with an O praeclarum diem cum ad illud animorum concilium caetumque proficiscar cum ex hac turba colluvione discedam Vid. Melch. Adam vit Bullinger Vid. Ger. Med. 48. de suavissima Angelorum in caelo associatione And Socrates against death because after it he hoped to see Homer Hesiod and other worthy men How much more may a Saint lay down his head in * Lu. 2.29 Heb. 12.23 peace and rejoyce seeing he is but going to the City of the living God to the heavenly Jerusalem to an innumerable company of Angels to the general assembly and Church of the first-born which are writien in heaven and to the spirits of just men made perfect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chry. hom 70. de mart Egypt The company of the Saints even in this life doth comfort the weak encourage the faint chear up the dejected whilst by their mutual intercourse and intimate society they provoke one another to love and good works inliven each others zeal incite and incourage each other by a good example to hold forth to the end that they may receive the Crown of Life and by mutual offices of love do endear themselves one to the other and chiefly to God whose image they behold ingravened in their Souls as the bond of that Union which is between them If this be so pleasant how sweet will then their communion be in that sâ—â—te of peace where they who served the Lord with one shoulder and prayed together here Omnium Christianorum spes fratreâ— charissimi in futurum â—empus extenaitur uâ— quod hic servimus Dom no alibi nos servisse laeâ—emur Aug. in verb. apost 2 Cor. 5.10 shall with one consent offer up praise to their God where nothing shall interrupt their joy frustrate their hopes contradict their wills which are then perfectly on with God's O blessed Society where is no jarring envy strife O heavenly Consort where is no Discord but a perfect Harmony with God and one another Me-thinks I could say with the Psalmist his phrase somewhat varied Who will give me the wings of a Dove Psal 55.6 that I may fly hither and be at rest And this is the second thing that shall be conferr'd upon them they have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like unto God in holiness here they shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as with so like the Angels in glory hereafter Thirdly Fruition of inconceiveable Joy In this place and that to purpose Psal 50.8 God shall make his people to hear the voice of joy and gladness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys ad Thcod laps paraen If corn and wine and oil do make mens hearts rejoyce what will the light of Gods countenance when lift upon his people so as never more to be obscured with a frown God shall then put gladness into their hearts his joy in this life is in them then shall they enter into their Masters joy Mat. 25.23 Here it is our happiness to have God rejoyce over us there it shall be the honour of the Saints to joy in and with the Lord. Joy here is in a capacity of increase there it shall be full Jeremiah though sometimes cast into the dungeon as not worthy to behold the light shall shine as the Sun and though his feet did stick in the mire yet shall he lift up his head for joy Paul and Silas who did sing in the Prison whilst their feet were in the Stocks shall then be delivered and their glory shall awake to their Redeemers praise Then the eyes of the blinde shall be opend and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped then shall the lame man leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing In the wilderness shall waters break out and the streams in the desart Isa 15.5 6. This is the Saints Nuptial day Rev. 19.7 should they not sing for mirth The accomplishment of their Warfare shall they not be in peace The Harvest of their Hopes should they not now rejoyce who themselves are gathered into the garner Yes surely But how great shall be the measure thereof Which leads me to the third Consideration Quoad Mensuram The Measure of their joy Of the * Quae sententia plus habet disputationis quam certitudinis utilitatis Muscul in 1 Cor. 15.40 different Degrees of which there are more nice Discourses than satisfactory Resolutions Some whilst they would engross a greater portion of this glory may possibly detract from Gods grace which is free and bestows a penny upon him who is called at the last hour Quo utique denario vita fignificatur aeterna Aug. Exp. in Johan as well as on them who did bear the heat and burthen of the day The Affirmative is most believed because chiefly desired and is an excellent motive to be abundant in the work of the Lord because he that soweth sparingly shall reap also so but the †Vide Pet. Mart. in 1 Cor. 15.40 Musc ibid. Negative is not yet beyond dispute The various * Has dissimilitude in resurrectione mortuorum apparet verum in applicatione vulge crratur c. Calv. in 1 Cor. 15.41 excellency of the Stars is an Argument wanting light to evidence the different glory of the Saints it being wrested from the first intention of the Apostle and which is more seems to be contradicted by the Lord of Glory who speaking indefinitely of the Righteous tells us Mat. 13.43 they shall shine