A DISCOURSE OF The Resurrection SHEWING The Import and Certainty of it BY WILLIAM WILSON M. A. Rector of Morley in Derbyshire LONDON Printed by J. H. for William Rogers at the Sun against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet MDCXCIV IMPRIMATUR Geo. Royse R. R. in Christo Patriac Dom. Dom. Johanni Archiep. Cantuar à Sacris Domest April 26. 1694. Advertisement LAtely Printed A Discourse of Religion shewing its Truth and Reality or The Suitableness of Religion to Humane Nature By the same Author TO THE Right Reverend Father in God RICHARD Lord Bishop of Bath Wells My Lord IT is not above a day or two since I thought of recommending this Discourse unto the World under the Patronage of some Great Name not that I believed it sufficient of it self to walk abroad without such a support but because I was unwilling to lay the Burden of its faults upon such a one as had not Fame and Reputation enough to bear the weight of them and on the other hand I did believe it too great a Crime to charge any person with them that had And had not Your Lordship obliged me so much as of late you have done I should not have thought of doing it now much less of doing it under Yours Men had need be well assured of the Goodness of those Discourses which they publish under the Name of some known Friend because Dedications detract from those whom they design to Honour if what is offer'd to the World under their Protection be mean and trifling But this is not the worst of my case For though I know Your Lordship by the report of Your Exemplary Piety and Vertue yet I am so altogether unknown to You that I am ashamed to think that That which gives a Lustre to Your Goodness should be an Aggravation of my Crime in defaming Your Judgment so publickly and that too while I tell the World I am bound in Gratitude to confult Your Honour The Subject My Lord I here present You with is great and worthy the most serious Consideration of every Christian For it sets before us the Glad-tidings of the Gospel and the indispensible Necessity of a Holy Life Two things of that vast moment that were they well consider'd it would not be a very easie thing for Men to do themselves so much mischief as to forfeit their Hopes of an Immortal Life merely for the sake of a Bodily Lust when they judge it a hardship upon us to be condemn'd to a Mortal condition for Adam's fault And though I know my own Defects too well to believe I can write any thing upon a Subject of so lofty a Nature suitable to the Dignity of it yet if it will but contribute any thing towards the awakening Men to a sense of that Obligation to Holiness that our Religion by acquainting us with the ground of that Hope we are begotten to le ts us know we are under I shall presume upon Your Lordship 's known Goodness for a Pardon for the weakness of my Performance And the World I hope will believe that at least I meant well when I ventured this way to own my self Your Lordship's Most Faithfull and Obliged Servant Will. Wilson THE Introduction AS in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive saith the Apostle 1. Cor. 15.22 In which words he sets before us the Reason of that Mortality we are subject to and the great advantage of the Christian Religion upon the account of the Hopes of a glorious Immortality after Death that we are restored to If we take a view of our own Nature nothing can be more unaccountable than that a Creature who carries an Immortal Principle in him should die And therefore the Apostle acquaints us that Death is not a Natural Calamity but the Effect and Consequence of that Condemnation that in Adam we fell under In Adam all die i.e. It is upon the account of Adam's Sin that Humane Nature is corruptible and that Death has any Power over us Whereas had he maintain'd his Innocency Immortality according to the Divine Constitution had been the reward of his Perseverance But the Calamity which Justice doom'd us to Mercy has provided a Remedy for And the Design of the Gospel is to acquaint us with the wonderfull Method whereby Life and Immortality are brought to light That for the conquering Death and delivering us from the Power of it God appointed his only begotten Son to bear our Sins and to became a Curse for us Such a Person he chose to die for us as could rise again from under the Wrath that would have lain for ever upon us and who by rising from the Dead has given the World an Instance of the Mighty Power of that Life and Spirit which he communicates to his sincere Disciples and in respect of which he is styled the Resurrection and the Life So that though in Adam all die yet in Christ shall all be made alive i.e. We shall not suffer an Eternal Death our Souls shall not for ever be separated from our Bodies upon the account of that fault that at first subjected us to Death But though we die because Adam sinned yet we shall rise to another Life because Christ who is our Life had appeared to take away Sin This is that comfortable and joyous Message that our Religion does publish to the World And it is the only Tidings that could revive our Spirits since Nature within us droops and languishes upon the account of the Mortality we are doom'd to And therefore for the delivering poor Mortals from those fears that all our life-time keep us in Bondage as St. Paul speaks Heb. 2. the main subject of the Apostle's preaching was Jesus and the Resurrection That indeed is an Article so little accountable to our Reason that some Men are upon that very account apt to look upon Faith as a very unreasonable Duty because it consists in the taking such things for granted which we have no Natural knowledge of But now that which the Enemies of Believing do find fault with Faith for is the very thing which God accepts and is pleas'd with it for Thus it was in the case of Abraham who upon the account of the Excellency of his Faith is styled the Father of the Faithfull For when God promis'd him a Son that which he took so well from him was his believing this Promise against Hope If he had consulted his own Reason what he should have believed in the case it would have been as much against Believing that he should have a Child when Old Age had wasted his strength and Sarah's Womb was dead as it can be pretended to be against a Resurrection But when he did not ask his Reason what was possible or what was fit to be believed but did depend upon the Divine Promise notwithstanding all the Difficulties he might have urged God was so well pleased with him that he accepted him as an approved Servant And thus God by
of a Resurrection For the thoughts of a Resurrection can never be sufficient to fortifie our Minds against the Fears of Death if after we are risen again Death will still take its turn to carry us to our Graves For in this case there is nothing after Death to bear up our Minds against so great an Evil. But this is not the Life we shall rise to but a Life that Death shall have no more power over This corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory 1 Cor. 15.54 55. And among all the other advantages of that Life we shall then enter upon St. John reckons this That there is no more Death Rev. 21.4 But the great Question is How we can be said to begin to live an Immortal Life then when the Soul that lives in these Bodies is an Immortal Principle now and does not lose its Life by being separated from the Body but does continue to live when the Body is returned to Dust To this I say that though the Soul be Immortal and does not cease to live after it has left the Body yet the Man that consisted of a Body and a Soul does And the Life that the Soul lives is not that Life which a Man by Dying loses For though the Soul be a principal part of us yet it is but one part and the Body is another and it is in the vital Union of these two parts that the Life of Man consists And as it is this Life that Death deprives us of so it is this Life that the Resurrection will restore us And this Life will then begin to be Immortal It is not the Soul that will then begin to be Immortal For Immortality is the privilege of this part of us even while it is now in the Body But the Immortal Life we shall then begin to live is the Life we now live only made Immortal i.e. When the Resurrection has united the Soul and Body together again this Union will never more be broken So that an Immortal Soul shall then live in an Immortal Body for ever And it is in this sense we are to understand the Scriptures when they speak of our putting on Immortality and the Gospels bringing Immortality and Life to light For if we consider the Immortality of the Soul that was a Principle acknowledg'd and believed long before the Gospel was preach'd So that it cannot be the making our Souls Immortal when it tells of our putting on Immortality Now is it the Soul's Immortality that is brought to light by the Gospel for that was known long before But the Immortality and Life that we owe our knowledge of to the Gospel is that indissoluble Union of Body and Soul which will begin at the Resurrection And now from hence we may observe 1. That it is then only we shall begin to live We date our Lives from the time we come into the World and reckon that we have lived through so many Ages of our Infancy our Childhood our Youth our Manhood and Old Age when we arrive to three or fourscore Years This is a Life that we account very long and when so many Years have not drawn it off we reckon it deserves a great deal of respect and reverence And yet all this Life which makes such a noise among us and is of such mighty repute with us is only the Dregs and Relicks of that Life which the Curse that is come upon us has taken from us That liveliness and vivacity that belong'd to innocent Man is sinn'd away and gone And the Spirits that are left us are the very Refuse and Bottom of what we were once stored with And because these serve to feed Life and are not run off sometimes till three or fourscore Years we persuade our selves that we live a great while And yet if we arrive to the utmost length of Life the truest account that can be given of it is this That we have been so many Years a Dying For the first step we take into the World is toward our Graves And though we live to see Thousands fall beside us and Ten thousand at our right hands before it come nigh us yet all that can be said of us is this That we die a more lingring Death than others And besides a Life of fourscore or a hundred Years is so short in comparison of that which is Eternal that it does not in the style of Scripture deserve the name of Life It is styled Vanity and compared to a shadow to instruct us that it has nothing of Reality in it And when it is once spent what is become of all those Years that we are said to live Though Man be so strong that he comes to fourscore Years yet is his strength then but labour and sorrow for it is soon cut off and we flee away Psal 90.10 But when the Resurrection gives us Life again then it is that we shall in the most proper sense be born to live For then we shall receive all that spirit and vigour that we have lost so much Spirit that Eternity shall never waste it And if we account a Life of fourscore Years venerable how much Reverence ought we to have for a Life that has no Death at the end of it Now this is the Life we shall be born to and begin to live when at the Resurrection our Souls take possession of our Bodies again And could we but with steadiness enough apply our Minds to the consideration and meaning of Immortality this Life would appear so much like a Vapour or a suddain Flash that gives us no time to consider whether it be any thing or no as would abate of that respect and value we have for it For 't is sure we can then only be said to begin to live when we begin to feel our selves free from Corruption and the Approaches of Death 2. We shall then begin to live that Life we are appointed to For a mortal and corruptible Life was not that which God design'd and made us for But it is the Curse that Sin has let in upon us the Punishment God has subjected us to for Adam's Transgression By one Man sin enter'd into the World and Death by sin saith the Apostle Rom. 5.12 i.e. The Mortal state we are now in is owing to Adam's Disobedience For had not he disobey'd the Command not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge we had not known what Death meant In his state of Innocency he was a Probationer for Immortality and the Law that threatned him with Death in case of his Disobedience did implicitly at least assure him of Immortality if he did not disobey For it implies that as while he was innocent he was not condemn'd to a Mortal condition so on the other hand he was not
