1 Cor. 15 16. He that denyeth the Resurrection of the members denyeth the Resurrection of the Head for seeing the Resurrection of the Saints is proved by the Resurrection of Christ he that doth deny the Resurrection of the Saints must needs deny the Resurrection of Christ that proves it Now this errour as it is in it self destructive to all Christian Religion so it like an Adder carrieth within its bowels many other alike devilish and filthy as 1. He that denyeth the Resurrection of the Saints he concludeth that to preach deliverance from sin and death it is vain preaching for how can he be freed of sin that is swallowed up for ever of Death the Grave as he most certainly is that is always contained therin as Paul saith if Christ be not risen whose Resurrection is the ground of ours then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain then we preach fables and you receive them for truth 1 Cor. 15. 14. 2. This errour casteth the Lie in the face of God of Christ and the Scriptures ye and we also saith Paul are found false Witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised Christ up if so be that the dead rise not 1 Cor. 15. 15. Mark before he said Christ in his Resurrection doth prove our Resurrection but now he saith that our Resurrection will prove the truth of his and indeed both are true for as by Christs rising ours is affirmed so by ours his is demonstrated oâ— 3. The denyal of the Resurrection it also damneth all those that have departed this World in the faith of this Doctrine If Christ be not raised as if he is not we rise not then is not onely your faith vain and ye are yet in your sins that are alive but then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished 1 Cor. 15. 17 18. 4 He that denyeth the Resurrection of the Just he concludeth that the Christian is of all men the most miserable Mark the words If in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men the most miserable 1 Cor. 15. 19. First of all men the most miserable because we let go present injoyments of those that will never come if the deaâ— rise not of all men most miserable because our faith our hope our joy and peace are all but a lie if the dead rise not But you will say he that giveth up himself to God shall have comfort in this life Ah but if the dead rise not all our comfort that now we think we have from God will then be found presumption and madness because we believe that God hath so loved us as to have us in his day in Body and Soul to Heaven which will be nothing so if the dead rise not If in this 〈◊〉 onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable Poor Christian thou that lookest for the blessed hope of the Resurrection of the Body at the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ how wilt thou be deceived if the Dead rise not but now is Christ risen and become he first fruits of them that sleep for since by man came death by man came also the Resurrection from the dead 1 Cor. 15. 20 21. 5. But again he that 〈◊〉 the Resurrection of the dead he setteth open a â—â—â—udgate to all manner of impiety he cutteth â—he throat of a truly holy life and layeth the Reins upon the neck of the most outragiâ—us â—ustâ— For if the dead rise not let us eat and drink that is do anything though never so diabolical and hellish let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die and there is an end of us we shall not arise again to receive either evill or good 1 Cor. 15. 32. 6. To deny this Resurrection nay if a man do but say it is past either with him or any Christian his so saying tendeth directly to the destâ—uction and overthrow of the faith of them that hear him and is so far from being according to the Doctrine of God that it eateth out good and wholsome Doctrine even as Cankers eat the face and flesh of a man how ill favouredly do they look that have their nose and lips eat off with the Canker even so badly doth the Doctrine of no Resurrection of the dead look in the eyes of God Christ Saints and Scripture 2 Tim. 2. 18. Lastly I conclude then that to deny the Resurrection of the Bodies of the Just it argueth First Great ignorance of God ignorant of his power to raise ignorant of his promise to raise ignorant of his faithfulness to raise and that both to himself Son and Saints as I shewed before therefore saith Paul to those that were thus deluded Awake to Righteousness and sin not for some have not the knowledge of God I speak this to your shame 1 Cor. 18. 32 33 34. as if he had said Do you profess Christianity and do you question the Resurrection of the Body Do you not know that the Resurrection of the Body and glory to follow is the very quintessence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Are you ignorant of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus and do you question the power and faithfulness of God both to his Son and his Saints because you say there shall be no Resurrection of the Dead you are ignorant of God of what he can do of what he will do and of what he will by doing glorifie himself Secondly As it argueth very great ignorance of Gods power faithfulness c. so it argueth gross ignorance of the Tenor and curâ—ant of the Scriptures for as touching the Dead that they are raised have ye not read in the Book of Moses saith Christ how that God said unto him in the Bush I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living ye do therefore greatly erre Mark 12. 26 27. To be the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob it is to be understood of his being their God under a new Covenant-Consideration as he saith I will be their God and they shall be my People Heb. 8. 10 11. John 8. 44. 1 John 38. 9 10. Hos. 6. 2. Col. 3. 4. Ephes. 1. 4. Now thus he is not the God of the Dead that is of those that perish whether they be Angels or men Now I say they that are the Children of God as Abraham Isaac and Jacob they are counted the Living under a threefold Consideration 1. In their Lord and Head and thus all the Elect may be said to live for they are from Eternity chosen in him who also is their life though possibly many of them yet unconverted I say yet Christ is their life by the eternal purpose of God 2. The Children of the new Covenant do live both in their spirits in glory by open vision and here by Faith Gal. 2. 20. and the
the Judge is appointed their deeds are written the deep Dungeon is with open mouth ever waiting for them wherefore at the day appointed neither Earth nor Death nor Hell can hinder There shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the just and unjust Lastly Besides what hath been said I cannot but believe there shall be a Resurrection of the wicked at the last day because of the ungodly consequences and errours that do most naturally follow the denyal thereof For first He that taketh away the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the wicked he taketh away one of the main Arguments that God hath provided for to convince a sinner of the evill of his wâ—yes for how shall a sinner be convinced of the evill of sin if he be not convinced of the certainty of eternall Judgement and how shall be he be convinced of eternall Judgement if you perswade him that when he is dead he shall not at all arise especially seeing the Resurrection of the Dead and eternall Judgement must unavoidably be one the forerunner of the other Heb. 6. 2. It was Pauls reasoning of Righteousness Temperance and Judgement to come that made Felix tremble 'T is this also he calleth the Argument of terrour wherewith he perswaded men This was Solomons Argument and Christs also where he saith That every idle word that man shall speak he shall give an account thereof in the day of Judgement Acts 24 25. 2 Cor. 5. 10 11. Eccles. 11. 9. Mat. 12. 36. Secondly They that deny the Resurrection of the wicked they do both allow and maintain the chief Doctrine of the Ranters with most of the debauched persons in the World For the Ranters deny it both in principle and practice and the other in practice at least Now to me it is very strange that these men above all other should both know and live in the Doctrines of the Kingdom of God especially seeing the denyal hereof is an evident token of one appointed to wrath and destruction 2 Tim. 2. 18. But to be plain There shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the just and unjust Wherefore whatever others may say or profess being beguiled by Satan and their own hearts yet do thou fear him that can destroy both Body and Soul in Hell Matth. 10. 28. There shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the just and unjust Rev. 20. 