I doubt not be the better spared especially considering it is an Article of our faith universally received of the whole Church of God at all times and ages Deu. 29.18 notwithstanding if there be any here in whose wicked heart there is yet the root of Gall and Wormewood so that when hee heareth this hee blesseth himselfe in his froward and wicked course as though there were no such resurrection or further reckoning to bee expected Let such a one if the booke of God will not give him satisfaction looke abroad into the large volumne of Nature where questionlesse if his eye bee not too much dimmed with the fog and mist of Athisme and prophaines he shall be sure to finde the infinite wisedome and power of Almighty God in ordering and disposing by the hand of providence many other things not unlike in nature but altogether is impossible to the judgement of man as this is to their severall ends which according to his eternall decree at the first he had determined For instance there shall he finde the glorious Lampe of the World the Sunne I meane in the evening going downe having his beautifull eye closed with the shaddow of the night and himselfe quite covered over with the thicke and black mantle of the same as with his winding sheete and shrowded in darkenesse continuing for a time untill his Creator mindfull of his covenant the morning approaching raiseth him up againe in such a glorious manner that loe he commeth forth Psal 19.15 Psal 19.15 Like a Bridgroome out of his chamber and reioyceth like a strong man to runne a race There likewise shall he see the Moone wasting and wayning away untill at length shee seemeth quite lost and gone but within a few dayes after he shall see her againe filling her hornes with light and the Heavens with brightnesse There shall hee behold the infant buried certaine moneths in the wombe of his Mother but in the end comming forth upon the stage of the World a glorious Creature Cor. 15 and richly adorned with the Image of the Creator There lastly shall hee see the Corne not quickned except it dye nor the trees and plants of the earth flourishing untill first they have endured a Winters death But if neither the Booke of God nor yet of Nature can give such a cavelling and Athiesticall wretch as this is satisfaction I for mine owne part shall give him over to the seate of Justice to bee answered as they were Nehem. 13.2 rather verbere quam verbo Neh. 13.2 with the fist of the Magistrate then with any dispute or force of argument And so I come to the persons that shall arise in these words Thy dead men shall live FOr the further cleering of which words two questions must of necessity be answered The first is whether these words doe not crosse those in the 14 ver before going For there it is said Thy dead men shall not live And here it is said That they shall live and that They shall arise Now betweene live and not live not rise and arise a man would thinke were a plaine contradiction The second question is why the Spirit of God termeth them the Prophets dead men and not dead men in generall in these words Thy dead men shall live To answere both in order First we are to know that there is no contradiction no saying nor unsaying betweene the words of my Text and those formerly delivered in the 14. verse For whereas our Prophet saith in the 14 verse Thy dead men shall live or as some will have it They are dead shal they not live c or as others Hi mortuj non vivent such dead men as these shall not live He poynteth out questionlesse wicked and ungodly persons formely mentioned in this Chapter Such as our Saviour Christ aimeth at Mat. 8.22 Mat. 8 22. when hee willeth that officious Disciple to suffer The dead to bury their dead And on the other side by the word Thy a plaine note of difference and distinction in these words of my Text our Prophet doubtlesse notes out a special and chosen company differing from the rest Rev. 20.6 over whom death hath no power but they shall live eternally In a word First by those in the 14 verse Not living Not arising Rom. 6.21 our Prophet understandeth persons dying in their sinnes Secondly those in my Text Living and Arising Rev. 14.13 hee understandeth persons dying in the Lord. And verily wicked men dying in their sinnes neither are partakers of the first Resurrection neither doth their Resurrection deserve at all so honourable a denomination For as the Death of the righteous cannot properly be said to bee a death it being as one saith wel Occasio vitae non deletio a further living not an utter quenching of the Lampe thereof so on the other side the resurrection of the wicked cannot as I have said properly be called a Resurrection it being a meere precipitation and casting headlong of an unbeleeving catiffe into the devouring jawes of the second death and fatall gulfe of eternall destruction Both in deed good and bad him that serveth God and him that serveth him not shall be raised up at the latter day and yet their resurrection shall much differ Whether we consider 1. Either the manner of the Resurrection 2. The end of the same And first for the manner The Childe of God is raised up by the hand of mercy the wicked man and reprobate by the hand of Justice the one by the vertue of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ piercing into his grave even as you see the Sun and showers in the spring sweetly soaking and sinking downe into the roote of the plant causing in it immediately to bud and blossome forth The other by the arme and power of Almighty God who