good have joy and happiness The wicked misery and torment The Soul of the wicked goeth immediately to Hell where it hath little list to sleep and his body lieth asleep in the grave But how Even as a Malefactor that sleeps in Prison the night before he is executed but when he awakes he is hurried and dragged to execution So the wicked man falls asleep at death but when he awakes he awakes to everlasting damnation But a Child of God when he sleeps the sleep of death he sleeps in the arms of his Eldest Brother and when he awakes he awakes unto everlasting happiness Quest. 3. In what particulars may the death of a Child of God be compared to sleep Answ. I have already in a Sermon printed without my knowledge given thirteen resemblances between death and sleep and therefore must of necessity here omit them lest I should seem actum agere At the present I shall only mention these two 1. The death of a Child of God is called a sleep because he is thereby layed to rest The Scripture calls their graves their beds of rest And the Apostle tells us That they which dye in the Lord rest from all their labours They are at rest from all corporal and spiritual evills First From all corporal evills 1. From all sicknesses diseases pains and all other bodily infirmities Death is that great Physitian which will cure Gods people of all diseases at once and for ever Thus the blind and lame man said one to the other at the Stake Bishop Bonner will cure thee and me this day 2. From all worldly griefe and sorrow For at death all tears shall be wiped from their eyes and there shall be no more sorrow Rev. 21.4 3. From all laborious and painful employments Martha shall have no more need to complain of Mary nor shall the Prophets of God waste their bodies by preaching Ipsa cessabunt misericordiae spera ubi nulla erit indigentia nulla miseria 4. From all the wrongs injuries and persecutions of the wicked world In this life they are mocked scoffed and persecuted but when death comes they are like a man above in the upper Region where no winds nor storms can come 5. From the evils to come upon the wicked world Thus St. Austin was layed to rest immediately before Hippo was taken by the Vandals Luther before the Wars brake out in Germany and Paraeus before Heidleburgh was sack'd by the Spaniards Secondly From all spiritual evils 1. From the hurt of the Devil and his temptations Death puts them above his reach so as he shall not be able to hurle one fiery dart any longer at them 2. From evil company and evil examples In this life the Wheat are mingled with Chaff and Tares and cannot but hear the name of the Great God blasphemed and dishonoured which is a great vexation to them as it was to Lot in Sodom But at death they shall be separated from all chaff and tares and shall never hear God dishonoured any more 3. From Divine desertions In this life God many times withdraweth the light of his countenance from his sinning Children which is more terrible to them than death it self For if his loving kindness is better than life then his frowns are worse than death But after death the light of Gods countenance shall shine perpetually upon them and never admit either of a cloud or Eclipse 4. From the very being and existence of sin The death of the body frees them perfectly from the body of death Death drieth up the bloudy issue of sin root and branch As sin at first begat and brought forth death so death at last destroyes sin as the worm kills the tree that bred it Therefore St. Austin saith Plus restituitur quam amittitur More is restored to a Child of God than he lost in Adam For Adam had only a power not to sin but he by death hath an impossibility of sinning Sin was Obstetrix mortis a Midwife to bring death into the World and death is Sepulchrum peccati a Sepulchre to bury sin in Insomuch as death is now become not so much the death of the man as of his sin and misery Hence it is that our burying places are called by the Greeks Dormitories or sleeping-places and by the Hebrews The houses of the living 2. The death of a Child of God is called a sleep propter spem resurrectionis To intimate unto us the assurance of a Resurrection Thus Christ saith of Lazarus Our friend Lazarus sleepeth but I go that I may awake him out of sleep Death is nothing else saith St. Chrysostome but a temporary sleep Sleep is a short death and death a longer sleep As he that goeth to sleep sleeps but for a certain time and awakes in the morning out of sleep So he that sleeps the sleep of death when the Trump of God shall found shall awake arise out of his grave as out of his bed in the morning of the Resurrection St. Austin saith That the Scripture saith of those that are dead that they are but asleep because of the certain hope of a Resurrection by which they shall speedily be awakened from the sleep of death and raised out of their Sepulchres as out of their beds Hence it hath formerly been and still is a godly custom amongst Christians when any of their religious friends die to say of them They are not dead but Obdormiâ—nt in Domino They are asleep in the Lord. And this they do for the comfort of their Relations and to create in them a contempt of this present life and a sure and certain hope of a Resurrection unto life everlasting Before I make use of this I shall speak something to the second Doctrine Doctrine 2. That the bodies of the Saints even while they are in their graves are asleep in Iesus They that sleep in Iesus This is a very excellent and singularly comfortable expression worthy to be seriously weighed and considered For the understanding of it I will shew First What it is to sleep in Iesus Secondly What glorious benefits and advantages come to the bodies of the Saints by this priviledge 1. What it is to sleep in Iesus This expression signifieth two things 1. That a true Saint dieth a Member of Christ united to him by a lively saith He is one that abideth in the Faith till the last gasp and as the Apostle saith dieth in the Lord that is engraffed into the Lord Iesus Christ. 