and when they lay down in the Bed of dust might sleep as sweet as Socrates But it is one good quality of a good Name that 't is the wise man's purchase and vouchsafed in his death only to those whose lives men lov'd This is an Oyntment which when the waters are come in almost unto our Souls still floats above and makes the wise esteem himself out of the reach of drowning like Oyl it heals the wounds bad times inflict like Oyl 't will keep us safe although perhaps repute may be attempted to be venom'd with the poyson of Asps which lies under some lips A good Name is better than precious Oyntment and The day of Death better than the day of one's Birth Zeno thought Life and Death in themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things indifferent because whatever in it self is bad can by no circumstance be render'd good and whatsoever in it self is good (r) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diog. Laert. in vita Zen. he thought it was not in our power to use either ill or well at pleasure But be they things indifferent in themselves or be they not this is most certain that there is no such felicity in Life as may justifie our customary fondness in it or horror in Death I mean abstracted from sin and its consequences as may countenance our general aversion from it (s) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menand Nay when compar'd with Life Death may look temptingly surely a great and aged Judge of Beauty informs us that it has the better features Death is better than Birth better therefore than Life 'T is of more friendship too or if in Death be ought of enmity since 't is said the last Enemy that shall be destroyed is (t) 1 Cor. 15. Death we may defeat it by dying ere it comes though living in Christ by Faith yet dying to Sin by Repentance which may be much improv'd even by contemplation upon Death thus conquering Death by minding Death killing it self with it self like the Athenians who before defenceless made themselves walls of Tombs and Gravestones Now Deaths Priviledges lie I. In what it ends II. In what it begins I. In what it ends St Jerom instances in the imprisonment in the Body from which Death delivers the Soul Although perhaps the posture of the Soul in state of separation may not so properly be reputed freedom since 't is a property fix'd to its essence to be in such a state desirous of reunion Insomuch that some in that place of St Peter (u) 1 Pet. 3.19 concerning Christ's Preaching to the Spirits in Prison have render'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expectation making the separated state of humane Spirits a Prison because they are debar'd the satisfaction of their so natural inclinations But however with St Jerom 1. Death puts a period to uncertainty and doubt to which our Birth entitles us making the wise unsure what we may prove and Fools misread the Alphabet of Heaven to find what Letters make our future Fortunes By Birth we enter into Life so dubious that Pyrrho and the Scepticks doubted not to doubt of every thing and to resolve all knowledge into scruple and conjecture Through all the parts of time with Solomon we live uncertain of our time and know not what a day may bring forth We all are strong Idolaters of to morrow neglecting well to manage present time by our too great anxiety for the future for hours which we presume shall come but which for ought we know the Sun shall never live to make For who can tell but ev'ry Night may close his eye and hang the world in mourning for his death Vncertain are we in our Friends like Amasa (w) 2 Sam. 20.9 or Julius Caesar we well may perish the deluded Sacrifices of pretended Brothers or adopted Sons For Natures do not ever answer Names nor is it alwayes Truth which tempts our eye-sight with the fairest Print Vncertain are we in Enjoyments Riches make themselves wings wings like the Butterfly's gilded and flutt'ring and unresolv'd how to bestow themselves They from the good oft travel to the bad oft do they quit a Rose hover awhile then light upon a Thistle Vncertain is our Health the slave of weather vary'd with Heat and Cold it shakes at a Frost and sickens at a Sun-beam whil'st poor Physicians mortal as our selves the real Sons of our Infirmities though the pretended Fathers of our Healths offer at Reasons to protract Man's life and then themselves dye to confute them Vncertain are our Joyes which like Belshazer's appear upon our faces soon to be dash'd with some surprize some hand upon a wall nay Joy is so uncertain that it is uncertain if such a thing exist on this side Heaven Nay more Vncertain are even our selves when we cannot confide no not in our own dispositions but teach to morrow to repel those Acts which yesterday allow'd and make this hour correct what seem'd discretion in the last and that with some new wisdom to be controll'd the next All these and more Vncertainties our Birth begins But then comes certain Death for what man is he that lives and shall not see (x) Psal 89.48 Death and shuts out all Contingencies Man then enjoyes a blessed security But then it must be one who by a second Birth has gain'd exemption from a second Death for else his Certainty is dismaller than Doubt Man being dead no more consults the variable Moon nor studies Heaven to mistake his Fortunes upon Earth no more regards the wind for him it still may blow and where it lists may blow no more by doubting Friends shall he deserve to find them what he suspects them he then no more shall fear the wings of riches nor clog them with his cares to stay their flight no Mene Tekel then shall startle him nor shall he abate his pleasures whil'st he has them with dread lest he too soon should be without