before the Judges in Areopagus as we find it in Vers. 32. And when they heard of the Resurrection of the Dead some Mocked for he had said in the words immediately foregoing That now God Commandeth all Men every where to Repent because he hath appointed a Day wherein he will Judge the World with Righteousness by that Man whom he hath Ordained viz. by Christ whereof he hath given assurance in that he Raised him from the Dead Though he had seen before how this Doctrine was entertain'd with scorn as idle talk and for which he was counted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for such and no better it was esteemed by Pliny in Hist. Nat. l. 2. c. 7. and l. 7. c. 55. pnerile deliramentum and also by the Heathen Cecilius in Minutius Felix Christianorum aniles fabulae yet he knowing of what great importance and weighty consequence it was to Preach this necessary Doctrine of the Resurrection and that which it is in order to the Judgment to come and what the Power of it was as it afterward made Felix the Roman Governour to tremble he thought it Seasonable to declare it before that Grave and Severe Senate and Judicatory of the Areopagites at Athens And what he did here assert and Preach before them was very fit and Seasonable for that Court or Judicatory was a little Figure and Emblem of the great Day of Judgment This Court was the Supreme Court of Justice at Athens the Judges were persons of great note and renown'd for their Wisdom and Integrity able and fit to Judge of the most weighty matters and therefore were the most difficult causes wont to be refer'd to them they sat in the Dark that they might not be moved to any undue affection and compassion upon Sight of the Malefactor they would not permit him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to use any Rhetorick to move their affections but onely to make a plain and bare Narration They were also very strict and severe in enquiring into the Lives and Manners of Men for this was another End to which this Court was appointed and taking an account hereof ubi quid quisque Atheniensium ageret diligentissimè inquiri soleb at ut homines honestatem vitae rationem memores reddendam esse sequerentur as Valerius Maximus describes it they were strictly inquisitive what any one of the Athenians did how he demean'd himself that Men might see it to be their interest to live well as considering that they were to give an account of their lives and behaviour and therefore it was called Sanctissimum Consilium the most Holy Council or Judicatory and by this it seem'd a little Representation of the Great Tribunal of Christ and Solemn Day of Judgment at what time the Books shall be opened the Rolls wherein Mens Actions are Recorded and when All must appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether good or evil as the Apostle speaks in 2 Cor. 5. 10. And upon this account and consideration as a proper and powerful perswasive to a good Life he would have Christians to make it their great design and Holy Ambition to live so as to be acceptable unto God in the foregoing Verse as he adds also in the following Verse Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord this dreadful appearance of the Lord at the Last Day we perswade Men. Thus we see how the Apostle made it his great care and business to Preach the Resurrection of Christ as also the General Resurrection or which amounts to as much the Great Day of Judgment What ever Doctrine more smooth and flattering and complying with Mens eâ—e and carnality Others might Teach yet this is that which S. Paul with all faithfullness Preacht unto the World this was his Preaching of the Gospel he made sure always to clear and confirm and inculcate this great Evangelical Truth this Fundamental Article of Christian Religion The Doctrine of the Resurrection Concerning which I shall onely add this one Consideration more and it s worthy to be well consider'd by us That though in this Fifteenth Chapter to the Corinthians he useth many Arguments to evince and perswade the Belief of Our Resurrection yet first of all and principally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he makes use of the Resurrection of Christ for the proof of it who rose as the Head of the Church the Second Adam being a Common Head as well as the First in the Sense we have shewed and as the First fruits of them that Slept and the First-born from the Dead And further consider That the Argument drawn from Christs being Raised to Life and to a Life of Immortal Blessedness Rom. 6. 9 is a most plain and easie Argument to prove that there is a Blessed Life and Immortality hereafter There are other Arguments to evince this but some of them are too sublime for every capacity but the meanest are capable of understanding this For the Man Christ one in our nature and flesh Died and Rose again and is now Alive and liveth for Ever which is an evident proof of a future Life after the Death of the Body and a fair pledge of a Blessed Immortality hereafter which God will reward the faithful with those that have the Spirit of God dwelling in them as the Apostle speaks Rom. 8. 11. And now having seen how Christians have good ground to hope for and expect a Future Reward of Soul and Body from the Light of Revelation we shall shew in the following Arguments how they may hope for it from the Light of Reason 2. From the Justice of God they may know their Labour is not in vain His Justice manifests it self in rendring to every one according to his works and this without any respect of Persons Both Maximes are much insisted upon in the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament The first is acknowledged by David the Royal Psalmist in Psal. 62. 12. by that Royà l Oracle of Wisdom Solomon his Son Prov. 24. 12. by the Prophets Jeremy 32. 19. Ezek. 33. 20. and by one greater then Solomon and the Prophets even Christ Jesus the Judge himself in Matth. 16. 27. Revel 22. 12. and by his Apostles S. Paul Rom. 2. 6. 2 Cor. 5. 10. and S. Peter 1 Ep. 1. 17. Now the ways or works of Men are either good or evil and God who rewards cannot be deceived or mistaken as not corrupted or wrought upon by fear or flattery but he has a perfect knowledge and just value of Mens works knows the inward Springs and Principles of their actions And he which is Lord over all shall fear no Mans persons nor shall he stand in awe of any Mans greatness c. Wisdom 6. 7. He seeth not as Man seeth for Man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the Heart 1 Sam. 16. 7. The Righteous Lord tries the Reines and Heart
