shall live and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded and as I prophesied there was a noise and behold a shaking and the bones camè together bone to his bone And when I beheld â—o the sinews and flesh came upon them and the skin covered them above but there was no breath in them Then said he unto me Prophesie unto the Winds Prophesie Son of man and say to the Winds Thus saith the Lord God come from the four Winds O breath and breathe upon these slain that they may live So I prophesied as he commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceeding great Army Something like this will the Resurrection be at the last day Now the bones and bodies of all former generations are scattered up and down in the valley of the shadow of death some are sunk into the deep others are buried in the earth the flesh is consumed and resolved into its first elements and the bones of some remain of other are mouldred into earth now when the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God shall come down from Mount Sion which is above into the valley of this inferiour World he will Prophesie over all the bodies and bones of all the children of men that are dead and speak unto them to live he will say unto them whilst they lie rotting in their graves Live he will say Awake ye that sleep in the dust and O what a noise and shaking will there be then in the ground what a clattering of bones together in the coming of bone to his bone If the body hath been quartered and buried part in one place and part in another as the Levites concubine who was divided into twelve parts and sent to the twelve Tribes of Israel and it is likely buried in twelve distinct places the bones will fly through the air out of all those places and meet together in one body O what a great part of the air water and earth will there run into conjunction by the command of Christ and be turned into those very bodies which were resolved into them by death and the corruption of the Pit but with the addition of such new qualities as shall sublimate spiritualize and refine them from all that dreggishness and ill humour that shall be the foundation of any sickness or death for ever then the bones will come together and be made like stones for strength then the sinews will be as it were Iron sinews and the flesh brasse such strength will be put into them as I conceive is not to be found in the strongest creatures which hitherto God hath made that they might be fitted the bodâ—es of the righteous for an eternal life of happiness and bearing the glory of Heaven the bodies of the wicked for an eternal life of misery and bearing the torments of Hell either of which the body now as it is would sink under Then the Sea will give up her dead and the Earth will give up her dead Rev. 20. 13. As the Whale cast Ionah upon the shore after he had lain three daies in his belly so the Sea will cast up all the dead that for so many years have been buried in its bowels but what a stâ—rring will there be in the earth those which are alive will wonder to see such a strange metamorphosis of the ground to feel men and women stirring and moving under their feet arising and crouding for room amongst them Then will the Lord bring down all the souls of the righteous which have been in Paradise with him many years and they shall finde out their own bodies and he will open the prison of Hell and let out the souls of the wicked for a while that they also may finde out their own bodies which shall be prepared for both that they might both be prepared for the last judgment of which more when I come to the particular judgment of the righteous and wicked Thus Christ will raise up all the dead out of their graves 2. Christ at his second appearance will gather all Nations before his Iudgment seat Rev. 20. 11 12. I saw a great white throne and him that sate on it And I saw the dead small and great stand before God 2 Cor. 5. 10. We must all appear before the Iudgment seat of Christ. And Matth. 25. 31 32. When the Son of man shall sit on his throne all Nations shall be gathered before him O what a vast number will there be when so many hundred generations of people shall be alive together and gathered together into one place if so be the multitude of the righteous will be so great when they are got together into one body that no man can number them Rev. 7. 9. After I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all Nations and Kindreds and People and Tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lamb cloathed with white Robes and Palms in their hands What then will the multitude of the wicked be when they are gathered together in comparison with whom the righteous are but few All Nations shall be gathered before Christs Judgment seat 3. Christ at his second appearance will separate the righteous from the wicked the Chaff shall be purged from the Wheat Matth. 3. 12. the Tares shall be gathered from the good Corn. Matth. 13. 30. the bad Fish shall be divided from the good v. 48. The Goats shall be separated from the Sheep Matth. 25. 32. By the Chaff Tares bad Fish Goats we are to understand the wicked by the good Corn good Fish Sheep we are to understand the righteous who will be separated one from another however they are now in some places mingled and linked together the elect shall be gathered together into one company from the four winds Matth. 24. 31. and they shall stand on the right hand of Christ and the reprobate wicked shall stand on the left Mat. 25. 