again So that Christ's rising for our Justification does imply these things 1. That God discharged him from the Punishment that he bore for our Offences 2. That he has received Power to justifie us 1. His rising for our Justification means his being discharged from the Punishment he suffer'd for our Offences If we consider his Resurrection with a respect to himself and his Sufferings as personal none can deny but God did in a very glorious manner bear witness to his Innocency thereby and acquit him of those Crimes wherewith his Accusers charged him and that unjust Sentence that his Enemies gave upon him When he was taken by wicked hands and haled before a Judge when he was accused condemned and executed upon a Cross between two Thieves he appear'd as a vile Criminal in the Eye of the World according to what the Prophet Isaiah spoke of him long before We esteem'd him stricken and smitten of God and afflicted i.e. That a just Providence had deliver'd him up to suffer a deserved Punishment But when he rose to Life again he was justified in the sight of Angels and Men to be that Holy and Innocent Person that had done nothing worthy of Death This his Enemies were so sensible of that when his Apostles publish'd to the World how that he was risen again they exclaim'd against them and by Threats and severe Usages endeavour'd to silence them because they brought his Blood upon them This was a visible Justification of his Innocence For no other way was more effectual to take away his Reproach and to procure him Honour among Men than by giving him the Life that was taken from him This indeed was his own Personal Justification But it teaches us That it is not agreeable to the Nature of Justice that Death should hold those that are Innocent And although we cannot plead our Innocence to excuse our selves from Dying yet when the Offences for which we die are pardoned Justice can no longer consider us as under an Offence For since Death is a Punishment for our Offences the same Mercy that pardons the Offence does likewise remit the Punishment i.e. it gives us a Right to our Lives And it is but just that we should have our Lives restored i.e. that we should rise again when Justice can no longer treat us as Offenders by keeping us under the Power of Death And in this sense God by justifying his Son has likewise justified us For though he was Innocent yet for the accomplishing the Redemption of Mankind he was content to charge himself with the Sins of the whole World And as it was by Sin that Death enter'd into the World he who would bear our Transgressions was according to the just Judgment of God that doom'd sinfull Man to die appointed to bear our Punishment likewise So that his Resurrection is not only an Argument that God looked upon him as a Righteous Person that had been unjustly condemned to die but as a Person that having sufficiently satisfied for the Offences for which he died Justice had no right to keep under the Power of Death As it was an Attestation of his Innocence and the spightfull Accusations that his Enemies loaded him with it was an Act of Justice i.e. it was Justice that acquitted him from the unjust Sentence of Pontius Pilate But as it was a freeing him from the Punishment of the Offences for which he was deliver'd it was a mercifull Discharge from an Obligation to Punishment So that since he was deliver'd for our Offences and died because a Sentence of Death was pass'd against Offenders his Rising again is a visible Declaration of that Mercy that pardons Offences For he who dies upon the account of Sin must rise from under a Sentence of Condemnation when he returns to Life again And thus it was that Christ rose He rose from under a Curse and was deliver'd from Death not as a Calamity but as a Punishment And since his Resurrection was of this nature let us consider in what respect it is for our Justification Now as to this matter we may observe these things 1. That by rising from the Dead he has given us an instance that it is possible that a Creature that is condemn'd to die because of an Offence may rise again 2. That that Justice which has condemn'd us to die is fully satisfied and therefore we shall rise again 3. That his Resurrection was not a Personal Privilege but the Triumph of our Representative and Mediatour over Death and consequently a publick Discharge of Mankind from the Sentence of Condemnation 1. That by rising from the Dead he has given us an instance that it is possible that a Creature that is condemn'd to die because of an Offence may rise again One of the greatest Difficulties that lies against this Doctrine is this That we are condemn'd to die by the just Judgment of God and undergo it as a Punishment of our Sin For is it possible that a Punishment when it is inflicted a Sentence after it is executed should be reversed A condemn'd Person before the Sentence is executed upon him may be reprieved and pardon'd And if we were not deliver'd over to Death at all i.e. if we did not see Men die it might easily be believed that we could live an Immortal life But when we are condemn'd and die because we are condemn'd it appears too late to hope for a Pardon after the Punishment is inflicted But this will be no such difficulty if we consider that the Divine Mercy provided that the Death we are adjudged to should not be Eternal by promising before Sentence was given upon us That the seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's head So that although Justice did require that we should lose our Lives for ever as Malefactours do and does 't is true inflict such a Death upon us as for ever separates us from this present World what Difficulty can there be in a Resurrection which restores us no more than what Divine Mercy reserved for us when his Justice condemn'd us and is the fulfilling of that Original Promise made to Adam Had we been condemn'd never to live again neither in this life nor in another Mercy could not have saved us when once the Sentence had been executed up us because a Pardon would then have come too late to save us But when it is only a Death that deprives us of the Hopes of living again in this life that we are condemned to our being condemned to such a Death cannot render it impossible that we should live again in another This is the difference between the Death that we are all condemned to already and that which wicked Men will be condemned to in the Day of Judgment This deprives us only of the Hopes of living again in this life but not in another and therefore a Resurrection from the Death we are now condemned to is not impossible upon the account of the Sentence we are fall'n under
is derived from him For if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by the Spirit that dwelleth in you Rom. 8.11 i.e. The Spirit whereby Christ does now raise us to a New life will likewise quicken our mortal Bodies and give New lise to us after Death But this is not all that is meant by his Power to justifie us For 2. He has Power and Authority given him as the Supreme Judge of the World to acquit us Eternally from Death or when we are risen to give us Eternal life And this is a distinct thing from God's justifying us from the Sentence pass'd upon Adam His raising us to life again after we are dead is owing to our Justification from that Sentence For had not he by dying satisfied the Justice that takes away our Lives we should not rise again to Life But whether we shall live for ever after we are risen or die again does depend upon that Sentence that as our Judge he will pass upon us God has appointed a day in which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained saith St. Paul Act. 17.31 i.e. God has given him Power to take an account how Mankind has used the Mercy that he has favour'd us with and to declare who according to the Gospel are worthy of Eternal life and who are not and accordingly to determine of our Eternal condition either by justifying us to Eternal life or condemning us to a second Death And this he intimates to us in the fore-mentioned Text I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly That they might have life i.e. That I might by raising them from the Dead restore them the Life that Death deprives them of And that they might have it more abundantly i.e. That I might justifie them to a Life that is Eternal when at the Resurrection they are Judged a second time His Resurrection 't is true does assure us that we are now in a Justified state i.e. That we are acquitted from the Sentence that has pass'd upon Adam and that in respect of this Justification we shall certainly rise to Life again But though we be absolved from that Sentence we must expect another to be pass'd upon us which will finally and eternally save us from Death if when we appear before that great Tribunal he that is to Judge us does find we have not neglected so great Salvation and sinn'd away the favour that has been granted us And this Power to absolve us for ever from Everlasting Death is given to him who came into the World to suffer for our Offences and rose again for our Justification And therefore the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us That as it is appointed unto Men once to die and after Death the Judgment So Christ was once offer'd to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation Heb. 9.27 28. i.e. Though we die by vertue of that Sentence that God gave upon us in Adam yet Christ having undergone the Punishment for us we shall not die Eternally by vertue of that Sentence For Christ who bore our Sins will come again to Judge us and then shall all his faithfull Servants be Eternally acquitted from that more dreadfull Curse that he will denounce against all that have lost their opportunity to save their Souls 2. This Power to justifie us i.e. to deliver us from Death by raising us to Lise again and acquitting us as our Judge at the last day he received when he rose from the Dead For then it was that he enter'd upon the publick Administration of the Affairs of his Kingdom and was made of God both Lord and Christ Then it was he received a Name that is above every Name and was dignified with the Honour of being Head over all things Thus he himself told his Disciples after his Resurrection That all Power was given unto him both in Heaven and Earth Matt. 28.18 By which he means the Power of that Kingdom that by vanquishing him that has the Power of Death he has obtained The Power of pardoning Sin and raising the Dead and giving Eternal life to all that faithfully and sincerely serve him The God of our Fathers saith St. Peter raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a Tree Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins Act. 5.30 31. In which words the Apostle informs us that the Power God has given him is the Power of dispensing that Grace and Mercy that he has obtain'd for us The Power of delivering us from Death and of justifying us as our Judge to Eternal life And that this Power God advanced him to when he raised him from the Dead 'T is true while he was in this World he styles himself the Resurrection and the Life and tells us That God had given him Authority to execute Judgment because he is the Son of Man But yet in these Expressions he means no more than that he was the Person who was designed by his Father to this Eminent Dignity and Power of abolishing Death and Judging the World and giving Life and Immortality to mortal Men. And of this he gave a convincing proof by raising Lazarus from the Dead But yet the Life he restored Lazarus to was not that Immortal life which he will give his sincere Followers when he utterly destroys Death but the same Mortal life that he was possess'd of before But the Power of raising us to an Immortal life which he gave a proof that he was designed to be instated in by raising Lazarus from the Dead was not conferr'd upon him till he was risen from the Dead Then it was that he enter'd upon his Regal Office and was invested with that Power and Authority by which he has put all Enemies under his feet He is sat down on the right hand of God saith the Apostle expecting till his Enemies be made his foot-stool Heb. 10.12 13. Designing at the End of all things to subdue Death which is the last Enemy he is to destory and in a most solemn and glorious manner to deliver his faithfull Servants from their Captivity and all Power of Death for the suture and to put them into an actual possession of that immortal life that they live in an expectation of srom him And now if Christ be thus risen for our Justification or that he might receive Power to justifie us Let us consider 1. What Reason we have to depend upon him for Everlasting life This is that Faith that he expects from us and which in the Gospel we are so frequently exhorted to A believing that Death is vanquish'd by the Power of our Mediatour when he rose from the Dead and
