almost all Nations and all sorts of men by the Patriarchs and Magi by Jews and Gentiles by Philosophers of all Sects yea by Judas that betrayed him by the Judges that condemned him and by the Executioner that dispatch'd him for when he the Centurion i. e. the Heathen Officer who had the care of his Execution saw what was done he fear'd greatly saying Truly this was the Son of God Matt. 27.54 For he that was seen and felt to exercise such a power that put the Earth into Convulsions whilst he was dying upon the Cross left no room in any Infidel to doubt after that but he could also rend the Prison of the Grave as he did by a second Earth-quake at his powerful Resurrection Thus did he that suffer'd for our Sins to shew the efficacy of that Attonement rise again for the Justification both of it and us which makes our assurance of our Resurrection equal to that of his and that if we believe he is risen with the same certainty are we to believe that we shall For if there be no Resurrection of the Dead then neither is Christ risen as St. Paul argues 1 Cor. 15. Which brings me to my second Particular to be prov'd viz. The necessary Connexion between his and ours Christ is the head of that Body of which we are said to be members and by his Resurrection he hath begotten us to a lively hope of our own for if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the Dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Rom. 8.11 So that if Death had no more power over him who took upon him to expiate for our Sins which brought the punishment of Death upon us for Death was the consequent of our sinning not the fate of our Nature it must needs follow that it can have no more power over us otherwise our Punishment would remain after our Guilt is taken off which cannot be said without robbing God of the Attribute of his Justice as well as Christ of the Merits of his Cross Wherefore as by the first Adam came Death by the second came also the Resurrection of the Dead In short as I have above prov'd that the most undoubted Argument of Christ's Resurrection were the Prophecies that foretold it so have we the like assurance from the Declarations of God's Will concerning ours too And if there be no doubt of God's Power but that he is able there can be none of his purpose in this matter since he has assur'd us that he will and therefore we have now nothing to do but to believe it necessary Wherefore marvel not at this for the hour cometh in which all that are in the Grave shall hear his voice and come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation John 5.28 29. We may have leave and 't is indeed our duty to admire and adore the grace and efficacy of such an Operation but 't is unpardonable to wonder so as to suspect the certainty We may devoutly admire that Bodies so frail as ours should become subjects of Immortality And to hear how the Almighty Potter designs to form such lumps of Clay into everlasting Vessels of honour is one would think enough to perswade us in the mean time to reverence our Bodies more than to defile them by sensuality to oppress them by Intemperance and ruine them for a Lust Once more It justly may and ought to raise our wonder and devotion both to be told That 't is by his Power and Goodness we shall be rescued from the Grave who was himself by our inhumane Malice sent thither Is he to come and fetch us from the Grave who comes with Garments dyed in his own Blood and so brings with him the Remembrances of our Cruelty It is so and therefore as I said tho' we are forbid to marvel so as to distrust the faithfulness of his Promise or the omnipotence of his Power yet not to be affected with all astonishment and devotion at the consideration of it might be esteemed another Miracle And thus have I endeavoured with competent satisfaction I hope the discharge of my first task viz. the proof of this great Article of our Faith tho' considering there are still some Atheistical Gainsayers that except against the Article and the Proof of it I must be obliged to pay some deference to them especially since they distinguish themselves by their Numbers and by their Wit by their polite Manners and politer Learning Nay they say these Heathens boast the Reverse of Tertullian's Apology for the Christians and tell us that they fill our Courts our Camps and our chiefest Cities But what occasion soever there is for so impudent a Vapour let those that are most concerned in the reproach on 't look to 't mean while I return to what these Gentlemen except against And 1. They tell us that this Doctrine was never generally receiv'd but men of the acutest wit and deepest judgment always opposed it and even as early as it was publickly attempted to be imposed upon their credulity Among the Greeks the Epicureans and Stoicks derided it and among the Jews the Saducees obstinately denyed it as appears 1 Cor. 15. and Acts 17.18 Ans True this is and