33. In which gathering and separation there shall be no mistake as there may be now Many close hypocrites may in this world pass for true children of God they may live together and hear together and pray together and receive the Sacrament together and make the same profession of Religion yea some hypocrites may as to ourward appearance seem to outgo some of Gods own children in zeal and forwardness the lamps of the foolish Virgins may seem to shine with a greater blaze than some of the lamps of the wise when they have not the least dram of the oyl of true grace in the vessel of their hearts Matth. 25. at the beginning yea some of Gods own children may here be mistaken for hypocrites their chiefest life being secret and out of view by them which are uncharitable and they may also mistake themselves through the temptations of the devil and the doubtings of their mis-giving unbelieving hearts but at the last day there will
clog to the spirit I conceive that hereafter they shall be like Angels for quick and nimble motion they may be so qualified as in a moment to move many thousand miles why may not they move so quick then as well as the Sun and other Stars in the Firmament do so now which are bodies of many thousand times greater magnitude 6. The bodies of the righteous will be incorruptible and immortal 1 Cor. 15. 43. It is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption And v. 52 53. In a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump the dead shall be raised incorruptible for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortall must put on immortality And v. 54. Then shall come to pass the saying which is written Death is swallowed up in victory Now death is unavoidable and unto some is very terrible death hath all the children of men in the chase and shoceâ— his arrows at the righteous as well as the wicked and though they be delivered from the sting of death which is sin yet they are not delivered from the stroke of death but however death play the tyrant here on the earth and spare none yet he will have no footing in Heaven the bodies of the righteous when raised up again will be impassible and immortal immortality will be swallowed up of life and the life of the body as well as of the soul will be everlasting 2. The souls of the righteous will be the subjects and the chief subjects of the glory and happiness of Heaven if their bodies shall be glorious their souls shall be much more glorious as being their more excellent part and capable of more glory than their bodies will be we read Rom. 8. 18. Of the glory which shall be revealed in us that is in the soul and the Apostle tells us that The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with this glory the greatest sufferings and calamities in this World have not that evil and misery in the least shaddow of comparison with the happiness of the glory which shall be put into the souls of the Saints indeed the Apostle doth compare them and see how he makes this future glory to out-ballance 2 Cor. 4. 17. These light offlictions which are but for a moment do work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory The afflictions are light but the glory will be weighty the afflictions are but for a moment but the glory will be eternal the weight of glory will be exceeding more exceeding far more exceeding here the Apostle layes one high expression upon the back of another and another upon that like so many great Mountains upon the back one of another and when he hath got upon the top of the highest of them yet he is too low to look into the glory of Heaven and his expressions and apprehensions fall short of the glory which shall be revealed in the soul when it shall be received into the new Ierusalem for it is yet to be revealed and therefore as the Apostle Iohn saith I Ioh. 3 2. It doth not yet appear what we shall be but when Christ shall appear we shall be made like him not only the body shall be made like his glorious body but also the soul shall be made like his glorious soul for we shall see him as he is as the eye doth receive the image of the object which it looks upon so the soul in its vision of Christ shall receive the Image of Christ and have a perfect similitude and likeness unto him the soul will be made most beautiful the perfect lineaments of Christ will be drawn upon it if grace makes the soul to shine here how much more will glory which is grace in the perfection of it make the soul to shine in Heaven and therefore grace is called glory it is glory begun 2 Cor. 3. 18. We all with open face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord. The Vail which was under the Law is now taken away and with open face we behold the glory of the Lord that is I conceive the Lord Jesus Christ who is the glory of the Father the brightness of the Fathers glory which glory was more dark to our view under the Law represented by the cloud which filled the Temple but now there is more clear revelation of Christ without the Vail and clouds of types and figures whom we now see in the Glass of the Word and Ordinances and hereby are changed into his Image and receive froâ— him impressions of grace which is glory begun through the operation of his spirit in his Ordinances upon us yet stil we see him in a Glass and therefore there is a darkness through this interposition and the eye of our faith which looks thorow this Glass upon Christ is weak and therefore our Graces are