that the Love of God hath constrain'd them to count nothing that he commanded them grievous to do nothing hard to suffer for him they perswade themselves that God will satisfie these Desires and Affections of his own begetting in them I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness as Holy David speaks Psal. 17. and that their Souls who cleave to God in love who desire and love him above all things and do more thirst after a full Enjoyment of him from the lesser tastes and relishes of his Goodness here and hope to see him as he is face to face hereafter shall not be frustrated of their desires and hopes but God will satisfie these by the manifestation of some better State and Enjoyment then of this World which is not their Portion nor did they mind Earthly things They perswade themselves that God will not forsake them nor thrust away the Soul that thirsts after him and loves and desires him above all and places her Felicity in him and when it has most prepared her self as a Bride adorned for her Husband for the other State and is more near to enjoy him as it is when the Death of the Body is near That such a Soul should be cut off from God and cast into the place of forgetfulness and be no more so as she should never enjoy God nor indeed any thing else is not to be conceived it being manifestly contrary to the Divine Goodness Hath God implanted in Brute Beasts such and such Propensions and Instincts Sympathies and Antipathies the Passions of Fear and Aversation the Affections of Hope and Desire and Joy with real and proper Objects for them to be respectively exercised upon So that they naturally fear and avoid what is for their hurt and they hope and desire and delight in what is for their welfare and pleasure And is it to be imagined that the same Passions which are implanted by God in Better and Higher Beings the Souls of Men and in Holy and renewed Souls the Best Souls have not suiteable Objects for them also Is the Hope of enjoying God and a Blessed Immortality and the Future State and the Joy thence arising or as the Apostle speaks Rom. 5. the rejoycing in Hope of the Glory of God a vain Hope a vain Joy Do the Best Men act like Fools and unwisely in denying themselves as to many advantages and pleasures in this World for an Vtopian Paradise for a Nothing for that which is not Are all the Religious Instincts and Propensions towards God which are rooted in the Souls of Men and are most active in the Souls of Holy Men and especially towards the end of their Life are they Frustraneous and Vain But we cannot imagine things to be thus without highly reproaching the God of Nature God most Wise and most Good who made all his Works in Wisdom Psal. 104. 24. which Wisdom reacheth from one end to another and sweetly orders all things Wisdom 8. 1. and who saw every thing that he had made that it was good very good Genes 1. and accordingly fitted every Creature for its End which it knows and observes the proper means to attain it this Wise and Good God did not surely do otherwise in making of Man but he hath excellently fitted him for the Highest and Best End and Holy Souls are in the readiest capacity for it Hence that in 2 Cor. 5. 5. He that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit And thus much for the Arguments from the light of Reason Concerning which if any shall object That this last Argument as also the former seems not so much to prove the Resurrection of the Body as a Life to come or a Blessed Immortality of the Soul after the Death of the Body I answer Be it so yet they are of force to prove that which was the matter in hand viz. That those who Abound in the Work of the Lord their Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. THE END
see by this admirable Instance how this Noble Mother and her Sons rather then Transgress one Commandment of God forbidding to Tast Swines Flesh suffer'd the most Exquisite Tortures with a Magnanimous Patience despised their Bodies Vers. 11. regarded not their own selves for his Laws sake Vers. 23. offered up their Bodies and Lives for the Laws of their Fathers Vers. 37. loved not their Lives to Death as it is said of the faithful in Apocal. 12. reproched or disdained disesteemed their Lives unto Death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is said of Zibulon and Napthali Judg. 5. 18. or as it is in Hebr. 11. would not accept of deliverance which was offered to them And that which enabled them thus to choose rather to die gloriously was this That they might obtain a better Resurrection a Resurrection to Life which the Fourth Brother plainly told Antiochus that he should not have Chap. 7. 14. a Resurrection far more acceptable to them then to be delivered from their present sufferings and to have their Life prolonged and respited for a while upon Earth upon the terms offered to live a little time and a moment longer as the phrase is Chap. 6. 25. And the same Spirit of Faith hath no less shined out in the faithful Martyrs of Jesus under the New Testament who loved not their Lives unto Death Apocal. 12. who did bear in their Bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus 2 Cor. 4. in Weariness and Painfulness in Watchings often in Hunger and Thirst in Fastings often in Cold and Nakedness in Stripes and Imprisonments as S. Paul saith of himself 2 Cor. 11. and were faithful unto Death not accepting of deliverance upon the terms of scattering a little Incense upon the Altar or puting a little Incense into the Censors And all this they suffer'd willingly as being mindful of that of our Saviour's I will raise thee up at the last Day Jo. 6. or that in Apocal. 2. 10. Be thou faithful unto Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Consider therefore O faithful Christian and often consider the great encouragement and strong consolation that it stored up in this Fundamental Doctrine of the Resurrection and Life to come If thy Body lie in a Dungeon in cold Irons and perish here Yet it shall be raised up and sit upon a Throne If it be Ioden with Chains it shall hereafter put on Robes of Glory and be Clothed with the Royal Apparel What though thou be here as Christ was Crowned with Thorns yet hereafter thou shalt have a better Crown then a Crown of Gold then the Richest Crown that ever any King or Emperour did wear What though wicked Men Eat the Flesh of Gods People as it is in Micah 3. 3. yet their Flesh doth rest in hope Psal. 16. To conclude this second Particular I might observe That the Doctrine of Christ's Resurrection upon which ours doth depend is full of the greatest comfort and encouragement For as he was delivered to death for our Offences so he rose again for our Justification Rom. 4. 25. His Resurrection did evidence his Death to be an acceptable Sacrifice to God and availeable to the making of Atonement and Expiation of our Sins For had it been otherwise had not Christ our Surety fully satisfied had he not done and suffered all that God required at his hand to the making Atonement for our Sins God would not have loosed the Bands or Cords of Death in raising him up again but he should have been holden fast by Death Acts 2. 24 and still detain'd in the dark Prison of the Grave he had not been taken up into Heaven and Seated at God's Right Hand But his being raised from the Dead and received up into Glory and his Interceeding there in the Vertue of his Death and presenting his Sacrifice in the behalf of all who truly believe and repent are evident proofs of the acceptableness of his Sacrifice and that God was well pleased and fully satisfied and that Christ had fulfilled all that God required of him to make Reconciliation for Iniquity Dan. 9. The Apostle therefore in Rom. 1. 