Death For what better and safer hands can this Power to deliver and save us be lodged in than the hands of our Saviour For he to be sure will suffer nothing to be lost that he came to save and which he has Power to save This I have insisted on because some who believe that Christ rose again cannot see any Reason from thence to believe that we shall rise again too Now there are but Two things that I can think of that can be an occasion of distrust in the case 1. That this Power was not given him to this purpose 2. If it was we are not certain that he will make use of it Now we are sufficiently secured against any fears of this nature For 1. If he has any Power at all given him it must be to this purpose For none can be said to have a Power to do a thing given him which he is not to do by the use of that Power A Power which is not to be made use of is no Power at all and it could not be said that Christ has Power given him to raise us if this Power that is given him be sufficient to do this and yet he is not permitted to use this Power to this purpose Now that he has such a Power his own Resurrection is a sufficient proof For upon the same Reason that we believe he rose from the Dead we must believe that he has Power to raise the Dead because the Scriptures that teach us the one do teach us the other also So that if he has the Power of raising us committed to him it must be to this purpose that he may raise us And 2. We have great Reason to believe that he will make use of this Power to this purpose For will not he accomplish his own undertaking Will he not finish the thing that he has been sollicitous for Has a Malefactour any reason to doubt whether his Life shall be saved when his friend that has with Cost and Charge been long suing for his Pardon has it at last in his own hands No we are secured by the Love of our Redeemer that the Power he has received will be made use of for our deliverance For where can such a Power be better lodged than with him whose great concern it is to have us saved Thus the Apostle does argue upon this matter If when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life Rom. 5.10 i.e. If he loved us so much when we were Enemies as by dying to reconcile us to God can we believe that he loves us the less now for having loved us so much before Or that after he has procured such a Power of delivering us from Death he will not do what he was so desirous should be done He who died that we might live will undoubtedly give us Life now that he has the Power of giving Life conserr'd upon him This is the Faith that the Gospel requires of us and it is so well grounded that nothing can be more reasonable But 2. Since Christ has received Power to justifie us by raising us from the Dead and giving us Eternal life This may insorm us wherein the Mercy of the Gospel does consist This is a Matter worthy our Consideration because there are so many that mistake it There are few or none so little acquainted with the Circumstances of our Nature but are sensible that we stand in need of a great deal of Mercy to save us And this Universal acknowledgment that it must be Mercy that saves us is an acknowledgment likewise that no other Religion but such a one as is sounded upon Mercy is suited to the Natural condition of Mankind A Religion that only teaches us our Duty and what improvement is necessary to qualifie us for Immortality is not now so adapted to our Nature as when Man was Innocent For because there are strong Aversions in us to that which is good Sensual inclinations that render man Sins very gratefull to Flesh and Blood and by that means give Sin such a power over us that the Conquest of one Sin is many times the labour of a Man's life we are not in a Condition to improve our selves for Immortality as Innocent Man might But though this is the Acknowledgment of all Men and the Gospel upon that account does contain the best Religion we can be under the Government of yet the Mercy of the Gospel which is the Mercy we want is not so well consider'd but that many who believe it is Mercy must save them do rest upon such Mercy as will not save them For that which many found their Hopes upon is the simple Consideration of the mercifull Nature of God without any regard to any particular Instance wherein he has Exemplified to us the Mercy he would have us depend upon For because Mercy is an Attribute that belongs to the Divine Nature they persuade themselves that nothing severe can be dreaded from a God of Mercy Thus bad Men bear up their Spirits under the pressure of their guilt and put by those Terrours wherewith the Consideration of God's Justice would affright them into an amendment of Life and at last make a shift to go out of the World without any great sense of their Danger For if they must appear before a Just and Holy God yet the God that will Judge them has the Bowels and Compassions of a Father And this Thought lays all frightfull Apprehensions of his Justice They consider not that Death is the Wages or the just desert of Sin and that by carrying their Sins along with them into the other World they carry that along with them that the Justice of God has already condemn'd and does punish them for when they die They think not that while they do wickedly they despise the Mercy that God has shown us and even throw away their own Lives which the Divine Mercy by justifying them from a Sentence of Condemnation has put into their own power to save It is evident indeed that their own Consciences being witnesses they do that which deserves Death I mean the Eternal loss of their Souls when they have a recourse to Mercy for their hopes of recovering them again when they are lost i.e. When they are separated from their Bodies and sent into the other World to live among Cursed Spirits For why else should they expect to receive their Souls again from the Hands of Mercy rather than of Justice if they were not conscious to themselves that they justly lose them And since they are conscious of this in their own Minds what reason have they to think that God will not do that which their own Consciences tell them they have deserved And there is this further to prove the Folly of such a Hope that they see the Mercy they trust to does not save them from the Punishment of Sin But Death
lightning the Spirits does too often issue in very great Immoralities Upon the same reason it is that Men let themselves loose to all extravagant Jollities of a sensual life and grow enamour'd of this World because it is a place so well stored with Entertainments for our sensitive Part. But although the Pleasures of this World do appear very considerable to us and are extremely taking with us when we consider our Bodies as they are now yet how meanly would they appear to us if we consider'd that all the suitableness that is in them is owing to the present imperfection of them But that when we receive them again purified and improved nothing of this nature will be delightfull to us How little pleasure should we take in feasting a wanton and luxurious Appetite or in adorning a Carcase that must die and return to Dust or in any of the most delicious Enjoyments of this life did we think that all this Care is laid out upon a Body that is corruptible and mortal And that this same Body when it is raised to its most perfect state will as much loath and abhorr all these things as a Beggar rais'd to a plentifull Fortune does the Rags he was once clad with At the Resurrection though we shall live again in these very Bodies yet there will be no Eating nor Drinking nor any gratifying of Sense with any of those delights that now we reckon the very Comforts of this life But we shall either despise them or be as much despised and scorn'd for our inclinations toward them as the Beggar who being advanced to a great Estate does rather delight in a Barn and a wandring Life than a Palace and the respects that belong to his Fortune And why should we for the sake of these Bodies which then will be above them value and love the delights of this sensible World as the best and only Pleasures we are capable of If we would judge of the Delights of this World from the Capacities of our Bodies the best way would be to take an account of them from their Relation to our Bodies when they are in their best and most exalted Condition And then I am sure they would appear very mean and contemptible We cannot 't is true pass our Lives comfortably here without living upon and enjoying this World But yet it is very fit we should be mortified to this World and enjoy the pleasures of it very sparingly because we must live again in another World and the Bodies that are now pleased with the Enjoyments of this will if they be fit to live there find no more pleasure at all in them And the only way to cure us of our too great fondness for worldly things is to consider how little pleasure we shall take in them when we live again how base and contemptible all the Temptations that here court us to Voluptuousness and Luxury will appear when we are in so good a condition that we shall be able to live without the most needfull Enjoyments that now we have CHAP. III. The Resurrection consider'd as it is an Entring us upon an Immortal Life III. I Come now to consider the Resurrection as it is the beginning of an Immortal Life We shall not only then begin to live again and to live in these Bodies which Death deprives us of but to live an Immortal life 'T is the great reproach of that Life we now live that it is mortal because by receiving it mortal we receive it with the mark of God's displeasure upon it And Mortality does detract so very much from Life that it leaves us very little Life to boast of But when we rise again we shall for ever be freed from that which is so much the reproach of Life And the Life we shall then begin to live will be the same that Adam should have lived had he not brought a Curse upon himself and us i.e. It will be the Life that God in our Creation design'd us for Was the Resurrection only design'd to restore us the Life we lose when we die I mean just in the same imperfect condition we now enjoy it we should be apt to rejoyce in it as a Blessing and to fetch Arguments from thence to lay the Terrours of Death because it is much better to be in a living than a dead State Better is a living Dog than a dead Lion saith the Wise-man Eccles 9.4 i.e. The most contemptible Creature that has Life is in a much better condition than the most noble that wants it For to him that is joyned to all the living there is hope i.e. He that is alive does by virtue of that principle of Life that is in him reap much comfort and satisfaction from a prospect of all the good he is capable of This Notion some have carried so far as to persuade themselves that the Damned who undergo Everlasting Torments are in a much better condition than if they were in a state of Annihilation Because though they live in the most miserable condition yet they live And they who live do enjoy some good whereas they who have no life enjoy no good at all Upon which reason they conclude it is much more Eligible to be than not to be and to live though in the greatest misery than not to live at all But I must confess that I don't apprehend the fineness of this kind of arguing Neither does it appear that any Man does set such a value upon Life as to be content to live the most deplorably wretched life so that he can but live For Misery when there is nothing to allay it does spoil the pleasure and take away the very desire of living But however such a life as we now live is acceptable enough to us though in the course of it we do meet with many troublesome Circumstances Our sensibility of this we make appear by that daily care we take and that great expence we are at to find out Remedies to put off Death as long as we can For though there be vexatious passages in this life yet we generally feel they are tolerable or when they swell to a bulk exceeding our strength almost yet we often see that the greatest of Temporal Evils are not very long and upon that account we hope we may out-live them So that although it was to no better a life than this is that we should rise again yet we should be well satisfied with the thoughts of a Resurrection And the rather because this is a life that we are well acquainted with and know the worst of and by having made a trial of it do know how to pass through it with some tolerable ease and comfort But yet there is one Evil that attends this life which nothing that we enjoy in it can make tolerable and that is the Certainty of Death So that were we only to rise to a Mortal life this thought that we must die again would much abate of our esteem
