IT is generally known on whose and what account we are now to divert from our usual Course and Subject: If the Determination of Events had been in our Judgments and Wills, our present assembling had been rather to have adored and praised Divine Goodness for the Re­covery of our Deceased Sister than [Page 2]as now mournfully to solemnize Her Funeral, But our Exit no more depends on our Judgments or Wills than our Entrance into this World; which is not at all, but the Keys of Life and Death are in the Hands of One, who worketh all things ac­cording to the Counsel of his own Will, and whose Judgment and will is as much more kind and bene­ficial to us, as more true and Impar­tial than ours can be: And tho we should suppose (as we are too apt to do) our Understandings and Desires altogether free from Irregularity and Mistake. Yet our Impotency keeps us unfit for such a Province as deter­mining events; especially the Grand and comprehensive events of Life and Death, to which Omnipotency is equally necessary, with Unerring Wisdom: No less a power can con­tinue Life than that which can create or give it: By all our Thoughts and Labour, and Substance, we can no more add a Year, or a Day, to our, [Page 3]Time, than a Cubit to our Stature, the bounds of both being immutably fixed: Who can stop the Conquests of Death? Notwithstanding the summoned Advice of Man, the Use of all things which Wisdom or Skill may direct, and Wealth procure, and sanctified too by incessant Supplicati­ons to the supreme Being, Death is still Victorious: It irresistable intro­duces it self whether we are willing or unwilling; ready and prepared or not: Such as conversed with us, took sweet Counsel together with us in the House of God, delighted themselves with us, and gave us de­light, become Death's Captives be­fore our Eyes, are bound in its Bonds: And we can no more save our selves than rescue or redeem them: And this indeed would be a most Mournful Case, if either.

1. There was no one that could re­deem them; if there was no power Superior to their own that could effectually break the Gates of Death, [Page 4]and lose them from its Bonds: if there could be none found that might be, par negotio, competent for such a work: Or if,

2. They were such as were not to be redeemed; but to be left under the power of Death: so that their dying out of this World should be a certain introduction of the second Death which is Eternal, if they were found without those qualifications, that might Rank them among that number to whom the Almighty Re­deemer hath appropriated and con­fined his Care and Power.

In either of these cases Christians cannot without inexpressible Grief behold the Conquest Death makes over Apostate Creatures, and La­ment the Exit of a Sinner, because it is his Entrance into a place of Tor­ment from whence there is no Re­demption.

In either of these Cases Relatives may with some colour of Reason abandon themselves to sorrow and [Page 5]Mourn as those without hope, be­cause they really are such.

But this is not the case here, Death and the Grave in our present View is not so mournful a Spectacle: Their aspect, (which is always various according to the State of the Per­son related to) is not so Frightful and Horrid: Inexorable Death, its true, hath suddenly snatched away one from us, and the Grave hath swallowed Her up. But Help is laid on one that is mighty to save. There is one that hath destroy'd him, that hath the power of Death, that is the Devil: Heb. 2.14. And therefore can re­deem a soul from the power of the Grave and swallow up Death and the Grave in Victory. As he hath absolute Power over this Visible World of ours and doth measure out the time which each of its Inhabi­tants is to spend here. So Death and the Grave are also within the limits of his Dominion: and an Au­thority of emitting thence is conjunct [Page 6]with his Authority and Power of commanding our Entrance into it: Neither is it to be questioned, but that Person on whom Death hath now laid its hand and transmitted to the Grave, is interested in and under the custody of that Benign Power which will in a seasonable time bring her up from thence.

The supporting Vertue of this and such like Truths to the Deceased under her Chronical Distempers, and the Consolatory use of it, to her Surviving Consort hath given him just Reasons for the Recommenda­tion of this Text to be spoken to on this occasion. But God will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave; for he shall receive me. Selah.

The Adversative Particle, But, re­fers us to something that was spoken before: The Doctrine of the Re­surrection is insinuated as a most ef­fectual remedy against inordinate fears and dejection of mind in an evil time: This hath an advantage [Page 7]above other remedies because it suits with the natural Disposition of Mankind to draw relief under trou­ble from a pre-apprehended Delive­rance: Those who erroneously built their hopes of a Resurrection upon their Wealth, and the multitude of their Riches, made it to serve for this purpose, but the unservicableness of their Wealth and Wisdom and the vanity of their Trust thereon is detected by their daily subjection to Death, who not only cuts them down, as at verse 7.8, 9, 10. but af­terwards feeds on them: v. 14. And therefore tho the Doctrine be true and of soveraign and infallible use in such cases, yet because the Foun­dation of their Hopes is false they can have no safe retreat hither from their forementioned guilty Fears: But I build my Hope upon a truer bottom; tho their fears in an evil Day or Hour of Death may reason­ably remain, yet I have no reason to fear, for it is God, one that can [Page 8]and one that will redeem my soul from the power of the Grave, and receive me, Selah. This is the plain connexion of the words with the precedent part of the Psalm.

I shall enquire into the true Im­port of both Phrases, and then look upon them in their Mutual respect, and the light they cast upon each other.

But God will deliver my soul from the power of the Grave: The word Soul must be taken in an accommo­date Sense, and, without enumera­ting the various Expositions, it seems most properly to signifie the Humane Life, not the Soul or Bo­dy singly, but the Union between both, because this is that, that suf­fers the Intercision by Death: And this Metonymical Construction is ju­stified by many Places of Scripture, where the Circumstances of the Text do at first view determine this to be the true and only Sense of the Word: Isa. 53.12. He hath poured out his Soul [Page 9]unto Death, compared with Matth. 20.28. And to give his Life a Ransom for many.

