as well as others are for wallowing in their Lusts For all equally refuse the Lord Jesus and will have none of him for Life and Salvation but tread with like scorn and contempt the offered Son of God under-foot There 's not a Dram of Gospel-Holiness nor one Evangelical good Work but what flows from Faith in the Person and Righteousness of the once-crucified but now ascended Jesus at the Father's Right Hand Object 3. BUT for all my Reformation Duties and Profession I seek to Christ too Ans THAT is perhaps as the common Proverb runs You will set the Cart before the Horse Your Duties and Righteousness shall lead the Van and Christ and his Righteousness shall bring up the Reer You will put him to no other use than to carry the Train of your ragged Robes of Righteousness to patch up your Rags and make up what is wanting in your Duties But the Garment of Christ is seamless and cannot be divided but if it could be that his new Cloth could be pieced to your old the rent in yours would be the worse Mat. 9.16 Perhaps you are sensible of your inability to do therefore ye look to him for assistance to help you to do for Life But what says the Lord The Just shall live by Faith Rom. 1.17 You would have him be King over you to subdue your Iniquities that for your subdued Iniquities you may get to Heaven But you must look to him by Faith to be saved and then mortification of Sin and Holiness shall be given in unto you The High Priest under the Law had his Mitre and Crown on his Head and his Urim and Thummim on his Breast to typifie that the Lord Jesus executes his Kingly and Prophetical Office by his Priestly Office and all whom he instructs and subdues he does it by shedding in the Faith and Hope either more or less of their pardoned estate through his Blood into their Consciences Again Do not you seek Christ because of your Reformation Duties and Tears If so you bring your own Money in your Hands to buy Christ and that 's quite contrary to the Proclamation the Lord makes of Heaven's Market Isa 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth that is after the Things of the World or their own Righteousness for 't is such thirsting as v. 2. calls spending Money for that which is not Bread and labour for that which satisfieth not These are summoned here to come to the Fair of the Almighty where glorious Commodities are put to sale Waters Wine and Milk But what price must the Buyers bring No price at all They that would speed in Heavens Market must come without Money and without price Heb. 12.13 Esau sought to buy Repentance with Tears but he found no place for it All buying in the meaning of Christ is but accepting and he gives the power to do that too Therefore come to Christ as poor blind miserable naked vile ungodly Wretches and and he will be Riches to the Poor Eyes to the Blind Happiness to the Miserable Cloathing to the Naked and Sanctification to the Vile and Ungodly The voice of the Gospel is for the present time 2 Cor. 6.2 Now is the accepted time behold now is the day of Salvation Heb. 3.15 To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your Hearts The Gospel does not say Go home now and pray and mourn and weep and come to morrow or next week or next month after you have prepared and qualified your self with so much praying mourning weeping repenting and reformation then come to Christ but come now now is the accepted time now is the day and hour of Salvation But further some may be ready to ask me Quest WHAT is believing in Christ or Faith in him Ans IT would be too tedious now to answer the Question as it ought to be I shall only briefly thus define it and then make good my Definition Faith as strictly and properly taken is a powerful Conscience-Perswasion wrought by God concerning Christ and his Things their excellency and suitableness to the Soul and more or less concerning the Souls Interest in them according to the Word of God Faith in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to perswade and really signifies a perswading 'T is phrased in Old Testament-language in Noah's Prophecy concerning his Children Gen. 9.17 God shall perswade Japheth and he shall dwell in the Tents of Shem. And to the same purport 't is phrased in the New Testament 't is said to be 2 Cor. 4.6 A light shining into a dark Heart which is a perswasive Knowledge Called Rom. 1.17 the Righteousness of God in the Gospel revealed from Faith to Faith 'T is named Rom. 3.21 a manifestation without the Law of the Righteousness of God v. 25. stiled a declaration of his Righteousness for the remission of Sins and defined to be Heb. 11.1 The evidence of Things not seen which are Christ and his Righteousness