Power by which he was raised was the Power of God And what should hinder but we may believe that he could do that by vertue of his Divine Power which no Man can believe that he could do by the Power of a Man For it is as agreeable to Reason to believe that he who has the Power of God and do all that God can do as that he who has no more than the Power of a Man can do no more than a Man can do Let us but allow him to be what he was the Son of God according to the Spirit of Holiness and it will be no astonishing thing that he who was God as well as Man could do that which none but God can do 2. Let us consider how much Reason we have to believe that he is able to raise us likewise He himself has told us That God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3.16 i.e. That the design of his Life and Death was to reverse the Sentence of Death that we are fall'n under and to provide a safe retreat for our Souls in the other World where when they come thither they shall live under his protection in hopes of being restored by him to their Bodies again Upon which account he styles himself the Life of the World and the Resurrection and the Life to teach us that we are to ground our Hopes of living again after Death upon him And accordingly he informs us that the Power of raising the Dead as well as of judging the World is committed to him Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in which all that are in their Graves shall hear his voice And shall come forth they that have done good into the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation Joh. 5.28 29. And the Apostle makes the general Resurrection of the Dead to the effect of Christ's descending to judge the World The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Arch-angel and with the Trumpet of God and then the Dead in Christ shall rise first 1 Thess 4.16 Those Expressions of his descending with a shout the Voice of the Archangel and the Trumpet of God denote the Magnificence of his appearing and the mighty Power wherewith he shall raise the Dead For in these Expressions the Apostle alludes to the several ways of gathering Assemblies and especially to Tribunals to denote that when Christ appears again he will give a general Summons for all Flesh to appear before him Now the Hopes of a Resurrection is so agreeable to us that the Scriptures frequently make use of it as the best support for the bearing up our Minds under the pressures of this life And what better assurance can we have of this than that it is committed to him whose Errand into the World was to restore Life unto it and who in his own Resurrection has given us a proof of his Power to do it Let the unreasonable Sceptick start Objections to perplex our Faith Let the Atheist like those at Athens mock at the Doctrine of a Resurrection Let both the one and the other pretend it never so impossible that our Souls when they have left our Bodies should be brought back again into them or that our Dust when it is scatter'd and has suffer'd so many changes as they talk of should be gather'd together again yet we know and have had a proof of the Power of him in whom we believe We have seen his Triumph over Death and Hell in his own Resurrection And what Difficulty can it be to him who has spoiled Principalities and Powers and triumph'd over them who has conquer'd Hell or Hades and of a Prison has made it a place of Safety and Refuge for departed Souls to give them the fruits of his Victory and to summon them before him when he appears the second time What Difficulty can it be to him who has a Divine Power to find out that which is not lost as certainly the Dust of our Dissolved Bodies is not 'T is a Divine Power that we depend upon for our Resurrection and he who has promised us that he will raise us up at the last day has given us a proof of his Conquest over Hell and the Grave That which he bids us hope for is not beyond the Power of his Spirit for he has that powerfull Spirit that can quicken a Dead Body and make it habitable again For that Spirit by which he raised himself is able to quicken and raise us likewise And therefore that portion of his Spirit that he here communicates to us is styled the Earnest of our Inheritance as a pledge given us in hand to assure us of what he will do for us And since it is a portion of that Spirit by which he rose from the Dead we are to consider it as a security he has given us that we shall rise too If Christ be in you though the Body be dead because of sin i.e. Though it is a Body that Death has the Power of that we now live in because Sin has corrupted it yet the spirit is life because of Righteousness Rom. 8.10 i.e. The Spirit is our security that we shall live again because its Office is to heal our Nature and to take away that which is the cause of Death And if the spirit of him that raised Jesus from the dead dwell in you i.e. If you have the same Spirit of Holiness that was in him he that raised up Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the spirit that dwelleth in you v. 11. For that Omnipotent Spirit by which he rose will produce the same Effect upon all in whom it dwells CHAP. III. The Assuured Principle upon which Christianity teaches us to ground our Hopes of a Resurrection viz. As Christ rose for our Justification III. THE Third thing that the Certainty of a Resurrection depends upon is that Assured Principle that God has furnish'd us with by raising Christ for our Justification And in considering the Import of this and how assuredly it satifies us that we shall rise again I shall do these Two things 1. Consider what Justification means 2. In what sense Christ rose for our Justification SECT I. 1. I shall consider what Justification means But I shall not here concern my self to give an account of the several Acceptations of this word among other Writers but only to state its proper signification as it is a principal Doctrine of the Christian Faith and what that peculiar Privilege is which St. Paul who does mainly and more fully insist upon it in his Writings than any other of the Sacred Writers intendeth by it And for the better understanding it we must consider that it is a Juridical Term and is properly the Act of a Judge and has a respect to his
with all Spiritual and Divine Perfections that he could not possibly by Improvement make himself a more noble and excellent Creature than he was He had without question all those Perfections that are Natural otherwise he could not have been sufficiently qualified for such an Improvement of himself as God expected from him He was I mean perfectly free from that Cloudiness of Mind that suffers us not to discern things as they are and had none of that false Biass upon his Will as renders a vertuous Course difficult to us But yet these Natural Perfections were capable of Improvement For though as he was no way disposed to Vice so he wanted those dispositions to Vertue and Goodness which are not acquired but by repeated Acts and which when they are laid in the Mind do give Reason a greater strength and vigour and do the more readily turn the Will to the Approbation and Choice of Vertue Now that this Improvement of his Mind to such a confirm'd state that Temptations should neither hurt nor reach him was his business is evident from that Threat of being hurl'd into a Mortal state if he disobeyed the Law of his Maker that the Scripture gives us an account of This shows that he was a Probationer for Immortality and that this was to be the Reward of his Labour when by the Practice of Divine Vertues he had exalted his Nature to an Impeccable state I mean when he had laid such strong Inclinations to Vertue in his Mind as to live in the Practice of it by a Natural disposition And as this was the state Adam was created in and is the Natural state of all Mankind because the Powers of our Nature if there was no Corruption in us are not so pure and excellent but they may be still Exalted The mischief that Sin let in upon us was the putting an End to this state by subjecting us to the Wrath of God For when God gave Judgment upon Adam had not his Mercy laid a design to recover us all hopes of advancing our selves to an Immortal state had been at an End And considering how low our Souls sunk into Sensuality by yielding to the Temptation that undid us there was no Moral possibility that we should raise our Nature so corrupted to a state of Impeccability again So that the Judgment that God gave upon us and the state he doomed us to was no other than the Natural consequence of our Apostasie Upon which account we have no Reason to complain that he has dealt severely with us in condemning us for one Sin because that one Sin put us into such a condition that we could never have improved our Nature to such an Excellency as Innocent Man might and was required to do Men are very apt to think it hard that God should give such a Sentence upon Adam and in him upon us as took from us the liberty of trying whether we could recover what he had lost and by a greater Application of our Minds over-come all those mighty Difficulties that Sin had laid in our way to the Perfection we were to aspire after But they who think it hard do not consider the waste that Sin had made in our Natural Powers and that it would have been no kindness to have tried us any longer in that way as Adam was to have improved himself but a Cruelty because we could not For it would have been a very hard thing to have held us to that Duty which we are utterly disabled for And now since it was upon these Terms that God plac'd Man in this World and the Duties of our entire Nature were become Morally impossible when he determined to put us upon another Trial he justified us from the Sentence that he had passed upon us for our Miscarriage in the first And this I take to be the great Blessing and Advantage of our being in a Justified state That being discharged from Death as a Punishment of Sin i.e. from the Eternity of it we are tried by the Divine Mercy whether the Hopes of Immortality will yet make us dutifull and obedient to him God's justifying us is to put us into our Original state of Probation for an Immortal Life For as his condemning us put an End to this state because they whom he condemns have lost the opportunity for Improvement So his Pardoning takes off the Impediment to Improvement and puts Life again into our hands to take care of But when I say it puts us into our Original state I do not mean that which Adam was in before he sinn'd for such an Improvement as he was capable of making before Sin had corrupted his Nature is not possible to us But the Original state I speak of is that of being Probationers for Heaven though the Trial we are put to is suited to the infirmity of our Condition It is not expected that we should live as Innocent Man might have done nor improve as he ought to have done for God has condescended to such a Righteousness as our maimed Powers are able to reach to A Righteousness that is by Faith and it is expected that we should be sincere and hearty in our Obedience to this Law of Grace though we cannot arrive in this Life to such a state of Impeccability which was the Work and was to be the Aim of Innocent Man And to this purpose we are Exhorted to work out our Salvation and by a patient continuance in well-doing to seek for Glory and Immortality which and many other places of Scripture would be insignificant if we were not to consider this Life as a state of Trial. For to what purpose are the Exhortations of this Nature if we must still die as condemn'd Criminals that have no right to Life at all When therefore these Exhortations are made to us they suppose we are discharged from the Sentence that will not let us live and that if we make but a good use of this Mercy the former Sentence will not be rigorously executed upon us but that we shall live again and when we do live again shall be Immortal But if we neglect so great Salvation and continue to preferr the Pleasures and Enjoyments of a Sensual life before the Joys and Glories of an Immortal state though we do not suffer the Death we are doom'd to when God so solemnly Judg'd Adam to die yet which is worse even after we are risen to Life again we must undergo a second Judgment and be condemn'd to die a second time SECT II. How Christ rose for our Justification II. I Come now to consider in what sense Christ is said to have risen for our Justification From whence not only the Certainty that there is a Resurrection but that we shall rise again will appear Now his rising from the Dead is an Exemplification of the great Blessing of our Justification For a Creature that dies can no otherwise be Justified i.e. discharged from such a Punishment but by rising to Life