13. And the Sea gave up the Dead that were in it and Death and Hell delivered up the Dead that were in them Having in the first place shewed you that the wicked must arise I shall in the next place shew you the manner of their rising And observe it as the very Title of the just and unjust are opposites so they are in all other matters and in their Resurrections First then as the just in their Resurrection do come forth in incorruption the unjust in their Resurrection shall come forth in their corruptions for though the ungodly at their Resurrection shall for ever after be incapable of having Body and Soul separate or of their being annihilated into nothing yet it shall be far from them to rise in incorruption for if they arise in incorruption they must arise to life and also must have the Conquest over sin and death 1 Cor. 15. 54. But that they shall not for it is the Righteous onely that put on incorruption that are swallowed up of life The wickeds Resurrection it is called the Resurrection of damnation Joh. 5. 28. These in their very Resurrection shall be hurt of the second Death They shall arise in death and shall be under it under the gnawings and terrours of it all the time of their Arraignment As it were a living death shall feed upon them they shall never be spiritually alive nor yet absolutely dead but much after that manner that natural death and Hell by reason of guilt doth feed on him that is going before the Judge to receive his Condemnation to the Gallows You know though a Felon go forth of the Goal when he is going to the Bar for his Arraignment yet he is not out of prison or out of his Irons for that his Fetters are still making a noise on his heels and the thoughts of what he is to hear by and by from the Judge is still frighting and afflicting his heart Death like some evil Spirit of Ghost doth continually haunt him and playeth the Butcher continually in his Soul and Conscience with frights and fears about the thoughts of the sudden and unsupportable after-clap by and by he is to meet withall Thus I say will the wicked come out of their Graves having yet the Chains of eternal death hanging on them and the talons of that dreadful Ghost fastned in their Souls So that life will be far from them even as far as Heaven is from Hell This morning to them is even as the shadow of death They will then be in the very terrours of the shadow of Death Job 24. 17. As Christ saith Their Worm never dies and their fire is never quenched Mark 8. 43 44. From Death to Eternity it never shall be quenched their bed is now among the flames and when they rise they will rise in flames while they stand before the Judge it will be in flames even in the flames of a guilty Conscience they will in their coming before the Judge be within the very Jaws of death and destruction Thus I say the ungodly shall be far off from rising as the Saints for they will be even in the Region and shadow of Death The first moment of their rising Death will be ever over them ever feeding on their Souls and ever presenting to their hearts the heights and depths of the misery that now must seize them and like a bottomless Gulf must swallow them up They shall come out of their holes like worms of the Earth and be afraid of the Lord our God Micah 7. 17. Secondly As the Resurrection of the godly shall be a Resurrection in Glory So the Resurrection of the wicked it will be a Resurrection in dishonour Yea as the glory of Saints at the day of their rising will be glory unspeakable so the dishonour of the ungodly at that day it will be dishonour beyond expression As Daniel saith The good shall arise to everlasting life but the wicked to shame and everlasting contempt Dan. 12. 2. And again When thou O God awakest that is to judge them Thou shalt despise their Image Psal. 73. 20. Never was Toad or Serpent more loathsome to any then these will be in the eyes of God in their rising forth of their Graves When they go to their Graves saith Job their bones are full of the sin of their youth which lyeth down in the dust with them Job 20. 11. And a rise they shall in the same noisom and stinking condition foras Death leaves so Judgment finds them At the Resurrection then of these ungodly they will be in a very
Nay further we do not onely see what operation the Spirit will have in our Body by the carriage of Christ after his Resurrection but even by many a Saint before their Death The Spirit used to catch Elijah away no man could tell whether It carryed Ezekiel hither and thither It carryed Christ from the Top of the Pinacle of the Temple into Galilee through it he walked on the Sea the Spirit caught away Philip from the Eunuch and carryed him as far as Azotus 1 King 17. 11 12. 2 King 2. 11. Ezek 3. 14. Luke 4. 14. Matth. 14. 25. Act. 8. 39. 40. Thus the great God hath given us a Tast of the power and glory that is in himself and how easily it will help us by its possessing of us at the Resurrection to act and do like Angels as Christ sâ—ith They that shall be counted worthy of that World and of the Resurrection from the Dead they shall not die but be equal to the Angels Luk. 23. 36. Further as the Body by being thus spiritualized shall be as I have said so again it must needs be that hereby all the Service of the Body and Faculties of the Soul must be infinitely inlarged also Now we shall see him as he is and now we shall know even as we are known 1 Joh. 3. 2. 1 Cor. 13. 12. First now we shall see him to wit Christ in his Glory Not by Revelation onely as we do now but then Face to Face and he will have us with him to this very end Joh. 17. 24. Though John was in the Spirit when he had the Vision of Christ Rev. 1. 17. yet it made him fall at his Feet as dead and also turned Daniel's Beauty into Corruption Dan. 10. 8. It was so glorious and so over-weighing a Glory that he appeared in but we shall at the Day of our Resurrection be so furnished that we shall with the Eagle be able to look upon the Sun in his strength We shall then I say see Him as he is who now is in the Light that no Eye hath seen nor any man can see till that Day 1 Tim. 6. 16. Now we shall see into all Things There shall not be any thing hid from us there shall not be a Saint a Prophet or saved Soul small or great but we shall then perfectly know them Also all the Works of Creation Election and Redemption and shall see and know as throughly all the Things of Heaven and Earth and Hell even as perfectly as now we know our A B C. For the Spirit with which we shall in every Crany of Soul and Body be filled I say that searcheâ—h all things yea the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. We see that strange Things have been known by the Prophets and Saints of God and that when they knew but in part Abraham could by it tell to a day how long his Seed should be under Persecution in Egypt Gen. 15. 13. Elisha by it could tell what was done in the King of Assyria's Bed-Chamber 2 King 6. 12. Ahijah could know by this Jeroboam's Wife so soon yea before her Feet entred within his Door though he saw her not 1 King 14. 1 2 3 4 5. The Prophet of Judah could tell by this what God would do to Bethel for the Idolatry there committed and could also point out the man by name that should do the Execution long before he was born 1 Kin. 13. 2. What shall I say Enoch by it could tell what should be done at the end of the World Jud. 14 15. How did the Prophets to a circumstance prophecie of Christ's Birth his Death his Burial of their giving him Call and Vinegar Of their parting his Raiment and piercing his Hands and Feet Isa. 53. Of his riding on an Ass Also all this they saw when they spake of him Joh. 12. 41. Peter also though half asleep could at the very first word call Moses and Elias by their Names when they appeared to Christ in the Holy Mount Luk. 9. 33. He is very ignorant of the operation of the Spirit of God that scrupleth these Things But now I say if these Things have been done seen and known by Spiritual men while their knowledge hath been but in part how shall we know see and discern when that which is perfect is come Which will be at the Resurrection It is raised a Spiritual Body Thus in few words have I shewed you the truth of the Resurrection of the Just and also the manner of their Rising Had I judged it convenient I might have much inlarged on each particular and have added many more For the Doctrine of the Resurrection however question'd by Hereticks and Erroneous Persons yet is such a Truth that almost all the Holy Scriptures of God point at and center in it God hath from the beginning of the World shewed to us that our Body must be with him as well as our Soul in the Kingdom of Heaven I say he hath shew'd first he hath shewed us how he will deal with those that are alive at Christs coming by his translating of Enoch Gen. 5. 