imperfect and our similitude to him is imperfect but when the Glasse shall be removed and instead of the sight of faith we shall have an immediate Vision then our souls will be changed into a perfect conformity unto his Image and it will not be from glory to glory from one degree unto another but glory will be arrived unto its heighth and the souls of the righteous will be made perfectly glorious their souls will then have perfection of holiness without the least remainders of sin which in this World the most holy Persons are not wholly free from 1. Their thoughts shall be holy no blaâ—phemous thoughts shall then arise in their minde no filthy thoughts no eâ—vious and malicious thoughts yea they shall not have the least vanity or impertinency in their thoughts all their thoughts shall then be brought into pâ—rfect obedience unto Jesus Christ. 2. Their understandings shall be holy there shall not be the least Cloud or mist of ignorance or errour to darken and â—ully them when they appear before the glorious Sun of righteousness the brightness which will issue forth from his face will dispel all clouds and they will have a clear understanding of all things which will be needful foâ— them to know to make them happy God will then unlock his treasures open his Books which â—â—w are sealed and open their understandings too that they may conceive those mysteries of his word and that manifold wisdome of God which now do exceed their comprehensions 3. Their memories shall be holy they shall be strengthnâ—d to retain and bring forth continually out of their treasures whatever things new or old shall tend to feed them with love and joy and elevate their souls in the praiâ—es of God 4. Their wills shall be perfectly holy there shall be a sweet harmony between their wills and â—he will of God a perfect compliance with the sweet Law which they shall be under without the least contranitency or contradiction they shall not
with me into Heaven and ye shall live and reign with me for ever and ever Come along and enter now into your Masters joy come and I will shew you the Father and bring you into his house and presence where there is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore And now Beloved think with your selves what joyes what exultations what clapping of hands what shouâ—ings what Hallelujahs what Hosannahs what triumphing acclamations the Saints will make upon the hearing of these words But here words fail conceptions fall short who can utter what the affections and behaviour of the righteous will be when they have their sentence and hear such sweet and gracious words from the mouth of their Judge and Redeemer Thus concerning the Judgment of the righteous CHAP. VII 2. COncerning the judgment of the wicked at the second appearance of Jesus Christ in treating hereon I shall as in the judgment of the righteous speak 1. Of the immediate antecedents 2. Of the Iudgment it self 1. The immediate Antecedents of the judgment of the wicked will be 1. The Resurrection of their Bodies from the grave all the wicked that are dead shall be raised though not so soon yet as certainly as the righteous Ioh. 5. 28 29. The hour cometh that all that are in their graves shall hear his voice not only they that have done good shall come forth to the Resurrection of life but also they that have done evil to the resurrection of demnation When the wicked die their bodies are clapt up in the Prison of the Grave where they rot and putrifie under the chains of death which are laid upon them and their souls are shut down into the Prison of Hell where they are bound up in chains of darkness and wo and reserved unto the judgment of the great day when the Lord Jesus shal appear to judge the World he will bring the keys of death and hell along with him and open both these Prison doors not to give liberty and releasâ— to the Prisoners but as Prisons are opened at Assizes to bring them forth unto Judgment he will open the Prison of Hell and all the souls of the wicked shall come forth like so many Locusts out of the bottomless Pit and he will open the Prison of the Grave and all their bodies shall creep like so many ugly â—oades out of the Earth and then soul and body shall be joyned together again and this meeting will be sad beyond expression the meeting of the souls and bodies of the righteouâ— will not be more joyful than the meeting of the souls and bodies of the wicked will be doleful possibly some of the wicked had no bands in their death and their souls went forth of their bodies without much pain or fear but their entrance into their bodies again will be with unexpressible horrâ—ur and if some of the wicked had their consciences awakened at death and they lay down with terrour when they awake and rise again from the dead it will be with far greater terrour The old World dyed in a fright with the deluge of Water which over-whelmed them Corah Dathan and Aliram with their Company died in a fright at the cleaving and opening of the Earths mouth which swallowed them up Iudas and other despairing souls died in a fright at the apprehensions of the open mouth of Hell ready to receive their guilty spirits but none of the wicked could go forth of their bodies in such a fright as they will enter into them again at the last day the damned souls have been lying in Hell many years full of anguish in their separation and they know that their anguish will be encreased by the torment of their bodies in their union and no wonder if they be exceedingly unwilling and fearful to enter into their old lodging their bodies have been sleeping all this while in the dust and have felt no pain at all and O how unwelcome a guest will their souls then be never was death so terrible unto them as life will be at that day they had rather sleep still in their grave and continue in their rottenness and corruption they had rather lie hid for ever in the dust of oblivion or be quite annihilated like beasts than to arise again unto such torments as now they must undergo but they must arise willing or unwilling It is said that the vile bodies of the righteous shall at the last day be fashioned like unto Christs most glorious body Phil. 3. 