keep us the Reputation of his Government And although Clemency does very well become a Governour yet it ought to be such Mercy as will not weaken that Awe and Reverence as is due to Authority Now the Mercy of a Soveraign is not to pardon all Offendours nor any too easily because the End of Government is to restrain Wickedness which could not be done if none that offend were made Examples to others So that Mercy is to be directed by Wisdom i.e. it is the Office of Wisdom to consider when and upon what considerations a Criminal is to be pardon'd otherwise the not punishing a Criminal is not Mercy but Remissness If then it was just that Adam and his Posterity should be condemned to a Mortal condition when Humane Nature was corrupted it was not fit that the wise Governour of the World should deliver us from our Mortal state without making known the severity of that Justice that should awe the World for the future But this could not be done without inflicting the Punishment either upon us whom his Justice has condemn'd or some other person as our Representative So that considering God as a Governour who was to take care of the Honour of his Justice and the Reputation of his Wisdom the only Mercy he could show us that would do us any good was this of delivering our Mediatour for our Offences For by laying our Iniquities upon him he has taken that wise method that he can be just in justifying us i.e. in giving us our Lives that his Justice condemn'd us to lose If it be said that he could have promised us our Lives again upon our future good deportment without a satisfaction such a deportment I mean as that which he is willing to accept of from us For unless he had condescended as low as the Gospel does such a promise of pardoning us what was past would not have carried that Mercy in it that we need who are disabled for such an Improvement as was expected from innocent Man So that they who suppose that God's Mercy is of that nature that he could without a satisfaction have remitted what was past to the truly Penitent and that his revealing such Mercy to us would have been sufficient encouragement to a Pious behaviour for the future must suppose likewise a Remission of the Rigour of the Law of perfect Obedience as well as of the Sentence he pass'd upon us And allowing thus much I answer 1. That this would have been Mercy indeed but not such Mercy as would have secured an Awe and Reverence of him in the Minds of Men. For they who suppose this may as well go on supposing That in case of our neglect of this second Law there is still further Mercy to be hoped for till they suppose he is so mercifull as to forgive where there is no Repentance 2. That such a Promise would not have been a sufficient Encouragement to a Holy Life The great Motive to live well is the Hopes we have of returning to Life again after we are dead And if this Doctrine has with so much difficulty found belief among Men though the Possibility of it has been Exemplified by the Resurrection of our Lord how much more should we have objected the Impossibility of it And therefore when God would deliver us from the fears of Death it was necessary he should make use of such a method as was sufficient to this purpose 'T is true we die still thought the Sentence of Death be remitted but yet to die because we have sinned and to be pardoned because Christ was deliver'd for our Offences are not unaccountable At least such an account of our Dying still though we are Justified may be given as is sufficient to justifie the Divine Wisdom and such an account too as will I doubt not reconcile a state of Mortality with a state of Pardon We die still though we are pardon'd because we have so corrupted our Nature that it is impossible we should live without a Miracle But yet though we do die the Resurrection of our Redeemer who rose to Life again after he suffer'd as a Sinner is an evident proof of our being pardon'd the extremity of that Death we should have suffer'd we are not justified so as not to die because the Resurrection is our Justification or at least the fruit of it But since we must not die to perish for ever unless we fall under another Sentence when we return to Life again we shall feel and rejoyce under the sense of that pardon that has deliver'd us from Death For though we are not pardon'd so as to be exempted from dying yet it is by vertue of a Pardon that we shall be deliver'd from Death at the Resurrection This is the Justification that the Death of Christ has procured and his Resurrection does declare For his Resurrection is a satisfaction to us that there is nothing will keep us for ever in the Grave when we go thither and that our Souls shall not be left in Hell because the opening of that Prison is proclaimed by his Resurrection Because I live saith our Saviour ye shall live also Joh. 14.19 i.e. My Resurrection rection will satisfie you that there is another Life after this and that at the last though you die because Offenders Death will be swallow'd up of Victory because I have conquer'd it 3. Therefore his Resurrection was not a Personal privilege only and on that account only the Justification of his own Innocence but the Triumph of our Redeemer over Death and the publick Discharge of the Representative of Mankind from a condemn'd state and therefore is for the Justification of all the sinfull Posterity of Adam Had his Death been only a misfortune upon himself for an Innocent person may be put to Death by violent hands though he has not deserved to die Justice would require that he who lost his life without any fault should have it restored for the Justification of his Innocence So that if we should consider Christ as a most Holy and Innocent person only a person that knew no Sin there is no question but after so much Violence as he suffer'd from the wicked Hands of the Jews Divine Justice would have vindicated him from so unjust a Sentence as was pass'd upon him by raising him from the Dead and giving him that Life again that had been wrongfully taken from him Upon which reason no doubt that ancient Opinion that the Holy Martyrs who bravely sought the good fight of Faith and were slain for the Testimony which they held should rise first was grounded It being looked upon as a thing very equal and righteous with God to Honour those with this Prerogative who lost their Lives for the sake of Christ and his Gospel But had his Resurrection been only for the justifying of himself it would have given no encouragement to those that die because in an Offence to hope they might live again likewise The utmost then
has received this Power we may observe upon what Reason it will go worse with wicked Christians at the last than with ignorant Heathens That it will do so our Saviour has assured us in those dreadfull Denunciations against Chorazin Bethsaida and Capernaum the Cities where he frequently taught and wrought his Miracles Wo unto thee Chorazin wo unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty Works that have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in Sackcloth and Ashes But I say unto you It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Day of Judgment than for you And thou Capernaum which art exalted to Heaven shalt be brought down unto Hell For if the mighty Works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom it would have remained untill this day But I say unto you It shall be more tolerable for the Land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for thee Matt. 11.21 22 23 24. And that there is a great deal of Reason it should be so is evident from hence That wicked Christians sin against that Mercy and despise that Salvation that the Heathen part of the World know nothing of For all the Mercy that Heathens have by the Death and Resurrection of Christ is that they shall assuredly rise again from Death because Christ who died for our Offences has discharged all Mankind from Death as it is a Punishment of Sin But how the great Judge will deal with them when they are risen we know not because the Mercy that shall be shown them is not revealed Christ by the Power he has received will raise them to Life again though they know not of it But when they are risen they will not be Judged for not improving this Mercy because they know nothing of it neither Neither have they that Revelation that ascertains to Christians both their Duty and Reward and therefore shall not be condemn'd for not improving themselves to that height of Vertue that the Christian Religion teaches But now the case of wicked Christians is quite otherwise For they must rise to answer for all the abuse of that Mercy that the Gospel acquaints them with And they must die again because they have despised that Life that they must then lose when it was in their Power to have secured it Though they have the means of knowing that they shall not for ever lose their Souls upon the account of the Judgment that came upon all Men to Condemnation in Adam and that they are favour'd with a new Trial whether they will chuse Life or Death they lose the time of their Trial and must die because they chuse Death And this will aggravate their Condemnation that when they were favour'd with the care of their own Souls they foolishly lost the time in which God put them to their choice whether they would live or die So that when they are condemn'd again it will be a startling Consideration to them that they must die for their own neglect of themselves and that they have taken no warning by their former Condemnation but have to no purpose been pardon'd the fault for which they lose this present life And besides it will beget terrible Reflections in them when they come to consider that the Judge before whom they stand is he that came into this World to deliver them from Death by vanquishing that subtil Enemy that betray'd us into Mortality That it is he that will condemn them that when he appears the second time comes with Power to save i.e. to conferr upon us the fruits of his bloody Victory And that he will condemn them because they have taken their Souls out of his hand when he had deliver'd them and have deliver'd them up again to the slavery of those Evil Spirits out of whose power he had rescued them So that their Condemnation will be with the greatest Indignation for disappointing the Hopes and thwarting the Design of him that has procured a Power from his Father to save It will be with bitter Wrath and Vengeance for deserting the protection of a Saviour after all the Sweat and Blood that he was at the expence of to deliver them Those mine Enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me Luk. 19.27 And oh with what Consternation and Agonies in their Souls will they then be tortured when they see the direfull Executioners of that terrible Sentence coming upon them to seize them and that they must lose their Lives again which they have but just received and which is worse to lose them within the sight of Immortality He will condemn all that do Unrighteousness but a wicked Heathen will not fall under so much Wrath as a wicked Christian because he sins only against the Light of his own Mind and loses the Benefit of that Salvation that he never heard of But that which will heighten the wicked Christian's Condemnation is this That he has received the Grace of God in vain and must be condemn'd by him whose Kindness they have been frequently told of and whose Mercy they have been courted to accept of and to improve Oh! with what weight will the Wrath of a Redeemer fall upon the Heads of wicked Christians How scorching will that Justice be which the Love and Mercy of a Saviour will be forced to give way unto Because you would none of my Counsel but have despised all my Reproof and trampled on my Blood and turned my Grace into Wantonness Therefore shall ye eat the fruit of your own Ways and be filled with your own Devices Go ye cursed into everlasting burnings Such a Sentence out of the Mouth of a Saviour will come with such Astonishment and Horrour as no Heathen has any reason to dread Neither is this the worst of their case For every one that calls himself a Christian does profess to have put himself under the protection of their Redeemer's Mercy And therefore every Christian that does wickedly must expect to die without pity because he renounces his Trust in that Mercy without which when he embraced the Christian Religion he declared he could not be saved and repenting of his subjection to his Saviour revolts from him who alone has the Power to justifie The case of the Heathens is pitiable because of their Ignorance And therefore the Apostle tells us God winked at the time of the Heathen Ignorance He seem'd to over-look their Follies and out of mere pity to take no notice of their Mistakes But what Mercy can they expect who make light of that Mercy that calls them to Repentance and puts it into their Power to provide better for themselves than their first Parents did 5. We may hence likewise observe how little reason we have to dread a future Judgment There are a great many Considerations that are sufficient to remove those Fears that the thoughts of that Great Day are apt to terrifie us