24. Heb. 1. 5. and taking him Body and Soul to himself As also by his catching of Elias 1 King 2. 10 11. up Body and Soul into Heaven in a Fiery Chariot Secondly He hath often put us in remembrance of the Rising of those that are Dead at that Day First By the Faith he gave Abraham concerning the Offering of his Son For when he offered him he accounted that God was able to raise him up even from the Dead From whence also he received him in a Figure In a Figure of the Resurrection of Christ for Abraham's Justification and of Abraham's Resurrection by Christ at the last Day for his Glorification Heb. 11. 19. Secondly By the Faith he gave Joseph consuming his Bones which Charge the Godly in Egypt did diligently observe and to that end did keep them four hundred years and at length carryed them I say from Egypt to Canaan Heb. 11. 22. which was a Tipe of our being carryed in our Body from this World to Heaven Besides How oft did God give power to his Prophets Servants and Christ Jesus to raise some that was now dead and some that had been long so and all no doubt to put the present Generations as also the Generations yet unborn in mind of the Resurrection of the Dead To this end I say how was the Shunamites Son raised from the dead 2 King 4. The man also at the touching of the bones of Elisha 2 King 13. 20 21. Together with the body of Lazarus with Jairus Daughter and Tabitha and many others Luke 8. 53 54 55. Joh. 11. 43 44 45. Acts 9. 40 41. who after their Soul was departed from them Lazarus lying in his grave four dayes were all raised to life again and lived with that very Body out of which the Soul at their death had departed But above all that notable place in
because Christ is risen from the dead Christ is the head of the Just and they are the members of his Body and because of this union therefore the Just must arise This is the Apostles own Argument If Christ saith he be preached that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no Resurrection of the dead but if there be no Resurrection of the dead then is not Christ risen 1 Cor. 15. 12 13. Now I say the Reason why the Apostle thus argueth the Resurrection from the dead by the Resurrection of Christ. It is because the Saints of whose Resurrection he here chiefly discourseth are in their Bodies as well as in their Soul the members of Christ know you not saith he that your Bodies are the members of Christ 1 Cor. 6. 15. A very weighty Argument for if a good man be a member of Christ then he must either be raised out of his Grave or else sin and death must have power over a member of Christ. I say again if if this Body be not raised then also Christ is not a compleat Conquerour over his enemies for as much as death and the Grave hath still power over his members The last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death Now though Christ in his own person hath a compleat Conquest over Death c. yet Death hath still power over the Bodies of all that are in their Graves now I say Christ being considered with relation to his members then he hath not yet a compleat Conquest over death neither will he until they every one be brought forth of their Graves for then and not till then shall that saying be every way fulfilled Death is swallowed up of Victory 1 Cor. 15. 26. and 53 54. Secondly As there must be a Resurrection of the Just because Christ is their Head and they his members so also because the Body of the Saints as well as their Soul is the purchase of Christs blood Ye are bought with a price saith Paul wherefore glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirit which are Gods 1 Cor. 6. 20. Christ will not lose the purchase of his blood O Death saith Christ I will have them O Grave I will make thee let them go I will ransom them from the power of the Grave I will redeem them from death I have bought them and they shall be mine O Death I will be thy plague O Grave I will be thy destruction Hos. 13 14. Job 18. 13 14. Revel 1. 18. I say though the power of the Grave be invincible and death be the King of terrours yet he who hath the Keys of Hell and of Death at his Girdle to him belongeth the issues from death He that is our God is the God of Salvation and to God the Lord belongeth the issues from death Psal. 68. 20. and we the price of his blood shall be delivered Thirdly As the Body is the member of Christ and the price of his blood so it is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in us What know you not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you and you are not your own The Body is no such rediculous thing in the account of Christ as it was in the account of the Saduces The Body is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the Body and that no onely in this World but that which is to come wherefore he saith God hath both raised up the Lord Jesus and will raise us up also by his power 1 Cor. 6. 13 14. 19. that is as he hath raised up the Body of Christ so will he raise up ours also by Christ. Fourthly The Bodies of the Just must arise again because of that Similitude that must be betwixt the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bodies of the Saints When he shall appear we shall be like him 1 John 3. 2. Now we have it abundantly manifest in Scripture that the Body of the Lord Jesus was raised out of the Grave caught up into Heaven and that it ever remaineth in the holiest of all a glorified Body Luk 24. 3 4 5 6 7 8. 35. 36 37 38 39 40 41 42. John 20. 24 25 26 27. Acts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. Acts 2. 31. Acts 17. 30 31 32. Mar. 16. 6 7 19. Heb. 7. 24 25 26. eb 8. 2 3. Heb. 10. 12. Now I say it would be very strange to me if Christ should be raised ascended and glorified in that Body and yet that his People should be with him no otherwise then in their Spirits especially seeing that he in his Resurrection is said to be but the first begotten from the dead and the first fruits of them that sleep Col. 1. 18. 1 Cor. 15. 23. for we know that a first begotten doth imply more Sons and that first-fruits do foreshew an after Crop wherefore we conclude that as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order Christ the first fruits and afterwards them that are his at â—is coming 1 Cor. 15. 22 23. And hence it is that the Scripture saith He shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious Body And hence it is again that the day of Christ is said to be the day of the manifestation of the Sons of God and of the redemption of our body for then shall the Saints of God not onely be but appear as their Saviour being delivered from their Graves as he is from his and glorified in their Bodies as he is in his Phil. 3. 20 21. Rom. 8. 21 22 23. Fifthly There must be a Resurrection of the Body of the Saints because the Body as well as the mind hath been a deep sharer in the afflictions that we meet with for the Gospel sake Yea the body is oft-times the greater sufferer in all the Calamities that for Christs sake we here undergo it is the body that feels the stocks the whip hunger and cold the fire and rack and a thousand calamities it is the body in which we have the dying marks of the Lord Jesus that the life of Jesus also might be made manifest in our mortall slesh Gal. 6. 17. 2 Cor. 4. 9 10 11 12 13 14. God is so just a God and so merciful to his People that though the bodies of his Saints should through the malice of the enemy be never so dishonourably tortured killed and sown in the Grave yet he will as further will be shewed anon raise it again in incorruption glory and honour as he saith also in another place that we who have continued with Christ in his temptations that have for his sake underwent the reproach and malice of the World to you saith Christ I appoint a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me Luk. 22. 28 29. If we suffer with him we shall reign with him he that hateth his life
