shall give us He himself in that place sheweth us that he speaks not that but only to shew us that although our bodies shall rise in the same substance which now they have they shall notwithstanding be changed in quality and glory seeing that this corruption most put on incorruption and that this mortality shall be swallowed up of life and put on immortality 1 Cor. 15. declaring that they shall be these self same bodies in substance but divers in qualities St. Paul saith Phil. 3. Christ will transform this vile body that it may be made like unto his glorious boâ—y according to the power by which he is able to make all things subject unto himself Mat. 27. Whereon followeth that as Jesus Christ rose again in the same body which was crucified for us being cleansed and discharged of all infirmity Luke 24. John 20. also we shall rise again in the same bodies which now we have in this world having in them cold heat hunger and thrist poverty sickness banishment imprisonment and such like adversities Heb. 10. 11. being cleansed and disrobed of all that which by sin did cause us any grief for Justice of God cannot consist without remunerating the bodies of those that have sought for his glory in crowning his graces in them and punishing those which have laboured to offend him Moreover we see that those which the Prophets and Apostles and Jesus Christ himself have raised again Mat. 27. it hath been in the self same bodies in the which the had lived before Who doubts but those that rose again at the death of our Lord did rise in the self same hodies which they had before for otherwise how should they have been known by those to whom they did appear The Apostles puts us out of doubt of it saying 1 Cor. 15. That if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead doth dwell in us he that hath raised up Christ from the dead will also quicken our mortal bodies because his spirit dwelleth in us he saith more over that the body which is sown in corruption shall rise again in incorruption It is sown in dishonour it shall rise again in glory it is sown in weakness it shall rise again in power it is sown a sensual body it shall rise a spiritual body Wherefore we ought to believe that the bodies which now we have shall be the self same which shall rise again in the same substance but the earthly qualities shall be changed into heavenly which is no small consolation seeing that we love our bodies so much although that in this world they be laden with so many miseries The Third point AS concerning the Authour of the Resurrection the Scripture doth declare unto us that God the Father in the beginning made man by his word Gen. 1. 2. which is his son John 1. and having made his body breathed into him a living soul by his spirit Gen. 2. Psal 33. so in the Resurrection of the dead 2 Cor. 4. he shall raise us again by his Son in a quickning spirit And when the Son of justice shall come in judgment for to judge the quick and the dead Mal. 4. the Sun shall wax dark Revel 1. and the Moon shall not yield her light 2 Tim. 4. and the brightness of the Stars shall be seen no more then if they were fallen from Heaven and the vertues which are in the Heavens as the Stars Mat. 24. the Planets and other coelestial creatures with Heaven and Earth shall be shaken Luke 21. Revel 6. then the Sea and her waves shall roar after an unaccustomed manner 2 Pet. 3. and when the order of nature shall be changed those shall be signs of the coming of the Son of man Mat. 16. And when that Jesus Christ the Son of God shall come who took humane nature upon him in the Virgins womb Luke 1. Acts 1. he shall come in the same body wherewith he did converse here below upon the Earth before and after his death as he himself declares calling himself the Son of man sent of God his Father Mat. 24. Mark 13. who gave him power to do judgment in so much as he is the Son of man Luke 24. John 5. set above the clouds at the right hand of the power of God Mark 16.24 1 Thess 4. accompanied with the voices of Archangels and of Angels with Gods Trumpets Rev. 1. and all eyes shall behold him Mat. 24. for he will cause his sign to appear in Heaven 1 Cor. 15. and his voice to be heard the which at the last trump shall be heard of those that have been put into the Sepulchres to the end that first they may rise again 1 Thess 4. and those which shall be found living shall hear it also to the end they may be translated which unto them shall be a kind of death being changed from mortal and corruptible to immortall and incorruptible bodies 1 Cor. 35. and shall rise again and shall be changed in a moment and twinckling of an eye This day shall not surprise the elect that are in the light because it shall be the day which they have so long waited for and wished with the other creatures 1 Thes 5. 