which are wholly without us not seen by our bodily Eyes or natural Reason or Understanding The Spirit in working Faith is said to take of Christ and his Things and shew them to the Soul John 11.14 15. God the Father as the Worker of it so is said to reveal his Son in the Soul Gal. 1.16 Which Expressions evidently import a perswasive Knowledge 2dly This Perswasion is an inward Conscience-Perswasion and not only an Head Knowledge or notional Perswasion Gal. 1.15 but when it pleased God c. v. 16. to reveal his Son in me c. 1 John 5.10 He that believeth hath the witness in himself i. e. a Conscience-Testimony 3dly This Conscience-Perswasion is very powerful for it instantly works a great change on the whole Man Heart Lip and Life 'T is a creating Power 2 Cor. 4.6 an exceeding great Power Eph. 1.19 and 't is the Declaration of the King of Heaven to the Conscience and where the Word of the King is there is Power Eccles 8.4 c. And as Divines say in this the Soul is wholly passive like a dark Room that has light let into it from without The object of this Faith is Christ and the Things of Christ as in that fore mentioned place John 16.14 He shall glorifie me for â—he shall receive of mine and shew it unto you v. 15. All things that the Father hath are mine therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shew it unto you The Rule of Faith is the written Word of God 2 Pet. 1.19 20 21. And this I take to be and Concomitants of this inward revelation of Jesus which are also called believing which is the Souls accepting of this manifested Jesus and his Righteousness venturing it self upon him and committing it self to him which Acts are set forth in Scripture by various phrases as Looking unto him Isa 45.22 Coming unto him John 6.37 Casting our selves and burden upon him Isa 55.22 Staying upon him Isa 5.10 Leaning upon him Cant. 8.3 Trusting
divide this general Doctrine into Two Branches and speak to each part The First is this THAT a Believer in the Moment of his Death can Triumph over Death in reference to his Soul FIRST as the Lord shall enable me I will prove this Truth and then explain and illustrate it FOR Proof I shall only at present give you two places of Scripture Rev. 14.13 And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them Where First you have the Truth plainly asserted Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord or in dying in the Lord. 2ly The Reasons of it 1. They rest from their Labours 2. Their Works follow them i. e. They will meet with their Prayers and Duties entered on the File for their review as an additional to their eternal Delights 3. You have here insinuated the Certainty and Importance of this Truth 1. The Commandment to write they are weighty things usually committed to Ink and Paper and that for duration also Littera Scripta manet 2. The Commander the Spirit I heard a Voice from Heaven saying write c. THE second place is Heb. 4 19. There remaineth therefore a Rest to the People of God Their rest is not in this World but in another and they enter upon it in the moment of Death therefore they have then ground of triumphing I shall add to these the Experiences of Three Worthies The first was David's 2 Sam. 23.5 Althô my House be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure For this is all my Salvation and all my Desire althô he make it not to grow David was now on the brink of Eternity taking a view of the past and present Disorders of his House and Heart yet rejoyces and triumphs in the view of the Covenant of Grace and his Interest in it and the influence it had on the Eternity he was entring into The second was that of faithful Stephen that glorious Proto-Martyr who when the Stones that dashed out his Brains and Life flew about his Ears cryed out triumphantly Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Acts 7.59 THE last I shall mention is the Experience of the blessed Apostle Paul Phil. 1.23 For I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better But very pat and pertinent to the purpose 2 Cor. 5.1 c. He being harrassed with Labours Perils and Sufferings at the apprehension of the time of his departure being at hand triumphs thus v. 1. For we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a Building of God an House not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens HAVING thus from the Holy Scriptures of Truth proved the Doctrine I shall proceed to the explication of it 'T IS undeniable That Contraries do the better illustrate one another as black Spots make a white Skin shine the brighter and a Black-a-Moor is a Foil to set off an European Therefore I shall illustrate this Truth by