in this World shall keep it to life eternall 2 Tim. 2. 12. John 12. 29. all this is to be injoyed especially at the Resurrection of the Just. But sixthly There must be a Resurrection of the Just otherwise there will be the greatest disappointment on all sides that ever was since man had a being on the Earth A disappointment I say First Of the Will of God for this is the will of the Father that sent me saith Christ that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing not a dust but should raise it up again at the last day John 6. 39. Secondly A disappointment of the Power of God for he that hath raised up the Lord Jesus doth also intend to raise us up by his Power even our Bodies as Paul saith the body is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the body and God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his Power 1 Cor. 6. 13 14. Thirdly If there should be no Resurrection of the Just Christ also would be wonderfully disappointed of the fruits of all his sufferings As I told you before his People are the price of his Blood and the members of his Body and he is now at the right hand of God far above all Principalities and Powers and every name that is named expecting till his enemies be made his Footstool and brought under Heb. 1. 13. the foot of the weakest Saint which will not be untill the last enemy Death is destroyed We know that he said when he went away that he would come again and fetch all his People to himself even up into Heaven that where he is there we may be also Joh. 12. 26. Joh. 14. 1 2 3. Joh. 17. 24. But I say how will he be disappointed if when he comes the Grave and Death should prevent and hinder him and with its bars keep down those whom he hath ransomed with his blood from the power thereof Fourthly If the Bodies of the Just arise from the dead then they also will be disappointed 'T is true the Saints departed have far more fellowship and Communion with God and the Lord Jesus then we have or are not yet capable of having Luke 23. 43. They being in Paradise and we in this World but yet I say for all that they are though there very much longing for the day of the Lords vengeance which will be the day in which they will and must arise from the dead This I say is the time that they long for when they cry under the Altar How long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the Earth When they died they Heb. 11. 35. died in hope to obtain a better Resurrection and now they are gone they long till that day be come Rev. 6. 10 11. Till the day come I say when the dead even all the enemies of Christ shall be judged for then will he give reward to his Servants the Prophets and to his Saints and to 〈◊〉 that fear his name small and great Revel 11. 1. 8. Fifthly If the Just arise not great disappointment also will be to the Saints yet alive in this World for notwithstanding they have already received the first-fruits of the Spirit yet the wait not onely for more of that but also for the Resurrection Redemption and changing of this vile body Rom. 8. 20 21 22 23. Phil. 3. 20 21. For our Conversation is in Heaven saith Paul from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body But now I say if the body riseth not then how can it be made like to the glorious Body of Christ Jesus yea what a sad disappointment infatuation and delusion are those poor Creatures under that look and that by Scripture warrant for such a thing They look for good but behold evill they expect to be delivered in their whole man from every enemy but lo both death and the Grave their great enemies do swallow them up for ever But Beloved be not deceived Psal. 9. 10. Tâ—e needy shall not always be forgotten the expectâ—tion of the poor shall not perish for ever saith Christ he that seeth the Son and believeth on him that sent him hath everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day John 6. 40. Sixthly If the Just arise not out of their Graves then also is every Grace of God in our Souls defeated for though the spirit of devotion can put forth a feigned shew of holiness with the denyal of the Resurrection yet every Grace of God in the Elect doth prompt them forward to live as becomes the Gospel by pointing at this day as First 'T is this that faith looks at according as it is written I believed and therefore have I spoken we believed and therefore speak knowing that he that hath raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus and shall present us with you 2 Cor. 4 13 14. Secondly Hope looks at this We saith Pâ—ul which have the first fruits of the Spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adâ—ption to wit the redemption of our Body that is we expect this by hope but hope which is seen is not hope for what a man seeth or hath in present possession why doth he yet hope for it Rom. 8. 23 24 25. Thirdly The Grace of self-denyal also woâ—keth by this Doctrine If after the manner of men I have fought with Beasts at Ephesus what advantageth it me if the Dead rise not As who should say wherefore do I deny my self of those mercies and priviledges that the men of this World injoy why do not I also as well as they shun persecution for the Cross of Christ If the dead rise not what shall I be the better for all my trouble that here I met with for the Gospel of Christ 1 Cor. 15. 32. Fourthly Both Zeal and patience with all other the Graces of the Spirit of God in our hearts are much yea chiefly incouraged animated and supported by this Doctrine as James saith Be patient therefore my Brethren unto the coming of the Lord for then shall the dead be raised 1 Thes. 4. 16 17. Behold the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruits of the Earth and hath long patience till he receive both the early and latter Rayn be ye also patient stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draws nigh Jam. 5. 7 8. Seventhly The Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Just must needs be a certain truth of God if we consider the devilish and satanical errours and absurdities that must unavoidably follow the denyal thereof as First He that holdeth no Resurrection of our Body he denyeth the Resurrection of the Body of Christ this is the Spirits own Doctrine For if the Dead rise not then is not Christ risen
continuâ—l Communication of Grace from Christ into their Souls 3. They live also with respect to their rising again for God calleth those things that are not as though they were Rom. 4. 17. to be born dead buried risen and ascended are all present with God he liveth not by time as we do a thousand years to him are but as the day that is past 2 Pet. 3. 8. Heb. 4. 13. Isa. 46. 9 10. Rom. 8. 29 30 31 32 33. And again one day is as a thousand years Eternity which is God himself admitteth of no first second and third all things are naked and bare before him and present with him all his live unto him There shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the Just and unjust A Resurrection of what of that which is sown or of that which was never sown if of that which is sown then it must be either of that nature that was sown or else of the corruption that cleaveth to it but it is the nature and not the corruption that cleaveth unto it that riseth again And verily the very terme Resurrection is a forcible Argument to prove the Dead shall come forth of their Graves for the holy Ghost hath alwayes spoke more properly then to say There shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the Just and unjust when yet neither the good nor the bad shall come forth of their Graves but rather something else to delude the World withall Having thus in few words shewed you the truth of the Resurrection of the Dead I now come to the manner of their rising The manner of the Resurrection of the Dead And first of the Just. THE Apostle when he had in the fifteenth of the first of the Corinthians proved the truth and certainty of the Resurrection he descends to the discovery of the manner of it and to the end he might remove those foolish scruples that attend the hearts of the ignorant he begins with one of their Questions But some will say saith he how are the Dead raised and with what Vers. 35. Body do they come To which he answereth first by a Similitude of Seed that is sown in the Earth In which Similitude he inserteth three things First That our reviving or rising must be after Death That which thou sowest is not quickned except it die Vers. 36. Secondly That at our rising we shall not onely revive and live but be changed into a far more glorious state then when we were sown Vers. 37. That which thou sowest thou sowest not that Body that shall be c. But God giveth it a Body as it pleaseth him that is he giveth the Body more splendor luster and beauty at its Resurrection But Thirdly Neither its quickning not yet transcendent splendor shall hinder it from being the same Body as to the nature of it that was sown in the Earth for as God giveth it a Body for Honour and Splendor as it pleaseth him so Vers. 38. to every Seed his own Body And indeed this Similitude by which he here reasoneth the manner of the Resurrection of the Just is very natural and fitly suiteth each particular for as to its Burial First The Corn of Wheat is first dead and after sown and buried in the Earth and so is the Body of Man Secondly After the Corn is thus dead and buried then it quickneth and reviveth to life so also shall it be with our Body for after it is laid in the Grave and buried it shall then quicken rise and revive Again As