1 John 1 for to those who have overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb 1 Cor. 1. and by the word of their testimony Rom. 8. and have not loved their lives to death 1 John 2.4.8.5 it shall bring unto them an unspeakable joy Rev. 12.21 making them lift up their heads aloft seeing their perfect deliverance come For their Saviour shall send his Angels with great sound of Trumpets to gather them together Esay 35. how far in sunder soever they be from the four winds Zach. 9. from the end of the earth to the end of heaven Luc. 22. Rom. 8. and then they shall be altogether caught within the clouds to meet the Lord in the Air 2 Thes 4. for to be joyned with their head as members of his body and shall be always with him who will separate them from the reprobates as the Shepheard doth the Sheep from the Goates Mat. 25. to put them both in body and soul in full possession of the everlasting heritage and happiness by them so long hoped for The Estate of the Elect that are Risen again THen their bodies which shall be risen again in triumph shall be changed not in substance but in quality being discharged of the earthly heaviness for to be made spiritual bodies 1 Cor. 15. to the end to be fit for the heavenly habitation where they have no need of meats which do corrupt Rev. 7. for they shall be no more hungry nor thirsty and they shall dye no more but shall use the heavenly food which is the word of God Luc. 20. they shall also be delivered from the bondage of sin for to serve evermore to Justice For these are the two principal things which hinder man from beholding the face of God this heavy earthly body
in the 26. Chap. speaking of the Elect saith unto the Lord with Faith Thy dead shall live and rise again with my Body Awake and rejoice ye Inhabitants of the dust for thy dew is as the dew of the Fields and the Earth shall cast forth the dead The Lord willing to assure his People Israel that delivering them from the Captivity of Babylon he would bring them back into the Land which he had given them he said unto them in a Vision by the Prophet Ezek. 37. that as certain as the dead shall rise so certainly will he deliver them from the Captivity of the Babylonians for to set them in Peace in their own Land Danie saith that those that sleep in the dust shall wake some to Eternal Life and others to perpetual shame and Infamy and those which have been wise shall shine as the Brightness of the Firmament and those which do perswade Man to Righteousness shall be as Stars for ever and ever Dan. 12. Jesus Christ shews the Saduces that the dead shall rise again because that God is their God Mat. 28. In St. John Chap. 6. he saith that the will of his Father who sent him is that he shall lose nothing of all that he hath given him but that he shall raise it up at the larter day The Apostle declares that Christ is risen again for our Justification Then he saith that even as we die in Adam so we shall rise again and shall be quickened in Christ Rom. 4.5.6 1 Cor. 15. For seeing that he who is the Life when he was put into the Tomb thereby made many to rise again by much more reason now being risen again and glorified will he raise us again John 19. Psal 36. Mat. 27. In like manner he declares That he that believes Jesus is dead and risen again of which we have the surest Testimonies ought by the same parity of Reason to believe that God will bring from the Grave those that sleep in Jesus who shall from thence forth ever live with the Lord wherefore says St. Paul comfort one another with these Words that is let this be your Consolation in the midst of all your Trials Afflictions and Troubles upon Earth that they cannor last long but must end with your Life when you shall descend into the Grave where you shall not long remain but the same Power that raised your Blessed Redeemer from thence shall have the same effect on you and likewise raise you from the Dead and you shall be joined with Christ your Head and live with him in everlasting Glory this is the very sum of our Christian Profession and the highest point of our Faith All humane wisdom which is folly before God Mat. 24.25 cannot perswade themselves that the bodies which are returned into dust can rise again 1 Cor. 15. Phil. 7. nor those which have been burned whereof the ashes have been dispersed with the winds 2 Cor. 5. Acts 2.4 nor those which have been devoured by birds and by beasts and digested and reduced to dung 1 Thess 1. nor those which have perished in the waters which have been food for fishes 1 Pet. 1. 1 Cor. 1. But the Lord by that which he had done before plainly sheweth that hereafter it shall be very easie for him to do what he will with our bodies for seeing he hath made all things of nothing can he not make that to return to life which hath already been Gen. 1. Psal 33. Gen. 1. And as he made man first of the Earth can he not as well make him to rise again from it Gen. 1. in the beginning the Earth was so obedient unto him that when he commanded it to bring forth the bud of the herbs that beareth seed and the fructifying tree and the living creature beasts worms c. It of it self immediately brings forth that which before had never been how much more easily by the commandment of God may it restore many which have already been and shall be returned into it John 11. We see that although that Lazarus of Bethania had already been three days in the Earth and nevertheless when the Lord commanded him to come out of the Earth presently it was done He himself also rose again from the Earth the third day for to assure us that he will raise us again Mat. 28. Apoc. 1. for as death could not overcome Jesus Christ but that he is risen so shall it not be able to hinder his members from rising again because that he hath as much power over the dead as over the living Rom. 14. Gal. 1. 