2. That he doth not only die in Christ but continueth a member of Christ and united to him even while he is in the grave For this Text speaks of all Saints departed from the beginning of the World So also they that sleep in Iesus that is They that are now in their graves and are there asleep in Jesus The like phrase is used 1 Cor. 15.18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ
that sleep in him with himself into Heaven where they shall be ever with the Lord in perfect Happiness So much for the explication of the three Doctrines Use 1. Let us not mourn immoderately for the death of our Godly Friends and Relations This is the Use which the Apostle would have us to make Mourn we may but not as the Heathen who have no hope Let us remember that the death of a Child of God is nothing else but a comfortable and blessed sleep that he goes to the Grave as to his Bed and there lieth free as a man asleep from all Cares and Troubles and at rest from all his Labours that even while he is in the Grave he is asleep in Iesus and there continueth a Member of his Body that his very dust is precious in Gods sight and part of Gods Election Christs Redemption and the Spirits Sanctification That by vertue of its Union with Christ his body while in the Grave is not utterly extinct but there is a Substance not only reserved but preserved to be raised to everlasting Glory That Christ hath so perfumed the Grave as that it is nothing else to him but as a Tyring-house and withdrawing-Room In a word that he lieth down in his bed till the Morning of the Resurrection and then he shall put on stolam immortalitatis the Garment of Immortality and his vile body shall be made like unto the Glorious Body of Iesus Christ. Let us comfort one another with these words Let us not weep immeasurably for those from whom all Tears are wiped away but let us consider their unspeakable gâ—in Death hath put an end to all their temporal and spiritual evils and opened a door for them to everlasting Happiness Use 2. Let these Doctrines serve as a Precious Antidote to all the people of God against the fear of Death and of the Grave Why should we fear that which if it should not happen we should be superlatively miserable as the Apostle saith If we had hope only in this life we were of all people most miserable And therefore when there was a Rumour spread concerning St. Iohn that he should never die he himself Ch. 21.23 rectifieth the Mistake yet Iesus said not unto him he shall not die As if he should say God forbid I should be so miserable as never to die Though a man in Christ could live for ever in this world and be alwaies young rich and healthful yet he would account himself most miserable because while he is here he is absent from Christ who is his Life and from God who is his Happiness and full of sin which is his greatest Burden And therefore as Iacob rejoyced when he saw the Chariots which should carry him to his Son Ioseph so should the People of God rejoyce when Death approacheth which will carry them to Christ. And as God said to Iacob Fear not to go down to Egypt for I will go down with thee and I will also surely bring thee up again So methinks I hear God saying to all his Children Fear not to go down to the House of Rottenness for I will go with you and tarry with you and watch over your dead Asâ—es with the eye of my Providence and will surely bring you out again and raise you unto Eternal Glory Let us not look upon Death as presented unto us in Natures Looking-Glass but as it is set down in a Scripture-dress Nature presents Death in a terrible manner The Philosopher cals it of all terrible things most terrible Iob cals it the King of Terrors It is terrible three manner of waies 1. Because it is a Separation between two dear and ancient Friends the Soul and the Body who having lived long together are very loath to part asunder There is nothing more contrary to Flesh and Bloud then the separation of the one from the other 2. Because it is the Fruit of sin For the wages of sin is death Had Adam never sinned we never should have died By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and this makes it terrible 3. Because of the After-claps of Death For after Death comes Iudgment and after Judgment everlasting Salvation or everlasting Condemnation This makes Death very terrible to those who have the guilt of sin upon them unrepented of and who are under the just fear of Everlasting Burnings and indeed to all men out of Christ death is of all terrible things most terrible as you shall hear in the next Use. But to you that are in Christ the sting of death is taken away and it is become of all desirable things most desirable It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle saith It is much far better It is nothing else but a quiet and placid sleep