let our Infidels make the most on 't And after all it will appear that they were but some among the Corinthians i. e. some odd inconsiderable Folk a despicable Sect among the Jews but of late date and short continuance whom the Learned Historian of their own Age and Nation describes as very contemptible for their Numbers and their Manners So also in the other Instance they were not all the Schools of Athens but certain of the Epicureans and Stoicks as if not all these neither But whoever reads Epicurus their Master's Epistle to Herodotus apud Diog. Laert. will not wonder his Scholars and Successors should affirm any thing absurdly or deny what may be evidently prov'd true since he there asserts the Infinity of Bodies and calls it Dotage to assert the Soul incorporeal which Pythagoras a greater than he and his Predecessor in the same School very rationally affirm'd So that these Exceptions rather confirm the Doctrine than make any valuable Objection against it And indeed of extraordinary use they prov'd in his Almighty Hand who can bring Light out of Darkness for it was thro' the senseless Incredulity and Pertness of these few Men that the Arguments were multiply'd in defence of the Doctrine 'till it became establisht so as to be impossible to shake it For tho' the Corinthians Infidelity was occasion'd by a foolish Enquiry into the manner how the dead were rais'd And with what Body do they come Yet the acute Argument the Apostle brought to satisfie those Fools and to solve the mysterious Phaenomenon so far as to take off
all pretence of Absurdity in affirming it of the same Body is infinitely more rational than their strongest Exceptions For he illustrates it by Grain which he says is not quicken'd except it dye and by dying it is quicken'd even the very same Grain For 't is generally now acknowledg'd that the Seeds of Plants do contain every individual part of the entire Bodies in parvo which spring from them and that the Generation of more Seed is nothing else but the Nutrition or Augmentation of the parts of the very same Seed And for this reason the Apostle speaking of Seed-corn uses such Words as are proper to our Bodies that they dye and are quicken'd and of our Bodies he speaks in a Stile more proper unto Seeds that they are sown to shew says Theophil the parallel Identity in the Resurrection of Both. And after this curious Solution of the difficulty as a Philosophical Enquiry he would not indulge these Men in the least Thought as if there were not ineffable Mystery in the Resurrection for he tells them 't is a Mystery but he has shew'd it not unreasonable but a Mystery it must remain after all that can be said since this corruptible puts on Incorruption and this mortal Immortality And this St. Paul after he had been rapt up into Heaven could neither express nor explain but tells us it cannot be understood nor can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive I hasten now to take notice of one Objection which the Adversary brings directly to confront my chiefest Argument by which I would establish the Article of the Resurrection which was by the Authority of the sacred Canon and the Prophecies of inspir'd Pen-men Obj. And 't is objected upon the Authority of the wisest of Men that that which befalleth the Sons of Men befalleth Beasts as the one dyes so dyes the other yea they have all one Breath so that a Man hath no preeminence above a Beast Eccles 3.19 And upon the Authority of David a Man as eminent for Piety as Solomon his Son for Wisdom we are assur'd the Article is plainly given up for he in his very Devotions to his God and sure he was in earnest then says that after Death he was to be no more Ps 39.13 Ans Now whatever real weight there is in this Objection 't is certain they that offer it lay none upon it but despise it For the Deists whose it is we must no more call them Atheists because they profess to believe a God tho' they own the Being of a God yet desire to be excus'd the believing any thing he says And therefore you must know when they read the Scriptures 't is only to learn how to make Speeches in their Disgrace and blaspheme God in the Words of his own Mouth However somewhat must be said to it and since the reconciling any one of these Texts will take off the force of both I shall therefore attempt it upon the last as that which in its sound and form of the Expression does more literally and directly import a denyal of Man's Immortality and consequently of his Resurrection But the most ignorant will easily perceive this could not be David's Meaning that after Death he was to be no more when they are shew'd the scope of his Prayer for tho' he was an extraordinary Man and had labour'd hard to recover the Favour of God which by his former Sins he had so desperately hazarded yet he knew it was so infinite an Interest he had to secure that he could never do too much for 't and now being