Debt-book is crossed in his blood Quest. How is Death ours Answ. Two wayes 1. It is the Out-let to Sin 2. It is the In-let to happiness 1. Death to a Beleever is an Out-let to Sin we are in this life under a sinful necessity even the best Saint There is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not Evill thoughts are continually arising out of our hearts as sparks out of a Furnace Sin keeps house with us whether we will or no the best Saint alive is troubled with In-mates though he forsakes his sinnes yet his sinnes will not forsake him 1. Sin doth indispose to good How to performe that which is good I finde not Rom. 7. ver 18. When we would pray the heart is as a Voyal out of tune When we would weepe we are as clouds without rain 2. Sin doth irritate to evil The Flesh lusts against the Spirit There needs no winde of Tentation we have Tide strong enough in our hearts to carry us to Hell Consider sinne under this threefold notion 1. Sin is a body of death and that not impertinently First It is a body for its weight The body is an heavy and weighty substance so is Sin a body it weighs us down When we should pray the weights of Sin are tied to our feet that we cannot ascend Anselm seeing a little Boy playing with a Bird he let her flie up and presently pulls the Bird down againe by a string So saith he it is with me as with this Bird when I would flie up to heaven upon the wings of meditation I finde a string tied to my leg I am over-powered with corruption but Death pulls off these weights of sin and le ts the Soul free Secondly Sin is a body of death for its annoyance It was a cruel torment that one used he tied a dead man to a living that the dead man might annoy and infest the living Thus it is with a childe of God he hath two men within him Flesh and Spirit Grace and Corruption here is the dead man tied to the living a proud sinful heart is worse to a childe of God then the smell of a dead Corps Indeed to a natural man sinne is not offensive for being dead in sinne he is not sensible of the body of death but where there is a vitall principle there is no greater annoyance then the body of Death Insomuch that the pious soule oft cries out as David Wo is me that I dwell in Mesek and sojourn in the tents of Kedar So saith he Wo is me that I am constrained to abide with sin How long shall I be troubled with inmates How long shall I offend that God whom I love When shall I leave these Tents of Kedar 2. Sinne is a Tyrant it carries in it the nature of a Law the Apostle calls it the law in his members There is the law of Pride the law of Unbelief it hath a kinde of jurisdiction as Caesar over the Senate perpetuam dictaturam What I hate that do I The Apostle was like a man carried down the streame and was not able to beare up against it Sinne takes us prisoners whence are our carnal fears whence our passions whence is it that a childe of God doth that which he allows not yea against knowledge only this he is for a time Sinnes Prisoner The Flesh oft prevailes though in coole blood the elder shall serve the younger whence is it that he who is borne of God should be so earthly The reason is he is captived under sin but be of good chear where grace makes a Combate death shall make a Conquest 3. Sin is a leprous spot It makes every thing we touch uncleane We reade when the Leprosie did spread in the walls of the house the Priests commanded them to take away the stones in the wall in which the Plague was and take other stones and put in the place of those stones and take other morter Levit. 14.42 But when the Plague spread againe in the wall then he must break downe the house with the stones and timber thereof Vers. 45. Thus in every man naturally there is a fretting leprosie of sinne pride impenitency c. These are leprous spots now in conversion here God doth as it were take away the old stones and timber and put new in the roome he makes a change in the heart of a sinner but still the leprousie of sinne spreads then at last death comes and pulls down the stones and timber of the house and the soule is quite freed from the leprousie Sinne is a defiling thing it makes us red with guilt and black with filth 'T is compared to a menstruous cloath we need carry it no higher Pliny tells us that the Trees with touching of it would become barren and Hierom saith Nihil in lege menstruato immundius there was nothing in the Law more uncleane then the menstruous cloath this is sinne Sinne drawes the Devils picture in a man malice is the Devils eye oppression is his hand hypocrisie is his cloven foot but behold death will give us our discharge death is the last and best Physician which cures all diseases the aking head and the unbelieving heart Peccatum erat obstetrix mortis mors erit sepulchrum peccati Sinne was the Mid-wife that brought Death into the World and Death shall be the Grave to bury Sinne O the Priviledge of a Beleever he is not taken away in his sinnes but he is taken away from his sinnes The Persians had a certaine day in the yeare which they called vitiorum interitum wherein they used to kill all Serpents and venemous creatures Such a day as that will the day of death be to a man in Christ. This day the old Serpent dies in a Beleever that hath so often stung him with his temptations this day the sinnes of the godly these venemous creatures shall all be destroyed they shall never be proud more they shall never grieve the Spirit of God more the Death of the body shall quite destroy the Body of death 2. Death to a Believer is an Inlet to happinesse Sampson found an honey-combe in the Lions carcase so may a childe of God suck much sweetnesse from death Death is the gate of life death pulls off our rags and gives us change of rayment all the hurt it doth us is to put us into a better condition Death is called in Scripture a sleepe 1 Thes. 4.14 Those that sleepe in Iesus as after sleep the spirits are exhilarated and refreshed so after Death the times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. Death is yours Death opens the portal into Heaven as Tertullian speakes The day of a Christian's death is the birth-day of his heavenly life it is his Ascension-day to glory it is his Marriage-day with Jesus Christ. After our Funerall begins our Marriage Well then