with For he who is appointed to Judge us is the Man Christ Jesus He is a Man that is sensible of all the Infirmities that we labour under and does carry in his Bowels the Affections and tender Compassions of a Man toward us In that he has suffer'd being tempted he is able or very inclinable to succour them that are tempted Heb. 2.18 For what severe or terrible thing can we fear from a Man like our selves What unkind or hard Sentence have we reason to dread from him who is our Brother Will not he who took part of Flesh and Blood be very tender to the Infirmities of his own Nature Though it be a terrible thing to appear before a Just and Righteous God because the Justice of a God is very frightfull yet it can be no very frightfull thing to appear before a God made Man because we are well acquainted with the Tendernesses that are in the Nature of a Man Or if this Consideration be not enough to reconcile our Thoughts to a Judgment to come because we too often see that the Passions of Men make them violent and injurious cruel and oppressive toward each other Yet he is a Man not subject to the like Passions as we are nor tainted with those Vices as corrupt our Nature and render it a difficult thing oftentimes to converse with those of our own kind But he is a Man famed for Meekness and Humility for Love and Charity for Mercy and Compassion So that he is qualified with all those soft and tender Vertues that we our selves would desire should be in him that is to Judge us And since we must be Judged we would wish for such a Judge as he is But this is not all for the most comfortable Consideration of all is this That the Power to Judge us that is committed to him is a Power to justifie and acquit us from Death He has merited a Power to give Life to the World and therefore when he appears the second time it will be to the Salvation of all that wait for him by raising them from the Dead and giving them Eternal life So that his Judging the World will be an executing of that Power of giving Life that he has received It will be with the Pardon that he has mediated in his hand and for the delivering us who now are appointed to die from any more fear of Death for the future He will 't is true when he appears be cloathed with that Majesty that will be terrible to his Enemies and as a Righteous Judge give a very dreadfull Sentence upon all the workers of Iniquity But yet though he will condemn to a second Death those that he finds not worthy of Life and as well concern himself for the Interests and Reputation of his Father's Justice as our Everlasting Welfare Yet it is plain that the giving so severe a Sentence is besides his purpose and as well contrary to the Office as the Inclinations of a Redeemer because he will raise even those to Life again whom he thus condemns His raising them to Life again will demonstrate even to those that must die again that it is for the dispensing of Mercy and the acting like a Saviour that he does then appear That the primary End of his appearing is for the restoring Lise to Mortal Creatures For why else will he raise them to Life whom he will afterwards condemn to another Death but to let the World see that he designs Life for all if Mercy it self can but save them The true and proper find then of his sitting in Judgment will be the displaying the Mercy of a Redeemer the distributing the price of his Blood and the communicating the Everlasting Grace of the Gospel He came to save that which was lost and to be sure he will not cast away any that he came to save nor easily condemn when his business was to destroy Death He will Judge us who will raise us to Life again And to be sure he who then gives us our Lives will not easily and without very great Reason take them away again And now how terrible soever it is to us to think of undergoing a Trial of our Actions before a just Judge Yet is it not enough to ease our Thoughts to think that this Judgment will be terrible to none but such as have no Reason to hope in his Mercy but that all whom Mercy can save the Bowels of a Mediatour will deliver from Condemnation What more favourable Judge can we expect than such a one as has purchased us and has purchased Eternal life for us Such a one as comes with Power to justifie and save all whom Mercy can deliver and who lets us see his Inclination to give us Life by freeing us from a Sentence of Condemnation when he raises us out of our Graves The Conclusion HAving consider'd the Nature and Certainty of the Resurrection all that I shall observe from the whole is the Necessity that is upon us to live like those that do believe we shall rise again I mean that we do nothing now that will lose us our Lives again when they are restored to us at the Resurrection To live in this World as if we should never live more after Death has taken us out of it is very excusable in those who know not that they shall rise again because they take care of all the Life they know of But for a Christian who believes he must live again to do this is an extremity of Folly and Madness for it is to be thoughtfull only for an inconsiderable part of our Lives And surely it is not to act wisely for our selves not to take care of all the Life we are to live It is in the Opinion of all Men a very great imprudence not to take care of our Lives And therefore that Labour and Toil those vexatious Cares and Solicitudes wherewith Men wear out their Bodies and vex their Minds are justified upon this account that they are for the maintaining of Life And they are lookt upon as Men of little understanding who live without any kind of fore-cast or thoughtfulness for Life Now what Men do and make a great Mark of their Prudence in doing for the support and preservation of this life is much more needfull to be done for the preserving the Life we shall rise to because that is the Life that it principally concerns us to look after When Men neglect the Duties of Religion the general Answer wherewith they satisfie themselves and wherewith they expect that all Men should be satisfied is that they have not leisure The business of this World takes up their time and if they have hardly time sometimes to Eat and Sleep they cannot think but the Cumber and the Urgency of their Affairs will as well excuse them from their Religious Services as it obliges them to a neglect of their Bodies But when Men talk at this rate one would think they were
that when they had eaten their Eyes were opened v. 7. But the mischief of the Temptation lay in this That they were prevailed upon to Eat of it before their time before they were prepared and qualified for it or fitted for so great a Benefit as was designed them in it And therefore it was that God turned them out of the Garden lest they should Eat likewise of the Tree of Life and live for ever i.e. Lest they should make themselves Immortal when by setting their Appetites at liberty they had made their improvements in Vertue more difficult than they would have been and when in the Condition they were in Immortality would have been no Blessing For I don't suppose that the Tree of Life was planted in Eden to repair the decays of a mortal Body but that by Eating of it they might be made Immortal when by a course in Vertue and Piety they were become fit for a Translation to that place where they should no more need Meat or Drink to support their Lives And therefore St. John tells us that in the New Jerusalem that glorious City we shall after the Resurrection dwell in for ever There is the Tree of Life whose Leaves are for the Healing of the Nations Rev. 22.2 i.e. Whose Fruit shall make us Immortal as the Tree of Life in the midst of Paradise should have made Adam had he not disobey'd the Divine Command The Sum of all is this Adam was created in so sound and healthfull a State that Age and Infirmities could not Naturally have prevail'd over him But as he was not Naturally subject to Death so neither was he Created in an Immortal Condition But Life and Death were set before him and as he was a Probationer for Immortality so God having created him Innocent left it to his own choice whether he would live or die i.e. Whether by Obeying he would procure to himself when the time of his Tryal was over a grant to Eat of the Trees of Knowledge and of Life or whether by disobeying God he would be debarr'd of this privilege and instead of being translated to a state where he should live without Food as the Angels do be doom'd to a Life of Sorrow and Labour So that as Mortality was the Judgment that came upon him for his Sin so Immortality was the gift God would have bestow'd on him for his Obedience had he improved himself for it This then being that perfection of Life that God when he made Man innocent design'd him for The Resurrection 't is plain is design'd to restore us to that way of living that God in our Creation fitted us for For although Man was not created Immortal yet it is plain he was created for an Immortal Life because God put an Immortal Principle into these Bodies of Clay which now are Mortal For why should he unite two such Principles together and make it Natural for an Immortal Soul to live in a Body if he did not design they should live always together And if this was the way of living that Man was intended for in his Creation the Life that the Resurrection is designed to give us is the same Immortal Life that we were Created for For he that over-cometh i.e. maketh those Improvements in Vertue as Adam should have done shall after he is risen again for the confirming of Life to him eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God Rev. 2.7 i.e. We shall be made Immortal as Adam should have been The Life we now live which is subject to Diseases and Death is not the Life that God gave us but the sorry Remains of that Life which he appointed us to It is only so much as has been left us But at the Resurrection we shall begin to live like Men. For then our Immortal Souls shall be united to Immortal Bodies And the Life we should have lived if we had never sinned will then Commence when Corruption and Mortality which are the Punishments of Sin shall be changed into Incorruption and Immortality which are the glorious Privileges of the Sons of God 3. We shall then be freed from the Reproach of Mortality and Corruption The Reproach I call it for there can be no greater Reproach to a Creature that was made for Immortality than to die And especially when we consider that Death is the Punishment of Sin and that we die for our Disobedience to our Creator and Soveraign Lord. In this case Death puts us to open shame in the sight of all the World We seem to have a Natural sense of the fault that is the occasion of it when we lament the Funerals of our Friends and Relations And the natural dread and horror of Death that is in all Men does express a mighty Regret that such a thing as Mortality and Corruption should belong to us who have an Immortal Principle within us We go out of the World like Criminals and can any thing grate more upon an ingenuous Mind than to think we die because we are under an offence and we condemned to die And had not our gracious Redeemer born our Shame for us and appeas'd the Wrath that is come upon us and made it a more easie thing to enter upon another state with what shame and horror with what confusion and disorder can we imagine that our Souls would have crept out of these Bodies For in this case they would have been dragg'd like Apprehended Malefactors to that separate state whither they go when they leave the Body as to a Gaol over which the Devil has the power For according to St. Paul's Expression he has the power of Death Heb. 2.14 i.e. Death would have deliver'd our Souls into his hands as a condemn'd Criminal is put into the hands of an Executioner They would have been consigned over to him who has the power over that State whither Death sends us And oh with what Vexation and Anguish would they have been tormented to think that all this was come upon them by the just Judgment of God! Think with how much shame a Man that was born to a plentifull Estate appears among Men or is haled to a Prison when by his Folly he has reduced himself to Beggary and Rags and the common Reproach of all that knew him is See the Man that has undone himself by his Extravagancies And how much more grievous would it have been to us had not Christ by dying and rising again taken away our Reproach to have been pointed at by Angels when we had gone into the other World without the Bodies that by the Law of our Creation we were appointed to live in and when we had fall'n under the Power and Dominion of Evil Spirits to have had it said of us That we were the Spirits of Men and had brought our selves into that Condition by our own Folly and want of Consideration But Christ by Death has destroyed him that had the power of Death
