of this wiâ—â— be as much cause of Joy as their Death was of Sorrow and more abundant In the first of these three things give me full satisfaction 1. Taken from God 2. From Christ 3. The absurdities that must unavoidably follow the denial of the Resurrection of the Dead First in this Article of our Faith from whence I check my Sorrow for the Dead that it may be kept within bounds three things in God so considered by us tho one in him remove my Doubts confirm my Hopes in this Case 1. The Wisdom 2. The Power 3. The Will of God 1. God being Infinite in Wisdom and Knowledge I am fully satisfied that he knoweth the number of the dead and where their Bodies were buried or consumed and which are the bones and Skull and Dust of one and which of another for this is knowable in it self and therefore God knows these and all other circumstances of the Dead or else his Knowledge would be limited and finite Knowledge and not extended to every thing that may be known which is contrary to Natural Reason to Scripture and Religion and to the Infinite Perfection of the Divine Nature to deny this Knowledge in God is to Blaspheme him 2. God being Infinite in Power is able to raise all the Dead all which and every particle of all of them being thus known to him to raise the Dead is an Act of Power and not of weakness and is possible and not a contradiction Cannot the same Power that made all things out of nothing cause these dead-out of something to live again Cannot the same Power that at first formed Mans Body of the dust of the ground and caused it to live make these Bodies to live again thô they be turned into dust Cannot God do what he hath done Cannot he do all that is possible to be done Is not that which hath been done to some possible to be done to others Are there not many Examples in the Scripture that this hath been done Have not many Dead been raised to Life The Resurrection of the Dead being in the rank of things possible comes within the reach of Divine Almighty Power which to deny is to blaspheme these two being manifest to compleat the Argument add 3. God hath declared his Will and Purpose that the Dead shall live again We cannot argue from the Power of God that a thing shall be because he is able to do it because he doth not will to do all that he can do but we might argue from his Will that what he doth will to do shall be done because he hath Power to do whatsoever he will Men might have a will to do some things but they have not Power answerable to their Will and they often would but never can but tho' God be not Omnivolent to will every thing he can yet he is Omnipotent to do whatsoever he will Wherefore our reasoning issueth in this Whether it be the Will of God that the Dead shall be raised to life The fundamental Error of the Sadduces denying the Resurrection of the Dead Christ shews was in their Ignoronce of these two Principles the Power and the Will of God which is revealed in the Scripture Mat. 22.29 Jesus answered and said unto them Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God The Scriptures do abound in this fully assuring us that it is his Will that all the Dead shall be raised the Wicked to Damnation the Righteous to Life everlasting If you doubt read these Texts Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth 26. And thô after my skin Worms destroy this body yet in my Flesh shall I see God 27. Whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another thô my reins be consumed within me Joh. 5.28 The hour is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his voice 29. And shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of life and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of damnation Joh. 6.38 For I came down from Heaven not to do my own will but the Will of him that sent me What 's that 39. And this is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day These are comfortable words of Christ to us What a strict Charge is here of the Father given to Christ My Son I give you so many men and charge you with them that you lose not any one of them but that you raise every one of them at the last day and set them before me in Body and Soul in my heavenly Kingdom Do you fear lest among so many millions to be raised any one of yours should be left in the Grave and never raised Would not then such be lost and is not that contrary to the Charge given to Christ and contrary to the Fathers Will Are not you satisfied that Christ hath and will do his Father's Will in every Point Hear his words 40. And this is the will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day Are not you yet satisfied with these words of him that is able and can and faithful and will do what he saith reaching to every one without the losing of any one The Father that sent me hath declared his Will that I should and so I will raise every one of these at the last day Believe and sorrow for your Dead with no more degrees of Sorrow than becometh one that doth believe that Christ will raise them up at the last day John 11.24 Martha said to him I know that he shall rise again in the Resurrection at the last day 25. Jesus said unto her I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me thô he were dead yet shall he live John 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day 54. Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath Eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day 1 Cor. 15. throughout Rev. 20.12 And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God 13. And the Sea gave up the dead which were in it and Death and Hell or the Grave delivered up the dâ—ad which were in them Now the Grave and Death hold your Relations that are under their Power fast so fast that now there is no help and you therefore sorrow but the day will come when Death and the Grave shall deliver them up and hold them no longer here is matter of Hope therefore do not sorrow as those that have no Hope Secondly The indissoluble connexion betwixt the Resurrection of Christ and Believers that sleep in