4. saith that Christ was declared or demonstrated to be the Son of God by the Resurrection from the Dead And this if duly consider'd makes much for comfort and strong consolation unto all sincere Christians Hence that of the Apostle in Rom. 8. 34 Who is he that Condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is Risen again who is even at the Right Hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us 3. This Doctrine of the Resurrection and Life to come is such as properly and powerfully tends to and engages a Christian to the greatest Self-purification to all manner of Purity inward and outward in Soul and in Body to the cleansing of himself from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit which is to perfect Holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7. 1. And because it makes so much for the Advancement of Holiness and Purity in Heart and Life it is most worthy to be firmly Believed and Profest Accordingly its said in 1 John 3. 3. He that hath this hope the hope of seeing God as he is Vers. 2. purifies himself even as he is pure He endeavours after the greatest Self-purification as knowing that onely the pure in Heart shall see God who is Purity it self Holy Holy Holy as it is thrice repeated in Apocal. 4. 8. but in some Greek Copies Nine times These two are therefore joyned together we shall be like him and we shall see him as he is The Soul must first become like unto God in Purity and Holiness before it is capable of seeing God as he is of enjoying him and having any near and blissful Communion with him The onely means to behold the Face of God is to behold it in Righteousness and Purity and Holiness and such a Christian shall be satisfied when he awakes from the sleep of Death with God's likeness It was to this purpose well observed by Plotinus one of Origen's Schollars in Ennead 1. lib. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let every one that would see God who is Holy and Pure and Good the Original and Fountain of all Beauty and Excellency and Goodness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make account first to become God-like his Soul must first be purified as ever he would hope to seé and enjoy God And now as the Soul sets it self in good earnest upon Self-purification as that which is a necessary Preparation for the enjoyment of God and as it prospers in its sincere and earnest endeavours to purge and cleanse it self from all that within which is contrary unto God by the same degrees and proportion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hierocles to wards the end of his Comment upon Pythagoras his Golden Verses speaks of the great privileges of a Purified Soul it revives and becomes more lively active and vivacious is more collected within it self and is filled with Divine Strength and
operae pretium and several such Latinisms there are in the New Testament and it signifies worth the while worth my labour And so the Sense of this Verse is this If I continue in this Fleshly Tabernacle is I yet live in the World it is worth the while it will not be altogether unprofitable to me nor to others because thereby I may gain some to Christ and as for you Philippians and other Christians I may be helpful to you and them for your and their furtherance and joy of Faith Vers. 25. It follows in the same Verse Yet what I shall choose I wot not There are weighty and pressing Reasons on both sides so that I know not well whether I should choose and desire to Live or Die if the choice of both were given me Vers. 23. For I am in a streight betwixt two Here are two different desires each have their Reasons to move on the one side Having a desire to depart I have a great desire to return home For so the Greek word should be render'd rather then to depart and the fitness of the Metaphor doth by the way suggest this to us That this Life is a State of Banishment or a Pilgrim-condition a State of absence from God 2 Cor. 5. and from our Fathers House and that Heaven is the proper Country and Seat of Souls it is their Home It follows and to be with Christ which is far better Our English Translation is not here so full and leaves out a word it is exactly thus for this is much better by far or this is far better by a great deal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And here by the way may be observed That the Soul hath a Being and doth also act and is capable of joy or pain and sensible of the good or evil condition she is in after the Death of the Body and that therefore she doth not fall into a deep Sleep and continue as the Body doth in a senseless condition for many Hundreds if not Thousands of Years till the sounding of the Shrill Trumpet of the Archangel at the great Day of Judgment Otherwise it had not been exceedingly much better for S. Paul to depart this Life but to have lived and continued in the Flesh till the coming of that great Day S. Paul had not been in a strait between two nor at a loss whether to choose but he would easily have preferr'd it as more desireable to be awake and alive here to the Service of Christ and to the endeavouring the good of others To act for God in the World and to be sensible of that satisfaction and to reap that joy and pleasure which would follow and did flow into his Soul upon such labouring and abounding in the work of the Lord being plainly more eligible and a better State And to fall asleep which is to be in a condition of doing nothing for Christ and of being uncapable of that joy and pleasure which accompanies the doing of good being as plainly a worse Estate If to be with Christ be to fall asleep to do nothing to feel nothing not to be sensible of his being there it were better for him to be from Christ and to be Ministring to the good of others in the World considering also that it was so needful for the Philippians and others that he should abide in the Flesh To live and to act and to enjoy the comfort of such acting being simply better then for the Soul to Sleep that is to do nothing to perceive nothing which is all one for the time as if the Soul were really Dead or did Sleep the Sleep of Death And whereas some as Grotius and others understand no more by this Phrase To be with Christ then this to be in Christi custodiâ quoad partenpotiorem i. e. animam to be received by Christ into safe custody to be committed to his trust and keeping I Answer First That so the Faithful were in this Life kept by him and by God Jo. 17. 11 12. and Chap 10. 28 29. 1 Pet. 1. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which implys a safe custody and Chap. 4. 19. which plainly is meant of this Life and therefore if this be meant by being with Christ they might be said to be with Christ here in this Sense Secondly That though the Souls of the faithful be after Death received into Christ's custody and keeping yet this doth not imply nor infer their falling into a senseless unactive dead Sleep In Jo. 12. 