them no more shall he distrust his constitution nor ask his trembling pulses how he does nor shall he any more have reason to diffide in his own resolves 2. Birth begins temporal misery Death ends that Although the good are never truly wretched yet few there are that make themselves such Monsters as in the common crowd not to complain 'T is not alone at others Funerals that we contend to be in mourning but each Man in his own losses pursues the fashion and what he wants in woe makes out in noise he puts his Fortunes into black to court his Neighbors pity so that whil'st he cloaths his complaint with sables much above the quality and true estate of his exigence he makes his misery as it were his boast and it appears more like the daughter of his pride than his misfortune as if Jerusalem's sad exclamation became his mouth Is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow (y) Lam. 1.12 Each mans particular unhappiness is to his own eyes magnifi'd beyond the proportion of
and sleep imports awaking IV. That when the time is come wherein the Heavens shall be no more then Man shall be again he shall be raised out of his sleep I. Then Death is a sleep For Death Job apprehends by lying down But Death is fourfold 1. There 's a Death to Sin and that 's the Death of Grace When Men being dead to Sin live no longer therein (c) Rom. 6.2 But mortifie the deeds of the flesh (d) Rom. 8.13 Hence the Philosopher tells us it is one way of dying by our contempt of pleasure restraint of passion (e) Morietiam dicitur cum anima adhuc in corpore constituta corporeas illecebras Philosophiâ docente contemnit cupiditatum dulces insidias reliquasque omnes exuit passiones Macrob lib. 1. in Somn. Scip. cap. 13. 2. There 's a Death to Grace and that 's the death of sin or rather in sin Hence some are said to be dead in trespasses and sins some to have a name that they live and yet they are dead for to be carnally minded is Death (f) Rom. 8.6 3. There 's a Death to the Actions of the Body 'T is the dissolution of the Compositum and that 's the Death of Nature So first God said to Adam In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye (g) Gen 2.17 i.e. be liable to Death And secondly because he eat himself into Mortality 't is said of all his Successors (h) Psal 89.48 What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death The second sort of Death and this are join'd together Mat. 8.22 Let the dead bury their dead i. e. sayes St Austin (i) De Civit. Dei lib. 10. cap. 6. Let the dead in sin bury the dead in nature 4. There 's a Death to Vnhappiness and that 's the Death in Hell a Death of Soul and Body being their separation from felicity and this is call'd the second Death Rev. 20.14 The first Death is the separation of the Soul from sin But this is far from sleep 't is a continual watching The second is the separation of the Soul from Grace This is a sleep we must avoid from this we must not only wake before the Heavens cease to be the Heavens that they are but also before we return to the earth that we were or else we must be dead in this sin for ever for the Damn'd protract their sinning with their suffering The fourth is the separation of both Soul and Body from glory rest and hope so far is this from being rest or sleep therefore The third the Death of Nature or rather Death according to Nature viz. the separation of the Body and Soul must be this sleep But yet because the Body not the Soul in that disjunction desists to live and act the sleep we speak of appertains to that nor in propriety of speech can that or lying down be attributed to any other thing This is that sleep which he must be asleep who does not frequently perceive express'd in Sacred Writ She is not dead but sleepeth (k) Matth. 9.24 We shall not prevent them which are asleep (l) 1 Thes 4.15 Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life (m) Dan. 12.2 c. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth (n) Joh. 11.11 When Stephen had said this he fell asleep (o) Acts 7.6 Thus generally departed Kings in Scripture are said to have slept with their fathers And thus the Poet Sleeps are the little Mysteries of Death (p) p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menand Now it resembles or rather is a sleep in that it corresponds with the definition and properties of sleep 1. Sleep binds the Senses up (q) Arist de Vigil Som. so the Philosopher It is the Ligament of Sense and such is Death Where 's then the eye which dotes on specious objects and is it self esteem'd one which never is well satisfi'd with seeing nor ever satisfies with being seen Upon the sleeping and the dead the Sun or whatsoever glories of the Skies layes out his light in vain Midnight and Noon are equal shades to them Where 's then the Ear through which Trumpets convey life to the hands and Tabrets to the feet whil'st holy David at the sound of the one fights for the Ark and at the noise of the other dances before it To Sleep and Death these are no more than Silence Midnight and the Grave are two Exceptions against Noise Awake you may ye Lute and Harp but to what purpose when 't is not I my self awake right early Where 's then the Scent And where 's the difference betwixt the Dormant and the Dead The one perceives no sweetness in a Bed of Roses nor yet the other in his Apartment strow'd with Flowers Corruption shall make this last as the Sister concluded of Lazarus yield an ill savour but neither last nor first discern a good one nor yet disdain a bad one Where 's then the sense of Tasting Then sweet and sowr fall into indistinction Then nought is palatable nor disgustful No rarity contended for in meats nor property in sawces no relish vaunted of in fruits