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A27061 Two treatises the first of death, on I Cor. 15:26, the second of judgment on 2 Cor. 5:10, 11 / by Rich. Baxter. Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691. Treatise of death. 1672 (1672) Wing B1442; ESTC R6576 84,751 206

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promise and leave us in the dust for ever It cannot be Hath he conquered Death for himself alone and not for us Hath he taken our Nature into Heaven to be there alone and will he not have all his members with him Remember then Christian when thou lookest on thy grave that Christ was buried and hath made the grave a bed of rest that shall give up her trust when his Trumpet sounds And that his Resurrection is the pledge of ours Keep therefore thy rising and glorified Lord continually in thy eye If Christ were not risen our preaching were vain and your faith were vain and all men were miserable but we most miserable that suffer so much for a life which we had no ground to hope for 1 Cor. 15 14 17 19. But now we have an Argument that Infidelity it self is ashamed to encounter with that hath been the means of the conversion of the Nations unto Christ by which we may put even Death it self to a defiance as knowing it is now a conquered thing If it could have held Christ captive it might also have held us But he being risen we shall surely rise Write it therefore Christians upon your hearts mention it more in your conference for the encouragement of your faith Write it on the grave-stones of your friends that CHRIST IS RISEN and that BECAUSE HE LIVETH WE SHALL LIVE ALSO and that OUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD though we are dead and when he shall appear who is our Life we shall also appear with him in glory John 14. 19. Col. 3. 3 4. Though we must be sown in corruption in weakness and dishonour we shall be raised in incorruption strength and honour 1 Cor. 1. 15. 42 43. While our souls behold the Lord in glory we may bear with the winter that befalls our flesh till the sping of Resurrection come Knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall also raise us up by Jesus For which cause we faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inner man is renewed day by day while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen For the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2 Cor. 4. 14 15 16 17 18. As we are risen with Christ to newness of life so we shall rise with him to glory Use 10. LAstly If Death be the last Enemy to be destroyed at the Resurrection we may learn hence how earnestly believers should long and pray for the second coming of Christ when this full and final Conquest shall be made Death shall do much for us but the Resurrection shall do more Death sends the separated soul to Christ but at his coming both soul and body shall be glorified There is somewhat in Death that is penal even to believers but in the coming of Christ and their Resurrection there is nothing but glorifying grace Death is the effect of sin and of the first sentence passed upon sinners but the Resurrection of the Just is the final destruction of the effects of sin And therefore though the fears of Death may perplex us me-thinks we should long for the coming of Christ there being nothing in that but what tends to the deliverance and glory of the Saints Whether he will come before the general Resurrection and reign on earth a thousand years which some expect I shall not presume to pass my determination But sure I am it is the work of faith and Character of his people to love his appearance 2 Tim. 4. 8. and to wait for the Son of God from Heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus who delivered us from the wrath to come 1 Thes 1. 10. and to wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 1. 7. and to wait for the adoption the redemption of our bodies with inward groanings Rom. 8. 23. O therefore let us pray more earnestly for the coming of our Lord and that the Lord would direct our hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ 2 Thes 3. 5. O blessed day when the glorious appearing of our Lord shall put away all his servants shame and shall communicate Glory to his members even to the bodies that had laid so long in dust that to the eye of flesh there seemed to be no hope Though the Majesty and glory will cause our Reverence yet it will not be our terrour to the diminution of our joy It is his enemies that would not have him rule over them whom he cometh to destroy Lu. 19. 27. Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to execute judgement upon all to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him as Henoch the seventh from Noah prophesied Jud. 14. 15. But the precious faith of the Saints shall be found to praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 7. When the chief Shepherd shall appear we shall receive a Crown of glory that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5. 4. He that was once offered to bear the sins of many and now appeareth for us in the presence of God shall unto them that look for him appear the second time without sin to salvation Heb. 9. 24. 28. And When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in Glory Col. 3. 4. The Lord shall then come to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe in that day 2 Thes 1. 10. This is the day that all believers should long and hope and wait for as being the accomplishment of all the work of their redemption and all the desires and endeavours of their souls It is the hope of this day that animateth the holy diligence of our lives and makes us turn from the carelesness and sensuality of the world For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godlily in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Tit. 2. 11 12 13. The heavens and the earth that are now are kept in store by the word of God reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men And though the Lord seem to delay he is not slack of his promise as some men count slackness for a day is with him as a thousand years and a thousand years but as a day But the day of the Lord will come as a Thiefin the night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up Seeing then all