26. Christ promiseth to every one that serves him and follows him where I am there shall also my Servant be and afterwards him will my Father Honour that is reward so the Greek word imports So that the being where Christ is or the being with him and God's Rewarding go together When S. Stephen at his Death said Lord Jesus rceive my Spirit this doth no more prove that his Spirit fell asleep as soon as it was received by Christ into his custody then that the Spirit or Soul of Christ was asleep for three Days after his Death immediately before which he said Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit Luke 23. 46. Thirdly I add That this Phrase To be with Christ doth in the Style of the Scripture imply a State of Life and Sense not a senseless Sleep but such a State wherein the Faithful enjoy Christ and perceive the good of being with him As appears by comparing several passages of Scripture Thus in Jo. 17. 24. It is joyned with their beholding the Glory which God hath given him And it is made use of by Christ as an Argument to comfort his troubled Disciples Jo. 14 3. and by the Apostle Paul to comfort Christians when grieved for the decease of friends 1 Thes. 4. 17. Where to be for ever with the Lord that is with Christ is more then to be taken into his custody and is far from signifying for ever to be asleep In all these places it signifies a State of Activity and Sense and Perception and a Perception of that Joy and Happiness which being considered should fortifie Christians against all trouble and Sorrow And so to be with Christ is the same with to live with Christ 2 Tim. 2. 11. and to reign with Christ Vers. 12. And although their being with Christ after they have received their Spiritual and Heavenly Body at the Resurrection doth signifie a greater degree of Happiness and a fuller measure of Reward of which they are now more capable by reason of their Spiritual Body Yet their being with Christ in the intermediate space between their Death and the Resurrection or last Judgment is far from signifying nothing at all no lesser degree of Happiness no enjoyment of Christ no comfortable and joyous Perception of their being with him nothing but a being kept safe or kept in being nothing but being in a Dead Sleep in his Arms. But to return to the rest of the Paragraph Vers. 24. Nevertheless or but to
of Life and Immortality Immersion or a being sunk into the Body Sensuality eagerly pursued as if there were nothing higher nothing better then what is common to Man and Beast as also those more dry and seemingly cleaner sins viz. Earthly-mindedness Anxious cares and busie endeavours about geting and encreasing and keeping much of the things of this outward World a Spirit of Earthy self-seeking Policy an Ambitious Spirit after Glory and the Splendours of Titles and Places these and the like make Men that they cannot Relish or Tast so neither clearly apprehend what is Heavenly and Spiritual they cannot receive the things of God Such Sensual Epicureans and also Worldlings are great Strangers as to Heaven so to any clear and full apprehensions of what is Spiritual and Immortal Of such there is this account in Wisdom 2. 21 22. Their own wickedness hath blinded them as for the Mysteries of God they knew them not nor discerned they a Reward for blameless Souls Men must live better Lives if they would know these things as they ought to know 3. Be not moved by the Apostacy and falling away of others That some even in the Apostles times were moved and fell away from the Stedfast Belief and Profession of this grand Fundamental Truth the Resurrection and Life to come appears by some passages in S. Paul's Epistles Three are mention'd by Name Hymenaeus Philaetus and Alexander who as they are said concerning Faith to have made Ship-wrack 1 Tim. 1. 19. and in 2 Ep. 2. 18. to have Erred concerning the Truth particularly that great Truth and Article of the Resurrection and any future State or Life for they said that the Resurrection is past already And thus as they were far from being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stedfast and Vnmoveable so did they unsettle others and cause them to back-slide overthrowing the Faith of some Vers. 18. For their words their Speech or Discourse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did Eat or spread as a Canker or Gangrene their wicked Principles did spread and corrupt many Vers. 17. and therefore the Apostle bids Timothy to shun to look to and avoid them Vers. 16. That which the Apostle did fear and warn the Christians of in those times is still very seasonable and it is strange that many who are otherwise shy and wary are not aware of the Devils cunning and devices It is the great Policy of the Devil to amuse the World with things of less moment and consequence and about these things to provoke the Zeal enflame the Passions and Choller of Men and heighten differences about things either more obscure or less necessary and that into such heats as if the whole Stress of Religion or Salvation were to be laid upon such or such Notions and Opinions as if the Kingdom and Honour of Christ and Glory of God were mainly concerned herein And all this the Devil is so busie at that so some more dangerous principles might be more secretly and undiscernably conveyed and spread amongst Christian Professours viz. such principles as tend clearly to the advancing of his Kingdom of Sin to the bringing in and cherishing of all ungodliness and unrighteousness to the eating out and consuming of any good principle left in the Conscience which testifies for God in a word such as tend to the corrupting of good Manners to the debauching of the World such as strike at the Fundamentals of Religion and Christian Life as Gnosticism Sidducism Atheism do that these may be more secretly conveyed and spread in the World Is it not matter of just wonder That amidst the many animosities and eager contentions and bitter strifes amongst Christians about the Externals or Extra-essentials of Religion for which they Un-saint and Un-christian one another that they are so little sensible of that Gnosticism that Sadducism that Atheism that hath grown and spread in the Christian World But to speak more particularly such Doctrines and Notions as these That the Soul is extinguished and perisheth with the Body That there is no other State or Being but in the World That there is no Angel nor Spirit no Immaterial or Spiritual Being nothing but Body or Matter That there is no Resurrection no Judgment to come and therefore no Punishment or Reward hereafter which Doctrines are the Leaven of the Sadducees of old and the modern Sadducees Sowre and unwholesome Sadducism as also those corrupt Doctrines viz. That nothing is intrinsecally good or evil That Religion is onely a Politick device a trick of Polititians to keep People in awe These Doctrines and Opinions as well as those that deny there is a God as the Atheists do or if there be a God That he sees no sia in such who conceit themselves to be his People to be nearly allyed to him as the Gnosticks of old and the Ranters of late That Men may be free to any thing Such Doctrines and Principles as these tend clearly to the advancing of the Kingdom of Sin and Satan to the bringing in and cherishing of all ungodliness c. And therefore there is good Reason for the Apostles advice That every serious Christian that minds the Salvation of his Soul would take heed and flee such keep at a distance from Men of such corrupt minds and beware of the Leaven of the Sadducees And if others go a Whoreing after such Doctrines pleasing to Flesh and Blood if others Apostatize and fall away from the Truth yet as S. Peter speaks do ye beware lest ye be led away with the Errour of the wicked and fall from your own Stedfastness 2 Ep. 3. 