nor gusto in the wines No no there is no other Epicure in sleep than Fleas nor in the Grave than Worms Where 's then the sense of Feeling To those that soundly sleep and to the dead Good English Broad-cloth may contend with Sattin And were not Men alive as reasonless as Men asleep and dead are sensless an Act for Funerals in home-made Woollen might be embrac'd with less reluctancy What feels the living sleeper what the dead The one perceiving not the Thief which robs his Purse nor the other the Sexton which strips his Carkass Then what is Sleep but Death (r) Quid est somâ—m gelidae nâ—s i mortis imago abbreviated Or Death but Sleep protracted 2. As to Anxiety and Care their Natures much accord In Sleep they dye in Death they fall asleep Farewell in both to doubts and jealousies to fear and grief When weary'd with distraction how welcome does Man entertain repose in Bed or in the Grave Man goeth forth unto his labour until the Evening and then the sleep of a labouring Man is sweet (s) s Eccles 5.12 so much for Sleep In the world ye shall have tribulation (t) John 16.33 yet proceed to work out your salvation (u) Phil. 2.12 That when the night of Death approaches and none can work you may be happy with those that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours (w) Rev. 14.13 So much for Death in both conditions Trouble finds a Grave What though the world be lost in horrid fears like to benighted Men And in that night what although Groans like Screams of Owls grow loud and Joyes like dying Swans have sung their last Yet what 's all this to those that are at rest 'T is to the waking
to the living 't is that the Winds roar and that the Billows foam that the Masts crack and that the Cordage bursts that Clouds hide Heaven and the Waves the Clouds But it disturbs not Jonas for he sleeps Nor yet his Ancestors for they are dead This is that water of Lethe which the Heathens conceiv'd powerful to convey oblivion to the memory Thou Vanquisher of Ills Thou Calmness to the Mind c. sayes Seneca to Sleep (x) Tuque O Domitor somne malorum requies animi c. Sen. Herâ— Fur. And such a Sleep is Death For O Death acceptable is thy sentence to the Needy to him whose strength faileth and is vex'd with all things to him that despaireth and hath lost his patience sayes the son of Syrach Chap. 41. ver 2. 3. As to the desisting of motion and action how well may they be Twins In each of them there 's a defect of these The Body being ty'd in bonds of sleep it lies as buried in the interim the Soul whose power is independant on the Body perpetuates her action so when the term of mortal life is come down lies the Body all torpid and unactive but the Soul the invisible part does still retain possession of life in the behalf of the whole Man And in both cases too the Body shall again assume its former vigor to shew it was not lost but intermitted but of that more in a more proper place 4. Sleeping and dying are of one necessity and equally to nature indispensable Many men wake with coveting to sleep and their too eager hopes of some repose keeps them in long frustration Just so some live spite of themselves subsisting in opposition to their sierce desires of Expiration such was perplex'd Job Jeremy and Elias And others sleep whil'st they contend to wake such were the Apostles (y) Mark 14.37 Just so some Men embrace their Deaths whil'st they conceive they oppose it and meet it where they think they travel from it Yet all some time or other must partake of either unless Death prevent sleep at the first and Doomsday prevent Death at the last In vain 's the study to evade them 't is of a nature like the industry expended to procure the Philosophers stone they labour to convert what'ere they have into Gold and convert that little Gold they have into Nothing So we sollicitous to improve that little health we have into a treasure of inexhaustible life reduce that little life we have into death Like him who should contrive to watch long and drops asleep with the contrivance Not that I would men should neglect their lives or be indifferent in their conservation but that they should be careful of them with an assurance once to forego them and still be ready with alacrity to resign them For who is he that lives and shall not see death 5. Sleep equals all men of what age soever what strength or what degree and so does Death None in their dark Dominions can discern a Throne from a Pedestall The Corps of sleeping Bartimaeus has equal bliss with sleeping Herod and much more than Herod when awake So is dead Diogenes as happy as dead Alexander and much more than Alexander when alive Various wayes and different postures there may be of both in lying down but being laid their State is undistinguish'd (z) Mista Senum ac Juvenum deflentur Corpora Horat. Nulla distinctio inter Cadavera mortuorum nisi forâ—è graviùs saetent Divitum Corpora luxuriâ distenta Amb. Hexamer and promiscuous Some die distracted harass'd with wandring and benighted thoughts and these sleep like Ezekiel's Jews in the Woods (a) Ezek. 34.25 Some men expire in the pursuit of Fame oppress'd with Titles and voluminous Inscriptions and these sleep like Isaiah's Idolaters in Monuments (b) Isa 65.4 Some have short winter-lives a little day-light in them but much tempest these men expiring in the midst of cares seem to have troubled themselves to death and these like Jonah sleep in a storm (c) Jon. 1.5 Some are prescrib'd to death pursuing the directions of Physicians Deaths great Acquaintances and ty'd to their Receipts these sleep like St Peter among Soldiers and in Chains (d) Acts 12.6 Some are misguided by a flying fire by seeming honour into the Graves great precipice and dye of a