another Contrary that I might the more emphatically explain it which is this The triumph of Death over an Unbeliever and thus lay down the Doctrine to be explained DEATH in Death triumphs over the Unbeliever and the Believer triumphs over Death in dying I shall begin with the first Branch viz. Death in Death triumphs over the Unbeliever and as the Spirit of the Lord shall assist me shew you in what respects 1. DEATH triumphs over the Unbeliever's sensual Pleasures Where are now says Death your vain Pleasures that you wantonly rolled your self in in your life time What are become of those jolly merry frolicksom hours that you lavish'd away with your frothy Companions Where are now your drunken Cups and Glasses and your riotous Feasts with which you so often drowned and glutted your sensual Appetite What do they profit you now What pleasure do you find now from your former repeated acts of Lusts and Beastliness What relish now from those brutish tickling of swinish Delights What does all your vain Merriment avail you now What fruit have you from those Things that formerly you reckoned your Heaven and Happiness Instead of Pleasures you now shall have your belly full of everlasting Torments Now your merry Moments are turned into an eternity of Sorrows Now instead of swimming in Wine and luxuriously feeding on Dainties you shall swim world without end in fiery Streams of burning Brimstone You shall drink your Tears and feed on your own tortur'd Flesh in endless and never-ceasing Misery Now the flame of your Lust is succeeded by a hotter flame even the flame of divine Vengeance Now instead of your frothy Spirit and vain Laughter you shall have enough of howling weeping and gnashing of Teeth Nay you shall carry with you all your Lusts and Corruptions to Hell not to please you but to pain you The same Water that the Fish swims in with delight if beated over the Fire will be the Fish's torment THE Sins you acted with pleasure in the World you shall act the same in great measure in Hell but to your eternal torturing You shall there act your Revenges but wound none with its poison'd Arrows but your own Soul You shall there have your covetous Desires enlarged as wide as the Hell you are in but it will only be your pain and punishment Your own Lusts there shall be the Flames that will scorch you Come thou trembling Wretch will Death say to the place of sinning and the place of punishment and thy very sinning shall be thy punishment Oh! then will Death insult in the words of the Wise-man Whatsoever thine Eyes desired thou keptest not from them Thou withheldest not thy Heart from any Joy Eccles 2.10 And now all will be Vanity and Vexation of Spirit to thee part of v. 11. And also in those Words as are written Luke 12.19 Thou hast long said to thy Soul Soul take thine ease eat drink and be mâ—rry But thou Fool I am come this Night to require thy Soul of thee part of v. 20. And to add no more Death will only change the Moods and Tenses in that portion of holy Writ Eccles 11.9 insulting thus Thou hast rejoyced Oh! Young Man in thy youth and thy Heart has cheered thee in the days of thy youth Thou hast walked in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine Eyes but know thou now thou trembling Wretch that for these things I am sent by the God of Justice to bring thee into Judgment CONSIDER this thou voluptuous sensual Wretch thou Drunkard thou Belly-slave thou unclean Beast thou Blasphemer thou Swearer thou Reveller and Persecuter consider this and ponder it in thy Heart thou must ' ere long come upon a Death-bed this greisly King of Terrors will stare thee in the
Face The Sting that now at a distance thou seest not when he comes near thee with open mouth thou wilt then see and be dismally affrighted at that fatal Fork Death and thee must meet ' ere long and thou knowest not but this dismal meeting may be ' ere a week roles about and how wilt thou like such an horrid greeting such a black wellcome such a terrible language and bitter insultings as you have heard How do you relish and savour thus being triumphed over in a dying moment Oh! consider this and look out after the Remedy 2. DEATH triumphs over the Pride of the Soul The Pride of the Soul is either a Glorying before God or a Glorying before Men. As it is a Glorying before God I shall reserve that to speak to under it's proper Head which is to follow The Soul before Man prides in its Endowments either outward or inward Death will then thus Glory over their Glory Where are now your aery Honour and bubble Dignities What is become of your State and Grandeur Where are now your Crowns O Kings your Scepters O Princes I have tumbled them in the