17. Reason Christians must be Stedfast and Vnmoveable in the Belief and Profession of the Truth those great things of the Christian Faith the Resurrection and Life to come Because else they cannot they will not be always Abounding in the work of the Lord. Clear and strong persuasions of the Resurrection of the Dead and of a future State are a Root and Principle full of sap and lise and Holiness is the kindly Fruit thereof Whereas on the contrary the denial of the Resurrection and Judgment to come is the principle of sin and disobedience and opens the way to all manner of wickedness They that banish out of their Minds all sense of a future State will instead of abounding in the work of the Lord abound in every evil work all that being taken away which onely is able to lay a powerful restraint upon the unbridled Lusts of Men. And here I may Appeal to the experience and observation of discerning and serious persons Let it be considered and observed whether those that can hardly imagine or cannot conceive any thing but Body Flesh and Matter those that slight the Notion of Spirit Immaterial and Immortal Substance Whether the Commandments of God are not grievous and Religion a burden something to them whether it be not more desireable to them to be Epicuri de grege porci to wallow in the
Mire of sensuality then to be of Christ's little Flock to follow Christ in innccency and purity of Life and universal obedience although perhaps some of the more crafty Epicureans may have some care to live inoffensively that so they may keep out of danger of the Laws and keep up a Reputation in the World for their advantage and they may abstain from some sins for their Bodies sake to keep themselves in Life and health Both the Apostles Peter and Jude and other Apostles saith S. Jude in Vers. 17. did in their Epistles foretel that in the last times should come Scoffers walking after their own Lusts 2. Pet. 3. 3. after their ungodly Lusts so saith Jude Vers. 18. And what the Apostles did fear and forewarn of is come to pass Such Mockers as these are even to this Day to be found and where Christianity is Profest But observe the Character of these Men they are such as have a mind to walk after their own ungodly Lusts such as would not be restrain'd from the forbidden Fruit such as would gratifie their self-will and would live as they list to these Men the Doctrine of the Resurrection and Judgment to come is very unpleasing and therefore they Scoff at it and oppose it withal their might But as we are to shun them their Principles and their Practices so let it be our care to shun the giving any occasion or advantage to them For know that Men may condemn Atheism and Sadducism in words and yet by their Lives and Conversations give great advantage and countenance thereto Both Atheism and Sadducism 〈◊〉 steal nourishment and advantage from the Lives and Practices of those who seem to be far removed from them As for Atheism the 〈◊〉 presenting God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 foolishly the attributing to God what is unworthy of God what is most unlike God and that fair Idea of him represented in the Holy Scriptures the attributing to him the very imperfections of sinful Man The Representing him in such a way as is not consistent with his Infinite Goodness and Mercy his Holiness and his Justice And again Mens Professing that they know God and yet denying him in their Works as the Apostle speaks Tit. 1. 16. their so living in the World as if there were not in them any powerful and real sense of God's all-seeing and pure Eyes nor of his Justice and Righteousness This is that which hath given too much advantage to the spreading and strengthening of Atheism And for Sadducism which slights the Notion of Spirits or Immaterial Beings and denys the Existence of Souls after their Separation from this Earthly Body and dis-believes the Doctrine of a future State of Glory and a reward in Heaven of Misery and punishment in Heli. How are the Modern Sadducees and Epicureans the more hardned and confirmed in these their Notions by considering that Men generally mind Earthly things their Belly is their God they mind and seriously take care for the things on Earth and do but little relish and set their affections on things above They see also that generally Men who Profess to believe a future Reward and Punishment seem not much to be sensible of any Danger to the Soul by Sin nor much to be affected with the Hellish Misery that is threatned For most Men are very secure and manifest but little watchsulness over themselves and little care to break off from Sin to subdue their Passions to mortifie their Lusts and inordinate Affections All which may seem to argue that they do not heartily Believe what they Profess and that they have no such thoughts of the danger of Sin hereafter as Men have of the danger to their Life by drinking a Cup of deadly Poyson Nor do they seem to be much Sensible of the future Reward and Felicities of Heaven the happiness of another State For they are generally unwilling to leave this present World and it is very unpleasing to them to think that they must Die They do not seem to account Heaven their home and Country and themselves to be but Pilgrims and Strangers in this World Their hopes of such a Glorious State do not seem so much to enravish and strongly affect their Spirits as the hopes of some outward accommodation or enjoyment would do which would tickle and overjoy them and transport them to excess when possest And the hope of obtaining these outward things does engage them to far greater endeavours then the hopes and expectations of Heaven and the Reward to come do usually put Men upon which indeed are but slight and formal and very cold if compared with the other and far from a worthy seeking of the Kingdom of Heaven and as becomes those that believe there is a Glorious Reward there to all Eternity Thou therefore that sayst there is a God dost thou in works deny him Dost thou live without God in the World Dost thou Mis-represent him and so report of him as to make him like to sinful Men Or short of Men in those things wherein he requires they should imitate him Thou that sayst there is a Resurrection and Life to come a Reward and Punishment Heaven and Hell Dost thou so live as one that looks after no other Portion Consolation and Reward then what is in this Life Art thou swallowed up in the cares and ambitions of this World hasting to be Rich and Great in the World And art thou immerst and sunk in the pleasures of this World so as not to relish the things above Be it therefore your care to make it appear by your Life and Spirit your Conversation and Disposition that you are Stedfast and Unmoveable in these Fundamentals of Christian Religion that so living agreeably to these Truths ye may be the Children of the Resurrection and counted worthy to obtain that World the World to come Luke 20. 