nor Barzillai of his lamenesse There are five Properties of the glorified bodies 1. They shall be agil and nimble the bodies of the Saints on earth are heavy in their motion and subject to wearinesse but in Heaven there shal be no elementary gravity hindering but our bodies being refined shall be swift and facile in their motion and made fit to ascend as the body of Elias In this life the body is a great hindrance to the soule in its operation The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak The soul may bring its action against the body when the soul would flie up to Christ the body as a leaden lump keeps it down 't is vivum sepulchrum but there is a time coming when it shall be otherwise the bodies of the Saints shall be agil and lively they shall be made fully subject to the soul and so no way impede or hinder the soul in its motion 2. The bodies of the Saints shall be transparent full of clarity and brightnesse as Christs body when it was transfigured Matth. 17.2 our bodies shall have a divine lustre put upon them here they are as iron when it is rusty there they shall be as iron when it is filed and made bright they shall shine tanquam Sol in fulgore saith Augustine as the Sun in its splendour nay seven times brighter saith Chrysostome here our bodies are as the gold in the oar drossy and impure in heaven they shall be as gold when it spangles and glisters so cleare shall they be that the soule may sally out at every part and sparkle through the body as the wine through the glasse 3. They shall be amiable beauty consists in two things 1. Symmetry and proportion when all the parts are drawn out in their exact lineaments 2. Complexion when there is a mixture and variety in the colours white and sanguine thus the bodies of the Saints shall have a transcendency of beauty put upon them Here the body is call'd a vile body Vile ortu in its birth and production de limo terrae of the dust of the earth The earth is the most ignoble element And vile officio in the use that it is put to the soul oft useth the body as a weapon to fight against God but this vile body shall be ennobled and beautified with glory it shall be made like Christs body How beautiful was Christs body upon earth in it there was the Purple and the Lily it was a mirrour beauty For all deformities of body issue immediately from sinne but Christ being conceived by the holy Ghost and so refined and clarified from all lees and dregs of sin he must needs have a beautiful body and in this sence he was fairer then the children of men Christs body as some Writers aver was so fair by reason of the beauty and grace which did shine in it that no limner could ever draw it exactly and if it was so glorious a body on earth how great is the lustre of it now in heaven That light which shone upon Saint Paul surpassing the glory of the sunne was no other then the beauty of Christs body in heaven O then what beauty and replendency will be put upon the bodies of the Saints they shall be made like Christs glorious body 4. The bodies of the Saints shall be impassible free from suffering We read that Iob's body was smitten with biles and Paul did beare in his body the marks of the Lord Iesus but ere long our bodies shall be impassible not but that the body when it is glorified shall have such a passion as is delightful for the body is capable of joy but no passion that is hurtful as cold or famine it shall not be capable of any noxious impression 5. They shall be immortall here our bodies are still dying quotidiè en im dempta est aliqua pars vitae cúm crescit vita tum decrescit It is improper to ask when we shall die but rather when we shall make an end of dying first the infancy dies then the childhood then youth then old age and then we make an end of dying it is not only the running out of the last sand in the glass that spends it but all the sands that run out before Death is a worm that is ever feeding at the root of our gourds but in Heaven our mortal shall put on immortality As it was with Adam in innocency if he had not sinned such was the excellent temperature and harmony in all the qualities of his body that it is probable he had not died but had been translated from Paradise to Heaven Indeed Bellarmine saith that Adam had died though he had not sinned but I know no ground for that assertion for sinne is made the formal cause of death however there 's no such thing disputable in Heaven the bodies there are immortal Luke 20.36 Neither can they die any more If God made Manna which is in it selfe corruptible to last many hundred years in the golden pot much more is he able by a divine power so to consolidate the bodies of the Saints that they shall be preserved to eternity Rev. 21.4 And there shall be no more death our bodies shall run parallel with eternity CHAP. XIV The Ninth Prerogative Royal. THE next Priviledge is we shall be as the Angels in Heaven Matth. 22.30 Christ doth not say we shall be Angels but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Angels Qu. How is that R. Not only that we shall not die but in regard of our manner of worship The Angels fulfill the will of God 1. Swiftly 2. Perfectly 3. Chearfully 1. Swiftly When God sends the Angels upon a Commission they do not hesitate or dispute the case with God but presently obey The Angels are set out by the Cherubims which had wings this was not to represent their Persons for spirits have no wings but their Office to shew how swift they are in their obedience it is as if they had wings Dan. 9.21 The man Gabriel this was an Angel was caused to flie swiftly as soone as ever God speaks the word the Angels are ambitious to obey now in Heaven we shall be as the Angels This is a singular comfort to a weak Christian alas we are not as the Angels in this life when God commands us upon service to mourne for sinne to take up the Crosse O what a dispute is there how long is it sometimes ere we can get leave of our hearts to go to prayer Jesus Christ went more willingly to suffer then we do often to pray how hardly do we come off in duty God had as good almost be without it Oh but if this be our grief be of good comfort in Heaven we shall serve God swiftly we shall be winged in our obedience we shall be even as the Angels 2. The Angels serve God perfectly they fulfill God's whole will they leave nothing undone