apprehensive his Life was in danger by the Violence of his prosperous Enemies as well as by the frailty of his Constitution he earnestly pray'd that God would please some way or other to discover to him the Period of his Days that he might make suitable Preparations for such a change and since after this Life is finisht all our holy Travels are so too and nothing can be done for Heaven on the other side the Grave he begs for a little more time and strengh that he might do God more and more acceptable Service before he went hence and should do no more And this was evidently the direct Meaning and Scope of his Supplication For that this wise and great King should desire further to spin out this weary Life which he had so long experimented to be so full of Sorrows and more that he should pray for more time to spend in Holy Mortifications and the Labours of Religion in recommending himself to the Divine Favour by more signal Acts of Faith and Patience of Obedience and Submission and yet expect that after Death he was to be no more this is so unlikely that 't is hard to charge him with any thing more absurd For the Labours of Religion are many of them so contrary to the ease and happiness of this Life that 't is impossible to attempt them but upon the strongest assurances and expectations of another Indeed if David had only aimed at the enlarging of his Conquests or design'd to pass his days in ease and sloth had he intended to make his Life a Scene of costly Pleasures and to have distinguished himself by an indulgence to mighty Lusts sacrificing the Blood and Purses of his subjects to his excessive Riots there had been some sense in desiring a long Life and a brisker health upon the supposition that after Death he was to be no more but since he prayed for more Strength only to Minister to his more vigorous Devotions and to enable him to sustain the painful Travels of Repentance and a severe Virtue 't is certain he proceeded herein upon the full perswasion and hopes of a better Life But enough of this for the literal meaning of the words without doubt is embraced at any time by these men as agreeable rather to their lustful wishes than to the sober Sentiments of their minds I say the sober Sentiments of their Minds For even these men I must believe are seldom so far harden'd and debauch'd but that they have their Intervals of Recollection and in this season to my knowledge whatever is the occasion they will frankly profess they would willingly exchange their hopes for their fears and they would give up their expectancies of any Inheritance among the Saints if they could but be assured they should have their Portion among Dogs i. e. They would not care for the Felicities provided they could escape the Immortal Miseries of the other Life Now these misgiving thoughts are strong presages even to themselves that after Death they shall not cease to be But this vile Epicure that cries let us eat and drink for to morrow we die is embolden'd to make such a profession over his Wine only and whilst he is enslav'd to the Pleasures of the Palate tho' when that Beast is disciplin'd into a distaste of his luscious Entertainments and is made by adversity to consider that his Life is more than Food
and his Belly infinitely less and inferiour to his God he will scarce fail then if not to believe yet to fear and tremble at the apprehensions of another Life 'T is a prodigious Atheist that can hold out for ever remorseless and unshaken Tho' they say these men have their Dypticks too in which there are enroll'd all the famous instances of unrelenting Atheists which are carefully Preserv'd to encourage the weak and to inspirit those that are in Danger by the infinite arts and methods of the Holy Ghost's operating upon their Souls to revolt back to God And considering the Power of God's wrath we can't well question but these Sinners against their Souls may be delivered up to so Reprobate a sense But however if these wretches have ever any Workings of mind any Snubs of Conscience any Spiritual Terrours any waking Frights or Ghastly Dreams like other men these having often no manner of Relation to nor dependance upon the Body are insuperable convictions that the Soul is an Immaterial Being and that as it can act thus independantly upon the Body so 't is the extreamest absurdity to believe it shall die with it But whatever such Scoffers may believe concerning the Soul's Immortality or the Body's Resurrection sure I am the Persons concern'd in this Solemnity must in all good sense be granted to believe it These expensive Funerals bespeak our Faith that this dead Body shall arise For it was smartly urged by Tertullian against some Heathens that believ'd it not that their cost was vain which with a Ridiculous profuseness they laid out upon their Dead because they had no hopes they should again Live Alas If we thought these poor Remains were never to be us'd