hope and view We have a Building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens And for this we groan earnestly for this state of immortal Happiness desiring to be cloathed upon with our House that is from Heaven A Blessed State so fitted for us and we for it that no Apparel for the Body can be more SECT II. He was not only content to Dye and ready with Patience to receive a Summons out of this World but so unspeakable was the difference in his Judgment between his present State in the Body and that which he expected beyond the Grave that he reckoned a Translation was every way preferable and rather to be chosen even by intervening Death that so instead of this little House this mean and poor Dwelling which we now inhabit we may come to a better Building that is of God formed and prepared by him to the more spacious Mansions which the blessed God has provided for us above that instead of this movable Tent This earthly Tabernacle continually liable to so many changes dangers and inconveniencies we may have a House not made with hands that is of God's immediate Work more excellent and more lasting more safe and more abiding That instead of this earthly House of dirt and clay into which it will shortly be dissolved we may have a building in Heaven suited to the Heavenly State and Life a more commodious Dwelling fitted for the Offices of a Glorified Soul and which shall not molder but be Eternal that when this Tabernacle is dissolved which needs every day to be repaired and with all our care cannot long be supported we may have a permanent unchangable building eternal in the Heavens In short that our bodies as well as our Souls may be glorious and blessed and unchangably so in the other World After such a State and Life as this so elegantly described in the beginning of this Chapter he declares his earnest Desire in this Text not in his own name only but as the common sense of all the Followers of Christ This he amplifies and limits by several expressions unto which some following verses in this chapter will give further light For we that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burdened not for that we would be uncloathed but cloathed upon that Mortality might be swallowed up of Life SECT III. In which words we may consider two Parts 1. The State and Temper of the Followers of Christ or of all real Christians That while they are in the Body they are burdened and groan for Deliverance 2. A Judicious Stating the matter of such Desire of Deliverance Or what it is that they groan and long for set forth in three expressions 1. Negatively It is not Simply to be uncloathed But 2. To be cloathed upon And 3. That Mortality may be swallowed up of Life 1. The state and Temper of good men or real Christians while they are in the Body They are burdened and therefore groan for deliverance We that are in this earthly Tabernacle Or as the expression is ver 8. While we are at home in the Body present in the Body or While we converse and Sojourn in the Body Which he calls an earthly House ver 1. But because it is no certain fixed Dwelling he adds the other term of a Tabernacle While we dwell in this little Fabrick framed at first out of the dust of the earth as were the Worms who are therefore our Kindred and Relations and they were formed before the Creation of man While we are in this earthly Tabernacle whose foundation is in the dust Whose matter is not more excellent than that of the Beasts that perish An earthly Tabernacle not only as to its original but is sustained and repaired by earthly things 146 Psalm 4.12 Eccl. 7. and ere long to be resolved into Earth again This dust shall be turned to earth as it was and the Spirit shall return to God While we are in this earthly House we groan and long for a removal we earnestly covet desire and wait for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a better Dwelling and a better State we pant and breath and long for it from the Faith and Hope of what God has revealed concerning the upper better World and the future Felicity of all that believe in Christ where we look for another sort of Bodies and another kind of Life this is that we aspire and groan after and would fain obtain SECT IV. 2. He describes the matter of such a Desire and the just limits of it in three Expressions 1. Negatively Not for that we would be uncloathed i. e. 1. Not Simply to dye for dying sake Not meerly to be rid of the Body and to live without any As we are a sort of Creatures made up of Soul and body the separation of these two cannot in it self for its own sake be desirable we have a natural innocent unavoidable Aversion to Death as such And as it is a Penalty and the fruit of Sin as even to the best man it is there cannot but be some unwillingness to dye however fit it be to be desired otherwise on the account of the Consequences of Death All the Faith and Reason in the world cannot make Death to be no penalty So neither is it possible that any man can reason or believe himself into a love of Pain and Death as such Therefore it is not simply to be uncloathed to have Soul and Body separated that is here desired It is not a perpetual state of being without a Body For he desires to be cloathed upon and not found naked Our case is so stated that our Souls are to be cloathed upon with a Body and we cannot but desire that the union of the Soul and body should be preserved and in the state of Separation there is some hankering of the Soul after the body Some such Desire of regaining that Reunion SECT V. 2. Neither is it meerly a Weariness of this present Life by reason of the Burden of sorrows and Sufferings which the Apostle and other Christians met with in it that makes them thus to groan For if he might be further serviceable to the interest of Christ and therein be accepted and pleasing to him he declares ver 9. that he was willing to live He professes his readiness to prefer the Salvation of many Souls and his being instrumental to their happiness before the hastening of his own He knew that God may have as much Service in our Lives in an afflicted suffering State as in a prosperous Condition he knew That we may glorifie God in Sickness and in a Prison as much or more than in health or liberty And that to bear any of our Trials and Burdens well and to honour God by a Christian Deportment under them is better than to be delivered His Desire therefore to the blessed State which was in expectation was not to the Act of Dissolution it self without reference to what would
follow He desires not so much the end of this Life whatever he now suffered as the blessedness of the next Life which he hoped for It was not an Annihilation to put a period to his present sufferings but a happy Change which he groan'd for Not a Ruin but a temporary dissolution of this earthly House in order to an Eternal Advantage Not a bare privation of this Life but a passage to a better He doth not groan so much from the Sense of present Evil as by reason of the Absence of his most desired Good He was not so much burdened by what he felt and could not avoid or remove as by what he foresaw and expected and could not yet Enjoy He must dye first and have the old House pull'd down before he could reach that compleat Felicity which he so earnestly aspires after SECT VI. 2. It is therefore further exprest as that which he groaned and longed for viz. to be Cloathed upon To lay aside this mean and little troublesome Garment for a more beautiful and commodious one To have this earthly House dissolved and moulder into dust with the Expectation of reassuming Another or the Same with a glorious Change And in that sense the Expression verse 3. may be understood That being thus cloathed that is with such a glorified Body we may not be found Naked or without any Body at all Though * A. B. Cant. 3. Vol. Serm. 6th some carry the expression Desiring to be cloathed upon as wishing not to put off this Body at all but to be in the number of those who shall be found alive at the coming of Christ to Judgment which some of the Disciples of Christ expected by a mistake of what he said concerning St. John If I will that he tarry till I come And so the words may be read If so be that we shall be found cloathed and not naked That is if at Christ's coming we shall be found Alive and not Dead and so have this mortal corruptible Body changed into a Spiritual Glorious and Immortal one without Dying Whether that was the sense of the Apostle or not I shall discourse of these words as the common Sentiment of real Christians who have no hope of Living till the end of the World but expect to dye e're it be long and carnestly desire a future Blessedness for Soul and Body in another Life and therefore when they lay down this Body in the Dust they groan to be cloathed upon to have these vile Bodies made like the glorious Body of Christ or as the Apostle himself expresses it 1 Cor. 15.53 To have this Corruptible put on Incorruption and this Mortal put on Immortality The putting off there is the same with the being cloathed upon here That is they groan to have this present State changed for the Felicity and Glory of that future State which Christ hath given them to expect both for Soul and Body in another Life SECT VII 3. There is yet another Expression which riseth higher That Mortality may be swallowed up of Life That which is Mortal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This our mortal Life which is subject to Dangers Afflictions and Death it self That this may be Swallowed up of Life as is that which is Imperfect by that which is Perfect as Infancy and Childhood by Maturity and Manhood or as Darkness is swallowed up in Light The meaning is that our low Animal Life may be changed into an Heavenly one that our frail short and transitory Life may be changed into an Immortal Eternal one that the Corruption and Mortality which our Bodies are liable to and which remain in them while they are in the Grave may be removed Or according to the Apostles Phrase That Death may be swallowed up in Victory may be finally perfectly and for ever Destroyed For so the expression does import and is often rendered in other places * See Dr. Hammond 1 Cor. 15.54 g. for ever And that includes the Resurrection of the Body to an happy State as one part of this Desire For if by Dying we are more miserable than before Death is not swallowed up in Victory it rather is too hard for us and gains a Victory over us But if our state be bettered by Death not only as to our Souls but our very Bodies are also to be raised again to a glorious Life if when Death hath