shall then judge both the quicke and the dead and who shall quoit him out of his grave like a raging and horrible tempest that casteth up both stones and dirt Secondly the one ariseth like a miserable Captive in the fetters of the second death the other like a Free-man in the garments of Glory the one commeth forth like a condemned person having the wrath of God like a cruell Goaler hanging on his arme and hayling him from his grave as from a stinking Dungeon unto the place of execution the other commeth forth like a Bridgroome richly apparelled to meete his beloved spouse or like a banished man who is now arrived upon his native soile Secondly as they differ in the manner so likewise doe they differ in the end of their resurrection the one to bee graciously rewarded the other to bee grievously tormented the one to receive the reward of the righteous the other to receive the doome of the wicked the one to be received into their Masters joy the other to bee clapt up in the prison of woe the one lastly to make good that dreadfull sentence passed upon
comfort Mat. 10.40 that at the last he should not loose the reward of a Prophet Mat. 10.40 Againe what was the reward of them of whom we have such honourable mention a Heb. 11.38 whose names deserve golden letters persons of whom the world was not worthy surely after all their fruites of a lively faith their love their zeale their constant confession of the name of Christ was it not to be tryed with cruell mockings and scourgings to be tortured and horribly tormented to be sawne assunder slaine with the Sword Only here was their comfort that in the end they should obtaine a ioyfull resurrection What lastly was that reward of that good Emperour Hen. 7. after hee had with a deale of care and trouble not onely reformed many disorders and abuses in the Church and publicke state but also had mightily daunted and brought under the haughty courage of the Guelph's faction But at last to be poysoned at the receiving of the blessed Sacrament with an invenomed Host which a traiterous detestable monke of the order of St. Dominicke gave unto him the which Fact of this bloody Monster as it ought of every Loyall heart to bee abhorred and detested so ought the Patience and assured confidence of this most Christian Emperour to be highly Magnified and to the Heavens extolled who as the story saith finding the poyson immediately uppon the receite thereof working in his bowels and thereupon death approaching commanded instantly the Villaine to bee brought before him and thus without all passion spake unto him Tu calicem vitae invertisti mihi in mortem quare o Domine fuge celeriter nam si inimici c. O fayth hee thou hast turned to me the cup of Life into the cup of Death Wherefore flye for if our Friends lay hold on you you are sure to dye a most miserable death and repent you Ego enim moriar secundum voluntatem Domini tu vas ira fuisti c. It is the will of God that I should die this kinde of death but thou hast beene the Vessel of his wrath unto me c. By all which examples omitting thousands it appeareth plainely that the principall reward is reserved till afterward and hitherto serve these and the like comfortable promises Rev. 2.10 Be faithfull unto Death and I will give thee a Crowne of Life And againe To him that overcommeth will I grant to fit with mee in my throne even as I overcame and sit with my Father in his throne And Chap. 22.12 Behold I come shortly and my Reward is with me Rom. 2.6 And Who will render to every man according to his workes The trueth of all which apprehended by a lively Faith maketh the blessed Apostle Paul to cry out with that plerophory and full assurance that he doth 2 Tim. 4.7 2 Tim. 4.7.8 8 Certamen illud praeclarū decertavi cursum consūmavi fidem servavi Hactenus c. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith Hence forth there is laid up for me a Crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall give mee at that day And not to mee onely but to them that love his appearance And to that end our blessed and gratious father dayly giveth to all those that are his chosen sonnes and servants not onely the eye and hand of faith whereby they both see and also apprehend the pretious promises of blisse and happinesse made to them but withall he giveth them the sure Anchor of hope by which it being fastned upon that mighty rocke the Lord Jesus Christ they stay themselves with an assured expectation of the fulfilling and fruition of them either heere or in heaven in this life or that to come And for the further clearing the truth of this I shal not offend I trust if I shew unto you how neare the Heathens come to us in this poynt by relating unto you a story which I have formerly read in one of their writers who though a Heathen Plutarch cōsolat ad Apolonium yet of honourable esteeme to this day amongst us The story then in a word is this Upon a time saith hee a complaint was sent from the Ilands of the Blessed to the judges of the Superiour Courts about certaine persons sent thither who formerly had lived impiously humbly intreating that this abuse thus offered to them might speedily be redressed whereupon these unpertiall judges taking the businesse into their serious considerations found not only the complaint to be true but withall the reason and cause thereof which was that judgment and sentence was passed upon men heere below in their life time Whereupon it oft fell out that many persons cloathed with honourable carkasses riches nobility and