disease call'd Valor these sleep like Sampson in Gaza (e) Judg. 16.3 which being interpreted is strength Fulness of bread sometimes may send another to the Grave and he sleeps like Boaz at a heap of Corn (f) Ruth 3 7. Whil'st Indigence perhaps destroys his Neighbours and they like Ruth sleep at his feet (g) Ver. 14. Others dye of Promotion and like smoke are taught to vanish by their exaltation and these sleep like Saul on the top of the House (h) 1 Sam. 9.26 Others dye weary'd out with Expectation and they sleep like Vriah at the Gate of the Kings house (i) 2 Sam. 1.9 Now though the method of Expiring varies the state of the Expir'd is all equality The low and weak can be but empty then And even the Proud when they have slept their sleep and those whose hands were mighty have found nothing Now therefore since that which we in rigorous Expression term Death in mild construction is but Sleep 1. Thrice happy they whom it defers not long Quick sleeps discover regular Constitutions 'T is much advantage to be early happy and to prevent the restlessness and tumbliâ—gs of weary Age with undelay'd repose For thus God giveth his beloved sleep sayes the Prophet (k) Psal 127.2 And those whom the Gods affect dye young sayes the Poet (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menand 2. That really in Death we may have rest as in sound sleep we must contend whil'st yet we are awake to perfect all our task in God our Masters most important service and work out our salvation whil'st we may Sleep we know seals up at once our industry and eyes no working then we in the morning therefore should contrive to make night no surprize That when it once grows heavy on our eye-lids we may not leave our duties unattempted or our attempts unaccomplished like interrupted and abortive structures which shew what Architects presum'd not what they did And so much more should we be sedulous to have our task determin'd ere we sleep by how much less we shall be capable to fill up its perfection when we wake For here indeed Death varies from the method of ordinary sleep in that what ere to day i. e. in our lives lies uneffected must be perpetuated so As the Tree falls so it must lie (m) Eccles 11.3 There is no borrowing of to morrows Sun to pay the arrears of this No no we shall not open once our eyes to wake till the Heavens close all their eyes and fall asleep nor shall our morning ere begin to be till the place where morning dwells
shall be no more When once our drowsie temples are bound up with Deaths swarthy Night-cloaths Farewell to Spring which is our growth in grace Farewell to Summer and fruits meet for repentance Farewell to Sunshine being the light of grace And Farewell showres the droppings of the Sanctuary For man lieth down and riseth not till the Heavens be no more c. II. 'T is then a long Sleep Till the Heavens be no more A time of tedious distance for ought we know But yet how near soever if we reflect on those who went before us how much soever Death resembled Sleep in quality 't is much beyond it in the quantity The grand distinction of these sleeps consists in their duration A Sand participates the essential properties of Earth But ah when their dimensions come in competition that nature of the Earth which the Sand possesses is but enough to priviledge it from being nothing So Sleep though constituted of the calm and gentle qualities of Death when we peruse them in their just extent appears in the comparison to have but so much ease as does but just exempt it from being labour Here we soon sleep and strait as quickly wake Our lives are but successive and short fits of darkness and of light And if the night protract itself beyond our slumbers how restless grow we tortur'd with repose and making our ease our anguish But Bodies once asleep beneath the Coverlets of Turfs find not themselves so hasty to be stirring We shall remove no Curtains with our hands nor with our eyes seek day-light in a Window nor with our vain enquiries look for glimmerings in the East No no we shall not hunt for day till we shall miss the Heavens from which it us'd to start We now lay not our selves to sleep until our selves or servants those Deputy selves have put out the Candle but being laid down in Death we shall not wake till he that never sleeps puts out the Sun For the Sun shall be turn'd into darkness (n) Joel 2.31 and be no more our light (o) Isa 60.19 The Sun and Darkness shall at once forsake us nor shall the one I mean Death withdraw its drowsie shades till the other wraps his Sun-beams up in Sables and instead of bidding Good-Morrow like a Bridegroom * Psal 19.5 shall bid Good-Night like a Mourner But as soundly as we shall sleep in Body so surely was Lactantius in a Dream who with the other Chiliasts would humble Christs celestial Sovereignty into an earthly Throne to be erected at Jerusalem and be establish'd for 1000 years for which space also he presum'd the Martyrs should be empowred with sublunary dominion and enjoy pleasures equally terrestrial with their jurisdiction Now the foundation of this phantastick building they lay upon a ground which will not bear it they instance in Rev. 20. and from these expressions The Devil is bound for a thousand years ver 2. And the Souls of the Witnesses or Martyrs liv'd and reign'd with Christ for a thousand years ver 4. They conclude That Satan shall literally and temporally be bound and the Martyrs temporally rule And lest we should conceive they understood this their Supremacy to be only in Spirit they not only insist upon ver 4. where 't is said The Souls of the Witnesses liv'd and reign'd But introduce the fifth verse where 't is said The rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finish'd †i. e. Those that are dead in Body and in Graâ—e shall have no Resurrection at all till all things are accomplished and then they shall arise to a second Death But these that had part in the first Resurrection i. e. from Sin the second Death which is of Soul and Body shall have nâ— power â—…n From hence concluding That the Martyrs Souls should all this while be reunited to their Bodies which only can be suppos'd to live again * For the Soul lives not again but continues to live And lest Error should be too narrow to expatiate in their Fancies rove yet further and recur to 2 Pet. 3.8 where one day is said to be with God as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day Inferring hence That the Worlds Glass shall be 7000 years in running out in proportion to the seven dayes which make up every Week and since the seventh day had a Prescription of Repose and Piety the six preceding being lights to guide men into toyle and sweat they fancy the last thousand years must supply the room of a continued Sabbath to the Saints after the first 6000 years being spent in industry and expectation But this opinion does directly thwart that Text (p) Matth. 24.36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the Angels c. And the other opinion contradicts that other Text (q) John 18.36 My Kingdom is not of this world But both oppose our present Text which sayes Man i. e. all Mankind except those which rose with Christ to attend him their first-fruits and to whom they limit not their fancy'd Empire awakes not till the Heavens be no more Yet even St Austin (r) Nam etiam nos haec epinati fuimus aliquando Aug. de Civ Dei lib. 20. ch 7. once indulg'd this misconception although with an opinion more refin'd and which alotted not such carnal pleasures to this dominion of the Saints as other Patrons of this Error did But on review and better thoughts he tells us That by a thousand years being a perfect number is meant the latter Age begun by the Messias in the fulness of time in which the Devil is bound i. e. he does not with his old more boundless power detain the world in Error and enjoy his former usurpation of Souls (s) Aut certe mille annos pro omnibus anâ—…s hujus seculi posuit ut perfâ—cto numero notaretur ipsa temporis plenitudo Aug. ibid. But for the Saints although their Bodies should remain the slaves of Sepulchres those only excepted which arose with Christ yet should their spirits reign with Christ in Heaven * Quamvis ergo cum suâ—… dum jam tamen corum animae regnant cum illo Idem ibidem And this exactly squares with that My Kingdom is not of this world not but that Bodies too shall partake his triumphs but that will be not till the Heavens be no more III. Why then the Heavens shall be no more For should they still continue as they are and should man ne're revive whil'st they continue so how could his Death be term'd a Sleep to which no waking ever should succeed The Heavens now are like an open Book full of strange Characters which men consult how wisely let their effects determine to be inform'd when great mens Lives shall be no more when Kingdoms and when States shall be no more when publick Blessings and when publick Curses shall be no more But there will be a
season and e're long 't will be when they themselves shall be no more They shall perish fayes the Psalmist But of the critical moment not a word in all the Book of Spheres What Tales soe're they tell of other Beings they will still keep their own counsel and whensoe're they break like to great Traders here on earth their breach shall be the worlds surprize Of that day knoweth none Their Prophecy in that is silent as their Harmony yet such a day there will be But the question is First What Heavens shall be no more Secondly How shall they be no more First What Heavens shall be no more Besides the Empyreal or Supreme Philosophers compute the number of the Orbs counting the Fire and Air to be eleven But the great Bishop of Hippo reflecting on the rapture of St Paul into the third Heaven where he had the glimpse of great unutterable glories concludes the Empyreal the Heaven of Gods more immediate splendor and the receptacle of the bless'd to see him as 't were face to face to be the third Heaven computing none besides excepting the Sydereum Aereum the Starry and the Aery But be they more or be they less the Heaven of heavens is generally exempted from dissolution which some conclude from Thy Throne is established for ever So that of all the rest although we cannot certainly determine what is their number yet we may conclude a little of their nature though we are insecure how many they be yet we may well be resolute what they shall be or rather what they shall not be They shall be no more But Secondly How no more They shall perish (t) Hebr. r. 11. Now what should be this perishing but their change For as mans death is call'd a change (u) Job 14.14 I will wait till my change come So the Heavens change is call'd a death or perishing for that the word perish imports no more in the forecited place to the Hebrews is evident from the ensuing Verse As a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed Nay this very place the Heavens shall be no more is in the vulgar Latin atteratur Coelum till the Heavens be worn away not annihilated Worn like an old Garment Psal 102. Man is the little world and as his Cloaths cover him so the Heavens cover the great world Tegit omnia Coelum Hence Ovid. when we Travel Lucretius tells us We change the cloathing of Heaven (w) Coelimutamus amictum Conformable to this is even the Septuagint in this of Job which renders it Till the Heavens be * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No