to the manner of its change in its rising this Similitude also doth fitly suit as First It is sown a dead Corn it is raised a living one Secondly It is sown dry and without comliness it riseth green and beautiful Thirdly It is sown a single Corn it riseth a full Ear. Fourthly It is sown in its husk but in its rising it leaveth that Husk behind it Further Though the Curnel thus dy be buried and meet with all this change and alteration in these things yet none of them can cause the nature of the Curnel to cease it is Wheat still Wheat was sown and Wheat ariseth onely it was sown dead drie and baren Wheat and riseth living beautiful and fruitful Wheat It hath this alteration then that it doth greatly change its resemblance though yet it hath this power as still to retain its own nature God giveth it a Body as it pleaseth him but to every Seed his own Body The Apostle having thus presented the manner of the Resurrection of the Saints by the nature of Seed sown and rising again he proceedeth for further illustration to three more Similitudes The first is to shew us the variety and glory of flesh The second is to shew us the difference of Glory that if between Heavenly Bodies and those that are Earthy The third is to shew us the difference that is between the Glory of the light of the Sun from that of the Moon and also how one Star differeth from another in Glory And then concludeth so is the Resurrection of the Dead 1 Cor. 15. 39 40 41 42. As who should say at the Resurrection of the Bodies they will be abâ—â—â—â—lantly more alâ—eâ—ed and changed then if the flesh of Beasts and Fouls were made as noble as the flesh of men or the Bodies of Earth were made as excellent as the Heavenly Bodies or as if the glory of the Moon should be made as bright and as clear as the glory of the Sun or as if the glory of the least Star was as glorious and as shining as the biggest in the Firmament of Heaven It is a Resurrection indeed a Resurrection every way The Body ariseth as to the nature of it the self-same nature but as to the manner of it how far transcendant is it there is a poor dry wrinkled Curnel cast into the ground and there it lyeth and swelleth breatheth and one would think perisheth but behold it receiveth life it chitteth it putteth forth a blade and groweth into a stalk there also appeareth an Ear it also sweetly Blossoms with a full Curnel in the Ear it is the same Wheat yet behold how the form and fashion of that which now ariseth doth differ from that which then was sown its glory also when 't was sown is no glory when compared with that in which it riseth And yet it is the same that riseth that was sown and no other though the same after a far more glorious manner not the same with its husk but without it Our brun shall be left behind us when we rise again The Comparison also between the Bodies Heavenly and Bodies Earthly hold forth the same The glory of the Celestial is one and the glory of the Terrestial is another Now mark it he doth not speak here of the natures of each of these Bodies but of the transcendant glory of one above another The glory of the Heavenly is one and the glory of the Earthly
is another Wherefore I say at our rising we shall not change our nature but our glory We shall be equal to the Angels Luke 20. 36. Not with respect to their nature but glory The nature also of the Moon is one thing and the glory of the Moon is another and so one Star also differeth from another in glory A Beggar hath the same nature as a King and Gold in the Ore the same nature with that which is best refined but the Beggar hath not the same glory with the King nor yet the Gold in Ore the same glory with that which is refined But our state will be far more altered than any of these in the dayes when we like so many Suns in the Firmament of Heaven arise out of the heart and bowels of the Earth These things thus considered do shew you how vainly they argue that say our humane nature consisting of Body and Soul shall not inherit the Kingdom of God and also how far from their purpose that saying of the Apostle is which saith That flesh and blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And now also because I am fallen upon the Objection it self I shall not passe it but with a short dash at it Wherefore Reader whoever thou art consider that frequently in Scripture the word flesh and blood as also in the place alledged is not to be understood of that matter which God made which flesh cleaveth to our bones and blood runs in our veins but is taken for that corruption weakness mortality and evil that cleaveth to it Which weakness and corruption because it possesseth all men also wholy ruleth where the Soul is unconverted therefore it beareth the name of that which is ruled and acted by it to wit our whole man consisting of Body and Soul yet I say is a thing distinct from that flesh and blood which is essential to our being and without which we are no men As for instance he that is Christs saith Paul Gal. 5. 24. hath Crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Who is so vain as to think that the Apostle by these words should mean our material flesh that hangeth on our bones and that is mixed with our natural blood sinews and veins And not rather of that inward fountain of sin corruption and wickedness which in another place he calleth the old man with his deceitful lusts Ephes. 4. 22. Again The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh Is it our flesh that hangeth on our bones which lusteth against the spirit and that also against which the spirit lusteth Certainly if the spirit lusteth against our material flesh then it is our duty not to nourish it at all because by nourishing of it we nourish that against which the Spirit of God fighteth and warreth Nay if the spirit lust against the flesh on our bones simply considered as flesh and if it be our duty to follow the spirit as it is then we must needs kill our selves or cut our flesh from our bones For whatever the Spirit of God lusteth against it must be destroyed yea it is our duty with all speed to destroy it But wilt thou know O vain man that by flesh here is to be understood not the nature that God hath made but the corrupt apprehension and wisdom with those inclinations to evil that lodg within us Which in another place is called the Wisdom of the flesh Yea in plain termes flesh and blood where Christ saith flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven Mat. 16. 16. Nay observe it all these places with many others do rather point at a corrupt Soul then a corrupt Body for indeed sin and all spiritual wickedness they have their seat in the heart and soul of a man and by their using this or that member of the body so defile the man the weaknesses of the body or that attend our material flesh and blood they are weaknesses of another kind as sickness aches pains soars wounds defection of members c. Wherefore where you read of flesh and blood as rejected of God especially when it speaks of the flesh and blood of Saints you are not to understand it as meâ—nt of the flesh which is their proper humane nature but of that weakness which cleaveth to it Paul in another place reckoneth up the works of the flesh in many things as in Witchcraft hatred variance strife emulation fornication and many others But can any imagine that he there should strike at that flesh that hangeth on our bone or rather at that malignity and rebellion that is in the mind of man against the Lord Gal. 17 18 19 20. by reason of which the members of the Body are used this way and also sometimes that to accomplish its most filthy and abusive deeds They are Enemies in their Minds by wicked Works Col. 1. 21. Thus you see that Flesh and Blood is not to be taken always for the Flesh that is upon our hands and feet and other parts of our Body but for that sinne weakness and infirmity that cleaveth to our whole man Further then touching our reall substantiall flesh it may be either considered as God's Creature purely or as corrupted with sinne and infirmity Now if you consider it as corrupted so it shall not inherit the Kingdom of God but yet consider it as God's Creature and so all that God hath converted to himself through Jesus Christ shall even with that Body when changed inherit the Kingdom of God The Woman whose Cloaths are foul can yet distinguish between the Dirt and the Cloth on which it hangeth and so deals God with us 'T is true there is not one Saint but while he liveth here his Body is arrayed and infected with many corrupt and filthy things as touching bodily weaknesses yea and also with many sinful infirmities by reason of that body of Sin and Death that yet remains in us But yet God I say distinguisheth between our weaknesses and his Workmanship and can tell how to save the whole Man of his People while he is destroying the Corruption and Weakness that cleaveth to them And now to return to the place objected Flesh and Blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God It cannot be truly understood that that flesh which is Man's Nature shall not enter the Kingdom For then as I said before Christ must lose his Members the purchase of his Bloud the Vessels and Temples of his Spirit for all this is our Body Again then Christ also in that his Body which is also our Flesh and Blood is not in Glory contrary to the whole Current of the New Testament Heb. 2. 14 15. Heb. 7. 24 25. Heb. 8. 3 4. Heb. 10. 10 11 12. Rev. 1. 18. Rev. 2. 8. Yea it would be Non-sence to say there should be a Resurrection and that our vile Body shall be changed and made like to the Glorious Body of the