a putting off our cloaths and going to bed till the Morning of the Resurrection Therefoâ—e Austin saith That a Child of God should be as willing to die as to put off his Cloaths because Death is nothing else to him but a putting off of his Body which is Animae Vestimentum the souls Garment and a departure from Misery to everlasting Happiness a leâ—ting the Soul as a Bird out of the Cage of the Body that it may flee to Heaven Death to a Child of God is the Birth-day of Heavens Eternity a putting off of its Earthly Tabernacle and a going to a House made without hands eternal in the Heavens It is an uncloathing of himself that he may be cloathed upon with his House which is in Heaven It is a going to his Fathers House where he shall enjoy perfect and perpetual Happiness There are 10 Springs and Fountains of Consolation to a true Saint against the fear of Death 1. When he dieth though his Body be laid in the Grave yet his Soul is immediatly received up into Heaven his best part is at the Instant of Death blessed and happy 2. His Body at death doth not die but only sleepeth as Christ said of dead Lazarus and is at rest and is asleep in Iesus even while it is in the Grave and is part of that man who is a Member of Christ and under the Care and Love of God 3. His Soul though it be in Heaven can never be perfectly and compleatly happy till his Body be joyned to it 4. Christ himself as he is the Head of his Church can never be perfect till his Body be raised from the dead and crowned with a Crown of Glory 5. Christ hath conquered Death for him he hath not only sweetned and sanctified it but conquered it according as it was fore prophesied I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave I will redeem them from Death O Death I will be thy Plagues O Grave I will be thy Destruction He hath led Captivity Captive and death is one of those Captives as well as the Devil He hath disarmed Death and taken away the Sting
of it so as to a man in Christ death is a Serpent without a Sting It is like the Viper which skipt upon S. Pauls Hand which did not at all hurt him It is like the Brazen Serpent which though it had the shape of a Serpent yet it hadnot the Nature of it but was a healing not a stinging Serpent So is death to a Child of God It is so far from hurting of him that it is now by Christs death become his greatest Advantage and he may triumph over it and say with the Ap. O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Iesus Christ. 6. There is this Spring also of Consolation against the Fear of death because he that hath an Interest in Christ cannot die suddenly though he die never so suddenly that is though he die never so suddenly in regard of time yet he can never die suddenly in regard of Preparation For he is alwaies habitually fitted and prepared for Death he is justified by Faith and sanctified by the Spirit and is above the hurt of damnation For there is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ. He hath not his Graces to seek when he comes to die which is no little Happiness 7. He can never die miserable though he die never so miserably Though he die upon a Dunghil or in a Goal or upon the Gallows or at a stake wheresoever and howsoever he dies he dies happily For so saith the Apostle Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. They are blessed though they die upon a dunghil Though Stephen was stoned to death yet he died happily for while he was stoning he saw the Heavens opened and Christ ready to receive him Though Lazarus was starved to death yet he died blessedly because the Angels carried his Soul into Abrahams Bâ—som Though King Iosiah died in War yet he died in peace A man in Christ dieth in the Arms of Christ and though he dieth never so miserably as to his outward condition yet he may sing a Nunc dimittis with old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation 8. There are 3 Expressions which the Scripture useth concerning death which are singular Fountains of Consolation against the Fear of it 1. The Apostle S. Peter cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 1.15 I will endeavour that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after my Decease c. Death is nothing else but an Exodus out of Egypt unto our Heavenly Canaan It is not a dying but a Transmigration a passage from the Valley of death into the Land of the Living 2. The Apostle S. Paul cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 2.23 I desire to be dissolved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is as Grotius interprets it That my Soul may return to God from whom it first came Others say It is a Metaphor taken from Mariners who are said to loose from the Haven when they depart from the shore Death is nothing but a hoysing up of Sayl as it were for heaven 3. Old Simeon cals it A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace The Greek Word signifieth a Release and dismission out of prison Thus it is taken Acts 16.35 Acts 5.40 Luke 23.17 And it holds forth these two Lessons 1. That the Soul is in the Body as in a Prison Therefore the Greek Words for the Body are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vincio And Petrarch saith That he that glorieth in the strength of his Body glorieth in the strength of his Prison And when Plato saw one of his Scholars overcuriously pampering his Body he said to him What do you mean to make your Prison so strong The Soul