should be the instruments of unrighteousness To this purpose the Apostle exhorts Rom. 10 v. 1. I beseech you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service And again 1 Cor. 6. v. 15. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ How clear and solid is the Consquence v. 20. You are bought with a price wherefore glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits which are Gods It was on this Consideration again that he exhorts the Thessalonians 1 Epist 4. v. 4. That every one should know how to possess his vessel the Tabernacle where the Soul dwells in sanctification and honour THE Nimbleness and strength of the body is not to be prostituted to Sloath Idleness and Luxury those Vices thwart the design of God cross the purposes of our Creator baffle and affront the kindness of our great Benefactor Therefore we are taught by the curious Fabrick of our Bodies to remember that God takes special notice how we employ them Psal 494.9 Vnderstand O ye brutish among the people and ye fools when will ye be wise he that planted the ear shall he not hear and he that formed the eye shall he not see LET me add to this that God is to be worshipped with the Body as with the Mind For he made both redeemed both and will glorifie both I need not prove this it were a reflection on the Gravity of my Hearers to offer at any proof of that nature But there are amongst us who have banished the Worship of the Body out of our Churches to bow their knees or to stand upright at some of the more solemn pieces of Worship is thought Superstition and they measure the Purity of Religion by its Rusticities and Undecencies and think that they are never got far enough from Rome unless they oppose all the decent Customs of the civilized World As if the Eternal Majesty of Heaven were to be approached contrary to the Custom of all Nations the Devotion of all Churches and the common Sense of all Mankind THE Devotion of such resembles the Superstition of those Pagans that Strabo mentions that offered none of the Flesh of their sacrifices unto their Gods but affirmed that the Gods were contented with the Blood only as if they had no regard to the Externals of their Worship The behaviour of some of us in the time of God's worship would not become us in the presence of our Governours But customary and universal Faults are not so easily reformed and some of them the more they are reproved the more incurable they become Secondly IS the Body so curiously framed Is this brittle and mortal Edifice so artificially reared Are there such prints of the Finger of God on this Tabernacle even whilst we are here then judge what it will be when it is raised from the dust when it shakes of the dishonours of the grave and appears with its Robes of Light when this unwieldy clog of Flesh and Blood is made pure and aerial nimble enough to vie with the swiftest Angels and fly with ease in the regions of Glory when we shall be all Life Light Spirit and Wing fellow sharers of Angelical Pleasure Now the earthly Tabernacle drags and pulls down the Soul to low and despicable Enjoyments then the Body is made strong and refined to comply with the highest Capacities and Inclinations of the Mind WE shall mount aloft from the Earth unto the Air where his imperial Throne is erected We shall shine ass the brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever and ever when we are got loose from the Prisons of the Grave and the Fetters of Corruption knockt off but now in our present state how hard is it for us to raise our thoughts to the Liberties of the Sons of God! WHEN we have our feet upon the top of Mount Zion when we see the Glories and Empires of this little Globe below us and we our selves beyond Danger and Temptation far above its frowns and flatteries How will our Souls be transported to find their Garments lighter and our selves encircled in the arms of Divine Love and instead of this lumpish Clay this load that damps and depresses our Spirits the weight that holds them in fetters and captivity we shall then be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven when mortality shall be swallowed up of life and the shackles of our bondage broken to pieces THE very thoughts of this pure and Angelick state if they dwelt seriously upon our spirits might crack the strings that tie our Souls to our Bodies to think that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is WE cannot express the glory of the Body after the Resurrection better than in the language of the Scriptures There is one glory of the sun another of the moon and another glory of the stars so also is the Resurrection of the dead it is sown in corruption raised in incorruption 't is sown in dishonour raised in glory 't is sown in weakness raised in power 't is sown a natural body raised a spiritual body Thus we are told by the same Apostle to the Philippians that he shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like his glorious body by the power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself With what confidence then may we lay them down in their grave since we are sure to receive them again pure and incorruptible beyond the Weaknesses and Indispositions of their former Captivity The hour is coming when all that are in their graves shall hear his voice we may triumphantly apply to our selves that place in the book of Job 19.25 I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God Thirdly ARE our Bodies such curious Representations of his Wisdom and Skill then we should treat them honourably and decently after the Soul is departed The first Christians had a great care that the poorest of their number should be handsomly interr'd and many times did they dress the bodies of the meanest Christians with costly Ointments and odoriferous Spices that they might do honour to the human Nature and testifie their hope of the Resurrection that the dear Companions of the Soul might be decently treated and laid in their graves as in their safe repositories until the general summons of the Arch-Angel awakened them WHEN their Enemies observed their great care of the Bodies of the Martyrs to do the Christians despite they burnt the Bodies of their dead and scatter'd their Ashes in the Sea lest the Christians might have the satisfaction of doing the common offices of humanity to their deceas'd Relations Certainly the Bodies of the dead should be preserved from all rude Affronts and