might Solomon say Better is the day of a mans death then the day of his birth Death is the spiritual man's preferment why then should he fear it Death I confesse hath a grimme visage to an impenitent sinner so it is ghastly to look upon it is a pursuivant to carry him to hell but to such as are in Christ Death is yours It is a part of the Joincture Death is like the Pillar of cloud it hath a dark-side to a sinner but it hath a light-side to a believer Deaths pale face looks ruddy when the blood of sprinkling is upon it in short Faith gives us a propriety in Heaven Death gives us a possession Feare not your priviledge the thoughts of death should be delightfull Iacob when he saw the Chariots his spirits revived Death is a Waggon or Chariot to carry us to our Fathers house What were the Martyrs flames but a fiery Chariot to carry them up to Heaven How should we long for Death This world is but a Desart we live in Shall we not be willing to leave it for Paradise We say It is good to be here we affect an earthly eternity but grace must curb nature Think of the priviledges of Death The Planets have a proper motion and a violent by their proper motion they are carried from the West to the East but by a violent motion they are over-ruled by the Primum Mobile and are carried from the East to the West So though naturally we desire to live here as we are made up of flesh yet grace should be as the primum mobile or master-wheele that swayes our will and carries us in a violent motion making us long for death Saint Paul desired to be dissolved and 2 Corinth 5.2 In this we groane earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven we would put off the earthly cloathes of our body and put on the bright robe of immortality we groane 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 'T is a Metaphor taken from a mother who being pregnant groanes and cries out for delivery Austine longed to die that he might see that head which was once crowned with thornes We pray Thy Kingdome come and when God is leading us into his Kingdome shall we be afraid to go The times we live in should me thinks make us long for death we live in dying times we may heare as it were Gods passing Bell ringing over these Nations Foelix Nepotianus qui haec non videt as Hierome said in his time Nepotian is an happy man that doth not see the evils which befall us they are wel that are out of the storm and are gotten already to the haven To me to die is gaine Quest. But who shall have this priviledge Answ. death is certaine but there are only two sorts of Persons to whom we may say Death is yours 'T is your preferment 1. Such as die daily We are not borne Angels die we must Therefore we had need carry alwayes a deaths-head about us The Basilisk if it see a man first it kills him but if he see it first it doth him no hurt The Basilisk death if it sees us first before we see it 't is dangerous but if we see it first by meditating upon it it doth us no hurt study death often walke among the Tombs It is the thoughts of death before-hand that must do us good In a dark night one Torch carried before a man is worth many Torches carried after him one serious thought of death before-hand one teare shed for sinne before death is worth a thousand shed after when it is too late 'T is good to make Death our familiar and in this sense to be in Deaths oft that if God should presently seal a lease of ejectment if he should send us a Letter of Summons this night to surrender we might have nothing to do but to die Alas how do we adjourne the thoughts of death 'T is almost death to think of it There are some that are in the very threshold of the grave who have one legge in the earth and another legge in hell yet put farre from them the evil day I have read of our Lysicrates who in his old age dyed his gray hairs black that he might seeme young againe When we should be building our Tombes we are building our Tabernacles die daily lest you die eternally The holy Patriarchs in purchasing for themselves a burying place shewed us what thoughts they still had of Death Ioseph of Arimathea erected his Sepulchre in his Garden we have many that set up the Trophies of their victories others that set up their Scutchions that they may blaze their honour but how few that set up their Sepulchres who erect in their hearts the serious thoughts of death Oh remember when you are in your gardens in places most delicious and fragrant to keep a place for your Tomb-stone die daily There is no better way to bring sinne into a Consumption then by oft looking on the pale horse and him that sits thereon By thinking on death we begin to repent of an evil life and so we disarme death before it comes and cut the lock where its strength lies 2. Such as are in Heaven before they die death is yours If we will needs be high-minded let it be in setting our minde upon heavenly things Heaven must come down into us before we go up thither A childe of God breaths his faith in Heaven his thoughts are there When I awake I am still with thee Psal. 139.17 David awaked in Heaven his conversation is there Philip. 3.20 For our conversation is in Heaven The Believer often ascends Mount Tabor and takes a prospect of glory O that we had this celestial frame of heart When Zacheus was in the croud he was too low to see Christ therefore he climbed up into the Sycomore-Tree When we are in a croud of worldly businesse we cannot see Christ Climb up into the tree by divine contemplation If thou wouldest get Christ into thy heart let Heaven be in thy eye Set your affections upon things above Colos. 3.2 There needs no exhortation to set our hearts upon things below How is the curse of the Serpent upon most men Upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the dayes of thy life Those that feed onely upon dust Golden dust will be unwilling to returne to dust Death will be terrible The tribes of Reuben and Gad desired Moses that they might stay on this side Iordan and have their portion there it being a place convenient for their Cattel It seems they minded their Cattel more then their passage into the holy Land so many Christians if they may have but a little grazing here in the world in their Shops and in their Farms they art content to live on this side the River and minde not their passage into the Land of Promise you that are in heaven