35. Learn therefore to Die to this present World as S. Paul was Crucified to the World and the World to him To die to this World here to leave it in affection makes the Physical Death the going out of this World less strange and less uneasie Count your selves to be but as Pilgrims and Strangers here and therefore as Pilgrims abstain from Flesbly Lusts which War against the Soul 1 Pet. 2. It is remarkably said of Abraham Isaac and Jacob who confessed themselves to be Strangers and Pilgrims on the Earth or the Land of Canaan Heb. 11. 13. and accordingly behaved themselves in all Points as such Sojourning in the Land of Promise as in a Strange Country Vers. 9. that they that say such things say and do for it was not a meer Verbal Profession they declare plainly or make it appear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they seek a Country even a better Country that is an Heavenly Vers. 14. 16. Accordingly do ye so live be so affected that ye may plainly declare and make it appear to others that ye seek and desire a better Country a better Inheritance a better
Power Now it is that the Locks of Samson are grown again Judg. 16. and the Strength which went and was gone from the Soul by its yielding to the Blandishments and Softnesses of the Sensual and Animal Life that most dangerous and enveigling Delilah is return'd again Now it is that the Wings of the Soul grow again and better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it moves more freely being delivered from what did hitherto clog and stop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it s Heavenly slight and Journey upwards There are some indeed and they not a few who seem to acknowledge this Belief and Hope of the Resurrection and Life to come who yet do only reach to a slight and superficial Purity in outward appearance answerable to their slight and superficial knowledge of this Grand and Important Truth such as was that knowledge of the Pharisees The Power of Sin within is stronger and more operative then the Form of Godliness without and be the Form never so Glorious to the Eyes of Men as the Pharisaick Purity was very Specious and taking with the vulgar in our Saviour's time yet there is little security no confidence concerning such Men but that they will shamefully prejudice the Truth and the Religion Professed by them For they all this while under this disguise do Cherish and Foment and make much of diverse Lusts and Pleasures which they serve Titus 3. 3. and such Sins as are most gainful These are uncrucified alive and strong for they have all Provision made for them Rom. 13. ult and are ready to break out when there are Tempting occasions and hereby the Name of God is Blasphemed 1 Tim. 6. 1. Rom. 2. 24. and by Christians of this Temper is the Holy Doctrine of the Gospel the way of Truth evil spoken of 2 Pet. 2. But where there is the Power of Godliness within there will also be the Form of Godliness without and a better Form then that meer external Righteousness which the Spiritual Pharisees boast of who would make a fair shew in the Flesh as the Apostle speaks Galat. 6. When Christians have Purified their Souls in obeying the Truth through the Spirit as S. Peter speaks in 1 Ep. Chap. 22. there is no doubt but this inward Purity of the Soul will be emproved to the Purity of the Body the Purity of outward conversation There is the greatest security concerning their ordering the outward conversation aright whose Hearts are Purified and where there is a living Fountain and Principle of Holiness within For as the Heart is so will the words and actions be Matth. 12. 35. It was therefore absolutely the best Counsel and the right Method for Self-purification which our Saviour delivered Matth. 23. 26. Cleanse first that which is within that the out-side may be clean also That the Streams be Pure and Chrystalline it 's necessary that the Spring and Well-head be clear Purity in Heart is Purity in the Spring Purity in Actions is Purity in the Streams God requires Self-purification as to both Clean Hands and a Pure Heart Psal. 24. 4. The Cleansing of the Hands and the Purifying of the Heart Isa. 4. 8. where the Hands as being the most active parts of the Body and the Instruments most used for action are put for all the Members of the Body and denote all outward actions which are visible to others the outward visible Course of Life and Conversation And as God requires both the Inward and Outward Purity and the Doctrine of the Resurrection obliges a Christian to the Inward so likewise to the Outward that of the Body He that longs and waites for the Redemption of the Body Rom. 8. 23. he that hopes for a Glorious and Spiritual Body believing that it shall be raised in Power to such Purity and Glory must needs infer from hence that it becomes him to possess his Vessel his Body in Sanctification and Honour and not in the Lust of Concupiscence or Passion of Lust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greek hath it That so the Body may be in a fit and capable condition of being raised to Eternal Life an Incorruptible and Heavenly State And therefore the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 6. where he hath many Arguments to perswade to Chastity and to discountenance Uncleanness argues from Christs Resurrection and from ours Vers. 14. God hath raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own Power As we believe and expect that God will raise up our Bodies and that to an Incorruptible Spiritual Pure and Undefiled State as he raised up the Body of Christ to such a one and so we shall bear the IMage of the Heavenly the last Adam the Lord from Heaven for as is the Heavenly such are they also that are Heavenly 1 Cor. 15. They shall have such a Body as Christ now hath it becomes us to keep our Bodies Undefiled and in a State of Purity here on Earth And in Vers. 15. Know ye not that your Bodies are the Members of Christ Shall I then take the Members of Christ and make them the Members of an Harlot God forbid 4. The fourth and last Argument to perswade to a being Steadfast and Vnmoveable in the belief of the Resurrection and Life to come is taken from the excellent properties and effects of this Doctrine so adequate to the several needs and exigencies of a Christian here and furnishing him with such considerations as may be greatly helpful to him in the several Tryals and Exigencies he may meet with in this World As particularly 1. This Doctrine firmly and heartily entertain'd begets in Holy Souls the greatest Equanimity and Contentedness of Spirit in opposition to the disturbing and wasting Cares and Ambitions which other Men have experience of For the Lord is at hand and therefore let your Moderation be known unto all Men Phil. 4. Your Moderation in the largest and most comprehensive Sense of the word Moderation as to the desires and pursuits of Worldly things the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things of this Life 1 Cor. 6. or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Jo. 3. 