it is a sorrowful saying May Sin invite Death into your Families saying Come in thou Messenger of the Lord come in here is one deserves to dye and there is another seize him and hale him out apprehend him and take him away he lives not as he should let him die as he ought May it shortly be said by you my Wife is dead my Husband is dead and is Grace and Nature in you so equally poized and have you such a just temperament and mixture of both as not to sorrow less or more than you ought that now your Relations are round about your Tables and no ones place is empty you might not at present hear for time so shortly to come what might be said concerning Sorrow for the dead and cure your ignorance concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not as others which have no hope or tho they dye yet you sorrow not as such do not that have neither Faith nor Hope nor natural Affection Nature and Religion binding me to promote the temporal and spiritual Good of so near a Relation all a long pressed more hard upon me to give my utmost diligence to assist her in her last Sickness by Night and Day by Prayer and Discourse that she might and God through his rich Grace and Mercy in Christ to her Soul did enable her with abiding comfort and setled hope of Heaven look Death in the face overcome this King of Terrors and conquer the Fears thereof when Death by its stroke without a Sting did conquer her This Portion of Scripture from the Text to the end of this Chapter was the last I read and urged before she left her own to go to her Father's house which I do make the first to explain and apply in this place for my own and your sake Wherein are three generals 1. A Doctrinal Conclusion concerning Sorrow for such as sleep in Jesus or dye in the Lord v. 13. 2. The Confirmation of it by many argumentative Reasons and are helps against sinful Sorrow by excess from ver 14. to the 18. 3. The Application of this Doctrine so confirmed or the use of Comfort to be made of it against such Sorrows V. 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words The Doctrinal Conclusion laid down in the Text consists of these particulars 1. A familiar Representation of Death that the thoughts of it might be more easy to our minds to dye sounds more harsh to sleep is a softer expression of Death Death and Grave you would every day avoid Sleep and Bed you every night desire yet Death is but as a Sleep and the Grave is but as a Bed and both so called in the Scripture 2. The Deportment and Behaviour of the Survivers in reference to such as sleep the sleep of Death which relates unto their Sorrow upon this occasion And in this these two things are couched in the Text. 1. A Sorrow supposed granted and allowed to the living for their dead For should the living be as senseless as the dead when Death hath taken away Life and Breath and Motion from them shall Sin take away all workings of natural Affections from us Shall Death snatch them out of our Bosoms force them out of our Arms and tear one piece of our selves from our selves take the one half away and leave the other behind and we stand and look on without a Tear in our Eyes without Sorrow in our Hearts as if we had neither sense of Gods heavy Hand nor love to them nor feeling of the stroke that thereby is laid upon our selves Sorrow we may tho not as others 2. Excess of Sorrow is corrected Lay not the Reins loose upon your Affections lest they carry you to Sin in your Sorrow Lavish not those Tears in washing your dead which should be kept for lamenting of your Sins Let there be a difference betwixt your Sorrow and the Sorrow of others as there should 〈◊〉 betwixt those that have hope and those that have no hope of a joyful Resurrection to Eternal Glorious Life The Heathens have no such hope for they are without Christ the cause of hope without the Church the place of hope without the Covenant the ground and reason of hope While you are allowed to mourn as Men do not exceed the bounds and limits becoming Christian Men. The Heathens mourn for their dead beyond all bounds of Moderation while they lament them as such that shall live no more But let Christians limit their Sorrow as for such that tho they be dead shall live again and after that shall die no more 3. In the Text is the Cause of excessive Sorrow for the dead that is Ignorance concerning the State of the Dead now and hereafter at the present and for ever both as to Body and to Soul 4. The cure of excessive Sorrow Knowledg Meditation and firm belief of the present and future State of those that dye in the Lord. I would not have you to be ignorant others are and therefore mourn to excess but I would not have you so to be that you may not sorrow as they do Did ye know think and believe that their Death is but a Sleep out of which they shall certainly awake their Graves their Beds out of which when the morning of the Resurrection shall come they shall arise and that their Souls in the mean time are with God and Christ and the Eternal Spirit admitted into that glorious Society of Angels and Saints above perfectly Loving constantly delighting perpetually Praising and Triumphing in that God that did chuse them in that Jesus that did redeem them with his Blood in that Holy Spirit that made them meet to be partakers of that Inheritance of yonder Saints in Light and Life and Love would you groan while they rejoyce Would you mourn while they sing Songs of Praise Are you grieved because they are exalted Do you take on as if they were for ever lost when by saving Mercy they are now for ever found in the glorious Presence of their Lord and Father and Redeemer Could you hear them speak to you they would say you are in daily Trouble we in everlasting Rest and Peace and Triumph you are in the Field we have got the Victory you are in danger of Sin and Satan we are freed from them for ever your love unto our Lord and yours is imperfect love while ours wanteth no degree you know not what we do know of God and Christ and Glory you see not what we do see nor enjoy so much as we enjoy therefore spend your Tears upon your selves and not for us weep for your selves and not for us lament your selves being yet in a sinful World and not us that are lodged in a pure spotless Place and Kingdom You pray and wait and hope to be where we are but we have no desire to be where you be We have a better House than you live in better Company and better Work and sweeter Imployment