and follow Christ so heavily and sadly into life But all this is long of the enemies that now molest our peace Indwelling sin and a flattering world and a brutish flesh and interposing death are our discouragements that drive us back But all these enemies shall shortly be overcome Fear not Death then let it do its worst It can give thee but one deadly gripe that shall kill it self and prove thy life as the Wasp that leaves its sting behind and can sting no more It shall but snuff the Candle of thy life and make it shine brighter when it seems to be put out It is but an undressing and a gentle sleep That which thou couldst not here attain by all our preaching and all thy prayers and cares and pains thou shalt speedily attain by the help of death It is but the messenger of thy gracious Lord and calleth thee to him to the place that he hath prepared Hearken not now to the great Deceiver that would draw thee to unbelief and cause thee to stagger at the promises of God when thou hast followed him so far and they are near to the full performance Believe it as sure as thou believest that the Sun doth shine upon thee that God cannot lye he is no Deceiver it was his meer love and bounty that caused him to make the promises when he had no need for himself to make them and shall he be then unfaithful and not fulfil the promises which he hath freely made Believe it faith is no delusion It may be folly to trust man but it is worse than folly not to trust God Believe it Heaven is not a shadow nor the life of faith and holiness a dream These sensible things have least reality These grosser substances are most drossy delusory and base God is a Spirit who is the prime Being and the cause of all created Beings And the Angels and other celestial Inhabitants that are nearest to him are furthest from corporeity and are spirits likest unto God The further any thing is from spirituality the further from that excellency and perfection which the creatures nearest God partake of The earth is baser than the air and fire The drossy flesh is baser than the soul And this lumpish dirty visible world is incomparably below that spiritual world which we believe and wait for And though thy conceptions of spirits and the spiritual world are low and dark and much unsatisfying remember still that thy head is there and it belongeth to him to know what thou shalt be till thou art fit to know it which will not be till thou art fit to enjoy it Be satisfied that thy Father is in Heaven and that thy Lord is there and that the Spirit that hath been so long at work within thee preparing thee for it dwelleth there And let it suffice thee that Christ knoweth what he will do with thee and how he will employ thee to all eternity And thou shalt very shortly see his face and in his light thou shalt behold that light that shall fully satisfie thee and shame all thy present doubts and fears and if there were shame in Heaven would shame thee for them Use 9. FRom the Enmity of Death and the necessity of a Conquest we may see what a wonderful mercy the Resurrection of Christ himself was to the Church and what use we should make of it for the strengthening of our Faith It was not only impossible to man to conquer Death by his own strength and therefore it must be conquered by Christ but it was also beyond out power to believe it that ever the dead should rise to life if Christ had not risen as the first fruits and convinced man by eye-sight or certain testimony that the thing is possible and already done But now what a pillar is here for faith What a word of Hope and Joy is this that Christ is risen With this we will answer a thousand Cavi's of the Tempter and stop the mouth of the enemies of our faith and profligate our infidelity As unlikely as it seems to flesh and blood shall we ever doubt whether we shall rise again when the Lord came down in flesh among us that he might die and rise again himself to shew us as to our faces that we shall rise This is the very Gospel which we preach and by which we must be saved that Christ dyed for our sins according to the Scriptures and was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and that he was seen of Cephas then of the Twelve and after that he was seen of above five hundred Brethren at once of whom the greater part remained alive when Paul wrote this who was the last that saw him 1 Cor. 15. 1 2 3 4 5 6. Read over this Chapter again and again where our Resurrection is proved by the Resurrection of Christ No wonder therefore that the Church in all ages ever since the very day of Christs Resurrection hath kept the first day of the week as a holy festival in remembrance of it wherein though they commemorated the whole work of our Redemption yet was it from the Resurrection as the most glorious part that the Spirit of Christ did chuse the day This hath been the joyful day to the Church this 1625 years or thereabouts in which the ancient Christians would assemble themselves together saluting one another with this joyful word The Lord is risen And this is the day that the Lord hath blessed with the New-birth and resurrection of millions of souls So that it is most probable that all the six dayes of the week have not begot half so many souls for Heaven as this blessed day of the Lords Resurrection hath done Let Infidels then despise it that believe not Christs Resurrection but let it still be the Churches joyful day This was the Lords doing and it is marvelous in our eyes This is the day which the Lord hath made we will be glad and rejoyce therein Psal 118. 23 24. In it Let us sing unto the Lord let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise to him with Psalms Psal 95. 1 2. Every day let us Remember the Lords Resurrection but on this day let the joyful commemoration of it be our work We may see by the witness of the Apostles and their frequent preaching the Resurrection of Christ as if it were the summ of all the Gospel that this is a point that Faith must especially build and feed upon and that we must make the matter of our most frequent meditations Oh what vigour it addeth to our faith when we are encountred by the sight of Death and of a grave to remember seriously that Christ is risen Did he take flesh purposely that he might dye and rise and shew us how he will raise his members and will he after all this break his