other like dignities and advancements brought many witnesses with them who solemnely swore in their behalfe that they deserved to bee sent into the Ilands of the Blessed when the trueth was they deserved the contrary to avoide which inconveniency it was decreed by an eternal doome that for time to come no judgement should bee passed untill after death and that by Spirits only who alone doe see and plainely perceive the spirits and naked soules of such upon whom their Sentence and Uerdict was to passe That so of what estate and condition soever they were they might receive according unto their workes By all which it plainely appeareth how farre the Divine eye of this naturall man led him surely unto the true finding out of a Divine and heavenly truth which is that neither definitive sentence is to bee passed upon any heere below nor that any whatsoever shall receive his full reward of that hee hath done whether it bee good or bad till after this Life And so much in way of answer to the Objection And now a word or two of his Life and Death Neither must it be imagined that intreating of the same I intend any large Discourse of him as of one going to his grave in a full age Iob. 5.26 as a ricke of corne comming in due season into the Barne and the glasse of his life being fully runne but I must measure my selfe by that short life of his a minute a shaddow yea the dreame of a shaddow quite vanished and gone before one can scarce tell twenty For if the holy Prophet David living the age of threescore yeares and ten compareth his life unto a shaddow Psal 108.28 Psalme one hundred and eight verse twenty eight I am gone like a shaddow sayth he that declineth and am tossed up and downe like a Grashopper Then surely the Life of this young Gentleman scarce attayning to one of the three cannot bee so much as a shaddow but must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the meere dreame of a shaddow of no long continuance According to which my purpose is to abreviate and shorten my Discourse without multiplying many words or telling you wonders and strange miracles
onely and no impieties delicta non facinora weaknesses and infirmities no flagicious offences yet was he much troubled at the sight of them oft crying out with righteous Iob Paenitet me and with that holy Prophet David Psal 45.7 peccatum pueritiae mea ne recorderis Domine Lord remember not the sinnes of my youth Observe next his carefull providing of his Viaticum or things necessary for his departure his preparing and fitting of his Lampe with oyle and patient expecting of the Bridgroomes call In all which as is the generall report his care was more then ordinary neither was there any one thing in Heaven or Earth which he so much desired as he did that full assurance of his reconciliation with God to understand what that love of Christ was that passeth all understanding not that hee doubted at all thereof for he found the beginnings and fruits of the same as formerly I have shewed already in his soule mightily cheering up and comforting thereof onely he desired yet more that hee might at the length be filled with the fulnesse of God Eph. 7.19 Eph. 7.19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like the little infant that having but once tasted of the milke of the mother is never contented but mourneth and cryeth until it be fully satisfied and the belly filled therewith or like the hunted Stagge in Summer-time who finding a pleasant streame having once tasted of it is never satisfied untill hee hath sounded the bottome and duckt himselfe overhead and eares therein or rather like that faire Bride the Church I meane Cant. 2.6 Cant. 2.6 who thinketh her selfe never sure of her spouse and love untill his Left hand bee under her head and his right hand doth imbrace her Life hee simply desired not and death hee slavishly feared not for he knew right well that which came first should bee his gayne and great advantage And because for want of sleepe and the malignant and fiery working of his Disease hee feared much least any disorderly impatient or prophane speeches should passe from him to the dishonour of Almighty God and griefe and sorrow of his Friends about him His request therefore was hourely to God for Christs sake to set a watch before his mouth and to keep the doore of his lips And if at any time it hapned as seldome it did that his braine beeing somewhat over-heated he a little swarved from the right rule and so forgot himselfe his manner was after the violence of the fit was over upon inquire made and the truth thereof found humbly to beg pardon for the same with teares to bewaile it All the time of this sharpe tryall and visitation of his was for the most part daily spent eyther in holy conference with such graue Divines as were continually about him for his soules health or in hearty prayers presented before the throne of grace and powred into the golden Censure of the sonne of God wherein earnest request was made unto the Father that though this young souldier of his were thus strongly assaulted yet that hee might so keepe himselfe upon the legs of his Faith that hee might neyther be foyled Ioh. 23.10 nor yet led into temptation and that though hee were tryed unto the full yet that hee might in the end come out like pure Gold Iob 23.10 Neyther did this blessed servant of God hold it sufficient to have others pray for him except he likewise performed the same duty himselfe remembring well that hee that hath but once drunke a full draught of the River