1 Thess 1.4 If God hath raised the head it followeth that he will also raise the body which we are if we believe When we consider that he did hinder the so hot burning furnace from doing any hurt to Sidrake Misake and Abednego Eph. 4. Dan. 3. we shall not find it an impossible thing to God to make them rise again which have been buried that they may be reunited unto their Souls And he that shut the Lyons Jaws because they should do no harm to Daniel Dan. 6. shall be able to raise those again which have been devoured And he commanded the fish to cast up Jonas Jon. 2. also can be easily cause that the Sea shall obey him when he shall command it to cast up his dead In brief the faithful cannot doubt of his Resurrection knowing that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor powers nor things present Rom. 8. nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature can separate him from the love which God beareth in him in Jesus Christ our Lord Revel 20. For also the Sea must cast up those dead bodies which are in it and death and the Grave those which are in them for as much as the Lord hath the keys of the Grave and of death having power over them Rev. 1. Moreover God cannot be true nor truly wise nor Almighty nor Just if he doth not raise the dead and by consequence cannot be God And so who denyeth the Resurrection denyeth also that there is a God for seeing by his Word he promiseth to raise up the dead if he do it not he is not true And seeing that he declares that he will have it if he doth it not it follows that it is for want of knowledge and of power and so shall neither be truly wise nor Almighty Also he shall not be just if he doth not render to every one that which he promiseth him for the Author to the Hebrews saying that God is saith also that he is a rewarder of those that seek him Heb. 11. Mat. 10. Marc. 8. Luc. 9 Now in this world the children of God have nothing but afflictions every day being set out for a shew as men condemned to death and being made a spectacle to the world to the Angels and to men Cor. 4. John 16. As our Saviour also saith to his disciples You shall weep and lament
and most affectionate Children It is enough for me to be among of the least of thy House amidst the greatest sinners that have obtained pardon of thee and that have some shelter in thy Palace where there are so many Dwellings That even in thy House I may be as little as thou shalt please provided that thou wilt preserve me thine for ever O Merciful Father I beseech thee that for the love of thy well beloved Son my only Saviour thou wouldst give me thy holy Spirit which may puriâ—â—e my heart and strengthen me in such sort that I may always dwell in thy House there to serve thee in Holiness and Justice all the days of my Life Amen Prayers WHat do we in this world but heap sins upon sins So that the morrow is always worse then the day before and we do not cease drawing thy indignation upon us But being out of this world in thy heritage we shall be altogether assured of our perfect and eternal felicity the miseries of the bodies shall be abolished the vices and filthiness of the Soul shall be done away O Heavenly Father increase our Faith in us for fear lest we should doubt of things so certain Imprint thy Grace and thy Love in our Hearts which may lift us up to thee and strengthen us in thy fear And because thou hast lodged us in this World there for to remain as long as it shall please thee without declaring unto us the day of our departure the which thou alone knowest I do beseech thee to take me out of it when thou in thy mercy pleasest and then to do me that good that I may acknowledge the same that in the mean while I may fit my self thereuuto as thou hast appointed by thy holy Name through Jesus Christ our blessed Saviour and Redeemer Amen Another THis body is the Prison of the Soul yea a dark Prison narrow and fearful we are as it were banished men in this world our life is but woe and misery on the contrary Lord it is in thy heavenly Kingdom that we find our Liberty our Country and our perfect Contentment A wake our Sould by thy word to the remembrance and apprehension of such a good imprint in our Hearts the love and the desire of the Everlasting good things and only to be wished for give unto our Consciences some taste of that joy wherewith the happy Souls which are in Heaven are filled that I may hold