Dust and my Spade has levelled them with the Earth Could not your Purple or your Fures your Swords and Maces and Magistrates defend you from my Arrest What signified all your Guards your Officers and Attendance who would not protect you from me What a bussel and fluster have you made How have you set all in a Flame about you and waded through blood and slaughter cruelty and oppression and all manner of villany to attain such a Degree of Honour and where is it now My breath has blown it all away Where is now O Spluttering Monarch that great Conduct that deep Policy wherewith you conquered other Nations and enslaved your own What could you use none of it to avoid my Attacks Where is that imperial frown that used to overawe the gaping cringing croud I have divested it of all Majesty and made it now meaner and simpler than the look of an Ideot so says the wiseman A Living Dog is better than a Dead Lyon Eccl. 9.4 Thou cunning admired Politician in thy Neighbourhood that madest all thy Neighbours tremble at thy fraudulent Wit that studied'st only how to over-reach cheat and impoverish that thoughtest to hook in all to thy self Why usest thou not some of thy cunningness to deceive me too Why didst not thou play the Politician with me also What do all thy Tricks and Artifices now advantage thee Thou now perceivest that one event happeneth to the Wise and to the Fool Eccl. 2.14 15. As it happeneth to the Fool so it happeneth to the Wise Go now and try what all thy wisdom and cunning will do in Hell Consider this you that are Great and Honourable in the Earth You that are cunning to deceive in your Neighbourhood that admire and flatter your self that you can over-reach your Neighbours in bargaining There will come an hour of Death that will efface and tarnish all the Glory of your Honours Dignities Wisdom and Policies There is no over-reaching Death There is no such thing as being too cunning for the Grave Death will soon tumble down all the pageantry of your own Dignities and Abilities that you have set upâ—n your own Conceit The Fire of God's wrath will soon burn up your Cobweb Policy For this your Wisdom is your folly Methinks this should be as cold Water upon all burning Pride and a check and rebuke to all your glorying that very few of your Class and complexion are chosen out to eternal Life Your very Wisdom Parts and Dignities for the most part mark you out for eternal Misery This is the Sum of what the Apostle Discourses 1 Cor. 26.27 28 29. For you see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called c. read that portion of the Holy Spirit of Truth consider it seriously and tremble 3. DEATH triumphs over the Riches and Possessions of a Man in such Heart-rendring words as these O where are now Man all thy vast Possessions What signifie thy Heaps of Gold and Silver Hadst thee amassed together all the Treasures of the Indies they could not bribe me or buy me off Eccles. 4.8 Thine eye has not been satisfied with riches in all thy life time Now thou must carry none with thee to the Grave Naked camest thou out of thy Mothers Womb and naked shalt thou return thither Job 1.21 Instead of thy many Fields Farms and Tenements now thou must be content with so much Ground as thy Body can measure out Now instead of thy many Bags of Gold and Silver thou must rest satisfied to be wrapt up in grosser Clay Now farewel gilded Coaches fair Palaces splendid and well Furnished Rooms stately-Beds and all other costly Furniture Now for all the Numerous Troop of cringing attendants thou shalt be surrounded with an Host of Vermine and for the very same end with the former attendants to feed upon thee too What is become of all thy Glory and Excellency now 't is all laid in the Dust Job 20.6 7 8 9. Though thy excellency did mount up to the Heavens and thy Head reach unto the Clouds Yet thou shalt perish for ever like thine own Dung they which have seen thee shall say where is he Thou shalt flye away as a Dream and shalt not be found Yea thou shalt be chased away as a Vision of the Night The Eye also which saw thee shall see thee no more neither shall thy place any more behold thee and v. 11. Thy Bones are full of the Sins of thy Youth which shalt lye down with thee in the Dust Thus will Death then triumph CONSIDER this thou that forgetest God in the midst of thy plenty and abundance that notwithstanding thy Pleasures and Treasures and great Possessions thou must enter to eternity poor and wretched miserable and naked unless thou art cloathed with that Royal Robe of Christ's Righteousness No riches then will suffice to enrich thee but the Gold tryed in the Fire i. e. an interest in Jesus who was made the