of Grace it cannot be Iohn 7.38 but out of his belly must needes flow rivers of water of Life The which prayers of his were delivered with such contrition of heart such Faith resting it selfe upon the promises of God such patient and humble submission of himselfe to the will of his gracious Father that it was an admiration to all about him to behold so tender a plant to bring foorth such delicate and precious fruite And thus while his body is here below his soule is seeking after things above his body a prisoner laden with gyves and fetters of his disease his soule is at liberty soaring up on high and sweetly conversing with that blessed society in Heavenly places The which it did divers dayes together going and comming till at last like another Noahs Dove it quite left his troubled Arke and this tempestuous World mounting up a loft above all earthly things and seated it selfe uppon the pleasant Mount Syon Vbi moritur omnis necessitas Vbi oritur summa faelicitas where all want ceaseth and all blisse increaseth even that place where are those fragrant and delightful fields replenished with all the trees of Myrrhe Frankincense and Alloes with sweete beds full of the richest and chiefest spices Cant. 4.12 13. where he dayly feedeth and so shall doe till that blessed day breake and all shadowes flye away Cant 4.6 And thus have I as briefly as I could without either wringing or churning being loath to lye for him as a man lyeth for his friend Pro. 30.33 Iob 13.9 set forth to you the Life and Death of this young Gentleman The which the more I thinke of the more I cannot but highly commend that true honour of Wedlocke and mirrour of widow-hood the noble and vertuous Lady his sorrowfull mother for her religious and Christian educating of him all his young and tender yeares dropping then grace into his heart and filling the same with Heavenly liquor the pleasant scent thereof never left him unto the last houre and minute of his life Her extraordinary care this way I shall not neede at large to relate unto you sith the whole Country round about can sufficiently witnesse the same to her immortall praise onely this I will say that if the holy Scripture as wee know it doth maketh such honourable mention of Bersheba and Evnice for their diligence in teaching their Sonnes Solomon and Timothy in their tender age the trade of their way And againe if holy Augustine ascribeth to his mother Monacha her teares and prayers next under God the ground of all the good that after so many wandrings and wanton actions of his at length appeared in him And lastly if Cornelia be so highly remembred in the Roman story for bringing up those famous Gracchi her sonnes so carefully as she did in their infancy and growing yeares making her the mother not onely of their naturall lives but also of their vertuous living and Heroicke demeanour I cannot see why his worthy Lady should not have the like honour and high respect at the hands of all for the religious care over this her sonne from his birth to his last breath And therefore being so however Almighty God for causes best knowne to himselfe hath thus as we see taken away the subject of her desired and chiefest care not suffering her lippes scarce to tast the fruite of that which she with a deale of paines had
egredere go forth my soule go forth feare not so are up to that blessed society that is above Heb. 12 22.23.24 that cōpany of angels spirits of iust perfect men to Iesus mediator and to the bloud of sprinkling that speaketh better things then the bloud of Abel As for my dead carkase I deliver it wholly over into the hands of my blessed Saviour Tim. 1.12 being well assured that he is of powerable to keep that which is thus committed to him Secondly as the resurrection of the elect as I have shewed you will be very beautifull so againe will it be very joyfull as may appeare by the words following wherein they are willed To awake and sing The which words may be understood either First as a rethoricall passage wherein the blessed Spirit turneth his speech to the dead bodies willing them to Awake and sing Or secondly in way of Prophesie wherein he fore-telleth as an addition to their future happinesse that they shall Awake and sing If then we take the words in the first sense then have we no other then an application or use that the spirit of God maketh of that comfortable Doctrine formerly declared concerning the resurrection of the dead in speaking to them as persons living and willing them to Awake and sing many the like passages we meete withall in the booke of God where we finde the Holy Ghost speaking to things unreasonable as though they were reasonable sencelesse as having understanding Isa 1.21 Deut. 30 Isa 41.1 Hos 4.3 Jer. 2.12 dead as living sometimes calling them forth to bee Judges sometimes to bee witnesses somtimes to rejoyce somtimes to mourne somtimes to looke boldly somtimes to blush and be ashamed All which together with the reason why the blessed Spirit cloatheth his discourses in such Retoricall and rich attire I doe willingly omit fearing lest through teadiousnesse I might bee troublesome And yet before I wholly leave this poynt and come unto the second I thinke it not amisse to touch one necessarie dutie which the methode that the holy Ghost here observeth affoordeth to us in making as I said so excellent an use of those comfortable doctrines formerly delivered For whereas in the words preceding he assureth the bodies of Saints Inhabiting in the dust that they shall not onely a