as dung and filth all that which the Worldlings find so fair and covet so much which so obstinately they retain and do adore with such fervency Cause that finding taste but in thy verity and grace I may wait for calling upon thee the day of my perfect deliverance thro' Jesus Christ thy Son to whom with thee and the holy Spirit be glory Everlasting Amen Another O Lord Jesus the only Salvation of the Living Life everlasting of the dead I submit my self to thy holy Will whether it be thy pleasure yet to suffer my Soul to be some space within this body for to serve thee or that it please thee to take it out of prison being assured that what thou keepest cannot perish I am content with all my heart that my Body return into the Earth from whence it was taken believing the last Resurrection which shall make it immortal incorruptible and full of Glory I do beseech thee to fortifie my Sould against all temptation environ me with the buckler of thy Mercy to beat back the darts of Satan As for me I am weakness it self but I rely upon thy strength and goodness I cannot alledge any good thing before thee whereof to boast on the contrary alas my sins infinite in number accuse and torment me but thy merit assures me that I shall be saved for I hold for certain that thou wert born for me that thou wert tempted that thou hast obeyed to God thy Father that thou hast taught and brought Life Everlasting for me seeing thou hast given thy self to me with all these good things let not such a gift be unprofitable let thy blood wipe out the filth of my faults thy Justice cover my Iniquities thy Merits make me to find Grace before the heavenly Throne If my Evils do increase augment thy Grace in me so that Faith Hope and Charity may not dye but rather wax strong in me that the apprehension of Death do not daunt me but that even after this body shall be as it were dead cause that the Eyes of my Soul may lift themselves up to Heaven that the Heart may then cry fervently unto thee Lord I commend my Soul into thy Hands fulfil thy work for thou hast bought me I am thine by the Gift of thy Father to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be Everlasting Glory Amen The Humble Suit of a Sinner for the Pardon of his Sins O Most just and dreadful God equitable in all thy Judgments who sufferest no Sin to pass unpunished either in this Life or in the Life to come Let me have with Job this Consolation That afflicting me thou wouldst not spare me here to punish me hereafter Here rather burn here cut that hereafter thou mayest spare me That Union O God which thou didst put at my Creation betwixt my Soul and my Body I have not employed for to serve thee therefore I will that henceforth it be dissolved For too great affection I had to Riches and for my ill employing of them I will deny my self of all things under the Sun and will have no more but a Sheet Coffin and an hole to lye in and wait for thy Coming For the too great love I carried to my Husband Wife Children Parents Friends Companions Conversation and Company I will now willingly abandon them all and their Embracements and kindly Usage I will also have an end put to all my Senses that henceforth I neither See Hear Touch Taste nor Smell any thing for not having ruled them nor shut them up by mortification when the Devil was seeking entry into my Soul From henceforth Lord I will put silence to this wicked Tongue of mine which hath been so great an Instrument of Impiety swearing lying cursing defaming backbiting detracting and breaking forth so often in impure dishonest and injurious Speeches against thee and my Neighbour For the too great mind I had to run go and walk in the ways of the wicked For the too frequent impure postures gestures and motions of my Body I will lye dead in the Grave and desire that henceforth none do so much as name me or speak a word of me by reason I was too desirous to be in every ones mouth and to be praised and conserved in their Memories and because I did so much affect Honour Dignity and the things of the Earth and did so much search after delicate fare soft bedding and good cloathing and did nourish and pamper this flesh of mine with too great care for honour I will lye in abjection and for that I aspired to have others bowing their heads to me and to be lifted above them I will have them to trample over me For my love to the Earth I will return to it for my Food I will have the Worms to crawl in and out at my Mouth for my Bed I will have a Grave for my Garments a Sheet and for thy dainty usage of my Body I will henceforth turn all my Beauty into Corruption Receive then O just God all these things in Punishment of my many Offences for so this being thy just Will it is also mine Only O god of Justice let my Punishment be here in this Life that I may find thee to be a God of Mercy in the Life to come for thou hast declared by thy Servant David that thy Mercies are above all thy Works Grant this O Lord for the Merits of thy only Son my Saviour Jesus Christ Amen FINIS