From the Power of the Grave: The Original Word is comprehensive of the whole unseen World, both in its Upper and Lower, in its Happy and Miserable Regions. The known Controversie in which this Word is concerned, hath occasioned a fuller search into its Primitive and Ancient Signification. And though it be of that Latitude, yet its Sense is pecu­liar according to the Circumstances of the Place wherein it is used: And here, I conceive, it is most proper­ly understood of the State and Place of the Dead, so that the import of the Expression, God will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave; is, That he will not leave me in that State wherein Death lodges me: Death will separate my Soul and Body, and turn my Body to Dust, but God will not suffer it to keep me always in that State: He [Page 10]will not suffer it to Exercise a per­petual Dominion over me: Tho' I am captivated by it, yet He who is stronger than Death will break its Bars, and give me a seasonable. Re­lease: The Word Redeem seems to govern and direct us in Understand­ing the whole Phrase, and leads us so to conceive of the Power of the Grave, and our being in or under it, as that with Reference to it, the Word Redemption might be pro­perly applicable and used. And this Construction is confirmed by that Parallel Text, Hosea 13.14. where the Captivity of the Jews is called a Death, a being under the Power of the Grave: But saith God, I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave, I will redeem from Death, O Death I will be thy Plague, O Grave I will be thy Destruction: But more fully by that of the Psalmist, Psalm 16.9, 10. which though spoken by David concerning our Lord Christ, as the Apostle Peter determines, [Page 11] Acts 2.25, 26, 27. Yet may truly and properly be spoken of every sin­cere Christian that is his Member: My Flesh shall rest in Hope, for thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, nor suf­fer thine Holy one to see Corruption.

For He shall receive me: i. e. He shall take me entirely to himself: The Form of our Covenant between us, is, that I should give up both Body and Soul to him, and that he should receive both, that where he is, I, in my whole Person, may be. He hath received me into his Grace and Favour: He hath accepted me in the Beloved; He hath adop­ted me into his Family, that I am no more under the Dominion of Sa­tan, as one of his Houshold or Slaves: And this is a Pledge and Earnest, that he will receive me to himself, into the Mansions of his Glory; where I shall no more fear the Arrest of Death, or be molested with any other natural Evils.

Now having seen the Sense of the Words; there is something materi­al to be observed; if we look on them in their Mutual Aspect, and Relation to each other. And

1. The latter Part of the Words doth direct and confine our Appre­hensions of the former: There is a Resurrection both of the Just and Unjust, Acts 24.15. These are spe­cified by their different Ends: One is a Resurrection unto Life, the o­ther unto Damnation, John 5.9. And it is determined, which Resur­rection must be here meant, by that which is added, For He shall receive me: All must be rais'd, and though it is by the same Almighty Power, yet not to the same ultimate Purpose and End: Some are rais'd, that they may be sent into the most remote and reimpassible Distance from God: Others, that they may be taken into the nearest Union with him.

2. There is a Mutual Security in­ferred from the Expressions on each [Page 13]other. But God will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave, for he shall receive me: He must first redeem me from out of the Hands of Death, before he can receive me: My final Blessedness consists in my Reception with him: This Blessedness must reach to the Body (which is an es­sential Part of the Man) as well as the Soul, otherwise it is not Com­pleat and Perfect: And 'tis his Word, whereon he hath caused me to Hope, that where he is, his Ser­vants shall also be, John 12.26. This makes it necessary that the Body be raised: Good Actions, and whatso­ever is a part of Divine Service, or belongs to us to do as his Servants, though designed by the Counsel and Resolution of the Spirit, yet are per­formed by the Ministry of the Flesh: And the Body is the Consort of the Soul in all its Obedience and Suffer­ings: They must be both offered as one living sacrifice to God, Rom. 12.1. They must both concur to render us [Page 14]his Servants; therefore their Con­course is necessary, that his Servants may be where he is.

And because it is a God, one who is infinitely powerful and faithful, that is, to make me thus finally and perfectly Blessed, I have no Rea­son to doubt, But he will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave: His rewarding Goodness as well as his revenging Justice must be made manifest: And how can that be, un­less the Body be raised, that the en­tire Person may be capable of a just Recompence: If I am one of those whom he will receive, it is impossi­ble that I should be held under the Power of Death, or remain its Cap­tive any longer, than for such a Sea­son, as the Method and Order of his working makes needful.

And there is an equal Necessity inferred also on the other side: Be­cause He will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave, therefore He shall receive me to himself: There [Page 15]is a Mutual Insurance, because it is equally impossible for a Believer to be redeemed from the Power of the Grave, and not be finally and perfe­ctly Blessed, as to be perfectly Bles­sed without being first redeemed.

3. This Mutual Relation between the Words, doth intimate a Manife­station of my belonging unto God: Resurrection alone simply consider­ed, doth not prove me to be his; but when he shall both raise me and receive me, it is thereby manifestly determined whose I am: Here it is still liable to Question, both as to my self and others, To whom I be­long, and though I find this weigh­ty Question sometimes comsortably resolved, yet at other times I cannot discern, or take the Comfort of, any such Answer: But then it will be finally decided. Redemption from the Grave, is a demonstrative Argument of his Interest in us, to which we cannot but Assent: As the Jews professed a readiness to believe [Page 16]that Christ belonged to God, and was his Son, if as a Father he would deliver him from the power of Death on the Cross, Matth. 27.43. The Ho­nour of our Lords Relation to the Father was much eclipsed by his poor Life, and ignominious Death: And though his darkest Nights were enlightened with some discoveries of his Deity, yet they were vanishing and transient: But in his Resurrecti­on he was declared to be the Son of God with Power, Rom. 1.4. And the Father publickly owned him in the Face of a contradicting World: The glorious Resurrection of Belie­vers will be an illustrious and con­vincing Evidence, that God is their God, and that they are his People.

The Doctine or general Propositi­on from the words is this.

True believers tho they die, yet shall not perpetually remain in a state of Death, but be raised and re­ceived up into Glory.