done its utmost our Souls pass into a State of Rest and Bliss to be compleated in a glorious Resurrection of the Body and to be continued and increased to all Eternity we are then Victorious over Death Death may be said to be swallowed up in Victory or Mortality swallowed up of Everlasting Life CHAP. II. The Method and Design of the following Discourse Good men in the present state are burdened with their Sins and Sufferings so as to groan for Deliverance SECT I. After this Paraphrase and Explication of the words that which I design as the Ground of my following discourse is this That it becomes the State and Frame of real Christians while they are burdened in these mortal Bodies earnestly to desire a better an Immortal Life wherein the Body as well as the Soul shall be gloriously Changed In discoursing of this I shall first show That such is the present State of good men in these Bodies that they groan under manifold Burdens that may well make them long for Deliverance II. That they have the certain Expectation of a better State and Life after the dissolution of this earthly Tabernacle by Death III. That it is agreeable to the Temper of a Christian Spirit so far as renewed and sanctified to long for that better State and Life beyond the Grave IV. That it is not such a State and Life wherein they expect to be without any Body at all but to have their Bodies raised and changed and glorified To be cloathed upon with an House from Heaven and to have mortality swallowed up in Life The consideration of these particulars will make way for the practical Application suitable to this solemn Occasion on which I am desired to preach on this Text. SECT II. First That such is the present state of good Men in these Bodies that they groan under manifold Burdens which may well make them long for Deliverance I need not run far into the common Theme of the Miseries of humane Life which every one feels or knows of those that do Our Sufferings and our Sins while in this earthly Tabernacle will be sufficient to be considered under this head 1. Our Sorrows and Sufferings while in the Body Our early Tears when we come into the World prognosticate a good share of these to be expected Not to mention the Vexation of disappointment in our Temporal Injoyments as a great part of this Burden the actual Sorrows and Afflictions which all partake of are very many and great heavy and afflictive they are such as extort the Cries and Tears and
that we pretend to hope for We are framed and wrought by the Spirit of God for this very same thing and by continual influence from the same Spirit will the Eternal blessedness of the future State be carried on But we cannot be meet for it without desiring it we cannot prepare for it without longing after it Preparing Grace is to make us willing of Glory as well as meet for it and to keep us in the way to it And all our Diligence and Activity all our Watchfulness and Care all our Patience and Self-denial all our Stedfastness and Perseverande in the Christian Course as the Fruits of Faith and Love must be influenced cherished and maintained by such defires This is the design and tendency of all the Operations of the holy Spirit on the Soul for which he is promis'd and given to Believers This is one great End of all the Ordinances and Institutions of the Gospel under the Agency of the Holy Spirit to qualifie and dispose us for the heavenly State and to excite and keep alive Desires after it and help us to pursue the proper Ends and Uses of Life SECT IV. Secondly Our want of full Conformity and Likeness unto Christ makes these Desires suitable to the temper of real Christians Though the guilt of Sin be removed by pardoning Grace yet they are not perfectly cleansed from all Impurity there are sad remainders of sensual and earthly Affections Though the reigning power of Sin be broken by the Spirit of Holiness yet we are not wholly rid of it we sensibly feel Darkness in our Mind Disorder in our Affections Distempers in our Spirits The most righteous Souls are now vexed with their own Corruption from within and the guilt of many actual Sins as well as by the Abominations of others While we are in the Body we are in a State of warfare and conflict We feelingly complain of the inward contest and division between the Law of the Flesh and the Law of the Mind as Rebecca felt the Twins Jacob and Esau stirring in her Womb. Our time of Triumph is not in this World The troubled Sea of corrup Nature will often send forth Mire and Dirt but the Blood of Christ shall perfectly cleause us from Sin so as to remove all our Filth and fully deliver us from Corruption as well as from Condemnation The holiest Saints do now walk humbly with God under the sense of remaining Corruption they watch and pray and strive against it endeavouring greater Mortification pressing after more Holiness and therefore long for Heaven when the Deliverance will be perfect They are now sensible of the workings and contrary tendency of the two opposite Principles Flesh and Spirit they find that the more spiritual any duty is the more backward their Hearts are to it they perceive every little indulgence of the Flesh raiseth an interposition between God and the Soul and hinders the liberty boldness confidence activity and peace which otherwise they might have they desire and endeavour nearer Conformity to the divine Pattern as well as clearer evidence of Forgiveness They would feign be more like God as well as escape his wrath and be delivered from Sin as well as from Hell They are sensible how Indwelling Sin indisposes them for holy Duties deadens and distracts their Hearts in spiritual Worship makes them lose the benefit of Ordinances renders Sabbaths and Sacraments Lifeless and unprofitable They feel it to be the Fewel of many a Temptation and a constant root of bitterness that opposes the Spirit of Grace and keeps them Low and makes them barren and unfruitful that prevails frequently by suddain and violent Motions to the dishonour of God and the grieving of the Holy Spirit and the reproach of their Profession and so shakes their Peace and damps their Assurance and obstructs their comfortable Hopes of Gods Acceptance They find the opposition of this bosom Enemy most sensible when their interest duty and desire is to be most serious in ingaging their heart for God when they are about to make the nearest Approaches to Heaven when they do so or when they have just done so This is one part of their Burden which may well make them desire a State of perfect Holiness and full Conformity to Christ SECT V. Thirdly The Apprehension and Sense of their Distance from Christ while they are in the Body is another reason why they thus Groan Christ is now in us the hope of Glory but our injoyment of him is very imperfect in comparison of what we expect And if we have any true Love to Christ we must needs desire to be with him to behold his Glory to love him more and feel the communications of his Love in a higher degree If we know any thing of the Sweetness of Communion with him we must needs breath after fuller measures of it And the sense of our present distant state wherein we know so little of God and Christ and love him less wherein we continue to sin against him and daily smart under the bitter fruits of sin and dwell among those who provoke and dishonour him every day may well make us figh to be at home that we may injoy that Presence of Christ and Communion with him which cannot be attained but by Dying Do we not own it best to be with Christ the best Company the best Place the best Condition and State the best Enjoyments Certainly the little we know of him is enough to make us desire to be with him the little we have already received may make us long to receive more Such will not say with the Shunamite when the Prophet offered to speak for her to the King I am already at home * 2 Kings 4. I dwell among my own People I am pleased with my Station I like my present abode I am not ambitious of any better I care not for any other Life or World if I may but have this c. No says a Holy Soul I am a Stranger here on Earth a Pastenger a Pilgrim through this World as all my Fathers were I seek another Country an Heavenly one I belong to another City that hath Foundations My Principal Kindred Relations and Friends are not here but in that other Country My Father is in Heaven my Elder Brother is at his Right-hand in Glory and the most of my Brethren are gone to him and the rest are hastening as well as I My Heart and Hopes are there I desire to be one of them I would be glad to make one of that great and General Assembly of the First-born where is God the Judge of all and the Blessed Redeemer with an innumerable Company of Angels and the Spirits of Just Men made perfect Yea I groan under this distance and absence from my dearest Lord. Were it put to my Choice I would venture upon any difficulties and dangers and deaths rather than it should continue Nothing but the sense of Duty to him to serve the purposes
of his glory here can make me brook so long a separation otherwise whatever the League be between me and this Body I had rather be with Christ though that be dissolved If there be no way to come to Heaven but by Dying I would rather dye to be there than live in this absence from Christ my Saviour that I may doubt of his love no more and feel no more effects of his displeasure that he may hide his Face from me no more but with everlasting Compassions receive and imbrace me And what is there in Death that I should fear it that is half so frightful and grievous as my Absence from Christ What is there in this earthly Tabernacle or in this present World that I should so love an abode in it and not be willing to quit it that I may be present with the Lord O let him call me when he will if he will receive my departing Soul Let him draw me through the dust of the Earth if he will draw me nearer to himself and bring me to his blessed Presence 'T is there I long to be 't is that my heart is set upon that is it I groan for I am desirous of his Presence to behold his Glory and receive the Communications and Reflections of it Henceforth I would not be unwilling and backward to go unto him but rather say O when shall I come and appear before him But there is a fourth Particular to which I hasten SECT VI. Fourthly The Vnequal Communications of Light and Grace and Comfort from Christ while in the Body make them thus groan to be uncloth'd There is not that steddiness and Constancy in such Communications from God in our present State as hereafter there will be neither is it suitable