joy and pleasure length of time makes them better Heavens Eminency is its Permanency Things are prized and valued by the time we have in them lands or houses in fee-simple which are to a man and his heirs for ever are esteemed far better then leases which soon expire The Saints do not lease heaven it is not their Landlords house but their Fathers house And this house never falls to decay it is a mansion-house Iohn 14.2 There is nothing excellent saith one of the Fathers that is not perpetual The comforts of the world are fluid and uncertain like a fading garland therefore they are shadowed out by the Tabernacle which was transient but Heaven is set out by the Temple which was fixed and permanent It was made of strong materials built with stone covered with Cedar over-laid with gold This is the Heaven of Heaven We shall be ever with the Lord 1 Thes. 4. ver 17. Eternity is the highest link of the Saints happinesse the soul of the believer shall be ever bathing it selfe in the pure and pleasant fountaine of glory As there is no intermission in the joyes of heaven so no expiration When once God hath set his Plants in the celestial Paradise he will never pluck them up any more he will never transplant them never will Christ lose any member of his body you may sooner separate light from the Sunne then a glorified Saint from Jesus Christ. O eternity eternity what a Spring will that be that shall have no Autumne what a day that shall have no Night Me thinks I see the morning-Star appear it is break of day already And this inheritance of glory fades not away 1 Pet. 1.4 Had it not been enough for the Apostle to have said It is an inheritance incorruptible Nay but he addes It fadeth not away There is a sacred climax in this the meaning is heaven doth not lose its glosse or vernancy A Rose may continue in its being when it doth not retaine its beauty The substance of it may be preserved when the colour and savour is lost but such is the glory of this inheritance that it cannot be made so much as to wither but like the flower we call Semper-vivens it keeps fresh to eternity Concerning the glory of this blessed inheritance let me super-adde these foure things 1. The glory of heaven is ponderous and weighty It is called A weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 Immensum gloria calcar habet God must make us able to beare it This weight of glory should make sufferings light This weight should make us throw away the weights of sinne out of our hands though they be golden weights who would for the indulging of a lust forfeit so glorious an inheritance Lay the whole World in scales with it it is lighter then vanity 2. It is infinitely satisfying there is no vacuity or indigency This Encomium can be given properly of nothing but heaven You that Court the world for honour and preferment remember the creature saith concerning satisfaction It is not in me The world is made in manner of a circle the heart in manner of a Triangle a circle can never fill a triangle heaven only is commensurate to the vast desires of the soul. Here the Christian cries out in a divine extasie I have enough my Saviour I have enough Thou shalt make them drink of the Rivers of thy pleasures not drops but rivers and these onely can quench the thirst It shall be every day festivall in Heaven there is no want at a feast There shall be excellency shining in its perfection The world is but a Jaile the body is the Fetter with which the soule is bound if there be any thing in a Jaile to delight what is the Palace and the Throne what is Heaven If we meet with any comfort in Mount Horeb what is in Mount Sion All the world is like a Landskip you may see Orchards and Gardens curiously drawn in the Landskip but you cannot enter into them you may enter into this heavenly Paradise 2 Pet. 1. ver 11. For so an entrance shall be made abundantly into the everlasting Kingdome c. Here is soul-satisfaction 3. Though an innumerable company of Saints and Angels have a part in this inheritance there is never the lesse for thee Here is a propriety in a community another mans beholding the Sunne doth not make me to have the lesser light Thus will it be in glory Usually here all the land goes to the Heire the younger are put off with small portions In Heaven all the Saints are Heires the youngest Believer is an heire and God hath land enough to give to all his heires All the Angels and Arch-angels have their portion paid out yet a Believer shall have never the lesse Hereditas illa non minuitur copiâ possessorum non fit angustior numero cohaeredum Aug. in Psal. 49. Is not Christ the heire of all things Heb. 1. vers 2. and the Saints co-heires Rom. 8. vers 17. They share with Christ in the same glory 'T is true one vessel may hold more then another but every vessel shall be full 4. The soules of the Elect shall enter upon possession immediately after death 2 Corinth 5. vers 8. We are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. There are some that say the soules of the Elect sleep in their bodies but the Apostle here confutes it for if the soule be absent from the body how can it sleep in the body There is an immediate transition and passage from death to glory The soule returnes to God that gave it Christs Resurrection was before his Ascension but the Saints Ascension is before their Resurrection The body may be compared to the bubble in the water the soule to the winde that fills it you see the bubble riseth higher and higher at last it breakes into the open aire so the body is but like a bubble which riseth from infancy to youth from youth to age higher and higher at last this bubble breakes and dissolves into dust and the spirit ascends into the open aire it returnes unto GOD that gave it Be of good comfort we shall not stay long for our inherirance it is but winking and we shall see God O the glory of this Paradise when we are turned out of all let us think of this inheritance which is to come Praemium quod fide non attingitur faith it selfe is not able to reach it it is more then we can hope for There can be no want where Christ is who is all in all Ephes. 3.11 In Heaven there is health without sicknesse plenty without famine riches without poverty life without death There is unspotted chastity unstained honour unparallel'd beauty there is the Tree of Life in the middest of Paradise there is the river that waters the garden there is the Vine flourishing and the Pomegranates budding there