Punishment for Grace to save him from But the case is not thus with us For the Scripture saith he has concluded all under sin Gal. 3.22 i.e. He has already given Judgment upon us and therefore his Justifying us cannot be by declaring us Righteous according to the Law of Integrity but by acquitting us of the sin he has concluded us under And what other Judgment is it that the Apostle has a respect to in this Expression but that which he gave upon Adam when for his Disobedience he condemn'd him to die God 't is true does in a secret and invisible way govern and judge the World in all Ages of it He hurls contempt upon Princes he humbles the proud and makes a Land barren for the wickedness of those that dwell therein And when he does any thing of this nature he concludes that sinfull People under their own Sins whom he punishes for their Wickedness But yet these and such-like Calamities though they are the Judgments of God and argue him to have pass'd a doom upon such a People Yet it is secret and does not determine of Men's state and condition any further than as to the Temporal comforts of this life But the sin that the Scripture tells us we are concluded under does respect all Men and the Judgment it speaks of had finally determin'd of our state had not Mercy interposed And of this nature was the Sentence that God pass'd upon Adam For his Judging him was of the same nature as the great Judgment at the End of the World will be It was open and by way of Process and Accusation Adam was cited charged admitted to plead for himself and at last convicted and condemned And this Sentence did determine of the final condition of Mankind appointing him and his Posterity irrevocably to Death So that he had died immediately and this Wrath of God would have lain upon us for ever had not the Divine Mercy contrived a means to justifie and save us And since it is by vertue of that Sentence we all die we are concluded under the guilt of Adam's sin i.e. We know our Doom and what we are to expect upon the account of that corrupt and mortal Nature that we receive from him If then Justification be from some punishment that we are already condemned to suffer it must be from this of Dying because no other Sentence is as yet pass'd upon us And unless we be discharged from this it is in vain that we have a new Law given unto us For we are not capable of Immortality till we are pardon'd the fault for which we are condemned and no Man can qualifie himself for a Blessing that he is not capable of This is the account of Justification that St. Paul gives us when he opposes it to Condemnation and makes it to consist in the Abolishing of Death Forasmuch as the Children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil and deliver them that through fear of Death were all their life-time suject unto bondage Heb. 2.14 15. i.e. The reason of Christ's Incarnation and Death was that he might bear our Punishment and set our Minds at rest which upon the account of that Sentence that doom'd us to die are full of Anxiety and Trouble at the thoughts of losing a Life that we are so fond of He under-went all that we account an Evil in Death His Body was turn'd to a Carcase and his Soul went to Hell or the place whither Death transports our Souls that state where the Devil designed when he robb'd us of our Immortality to erect a Tyranny over the Souls of Men where having vanquish'd that wicked Spirit he return'd triumphant with the spoils of our Enemy to his Body again And therefore as St. Paul saith there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 In which words he has not a respect to the last Judgment in which all Flesh shall be Eternally sentenced either to an Immortal Life or an Eternal Death as if no Christian need to fear being condemn'd at that day For there are no doubt many vicious and leud Chrisitians that will be judg'd unworthy of the Name they bear and of the Hopes that belong to it But his meaning is that they are absolved and acquitted from the Sentence of Death that Adam and his Posterity long since received that their Souls being rescued out of his hands who has the Power of Death shall at the Resurrection return in a Triumphant manner to their Bodies again which is the great Privilege we have by Jesus Christ For these words are an Inference from what he discoursed in the foregoing Chapter where he consider'd and complain'd of the Misery of Man's Natural state as we are obnoxious both to Sin and Death Oh wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Rom. 7.24 And sets before us the Goodness of our Christian state which assures us of pure and glorious Bodies Bodies perfectly deliver'd from Mortality and those corrupt Affections and Appetites which Adam's Sin has let loose upon us I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord v. 25. So that they who are in this state and take care to approve the things that are Excellent that they may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ are in as good a condition as if Sin and Death had never enter'd into the World For there is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus i.e. By Christ we are deliver'd from the Body of this Death or this Mortal sinfull Body And shall for ever enjoy the benefit of this Deliverance if we walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit And in this respect Jesus Christ is styled the second Adam in opposition to the first from whom Sin Mortality and Death are derived to us That as by the Apostasie of the first we are condemned to die by the Obedience of the second we are discharged from so dreadfull a Punishment and restored to the Hopes of living again And this he discourses more fully in the fifth Chapter where having observed the Calamity of that Mortal condition we are doom'd to by reason of Adam's Transgression he magnifies the Grace of God in this respect That through the Redemption we have by Jesus Christ we are deliver'd from this Effect of Adam's Offence As by the offence of one Judgment came upon all Men to condemnation i.e. As all Men were condemned to die for Adam's sin even so by the Righteousness of one the free gift came upon all Men to justification of life v. 18. i.e. All Men were discharged from the severity of this Sentence and allowed the liberty of providing for a Life that is Eternal as if they had never sinn'd nor ever been condemn'd to die It is true the Apostle discourses as if it was
not Adam's sin alone but our own too are the Reason why we die and consequently that our Justification is not from Adam's Offence only but from those many that we are guilty of By one Man sin enter'd into the World and Death by sin and so Death passed upon all Men for that all have sinned v. 12. i.e. All Men die as well as Adam because all have sinned as well as he For untill the Law sin was in the World And again Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression v. 13 14. i.e. All that lived between Adam and Moses died though they did not Transgress a positive Law as Adam did but only sinn'd against the Law of Nature But if we look a little narrowly into the Apostle's discourse the contrary will be evident For when he instanceth in a time when there was no Law that condemn'd Men to die for their own Offences his design is to prove that the Sin and Judgment that pass'd upon Adam does reach to all Men For what account else shall we give saith he of the Death of those that died before the Law of Moses was given They sinn'd 't is true but that could not be the Reason why they died because they were not under any Law that threatned them with Death if they sinned and therefore since they died it could be by vertue of no other Law but that by which Adam was Judg'd and Condemn'd He does say indeed that Death pass'd upon all Men for that all have sinned Yet Sin is not imputed where there is no Law which was the case of all that lived between Adam and Moses The summ then of the Apostle's discourse is this That Adam's Sin and the Judgment that was pass'd upon him is the Reason why all Men die but we are not to think that Men die only for Adam's Sin in such a sense as if themselves were not Sinners For though all have sinned yet all die because of Adam's Sin Obj. But if this be the meaning of the Apostle how comes it to pass that he tells us afterwards that the free gift is of many offences unto Justification Ans To which I reply That though by the undertaking of our gracious Mediatour we are justified from our own particular Offences i.e. Are put into such a state that we have no reason to fear being condemned when we come to answer for our own Actions if with sincerity we conform our Lives according to the Rules of the Gospel though we be guilty of many Errours and Mistakes Yet it is plain from what he discoursed before that it is Adam's Offence alone is the reason why we die because it is for Adam's Offence alone that we are born Mortal and are under a Sentence of Condemnation But by being justified from Adam's Sin and Condemnation we by sincerely submitting to the Law of Grace are acquitted of all those particular Sins that in our Natural state we are guilty of Because Adam's Sin being the Root and Original cause of our own particular Offences by being discharged from the Punishment that Adam's Sin brought upon Mankind we upon our embracing the Law of Grace are accepted by God to a liberty of working out our own Salvation notwithstanding our own Sins The many Offences that the Apostle here speaks of are those that in their Natural state Men are guilty of For of these alone he spoke in the foregoing Verses when for the proving it was for Adam's Transgression that we all die he instanced in those that lived between Adam and Moses who were not under the Government of any other Law but that of Nature and therefore did not die for their own particular Offences And of these he tells us the free gift is to Justification as well as of Adam's Sin because by being discharged from the Punishment of Adam's Transgression we shall not be condemned for those that no positive Law does threaten with Death But as for those Sins that in our Christian i.e. our Justified state we are guilty of we must be justified or condemned for them by the Sentence of our Mediatour according to the very Voice of the Law that he has given us to live by 2. Then Justification puts us into a possibility of living again after Death for ever For since it is the taking off from us the Curse that is come upon our Nature for the publick Transgression of our first Parents it takes away that which is the Cause why we die and which if it was not taken away would for ever hold us in a state of Death The Reason why we die is because God has doom'd us to it and that which is the Reason why we die would be a Reason too why we should never live again if God in Mercy had not pitied our Condition and absolved us from the Guilt for which we are condemned to die For as it is upon the account of God's Wrath that we die if we had for ever lain under that Wrath we must for ever have continued in a state of Death i.e. according to the Sentence God had pass'd upon us we had forfeited the Immortality of that Life that consists in the vital Union of the Soul and Body So that the import of the Sentence of Death we fell under was nothing less than an Eternal separation of the Soul and Body A Doom that adjudged the Body to Dust for ever and the Soul to live without its Body under the Dominion of that Evil Spirit that seduced us and the dreadfull Marks of the Divine displeasure for ever And as this is the meaning of that Judgment to Condemnation that is come upon all Men so the meaning of that free gift that is come upon all Men to Justification of Life is the hopes of rising again to that Immortality we lost For by Justifying us God acquits us from the Punishment he had condemn'd us to and by withdrawing that Wrath from us which sentenced us to an Eternal Dissolution of the Soul and Body he puts us into a hopefull condition of living again for ever As when he condemn'd us his Justice laid us under an obligation of satisfying his Wrath by a perpetual separation of our Souls from our Bodies So when he justifies us his Mercy re-instates us in his Favour and by discharging us from the Curse we are fallen under gives us an Assurance that Death shall not be Eternal but that there will come a time when our Bodies shall come out of their Graves and our Souls and Bodies shall happily by united again So that 3. Justification is an Act of mere Mercy and Goodness It is mere Grace and Favour that spares the Life of a Criminal when he is condemn'd to die For in such a case he can have no hopes of living unless he who has the Power of Life and Death does by reversing the Sentence save him from the Punishment Whereas a Law that allows