17. Worldly Goods For how Indecorous is it for that Christian to be Anxious or Eager about the getting and having much of this World who looks and hopes for the better and enduring Substance in Heaven Heb. 10. who expects Treasures of Glory and Goodness which Christ hath to bestow on his faithful Servants and these are not far off the Lord is at hand to dispense them and ' ere long thou shalt tast and see how good and gracious the Lord is Moderation as to the great things of this World for how little and mean are these things to that Crown and Kingdom which the Righteous Judge will give What are they what is the Glory of this World and the Glory of Men to the Glory of God Jo. 12. 43. the Reputation with God himself the Honour that cometh from God onely Jo. 5. 44. that Glory and Honour with which God
Psal. 7. 9. And this That he may give every Man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings which is mention'd with God's searching and pondering the Heart and trying the Reins Jer. 17. 10. Prov. 24. 12. And that God renders to every one without respect of persons is a Maxime frequently also asserted in Scripture in the Old Testament Deut. 10. 17. 2 Chron. 19. 7. Job 34. 19 and in the New Testament Acts 10. 34. Rom. 2. 11. Gal. 2. 6. Ephes. 6. 9. Colos. 3. 25. We read in Prov. 11. 1. that A false Ballance is Abomination to the Lord surely then God will not Practise that himself which he Abominates in Men but he will weigh the actions of Men in a true Ballance He will be far from all Partiality and respect of persons which are false Weights and Measures and Ballances of deceit He will not accept or respect persons in Judgment In the dispensation of Rewards and Punishment he will not regard or look at any thing but the temper of their Minds and their Actions whether good or evil Now the Justice of God requires ut bonis bene malis male sit Isa. 3. 10 11. Say ye to the Righteous That it shall be well with him Wo unto the wicked it shall be ill with him But we often experience it otherwise to be in this World yea good Men in the Old Testament found it not seldome to be otherwise and yet under that dispensation there is more abundant mention of Temporal good things in the Promises there recorded and hence were those complaints in Mal. 3. 15. and in Psal. 73. from Verse 3. to 12. as Job 12. 6. and in Jer. 12. 1. and Holy David observ'd the like of wicked Men the Men of the World Psal. 17. 14. and in the Epistle to the Hebrews the Calamities of the most Eminent in goodness are described Vers. 36. 37 38. The Israelites God's People gather Straw make Brick live a Life of bitter affliction when as the Egyptians live at ease and in pleasures When Jacob and his Children were afflicted partly as being in a Sojourning and uncertain condition and partly while they were Strangers and Servants in Egypt Esau and his Posterity flourished in Honour Lazarus a Son of Abraham had many evil things was in hard Circumstances not onely poor but full of Sores a sick weak thing unable to get his Bread with labour and sweat of his brows desired but the Crumbs that fell from the Rich Mans Table Dives the Rich Man and wicked had his good things he was Richly Attired and fared Deliciously every Day Luke 16. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every Day he enjoy'd all that made for pleasure and not onely at some great or Solemn times He and his Five Brethren with other jolly Company While others as Lazarus fared hardly So that Sin is not alway punished in this Life nor Holiness rewarded God did not render unto Lazarus and those of whom the World was not Worthy he did not render unto them in this Life according to what they had done or suffered God did not render unto Dives here according to the evil he did his Unmercifulness his Luxury and Riot with the Sins attending thereon He had the good things of this Life lived in ease and pleasure he received in full Measure his good things Now this was not a Reward according to what he did he Reaped what was better then he Sowed And therefore if Divine Providence does not equally distribute Rewards and Punishments here it follows since God is Just That in the World to come he will dispense Rewards and Punishments according as they have lived here that every one may receive according to what they have done in the Body whether good or evil There is therefore a time a Day to come wherein the Judge of the World will make it appear that he did weigh and consider the Spirits and Lives of all Men and now they shall be dealt with according as they have done well or ill here and therefore this time is called Rom. 2. 5. The Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God This Argument taken from the Justice of God is mention'd by the Apostle in 2 Thes. 1. 6 7. It is a Righteous thing with God to recompense Tribulation to them that trouble you And to you who are troubled Rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels In short thus God the Wise and Righteous Law-giver and Ruler of the World hath given us a Law and Rule to walk by and govern us and he hath shewed us what is good and what the Lord our God requires of us and his Will is Holy and Wise and Perfect this Law he hath Written in Mans Conscience and hath more fully declared it in his Word Now he will not let the Transgression of his Righteous Law the open and constant violation of it by wicked Men go unpunished tho' he may bear with them here for a while he will not suffer them to devour and cruelly to treat his obedient Servants the Rod of the wicked shall not always rest upon the Lot of the Righteous Psal. 125. But they shall know that there is a God that Judgeth in the Earth and shall find that Tribulation and Anguish Indignation and Wrath will be to every Soul that doth Evil Rom. 2. Nor will God forget the faithful and sincere obedience of his Servants but will render Eternal Life to them that by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Honour and Glory and Immortality So in Hebr. 6. 10. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of Love He hath his Book of remembrance Mal. 3. He hath promised and Eternal Reward a Crown of Life and this Crown of Life and Glory is also a Crown of Righteousness 2 Tim. 4. And God as he is the Righteous Judge as well as a God of Mercy will give it because he hath promised to give it upon the Terms of Faith and sincere Obedience or patient continuance in well doing And he who hath promised will be Just and Righteous to perform as he is abundantly Merciful in Pardoning our Infirmities and Imperfections and also in Rewarding us and doing for us exceeding abundantly above all that we have done So Rich is his Mercy and so Noble his Goodness And so far are our works our doings or sufferings from any Merit or any Worthiness to be compared with the Reward and Glory to be revealed Rom. 8. It is a Merciful Justice and therefore it s said in Psal. 62. 12. Also unto thee O Lord belongeth Mercy For thou rendrest to every Man according to his Work Human Judicatories and Tribunals cannot take notice of all Sins and Offences and where they do they may be corrupted or bribed or they may be deceived and mistaken But the Judge of all the Earth he regardeth not persons nor taketh reward Deut. 10. 27. Nor