21. They shall be made like unto Christs body in beauty and glory but the bodies of the wicked will have another hue and fashion if it were possible to fashion bodies like Devils those impure and foul spirits such spiritual bodies the wicked should have be sure their bodies shall have no glory put upon them but as they lay down vile bodies they shall rise up far more vile they lay down in dishonour and they shall be raised in far greater dishonour indeed they will be raised incorruptible and immortal but this will not be for their glory but that they may be capable of the greater and longer torment and misery their bodies will be so far from being made beautiful like unto Christ that I believe they will not regain that natural beauty which they had here upon the Earth now some of them ouâ—-shine Gods own Children whose chief beauty lies inward in external comeliness then none but the bodies of Gods children will shine the bodies of the wicked most probable will be swarthy black ugly monstrous bodies if there be a ghastliness upon the bodies of the most beautifull when they are dead what a ghastliness will there be upon the bodies of all the wicked when the second death shall seize upon them were their bodies never so beautiful in themselves yet their features would quickly be altered by the horrible passions of their minde the blackness and dread of the soul would quickly appear in their countenance besides the impressions which the Fire of Hell will have upon them The soul will finde nothing in the body which will give it any delight or ease or in the least contribute unto the asswagement of its anguish it will return into the body as into a Prison or Dungeon where there is no pleasure to be found and if the body be black how black will the soul be after so long abode with foul Devils in the lower Regions of darknesse And when such foul souls and such vile bodies meet what a meeting what a greeting will there be we may fancy a kinde of language to be between them at that day The soul to the body Come out of thy hole thou filthy dunghil flesh for the pampering and pleasing of whom I have lost my self for ever who hast stollen away my time and thoughts and heart from God and Christ and Heavenly things to feed and cloath and cherish thee and make provision to satisfy thy base deceitful lusts when I should have
they were hid from their eyes they slept in the harvest they loitered away and sinned away their time and wasted their day in which they should have made provision for their souls O how will they be then ready to tear themselves in pieces that they should neglect so great salvation in the day when salvation was attainable yea that they should refuse the proffers of grace and pardon and peace and life and happiness which in that day were so frequently and earnestly made unto them then they will wish that they had opened their ear and heart that they had regarded and accepted such gracious proffers whatever they had neglected or parted withall then they will wish they had imbraced and improved the opportunities which once they had for prayer and hearing and attendance upon Gods Ordinances that they had been in the Church when they were in the Ale-house that they had associated themselves with Gods people when they frequented the company of the leud and ungodly that they had been upon their knees with grief confessing sin when they took so much delight in the commission of it that they had taken time from their sports to make their peace with God that they had worshipped God in their Closets and worshipped God in their Families and laid up for themselves treasures in Heaven and horrible will their vexation be that they did not so 4. In going away they will remember for what it was that they refused this happiness that it was only for the satisfaction of some foolish and unprofitable lust If two Kingdomes of equal worth and glory were proposed to a Mans choice it would not trouble him that he had refused the one to obtain the other but if a Man were to chuse whether he would be a King or a slave if he should refuse the former and chuse the later when he came to feel the misery of his bondage this would trouble him more than the bondage that he might have avoided it that he hath chose this thraldome and parted with a Kingdome for it they will then perceive that they have chosen to be slavesunto sin and Sathan rather than to be Heires unto the Kingdome of Glory I know that though now they are slaves and serve divers lusts and though their bondage is a thousand fold worse than if they were Vassals to the cruellest Tirant upon Earth yet they are not sensible neither are they weary of their bondage because their wills are in thraldome and their affections are captivated and though heirdome to