is in the Body as in a Prison in 3 Respects 1. Because the Soul is hidden in the Body as a man is hidden in a Prison As Plato saith of Vertue That if a man could see it with corporal eyes he could not but love it So may I say of the Soul If a man could see the Beauty Glory and Excellency of it he could not but admire it and highly value it But it is hidden in the Body as in a Prison 2. Because the Soul is hindred by the Body and that Three waies 1. It is hindred from Heaven For whilst we are in the body we are absent from the Lord and we cannot be with Christ till we be dissolved And this is truly a Prison wherein a man is absent from his best Friends and Acquaintance 2. It is hindred from Heavenly Operations For the Body takes up all the time from the Soul as the Lean Kine of Pharaoh devoured the fat so the Provision for the Feeding and Cloathing of the Body eats up the time that should be spent about the Soul It is with the Soul and Body as it was with Abraham and Lot Abraham had his Cattel and his Servants and Lot his so that the Country was too narrow for them So the Soul hath her work and the Body his and there is hardly time enough for both so as the one must needs hinder the other and they never will be well till separated The Cloath is too short to cover them both And this must needs be a great Bondage when the Handmaid shall be preferred before her Mistress Hagar before Sarah 3. It is hindred in all its Heavenly Operations For the Body weigheth down the Soul As a Bird that hath a stone tied to its Leg is weighed down that it cannot fly aloft So is the Heavenly Soul in the best Christian depressed by the Body that it cannot mount aloft in Prayer and other Holy Exercises The Soul and Body are like a pair of Scales the more the one is up the more the other goeth down As Sauls Armour was a Burden to David so is the Body to the Soul The Body is quickly tired in the Service of God The Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weak like a strong man upon a Jadish Horse c. 3. Because the Soul is defiled by the Body as a man in a Nasty Prison God gave man a Heavenly Soul and an Earthly body that the Heavenly Soul might lift up the Earthly Body towards Heaven But now it fares quite contrary Our earthly Bodies have weighed down our heavenly Souls and made them earthly and sensual Tamdiu versata est Anima in Tabernaculo ut ipsa versa est in Tabernaculum The Soul hath lived so long in a Body of flesh that it is as it were fleshified and bodified The Soul looks through an eye of flesh and every thing seems fleshly to it It is diverted by the Body from its true End The true End of the Soul is to know God to love
fear and serve him But the body diverts the Stream and turns the Soul to serve men and to provide for back and belly And therefore it may fitly be called the Souls Prison 2. It holds forth this Lesson also That Death is the Souls Goal-delivery It is the letting of it loose from its Bonds and Fetters Its is setting it at Liberty like a Bird escaped out of a Cage Now Lord let thy Servant depart that is be set at liberty from the prison of my body 9. There is this Comfort also against the fear of death That Iesus Christ is gone to heaven on purpose to prepare a place for the dead bodies of his Saints and he will come again and raise them up and take them to himself that where he is there they may be also John 14.2 3. Therefore he is said to go into Heaven as a Forerunner Heb. 6.20 Whither the forerunner is for us entred Now a forerunner supposeth some that are to follow Christ is entred before to take up Lodgings for all that are asleep in him and hath as it were written their several Names upon their several Lodgings as is intimated Heb. 12.23 To the Church of the first-born which are written in heaven and keeps them empty till they come to Heaven to fill them as is hinted 1 Pet. 1.4 Reserved for you in heaven Therefore we are said to fit with him in heavenly places because he went up to take possession of it for our use and benefit and fits there in our Nature and as our Head not as a private Citizen of Heaven but as a Representative of all the Elect of God and will ere long come down and take them up to himself and so they shall ever be with the Lord. 10. The last Spring of Consolation against the fear of death is That Death will put a perfect and perpetual end to all his Miseries whether spiritual or corporal as I have shewed and open a door to infinite and unexpressible happiness for ever and ever Let these ten Considerations be made use of as precious Antidotes against the flavish fear of death Use 3. The woful and miserable condition of those who die in an unregenerate condition in their sins unrepented on and whose bodies lye in the grave â— not asleep in Iesus but asleep in sin to these men death is of all formidable things most formidable It is a most cruel biting and devouring Serpent with eight Stings 1. To a man out of Christ death puts an end to all his outward contentments to all his riches honours and pleasures to whatsoever a wicked man accounts his Heaven and his happiness and this must needs be as a stinging Serpent to him We read of Micah that when the men of Dan stole away his Gods he followed them crying and they turned back and asked him what aileth thee he answered ye have taken away my gods c. and do you say to me what aileth thee When a wicked man dies he looseth all his Gods For he maketh