to the Character and Condition of Strangers and Travellers that there should Sometimes therefore we may have better Entertainment than at other times we may not expect to have the same Sunshine and Fair weather during our whole Pilgtimage The Light of God's Countenance may be sometimes cover'd and overcast The inward state of things between God and our Souls may be often alter'd But when we shall be at home in our Father's House in the presence of our Lord there will be a fulness of uninterrupted Joy and unchangeable Pleasure Christians are now sometimes in the Mount and then again in the Valley Sometimes they can Rejoyce soon after they are Mourning and Dejected Sometimes the Love of God is strong and vigorous soon after the Love of the World prevails again in some sad Instance or other to grieve the Holy Spirit of God and cause him to withdraw Sometimes they can apply the Promises with Comfort and go to God with Holy Confidence as to their Father and think of Eternity and another World with transporting Joy and of the Heavenly Inheritance as their own with raised Desires and Delight within a Day or two it may be they are again plunged in the Mire and sunk into the depths of Darkness and Discouragement so as not to be able to hold up their heads Sometimes at the Table of the Lord they have Refreshing Views of the Glory of Christ in his Love and Grace as bearing the Curse which they deserv'd as manifesting his special Kindness and Sealing his Love with particular Application to their Souls as Interested in all the Benefits of his Meritorious Death Hereby they are Reviv'd and Quickned and Strengthned and enabled to say I am as one who hath found favour in his sight My Beloved is mine and I am his He led me into his Banqueting-House his Banner over me was Love He called to me as to the Unbelieving Disciple Come reach hither thy hand thrust it into my side and heart see how I have loved thee Come feel the print of the Spear and of the Nails in my Hands and Feet see what I suffer'd for thee to express my Love What can I deny thee after this Upon this an exulting Joy must needs ensue but it did not last And it may be the next Month they bewail that it is quite otherwise with 'em Sometimes their hearts are enlarged and delighted in Prayer Thansgiving Sabbaths Sacraments c. 'T is their Joy sometimes to go to the House of God and call upon his Name and be employed in Heavenly Work to Sing the High Praises of God in the Solemn Assemblies But this is not constant and equal not always alike Could a Christian Act Faith at all times as sometimes he is enabled to do could he every day feel the Love of Christ and express his own as sometimes could he always resign devote yeild himself to the Lord with that entire Adoration Submission and Satisfaction in the divine Will and Glory Goodness and Wisdom as sometimes and on some Occasions he would hardly believe himself a stranger and Foreinner in this world he would be tempted to take Earth for Heaven and say t is Good to be here But whatever Influences of Grace and Comfort we now receive they are not steddy equal and constant and t is but fit that we who are only Passengers through this World and are not at home should be thus made sensible of our true Character and Condition and not find the Way or Weather alike good or our own Health equal or our Accommodations Provisions and Entertainment here This helps to make as long for a Better State and Life CHAP. V. Of the Resurrection of the Body It is Possible Probable and Certain Some have been raised from the Dead Where were their Souls during their Separation from their Bodies Christ's Resurrection of the Body farther illustrated and proved SECT I. The Fourth thing proposed is to prove that this Blessed state and Life which Christians desire and long for is not such a one wherein they are to be alway without a Body but to have their Bodies raised changed and glorified or to be cloathed upon with an House from Heaven The Possibility of the Resurrection of the Body the Probability and the Certainty of it have been often and largely * See Dr. Peirson Dr Towerson c. on the Creed Art XI of the Resurrection of the Body And Mr. Baoeter's Saints Rest Part 1. Chap. 5. and Self-denial Chap. 38. proved That it is possible both on the part of the Agent and Patient Who that considers the Divine Omniscience and Power can doubt but that God can remake an Humane Body of that Dust into which it is resolved and however it be dispersed find out and rally the several parts together and unite them one to another What Impossibility is it that the despersed parts of a Man's Body should be disposed into their due Scituation and Order and reduced to a Temper fit to discharge the Functions and Operations of Life and that the Soul should be Re-united to a Body thus Restored How is it impossible Or why should it be Difficult to him who did at first frame and temper this Body
consisting of Soul and Body and our Bodies Sanctified by him and are the Temples of the Holy Ghost and therefore shall be raised by him Yea we are said to rise with him and to be set down in heavenly places in and with him It is not more true that he died for our sins than that be rose again for our Justification and if for that he rose for our Resurrection too For the guilt of sin being removed which is the meritorious cause of Death Death which is the Punishment shall not remain but be swallowed up in Victory whereas it lives and reigns and keeps the Field till the Restirrection But we are assured that The Sea and Death and the Vniversal Grave shall give up their Dead Rev. 20.13 And then not only the sting of Death but Death it self shall dye and cease for ever for there shall be no more death Rev. 21.4 Our dead Bodies shall then live so as to dye no more For if we believe on him that raised Christ from the dead the same Spirit that raised Christ shall be the Author of our Resurrection Rom. 8.23 And if we believe that Jesus dyed and rose again even them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thes 4.14 He that was dead is now alive and behold he lives for evermore and he hath the keys of Death and Hell Rev. 1.18 And he has expresly told us that the hour is coming in the which All that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth They that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation John 5.28.29 And this is the will of God that sent him that every one who believeth on him shall have everlasting Life and he will raise him up at the last day John 6.40 The like he declares afterwards to Martha I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me tho he were dead yet shall he live John 11.25 He is the First born from the dead and Believers are the Children of the Resurrection Colos 1.18 His Resurrection not only proves the possibility of ours but it is the pledge of the performance God having raised him up hath loosed the pains of Death since it was impossible he should be holden by them Naturally impossible because of his Divine Power and legally impossible because Divine Justice after such a Satisfaction as the Death of Christ required that he should be raised to Life and receive a Discharge and Reward We could hardly believe the Dead should rise to Life if Christ by his own Resurrection and by raising others had not proved it possible and already done But he hath not conquer'd Death for himself alone but for his Members too and to them he has promised that they shall * John 11.26 never see Death or come within the Prospect or Danger of it And not only shall not but cannot dye any more after the Resurrection for they shall be equal to the Angels Luke 20.36 His Victory over Death was declared by his Resurrection and his entrance into Glory did Compleat the Conquest Now as Christ hath carried his Humane Nature into Heaven we are to be made like him and bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam and therefore our Flesh shall be raised too He is the first-fruits of them that sleep 1 Cor. 15 20. And it is * Bishop Vsher observable tha the Rose from the Dead on that Day whereon the Jews observe their Feast of First-fruits That Feast was not stinted to any day of the Month as other Feasts were but was to be always on the Morrow after the Passover Sabbath that so it might fall always on the First day of the Week the Day of Christ's Resurrection Well therefore might the Apostle say Christ being Risen is become the First-fruits of them that sleep As the Offering of the First-fruits amongst the Jews Consecrated all the rest SECT IV. Neither can we suppose our Happiness would be compleat without the Resurrection of the Body As Soul and body concur to the Constitution of man the Soul is in a State of widowhood till reunited to the Body And in this Life the Body has a share in the work and service of the Man which is to be rewarded or punished as executing the designs of the Soul And the members of the Body serve as members of Righteousness or Sin The Law of God commands the intire Man composed of Soul and Body and this Law is obeyed or violated by both though the moral good or evil of our Actions be chiefly attributed to the Soul as the principal Agent But on this Account the Body shall partake in the rewards or Punishment of the next Life if the intire Person be to be recompenced And it is with respect to the Body that seemed to be lost that the Resurrection is promised the Body resolved into dust or swallowed in the Sea or consumed by fire Such promises of the Resurrection are made to Believers for their encouragment and hope Besides there are many Objects in the heavenly State that do suppose a Body and are to be discerned by our bodily senses as the glorious beauty and magnificence of the blessed mansions and the Humane Nature of our glorious Redeemer c. On which and many other accounts the Body shall be raised and changed and glorified SECT V. Reason it self would make this Probable Man being created with a Body and a Soul which have so natural an Inclination to one another that there is an appetite and desire as it seems to be united and co-operate together and many of our Capacities of Joy and Comfort as well as of Sorrow and Grief result from and depend upon this Union In order therefore to the full and final Felicity that God will confer on some and for the greater Misery wherewith divine Justice will punish others it is very probable from principles of Reason that God will raise the Bodys of men That being united to their Souls they may be better capable of enjoying the promised Happiness or suffering the threatened misery of the next World This seems to be the sense of Job 14. Chap. 14. ver where he says that all the days of his appointed time I will wait till my change come Speaking of the Resurrection of the Body There is hope of a Tree he saith if it be cut down that it will sprout again but man dyeth and where is he he lyeth down and riseth not till the Heavens be no more If a man dye shall he live again All the days of my appointed Time c. * Mr. Howe of Blessedness p. 210. According to common Apprehension and Appearance the State of man at death is hopeless But he professeth his Expectation that at a set and appointed Time God would remember him so as to recall him out of the Grave And therefore puts the question If a man dye shall he