soul in sinne their eyes have been a casement to let in vanity their hands have been full of bribes their feet have been swift to shed blood therefore justice and equity require that they should rise again and their bodies be punished with their souls Againe The bodies of the Saints have been members of holinesse their eyes have dropped down tears for sinne their hands have relieved the poor their tongues have been trumpets of Gods praise therefore justice and equity require that they should rise again that their bodies as well as their soules may be crown'd There must be a resurrection else how should there be a remuneration We are more sure to arise out of our graves then out of our beds the bodies of the wicked are lockt up in the grave as in a prison that they may not infest the Church of God and at the day of judgement they shall be brought out of the prison to tryall and the bodies of the Saints are laid in the grave as in a bed of perfume where they mellow and ripen against the resurrection Noah's olive-tree springing after the flood the blossoming of Aaron's dry rod the flesh and sinews coming to Ezekiel's dry bones what were these but lively emblems of the resurrection 2. That this resurrection is not yet past some hold that it is past and make the Resurrection to be nothing else but Regeneration which is call'd a rising from sinne and a being risen with Christ and do affirme that there is no other resurrection but this and that only the soul is with God in happinesse not the body Of this opinion were Hymeneus and Philetus 2 Tim. 2.18 But the rising from sinne is call'd the first resurection Rev. 1.6 which implies that there is a second resurrection and that second I shall prove out of Dan. 12.2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake he doth not say they are already awake but they shall awake And Iohn 5.28 The houre is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation Observe Christ doth not say they are come forth of the grave already but they shall come forth Here a question may be moved Whether the bodies of some of the Saints are not in Heaven already then it will seem that their resurrection is not yet to come as we read that Elias was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot and Enoch Heb. 11.5 was translated that he might not see death Answ. I know the Question is controverted among Divines But there are some reasons do perswade me that Enoch and Elias are not yet bodily in Heaven nor shall be till the resurrection of all flesh when the rest of the Elect like a precious crop being fully ripe shall be translated into glory The first is Heb. 11.13 where it is said These all died in faith where Enoch was included Now why we should restraine this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these only to Abel Noah Abraham and not also to Enoch I see no rational ground Quest. But is it not said he was translated that he might not see death How can these two stand together that Enoch died yet he did not see death Answ. This word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might not see death I conceive with some Divines the meaning is that he might not see it in that painful and horrid manner as others his soule had an easie and joyful passage out of his body he died not after the common manner of men so saith Peter Martyr Seeing and feeling are in Scripture oft exegetical the one is put for the other as Rom. 7.23 I see a law in my members that is I feel a law 2. My second Argument is 1 Iohn 3.2 It doth not yet appeare what we shall be but we know 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he shall appeare we shall be like him We read in Scripture but of two Appearings of Christ his appearing in the flesh and his appearing at the day of judgment Now his appearing in this text must needs be meant of his last appearing And what then then saith the Apostle we shall be like him that is in our bodies Phil. 3.21 The spirits of just men being already made perfect Heb. 12.23 Whence I infer Enoch is not yet ascended bodily into heaven because none of the bodies of the Saints shall be fully made like Christ till his second appearing 3. Besides this may be added the judgement of many of the Fathers who were pious and learned It is not probable that Enoch and Elias should be taken up in their bodies into heaven saith Peter Martyr and he urgeth that saying of our Lord No man hath ascended into heaven that is saith he corporeally but the Son of man that descended from heaven Of this opinion also is Oecolampadius Martinus Borrhaeus and learned Doctor Fulk who in his marginal notes upon the 11th to the Hebrews hath this descant It appeareth not saith he that Enoch now liveth in body no more then Moses but that he was translated by God out of the world and died not after the common manner of men And concerning Eliah the same reverend Authour hath this passage It is evident that he was taken up alive but not that he continueth alive And again because we read expresly that he was taken up into heaven 2 King 2.11 It is certaine saith he that his body was not carried into heaven Christ being the first that in perfect humanity ascended thither 1 Cor. 15.20 Christ is become the first-fruits of them that sleep He is called the First-fruits not only because he was the most excellent and sanctified the rest but because he was the first Cluster which was gathered the First that went up in a corporeal manner into the Seat of the Blessed For my part I see not how Christ could properly be called the First-fruits if Enoch and Eliah were bodily in heaven before him Hence we see that the Resurrection is yet to come 3. The third thing is That at the resurrection every soul shal have its own body the same body that dies shall arise Some hold that the soul shall be cloathed with a new body but then it were improper to call it a Resurrection of the body it should be rather a Creation It was a custome in the African Churches to say I believe the resurrection hujus carnis of this body I confesse the doctrine of the resurrection is such that it is too deep for reason to wade here you must let faith swim For instance Suppose a man dying is cast into the Sea several Fishes come and devour him the substance of his body goes into these fishes afterwards the fishes are taken and eaten and the substance of these fishes goes into several