That they die, as well as others, tho they are delivered from the Sting of Death, is neces­sary for divers reasonsBates of Death. cap. 4., namely, for the more Eminent Exercise of their Grace, and Illustration of the Divine Glo­ry; for the preserving a due and just difference between the Militant and Triumphant State of the Church: And that the sinful frailties which cleave to them here may be abolish­ed; and they prepared for the Cae­lestial life, of which the Natural Body is uncapable.

And 'tis likewise necessary that they remain under the power of Death for a time: that the establish­ed Order of Providence might be preserved;Bates: ut supra. and that the Glory of our Redeemer at his second appearance might be greatned, together with their own Glory, by their simulraneous Resur­rection and Glorification, and Tri­umphant Entry with him into Hea­ven. [Page 18]But it is not of this that we are to speak.

All are equally subject to the stroke of Death, but all are not a­gain redeem'd from its power. Death and the Grave is not universally Overcome as to all: It still remains a Conquerer over Multitudes, and will be finally victorious over them. But tho Death worketh in Believers and surronds them on every side, and at last gains a temporal conquest over their bodily Life: Yet hereaf­ter that Vanquished Life shall revive; and that more Noble Life which is hid with Christ in God, shall be consum­mate and made perfect. In this pre­sent State Christians may vanquish the fears of Death: But 'tis at their Resurrection when their corruption shall have put on Incorruption, and their mortals shall have put on Im­mortality, that the saying shall be brought to pass which is written: Death is swallowed up in Victory: O Death where is thy Sting? O Grave [Page 19]where is thy Victory? Thanks be to God who giveth us Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ: 1 Cor. 15.54, 55, 56, 57. I shall briefly State the Grounds of the blessed Resurrection of true Believers, and shew you its necessity, and then make some Ap­plication of this Point.

The Ensuring Grounds of a Be­lievers Resurrection are principal­ly two.

1. The Resurrection of Christ: 2 Cor. 4.14. Knowing that he who raised up Jesus from the dead will also raise us up by Jesus. 1 Cor. 6.14. 1 Thess. 4.14. for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Christ rose not as a Private, but as a Publick common Person. Our Nature was raised in his Person, and therefore in our Na­ture all true Believers. He rose as the First Fruits of them that sleep, 1 Cor. 11.20. And upon this ac­count our Resurrection is secured; [Page 20]and not our Resurrection meerly, but in all its happy Modifications and Issues; as the First Fruits of­fered to God, did not only assure but sanctifie the whole following Harvest. And this security, tho of something future, is so strong that that the Apostle illustrates it by an opposite Instance wherein the secu­rity is actually and most lamentably felt: as at 1 Cor. 15.21, 22. for as by Man came Death so by Man comes the Resurrection from the Dead: As in Adam we all die: so in Christ shall we be made alive; but every man in his order, Christ the First Fruits, af­terwards them that are Christs at his coming: so that as our Death and the Death of all that shall come into Being, is secured by Adam's: so with an equal but more joiful cer­tainty; the Resurrection of Believers is secured by Christ; wherefore be­cause he lives they shall live also. John 14.19.

This inferring a believers Resur­rection [Page 21]from Christ is grounded on three reasons.

(1.) He is the Meritorious Cause of our Resurrection. The Prayer of the Prophet, (as it engaged the Divine power) raised the Shunamites Child, 2 Kings 4.33, 34. the dead Souldier revived at the touch of the Prophet's Bones, chap. 13.21. How much more shall the will of Christ and the power of his Death raise us.Baxter's Sts. Rest. p. 1. cap. 5. Sect. 2. He was our Surety when under the arrest of Death, and making full satisfacti­on to the Justice of God, merited not only our Impunity, but our Advancement: Now having fi­nished the work of our Redmption by his sufferings and Death, his Re­surrection is but the just consequent of his Passion and Discharge or Ac­quittance: upon this our Justificati­on is grounded, Rom. 5. ult. Now the price being paid, and the Acquit­tance received, there is no Barr a­gainst our happy Resurrection any [Page 22]more than against his, because the Price was paid in our stead; and the Acquittance received is for the use of the principal Debter whoever re­ceives it.

Furthermore the Redemption of Christ extended to the Body as well as to the Soul; otherwise he had been but an incompleat Saviour, therefore Christians who have ex­perienced the vertue of his redeem­ing Grace, are said to wait for the final act of his Redeeming Power in the Redemption of their Bodies. Rom. 8.23.

Athanas. de Inearnat. verbi.Whether there should have been no Resurrection of the Body at all if Christ had not died, and whe­ther he died so far for all both just and unjust to raise them, as some think. Or whether there should have been a Resurrection of the Body if Christ had not died, and Man should have still suffered both Tem­poral and Eternal Death, in toto [Page 23]supposito, in his whole Person; as others think:Cocceus de faedr. Cap. 2. Sect. 2. yet cer­tainly in the present or­der the Resurrection of Believers must be ascrib­ed to the Merits of the Cross, and looked upon as the fruit of Christs Death: so that it remains as sure as the vertue and efficacy of his Pas­sion.

(2.) He is the effective Principal or cause of our Resurrection: All pow­er is given him in Heaven and in Earth, He is the support of our Bodily Life and the Author of that Spiritual Life we live as Believers, and by him all things are upheld and do consist: therefore tis requi­site that all things should be like­wise beholden to him for their Re­stitution. It must be a Mediating Power; the power of a Mediator to preserve things in being where their being is forfeited, and Annihilati­on deserved; and likewise to heal the disorders Sin hath introduced [Page 24]among all kind of Beings that relate to the Use and Comfort of Apo­state Man. And as he is the Au­thor of this Restitution among the Creatures, so likewise of the Re­surrection of Man which will be ac­companied therewith. By his Ge­neral Power and Agency wicked Men shall be raised: He is Lord of the whole unseen State, who as he can commit, so can bring forth, having the Key of Death as well as of Life: He will exert his Power to recom­pact the scattered parts of their Bo­dies, and as a Judge Authoritively Summon them to appear before him. But Believers are raised, tho not by an Inferiour, yet by a more benign and advantageous power: His own Resurrection put him in the Possession of that Power which do effectually secure ours, Rom. 14.9. For to this end Christ both died and rose, and Revived that he might be Lord both of the Dead and Living.