these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements melt with fervent heat But we according to his promise look for new Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness 2 Pet. 3. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13. Beza marvelleth at Tertullian for saying that the Christians in their holy Assemblics prayed pro mora finis Apologet. c. 39. And so he might well enough if it were not that to Christians the Glory of God is dearer than their own felicity and the salvation of millions more precious than the meer hastening of their own and the glory of the Church more desirable than our personal glory and the hallowing of Gods Name were not to be prayed for before the coming of his Kingdom and the Kingdom of grace must not necessarily go before the Kingdom of glory But as much as we long for the coming of our Lord we are content to wait till the Elect be gathered and can pray that he will delay it till the Universal Body be made up and all are called that shall be glorified But to our selves that are brought out of Aegypt into the Wilderness how desirable is the promised Land When we think on our own interest we cry Come Lord Jesus Come quickly The sooner the better Then shall our eyes behold him in whom we have believed Not as he was beheld on earth in his despised state but as the glorious King of Saints accompanied with the Celestial Host coming in flaming fire to render vengeance to the rebellious and Rest and Joy to believing souls that waited for this day of his appearance Then Faith and Patience shall give up their work and sight and fruition and perfect love shall everlastingly succeed them The rage of Persecutors shall no more affright us the folly of the multitude shall no more annoy us the falseness of our seeming selfish friends shall no more betray us the pride of self-conceited men shall no more disturb us the turbulency of men distracted by ambition shall cast us no more into confusions The Kingdom that we shall possess shall not be lyable to mutations nor be tossed with pride and faction as are these below There is no monthly or annual change of Governours and Laws as is in Lunatick Common-wealths but there will be the same Lord and King and the same Laws and Government and the same Subjects and obedience without any mutinies rebellions or discontents to all eternity The Church of which we shall then be members shall not be divided into parties and factions nor the members look strangely at each other because of difference of opinions or distance of affections as now we find it to our daily grief in the militant Church We shall then need no tedious debates to reconcile us Unity will be then quickly and easily procured There will be no falling out in the presence of our Lord. There will be none of that darkness uncharitableness selfishness or passion left that now causeth our dissentions When we have perfect Light and perfect Love the perfect Peace will be easily attained which here we labour for in vain Now there is no Peace in Church or State in Cities or Countries in families or scarce in our own souls But when the glorious King of Peace hath put all his enemies under his feet what then is left to make disturbance Our enemies can injure us no more for it is then their portion to suffer for all their former injuries to Christ and us Our friends will not injure us as here they do because their corruption and weakness is put off and the relicks of sin that caused the trouble are left behind O that is the sight that faith prepareth for that is the day the blessed day that all our dayes are spent in seeking and waiting and praying for then shall the glory of holiness appear and the wisdom of the Saints be justified by all that now is justified by her children Then it shall be known Whether faith or unbelief whether a heavenly or earthly mind and life was the wiser and more justifiable course then shall all the world discern between the righteous and the wicked between them that serve God and them that serve him not Mal. 3. 18. Then sin that is now so obstinately defended and justified by such foolish cunning shall never more find a tongue to plead for it or a Patron to defend it more Then where is the man that will stand forth and break a jest at godliness or make a scorn of the holy diligence of Believers How pale then will those faces look that here were wont to jear at piety What terrour will seize upon those hearts that here were wont to make themselves sport at the weaknesses of the upright servants of the Lord That is the day that shall rectifie all judgements and cure the errours and contemptuous thoughts of an holy life which no perswasions now can cure that is the day that shall set all straight that now seems crooked and shall satisfie us to the full that God was just even when he prospered his enemies and afflicted the souls that loved him and walkt in their integrity before him We shall then see that which shall fully satisfie us of the reason and equity of all our sufferings which here we underwent we shall marvel no more that God lets us weep and groan and pray and turns away his face and seems not to regard us We shall then find that all our groans were heard and all our tears and prayers did succeed which we suspected had been lost We shall then find that a duty performed in sincerity through all our lives was never lost no nor a holy thought nor a Cup of cold water that from holy love we gave to a Disciple We shall then see that our murmurings and discontents and jealous unbelieving thoughts of God which sickness or poverty or crosses did occasion were all injurious to the Lord and the fruit of infirmity and that when we questioned his Love on such accounts we knew not what we said We shall then see that Death and Grave and Devils were all but matter for the glorifying of Grace and for the triumph of our Lord and us Up then my soul and shake off thy unbelief and dulness Look up and long and meet thy Lord. The more thou art afraid of death the more desire that blessed day when mortality shall be swallowed up of life and the name of death shall be terrible no more Though death be thy enemy there is nothing but friendly in the coming of thy Lord. Though death dissolve thy nature the Resurrection shall restore it and make thee full reparation with advantage How glad would I have been to have seen Christ but with the Wise Men in the Manger or to have seen him