more be sow'd together unsow'd How has God cloath'd the Macrocosme as we the Microcosme with the best Cloaths on the outside We all at great Solemnities contrive to habit our selves after the newest fashion Lo then shall Christ appear in Solemn Triumph Lo then shall be the Marriage of the Lamb and then the world shall change its fashion too The fashion of this world passes away (x) 1 Cor. 7.31 When Sunday comes 't is generally entertain'd with Citizens best Cloaths Lo then the Sabbath of the Saints shall come then the Lords day the day of the Sun of Righteousness and then the Vniverse shall be aray'd in cleaner and more splendid Vestments Now Job's shall be no more is St Peter's shall pass away whil'st the Elements melt for fervent heat (y) 2 Pet. 3.10 Now whatsoever melts melts not to nothing but into substance of a purer nature so likewise to pass away is not to cease to be but to be vary'd in its place or properties Heaven and Earth shall pass away sayes our Saviour and there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth sayes St Peter (z) 2 Pet. 3.13 Both these are united Rev. 21.5 Behold I make all things new Now to make all things new is not to make all things nothing no more than mending is destroying To be no more than is to pass into new and 't is not needless to observe that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to change is render'd Psal 90.9 by passing away or passing over from whence the world is stil'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a change or passing over But you may ask What change is this 'T is not a change of substance but of accidents Heavens shall not absolutely cease to be but to be as they are so also the Elements All compound Beings except mans Body which must subsist with the Soul shall lay aside their Essence Birds and Beasts and Fish so likewise Trees and Plants which owe their Beings to their Compositions shall bid farewell to Nature when every Element shall challenge from them what each contributed to their composure Earth shall retreat to Earth Water to Water and whatsoever Fire or Air bestow'd for ever shall recede into its native properties But for more simple and unblended Natures their change shall be but a refining Some (a) Greg. Bed Gloss have conceiv'd indeed That Fire and Water should both be totally consum'd whil'st Earth and Air should be no more than mended But this the rest reject Aquinas (b) Aquin. in 2 Pet. 3. thinking that Fire and Water should but lose their heat and cold But that were neither to be Fire nor Water But that Lorinus candidly expounds him That by their losing heat and cold he means that heat and cold should be restrain'd from acting As is the change with the Elements so with the Heavens the variation's not of things but qualities Aristotle pronounced Heaven incorruptible and so it is indeed as to its fitness for duration which the Schools call its internals but not as to its power abstracted from divine disposure * Ab intrirseco Coelos esse incorruptibtlâ—s communis Scholasticorum est opinio i. e. secundum sabstantiam aptitudinem non dispositionem divinam actum Loâ— in Psal 102.19 for whatsoe're at first results from nothing by the same vertue may relapse into nothing or as the cause of its first being pleases be vary'd from its present being Therefore THOV shalt change them (c) Psal 102.26 By which change sayes Lorinus (d) De sola nonnulla renovatione per vacationem à moâ—u actu ministerio in res sublunares hominemque vitam ducentem mortalem Ibid. is meant some kind of renewing by a vacation from Motion and Action and influence on Sublunaries and on Man leading a mortal life And thus being alter'd they will better suit with the condition of renew'd Mankind In which St Austin tells us That at the general Conflagration those qualities of the corruptible Elements which agreed well enough with our corruptible Bodies shall utterly perish by Combustion And the same substance shall by miraculous change acquire qualities convenient for immortal Bodies to the end that the world being renewed for the better may the better suit with men renew'd for the better in their flesh (e) Conflagratione
mundâ—…â Elementorum corruptibilium qualitates quae corporibus nostris corruptibiâ—ibus congruchant ardendâ— penitus interibunt Atque ipsâ— substantia eas qualitates habebit quae corporibus immortalibus mirabili mutatione conventant Ut scilicent mundus in melius inrouaâ—us aptâ— accommodetur hominibus etiam in carne meliùs innovatis Aug. de Civ Dei lib. 20. cap. 16. From these things then we may raise these Conclusions 1. That the Heavens shall no more measure time For 2. Time shall be no more Rev. 10.6 And hence indeed in proper speech the Heavens shall be no more Shall is the Future Tense but in Eternity there 's no Futurity Now when there is no time but all Eternity who can without great impropriety say the Heavens shall be when Shall imports a time to come 3. If no time then no motion for time is the measure of motion (f) Tempus est mensura motus omnis motus est in tempore and therefore 4. No more action for without motion there is no action in Naturals 5. Therefore no more influence on Sublunaries for without action no influence therefore 6. No more generation nor corruption for these are not without influence Thus then the Heavens shall be no more And now IV. Man shall awake and be raised out of his sleep Methinks I see his Body now begin to be again Methinks I see the Sea like Jonah's Whale surrendring what it had long time conceal'd Methinks I see Men bolting from the Earth like Rabbets from their Warrens Some from the Waves some from the Graves I see just waken'd by the Trump and shaking off many their dew and many