perfect Captain of Salvation through sufferings No Rayment will then so cover thee as to hinder the Appearance of the shame of thy nakedness like that white Rayment viz. the Righteousness of God which is of Faith And without that Wedding Garment thou wilt stand speechless at the Bar of God and then shalt be bound hand and foot and cast into utter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth Mat. 22.13 4. DEATH triumphs over a Man 's own Righteousness Men are apt through the Horrid Pride of their Natures to trust to their own doings for Salvation and 't is but too too common for Sinners in a State of Nature to apply Plaisters of their own making to the Smarting Wounds of their Consciences and to usurp Christ's Royal Prerogative of speaking Peace to their Souls whereas thus
says the Lord Isa 57.19 I create the Fruit of the Lips Peace I speak Peace to them that are a afar off viz. in a Natural State and to them that are nigh viz. them that are made Eph. 2.13 nigh to my Father by my Blood But over all such white washed painted Pharisees will insulting Death Glory thus Thou Pharisaical Fool thou refusedst Fire from God's Altar viz. the Lord Jesus Joh. 5.40 Thou wouldst not come to him that thou mightest have Life but thou hast kindled a Fire of thine own nay like Nadab and Abihu hast brought strange Fire Isa 50.11 Thou hast compassed thy self about with sparks Thou hast walked in the Light of thy Fire and of the Sparks that thou hast Kindled This thou shalt have now at God's Hand by my Dart to lye down in a Bed of Eternal Sorrows Thou wer 't for digging to thy self a Way to Heaven and hast refused the Heb. 10.2 New and living way that the God and Father of Christ had consecrated that is to say the Flesh of Jesus or his suffering raised glorified human nature and though Isa 57.10 Thou wast wearied in the greatness of thine own way and hast often tryed in vain with thine own Doings and Works of the Law and couldest not but in spight of thy Teeth the Fire of Hell that was in thy Conscience would be often blazng-out yet saidest thou not there is no hope but wouldst be still hoping for Life from the Dead unprofitable Works of the Law Thus thou didst sind the Life of thine hands therefore thou wast not then grieved but still didst stifle all thy convictions But now thou shalt grieve and eternally grieve without intermission now thou wilt not be able to stifle thy convictions but they will tend and tear thy Soul with unspeakable horrors for ever and ever NOW Psa 16.4 Thy Sorrous shall be multipled that didst hasten after other Gods and other Idol Righteousnesses Thou leftest no stone unturned no way of working unessaied to procure warmth and life to thy Soul Isa 57.5 Thou didst enflame thy self with Idols under every Green-Tree and didst let thy Heart run out for Holiness and Salvation upon every Branch of in it self beautiful morality Isa 57.6 Among the smooth Stones of the Stream was thy Portion they were thy lot even to them thou hast procured a Drink-Offering c. i. e. Thou hast set up thy Duties for Saviours hast trusted in them and so fallen down and Worshipped them Isa 57.7 Vpon a Lofty and High Mountain hast thou set thy Bed Even thither wentest thou up to offer Sacrifice i. e. Thou didst confide in thy splendid towring Profession and didst make a God and Saviour thereof The 10. v. of this Chapter is a Key to open the the rest of the Chapter by laying the whole stress of thy Soul upon thy outward Profession without Faith in Jesus Isa 57.8 Behind the Doors also and the Posts hast thou set thy rememberance i. e. And hast set up a Record within thy self for the Goodness of thy Estate from thy Family and Closet Prayers things good in themselves but become Idols of Indignation when advanced into the Room and Throne of the Mediator Isa 57.8 Thou hast discovered thy self to others then to Christ and art gone up but thou wouldst not come to Jesus that thou mightest have Life What are now become of thy Doings thy Works and thy Righteousness Isa 57.12 I will declare thy Righteousness and thy Works for now they shall not profit thee Cry now to thy Morality and Reformation lift up thy suppliant hands to thy Duties and Profession Cry aloud to thy Prayers and Tears thy convictions and thy terrors of Conscience Fall prostrate to thy wishings and to thy wouldings and thy desires to desire to have thy Sin inwardly mortified under the obstinate refusals of Christ and his righteousness And try these thy Idol Saviours whether they will now hear thee Isa 57.13 When thou cryest let thy companies of Saviours deliver thee but the wind now carries them all away and vanity takes them Hadst thou trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ thou shouldest now have Isa 57.13 possessed the Land and shouldest have inherited his holy Mountain even the everlasting Hills in the Highest Heavens But now thy Mountains of self righteousnesses which thou wentest up to to offer Sacrifice to set thy Bed and to build thy Nests upon and which thou thoughtest eternally strong I thrash them to dust and my breath blows them away like chass All thy Pharisaical Doings do now leave thee and nothing of them goes with thee to Hell but the unpleasant rememberance thereof to torment thee that thou wast such a Madman to set up these instead of Christ the only Saviour as if thy good Duties good Professions good Frames and good Priviledges had undertook for thee from eternity had obeyed the Law for thee with a God-like Obedience and suffered the cursed death of the Cross for thee were raised up again and by the Fathers right hand were exalted to be Princes and Saviours to give repentance and remission of sins and were now ever living at the Fathers right hand to make intercession for thee Why callest thou these good Saviours There is none good in that sense but he that is God Thus I say will Death then insult in the dying moment and glory over and tread under foot like Dogs-meat all the ragged Righteousnesses of Men and Women THEN consider it seriously thou that with the Pharisee in the Gospel gloryest before the Lord that thou art not as other Men an Extortioner Vnjust an Adulterer or even as the Publicans and Sinners and layest hold on this for eternal Life Thy Conscience is not purged but choked and bribed with false Counters of outward Reformation The unclean Spirit of Debauchery may be has been cast out and thou thinkest that enough but the Spirit of the Lord the Gospel-sanctifier has not been there at work for he walked through dry places The Rest and Peace of Conscience thou hast obtained are not right for 't is written he sought for rest and found none The House i. e. Thy Person has been swept by Reformation and garnished with a fine Profession But 't is but the strong-hold of wicked Spirits still 'T is empty of the Spirit of the Lord. The Holy Ghost has had no in-dwelling there at all therefore the unclean debauch'd Spirit transformed into an Angel of Light with seven other Spirits more wicked than himself not more unclean than himself but more wicked a compleat Number of evil Spirits i. e. the Devil of unbelief and spiritual Pride two great Legions have returned and entered into thee and if the Lord does not pity thee and discover the rotteness of thine Estate to thee Thy last state will be worse than the first Ah! deluded Soul Thou wouldst heal thy Conscience with thine own Medicines thou wouldst cover thy self with thine own Righteousness thou wouldst lay thy self down on thine
unto her I am the Resurrection and the Life c. As if he should have said thou grantest that I can raise him up at the last Day but how Is it not by Vertue of that Union that is between his dead Body and my living Body If then I will be his Life and therefore his Resurrection I am now his Life and consequently can be now his Resurrection I shall add that Argument the Lord the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Life abides and dwells in a Believer for ever in his Body as well as his Soul 1 Cor. 6.19 What know ye not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you c. If it be granted then that he does still indwell in the separate Soul of the Believer why not in a sense in the separate Body too He brooded formerly over the Chaos till it was formed into a beautiful Creation and why not in like manner over the Dust till the appointed time of actual Life by the Father comes but 4. NATURAL Death tends to an utter Abolition Natural Death in it self tends to an utter Consumption of the Body and that by Steps retrograde to the Methods of the first Creation First There was a Chaos created and then that disposed and disgested into a very beautiful and lovely Frame but Death deals thus with Man the Epitome of the Creation reduces the fair Structure to a Chaos or Heap of Dust and then commits it to the Grave to annihilate it And so would the Bodies of Sinners be annihilated especially in the universal Conflagration but that as has been afore mentioned the God of Nature by his infinite Power preserves and sits them to be Vessels of Wrath for Destruction and at last raises them that they might be for ever miserable Companions to their miserable Souls on which he might make the Power of his Vengeance known to all Eternity That as the Body has been a a Companion to the Soul in sinning so it shall be World