can he be deceived by false pretensions for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed 1 Sam. 2. and before him all things are naked and open Heb. 4. Humane Laws onely restrain Words and outward Actions But the Divine Law reacheth the Spirit of Man his inward Thoughts and Secrets of the Heart There are Spiritual Sins as Hypocrisie Pride of Heart Envy Lusts of the Heart Murder of the Heart These and the like are not punished by Human Laws but are greatly Criminal before God There are Speculative Sins Sins acted over in the Phansy and there repeated and remember'd with delight when the outward act is past which are highly provoking to God and shall be judged For for Men to do this to recal in their thoughts with pleasure and delight such and such Sins is to act over the same Sins in Phancy and Speculation to aggravate their Sins by new and fresh guilt it is to stand to and make good their former Transgressions instead of repenting of them for then they would be remembred with Sorrow and Abhorrence These Sins not falling under Mans Cognisance as onely Words and Actions do but not Thoughts which yet are the first contrivers of that Sin and evil in Words and Actions and these Sins escaping the Judgment and Punishments of Humane Judicatories yet shall not escape the Judgment of God The Day of Judgment is described by this 1 Cor. 4. 5. Judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the Hidden things of Darkness and will make manifest the Counsels of the Heart and then shall every Man have praise of God that is every one that hath done well as on the contrary they shall have shame and everlasting contempt Dan. 12. 2. that have done evil how cunning and close soever they were and whatsoever fair pretences they might make before Men. The Day of Judgment is described here by the time when Christ shall bring to light the Hidden things of Darkness and make manifest the Counsels of the Heart And so in Rom. 2. 16. its call'd the Day when God shall judge the secrets of Men by Jesus Christ. 3. From the Testimony of Conscience Conscience is God's Deputy and Vice-gerent The voice of Conscience is God's voice and it does powerfully witness a Future State and the Rewards and Punishments to be dispensed therein according to what we have done here Good or Evil. Upon the Consciousness of doing their duty there arises within Men a Peace and Satisfaction and Comfortable expectations from God who is the Father of Mercies And there is no such satisfaction no such joyous reflections as those as 't was said of the Athenians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A continual Feast is a good Conscience But this Feast is but an Antipast a foretast of a better in Heaven Now on the contrary there follows upon Sin inward Trouble and Anguish and Fear a fearful expectation of a sad after-reckoning and Judgment to come Hae sunt impijs assiduae domesticaeque furiae saith Tully And these inward Fears and Troubles Terrors of another World are not imprest upon Men by Politians and Statesmen for Secular ends and interest of State to awe Men into obedience For 1. They follow upon such sins as are not punishable by Human Laws as Secret Sins Sins of the Heart Speculative Sins and Spiritual Wickednesses which are such Sins as no Earthly Judges no Magistrates can have Cognisance of and no Human Laws can reach It would be a vain thing for the Supreme Powers to make Laws about what its impossible for them to know and consequently impossible for them to punish 2. Yea they follow upon such Sins as are hid from Men if punishable by Laws when discovered such Sins as no Man can accuse the Malefactor of or not prove them against him 3. Yea they follow upon such sins as being known by Man yet are not punishable by the Laws of that Country nay sometimes are applauded and esteem'd by Men. Judas his sin was so far from being punished by the Jewish Powers that he was rewarded for it But the reward he had and all the applause and encouragement they could give him could not ease and sree him from the Anguish in his Conscience and Fear of what was to come 4. Yea these Fears and Terrors are found to be amongst them in whom is no Policy Nations that are rude and barbarous and not governed by Crafty Polititians yet even in such appear'd Magna vis Conscientiae So universally have they possest Men and in all ages whereas vain and causeless and Panick Fears are of a short and uncertain continuance and not so universal as these inward Fears and Troubles of Conscience Nor are these Fears pleasing and grateful to Men as is easie for any Man to judge and acknowledge but contrary to the inclinations of Men who are carried out to the love and practise of such Sins as Revenge Injustice Lust and the like whence these inward Troubles arise 5. To what hath been said I shall superadd this That the Deepest Polititians and Greatest Statesmen the Greatest Potentates of the Earth are not more free and secure from these inward Fears then the populus terrae the mean Peasants and those of low degree which yet these Grandees could not have been disturbed with had they known that these were but arts and a juggle invented by them for State-reasons yea the Great Men of the Earth Men of Policy and Power have been rather more severely lasht caeco verbere with these secret and unseen lashes They have been more severely assaulted and haunted by these domesticae furiae and inward Horrors though they would fain have been delivered from them and have used all arts to be freed from this evil Spirit a Self-corroding and tormenting Conscience which troubled them 4. From the Souls inward Sense in good Men. There are certain Instincts and Sympathies and Propensions in the Soul of Man to Religion to God and the Enjoyment of him and these are more especially enlivened and vigorous in Holy and renewed Souls There is a vehement thirst and longing in such Souls after Union with God the Father of Spirits Their Souls pant after God after the living God that they may see and enjoy him whom their Souls love whom they have chosen for their Portion for whom they have forsaken all the vanities of the World and denyed All to enjoy Him They have none in Heaven but Him none in Earth in comparison of Him As for this present Life and State they groan being burdened while they are in this Tabernacle this is their State of Pilgrimage while they are here they are absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5. And hence it is that these Holy Souls perswade themselves that the Father of Spirits God who is Love that implanted these Instincts and Affections in them that hath awakened them by his Grace that hath drawn out their Hearts after him so