men now how this body thus devoured and as it were crumbled into a thousand fractions should be raised idem numero the same numerical body is infinitely above reason to imagine we have scarce faith enough to believe it Quest. How can this be Answ. To such I say as our blessed Saviour Matth. 22.29 Ye do erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God 1. Not knowing the Scriptures The Scripture tells us expresly that the same body that dies shall rise again Iob 19.26 In my flesh shall I see God not in another flesh And vers 27. My eyes shall behold him not other eyes So 1 Cor. 15.53 This mortal shall put on immortality not another mortall but this mortall And 2 Cor. 5.10 That every one may receive the things done in his body c. not in another body Death in Scripture is called a sleep it is farre easier with God to raise the body then it is for us to awake a man when he is asleep 2. Ye erre not knowing the power of God that God who of nothing created all things cannot he reduce many things to one thing when the body is gone into a thousand substances cannot he make an abstraction and bring that body together againe Do we not see the Chymist can out of several metals mingled together as gold silver alcumy extract the one from the other the silver from the gold the alcumy from the silver and can reduce every metall to its own species or kinde and shall we not much more believe that when our bodies are mingled and confounded with other substances the wise God is able to make a divine extraction and re-invest every soul with its own body Use 1. This is comfort to a childe of God As Christ said to Martha John 11.23 Thy brother shall rise againe so I say to thee thy body shall rise again The body is sensible of joy as well as the soul and indeed we shall not be perfect in glory till our bodies be re-united to our souls Therefore in Scripture the doctrine of the resurrection is made matter of joy and triumph Isa. 26.19 The dead men shall live together with my dead body shall they arise Awake sing ye that dwell in the dust Death is as it were the fall of the leafe but our bones shall flourish as an herb in the spring of the resurrection That body wich is mouldred to dust shall revive Sometimes the Saints do sowe the Land with their bodies Psal. 142.7 and water it with their blood Psal. 79.3 But these bodies whether imprisoned beheaded sawn asunder shall arise and sit down with Christ upon the Throne O consider what joy will there be at the re-uniting of the body and soul at the resurrection As there will be a sad meeting of the body and soul of the wicked they shall be joyned together as briars to scratch and teare one another So what unspeakable joy will there be at the meeting together of the soul and body of the Saints how will they greet one another they two being the nearest acquaintance that ever were what a welcome will the soul give to the body O blessed body thou didst suffer thy self to be martyrd and crucified thou wert kept under by watchings fastings c. when I prayed thou didst attend my prayers with hands lifted up and knees bowed down Thou wert willing to suffer with me and now thou shalt reigne with me cheare up thy self my deare friend thou wert sowne as seed in the dust of the earth with ignominy but now art raised in glory thou wert sowen a natural body but now art raised a spiritual body O my dear body I will enter into thee again as an heavenly sparckle and thou shalt cloath me againe as a glorious vestment I will I say enter into thee againe and both of us will enter into our Masters joy Use 2. It shews the great love and respect God bears to the weakest believer God wil not glorifie the bodies of his dearest and most eminent Saints not the Patriarchs or Prophets not the body of Moses Elias till thou risest out of thy grave God is like a Master of a Feast that stayes till all his guests are come Abraham the father of the faithful must not sit down bodily in Heaven till all his children are born and the body of every Saint perfectly mellow and ripe for the resurrection 3. If the bodies of the Saints must arise then consecrate your bodies to the service of God these bodies must be made one with Christs body The Apostle makes this Use of the Doctrine of the resurrection 1 Cor. 6.14 And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power there is the Doctrine Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot ver 15. there is the Use. It is enough for wicked men to adulterate and defile their bodies The drunkard makes his body a tunnel for the wine and strong drink to run thorow The Epicure makes his body a living tombe to bury the good creatures of God The adulterer makes his body a stewes The body is called a vessell in Scripture these vessels will be found musty at the resurrection fit only to hold that wine which you read of Psal. 75.8 In the hand of the Lord there is a cup and the wine is red this is the wine of Gods wrath It is enough for those bodies to be defiled which shall be joyned to the devil but you that are believers that expect your bodies shall be joyned with Christs body oh cleanse these vessels take heed of putting your bodies to any impure services Present your bodies a living sacrifice Rom. 12.1 Have a care to keep all the passages and cinque-ports sometimes the devil comes in at the eye therefore Iob made a covenant with his eyes and goes out at the tongue therefore David set a watch before his lips Surely those that have their hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience that is the guilt of known sinne will have a care to have their bodies washed with cleane water CHAP. XIII The Eighth Prerogative Royal. I Proceed now to the next Priviledge which is to come viz. The bodies of the Saints shall be enamel'd with glory In this life the body is infirme Physicians have much ado to piece it up it is like a Picture out of frame or an house out of repaire every storm of sicknesse it raines thorow O anima quà m deforme hospitium nacta es How doth the excellent soul oft lodge in a deform'd body The body is like a piece of rotten wood diseases like wormes breed there feavers plurisies aches c. But this body shall be made glorious at the resurrection it shall neither have diseases nor defects Leah shall no more complain of her blear eyes