Earthly even all of us in our fleshly State having earthly bodies from an earthly Adam and natural bodies from the natural Adam And as is the Henvenly such are they that are Heavenly For Christ will make them like himself and as he hath an Heavenly Spiritual body and not an Earthly Natural body so shall his Members have that they may be like him And as we have born the Image of the Earthly in having a Natural Fleshly body we shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam in having a Spiritual Body not needing the use of Meats or Drinks or any of the refreshments or pleasures of the animal Life or be imployed in any of those Acts whereby the body is now denominated Natural and suited to this Earthly State But our bodies shall then be Spiritual suited to the Life that Angels and Saints live in Heaven every way greatly refined and the Activity of our Spirits improved without the defects and infirmities of flesh and blood shall be invested with Caelestial Qualities depending wholly on the Soul and yielding ready obedience and conformity to its desires and motions executing all its Commands with pleasure and Dispatch Yea the imployment and operations of the body shall be raised above those in the present state as much as the Imployment of a King exceeds that of a Scullion This Spiritual Body one represents by Organized Light as a torch or wood that looseth its drossy and foggy qualities when heightened into a pure flame or minerals heightened into Spirits 3. The Bodies of the Saints shall be changed from weak and passive into Active and Powerful Bodies Sown in Weakness but raised in Power They are now dull and sluggish but then they shall be nimble and active like the Body of Christ that at his Ascension into Heaven being done in one day moved many thousands of Miles in an hour the distance between the highest Heavens and this Earth being computed to be some hundred millions of Miles They shall be raised with Angelical Agility and Strength He that is weak among them shall be as David he that is as David shall be as an Angel of God moving without difficulty and without weariness Now we often find the Body cannot keep Peace with the Soul the Flesh is weak when the Spirit is willing but it shall be raised in Power It is now liable to Diseases and Passions can do little and suffers much but no Diseases or Infirmities shall hereafter hinder its motions or impair its Health A glorified Body will move without weariness and fast without hunger and wake for ever without need of refreshment Herein there will be a suitableness to the Activity of a glorified Soul and without this they could not bear the weight of the Heavenly Glory Besides they are to indure to all Eternity without reparation by meat and drink and fleep 4. They shall be Incorruptible and Immortal It is sown in Corruption it is raised in Incorruption This mortal shall put on Immortality They shall dye no more but live for ever Therefore the day of the Resurrection is called the Redemption of our Bodies They shall not be liable to be put out of tune by infirmities and pains and numberless diseases as now which often make Life it selfe a Burden They shall be Immortal without needing that Labour by day or sleep by night which now we bestow to supply their Necessities and repair their decays and prevent Death Now the Body has the seeds of Mortality and Corruption but shall then be refined from all such Principles There shall not be a tendency to Death in the nature and constitution of the Body such will be the glorious Change that they cannot dye any more 20. Luk. 36. They that were raised by Christ when on Earth they dyed again their second Life was no more exempt from death than their First But at the Resurrection Mortality shall be swallowed up of Life it shall lose its power and force for ever CHAP. VII Inferences of Truth and Duty from the preceding Discourse The Soul doth not perish when the Body dies The Felicity of the Soul is what we principally desire Our Faith should be consirmed in the Believing Expectation of this Glorious Change Our affections and Conversation should be Suitable SECT I. First Let us not then imagin the State of the Dead to be a State of Non-existence or Annihilation that the Soul perishes with the Body and that we are without Hope of its Resurection Whereas when our Soul passes into a state of Rest and Joy with Christ our Flesh rests in Hope that these Bodys shall be raised and reunited to their glorious Souls We are to pass through the Valley of Death to a Blessed Life This is the Desire and Hope of all the Followers of Christ And these very Desires of a blessed Life beyond the Grave will prove the Certainty of it We must have strange Thoughts of the infinitely wise and holy God and of his Love and Goodness to imagin he should give his Creatures such a Knowledge of himself that makes them desire more even a Desire to know and love and injoy him perpetually and yet never intend an eternal Communication of himself answerable to those Desires Can we think the blessed God would deceive and mock those that desire to seek and please him by inabling them to aspire after a Happiness in his presence and by giving them a Capacity for it And then to frustrate and disappoint his own work Can we think that God would excite their Desires after another and a better state and yet never admit them to it Can we imagin that God would raise their Desires from sin and this World to himself and Heaven and that these shall never be answered in a happy Issue Shall the very Sanctification of our Nature prepare for our Torment and help to make us miserable Will the God of Love and Grace inable us by his Grace to hunger and thirst after Righteousness and after the blessed vision of his Face in Glory and yet never design our Satisfaction The more any partake of the divine Image we find that they groan and long the more earnestly after another sort of Happiness than is here to be had after another State and Life than now they enjoy And may we not conclude that such a State there is The natural Desire of Happiness in all mankind will do much to prove that there is such a thing But the holy Desires of the Sanctified influenced by the spirit of Grace will much more prove it That spirit of Christ that hath inabled thee to long and pray for a more perfect State that has conquered thy vain Desires after earthly things and raised them to seek the Knowledge and Love and Fruition of God That Spirit is the Witness of Christ in thy Soul that there is such a State after Death and that thou shalt share in the Blessedness of it He hath framed and wrought and fitted
ordinary cases may be supposed to equal or exceed the Pains of Death And who knows the divine Supports that may make our Dissolution easie yet many a Mother has Courage and Patience by the Hopes of Life and of a living Child when all these Sorrows shall be soon forgotten And shall the Knowledge and Expectation of Heaven and Eternal Life be less powerful to influence thy Soul against the Fear of Death How many have been inabled to conquer the Fear of Death and been displeased with their Friends that talked of their Recovery as hopeful and have told them that such Discourse was not pleasing they had rather dye and be with Christ Is it thy Usefullness to Relations and Friends or to the Interest of Christ in this World that makes thee unwilling Think a little Are you fitter to Judge and determine of that than he Can he not do his own Work without thee Consider therefore Christians you that know you cannot have an House above without pulling down this earthly Tabernacle you that know you cannot get to Heaven but by dying and pretend to be related to the heavenly Country Are you desirous of nothing better than the Fruits of this Earth What a contempt of God and Christ What a gratification of the Devil what a contradiction to your belief and hope does this Backwardness carry with it yea a contradiction to the very End and Design of all Religion which is a dead and vain infignificant and trifling thing if it refer not to a blessed Eternity beyond the Grave and if it bring us not to desire and chuse it as our End You especially who are Old Disciples and have been long in the School of Christ should consider this You know you must ere long lay down this Tabernacle and be uncloathed you profess to hope shortly to enter into the World of Joy What a shame is it that your Sight is no clearer your Perception no quicker your Apprehensions no higher your Desires no stronger as to this expected Blessedness after Death though you are sensible you draw nearer to the things believed and hoped for and that within a little while you expect the Promises will have a full Performance as to you that you are almost there where Faith shall pass into Sight and Love You are almost ready to take your place in Glory where Millions are gone before you O how is it that you are no more Joyfully affected with these Hopes How is it that your Thoughts are so doubtful your Desires so sluggish That this Body and this present World is so unduely loved even though the pleasure of sensible things be almost gone though bodily Infirmities and Pains make this present Dwelling uneasie For they require your Patience and call aloud to you to hasten your work to set loose and prepare to come away God hath made you weary of this World and makes you often cry for divine Assistance and Grace He hath given you to know by experience that He alone must be the Portion of your Souls his Favour alone your Life and Heaven or nothing your happiness You find that the Hope of Heaven is your only Comfort For such as you to be unwilling to dye who by Age and Weakness have one soot in Heaven already is most inexcusable You have found that your Souls are usually worst when your Bodys have been best and when the Body is in the best State it is usually