(3.) Christs Resurrection is the [Page 25] Example or Pattern of a Believers: because he arose, therefore they shall rise and shall so arise as he did; and be restored to Life according to his Pattern: Phil. 3.21. Our vile Bo­dies shall be changed into the likeness of his most Glorious Body: His Bo­dy was raised the same, so shall ours, and yet his Body was improved by the Resurrection, so shall ours too, and so much the more improved than his, as they need it more; whereupon as to our Bodily State we shall become like the Angels that are in Heaven, Mat. 22.30. As we shall be purged from all our present In­firmities, so we shall no longer need the means of bodily Susten­tation: for the Children of God which are the Children of the Resurrection, are equal unto the Angels, and can die no more Luke 20.36. Our Lord was raised that he might ascend and be glorified; so shall we, God will redeem our Souls from the Power of the Grave that he might receive us to himself.

The Second Ground is,

2. The Inhabitation of the Spi­rit: And this is a more immediate or proximate Foundation of this blessed Priviledge. Resurrection simply considered, hath its depen­dance only on the Will and Power of God: but it is of a Glorious Re­surrection that we here speak. The meer Resurrection of the Body is absolute, but a Resurrection unto Glory is conditional, and therefore appropriate to some only; and the Author of this Glorious Resurrecti­on hath determined to whom it shall be vouchsafed. He himself hath confined it to such as have a work of Grace effectually wrought by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them. Now the Inhabitation of the Spirit in Believers will more clearly appear as the Ground of their Resurrection, by considering these two things

(1.) The Spirit of Holiness is the vital bond of Ʋnion between Christ and Believers; by vertue of which uni­on [Page 27]his Resurrection doth assure theirs. Christ and Believers con­stitute but one Mystical Body; it is the Spirit of Holiness which thus unites them, of which they both must necessarily tho not equally Partake. He is the Head, they are the Members, and therefore must have Communion with him in his Resurrection and Life. Whatsoever Glorious or Inglorious Change the Head suffers, the Members must feel something of the same in a propor­tionate Degree: And this is so In­fallible that the Apostle argues not only from the Negation of Christs Resurrection to the Negation of ours; but from the Negation of our Resurrection to the Nullity of Christ's, 1 Cor. 15.13.

This Union is continued even while Believers are under the Pow­er of the Grave. The Relation of Christ to the Father did not cease when he was detained by Death in the Bowels of the Earth; tho the [Page 28]Comforts of that Relation were sus­pended yet the Relation it self never brake of. So in a State of Death the Union between Christ and Be­lievers remains: It is the Man who dies, not the Christian. Both parts of the Human Person are separated from each other, but neither of them separated from Christ: Hence it is that when their Spirits are returned to God, their flesh doth rest in Hope, and their Bodies take a joiful and quiet Repose in their Beds of Dust, because He to whom they are so dearly and Indissolvably United will not leave them under the pow­er of Death for ever. But,

(2.) The Spirit dwells in Believers not only as a bond of Ʋnion between Christ and them, but as a Principle of Power for their Resurrection. Rom. 8.11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; He that raised up Christ from the Dead, shall also quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit [Page 29]that dwelleth in you. The Resur­rection of Christ is ascribed in the Scripture to all the Persons in the Trinity: It is ascribed to God the the Father, because he is the Foun­tain of action in the Deity as at Acts 3.15. and it is ascribed to him as he is the God of Peace, as invested with that Title, because he was the Person to whom satisfaction was made, as at, Heb. 13.20. And it is ascribed to the Son himself because all that he did as Mediator was to be his own Joh. 2.19, and chap. 10.18. But the efficiency is ascribed to the Holy Spirit: Whether we consider him as given by the Father, or giving himself a Sacrifice for our Sins; he is said, by the Eternal Spirit to offer up himself Heb. 9.14. so whether the act of his Resurrection be spok­en of as done by the Father or by himself, yet it is by the Spirit which proceeds from both, 1 Pet. 3.18. Now the Spirit that dwelleth in Je­sus dwelleth in Believers: And as it [Page 30]abode in him, and acted in him to the offering up himself to the Death of the Cross, and afterwards pre­sided over his Body in the Grave, and put forth its Power in raising him: So far doth it act in Believers while here and preside over their dead Bodies to the same purposes. And thus to ascribe the Resurrection of Believers to the Spirit of Christ is but congruous with other acts of Divine Goodness and the precedent workings of the Spirit: For as he quickens the Souls of Believers and raises them from Death in Sin, and conforms 'em to the Image of Christ, so 'tis requisite that He should be the Author of their Corporeal Resur­rection and likeness to Christ also.

Now the Resurrection of Be­lievers being fixed on these Grounds: We shall next briefly consider its Necessity.

When Death, which was introduc'd by Sin, hath been reigning, and acting the part of a Conqueror over Man­kind, [Page 31]and bringing all both just and unjust under its Dominion; it is necessary that sooner or later it be overcome and swallowed up of vict­ory; 'tis necessary that some of its Captives be released, that some Souls be Redeemed from its Power; Otherwise,

• 1. The Glory of Christ Redeemer would suffer a great and perpetu­al Eclipse. And,
• 2. The Felicity of Believers would never be Compleat and Perfect.