rise but in a most glorious manner and that till then they are under the wings and protection of a most gratious keeper so in these words he turneh himselfe unto them and maketh this blessed use of all willing them To awake and sing The which necessary duty as it rightly concerneth the ministers of the word in delivering divine truth as if time would serve me I might easily prove so likewise doth it the soule of every Christian man or woman whensoever they heare promises or threatnings published or delivered The which that they may the better doe a necessary thing it is for feare of making false constructions to harken what the Conscience that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or treasure of the soule speaketh For beeing the concluding part of the understanding it will easily tell a man how his case standeth either by accusing or excusing absolving or condemning For instance thou art a wicked and ungodly liver and thou hearest these or the like dreadfull judgements threatned thundred out against Adulterers Swearers impious and ungodly livers That a flying booke of Curses shall enter into the houses of such persons Zach. 5.3.4 Iob. 15.12 15. Iob. 20.7 and overthrow them quite That their strength shall bee famine and that Brimstone shall bee scattered upon their Habitations That they shall perish like their owne Dunge And that they that have knowne them before shall say where are they Now art thou desirous to know whether this bee the portion of thy cup or no then harken to thy conscience and marke well her words for questionlesse upon the hearing of the same shee will thus conclude Zach. 10.3 Math. 7.6 But thou art such a one debauched person and one of this rout and brutish crue a stinking Goat a filthy Swine a snarling Dog and therefore Phil. 3.2 all those heavy judgements and woefull plagues are due to thee as thy lot and portion One the other side thou art one upon whose heart the Word of God hath wrought effectually so that now thou wholly seekest after things above Thine Eye thy Tongue thy Hand thy Pilgrimes Weedes namely Mortification and a new Life doe plainly shew it Many promises thou daily meetest withall like delitious Waters dropping out of the Bucket of Iacob Col. 3.12 5.1 Rom. 6.4 Cor. 4.10 the which thou art exceeding desirous to know whether they bee thine or no A thing that thou maist easily doe if thou wilt but listen what thy conscience speaketh which upon the hearing of the same will assuredly after this sort both assume and reply But thou my deare friend my yoake-fellow and companion art one of this blessed company as not onely my selfe but my whole life and conversation doe plainely witnesse therefore these promises doe belong to thee Secondly if wee take the words in the future tense in way of prediction and prophesies as well wee may for that in the Hebrewe language the Imparative mood and future tense are set and placed the one usually for the other then have we a souveraigne preservative against the feare and sadnesse of death in that the spirit of God assureth these inhabitants of the dust that they shall Awake and sing The which that we may the better see we are to consider First who the persons are whom he termeth Inhabitants of the dust Secondly their happy estate and condition at the latter day in that they shal Awake and sing And first the persons that are termed here the Inhabitant of the dust we are to understand no other then those formerly mentioned under the name of his dead variety of expression setting forth the selfe same persons as may appeare not onely by the word Yee as putting a speciall difference betweene them and others but also for that though that all good bad shal awake and rise yet all not awake sing Isa 65.13 but the greatest company shall Isa 65 13 Cry for sorrow of heart and howle for vexation of minde Qu. But why are they called the Inhabitants of the dust why doth not the blessed Spirit give them a more noble denomination not rather Gods Iewels Pros 13.14 Isa 35.10 Gods Redeemed Hos 13.14 Gods chosen Esay 35.10 or as formerly hee did his dead carkasses but inhabitants of the dust I answer First generally to declare and manifest the mutability of all humane flesh and that there is nothing in man or in the sonne of Man whether Riches Honour Beauty strength or wit yea pure Religion farre more precious then them all that can hold him whom death will have or latch the arrow that death shooteth This is that David affirmeth Psal 89.48 when
and bondage from off their shoulders now for that this was a thing hard to be beleeved and altogether impossible in their weak conceits as may appeare by their words Behold Ezek. 37.11 say they Our bones are dry our hope is gone we are cleane cut off we find not only the Prophet Ezekel in the forenamed chapter but our Prophet Isay in the verse that I have read labouring from God to settle stablish their wavering and doubtfull hearts in the truth thereof both by a strange vision as also by an invincible argument taken from the Resurrection of the dead The which as it is a mayne principle in true Christian Religion beeing an Article of our Faith a Maxime in Divinity imbraced of all the whole Society of Gods faithfull servants so beeing certaynly beleeved and by the arme of Faith imbraced as an infallible and undoubted truth it will so strengthen and cheere up the heart of him that is the servant of God that hee shall neyther feare the most fierce and fiery tryals nor yet question any of the promises of Almighty God how