worst with the Soul should it not therefore be your care when the outward Man is decaying that the inward Man should be aspiring after God and grow better Has this vile and corruptible Flesh been so much your Friend that you are loth to be uncloathed What Entertainment have you had in this World that you should be so loth to leave it Have your Fears and Cares and Sorrows by reason of the Body been so delightful that you would not that they should have an end that you do not groan to be cloathed upon with an House from Heaven Methinks as every Pain and Ache and Trouble and Sickness should mind the wicked of their eternal Sorrows so the bodily Infirmities Decays and Sickness of good Men should raise their Desire to be with Christ O What a shame is it as to All of us that we no more desire and groan to be delivered when there is so glorious and blessed a State in view before us That the Thoughts of these things are so cold and seldom Our heavenly Affections so low and weak What can be the reason but that we look upon the heavenly Glory as at the distance of many Years to come if at all we believe and expect it But this is shameful to those that profess by Death to expect a freedom from all the incumberances of Flesh and Blood of bodily Passions and Appetites and of all the present Temptations of sensuality who expect that our Time of Sinning and Suffering shall shortly end together when we shall be released from all the sad Accidents of Mortality and this vile and corruptible Body be raised in Glory Shameful indeed for us who believe a blessed State so near when there shall be nothing from within nor from without ever more to intercept hinder or abate our compleat Felicity who look for the Light of Gods eternal Favour to shine upon us and the plentiful pleasant Streams of eternal Goodness flowing from God and the Lamb to make our delight and Joy perfect and everlasting And yet we do not as we ought desire and long to be Partakers of this blessed State CHAP. X. Our Holy Friends Departed obtain their Desires by Dying this should moderate our funeral Sorrows A short Account of the Exemplary Character of Mrs. Mary Dootle with some Passages of her last Sickness The Conclusion SECT I. Lastly HOW should all this moderate our Sorrow for the death of our holy Friends and Relations whose earthly House is pulled down to enjoy a Heavenly one Who groaned and waited and longed for that Disolution which we unduely Mourn for Who are pleased with that Translation and Removal which we bewail It is but what they desired and long have waited for They are now pleased in the Happy Change of their old Earthly Dwelling for a Building of God not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens They are uncloathed to be Cloathed upon Let us not then mourn for their Advancement to that Happy State which they earnestly aspired after and which we our selves should live in the Joyful Expectation of Let us rejoyce rather that they have finished their Course that their Souls are gone to Christ That their Bodys shall rest in their Graves for a Time and hereafter arise in Glory Let us think where our deceased holy Friends now are what they See and know and do and enjoy what the State and Life and Company and Employment above is and how much better it is with them now than when they were with us on Earth They have received
Imagination as may justly make us groan for Deliverance All the objects of sense about us in every Condition our Food and Cloathing our Houses and Estates Friends and Relations and our Selves most of all yeild us Temptations And the more Holy and Sanctified any are the more apprehensive they must needs be of this Burthen their Spirits are more tender Earthly things are more unsuitable God's displeasure is more Fear'd so that they would rather chuse to be freed from sin than to be Possessors of the whole World The clearer Light they have of the evil of Sin and the more unfeigned their Love to God and Christ is who is dishonoured and displeased by it and the more ardent their Desires are to be like him and please him and the more lively their Hopes are of living with him for ever this makes this Burthen of Sin to be so much the more intolerable And even Temptations to sin tho they prevail not are a part of their Burden it is grievous to a good man to be continually sollicited and tempted by the World Flesh and Devil to dishonour and disobey the Lord. And where are we without such Temptation We can hardly open our Eyes and Ears but we meet with one So that this is one great consideration that moves them to desire and chuse to be dissolved that they may sin no more and be tempted no more that they may grieve the Spirit of Grace no more and interrupt their own Peace and Joy and Communion with God and Christ no more for ever Yea notwithstanding the Mortification of the Flesh and the Life of Faith sincerely begun and carried on yet the sinful distempers of our Spirits our frequent decays and back-slidings our low attainments in Grace and Comfort are owing very much to this Body as the Spring or at least the occasion of them our sloth and negligence our eager Passions inordinate Cares and Fears and Griefs yea our general Disinclination and Aversion to Spiritual and Heavenly things are much from this flesh this earthly House of our Tabernacle SECT IV. Let me sum up this Head in the excellent words of * Mr. Howe of Blessedness p. 493. another on this Subject Who can reflect says he upon this present State and not be in pangs and groans after a better Especially on the account of the Spiritual Grievances of Christians the darkness of our beclouded minds the glimmering and ineffectual Apprehensions we have of the most important things the inconsistency of our scattered Thoughts when we would apply them to Spiritual Objects the great difficulty of working off an ill frame of Heart and the no less difficulty of retaining a good one our being so often tost as between Heaven and Hell that when we have been raised and hope to descend no more we are all on a suddain plunged in the Ditch so that our own Cloaths abhor us How often do repell'd Temptations return again and vanquished Corruptions recover strength that we know not when our work is done We are miserable that we need be always watching and more miserable that we cannot watch but are so often surprised and overcome of evil We say sometimes we will seek relief in Retirement but we cannot Retire from our selves Or in converse with Godly Friends but they often prove Snares to us and we to them or we hear but our own Sins and Miseries repeared in their Complaints Would we Pray how faint is the Breath we utter How long is it e're we can get our Hearts possest with any becoming Apprehensions of God or lively sense of our own Concernments So for Meditation when we would compose our Thoughts we may as well attempt to hold the Wind in our fist c. And would we then out of Choice continue in such a state as this under so many Burdens and of such a Nature How is it that we do not cry out more feelingly O wretched man that I am Who shall deliver me from this Body of Death Nothing but the belief and Expectation of another and better state can support us under these Burdens and that is next to be considered CHAP. III. Christians have a certain Expectation of a better State and Life after this and may be comfortably persuaded of their own Title in particular SECT I. Secondly THat real Christians have the certain Expectation of a better State and Life after the Dissolution of this Earthly Tabernable 1. As to the thing it self such a better State is Certain 2. As to Particular Christians they may have a certain Expectation of it as to themselves Let us Consider 1. The Objective Certainty That there is such a better State and Life beyond the Grave Were there no such Expectation of all Creatures in the World Men were the most Miserable and serious Christians and the Wisest and most Knowing Men would be * See Mr. How 's Vanity of Man as Mortal most so The present Vanity of Life were enough to make us regret it if nothing more or better were to be expected we could not but always live in dread and fear of Death we should not enjoy our selves here and yet would be afraid of losing our selves for ever hereafter * Dr. Parker Demonstration of the Law of Nature Sect. xxi We were miserable indeed in this Life if there were no such Future State of Immortality to be expected From the highest pitch of humane Felicity there could be nothing but a sad prospect of the gloomy Regions of Everlasting Death and Darkness What can support the mind under such a view Or scatter our black and Melancholy Apprehensions about it When we think that after a short Mushrome Life we must return to Dust and Silence and be for ever buried in the horror and loathsomeness of the Grave This will dash and disturb all our Joys and spoil the Cheerfulness and Tranquility of our Spirits in a prosperous State This will double all the Miseries of Life for under them to think to fetch relief from dying is such another kind of Comfort as if you should tell a Man in a Storm at Sea that there is no hope of allaying the Tempest but when you are Drown'd the Storm will trouble you no longer This will be an intolerable Accession to the load of present calamity to consider the Period of Life is so short and Fading and that so much of so little should be lost and worn away in Sorrow and Misery and to despair of any Remedy or Deliverance but in Eternal Death 'T is much more Eligible never to have been born than only to Grieve and suffer a while and Dye to drop a Tear and vent a Groan and pass a little time in a Stormy Tempestuous World and then disappear and sink back into Nothing But all who own any thing of Religion acknowledg somewhat of an immortal State the poor Heathens themselves had some notices of it the Jews in their several Generations believed it and the very Light of