felt no paine Time was when conscience was tender but by often sinning he is like the Ostrich that can digest iron or as it is said of Mithridates that by often accustoming his body to poyson it never hurt him but he could live upon it as his food That sinne which was before as the wounding of the eye now is no more then the cutting of the naile Well there is a time coming when this sleepy conscience shall be awakened Belshazzar was drinking wine in bowls but there came out fingers on the wall and his countenance changed there conscience began to be awakened Conscience is like a looking-glasse if it be foul and dusty you can see nothing in it but wipe away the dust and you may see your face in it clearly there 's a time coming when God will wipe off the dust from the glasse of a mans conscience and he shall see his sins clearly represented Conscience is like a Lion asleep when he awakes he roars and tears his prey when conscience awakes then it roars upon a sinner and tears him as the devil did the man into which he entred Mark 9.22 he â—ent him and threw him into the fire When Moses rod was turned into a Serpent he was afraid and fled from it oh what is it when conscience is turned into a Serpent Conscience is like the Bee if a man doth well then conscience gives honey it speaks comfort if he do ill it puts forth a sting it is called a worm Mark 9.44 Where the worm never dies It is like Prometheus's Vulture it lies ever gnawing it is Gods blood-hound that pursues a man When the Jaylour saw the prison-doors open and as he thought the prisoners were missing he drew his sword and would have killed himselfe when the eye of conscience is opened and the sinner begins to look about him for his evidences Faith Repentance c. and sees they are missing he will be ready to kill himselfe a troubled conscience is the first-fruits of hell and indeed it is a lesser hell That it is so appears two wayes 1. By the suffrage of Scripture Prov. 18.14 A wounded spirit who can bear a wound in the Name in the estate in the body is sad but a wound in the conscience who can bear especially when the wound can never be healed for I speak of such as awake in the night of death 2. By the experience both of good and bad 1. By the experience of good men when the storme hath risen in their conscience though afterwards it hath been allayed yet for the present they have been in the suburbs of hell David complaines of his broken bones he was like a man that had all his bones out of joynt What is the matter you may see wherein his pain lay Psal. 51.3 My sin is ever before me he was in a spiritual agony it was not the sword threatned it was not the death of the childe but it was the roarings of his conscience some of Gods arrows stuck fast there though God will not damn his children yet he may send them to hell in this life 2. By the experience of bad men who have been in the perpetual convulsions of conscience I have sinned saith Iudas before he was nibling upon the silver bait the thirty pieces but now the hook troubles him conscience wounds him such was Iudas his horror being now like a man upon the rack that he hangs himself to quiet his conscience This shews what the hell of conscience is that men account death easie to get rid of conscience but in vaine it is with them as with a sick man he removes out of one room into another and changeth the aire but still he carries his disease with him Thou mayest think O sinner to laugh thy sinnes out of countenance but what wilt thou do when conscience shall begin to flie upon thee and shall examine thee with scourgings it is a mercy when conscience is awakened in time but the misery is when the wound is too late there being then no balm in Gilead §. II. The second thing to come His appearing before the Judge For we must all appear before the judgement-seat of Christ Hierome thought he ever heard that sounding in his ears Surgite mortui Arise ye dead come to judgement What solemnity is there at an Assizes when the Judge comes to the Bench and the Trumpets are sounded Thus Christ the Judge shall be accompanied with Angels and Archangels and the Trumpets shall be blown 1 Thes. 4.16 For the Lord himselfe shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God This is the great and general Assizes Then shall Christ sit down upon the Throne of Judicature holding his sword in his hand and a flame coming out of his mouth Now the sinner being summoned before him as a prisoner at bar he hath his guilt written in his forehead he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condemned before he comes I mean in his conscience which is the consistory or petty Sessions and appearing before Christ he begins to tremble and be amazed with horrour and not being covered with Christs righteousnesse for want of a better covering he cries to the mountains to cover him And the Kings and the great men said to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. Nothing so dreadfull as the sight of mercy abused Now the Lamb will be turned into a Lion and he who was once a Saviour will be a Judge §. III. The third thing to come is His Charge reade I will reprove thee and set thy sinnes in order before thee Psal. 50.21 As God hath a bottle for tears so he hath a book to register mens sins Rev. 20.12 The books were opened Oh what a black charge will be read against a sinner not only the sins which have damnation written in their forehead as drunkenness swearing blasphemy shall be brought into the charge but those sinnes which he slighted As 1. Secret sinnes such as the world never took notice of many a man doth not forsake his sins but grows more cunning with the Vintner he pulls down the bush but his heart gives as much vent to sinne as ever his care is rather that sinne should be covered then cured Not unlike to him that shuts up his shop-windows but follows his trade within doors he sits brooding upon sinne he doth with his sins as Rachel did with her fathers Idols she put them under her that he might not finde them so doth he put his sins in a secret place all these sinnes shall be set in order before him Luk. 12.2 For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed God hath a key for the heart 2. Little sinnes as the world calls them Though I know no such thing as little