Son of God if this Body do not at all rise again but some other thing which is not in us and our Nature But to be short the Apostle here when he saith Flesh and Blood shall not inherit c. speaks properly of that Mortality and Weakness that now attends our whole Man and not of our reall substantial Body it self For after he had said Flesh and Blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God he adds Neither doth Corruption inherit in corruption Which two sayings are answerable to what he presently adds Saying Behold I shew you a Mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinckling of an Eye at the last Trump for the Trumpet shall sound and the Dead mark the Dead shall be raised incorruptible that is the Dead shall be so raised as that in their rising Incorruption shall possess them in stead of Corruption and Immortality instead of that Mortality that descended to the Grave with them For this Corruptible mark this Corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on Mortality Mark I say it is this Corruptible and this Mortal that must be raised though not Corruptible and Mortal as it was buried but immortal and incorruptible it shall leave its Grave-Cloaths of Corruption and Mortality behind it Cor. 15. 50 51. 52 53. The manner of which their Rising the Apostle doth more distinctly branch out a little above in four particulars Which particulars are these that follow 1. It is sown in Corruption it is raised in Incorruption 2. It is sown in Dishonour it is raised in Glory 3. It is sown in Weakness it is raised in Power 4. It is sown a Natural Body it is raised a Spiritual Body 1 Cor. 15. First it is raised in Incorruption We are brought into this World by Sin and Corruption Corruption is our Father and in Sin did our Mother conceive us Job 17. 14. Psal. 51. 5. And hence it is that we have our Life nnt onely like a span shadow or post for shortness but also that it is attended with so much vanity and vexation of spirit But now being raised from the Dead incorruptible which is also called a Begetting and Birth these Things that now in our Life annoy us and at last take away our Life are effectually destroy'd And therefore we live for ever as saith the Spirit And there shall be no more Death nor Sorrow nor Crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things that is all our Corruptibleness are passed away Rev. 21. 4. There shall be in our Resurrection no Corruption either of Body of Soul no weakness nor sickness nor any thing tending that way as he saith He will present us to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing Ephes. 5. 25 26 27. Therefore when he saith it is raised in Incorruption it is as if he had said It is impossible that they should ever sin more be sick more sorrow more or die more They that shall be counted worthy of that World and the Resurrection from the Dead neither marry nor are given in Marriage though 't was thus with them in this World neither can they die any more for they are equal unto the Angels and are the Children of God being the Children of the Resurrection Luk. 20. 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36. Secondly It is raised in Glory the Dishonour that doth attend the Saint at his departing this World it is very great he is sown in dishonour he is so loathsom at his death that his dearest friends are weary of him stop their noses at him see no beauty in him nor set any price upon him I speak nothing here how some of them are banged starved banished and so die torn to pieces and not suffered to be put into Graves but it is raised in glory Glory is the sweetness comliness purity and perfection of a thing The light is the glory of the Sun strength is the glory of youth and gray hairs is the glory of old Age. That is it is the excellency of these things and that which makes them shine 1 Cor. 15 40 41. Prov. 20. 29. Therefore to arise in glory it is first to arise in all the beauty and utmost compleatness that is possible to possess a humane Creature I say in all its features members inconceivably beautifull sin and corruption hath made mad work in our bodies as well as in our Souls 'T is sin commonly that is the cause of all that deformity and ill-favouredness that now cleaveth to us and that also rendereth us so dishonourable at our death but now at our rising we being raised incorruptible we shall appear in such perfections and that of all sorts belonging to the Body that all the beauty and comeliness sweetness and amiableness that hath at any time been in this World it shall be swallowed up a thousand times told with this glory The Psalmist saith of Christ That he was fairer than the Children of men Psal. 45. 2. and that as I believe in his outward man as well as in his inward part He was the exactest purest compleatest and beautifullest Creature that ever God made Isa. 42. 14. Col. 1. 18. Till his visage was so marred by his persecutions for in all things he had and shall have the preheminence Why our Bodies at our Resurrection will not onely be as free from sin as his was before he died but also as free from all other infirmities as he was after he was raised again In a word if incorruptibleness can put a beauty upon our Bodies when they arise we shall have it There shall be no lame legs nor Crump-shoulders no blare-eyes nor yet wrinkled faces Phil. 3. 20 21. He shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body Again all the glory that a glorified Soul can help this Body to it at this day shall enjoy That Soul that hath been these hundreds or thousands of years in the Heavens soaking in the Bosom of Christ it shall in a moment come spangling into the Body again and inhabit every member and vein of the Body as it did before its departure That Spirit of God also that took its leave of the Body when it went to the Grave shall now in all perfection dwell in this Body again I tell you the Body at this day will shine brighter than the face of Moses or Stephen even as bright as the Sun the Stars and Angels When Christ who is our life shall appear we shall appear with him in glory Exod. 34. 29. 35. Acts 6. 15. Dan. 12. 3. Mat. 13. 42 43. Luk. 20. 26. Col. 3. 3 4. Thirdly It is raised in Power While we are here we are attended with so many weaknesses and infirmities that in time the least sin or sickness is too hard for us and taketh away both our strength our beauty our dayes our breath
Matthew at the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus gives us a notable fore-word of the Resurrection of the Just Saith the Text And the graves were opened and many BODIES of Saints which slept arose and came out of their graves after his Resurrection and went into the holy City and appeared unto many Matth. 27. 50 51 52 53. When the Authour to the Hebrews had given us a Catalogue of the Worthies of the Old Testament he saith at last These all died in Faith In the faith of what That they should lie and rot in their graves eternally No verily this is the Faith of Ranters not of Christians They all died in faith that they should rise again and therefore counted this World not worth the living in upon unworthy terms that after death they might obtain a better Resurrection Heb. 11. 13 35. 'T is also worth the Considering that of Paul to the Philippians where he saith That he was Confident that that God that had begun a good work in them would perform it untill the day of Christ Phil. 1. 