the glory of Heaven be the choicest priviledge upon Earth and most desirable yet they do not desire it but prefer their slavery before it because they are blinde unbelieving besorted sinners and judge of things according to sense yet on the day of Christs appearance all things will appear with a new face and they will look upon things with a new eye they will then perceive that they were slaves all their dayes and that there was no such drudgery as that which they were employed in and that there was no such glory and happiness as that which they refused and foolishly cast away then it will sting them indeed to remember that they have chosen rather to do the work of the Devil and yield obedience to the basest lusts for which they must now be repayed with the wages of death and eternal misery than to do the work of the Lord who would have rewarded them with eternal life and a Crown of glory and immortality Then they will say What profit have we got by those things whereof we are now ashamed What fruit doth all our labour and toile in the World now yield unto us What are we the better for our riches and great estate on Earth for our honour and high esteem amongst men for our luscious pleasures and delights now vanished and gone which we bought at so dear a rate as the loss of our precious and immortal souls and the forfeiture of an Inheritance in the kingdome of Heaven Then they will cry out O bewitching World O deluding Devil O deceitfull hearts and lusts O what fools and mad-men have we been that we should trample Iewels under our feet like Swine and in stead of them put dross and dung into our Cabinet that we should so greedily drink the sweet poison of sin to the bane and ruine of our souls and refuse to taste of the Cup of salvation which all our dayes was held forth unto us Then they will cry out of their voluptuousness their covetousness their pride and haughtiness and the like lusts which have kept Christ out of their hearts and kept them out of the Kingdome of Heaven 5. In going away some of them shall remember how neerly they missed of this happiness that they were almost perswaded to be Christians in deed as well as in name and to accept of Christ upon his own termes that they were not far from the Kingdome of Heaven that they were come even within fight of the Heavenly Canaan and yet died in the Wilderness that they were come even to the Gate of the new Ierusalem but finding it too strait for them and the luggish of their sins together there they stuck and could not enter in that they climbed up a great way of the Hill to Zion but did not reach the top and tumbling down their fall was the greater they will remember the means of grace which they enjoyed the Ordinances which they sate under and the treaties which the Lord did make with them by his word and spirit about their life and salvation and the carriage of their hearts towards the Lord in those treaties some of them will remember what convictions the Lord wrought in them of sin and what tremblings of conscience for fear of Hell and wrath to come and if they had followed that preparative work they might have quickly been acquainted with Christ and escaped the misery which they feared but they â—tifled convictions and shook off their troubles they shut their eies against the light and stilled the noise of their consciences and calmed their spirits with the delights and pleasures of the World and so grew more hardned in sin than before and gave such repulses to the spirit that the spirit quite departed from them Others will remember that they were perswaded to ascend some steps higher under the Ministry of the Word when they were reproved for such and such gross sins which they lived in the practise of that they could have no ease in their consciences until they had broken off that wicked course that they left off their drunkenness and their swearing their uncleanness and unrighteous dealing and were in a great measure reformed in their lives but there were some lusts in their hearts which they hugged secretly and delighted in and could not be perswaded to leave which were their undoing pride revenge uncharitableness covetousness or the like remained in their reigning power which were inconsistent with
a planke they passed over them that if they had slipped but a little aside they had fallen into the lake from whence they could never have got out when they shall remember how neer they were to Hell and how narrowly they have escaped such horrible torments â—urely they will be struck with such admiration and joy which now they could not bear but would over-whelm their spirits and bring immediate death upon them but then their nature will be strengthned to bear this joy which might be enough to sweeten an eternity if they had no other happiness than the consideration of the misery from which they have been so wonderfully delivered Thus concerning the going away of the righteous from the wicked and the miseries which they shall enduâ—e 2. Concerning their going into eternal life and here I shall speak 1. Of the eternal life they shall go into 2. Of their going into eternal life 1. Concerning the eternal life which the righteous shall go into Eternal life is taken in Scripture frequently for the life of grace but chiefly and so here for the life of glory by eternal life we are to understand the glory and happiness which the righteous shall have in Heaven of which happiness in Heaven I shall speak 1. Subjectively 2. Objectively 3. Formally 1. Subjectively The subject of the happiness in Heaven will be both the bodies and the souls of the righteous 1. The bodies of the righteous will be subjects of the happiness of Heaven 1. They shall be most glorious bodies 1 Cor. 15. 