his riches honours and pleasures his gods and no wonder the memory of death is so bitter to him 2. It deprives him of all his hopes For when a wicked man dieth his expectation shall perish and the hope of unjust men perisheth The righteous hath hope in death His Motto is Dum expiro spero But a wicked mans hope perisheth at death and gives up the Ghost Job 11.20 His Motto is Dum expiro despero Death puts an end both to his Hopes Earthly and Heavenly 1. To his earthly hopes A wicked man builds Castles in the air and promiseth great matters to himself and saith as the Rich man Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry But God saith to him Thou fool this night thy Soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided Death dasheth all his earthly hopes and that which is worse 2. Death dasheth all his Spiritual and supernatural hopes A wicked man is ready to nourish in himself a presumptuous hope of Heaven and doubts not but that he shall be saved but when he comes to die all his hopes of Heaven perish and are as a Spiders web easily swept away Iob 8.14 The Lord rejecteth his vain confidence Jer. 2.37 Now this is a misery above expression for a man to be disappointed of his eternal hopes 3. Death puts an end to all the sweetness pleasure and profit that is in sin There are two things in the Serpent sin The speckled black and the sting in the tail of it The pleasures of sin for a season and the eternal pains attending it A man out of Christ while he is alive and in health sucks out the carnal sweetness that is in sin it is as honey to his mouth But when death comes the sweetness of sin vanisheth and nothing remains but the sting and torment of it Even as a Thief as long as he is unfound out lives merrily upon what he hath stolen but when he is found and cast into Prison and condemned to be hanged then he feels nothing but bitterness and sorrow So it is with a wicked man As long as he is in health and in prosperity he takes great delight and content in sinning but when he comes to be attached and arrested with Death then the misery and cursedness of sin appears before him Then he begins to say Where is all the carnal pleasure I once took in my sinfull courses Nothing now remains but the Sting Momentaneum quod delectat aternum quod cruciat That which delighted me was but momentany but that which will torment me is eternal 4. Death must needs be a stinging Serpent to a man out of Christ because it puts Conscience into office to wound and torture him The great design of a wicked man in health is to blind or bribe his Conscience but death puts it into office and sets it on his proper Throne and Conscience once awakened becomes a biting Serpent and a gnawing worm never suffering him to be at rest night nor day Sin is like a piece of wood which while it is in the water seems very light floating on the top of it but when it comes to the shoar ten men can hardly stir that which one man before might have carried which way he lifted While a wicked man is in health and in prosperity his sins seem light to him but when he comes to the shoar of Death then they begin to be heavy then Conscience like a Mastive Dog flies in his face and his sins appear in their ugly colours with all the aggravating circumstances and sting him exceedingly 5. Death puts an end to Gods patience to the day of grace and mercy and to all the means of Salvation For there is no repenting in the grave whither we are going This life is a day of grace and Salvation Now Ahashuerosh holds forth his golden
bodies safe till the great Resurrection And he hath also made it a beaten and plain way to heaven Christ Jesus himself went to heaven thorough the grave and so must we and all the Godly We must first put off the rags of Mortality before we can put on the robes of Immortality To a wicked man the grave is a thorough-fare to hell but to a man asleep in Jesus it is a passage to heaven where Christ is And if St. Austin was willing to go even thorough hell to Christ in heaven much more may we be willing to go thorough the grave to him 3. They that sleep in Iesus have this benefit also That by their Union with Christ and by the watchful Providence of God there is a substance preserved so as they are not utterly extinct and annihilated by death but something of their bodies remain undestroyed There is nothing utterly totally and finally destroyed in a Child of God by death but sin and misery The rotting of the body in the grave is but as the rotting of the Corn in the earth as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15.36 The Seed is cast into the earth and there it dieth and rotteth but is not utterly extinct but rotteth in the ground that it may be quickned again So the bodies of the Saints rot in their graves that they may be raised again and made like unto the glorious body of Iesus Christ. And this is another reason why the death of a Child of God is called a sleep because as a man asleep is not extinct no more is he in the grave There is a substance preserved and as David saith of an afflicted righteous man that God keepeth all his bones not one of them is broken So God keepeth the dust and ashes of his Children so as they shall not be utterly and totally consumed Object But is there not a substance preserved also in the bodies of the wicked Answ. It is true Their bodies are not utterly destroyed but remain not by vertue of their Union with Christ but