difficult even impossible soever they appeare to a carnall eye For instance whence was it that Abraham that blessed Patriarcke with such constant Resolution expected that in time hee should imbrace a sonne how ever the course of nature cryed loud against it Rom. 4.17 was it not as it is playne Rom. 4.17 for that hee that promised was Hee that raised the dead and calleth things that are not as though they were Whence agayne was it that holy Iob that meeke and humble servant of Christ with such admired patience indured the stripping of all his goods the losse of his children and the remooving of his hope from him like a Tree was it not as hee himselfe acknowledgeth Chapter 19. Iob. 19.15.26 verse 15.26 For that hee was resolved that his Redeemer lived and that at the latter day hee should see God in his flesh Whence lastly was it that Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater then all the treasures of Aegypt was it not the fight hee had Heb. 11 Hebrewes the eleventh Chapter of him that was Invissible and assured hope of the recompence of reward after this life No marvaile then that our Prophet as I said laboured to settle the minds of this dejected people with an argument taken from the same It being full of comfort as also forcible to perswade drawne as you see a maiore ad minus from the greater to the lesse The nature of which that we may finde out the better wee will in this verse consider these two things 1. A Consolation 2. A Reason First the Consolation is no other then a joyfull conclusion taken and drawne as formerly was shewed from the resurrection of the dead in these words Thy dead men shall live even with my body shall they arise awake and sing yee inhabitants of the dust The reason is laid downe in way of Fortification or strengthning of the consolation in these words For thy dewe is as the dewe of hearbes and the earth shall give up her dead In the Consolation we finde 1. That there is a resurrection of the dead 2. The manner of the same In speaking of the first wee will observe two things 1. The truth of this Article that there is a Resurrection 2. The quality of the persons that are sayd to arise in these words Thy dead men shall live For the manner of the Resurrection we find it 1. Very beautifull 2. Very Joyfull The first in these words With my body shall they arise The second set foorth by a kinde of Rethoricall passage or Apostrophe or turning of his speech to the Dead willing them to awake and sing Secondly the reason is no other then a forceable argument taken and drawne from the vertue and power of the Resurrection of Christ which in the end wil be the same to the dead that the Dew is to the hearbes filling and inforcing the earth to cast up her dead Of all these things in order and very briefly And first of the consolation in generall that there is a Resurrection of the dead in these words Thy dead men shall live c. The which as it is a comfortable proposition so it is delivered by him not as Tully delivered his conclusions of the contempt of Death faintly and doubtfully but with great confidence fulnesse of assurance And iustly whether wee consider the universallity of this truth it being constantly imbraced of the whole Church of God throughout all ages but likewise the antiquity of the same it beeing infolded in that first and gracious promise made to Adam our Father in assuring him Gene. 3.15 That the seede of the woman should breake the Serpents head And hence it was that Heva the Mother of us Gen. 3.15 and all the living having brought forth Seth speaketh as she doth Gen. 4.25 Gen. 4.25 Reposuit mihi Deus Semen alterum c. Oh saith she God hath given me another Abel He hath kept him for a time and now at length hath restored him to me againe The like divine consolation possessed questionlesse the beleeving heart not onely of Abraham but of all the holy Patriarches besides as may appeare both by their servent and longing desire after the Messiah whom they knew was ordained by the Father to be the Resurrection and the life as also by the honourable testimony that the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes giveth of their faith herein Cap. 11.13 Heb. 11.13 when he saith that They all dyed in the Faith not having the promises but having seene them a farre off and were perswaded of them and imbraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrimes on the earth And therefore saith hee verse 16. God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a City This was likewise the comfortable doctrine Exod 3.6 which Christ our blessed Saviour preached in the bush to Moses Exod 3.6 as himselfe averreth Mat 22.31.32 Mat. 22.31 32. when he thus spake unto him I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Iacob This was that which the Apostle Paul in all his writings published affirming withall both before the governour Faelix and that honourable assembly Act. 24.15.16 Act. 24.15 16 That it was a maine principle which put him on to have a pure conscience towards God and towards men and to account as he telleth the Phillippians Chap. 3.7 8. Phil. 3.7.8 those things that were advantage to him but as losses so that hee might attaine the resurrection of the dead Yea the holy Scriptures are not onely plentifull in Testimonies proving the truth thereof but in examples likewise of persons dead and some of them rotting in their graves who have by the power of Almighty God beene perfectly restored to life again my labour therfore in further proving the truth therof may