Nature will do much to manifest that such a difference there will be hereafter between a Man and a Beast between the Good and Bad between the final State of those that love and please and serve God and of those that disobey his known will For who can acknowledg and own a God as Maker and Governour of the World the Wise and Righteous Judge of all and think he will turn Men promiscuously into Heaven or Hell at random without distinguishing between Friends and Enemies Righteous and wicked or that he 'l neither Reward or Punish that there shall be no state of Happiness for the one sort or of Misery for the other Besides the Testimony of Conscience as to the Hopes and Fears of these things in another World is of weight in this case But I hope I need not here be large when I speak to such as profess to believe the Bible and there it is as certain as that God is true who hath declared it or that Christ was sent of God who has taught it as true as that he died and rose again and ascended to Heaven and that all his Apostles and Followers have lived and died in the Expectation of such a State The Resurrection of the body I grant was not so plain an Article before the coming of Christ but a general state of Happiness for Holy Persons in another World no Christians will deny And our Lord has proved the personal Capacity of future Rewards by the Doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul and the Resurrection of the body and by an account of the manner of the Administration of these Rewards as more inchoate and particular at Death more universal and consummate at Judgment in the great day of Retribution All the Doctrines of the Gospel concerning Christ do suppose or ascertain this He came into the World to purchase our Right and Title to such a blessed State and went to Heaven again to plead and prosecute and apply and bestow it So that such a thing is Certain and may be expected by all the Followers of Christ It is as certain and unquestionable as the Word and Oath of God can make it much more Certain than if a Messenger from the Dead did come and tell you so For the manifold witnesses of the Holy Ghost to the Divine Commission of Christ and the truth of the Gospel is a much greater thing and more credible than any such transient Testimony could be But I shall not insist on this the Devils themselves believe it and prove it for if there be no Heaven there is no Hell SECT II. Secondly Particular Christians may have a certain Expectation of this happy State beyond the Grave We know says the Apostle that we have a Building in Heaven when this earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolved We know and are assured of it It is a thing so evident and manifest it is capable of being demonstrated It is not my bare Opinion but the common sense of all the Followers of Christ built on such grounds that we are ready to venture our Lives and all that is dear to us upon this believing Expectation And because we know we have another better Building reserved in Heaven for us we therefore groan and long to be there we have a Building in Heaven though we are yet on Earth As he that hath an Estate in another Kingdom or Country may call both his own though he cannot dwell in both at once nay though it may be he must travel a great way and cross the Seas before he can reach to one of them Particular Christians may be certain The Apostle often declares it as to himself and all the Children of God have a Title to the Inheritance they have Deeds and Evidences to show for it they have the Will and Testament of their Lord and Master to produce and they have the Seal of his Spirit as a witness in their Hearts which is the Earnest of the Inheritance whereby they are sealed to the day of Redemption Sanctifying Grace is called an Immortal Incorruptible Seed 1 Pet. 1.13 and they that are partakers of it have Eternal Life abiding in them 1 John 3.13 because this present Life begun shall be perfected in Glory This Seal of the Holy Spirit on the Soul is the Earnest of the heavenly Inheritance to manifest how sure and certain it is as well as a foretaste to prove how good We have an House in Heaven a Building not made with hands We have it as our own we are so certain of it as we reckon our selves in some sense already in Possession We abide it is true for a while in this earthly Dwelling but we have another and a better House a Building of God not made with Hands and we long to be there SECT III. They that can make out the unfeignedness of their Faith in Christ and the sincerity of their Love to him who can discern the truth of their Sanctification who can perceive the Image of God upon their Souls his Impress Character and Seal having turned their Hearts from the World and Sin to God and Holiness and Heaven with an answerable Conversation in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity they may have a subjective Certainty of this by the Testimony of Conscience and the concurrent Witness of the Spirit enabling them to discern the Truth of their Grace they may know their own interest in the Promise and argue it to their Comfort from the qualifications of such to whom the Promise is made I do not say that All do reach to an actual Certainty and full perswasion the generality we find do not but such a thing is attainable and all should Labour after it And did we seek it in the right way endeavouring by the exercise and increase of Grace to know the truth of it more would reach this than commonly do And then more would long and groan and desire to be uncloathed of this Earthly Tabernacle that they may be cloathed upon with an House from Heaven and Mortality be swallowed up of Life Which brings me to consider the Third thing I proposed to speak to CHAP. IV. To desire and long for a blessed State and Life beyond the Grave proved to be suitable to the Temper of a Christian Spirit SECT I. III. THat it is suitable to the Temper of a Christian Spirit so far as renewed and sanctified to desire and long for that better State and Life beyond the Grave I know there may be an impatient Sense of present troubles or an inordinate Fear of threatning Dangers and Calamities that may make some sinfully desire to be uncloathed make them long for Death and be glad to find the Grave O Lord I beseech thee says Jonah 4. Jonah 3. take away my Life from me for it is better for me to die than to live And my Soul chuseth strangling rather than Life says Job 7. Job 15. But that is not the case here the Apostle goes
upon another Principle he groaned while in this Tabernacle for the glorious State which he believingly foresaw And every renewed Soul has a diposition so to do in his new Nature he is born from above and his very principles have a tendency to Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is attempered and suited to the heavenly State by that very Grace whereby we are made Christians we are instructed to look for and wait for the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ at which appearance we hope to be cloathed upon with an House from Heaven For when he who is our Life shall appear he has promised that we also shall appear in Glory They cannot but desire and long for this if they had no burden of Afflictions and Sorrows in the World that made them groan for deliverance For I am perswaded that all the Conflicts and Exercises of the Apostle Paul either by bodily pains or with enraged malicious Enemies never wrung such a sigh from him as the conflict with his own Corruptions O wretched Man that I am All the pressures that he ever met with in his earthly Tabernacle never made him groan so much as the burden of his own impure Flesh and his lamented distance from the Lord. Therefore consider SECT II. First The Disposition of a sanctified Soul as renewed by the holy Spirit does incline and fit for this II. The want of full Conformity to Christ III. The Sense of our Distance from Him while we are here IV. The unequal Communications of Light and Grace and Comfort from God and Christ which a real Christian doth now Experience will assist these Desires and make him groan for Deliverance First There is such a Disposition in the Soul sanctified by Divine Grace from whence such Desires must needs result They have received the first Fruits of the Spirit as the Earnest of more and therefore groan within themselves waiting for the Adoption even the Redemption of the Body Rom. 8.23 They are now taken into Gods Family as his Children are born from above But the most solemn Act of their Adoption is at the last day when there shall be a full and final Deliverance from all penal and afflictive Evil. Called the Redemption of the Body as Death is the last Enemy to be destroyed and the Body till the Resurrection is under the power of Death Called a Redemption because it is done by vertue of the price and ransom which Christ hath paid for us Having received the first Fruits of the Spirit they groan for the Adoption this Redemption of the Body And by this Spirit they are said to be sealed unto the day of Redemption Eph. 4.30 The holy Spirit assures us of such a day We are now the Temples of the holy Ghost and he will not leave his own Dwelling continually in the dust And by this holy Spirit all our Desires and Hopes of a blessed Resurrection are wrought in us And the mighty Change which is made by the Spirit on the Souls of Believers will evidence the possibility of that Change which is expected as to their Bodies For to raise a dead Soul to spiritual Life is at least an equal Instance of glorious Power as to raise the Body from the Grave This they may well groan for as the most solemn act of their Adoption in conformity to Christ their Head who as some observe though he were the Son of God by his marvellous Conception and owned to be so during his Life yet had the highest Declaration of it at his Resurrection Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee In like manner though be Followers of Christ are now owned and treated as Children yet the most publick Declaration of the Divine favour towards them will be at the last day when their Bodies shall be raised and all the Children of the Resurrection shall be born in a day They are now made meet by the Spirit to be partakers of the heavenly Inheritance 1 Coloss 12. they are now changed into the divine Image prepared and fitted for the heavenly State their Spiritual Life is supported by the delights and comforts of the other World as the Animal Life is by those of the present World They know somewhat of the Excellency of it they find something in themselves that makes them value and desire it and by the little Experience they have had of the Pleasure and Joy of obeying God and conversing with him they conclude how unspeakably better it will be hereafter when their Union and Communion shall be compleat The holy Nature they partake of by Regeneration as mindful of its divine Original doth mount the Soul to Heaven tends to the place from whence it came works towards its Center and makes them restless in their desires after it and by frequent lively believing thoughts of the heavenly Inheritance they gradually enter into it and ripen for Glory the nearer they come to the full Possession We read of being changed from Glory to Glory 2 Cor. 3.18 by partaking