to them which made the holy Patriarchs command their Children to transport their bodies from one place to another that their ashes might sleep with their Ancestors How boldly did the first Christians venture their Lives to procure the bodies of the Martyrs which the cruelty of their Persecutors left unburied And S. Cyprian tells us how dangerous it is to omit it and that we should expose our selves to all hazards rather than leave it undone Neither did the Piety of the ancient Christians confine it self to those of their own Religion but frequently did bury the Pagans deserted by their Relations and they thought it not enough to inshrine the remains of their fellow Christians in Tombs and Sepulchres but also prepared their Bodies for their Funeral with the richest odours spices and perfumes the best drugs and ointments they thought but too mean to express their tender regard to their deceased Friends So Tertullian in his Apology tells us that the most curious Spiceries the Sabeans could afford were employed this way When Mary Magdalen poured Ointment on our Saviour's Head he approved it as done to anoint his body to the burial And the good women mentioned by S. Luke prepared their ointments and sweet odours to embalm his body All this was done because they looked upon the body as the expectant of a joyful Resurrection And hence we commit it unto the earth in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection For when they have varyed all forms and figures they are again built up immortal and more delicate habitations for our Spirits 3. LET the thoughts of the Resurrection comfort us concerning our departed Friends and Relations It s S. Paul's own inference But I would not have you ignorant brethren concerning them that are asleep that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope Vers 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first wherefore comfort one another with these sayings 4. LET the thoughts of the Resurrection comfort us in our present troubles O happy day when we are brought again into the light after so many nights of darkness and solitude when our bodies appear with their brighter robes when flesh and blood are Spiritualised and invigorated with the warmth of the Sun of Righteousness and our heavy Earth is calcined and purified for its true Imployment that it may serve the Soul in its swiftest thoughts and vye with the Seraphims of Light and Zeal in their attendance on their Creator Now the Earthly Tabernacle drags and pulls down the Soul to low and despicable Enjoyments then the Body is made strong and refined to comply with the highest Capacities and Inclinations of the Mind We shall mount aloft from the Earth into the Air we shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever and ever when we are got loose from the Prisons of Darkness and the Fetters of Corruption are broken off When we see the Glories and Empires of this little Globe below us and we our selves beyond danger and temptation far above its frowns and flatteries HOW strongly do we then feel our selves united to our true and immovable Happiness and assimilated to the Blessed Temper and Imployment of the Hosts of Heaven and the Spirits of just men made perfect When instead of this load of clay the uneasie weight that holds our Spirits in Captivity we shall then be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven when mortality shall be swallowed up of life The very thoughts of this Elevation and Purity to think that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is might fill our Souls with the strongest Ardors and Impatience to be with Christ to be above the Clouds and the vicissitudes of this unquiet World WE cannot express the glory of the Body after the Resurrection better than in the language of the Scripture There is one glory of the Sun another of the Moon and another of the stars so also is the resurrection of the dead it is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body And thus we are told by the same Apostle to the Philippians That he shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body by the power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself What a mighty support is it for us at the approach of death to reason our selves out of our fear and diffidence to get above the terrour and the thought of our dissolution and strengthen our selves in view of the Glory that is to come Let us say in the words of the Psalmist Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my Countenance and my God The Meditation of this joyful Day puts us beyond all Calamities sets our feet upon a Rock and makes us look down with Magnanimity on all the changes of this lower World for when our Eyes are fix'd upon those purer Pleasures what can disturb the peace and tranquillity of our Spirits For which cause we faint not but though our outward man perish yet our inward man is renewed day by day for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory The prospect of that state and felicity makes us forget this foolish World and trample on all its glories with a generous disdain and contempt when we remember that we are heirs of God and coheirs with Christ of that inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away 5. But fifthly THE belief of the Resurrection arms us more immediately against the terrours of Death Thus St. Paul discourses in the fifteenth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians and 54. verse So when this corruptible hath put on incorruption and this mortal hath put on immortality then shall be brought to pass this saying that 's written Death is swallowed up of victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The King of terrours is rifled his Forces are broken we have an Antidote against his Poison Let him come in his blackest dress in his most dismal Robes of darkness and fear Let him appear with all the Solemnities of terrour and sadness yet the Christian in the midst of all this meets him with undaunted Courage He is like mount Zion which cannot be moved he sees beyond those Clouds he defies all those frowns he strengthens himself in the death of Jesus and his Resurrection from the dead and the belief of both makes us more than Conquerours This is