1. The Glory of Christ Redeem­er would suffer a great and perpe­tual Eclipse. The Perfection of Be­ings in their several Kinds was the Glory of the Creator: To be re­deemed from the Power of Sin, and be left under the Power of the Grave, were it supposeable, would be such an imperfect Redemption as we cannot but apprehend to be in­consistent [Page 32]with the Wisdom, and Power, and Love, and absolute Perfection of the Redeemer. That Creatures capable of Immortality should be left in a State of Discipline and Probation here, and that their Future State should be according to their present Behaviour and Deport­ment, carries nothing of inconsi­stency in it: But that these Creatures, capable of Immortality, when they have demeaned themselves aright, and gone through their State of Try­al with Approbation, should be left under the Power of Death, and not entred into their Masters Joy, is such a dealing as we cannot con­ceive worthy of God: That Death and He who hath the Power of Death, that is, the Devil, should per­petuate their Authority over the sin­cere Servants of Christ, and take their Reward from them, How In­glorious a Person would this bespeak our Redeemer to be?

Moreover as he is the Head of the [Page 33]Mystical Body, his Honour suffers a visible Diminution by the Absence of any Member: There is so much lost of his Praises, as should belong to those that are thus kept back: For who can declare his Righteousness in the Grave? Or Praise him in the House of Silence? Psalm 88.11, 12. Psalm 115.17. We are not to ima­gine our Lord so careless of his own Glory, when he hath already done so much for that end, and when it is still in his own Power, (as he is absolute Lord of the whole unseen World) to perfect his own Praise. As surely as he hath triumphed over Death and all Principalities, so sure­ly will he make all his Members to Triumph over them, and that for his own Glory: And none shall be detained under their Dominion, un­less such as by their own choice while here, remained in an inviolable U­nion with Death and the Prince of Darkness, that is, the Devil.

2. The Felicity of Believers would never be Compleat and Per­fect: The Perfection of their Perso­nal Felicity necessarily requires the Concourse or Union of all that is essential to, or constitutive of the Person: The Body and the Soul from their first setting out in the World to the Grave run the same Race, therefore they must enjoy the same Reward: There is, 'tis true, a great inequality in their Operations as respecting Holiness, so there will be a great inequality in their Enjoy­ments; but both must have their proper share: And it would not be beseeming the Divine Goodness, to deal so differently, as that the Soul should be Everlastingly Happy, and the Body lost in forgetfulness: That the one should be glorified in Heaven, and the other remain in the Dust. Besides this, we may just­ly conceive of a fixed innocent In­clination in the glorified Soul to her former Dear Associate; and there­fore [Page 35]the satisfying such an Inclinati­on by their Re-union, must contri­bute to the Felicity of the Person.

Their Relative of Mutual Happi­ness would be likewise impaired, if any that truly belonged to their Num­ber were wanting, and still kept un­der the Power of Death: For they are all inviolably United in Love, which as it were transforms one into ano­ther, and causes the Glory of every Saint to redound to the Joy of all: And every one both adds to, and shares in the Felicity of the whole. Here there are many Vitious Allays of Love among true Christians, and they do not duely sympathize with one another in their Conditions of Life: But in Heaven they are of one Heart and one Soul; there is an exact A­greement of Tempers and Inclinati­ons; so that could we suppose the Body of one detained as an Eternal Prisoner of the Grave, and such a ones Happiness thereby impaired, the whole would suffer therein.

But I come now to the Use.

Now as this Doctrine of the bles­sed Resurrection of Believers, being fix'd on the fore-mentioned Grounds and Reasons, must needs be acknow­ledged a great Truth; and one of the true and faithful Sayings of God: So upon strict Enquiry, it will ap­pear a very comfortable Truth: And that

1. With respect to the present Af­flictions and Sufferings of this Life; and particularly the Frailties, and Diseases, and Weakness, and Vile­ness of these Bodies. The Dictates of Reason, and the Prescriptions of Moralists are ineffectual to form the Soul to true Patience and Content­ment, under bodily Sufferings: But Faith and Hope in a blessed Resur­rection administers powerful Sup­port: And as this excels all natural Topicks, so all the consolatory Points in Revealed Religion do ul­timately [Page 37]center and terminate in this. For if our Hope was only in this Life (whatever may be propounded to us) we were of all Creatures most mi­serable, 1 Cor. 15.19. To know that our Bodies shall be raised to an im­mortal, incorruptible Glory; and changed into the likeness of Christ's Body, makes us more unconcerned about their Condition, and more contented that God should have the entire Disposal of them here: This sweetens the most bitter Cups, alle­viates the most heavy Burdens, and renders all bodily Distempers and Pains supportable and easie: And furthermore, it directs us so to be­hold, so to account of, so to im­prove these present momentary Af­flictions, as that they might Work out for us a far more exceeding and eter­nal weight of Glory, 2 Cor. 4.17.

2. With respect to our own Per­sonal Dissolution. This is the thing which Nature so much abhors; to come under the Power of Death, to [Page 38]be divulsed from all the Enjoyments of Life, to be confined to the dark solitude of the Grave, to see Man no more in the Land of the Living; this is a frightful and disquieting Thought: And inasmuch as this is a thing universally known, it is also universally feared: There is a law­ful fear of Death, when this Passion is regular both as to its Object and Degree it is excellently Useful: As a wise Counsellour, or faithful Guar­dian, it keeps Reason awake and active, so as that it might sustain the Evil in the best manner, which it could not prevent. And there is an inordinate fear of Death, which as a Tyrannous Master doth conti­nually disquiet and torment the Soul, and keep a Man all his Life time un­der Bondage. The Philosophers attempted to moderate and govern these anxious Fears, but in vainBates Har. of Attr. cap. 17.355. p. Octa.. All that they could op­pose against this cruel Enemy, while they [Page 39]were without the Knowledge and Belief of a glorious Resurrection, was ineffectual. But the Gospel furnishes us with real Remedies. Christians cannot be afraid to Die when they know they Die in the Lord, and belong to one who will redeem them from the Power of the Grave, and swallow up Death in Victory: Were we to be Eternal Captives to Death, and Prisoners of the Grave for ever, there were some Reason to dread it: But when God speaks to us as to Jacob descending into Egypt: Fear not to go down in­to the Grave, I will go down with thee, and I will surely bring thee up again: So that hereby we are as sure of over­coming Death as suffering it; as sure of being Conquerors as of being Combatants; how are all excruciating fears hereby expelled! In our own Strength indeed, and acting sepa­rately from God we cannot over­come: No one can save himself from going down to the Grave, or by [Page 40]Price or by Force procure his Re­leasement and Discharge from its Captivity any more than from its War. But in Relation to God we are more than Conquerors. To be more than Conquerors is to be Tri­umphants: Christians may thus Tri­umph in this Perswasion, that tho' they tast Death, the common Lot of every Man, yet they shall be redeem­ed from it, so as not to be hurt by the second Death, and neither Death, nor Life, &c. shall be able to separate them from the Love of God in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8.37, 38, 39.