But that will deprive them of all hopes of living again after it because there is no other World beyond that for them to hope to rise to So that wicked Men when once they are condemned to lose the next life must die Eternally because it is impossible that any Mercy should save them who are condemned both to lose this life and the next too beyond which there is no other life to be expected But after this life there is another and though we are condemned to lose this life for our Offences yet we may hope to live again in another because the Divine Goodness has by giving us a Saviour taken care that we shall not die Eternally in the next World unless we abuse and sin away his favour in this And this possibility of living again which is the thing that is intended at the least by our being justified from Death is exemplified to us in the Resurrection of Christ For he was condemned to die and for the same Offences too for which we are condemned to die And since after he was crucified and slain according to the determinate Counsel and Foreknowledge of God he was raised again it is a proof of the possibility of our rising again to another life though we are condemned to lose this If we be condemned to die for our Offences so was Christ deliver'd for them too and if he who suffer'd the Punishment of our Sins did rise again why may not we hope to live again after Death though we do suffer the Punishment we are condemned to It is certain that it is not impossible we should rise again because we are condemned because he who was condemned to undergo the same Punishment as well as we did rise again For if our being condemned does oblige us to a Death that is Eternal then Christ could not have risen who suffer'd for Sin as well as we There is 't is true this difference between his Death and ours That he died for no Sin of his own as we do But yet it was upon the account of the same Sentence that he died which obliges us to die likewise And this is sufficient to satisfie us that it is possible for us to rise again though we are condemn'd and that the Sentence that obliges us to die is not irrevocable But further 2. His being dischaged from the Punishment of Sin proves that the Justice that condemn'd us is satisfied and that the Divine Mercy will save us For though he died for no Sin of his own but ours yet he died to another End than we should have done if he had not died He died to bear the Malignity of our guilt and to satisfie Divine Justice by making an atonement for us Which if he had not done we must have perish'd for ever under our guilt without any hopes of satisfying the Justice that has condemn'd us Death as inflicted upon us would have been for the satisfaction of Justice but it would have been by bearing the Vengeance of it for ever whereas he died to satisfie it by the Meritoriousness of his Obedience And since he died for this End his Resurrection is a publick Declaration of the Power of that Mercy to Sinners that he has procured for us It not only proves that it is possible for a condemn'd Person to live again though he does undergo the Punishment that he is doom'd to suffer but that as the Apostle saith being justified by his blood i.e. being acquitted from the Obligation to suffer an Eternal Death by his laying down his Life for us we shall be saved from wrath through him Rom. 5.9 i.e. From that Wrath we should otherwise have lain Eternally under For if God commended his Love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life v. 8 10. i.e. We have good reason to conclude from the Resurrection of Christ that we shall rise again because it gives us a view of the success of his undertaking when he died for us It shows that we are in a state of Mercy and Grace and that though we go out of this World under an Arrest yet our Debt is discharged by him who became our Surety It was but fit that Divine Justice should sentence us to Death when we preferr'd a Mortal before an Immortal condition and so far corrupted our Nature as render'd it impossible we should live For in this case the Justice that condemn'd us took nothing from us but what we had forfeited and lost And besides a Malefactour has no reason to complain of the severity of that Law that takes away his life when by violating it he has render'd himself unfit to live This was our case till Divine Justice was satisfied and since that Justice that condemn'd us is satisfied 't is in the power of Mercy to save us by restoring us the life we had forfeited And what Mercy can do the Resurrection of Christ is a sufficient Assurance that t will do because it is for the satisfying us that the Guilt for which we die is remitted and that we are under the benefit of a Pardon Whether the Mercy of God be of that nature that he could without a satisfaction have given us our Lives that his Justice takes from us and we might depend on it for Salvation though Christ had not died is a question not becoming a Christian to make For we can know no more of the Nature of God's Mercy i.e. how far he will or how far he can in honour extend it than he has revealed to us And if he had no-where reveal'd that his Mercy is of such a nature why should we think it is His Mercy indeed is infinite and it is an infinite Mercy that he should send his only begotten Son upon such an Errand And if this be the Mercy that he has revealed and which he would have us depend upon 't is a vain presumption to fansie either that there is Mercy with him of another nature for Sinners which we may depend upon than that which he has revealed or that his Mercy is not such as we have an account of And if we consider his mercifull Nature without a respect to the Revelation he has given us of it 't is hard to say whether it be so mercifull as to pardon those whom his Justice condemns only for his Mercies sake For though he be mercifull and on that account we may hope he will yet we have as much reason on the other hand to fear he will not upon the account of his Justice And especially when we consider him as the Governour of the World our own Reason will tell us that such Mercy is not to be supposed to belong to him which will render him despised and contemned For in this case we are not to consider what the Compassions of his mercifull Nature may incline him to do but how he may best maintain his own Honour and
to a sensible Creature But that which is most grievous in it is That it comes upon us as a Punishment and that we die by the just Judgment of God upon us And how much comfort must it give us to think that we are discharged from that Condemnation which is the severest Consideration in Death How may it revive our Spirits and raise our Heads to think That though in Adam all die yet in Christ shall all be made alive To know that we are justified in the Resurrection of him who died for our Offences is such a healing Consideration to our Minds as leaves nothing in Death that is troublesome but those little Aversions that Nature has to a Dissolution It is 't is true and always will be difficult matter to meet Death without concern and something of consternation because there is something praeter-natural in it But yet how unwilling soever Nature is to submit to so hard a fate yet we know we must and since the Law that has appointed us to die is irreversible the only wise thing we have to do in such Circumstances is to reconcile our selves to the thoughts of dying as well as we can that we may go out of the World with as little disquiet and aversion to a thing that we cannot help as is possible And the only Consideration that is sufficient in this case is this of our being in a Justified state and that we know the Reason of that Hope which alone is sufficient to bear up our Minds For with what peace and satisfaction may we go to our Graves when we know that the place our Souls go to will not be an Eternal Prison to them and that Death is not inflicted as an Eternal Punishment 5. Let us consider with how much care we ought to live while we are in this World For since we are acquitted from Condemnation we are not in so hopeless a Condition as those that must die without Mercy For the Grace and Favour of God that has remitted to us that Sentence has favour'd us with an opprtunity of escaping from the Wrath that is Eternal This is the favour that he publishes to the World in the Gospel and that which he calls upon us to do is to lay hold on this opportunity and to make a good use of it The grace of God i.e. the Gospel which brings or acquaints us with this Salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts Tit. 2.12 For it sets Life and Death before us i.e. it lets us know that God is willing to try us once more and therefore favours every Man as he did Adam with the Liberty of chusing for himself which of these two he pleaseth And surely it is but a just and reasonable Expectation that we should lay hold of the opportunity that is put into our Hands of escaping for our Lives That if Death be so terrible a thing to us as we make it and we cannot very easily brook being condemned for a fault that is none of ours we should be very carefull for the future not to do any thing that may provoke God to condemn us for our own faults and be extremely fearfull of offering Violence to our selves and having our own Hands in the blood of our Souls It might be judg'd a hard Law by us that the fault of others should be charged upon us and that we should be under a Condemnation to Death because our first Parents sinn'd Therefore he calls upon us to look to our selves and tells us there is no more occasion for complaint as if the Children's teeth were set on edge by the sowre Grapes that our Fathers have eaten For he has remitted to us that Sentence that assigned us over to the power of Death and has privileg'd us with the liberty of taking care of the Life we are so unwilling to lose And if Life be so precious a thing to us as by our Apprehensiveness of Death we would be thought to account it what a wretched Madness is it while we are complaining of the hardship of our Circumstances as we are condemn'd in Adam to take so little care of it now it is put into our own hands to secure it as if it was all one to us whether we lived or died If Death be an indifferent thing to us why do we tremble at it Why does the near approach of it put us into terrible Agonies Why do we seem to account it a hard fate to be doom'd to die for a fault that was not in our power to help But if it be as really frightfull as it appears why should we neglect so favourable an opportunity of providing for our future safety as it put into our hands This will be a very great Aggravation of the Folly and Misery of wicked Men when they come to be condemn'd to a second Death that there will be no altering of that Sentence no more Mercy to be expected for the delivering them from the Wrath that their own faults will then bring upon them Oh how many sad Reflections will it occasion to think that they have twice forseited Life and that it is in spight of Mercy and Grace that they have destroy'd themselves by their own saults That they have been tried a second time whether they would chuse Life and Immortality but have made no better a choice for themselves than their first Fathers did So that the Mercy that deliver'd them from the Death they were condemn'd to in Adam was thrown away upon them and which will not a little add to the Misery of the second Doom as much as they fear'd dying they have yet made it their choice And since this will be the Fate of all Men that neglect so great Salvation ought we not to be carefull how we use it Surely after such an escape as this is there is great reason that God should expect that we should look well to our Ways and be very watchfull over our selves for the future That when-ever any sensual Appetite begins to be over-craving or the Riches Pleasures or Honours of this World do tempt us to Covetousness or Oppression to Sensuality or Intemperance to Pride or Ambition we should call to mind the Danger we have escaped and that we shall perish with scorn and contempt if we let our Love of our Bodies undo us twice This use we ought to make of our being in a Justified state for since the Sentence of Death is remitted we have a fair opportunity put into our Hands of securing a Life that is Immortal But if we lose this opportunity we shall sorfeit our Lives again and all the Mercy that would save us 2. His being raised for our Justification does imply his receiving Power and Authority to justifie us And here we are to consider Two things 1. That he is invested with Power and Authority to deliver us from Death 2. That this Power he received when he rose from the Dead 1. That he is invested with