the Lord Phil. 1.23 For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Heb. 12.23 To the spirits of just men made perfect 2. Then why do we Mourn on Earth for those that are Rejoycing in Heaven Do we weep for their Joy Is that our Love unto them to have such Sorrow for them What if there be one or two or ten fewer in our Family on Earth if there be so many the more in Heaven What mean these bleared Eyes this pale and macerated Face what means this washing of your Cheeks with Tears these sighs and sobs and groans Are they got safe into the place they prayed hoped longed for and do we grieve they have their Prayers answered their Hope 's obtained and their Longing Souls are fully and for ever saâ—isfied What if as they went to Heaven they took Death in their way could they have gotten thither without dying Is dying a greater Evil than all the Joys and Happiness they are possessed of is good Would they leave that State above to choose to be here below as they were before Conceive if it be not beyond all your Conceptions what Joy and Praise and heavenly Delight and holy Triumph the separated Soul of your dear holy Relation was filled with at its first beholding the Lord Jesus Christ in his Majesty and Glory in the other World Who can tell its ravishing Pleasures its transporting Delights its fullness of Joy at the first view of its blessed Lord and Saviour Is this the Jesus that was bufâ—eted and scourged and spit upon that is thus Beautiful as now I behold him Is this that Blessed Lord that was falsly Accused unjustly Condemned and cruelly Crucified that I now do see sat down upon his Glorious Throne Is this he that was vilified more than any Man that I see thus exalted above all these Glorious Angels round about I heard of his Majesty and Beauty and Glory from Ministers in their Sermons but what they said was not equal to what I see O the Love the Love the Love that I do feel to him that dyed for me that Redeemed me by his Blood to bring me to this glorious â—lace this glorious place I never before was in I never saw such a glorious place such Glorious Company I heard of it but before I never saw the like the like there is not to be seen Christ in Heaven and I with him all these Angels in Heaven and I with them all these Prophets Apostles Martyrs and happy holy Souls in Heaven and I with them I see such things I never saw I hear such things I never heard I feel I feel such Love and Joy that doth transcend all the thoughts I had of Heaven before I came into it O happy day that I came hither O joyful hour I left my Body till it be raised and partake with me in what I do enjoy I am but newly come into this Glorious State I am but now entred into this triumphant Society and what praises are these What Songs and Hallelujahs what divine and heavenly melody do I hear And what is my delight and Love and Joy it is great it is great I never knew the like it is so exceeding great Love and never doubt whether I do love Be loved and never question whether I am beloved Question and Doubt here is no room for such doubtings Do I enjoy what I enjoy and can I doubt whether I do enjoy it it is so full I cannot doubt it is so sweet I cannot Question it O blessed Day in which I was made thus blessed O blessed be this God that chose me to this blessed place O Blessed Saviour that by thy Blood didst Redeem me and purchase this Glory for me O Blessed Eternal Spirit that didst fit me and prepare me for it and didst guide me to it and being here I shall be here for ever I am where I would be and do not desire to be but where I am And this I know that where I am I shall for ever be and this God I shall ever love with perfect love and the more is my love the more is my joy and because my Love shall be perfect for ever my Joy shall be compleat for ever Is this the Soul we are Mourning for because it is separated from its Body Is this the State and infinitely beyond this that the Souls of our departed Friends are gone unto and do we sit and sob as if we were undone Do we weep and wail and lay their absence from us to Heart so much that makes us look more like their Enemies than their Friends and more like Strangers to that State above than Expectants of it or as if we were rather Unbelievers than Believers of Christ his Word and of the happiness of Heaven Think O think but alas it is more than you can think what departed holy Souls enjoy from that moment or day that you saw them draw their last breath and rather desire to be with them than Mourn that they are gone from you CHAP. XIV The Resurrection of the Dead great ground of Comfort in our Sorrow for them As also the Qualities and Endowments of their Bodies when raised THE Third Remedy against Excessive Sorrow for the Dead is sure knowledge and firm belief of the Resurrection unto Life Death is opposed to Life as being the privation of it the Resurrection is opposed to Death as being a restoration to Life The one is the cause of our Sorrow the other is a solid ground of Christian Comfort It is a Doctrine unknown by the Light of Nature it is undeniably proved by the Holy Scripture The Heathens hearing Paul preach the Resurrection of the Dead did deride and mock Act 17.32 for they did judge it a thing incredible that the dead should be raised Act 26.8 This was the reason they sorrowed for their deâ—d so immoderately because they had no hope that they should live again and the Resurrection and Christian Hope are conjoyned the one being the Foundation of the other Act. 23.6 Of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called into question Act. 24.14 And have hope towards God which they themselves also allow that there shall be a Resurrection of the dead both of the just and unjust If the Resurrection be granted hope must be allowed and the more hope of this the more mitigation of sorrow for the Dead because they shall live again In this copious Subject I must omit many things and content my self with so much as is sufficient for my present design which may be done in these two things 1. That there is sufficient foundation for our Faith that the Dead shall surely live again 2. That their Bodies for which we mourn because dâ—ad and buried shall not only be the same for substance but in respect of Qualities shall far exceed what they were while they lived or when they dyed And the Faith