of the divine Image So that as Grace increaseth Glory hasteneth on and every degree of Grace is a step nearer to Glory For the more conformable we are to the divine Image the more meet are we to dwell with God And he that hath fitted the new Nature to the heavenly Life will not fail to bring his Children to it when he has wrought them for this felf same thing and given them the Earnest of his Spirit 2 Cor. 5.6 The new Nature saith one does as naturally ascend to Heaven when uncloathed of Flesh and hath left all the Relicks of Corruption behind it as the pure flame aspires into the Air and seems to long to inbody it self with the Sun the Fountain of Light By this they have a fitness for Heaven and a Disposition for that blessed Life which as it daily increaseth must make their desires stronger to enter upon it For there is a Beauty in the divine Image and a sweetness in our imperfect Graces in the present Actings of 'em that must make us value and desire Perfection There is an Heavenly Sweetness in every Act of love to God and Christ that may make the Soul cry out oh how happy should I be could I but love as much and as long as I would could I be all Love and alway Loving might my God and Saviour be my constant desire delight and Joy I would not envy the Honours or Pleasures of any in this World what then is that blessed State which I now hope for with persocted Graces in the presence of Christ SECT III. If our Faith be true so as to unite us to Christ and make us soundly believe the Gospel Revelation and consent to be his our Affections must needs be kindled to a willingness and desire to be with him And if our Hope be of the right kind it must be an Expectation with desire and pleasure of the great and glorious things
Receptacles of the Dead might be suffered to be quiet for ever and the Bodies that rest there to remain there for ever if we do not expect the same Body to be raised And as the Body was the Servant of Photii Bibliotheca S. Nilt Oratio Prima Secunda in Patch p. 1528 c. the Soul in good or evil actions * Si quidem Sola Anima praeclaras edidit Officii Actiones Jola eriam Coronetur Sin autem Corpus quoque partem sustinuerit Certaminum coronetur etiam Anima unà cum ipso Corpore Hoc enim justum aquum Convenicntissimum est Isid Pelus lib. 4. Epist 201. He that did good or evil in one Body is not to be Rewarded or Punished in another for that other Body would not be a part of the whole Our present bodies are the Members of Christ and the Temples of the Holy Ghost and he will not suffer them Eternally to be lost What words can more plainly express that it is the same body for substance than the putting on of Incorruption and Immortality declaring that the Corruptible Mortal Body that is laid in the Grave is that which shall be Immortal and Incorruptible This has been the common opinion of Christians in all Ages Upon this account the Primitive Christians were so careful of the Bodies of their deceased Friends manifesting their belief that their Souls should meet these Bodies again On this account their Pagan Adversaries to show their spite and malice when they had burnt their bodies to ashes scattered their dust in the Air or had thrown them into Rivers that if it were possible they might deprive them of all hopes of a Resurrection and make it impossible Some of them triumph'd saying Now let us see whether they can rise again whether their God can help them or deliver them out of our * See more of this in Dr. More 's Mystery of Godliness l. 6. c. 4. With Dr. Beaumont's Observations thereon And Dr. Bury's Naked Gospel Part. 1. Chap. 11. With Mr. Nichols's Answer hands SECT II. But though the bodies shall then for Substance be the same with those we now have yet the modes and qualities of them will be so altered that they will be quite another kind of bodies than those we have for the present In reference to this Expected Change the Apostle saith in this Chapter ver 7. That we walk by Faith not by Sight We do not yet know what our Happy State by that Change will be but in another place he doth more particularly speak of it and more distinctly viz. 1 Cor. 15.42 43 44. 1. That our vile bodies Sown in Dishonour shall be Raised in Glory shall be made Glorious like the Glorious Body of Christ Phil. 3.21 That which is sown in dishonour shall be raised in Glory and bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam Shall be like the Glorious Body of Christ in Perfection of Parts even in External form and figure and it may be stature too But for certain how vile and mean soever the matter of these bodies now be however they may corrupt and putrifie in the Grave they shall come forth in a bright and beautiful form Compared to which the most Exquisite Beauty is but Darkness and Deformity For the Righteous shall shine as the Sun in the Firmament of their Father Matth. 13.43 As the Stars of Heaven differ from a Clod of Earth or a Carrion in the Ditch so will their Glorified Bodies from this Earthly House The very activity sprightfulness and joy of their Glorified Souls will make their faces shine and give the Countenance an amiable Air. Yea Solomen in all his Glory was not arrayed like one of these Children of the Resurrection glittering with Heavenly brightness and deck'd with Light as with a Garment The beams of Christ's Glory who is the Sun of Righteousness shall reflect a Lustre upon them besides what shall be transmitted from their Glorified Souls Our Lord gave a Specimen of this at his Transfiguration and his Glorified Body is to be the Pattern of ours His face did then shine as the Sun Matt. 17.2 the Substance remaining there was a Glorious Appearance For he had the same Lineaments in Tabor as at the foot of the Mount otherwise Peter could not have distinguished him from Moses and Elias * Mr. Charnock of Christ's Exaltation Vol. 2. P. 1093. But his Body now in Heaven doth more excel in Glory that Body he had on Earth than the Glory of the Sun surpasses that of a Glow-worm not only from the Glory of his Soul but of his Divinity shining through it What a wonderful Change must pass on the bodies of the Glorified Saints to make them capable of beholding this Glory of Christ when a little Glimpse of it on Mount Tabor was more than a Mortal Eye could bear it cast Peter into an Exstasie Our Lord forbad his Disciples to speak of the Glory of his Transfiguration till after he was Risen from the Dead but now is willing and hath commanded it should be spoken of all the World over that our thoughts and apprehensions may be raised to consider that Glory which this did but imperfectly shadow and represent For if before his Resurrection and Ascension the Human Nature of Christ had such a Glory how much more in Heaven and we shall be like him Moses on the Mount did so shine that the People were afraid to come near him and he was forced to cast a Vail upon his Face One ray of Christs Glory on the Holy Martyr Stephen made his Countenance shine with an Angelical Lustre And when he shall appear we shall be like him he will then be admired of all them that believe We shall be like him who is the Blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who alone hath Immortality dwelling in that Light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen or can see 1 Tim 6.15 16. 2. There will be a change of these bodies in respect of Spirituality It is sown a Natural body and raised a Spiritual one The grossness and Feculency that now adheres to it shall be purged off Not Spiritual in opposition to Corporeal that is a Contradiction but in oppositition to Natural of a Spiritual Nature in opposition to this infirm flesh a body raised to the highest degree of Excellence as near the Angelical State as a body can be brought It is called our House from Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not an House that is to descend from Heaven to us but that is of an Heavenly Nature all of a Peice with Heaven So Purified as to be Assimilated to the Heavenly Region where we are to dwell for ever The first Man was of the Earth Earthly the second Man is the Lord from Heaven And from each of them we partake of an answerable Nature As is the Earthly such are they that are
and made thee meet for it These Desires it is true are but faint and weak to what the promised salvation may Justly chalenge yet they are holy and sincere and have God and Christ and his blessed Presence above for their Object thou hast his Image and seal imprinted on thy Nature Mind and Will This Evidence and Experience in thy self shall no be deseated in its Tendency and Designt SECT II. Secondly In our Contemplation of this happy State which the saints desire beyond the Grave we ought to remember that though the Glorious Change of the Body be one part the Felicity of the Soul is the principal one Yea the Glory of departed Souls is one great Cause and Means of that happy Change which we expect for the Body To be with Christ and behold his Glory and partake of it does especially refer to the Soul We shall see him as he is and in that respect be made like him We are now the Children of God by free Grace and Adoption but his admirable Love will not desist till our Consormity to his Image be more compleat till we are brought to his Presence and partake of his Holiness to that degree as to be the objects of his eternal Complacence and Delight Father I will says Christ that those that thou hast given me should be with me to behold my Glory Then all our Sins and Failings all our Follies and Infirmities all our Wrinkles and Blemishes all our Transgressions and Imperfections shall be done away and our Souls shall be washed white in the Blood of the Lamb being conformed to our Divine Pattern The lesser Manifestations of the Spiritual Glory of Christ which we have sometimes here are highly valuable to a Saint but unspeakably short of that which we expect these hereafter will be more clear more transforming more satisfactory and more lasting We now see through a Glass but darkly but we shall know as we are known for we shall see him as he is We hope for an inlightened and inlarged Mind to behold the Excellency and Radiancy of the Divine Perfections shining in and through our glorified Redeemer This will oblige the most Improved Saint that ever left this Earth to cry out with the Queen of Sheba concerning Solomon that the one half was never told them was not known or believed before And if we are changed into his Image by beholding his Glory in the Gospel-glass the Vision hereafter will be more clear and so the Change will be greater and the Delight and Complacence