Neither is this Doctrine of a bles­sed Resurrection, only an Argument of Support and Comfort under the Apprehensions of Death; but also a Just and Rational Incentive to Desire our Dissolution: How willingly did Elias let fall his Mantle, that he might ascend to Heaven? How wil­ling was Paul to be dissolved, that he might be with Christ? How desi­rously and boldly did the valiant [Page 41]Martyrs encounter with Death, that interposed between them and their glorified State? This upbraids our backwardness, who profess to be en­lightened and perswaded of that blessed and perfect World. A loathness to Die in Christians is direct­ly repugnant to their Hopes, and a reproach to their Christianity it self. We are not to obtain Heaven by an immediate Translation to it; Death is a necessary intermediate way, and there is a natural bitterness in it, which makes it unpleasant: 'Tis a dark Passage from this to the other World, though under the Custody and Dominion of our gracious Re­deemerHow's Do­min. Redeem. over the Invis. World, p. 49.. Yet notwith­standing this, Believers are still to reckon their Mortality their Advan­tage, and to bless God, that they are not to spend their Immortality in the present State.

But you will say, We should not fear Dying if we did know our Inte­rest [Page 42]in Christ, if we were assured that we were of that number, whom he will redeem from the Power of the Grave, and receive to himself.

It must be confessed, there are but some whom God will thus Redeem; others are to be left under the con­quest of Death, and of him that hath the Power of Death for ever: And these have reason to fear and Trem­ble at the thoughts of Death, and much more at its approach; but then consider, none are among that num­ber but such as Voluntarily put them­selves into it, and wilfully continue, notwithstanding the means which the great Redeemer uses to educe and reco­ver them. Death is no where perpetual but where it is self-procured: None lie under it, and abide under it, but they that loved it, and refused to to take hold of the Paths of Life. None die unintrested in the Re­deemer and his Power, but such as rejected him while they lived. Therefore,

2. Ʋse. Let this admonish us to take care and provide that we be of that number to whom this blessed priviledge belongs: Since it is not common to all but proper only to some; with what solicitude should we concern our selves, and follow on the Enquiry till we arrive at a certainty in this matter? Since the enquiry is of highest importance, and admits of a plain and true so­lution; it can never be justified as rational to continue in a dubious uncertainty. Who would not covet to be in a special Relation to the Al­mighty and Gracions Redeemer, and to be one of those whom he will Redeem from the Power of the Grave? The knowledge of this alone can preserve the true comfort of our lives; and fill us in Death with Joy Ʋnspeakable and full of Glo­ry. Let us therefore with assiduous di­ligence endeavour to make our Call­ing and Election (and therewith our Glorious Resurrection) sure. This [Page 44]matter will quickly be brought to an Issue with every one of us; either Death will Triumph over us, and prey upon us as Eternal Trophies of its Conquest; or through Divine Grace and Love we shall be delivered and Triumph over it.

There are Two or Three Things, will ascertain our State, and let us into the Knowledge of what our fi­nal Issue will be.

1. Are we Regenerate Creatures: We are naturally Apostates from God, and in open defiance against his Soveraignty and Laws; and there can be nothing but a fearful Expectation or looking for of Death and Vengeance which shall devour and consume such Adversaries; un­til we cease to be Adversaries, until the contrariety of our Natures a­gainst him be subdued, and we be­come new Creatures. Our Expecta­tions cannot rationally be altered, but upon a precedent Change of State. The Resurrection of Christ [Page 45]is the Ground of this blessed Hope in Believers (as hath been shewn) but their Regeneration is the Evi­dence of it. A Soul that passes out of this World unrenewed, must ne­ver expect a Reunion with a raised Glorified Body. The Body indeed shall be raised and reunited to the Soul, but it will be in order to com­pleat the Misery of the Sinner. Re­demption from the Power of Sin, and Redemption from the Power of Death are Coextensive, and have both the same Subjects, Rev. 20.6. Bles­sed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection, on such the se­cond Death hath no Power. There is the Priviledge, and there is the Cha­racter of the Person to whom it be­longs: It is in vain to think of dis­solving the Divine Order, or separa­ting what God hath joined toge­ther: None ever was or shall be so blessed as to be exempt from the Pow­er of the second Death, but such as are Holy, and have Part in the first [Page 46]Resurrection. Though the Soul be the immediate Subject of Regenerati­on, yet it respects the whole Person: The Understanding, and Consci­ence, and Will, and Affections are all changed in this Work: And the bodily Members and Senses are desti­nated by the renewed Soul, and em­ployed in new Services; and are no more the Members of Unrighteous­ness, but Instruments of Service to Jesus Christ, Rom. 6.19. The Laws of the great Redeemer are the Rule of Duty to the entire Man, and are obeyed or violated by the Soul and Body in Conjunction. Now where there hath been this entire Obedience yielded by a Man renewed in his whole Constitution, it shall receive a just recompence of Reward; and those that have followed Christ in the Regeneration; when the Son of Man shall sit on the Throne of his Glo­ry, they shall sit with him judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel? Mat. 19.28.