43. They are sown in dishonour when they die they shall be raised in glory at the resurrection some glory and Majesty is put upon the bodies of men now in comparison with the bodies of inferiour creatures but the bodies of the righteous shall then be made a thousand-fold more glorious there is not so great a difference between celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies between the body of the glorious Sun and the body of the meanest fly or worm as then there will be between the bodies of the righteous on earth and in heaven they will be celestial bodies they will shine like Stars Dan. 12. 3. Yea like the Sun in the Kingdom of their father Matth. 13. 43. their bodies will be transformed whereby their dirty hue will be changed more than if all the stones in the street were turned into Diamonds Phil. 3. 21. Their vile bodies will be fashiâ—ed like unto the glorious body of Christ Now their bodies are vile being so frail especially as they are the instruments of sin they are earthy as they bear the image of the earthy Adam then they shall be glorious because they shall bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam the bodies of some doe now shine with Gold and Pearls and costly Apparrel which are about them and yet under all their bodies remain vile bodies but hereafter the bodies of the righteous shall shine with a mâ—rvellous brightness and glory through the qualities which shall be in them beyond what the richest attire can give 2. And by consequence the bodies of the righteous shall be most beautiful bodies they shall have a perfect beauty beyond whatever eye did behold in the fairest women that ever lived upon the face of the earth Their bodies will have the most exact symetrie of parts those which were mis-shapen here shall then be healed of that imperfection in their bodies the crooked back shall then be made straight the members which now are wanting shall be supplied and the parts which now are dissolved shall be put into the right place and all joined so exactly together especially the lineaments of the face shall have such a figure and composition as shall render their feature most lovely and graceful beyond what the greatest observers and admirers of beauty can conceive in their fancy Moreover the bodies of the righteous shall have a most sweet mixture of colours there will be no black skin no swarthy complexion no pale face no wan look their colour will be most lovely without change or fading there will be no wrinkles of old age but they will be alwaies young fresh and blooming if the composition of these elements which are so dreggish doth give forth in some such loveliness of colour what wil the more refined composition of the bodies of the righteous do and when the Lord will fashion their bodies after the pattern of his Sons body and therefore I conceive further that the bodies of the righteous shall have a most comely stature not dwarfish not gigantick but according to the measure of the stature of Christ And lastly to compleat their beauty I doubt not but they wil have most graceful gestures and sparkling motions in their countenances they wil have no grief to deaden their beauty no anger or envy or the like to change and transform their visage but love and joy wil continually look out at their eyes which will marvellously add to the lustre and sweetness of their beauty they shall have most beautiful bodies 3. The bodies of the righteous shall be most strong that they may be sutable to their great soul and fit for such works as in heaven they must be employed in were they weak as now they are they would never endure such works and motions they would tire and faint their spirits would quickly be spent but in Heaven there will be no lassitude and weariness no fainting or failure of spirits all their motions though never so great and continual will be sweet and delightful and therefore their bodies must be strong that they may be sutable hereunto Moreover the glory of Heaven which they shall have in their eye would sinke a weak body and the ravishing joyes and love the transports of their souls in the visions which they shall have would crack a weak vessel to pieces they must be strong to bear the glory of the place and when besides they must endure unto all eternity and all this without reparation by meat or drink or sleep I conceive that no bodies visible to us are made so strong as the bodies of the righteous will be made at the last day 4. Hence it follows that their bodies will be most healthfull bodies they will be free from all pain and disease which may in the least weaken them the temperature of their bodies will be so exact that there will be no fighting of contrary qualities within them no flowing of ill humours In Heaven there will be no plague nor ague not feaver nor gout not stone nor strangury nor any distemper no need of food to preserve health nor physick to recover it 5. The bodies of the righteous will be spiritual bodies I Cor. 15. 44. not absolutely spiritual for then they would cease to be bodies but comparatively to what they are now they will be spiritual that is I conceive they will be quick and nimble in their motions like spirits now they are dull and slow and heavy and a