resulting from it must needs be unspeakably more And this is our Comfort that it will be such as shall last for ever If we have any Glymps of him at present by the Light of Faith we quickly lose the sight again How soon does an interposing Cloud hide him from us But the Felicity of the Blessed Vision above will be permanent we shall dwell for ever in the joyful Light of his Countenance and abide with him continually in the Heavenly Mansions SECT III. Thirdly Let us then indeavour to confirm our Faith in the Expectation of this blessed State for Soul and Body after Death Let us keep the Grounds of Faith visible in our Eye let us imploy our Thoughts frequently and seriously upon the blessed Object Let us deeply and often consider the cogent Reasons upon which we believe and expect such things both the intrinsick Grounds of Faith and the Motives of Credibility that our Assent may be the more firm and lasting that our Christian Faith may influence us as present things are wont to do Did we not look upon the great things of the other Life as uncertain we could not but reckon them preferable to the best of our present Injoyments Did we believe them we could not but desire 〈…〉 for our not desiring that blessed State but our criminal Infidelity that we believe it not For were we but fully perswaded of the truth of the Promises we must needs imbrace them for their Goodness and Excellency and then we should long till Death did draw aside the Vail open the Gate of Heaven and bring us into the Divine Presence But we waver and doubt concerning the invisible future World and hence it is that we close with what is Present because we are not equally perswaded of the Truth and Cortainty of what is Future Let us then indeavour to strengthen and confirm our Faith SECT IV. Fourthly Let us regulate our Affections and Carriage in this Earthly Tabernacle as Persons who believe and expect such a glorious Change Let us pass the time of our Sojourning in this World as Pilgrims and Strangers Let us abstain from fleshly Lusts that War against our Souls Let us use both our Souls and Bodies answerable to the belief of such things Let us watch lest we are surprized into sin by our bodily Senses Appetites and Imagination Let us remember that the Soul and Body like two diseased Creatures bound together in one chain do now mutually infect corrupt and Poyson one another Let us take heed of sin by the inordinate Love of Bodily Pleasure or the undue fear of Bodily Suffering Let us imitate the Pattern of Christ while he dwelt in a Body and labour to have the same Mind which he had to be in this World as he was in it Lot the good and evil of this World have less powerful impression upon us Let us not be over fond of the Pleasures of the Animal Life may they every day be less considerable with us Let us not so love the Body as on that account to decline any present Duty much less so over-love it as to prefer the Comforts of the present Life to a future Felicity Let us not regret over much that such an earthly Tabernacle must fall into dust that such a perishing Body must dissolve and lye in the Grave We are sensible how weak and useless it was for a good while at first before the Body was fitted for the service of the Soul and we cannot but be sensible what a Trouble and Temptation it has been since Let the burdens and inconveniences of the bodily Life be more tolerable let us not be impatient under them let us be willing that the outward Man decay so that the inward Man be renewed let our Judgment and Esteem our Desires and Indeavours our Joys and Sorrows be rectified and moderated as to all that refers to the Body and this Present Life Let our Eyes and Hearts be fixed on the Heavenly State let us remember we are a sort of Creatures related to the other World though we dwell at present in an earthly Tabernacle In the midst of our earthly Comforts let us think of the Heavenly State and Lise as infinitely better Let us keep alive the Desires of the Presence of Christ and fuller Conformity to him in the height of our Temporal Prosperity Let the believing Thoughts of the Caelestial State be unspeakably sweeter to us than the best of all this
depart and be with Christ And how faulty are the Causes of it which in * See Mourner's Companion Discourse 3d. The Saints Desire to be with Christ another Discourse I have open'd How is it that so few can say with the Apostle I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better Have we not Experienced enough of the Vanity and Vexation of this World to make us willing of a better Abode Have we not sinned and suffered enough in this Body to desire to be uncloathed at least to wait patiently the Pleasure of God for our Removal And so glorious is the Change which Christians expect that one would think there should rather be need of Patience to make a Believer wait till then But whatever the exercise of this Patience under present Burdens may be we need not doubt but one hours Enjoyment will make amends for all our Waiting and Preparing It cannot be long with the Youngest of us Let us not put it at a great Distance for that will quench the Coal of Heavenly Desire if we look upon Heaven as Twenty or Thirty years off We know not how soon God may call us But have great Reason to lament the strangeness of our Thoughts to the Heavenly State and the faintness of our Desires when the Promised Felicity is so attractive Do we think we shall live ever the longer for being unwilling to Dye Can it enter into our Thoughts that our excessive Love of the Body will procure our Continuance in it Is it possible we should imagine that sincerity of Love to Christ is consistent with our Backwardness to go to him and live with him Why then do we not aspire more earnestly after this glorious Change How is it that we groan under the Burdens of this Earthly Tabernacle and yet are loth to be delivered Will a Sick Man be afraid of his Recovery Or a Prisoner tremble at the News of a Goal-delivery No more should a real Christian be afraid of Death or unwilling of it For considering the Death and Resurrection and Ascension and Promise of Christ it is to a Believer a quick Passage from Sickness to eternal Health from Toil and Labour Captivity and Sorrow to everlasting Rest and Liberty and Joy I think says * Mr. Baxter of Self-denial p. 202. one God has purposely cloathed your Soul with so poor a Dress that you should be the less unwilling to be uncloathed and might learn to set more by your Souls than by your Bodies and make more careful Provision for them It seems he has purposely lodged you in so poor a Cottage that you should not be at too much Care for it nor be too loth to leave it You have its daily Necessities Infirmities and Pains and somewhat of its Filth and Loathsomness to tell you of its Meanness And why should you be so unwilling that so frail a Body should be turned to Dust Dust it is and to Dust it is Sentenced When the Soul has left it but a Week Men can scarce indure to see it or smell it And should the breaking of such an Earthen Vessel be so unpleasant a thing to you And for its Vsefulness though so far as it is obedient it was serviceable to your Souls and to God Yet was it so refractory ill-disposed and disobedient that it proved no better than your Enemy Many a Temptation it hath entertained and cherished and many a Sin hath it drawn you to commit Your Senses have let in a World of Vanity your Wandering Eyes have called in Covetousness and Pride and Lust Your Greedy Apperites have been so eager on the Bait that they have too often born down your Faith and Reason and drawn you to Excess in Meats or Drinks for Matter or Manner for Quality or Quantity or both Many a Groan these Sins have cost you and a sad uncomfortable Life you have had by reason of them in comparison of what you might have had and this Flesh has been the Mother or the Nurse of all You were engaged by your Baptismal Covenant to Fight against it when you entered into the Church and if you are Christians this Combate has been your daily Work and much of the Business of your Lives And yet are you loth to have the Victory and see your Enemy under your feet Have you fought your selves into Friendship with it that you are so tender of it Do you not know that when you are the greatest Friends to the Body it will be the most dangerous Enemy to you Do not think that it is only Sin and not the Body that is the Flesh which the Scripture calls your Enemy For it is the Body as inclining to Creatures from which the sinful Soul cannot restrain it It is the Body as having an inordinate sensitive Appetite and Imagination and so distempered as that it rebels against the Spirit and casteth off the Rule of Reason and would not be curbed of its Desires but have the Rule of all its self Was it not the very Flesh it self that Paul says he fought against and kept under and brought into Subjection lest he should be a Cast-away 1 Cor. 9.26 Why should Sin be called Flesh and Body but that it is the Body or Flesh that is the principal seat of those sins that are so called c. How earnestly should we beg of God that Faith and Hope in Vigorous Exercise that may kindle our Desires and Love towards the Heavenly State and make us long to behold the Lord in Glory when we shall put off this Body and our Souls be filled with Heavenly Light and Love Certainly if we do not now desire it we shall never enjoy it For we can never be happy by full satisfaction in that which we do not know enough of to make us desire But the little Knowledge and Love of God which a real Christian now hath must needs make him Importunate in his Requests for more and will make him value his Hopes of a better State beyond all the Pleasures of Sin and all the Possessions of this World O How Passionately have some excellent Persons lamented the weakness of their Desires and Love and cryed out for more of Heavenly Life and Light and Love to God! O * Mr. Baxter's Dying Thoughts p. 184. 212. where is the longing the rejoycing the triumphing Faith VVhere is the pleasant familiarity above that should make a Thought of Christ and Heaven to be sweeter to me than the Thought of Friends and Health or all the Pleasure and Prosperity in the World Do those that dwell in God and God in them and have their Heart and Conversation in Heaven attain to no more clear and satisfying Preception of that blessed State than I have yet attained Is there no more Acquaintance above to be here expected No livelier sense of future Joys No sweeter Fore tastes No fuller silencing of Doubts and Fears Alas How many Christians are less afraid to go