more their dust For they must awake they must be raised out of their sleep But it may be of use to mind the expression 't is they shall be rais'd not by their vertue but some others power But what is his Name if thou canst tell 'T is my Redeemer I know that my Redeemer lives and he shall raise me up at the last day (g) Job 19.25 My Redeemer There 's God's power Shall raise me up There 's Job's assurance At the last day There 's the time prescrib'd My Redeemer lives 1. To confute the Jews who disown his Resurrection 2. To prove that he also shall raise us up Christ the first-fruits afterwards they that are Christs 1 Cor. 15. For He shall raise me up To refute those who repute our expectation of reduction from the Grave as a Dream At the last day To confute Hymeneus Philetus and Hermogenes who concluded the Resurrection already accomplish'd because 't is recorded that the Bodies of the Saints arose Matth. 27. So holy Job even in the Text supposes and implies what there he expresses viz. That when the Heavens shall be no more Man shall be raised 1. Then he shall awake arise 2. How shall he be raised But 1. Mans Body shall arise These very Numerical Bodies these that we sin'd in or repented in Methinks I hear the Trumpet sound a Call wherefore Awake Awake Whoe're Where're Howe're you are Whoe're have been devour'd by Wolves those Wolves being strait devoured by Lyons those Lyons dying and strait devour'd by Kites Whoe're to Fishes have been made a Prey which even themselves have soon become a Prey to other Fishes Whoe're you are that in your Bodies have perform'd the Stages which fond Pythagoras prescrib'd to Souls in journeys through each various kind of Beasts Whoe're you are have been reduc'd to dust and dissipated through the spacious world till every dust has been remov'd a Mile from dust of kin to it Awake Awake indeed you must awake 'T is a resistless power that raises you 'T is God shall raise the dead Acts 26.8 But some may ask Query What if a Man devour those of his own species What if Claudius devour Sempronius and after time for due digesting him Claudius himself become anothers Meal How shall Sempronius and others in the like capacity be raised up in his own Numerical Body unless whatsoever was eaten by Claudius and may be conceiv'd to have become a part of his Body be restored Which if it be How then shall Claudius rise with his Numerical Body This is the Query which Objectors think Solut. is of itself enough to make a Sadduce But 't is indeed a trivial doubt and of no force to any but the willing For 't is not he shall arise as I observ'd before but he shall be raised which includes an unrestrained power to be the Agent and 't is the same Almighty Power which does support the living That God shall raise Man who now seeds Man He needs no aid of meat to keep a Creature living How obvious may we then conceive it though Claudius do devour Sempronius for God to strengthen Claudius and support him without permitting any of Sempronius to be concocted into his constitution especially since he compos'd not Man to be Mans food But now what think you if even to Reason for at that Weapon they must be encounter'd who contradict this Doctrine I say what if to Reason 't is a thing impossible but of the self-same Body there must be infallibly a Resurrection Not to trace all the Causes back up to the first to prove a God accomplish'd in whate're good reason ere thought good I shall suppose the Existence of a Deity already granted I know none deny it There being then a God he must be just but just he cannot be without a Resurrection For to mans eye the worst oft live and dye with least misfortune Now if no vengeance seize them after death where 's then the Justice and where 's then the God Will any say that after dissolution the Soul may suffer and still God be just although the Body sleeps But if the Body shar'd in sinning and be exempted from the suffering a Malefactor escapes then where 's the Justice and next where 's the God Or will you say as some are very forward that Death it self is the Bodies punishment But I say 1. the Soul and Body sin'd together for each others greater satisfaction in justice therefore we may think that they should suffer together for each others greater affliction But they by death so far does it resist their suffering together are far remov'd asunder if death then be the Bodies sole infliction still where 's the Justice 2. Can the Body be punish'd with what it never feels But oft great Sinners sink into the Grave under a stupefaction of the senses and dye extempore And if the flesh do only suffer death which brings no corporal pain for mighty corporal transgressions still where 's the Justice 3. The Body sinning against an infinite Person committed infinite sin for as we see in Treason the Object gives proportion to the Crime Infinite sin must have no finite suffering But Death is a finite suffering for that 's accomplish'd when the Soul is gone If therefore Death be all the vengeance to the Body where