2. Are we Dead with Christ: If we [Page 47]be Dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. If we be planted together with him in the like­ness of his Death, we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection: If we suffer with him we shall reign with him, Rom. 6.5, 8. Our likeness to Christ must be begun in our present embo­died State. This is the fixed Order of Heaven. The other World is the World of Perfection, where the I­mage of Christ or of the Devil is compleated, according to which of them was begun here upon Earth.

None can have Communion with the Redeemer in his glorious Resur­rection, but such as have Fellowship with him in his Sufferings, and are conformable to his Death: Phil. 3.10. A Man that continues to Live, cannot while such, be the subject of Resurrection, He must first Die. So our Self-denial and Mortification, and Dying with Christ as necessari­ly precedes our Communion with him in his glorious Resurrection.

3. Are our Hearts and Affections now with God and Christ in Heaven. Nothing less than an Heavenly Con­versation can justifie our looking for a Saviour, who shall change our vile Bodies into the Image of his most glo­rious Body, Phil. 3.20, 21. A Ter­rene Temper of Mind, and an Heart unlimitedly engaged in the World, doth absolutely contradict the Hopes of a blessed Resurrection, and Re­ception into Heaven. It is the Na­ture of Hope (as it is a Christian Grace) to engage the Soul in a seri­ous Pursuit of that which is hoped for: And also to give it a deep Tin­cture of its Object before it is actual­ly enjoyed: Therefore if we don't savour heavenly Things above all carnal and worldly Delights, and seek them with the greatest Dili­gence, our Hopes are Fallacious: The Wise and Holy God cannot act so Inconsistently with Himself. (How Inconsistent soever Mens Actions and Hopes may be) as to bestow Heaven [Page 49]and Glory upon one that never desi­red or esteemed or sought it, that would always prefer the Honours and Emoluments of the World be­fore it. This would be to violate the Rules of Discrimination, which he himself hath fixed; and such an In­glorious Amplification of that blessed Kingdom as would leave it almost undesirable; and the Priviledges of Christians would cease to be Privi­ledges when others may have an equal share in them.

These Enquiries do in short recur to this. Have we a sure Interest in Christ who is the Prince and Lord of Life? Have we received him in all these Respects wherein he is to be received, and absolutely resigned our selves to him as our Lord and Saviour? Hath there passed such mutual Acts between us and him of giving and receiving, as that there­upon He may be truly called ours, [Page 50]and we as truly said to be his? He will finally redeem none but his own. Have we remaining Indica­tions of this in our Hearts and Lives? Have our Course in this World been ordered agreeably thereto in conti­nued Dependance and Subjection? In a Word, Is our closure with him sincere and truly Unitive, and do we accordingly live to him, and with him, and carefully abide in him while we are in this Earthly Tabernacle? If so, we may com­mend our departing Spirits into his Hands, and our Flesh may rest in Hope, and we shall have Confi­dence, and not be ashamed at his Coming. The infallible Word hath given us this, as the only Ground of our Hope, 1 John 5.12. He that hath the Son hath Life: And He that hath not the Son hath not Life. John 11.25, 26. I am the Resurrection and the Life, He that believeth in me, though he were Dead, yet shall he [Page 51]live, and whosoever liveth and belie­veth in me shall never Die. Every true Believer hath a Life in him (by Vertue of his Union with Christ) which is Immortal, and not liable to the touch of Death, a Life that shall not End in the rottenness and darkness of the Grave, or in a Horrid Hell, but run on through the Territories of Death and the Grave into Everlasting Life. And besides this, His bodily Life in the Reunion of Soul and Body shall be revived; the Pains, or (as some rather read it) the Bands of Death shall be loosed, and it shall be impossible for him, any more then the Prince of Life himself to whom he is United, to be holden by it, Acts 2.24.

Now having made this Ʋse of the Doctrine in General; I shall make some further Improvement of it, as it refers Particularly to the [Page 52]Case at Present before our View. That which is spoken of Believers indefinitely, that they shall not be left under the Power of Death and the Grave, but be raised and glorifi­ed, may I doubt not without one disagreeing Judgment or Voice be truly spoken of the Person whose Decease hath given this special occa­sion and additional to the usual Business of this Day. Therefore, Let this Point assisted by this un­questionable Instance, work some correspondent Effects, and leave some suitable Impressions upon us: And what can those be but of Imi­tation and Peaceful Submission or Satisfaction of Mind?

1. Let this Doctrine assisted by this known Instance, impress us to Endeavours of Imitation. When a Man Prospers in the World and in­creases in the Favour of his Fellow-Creatures, we presently enquire in­to [Page 53]the Methods and Rules of such a ones Conduct, and are ready to govern our Selves, as near as our Circumstances will admit, by the same. How much more studiously should we imitate one, that in the the truest Sense is Prosperous and Happy, and being entituled to the Divine Favour both in Life and Death, is therefore Interested in his full and final Redemption? Tho such an one is now gone from our lower World, and hath left us, yet Her Example remains. We have known what manner of entring in She had a­mong us, 1 Thess. 1.9. 2 Tim. 3.10. and Her man­ner of Life, Purpose, Faith, Long-Suffering, Charity and Patience: Her Temper was Rare and Excellent, and truly deserving of Emulation: Her natural Patience and Fortitude of Mind, Great and Uncommon. Her Prudence and Discretion obvi­ous, as well as useful in the Sphere [Page 54]wherein She acted. Her Contempt of the Vanity and deluding Great­ness of the World; Her Holy In­difference of Life, and Resignation to the Will of God, are more espe­cially to be imitated because they de­pend more upon our own Endea­vours than the former. The natu­ral chearfulness and pleasantness of Her Spirit was Great and Delight­ful, yet Grave and Solid: But con­sidering She was not only under, but had received the Sentence of Death in Her Self, it must be ascribed in great Part to Supernatural Reasons, and a Pre-assurance of Future Bles­sedness. This is evident by the Fears She often expressed, least o­thers knowing Her outward and bo­dily, better than Her inward State, might make censorious and prejudi­cial Constructions, and believe Her rather insensible of, than Resigned to the Divine Will.