bee with Christ yet hee was content to live a while longer that he might build up souls and make the Crown flourish upon the head of Christ 'T is self-love saith Who will shew us any good divine love saith How may I do good The prodigal son could say Father give me my portion he thought more of his portion then his duty A gracious spirit is content to stay out of Heaven a while that he may be a means to bring others thither He whose heart hath been divinely touched with the love of God his care is not so much for receiving the talents of gold as for improving the talents of grace Oh wait a while learne of the Saints of old they waited if we cannot wait now what would we have done in the times of the long-liv'd Patriarchs look upon worldly men they wait for preferment shall they wait for earth and cannot we wait for Heaven If a man hath the reversion of a Lordship or Manor when such a Lease is out will he not wait for it We have the reversion of Heaven when the lease of life is run out and shall we not wait Look upon wicked men they wait for an opportunity to sin the adulterer waits for the twilight sinners lye in wait for their own blood Prov. 1.18 Shall men wait for their damnation and shall not we be content to wait for our salvation Wait without murmuring wait without fainting the things we expect are infinitly more then we can hope for And let me adde one caution wait on the Lord and keep his waies Psal. 37.34 while we are waiting let us take heed of wavering Go not a step out of Gods way though a Lyon be in the way avoid not duty to meet with safety keep Gods high-way the good old way Jer. 6.16 the way which is paved with holiness Isa. 35.8 and an high-way shall be there and it shall be called the way of holiness avoid crooked pathes take heed of turning to the left hand lest you be set on the left hand Sin doth crosse our hopes it barracadoes up our way a man may as well expect to find Heaven in hell as in a sinful way My last Use is to such as have only things present that they would labour for things to come You have seen the blessed condition of a man in Christ never rest till this be yours Alas what are the great possessions of the earth the world hath vanity written upon the frontispiece there 's a transiency and a deficiency in these things What is Honour ' but a rattle to still mens ambition it is like the Meteor which lives in the ayr so doth this in the breath of other men it 's like a gale of wind which carries the ship sometimes this wind is down a man hath lost his Honor and lives to see himself intombed somâ—â—mes this wind is too high how many have been blown to hell while they have been sailing with the wind of popular applause Honor is but magnum nihil a glorious fancy Acts 25.23 It doth not make a man really the better but often the worse a man swell'd with honour wanting grace is like a dropsy-man whose bigness is his disease And for riches the silver goddess which men a dore what are they 1. They are vain I gathered me silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of Kings and of the Provinces Eccl. 2.8 and behold all was vanity vers 11. That must needs bee vain which cannot fill the heart Covetousness is a drie drunkenness the more men have the more they thirst like the fire the more fuell is thrown into it the more it is inflamed 2. They are uncertain 1 Timothy 6.17 they are ever upon the wing Outward comforts as one saith are Dei ludibria quae sursum ac deorsum suo coelo feruntur like Tennis-bals which are bandied up and downe from one to another 3. They are vexing It was a fruit of the curse Genesis 3.18 Thorns and thistles shall the earth brinâ— forth The comforts of this life have more or lesse of the Thorn in them They are sweet-briar Riches may well be called Thorns they pierce both head and heart the one with care of getting the other with griefe in parting with them 4. They are dangerous they oft turn to the hurt of the owner Ecclesiastes 5.13 they are dulce venenum a sweet poison how many have pull'd down their soules to build up an estate A ship may bee so loaded with gold and silver that it sinks A gift blindes the eye the same may bee said of riches the golden dust of the world puts out the eye of the soule that men neither know God nor themselves Iudas as Tertullian thinks was pretty honest till he carried the bag It 's hard to bee in office and not put conscience out of office oh what are these present things in comparison of things to come Christ who had all riches scorn'd these earthly riches hee was borne poore the Manger was his cradle the Cobwebs his curtaines hee lived poore Hee had not where to lay his head hee died poore for as Austin observes when Christ died hee made no Will hee had no Crown-lands only his coate was left and that the Souldiers parted among them and his Funeral was suitable for as he was borne in another mans house so hee was buried in another mans Tombe To shew how hee did contemne earthly dignities and possessions His Kingdome was not of this world Suppose an houre of adversity come can these present things quiet the minde in trouble riches are call'd thick clay which will sooner breake the backe then lighten the heart When pangs of Conscience and pangs of Death come and no hope of things to come what peace can the world give at such a time surely it can yield no more comfort then a silken stockin to a man whose legge is out of joynt a fresh colour delights the eye but if the eye be sore this colour will not heale it Riches availe not in the day of wrath Thou canst not hold thy wedge of gold as a Screene to keepe off the fire of Gods justice Let this sound a retreate to call us off from the immoderate pursuite of present things to labour for things to come what are these neather springs to the upper springs As Abraham said Lord what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless So say Lord what wilt thou give mee seeing I go Christlesse Luther did solemnly protest God should not put him off with these things Valde protestatus sum me nolle sic satiari ab eo Oh labour for those blessings in heavenly places Things present are pleasing but not permanent be not content with a few gifts Abraham gave unto the sons of the Concubines gifts and sent them away but unto Isaac Abraham gave all that he had Reprobates may have a