preserved by the Almighty power of God as a terrible Lord and severe Iudge and remain as in a prison till the great day of Judgment in which they shall appear before Christ and then be condemned to hell Happy were it for a wicked man if his body were annihilated by death as it were happy for a Traytor if he died in Prison and escaped hanging But herein consisteth the difference between him and a man asleep in Jesus A man out of Christ is not properly preserved in the grave but rather reserved by the power of Christ to be afterwards tormented in hell But a man in Christ is not only reserved but by vertue of his Union with Christ and preserved to enjoy Eternal glory with their souls at the Great Day of Judgment 4. He that sleepeth in Jesus hath this benefit also That though his body lieth rotting in the grave yet his soul is all the while in heaven where it enjoyeth the glorious presence of God and of his Saints and Angels I say his soul which is his best half which is the Man of man is in heaven Indeed his body which is but as the Box and Carkass is in the grave but the substance and Iewel is in heaven Object What benefit doth the body in the grave gain by his souls being in heaven Answ. I gains this double benefit 1. If his Soul be in heaven it is certain the Body will come thither at last For it is but as the shadow to the substance and if the substance be in heaven the shadow will undoubtedly follow 2. Though the Soul be in heaven yet it can never be perfectly and compleatly happy till it be reunited to the Body For God made the soul to be the form of the body and to dwell for ever in it And if it had not been for Adams transgression the body and soul should never have been separated This separation is the fruit of sin and therefore the soul in heaven hath appetitum unionis a desire to have this breach made up and to be united again to his body because he shall have a more perfect and compleat being with it than without it The Scripture tells us That it waits for the redemption of his body and that it prayeth that God would accomplish the number of his Elect that so they may again be joyned to their bodies and have Coronam perfectam publicam a publick and perfect Crown of glory The souls in heaven saith Bernard pray for their bodies in the grave They are not like the chief Butler who forgat Ioseph when he was restored to his former dignity They remember they have bodies still in the grave which were companions with them in the service of God in Prayer and Fasting and suffering afflictions for Christ. And they know that by reunion with them their happiness will be much increased and therefore they cannot cease praâ—ing for them and Christ will in due time come in glory to raise them up unto everlasting life A fifth benefit that accrueth to the body that is asleep in Jesus is That Christ himself cannot be perfect till it be raised from the dead As a natural body cannot be perfect without all its members no more can Christ mystical as head of his Church be perfect till every member of his body be glorified Therefore it is said Eph. 1.23 That the Church is the fulness of him who filleth all in all which is to be understood of that voluntary condition whereunto Christ hath subjected himself in being the Head of the Body that is his Church So that as a natural body is maimed and imperfect if the least member be wanting So is Christ as Head of his Church maimed and imperfect till all the bodies that are asleep in Iesus be reunited to their souls and received into glory for ever with Christ. Lastly The body by being asleep in Iesus hath this great benefit That though it lieth rotting in the grave yet it resteth in hope This was Davids comfort Psalm 16.9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth my flesh also shall rest in hope There is not a member of Christ but when he is breathing out his last breath may use Davids words with Davids comfort My heart is glad my glory rejoyceth and my flesh also which is shortly to be put into the grave shall rest in hope in a forefold hope 1. That it shall rise again 2. That the same body shall rise 3. That it shall rise by vertue of its Union with Christ. 4. That it shall rise to glory everlasting And this leads me to to the third and last Doctrine Doctrine 3. That Iesus Christ will raise the dead bodies of those that sleep in him and raise them as their Head and Saviour and bring them with him to Iudgment and then carry them into Heaven where they shall be ever with the Lord. All these particulars are comprehended
in the words of the Text God will bring with him But before he brings them he must first raise them The bodies of the Saints shall not alwaies dwell in the dust therefore the Prophet Isaiah calls upon them to awake and sing Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust A strange expression Is there any cause of rejoycing for those who dwell in dust Yes Awake and sing ye which dwell in dust for the Earth shall give up the dead which are in it and the Sea also As the Whale cast up Ionah on the shoar so shall the Sea cast up her dead When Ionah was swallowed up by the Whale one would have thought he had been utterly lost yet God did but speak a word to the Whale and he cast him on the dry land The grave to an Atheistical eye is like the belly of the Whale and an Atheist is ready to think that the Child of God is utterly lost But when the Trumpet shall sound and the