without end in suffering But as to the Bodies of the Saints it is otherwise Death only sows their Bodies into the Ground that they might be quickned again into more glorious Bodies 1 Cor. 15.36 37. compare with 42 43. c. And pulls down the old tottering House that it may be built up a more glorious Fabrick in the Day of Resurrection and they shall arise then from the refining Alembick of the Grave with several wonderful Advantages especially these five 1. THEN Corruptibility shall put on Incorruptibility 1 Cor. 15.53 For this Corruptible must put on Incorruption and when thrown into the Grave corruptible Bodies then shall be raised incorruptible V. 42. Sown in Corruption raised in Incorruption The Bodies of the Saints shall have no tendency to decay any more no more shall the Bodies of the Wicked but here will be the Difference the Bodies of the Saints will be unpassible and will not be capable of suffering Pains but the Bodies of the Wicked though not apt to decay yet will be the Seat of eternal Pains and Torments 2. Then Immortal shall put on Immortality 1 Cor. 15.53 54. And the Bodies of the Saints sown mortal shall rise immortal There will be no dying in the new Jerusalem above nor decaying nor fading but Bodies as well as the Spirits of the Just being made perfect shall endure the same in that glorious State to all Eternity 'T is true the Bodies of Unbelievers shall never die more but their Living and Continuing will be a constant Dying They will be dying to all eternity but never absolutely die and happy would it be for them if they could altogether cease to be But on the Bodies of Believers the second Death can have no Power at all As for instance The last Enemy that Christ will destroy for them will be Death 1 Cor. 15.26 And then Death will be swallowed up in Victory 1 Cor. 15.54 3. THEN natural Flesh will put on Spirit 1 Cor. 15.44 It is sown a natural Body it is raised a spiritual Body There is a natural Body and there is a spiritual Body Not that these natural Bodies in the Saints shall be turned into the very Essence of Spirits but they shall come as near their Natures as 't is possible for corporeal Substances to come So says our Lord himself in answer to the Sadduces Cavil Mat 22.30 For in the Resurrection they neither marry nor are given in Marriage but are as the Angels of God in Heaven i. e. They shall be as near to the Nature of Angels as is possible They will be of a purer and more incompound Substance than the purest Elements of Fire They will be endued then with wonderful agility and celerity and their motion surpassing swift probably they will fly then as swift as Thoughts We experience that our Thoughts now speed in an instant to the farthermost Regions of the Earth whilst the heavy Log of a Body stays behind and can go no faster than its Legs can carry it or some more artificial means But doubtless then our Bodies that believe will be fitted to keep pace with our glorified Souls in all their Motions for the Glory of God in Christ not hindred by Sicknesses and Ails nor made slow with any weakness imperfection or mutilation The Sun is swift in his race but what is his race compared to that of the glorified Bodies of the Saints then Fourthly DISHONOUR then will put on Honour and that that is sown in Dishonour will be raised in Glory 1 Cor. 15.43 Then they will be in part clothed with the Glory that is upon the Body of an exalted Jesus 'T is true there will be difference in degrees though not in kind For as there is one Glory of the Sun another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars For one Star differeth from another Star in Glory 1 Cor. 15.41 So the Glory on the Body of Christ will be as the Glory of the Sun and the Glory of the Bodies of his Children like the Glory of the Stars all shining in Brightness Splendour and Majesty though not equally alike When Christ appeared with Moses and Elias in the Transfiguration on the Mount the Glory then on his Body is set forth as in a Glass His Face did shine as the Sun and his Rayment was white as the Light Mat. 17.2 So will the risen Bodies of the Saints be shining brighter than the Sun whiter than the purest Light That that is sown in Dishonour as afore hinted will be raised in Glory They that are laid in the Earth little Infants will be raised in full growth and perfect statureâ— they that be entombed decrepit old and deformed shall rise again well-shaped vigorous and beautiful They that drop to the Grave poor tattered Servants and Slaves shall come out from thence rich free and illustrious greater than Kings and Emperours Then indeed in a literal sense the Eyes of the Blind shall be opened the Ears of