's still the Justice Will any say the Bodies being dead and separated from the Soul for ever is its eternal punishment But can there be punishment and nothing suffer As soon as dead the humane Body is not it was the humane Body when it sin'd by death it leaves to be the humane Body And how can that which is not suffer Or will you say with Pomponatius that sin is its own punishment O strange Philosophy And more strange Justice In all Philosophy the offence is still cause to the punishment if sin then be the punishment to itself 't is its own cause and 't is its own effect But others in Philosophy will tell us That Nihil est causa sui ipsius (h) Quisquam ne mortaâ—ium idem vocat facinus poenam Quintil. And in all Justice punishments design'd to mend the Sufferer or to disencourage others from the like offence But what sin ere which had no other punishment deter'd another from attempting it And as for the Offender I presume none will conclude that sin can much amend him Many would wish their strength might ne're decline that they might ne're be impotent for sin If sin be then its proper punishment 'T is a most strange one which the Offender ever would request to undergo and prize beyond rewards (i) Nullapoena est nisi invito alibi Supplicium quisquam vocat ad quod prosilitur quod exposcitur Quintil. If sin were the sole judgment on the Malefactor O what a means had the Almighty found to bring his Justice in contempt And then where were his Wisdom too And then where the God Therefore whoe're thou art that art possess'd with Dreams like these Awake thou that sleepest lest ere thou dream'st of it it may be said Awake and come to judgment But 2. How shall Men arise And with what Bodies shall they come I answer with St Paul 1 Cor. 15. they shall rise 1 Incorruptibly it is rais'd in incorruption ver 42. 2 Gloriously it is rais'd in glory ver 43. 3 In agility it is rais'd in power ver 43. tanta facilitas quanta faelicitas sayes St Austin 4 Very near to the nature of Angels much more resin'd than formerly not only from carnal lusts but also from the grossness of our substances The natural Elements shall be resin'd so shall our Bodies it shall be rais'd a spiritual Body ver 44. Not but that we shall have flesh and bones and integral parts answerable to the pattern of our Saviour after his Resurrection Luke 24.39 Handle me and see for a spirit has not flesh and bones as ye see me have But yet improv'd they shall be much Aquinas (k) in Eph. 4 ver 13. Corpus Christi fuit perdâ—ction ad plenam aetem virilem scilicet 33 annorum in quâ mertuus est hususâ—todi autem aetatis plenitudini corformâ—…itur aetas sanctorum resurgâ—…tium So a so the Author of these Sermons or Homilies father'd on St Ambrose vol. 3. pag. 44. Ibi enim nec infaâ—s nec senex nec parvus erit qui non impleat dies suos utpote silius resurrectionis in mensuram venict plenitudinis Christi ut nec desint aliâ—ui annorum spacia nec supersint yet goes further and assures us That we shall rise in the complete age of our Saviour viz. 33 years old For whereas we read Till we all come in the unity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect Man to the measure of the STATVRE of the fulness of Christ he as also our old Translations reads the measure of the AGE of the fulness of Christ. But this we safely may leave undetermin'd being assur'd that Man shall awake destitute of nothing essential to his perfection but not so secure of what God may esteem so essential But this is the Resurrection of those who have part in the first Resurrection Others shall want the glory but yet shall be endu'd with bodies free from corruption to protract their torture to eternity with bodies agile to entitle them to the greater restlessness for the more active the Sufferer the more tormenting the Chains and Anguish Nor shall he want the prejudice of a refin'd body that all his senses may be more acute for entertaining each its proper torment to the most high improvement So now we see Men shall be raised up and we see how Unhappy then are they that put far from them here the evil day to be shut up in worst of nights hereafter Woe to him that eats and drinks because to morrow he shall dye since after that to morrow he must rise and be waken'd out of his sleep But happy he thrice happy who being to forego his life hid it with Christ in God at the last day they shall know where to find it In the mean time foolish are those that lament him since they again shall see him if yet they are not still more foolish by their neglecting to lie down like him How is our industry concern'd to care that our uprise be to felicity by death to sin and rising again to newness of life to furnish our selves for a Resurrection free from a second death And will you know how 't is to be atchiev'd By doing so as did the Subject of this dayes Solemnity If you expect her Character consult each man his loss in her departure None need commend an absent Friend to those who by that absence find much detriment Go ask the Poor Go ask the Sick whose Consolation and Relief are now in a great measure gone to Heaven with her How have the glories of the ancient Heroes liv'd in Records of blackest Ink So 't is with her for in our sable fortunes in our dark wants her worth is largely written We need no tedious toil to prove her happy as to her Soul and ready for the Resurrection as to her Body our greatest Task will be not to learn how she is but to be like her fit for our going and our Saeviours coming But you 'll ask how Let the Apostle tell you St Peter designing to display Christs dreadful coming in his third Chapter of his second Epistle endeavors to prepare men for it in his first Chapter advising diligence in procuring 1. Faith which believes God true in all his promises which teaches Man to lay aside his Reason that so he may be more than Man and apprehend things much beyond the reach of natural capacity Faith is the evidence of things not seen Faith which layes all our sins down at Christs Cross Faith which applies Christs merits to our selves In short Faith which depends on the Fathers mercy through the Sons sufferings and intercession by the Spirits support and consolation to evade deserved destruction and attain most undeserved bliss therefore to wake to happiness take Faith and add to your Faith 2. Virtue Not Virtue in the general because Temperance follows as a particular but Virtue