more it were more Reasonable we left them with more neglect But since we know they shall be call'd for by the Trump of God and hope they will become Vessels of Immortal Honour 't is now Piety and Duty in us to lay them decently and safely up and our Faith concerning their Resurrection is a solid Argument to justifie our doing so And if any Judas upon observing the Pomp of this Solemnity should ask to what purpose is this waste Our Saviour's answer will be our best reply That what is done is done for the Burial and as a Pious Testimony of our Faith that the Dead Body shall arise Upon the supposition of which I proceed II. Lastly To shew for what singular Reasons the last end of the Righteous is incomparably most desireable so that it will be our Wisdom not only to wish it may be our own but in the mean time seriously to endeavour it may be so Precious says the Psalmist Ps 116.15 in the sight of the Lord is the Death of his Saints and in all Senses of the Words they having more Interpretations than one 't is true that good Men are very dear to God and with a peculiar distinction from the wicked and prophane 't is evident at the Death of both For 1. Death to the Righteous comes stript of all its Spiritual Horrors Tho' it may assault his fleshly Nature with Swoons and Agonies every step it advances yet the Tranquility of his mind is still the same and the consolations of his Spirit do often appear Superior in the conflict tho' the anguish of the Body be never so extream But turn now your eyes upon a poor Creature that has been brought up delicately and by the uninterrupted enjoyment of sensual pleasures has rockt his conscience 'till this moment dead asleep when the Harbingers of Death of a sudden draw back the curtains and she awakes with what distraction does it view it self But then to look upwards and behold his God whom he wish'd an Idol appearing in all the terrible Array of an Omnipotent Avenger when the amaz'd wretch that would never believe it was a God that dyed to save him begins to apprehend himself was the Murderer that spilt his Blood we need not wonder at the fright He is in upon such a prospect and sure he can tell you there is a vast difference in the last end between the Righteous and the Wicked For 2. When the Righteous dye there is a full end of all their Troubles Death is their last Enemy and he disarmed that he can sting no more But to wicked and Impenitent Sinners except the Truth of God can fail for ever this Death will begin their endless miseries The present Life is to the most faithful Servants of Christ for the most part a state of hardship for 't is a perpetual warfare They have innumerable Enemies and these for the most part in ambuscade The snares that are laid for them often give them falls and then the Bruise is long a Curing and the Operation of the Medicine painful and afflictive And St. Cyprian makes such a moving description of this matter that he wonders how any pious Soul can forbear longing for Death or refrain running into Martyrdom And St. Jerome in an Epistle to the Roman Lady Paulina comforting her for the Death of her Daughter tells her this World is only a troubled Sea yea tho' it were never so calm yet the breadth and length of the Waters on which we float here is frightful so that Solus exitus est securitatis portus we must quit the Stage if ever we would be free from the Apprehensions of the Tragedy Accordingly Death does certainly put a Period to all these Troubles and more it translates all good Men to such a state of pure unmingled Joys where there are no sorrows to embitter no melancholy to Eclipse nor any Temptation can come to molest them in or deceive them of their Joys And 3. Lastly There is no comparison between the end of these two sorts of Men in another Respect still viz. of that honourable memory that is preserved after Death of the one whilst Stench not Perfume gives the other a Remembrance who would immediately be forgotten were it not for what is registred to their Infamy and disgrace Whereas a good Man's Character like a true Medal acquires value and veneration by its Age. His name has the Influence of a Law upon those that come after him and his Example is a Rule which all Wise Men will obey and imitate Yea those that will not do so will yet pay a deference to it and wish they could and I believe there are few in the world as corrupt as 't is but will own when they are in earnest that they had rather be Job upon the Dunghil than Alexander the Great So that if we consider the confidence wherewith Holy Men are encouraged to expect Death or the Alacrity wherewith they undergo it or the Happiness they are let into by passing through it or the Honour and Veneration wherewith their names are embalm'd after it we see sufficient reason to justifie Balaam's wish and to prompt us to the utmost endeavour in preparing to dye the death of the Righteous and that our last