6. Which day of Christ was not the day of their Conversion for that was past with them already they were now the Children of God but this Day of Christ it is the same which in other places is called the Day when he shall come with the sound of the last Trump to raise the Dead For you must know That the Work of Salvation is not at an end with them that are now in Heaven no nor ever will untill as I shewed you before their Bodies be raised again God as I have told you hath made our Bodies the Members of Christ and God doth not count us thoroughly saved untill our Bodies be as well redeemed and ransomed out of the grave and death as our Soul from the Curse of the Law and dominion of Sin Though Gods Saints have felt the power of much of his grace and have had many a sweet word fulfilled on them yet one word will be unfulfilled on their particular person so long as the grave can shut her mouth upon them But as I said before when the gates of death do open before them and the barrs of the grave do fall asunder then shall be brought to pass that saying that is written Death is swallowed up of Victory and then will they hear that most pleasant voyce Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust for thy dew is as the dew of herbs and the Earth shall cast forth her dead Isa. 26. 19. Thus much touching the truth of the Resurrection of the Just with the manner of their rising Now you must know That the time of the rising of these Just will be at the Coming of the Lord For when they arise nay just before they are raised the Lord Jesus Christ will appear in the Clouds in flaming fire with all his mighty Angels the effect of which appearing will be the rising of the dead c. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout saith Paul and with the voice of the Arch-Angell and with the Trump of God and the dead shall rise 1 Thess. 7 8. 2 Thess. 4. 16. 1 Cor. 15. 52. Now at the time of the Lords Coming there will be found in the World alive both Saints and Sinners As for the Saints that then shall be found alive they shall so soon as all the Saints are raised out of their graves not die but be changed and swallowed up of incorruption immortality and glory and have the Soul-spiritual Translation as the raised Saints shall have as he saith We shall not all die or sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye For the Trump shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed And again For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Arch-Angel and with the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Ayr and so shall we ever be with the Lord. As he saith also in another place He shall judg the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdome 1 Cor. 15. 52. 1 Thess. 4. 15 16 17. and 2 Tim. 4. 1. Now when the Saints that sleep shall be raised thus incorruptible powerful glorious and spiritual and also those that then shall be found alive made like them Then forthwith before the unjust are raised the Saints shall appear before the Judgment Seat of the Lord Jesus Christ there to give an account to their Lord the Judge of all things they have done and to receive a reward for their good according to their labour They shall rise I say before the Wicked they being themselves the proper Children of the Resurrection that is Those that must have all the glory of it both as to preheminencie and sweetness and therefore they are said when they rise to rise from the dead that is in their rising they leave the reprobate World behind them Luke 20. 35 36. Acts 3. 15. Acts 4. 10. Acts 13. 30. Joh. 12. 1 9 17. And it must be so because also the Saints will have done their Account and be set upon the Throne with Christ as Kings and Princes with him to Judge the World when the wicked world are raised The Saints shall Judg the World they shall judge Angels yea they shall sit upon the Thrones of Judgment to do it But to pass that 1 Cor. 6. 2 3. Psal. 122. 5. Now when the Saints are raised as ye have heard they must give an account of all things in general that they have done while they were in the World Of all things I say whether they be good or bad First of all their bad but mark not under the Consideration of Vagabonds Slaves and Sinners but as Sons Stewards and Servants of the Lord Jesus That this shall be it is evident from divers places of the Holy Scriptures First Paul saith We must all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ We Saints For it is written As I live saith the Lord every Knee shall bowe to me and every tongue shall confess to God So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God Again Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him for we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one of us may receive the things done in his body according to what he hath done whether it be good or whether it be evil Rom. 14. 10 11 12. 2 Cor. 5. 10. 'T is true God loveth his People but yet he loveth not their sins nor any thing they do though with the greatest zeal for him if it be contrary to his Word Wherefore as truly as God will give a reward to his Saints and Children for all that they
loathsom condition The ungodly at their death are like the Thistle-seed but at their rising they will be like the Thistle grown more noysom offensive and provoking to rejection abundance Then such dishonour shame and contempt will appear in them that neither God nor Christ Saints nor Angels will so much as once regard them or vouchsafe one to come near them He beholdeth the wicked a far off because in the day of Grace they would not come to hand and be saved therefore now they shall all as thorns be thrust away as with fences of Iron 2. Sam. 23. 6 7. Their rising is called the Resurrection of the unjust and so they at that day will appear and will more stink in the nostrils of God and all the Heavenly Hosts then if they had the most irksome Plague-soars in the World running on them If a man at his Birth be counted as one cast forth to the loathing of his person how loathsom and irksom dishonourable and contemptible will those be that shall arise Godless Christless Spiritless and Graceless when the Trumpet sounds to their Judgement they coming out of their Graves far more loathsom and filthy then if they should ascend out of the most filthy hole on Earth Thirdly As the Just shall arise in power so the wicked and unjust in weakness and astonishment Sin and guilt bringeth weakness and faintness in this life how much more when both with all their power and force like a Gyant fasten on them as God saith Can thy hands be strong and can thy heart indure in the day that I shall deal with thee Eccless 22. 14. Now will the gastly Jaws of despair gape upon thee and now will condemnings of Conscience like Thunder-claps continually batter against thy weary Spirit It is the Godly that have boldness in the day of Judgement but the wicked will be like the Chaffe which the Wind driveth away 1 John 4. 17. Psal. 1. 4. O the fear and the heart-aking that will seiz them in their rising the frightful thoughts that then will fill their throbbing hearts Now must that Soul that hath been in Hell-fire among the Devils possess the body again Possess it I say with the hot scalding stink of Hell upon it They shall not be able to lift up the head for ever pangs shall take hold on them all their hands shall faint and every mans heart shall melt They shall be amazed one at another their faces shall be as flames Isa. 13. 6 7 8. Every thing they see hear or think of shall tend to their discomfort They must needs be weak whom God hath left whom guilt hath seized and whom death is swallowing up for ever Fourthly As the Just shall arise spiritual Bodies so the unjust shall arise onely as meer and naked lumps of sinful nature not having the least help from God to bear them up under this condition Wherefore so soon as ever they are risen out of their Graves they will feel a continual sinking under every remembrance of every sin and thoughts of Judgement in their rising they fall fall I say from thenceforth and for ever And for this Reason the Dungeon into which they fall is called bottomless Rev. 20. 1. Because as there will be no end of their misery so there will be no stay or prop to bare them up in it Onely as I said before they shall not now as afore be separate Body from Soul but both together be bound in the cords of sin and iniquity in which they shall now tremble as Theeves and Murderers c. as they go before the Judge to hear what he will say unto them Now when the wicked are thus raised out of their Graves they shall together with all the Angels of darkness their fellow Prisoners be brought up being shackled in their sins to the place of Judgement where there shall fit upon them Jesus Christ the King of Kings and Lord of Lords the Lord chief Judge of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth On whose right hand and left shall fit all the Princes and Heavenly Nobles the Saints and Prophets the Apostles and Witnesses of Jesus every one in his Kingly Attire upon the Throne of his Glory Joel 3. 