by the closest adherence THERE is nothing more pernicious to true Christian Practice than wrong Principles Take heed therefore that the light which is in you be no darkness The fear of God makes men move with a reasonable Steadiness in all their Actions and nothing else yields true Peace at the hour of Death A Conscience void of offence towards God and towards Men is the surest Anchor against all our Fears and Conflicts God continue his Presence with you that you may seriously lay to heart the only One thing necessary This is sincerely prayed for by Much Honoured and Well Beloved Your affectionate and much obliged Friend and Servant AL. MONRO THE Contents SERMON I. Psal cxxxix 14 15 16 17. 14 I Will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well 15 My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth 16 Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the sum of them Page 2 SERMON II. 1 Pet. ii 11. Dearly Beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the Soul Page 35 SERMON III. 1 John v. 4. And this is the victory that overcometh the World even our Faith Page 73 SERMON IV. Phil. iii. 14. I press toward the Mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Page 111 SERMON V. 2 Pet. i. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust Page 141 SERMON VI. Canticles iv 15. A Fountain of Gardens a Well of Living Waters and Streams from Lebanon Page 191 SERMON VII Rom. xii 1. I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your Bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service Page 227 SERMON VIII John xviii 11. Then said Jesus unto Peter Put up thy Sword into the sheath the Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it Page 273 SERMON IX 1 Cor. ii 3 4 5. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling And my speech and my preaching was not with inticing words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God Page 303 SERMON X. Mat. v. 20. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven Page 335 SERMON XI Acts ii 1 2 3 4. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance Page 366 SERMON XII Psal xxvi 6. I will wash mine hands in innocence so will I compass thine Altar O Lord. Page 409 SERMON XIII John xi 25. Jesus said unto her I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live Compared with 1 Cor. 15.12 13 14. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no resurrection from the dead But if there be no resurrection of the dead then is Christ not risen and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain Page 450 ERRATA PAg. 6. l. 14. r. structure p. 13. l. 20. r. shall p. 19. l. 6. r. can p. 30. l. 8. r. employment p. 32. l. 3. r. drag p. 51. l. 23. r. our p. 79. l. 7. r. height p. 121. l. 27. r. intentions p. 138. l. 13. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 270. l. 3. dele by p. 287. l. 20. r. Verres p. 329. l. 2. r. from A SERMON ON PSALM cxxxix v. 14 15 16 17. 14. I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well 15. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth 16. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the sum of them IT was the Observation of a learn'd Philosopher and a great Statesman of our neighbour Nation That a superficial Insight into Nature inclin'd men to Atheism but a more thorough view of its regular Methods and the Causes of things did necessarily lead us to the acknowledgment of the Deity HIS Reason is very plain While the Mind of Man looketh upon second Causes scattered it may sometimes rest in them and go no further but when we behold the Chain of them confederate and link'd together we must needs fly to Providence and the contrivance of infinite Wisdom The Impressions of the Divinity upon Nature are so legible that the Apostle concludes such inexcusable who do not acknowledge them His most glorious Attributes are in a manner felt in the works of Creation even his eternal Power and Godhead being clearly seen by the things that are made THE Psalmist taught this Philosophy before S. Paul The heavens declare the glory of God the firmament sheweth his handy works day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night sheweth knowledge There is no part of this great Fabrick of the World which doth not direct us to a Most Mighty Being by whom it was made But above all the rest the Heavens which are so vastly extended and wherein we see so many glorious Bodies proclaim aloud the Power Wisdom and Skill of that supreme Governor and Architector THIS Consideration transported the Psalmist unto the most heavenly Raptures and seraphick Gratulations So we find him in the eighth Psalm When I consider thy heavens the works of thy fingers the moon and stars which thou hast ordained c. i. e. When I look up to that celestial habitation and consider the beauty of that admirable structure how richly thou hast gilded the roofs of thy outer house with the lights that shine there I am struck down with wonder I know not what to say that thou shouldst