Her Death was no less Serene and Calm than Her Life: With Her won­ted Composure of Mind She bore Her last bodily Disorder, and with­out Sigh or Motion expired in a Mo­ment; as if it had been designed She should Experience a Victory o­ver Death, almost without conflict­ing with it, or tasting its bitterness. With that tenderness did Her Graci­ous Redeemer Govern and Over­rule the Stroak of Death, having before disarmed it of its Sting! So gently were the Bands of Life un­twisted!

The sighing Part She hath left to us, who are yet in the Vale of Tears, and have the Valley of the Shadow of Death yet before us to pass through: And how can a Commu­nion of Saints do less than Sigh, when there is one Hand and Heart the less to be lifted up in its Prayers, [Page 56]and one Instrument, or well tuned String the less in its Consort of Prai­ses? How can a Family do less than Sigh, when deprived of so amiable and useful a Relative? Such Stroaks cannot but be lamented: But let our principal Care be, that the Person hereby removed be Imitated; in Her Humble and Truly Charitable Tem­per, and in Her Holy Inoffensive Life and Deportment; whereby She adorned the Doctrine of Christ, and recommended Religion as an amia­ble and acceptable Institution to all that Conversed with Her: Let us be followers of Her in all Things, where­in She was a Follower of Christ, 1 Cor. 11.1. And shew the same Diligence to the full Assurance of Hope to the End, and be Followers of Her, who through Faith and Patience do now in­herit the Promises, Heb. 6.11, 12.

And it is reasonable that all Rela­tives, according to the Degree of [Page 57]their Relation should account them­selves more obliged to this Use. May Her Example therefore with Her Name live in their Remem­brance: Particularly may Children remember, and not forsake the Law of their Mother, Prov. 1.8. Prov. 20.3. but so attend to it as that they may be blessed after Her. May Servants also, Remember Her that had the Rule over them, and spoke to them (by an Exemplary Conversati­tion) the Word of God, whose Faith follow, considering the End of Her Conversation, Heb. 13.7. The con­cluding Part of a Christians Life does not only bear a Testimony to His or Her preceding Course, but demonstrate the singular Advantage of Faith and Holiness, and there­fore (being observed) is mightily Assistant to our Imitation.

2. Let this Doctrine attended with this Instance, impress us, to a Peace­ful [Page 58]Submission of Mind, and Satisfa­ction in the Divine Pleasure: It be­comes Christians to attain a submis­sive and satisfied Temper through the Power of their Faith and Hope: How absur'd is it for such to expect and find more Cure of their Grief and Sorrow from Time, than from Reason and Grace? Though there be a smartness in the Dispensation, yet receive it with submissive Si­lence; considering, it is God who hath done it: Psalm 39.9. This sad Event is not the Fruit of Blind Chance, but both as to Time and Manner, the Act of Infinite Wisdom that cannot err, and of Infinite Power that cannot be resisted, and (which is more Consolatory) of In­finite Goodness and Kindness to his Departed Servant. Can we imagine, that a glorified Soul does wish to be again embodied for a Residence in this our lower World? Or pre­fer a painful, afflicted, and tempt­ed [Page 59]Life before the Blessedness of Her Coelestial State, and the hope­ful Rest of Her Dear Associate? Can we imagine that a Glorified Soul is in the least dissatisfied with Her Translation, or leaving the Body; when the Body (as She knows) is not left in Hell nor suffer'd to see Corruption?

Was not this Her Habitual Sense while remaining among us, that to Depart and be with Christ was best? And was not this the Ultimate and Highest End of our Solemn and Renewed Addresses to God in Days of Prayer on Her Behalf; while we professed to ask Her Continu­ance in the Flesh, with a sincere and most absolute Resignation to the Divine Will? If then not only the Will of God be done, but Her Will accomplished, and also our Prayers answered, it is reasonable that Our Wills should be abundantly [Page 60]satisfied: And it cannot be other­wise than unreasonable, that Our Wills should be repugnant either to God's or Her's, which with a most joyful Concurrence have ta­ken Place, and are now to remain the same for ever. To be thus Self-willed in such a Case, as it carries much of Unreasonableness and Ir­religion in it, so likewise an Incon­sistency with a pure Rational and Christian Love towards our depart­ed Relatives. Our Saviour tells his Disciples whose loss of him, and of his Bodily Presence was much greater than any of ours) If ye loved me, ye would rejoice because I said I go to my Father, John 14.28. A true and pure Affection does directly and chiefly Terminate in the Hap­piness and Exaltation of the Person loved. Now Death is a sure Ad­vantage to Believers; and their De­scent into the Grave is an infallible step to their Glorious Preferment.

To look upon the Case before us with an Eye of Sense, it is all over black and sad: Death hath killed and taken Possession of one of us; it hath turned a living Creature in­to a dead Clod, it is laid among such, and Buried in the Grave, and our Eye of Sense carries us no further. But when by an infallible Word, we are assured that the Power of Death shall be abolished, and this Mortality put on Immortality, and this Corruption put on Incorrupti­on, we must no more Mourn as those that are without Hope. To Consider and Believe, that God will redeem his own from the Power of the Grave, and receive them; takes a­way all Causes of an unremitting and reliefless Sorrow, at his taking away any of ours, of whom we are perswaded that they belonged to him.