11 12 13 14. Then shall be fulfilled that which is written As for these my enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring them before me to slay them Luk. 19. 27. When every one is thus set in his proper place the Judge on his Throne with his Attendants and the prisoners coming up to Judgement forthwith there shall issue forth a mighty fire and tempest from before the Throne which shall compass it round about Which fire shall be as Bars and bounds to the wicked to keep them at a certain distance from the Heavenly Majesty As David saith Psal. 50. 3. Our God will come and not keep silence a fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him And again Dan. 7. 9. His Throne was like the fiery flame and his Wheels like burning fire A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him c. This Preparation being made to wit the Judge with his Attendance on the Throne the Bar for the Prisoners and the Rebels all standing with gastly Jaws to look for what comes after Presently the Books are brought forth to wit the Books both of Death and Life And every one of them opened before the sinners now to be judged and condemned For after that he had said before Dan. 7. 10. A fiery stream issued and came â—orth from before him he adds thousands thousands ministred to him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him the Judgement was set and the Books was opened And again I saw a great white Throne and him that sate upon it from whose face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no more place for them and I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book were opened which is the Book of Life And the Dead were Judged out of the things that were written in the Books according to their works Rev. 20. 11 12. He doth not say the Book was opened as of one but the Books as of many And indeed they are more than one two or three out of which the Dead shall in the Judgement be proceeded against First then there is the Book of the Creatures to be opened Secondly The Book of Gods Remembrance Thirdly The Book of the Law And fourthly The Book of Life For by every one of these that is out of what is written in them shall the World of the ungodly be judged And the Books were opened First The Book of the Creatures shall be opened and that first it concerns mans nature and next as it relates to all other Creatures First he will shew in what the principles if nature were as they were Gods Creation
and life and all But behold we are raised in power in that power that all these things are as far below us as a Grashopper is below a Gyant at the first appearance of us the World will tremble Job 38. 17. Judges 16. 3. Behold the Gates of death and the bars of the Grave are now carried away on our shoulders as Sampson carried away the Gates of the City Death quaketh and destruction falleth down dead at our feet What then can stand before us We shall then carry that Grace Majesty Terrour and commanding power in our souls that our countenances shall be like Lightning compare Luke 20. 36. with Mat. 28. 2 3. For this mortall must put on immortality and this corruptible must put on incorruption So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortall shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to passe that saying which is written Death is swallowed up of Victory 1 Cor. 15. 53 54. Fourthly It is raised a spiritual Body This is the last particular and is indeed the reason of the other three it is an incorruptible Body because it is a spiritual one it is a glorious Body because it is a spiritual one it doth rise in power because it is a spiritual Body When the Body is buried or sown in the Earth it is a Body corruptible dishonourable weak and natural but when it ariseth it doth rise incorruptible glorious powerfully and Spiritual So that so far as incorruption is above corruption glory above dishonour powerfull above weakness and spiritual above naturall So great an alteration will there be in our Body when raised again And yet it is this Body and not another this in nature though changed into a far more glorious State A thousand times further then if a Hoggard was changed to be an Emperour Mark It is sown a natural Body a very fit word for though there dwell never so much of the Spirit and Grace of God in it while it liveth yet so soon as the Soul is separate from it so soon also doth the Spirit of God separate from it and so will continue while the day of its rising be come Therefore it is laid into the Earth a meer Lump of Man's Nature It is sown a Natural Body But now at the day when the Heavens shall be no more as Job saith Job 14. 12. Then the Trump shall sound even the Trump of God and in a moment the Dead shall be raised incorruptible glorious and spiritual 1 Cor. 15. 52. 1 Thes. 24. 16 17. So that I say the Body when it ariseth will be so swallowed up of life and immortality that it will be as if it had lost its own Humane Nature though in truth the same substantial real Nature is every whit there still 'T is the same it that riseth that was sown it is sown it is raised it is sown it is raised saith the Apostle You know that things which are candied by the Art of the Apothecary they are so swallow'd up with the sweetness and vertue of that in which it is candied that they are now as though they had no other Nature than that in which they are boiled When yet in truth the thing candied doth still retain its own proper Nature and Essence though by vertue of its being candied it loseth its former sourness bitterness stinking smell or the like Just thus at the last day it will be with our Bodies We shall be so candied by being swallow'd up of Life as before is shewed That we shall be as if we were all Spirit when in truth it is but this Body that is swallowed up of Life And it must needs be that our Nature still remain otherwise it cannot be Us that shâ—ll be in Heaven but something besides Us. Let us lose our proper Humane Nature and we lose absolutely our Being so are annihalated into nothing Wherefore it the same it that is sown a Natural Body it shall rise a Spiritual Body But again as I said concerning Things that are candied our Body when thus risen it shall lose all that sourness and stinck that now by reason of sinne and infirmity cleaveth to it neither shall its lumpishness or unweildiness be any impediment to its acting after the manner of Angels Christ hath shewed us what our Body at our Resurrection shall be by shewing of us in his Word what his Body was at and after his Resurrection We read that his Body after he was risen from the Dead though it yet retained the very same Flesh and Bones that did hang upon the Cross yet how Angelical was it at all times upon all occasions He could come in to his Disciples with that very Body when the Doors were shut upon them He could at pleasure to their amazement appear in the twinckling of an Eye in the midst of them He could be visible and invisible as he pleased when he sat at meat with them In a word he could pass and re-pass ascend and descend in that Body with far more pleasure and ease than the Bird by the Art of her Wing Luk 24. 38 39 40 41. Joh. 20. 24 25. Luk. 24. 31 32 50 51. Joh. 20. 19 26. Act. 1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. Mark 16. 19. Eph. 4. 7 8 9. Now I say as we have in this World born the Image of our first Father so at that Day we shall have the Image of Jesus Christ and be as he is As is the Earthly such are they that are Earthly and as is the Heavenly such are they that are Heavenly and as we have been the Image of the Earthly we shall at our Resurrection bear the Image of the Heavenly It is so in part now but shall so be in perfection then 1 Cor. 15. 48 49. To mount up to Heaven and to descend again at pleasure shall with us in that Day be ordinary If there were Ten Thousand Bars of Iron or Walls of Brass to separate between us and our pleasure and desire at that Day they should as easily be pierced by us as is the Cobweb or Air by the Beams of the Sun And the Reason is Because to the Spirit wherewith we shall be unconceiveably filled at that Day nothing is unpossible Mat. 10. 27. And the working of it at that Day shall be in that nature and measure as to swallow up all impossibilities He shall change our vile Body and fashion it like unto his glorious Body Now mark according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3. 21. As who should say I know that there are many things that in this World hinder us from having our Bodies like the Body of Christ but when God shall raise us from the Dead because he will then have our Body like the Body of his Son He will stretch forth such a power to work upon and in our Body that he will remove all impossibilities and hinderances