rose again that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living THE Meditation of our Saviour's Resurrection puts us beyond all doubt and hesitation as to our own Resurrection for he rose again as our Captain our Head our Mediator and in our Name And this leads me to the Second particular I proposed to speak to 2. THAT though we sleep in the dust of the Earth we shall be raised again by his Power He is risen as the first born from the dead and the first fruits of them that sleep as our forerunner and advocate He went unto the Heavens to prepare a place for us that where he is there we may be also And we shall follow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in due rank and season as the younger Sons of the Resurrection we shall be raised under his standard and conduct so reasons the Apostle S. Paul If the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us he that raised up Jesus from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in us And again If we have been planted with him in the likeness of his death we shall also grow up in the likeness of his Resurrection And the same Apostle to the Thessalonians assures us that if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep through Jesus will God bring with him Our Resurrection from the Dead stands in our Creed as one of the great Articles of our Faith the Revelation of it is clear and I need not prove it by a particular allegation of places for S. Paul concludes that if the dead rise not our Faith and all our Hopes that depend upon it are wholly vain and impertinent It 's true the Carnal World did struggle against the belief of the Resurrection And the Athenians could not forbear to laugh at S. Paul when he advanced this new Doctrine And Minutius Faelix in his excellent Dialogue proves how reasonable it is for us to believe it though the external Evidences for it were not so undeniable when once we come to have true notions of the Deity Did he Create us from nothing And is it so difficult to him to make us up when we are broken and scattered Can any particle of our dust and ashes be hid from the eyes of his omniscience And this is the current Argument of the Fathers Or as the same Author reasons though we are dryed into dust or dissolved into water or scattered into ashes can we be removed from the sight of him that weighs the Mountains in scales and numbers the sands upon the Sea shore And then he goes forward to prove the Resurrection from congruities in Nature and the vicissitude of Things Vide adeo quà m insolatium nostri resurrectionem futuram omnis natura meditetur The Sun goes down and rises again and the frame of Nature seems to die in the winter and when the spring returns they put on their garments of life and joy So universally is the Doctrine of the Resurrection preach'd by every Creaure under Heaven But I will not insist on this I 'll rather endeavour to lead your thoughts into the inferences that naturally arise from it And first are we raised again Is the fabrick of our bodies rebuilt by infinite Wisdom Then with what peace and assurance with what quietness and serenity may we lay them down in the Grave It was no wonder that the stourest Philosophers amidst all their speculations could not reason themselves into this composure of Spirit at the aproach of Death for the strength of all their Arguments was but of little value to calm the tempests and the fears that arose in their Brests when this Enemy of Nature drew near them Nothing can allay those commotions but the stedfast belief of the Resurrection and the hopes of Immortality Then may we say in the language of the Psalmist Yea though I walk thorow the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me And is not this enough to make thee quiet and resigned that thou art assured when thy Soul goes to the invisible regions of Light and Purity thy Body also however scatter'd divided and dispers'd shall again be rejoyned to thy Spirit And ought we to doubt of the Divine Power to accomplish this Since the forming of our Bodies in the Womb from so small a beginning unto such a beautiful structure furnished with so many exact Proportions and Features was no less the effect of Divine Power than the raising it again when reduced to dust and ashes How chearfully did the first Martyrs sacrifice their Bodies for the love of Jesus The Executioners might divide Soul and Body but they could destroy neither they might cut and pierce and launce and throw their flesh to the wild-beasts but still they were within the Territories of their great Creator And when the voice of the Arch-Angel sounds the dead are made to hear it and the Sea must give an account of its dead and the Earth must open her dark vaults and cayerns and thrust up her Inhabitants to appear at the publick Rendesvouze of the Resurrection to receive according to what they have done in the Body ARE we raised from the dead We ought to treat the bodies of our dead with care and honour All civiliz'd Nations agree in this nor can there be a piece of greater barbarism and inhumanity than to deny the rites of Sepulture even to our very Enemies The Poet could not express the height of cruelty and rudness otherways than to say that the honour of Burial was denyed hominemque cruentus Exuit tenuem caesis invidet arenam Though the methods of particular Countries vary yet all agree to perform Funerals with great solemnity The most natural way is to bury them in the Earth and it is the most ancient of all others as we see in the Holy Oracles Gen. 23.4 And though the Persians did burn the bodies of the dead yet Herodot tells us that the method of Inhumation was more ancient among the Egyptians and the Persians And when the Roman Empire became Christian the old custom was resumed and the bodies of the dead were committed to the Earth Diodorus Siculus informs us how critically nice the Egyptians were in performing the Funeral Rites that the persons imployed about the dead were divided in so many ranks and orders and to each their proper part was assign'd And the Greeks and Romans were no less careful about their dead And no doubt our most holy Religion strengthens the obligation and the Scriptures remark the Funerals of the Patriarchs and the care of their Relations in that matter S. Augustin discourses at length to this purpose that our bodies are a part of us and though they are laid aside yet we have not lost all relation