Arch-Angel speak the word the Whale shall cast up Ionah the Sea shall give up her dead and the Earth also for they are but Gods Stewards unto whom he hath betrusted the bodies of his Saints and when God calls them to give an account of their Stewardship they will give in a most faithful account and will not leave one body behind They are but tyring-houses or with-drawing rooms for a while they are but sleeping-places And as a man when he goeth to sleep hopeth to awake again in the morning So do the Saints of God fall asleep by death with a sure and certain hope of a Resurrection from the dead So then All that sleep in Jesus shall rise again And they shall arise with the same bodies the same for substance though not for qualities otherwise it were no Resurrection but a new Creation Christ tells us That all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth The Apostle tells us That this mortall body shall put on immortality and this corruptible body shall put on incorruption This was Iobs comfort upon the dunghill That with these very eyes he shoould see his Redeemeer And it cannot stand with Gods Justice that one body should sin and another be condemned and one body serve him and another be crowned The same body then shall rise And rise by vertue of its union with Christ. This is hinted in the Text For if we believe that Iesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Iesus will God bring with him By the same power by which Christ raised up himself by the same power he will raise all that are by the Spirit united to him For he is the Husband of his Church and the Husband will raise his Spouse He is the Shepheard and King of his Church and the Shepheard will raise his Sheep and the King his Subjects and therefore he is called the first fruits of them that sleep As the first fruits did sanctifie the whole lump So by Christ's Resurrection all that die in the Lord are sanctified unto him and assured of their resurrection by him And it is said As in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive that is all that are in Christ shall be raised by the power of Christ as their Head and as their Merciful Saviour and Redeemer If the Head be above the water the Body cannot be drowned but will rise after it And let me add It shall rise after a most Glorious manner It is sown in Corruption but it shall be raised in Incorruption It is sown in dishonour but it shall be raised in Glory It is sown in weakness but it shall be raised in power It is sown a natural Body but it shall be raised a spiritual body For Jesus Christ in his Incarnation assumed our Bodies as well as our souls and at his Death suffered for us in his Body as well as in his Soul Our Bodies are united to him and Members of him Temples of the Holy Ghost and Instruments in his Service as well as our Souls And therefore he will glorifie our Bodies as well as our souls and make them like unto his own Glorious Body It is impossible to set out all the Glory that God will bestow upon the bodies of his Saints at the great Resurrection Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath in entred into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared even for the bodies of those that love him Some part of this Glory I have discovered already in a Funeral Sermon in Print and therefore shall now forbear to mention it The Bodies of the wicked shall come out of their Graves as out of their Prisons as so many Malefactors to appear before an Angry Iudge They shall come out of their Graves as the chief Baker did out of Prison to be executed in Hell for ever They shall rise with great Fear and Trembling and shall call to the Rockes and Mountains to hide and cover them from the wrath of the Lamb. But the Bodies of those who sleep in Jesus shall rise out of their Graves as out of their Beds with great Ioy and Rejoycing They shall come out of their Graves as Ionah out of the Whales Belly as Daniel out of the Lions Den as the Chief Butler who came out of Prison to be restored to all his former Dignities and as Ioseph who after his Release out of the Goâ—l was made Lord of Egypt So shall the Bodies of the Saints be raised out of their Graves to be made like unto the Angels and to have their Faces shine like the Sun in the Firmament and to be crowned with everlasting Glory Now the Dead in Christ thus raised Christ will bring with him at the great and dreadful Day of Judgment and he will cause them to sit with him in his Throne as he sits with the Father in his Throne Rev. 3.21 and he will advance them to be Iudges of all the wicked and ungodly and not only of wicked men but of the wicked Angels I say to be Judges as coassessors with Christ and Approvers of his Sentence This is a high Preferment not proper as the Papists think to the Apostles and such who have left all for Christ but common to all the Saints of God who are such indeed and in Truth I deny not but that the Apostles shall have eminentiorem Thronum a more eminent degree of Glory then other Saints But yet this Honour of judging the world is common to all Saints to the least as well as to the greatest They that now are judged and condemned by the wicked of the world shall one day sit with Christ in his Throne and judge their Iudges They that are now tempted buffeted and somtimes foyâ—ed by Satan shall one day be Judges of him and all his Angels Now after the Day of Judgment is finished Christ will carry up all