1 Cor. 15 16. He that denyeth the Resurrection of the members denyeth the Resurrection of the Head for seeing the Resurrection of the Saints is proved by the Resurrection of Christ he that doth deny the Resurrection of the Saints must needs deny the Resurrection of Christ that proves it Now this errour as it is in it self destructive to all Christian Religion so it like an Adder carrieth within its bowels many other alike devilish and filthy as 1. He that denyeth the Resurrection of the Saints he concludeth that to preach deliverance from sin and death it is vain preaching for how can he be freed of sin that is swallowed up for ever of Death the Grave as he most certainly is that is always contained therin as Paul saith if Christ be not risen whose Resurrection is the ground of ours then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain then we preach fables and you receive them for truth 1 Cor. 15. 14. 2. This errour casteth the Lie in the face of God of Christ and the Scriptures ye and we also saith Paul are found false Witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised Christ up if so be that the dead rise not 1 Cor. 15. 15. Mark before he said Christ in his Resurrection doth prove our Resurrection but now he saith that our Resurrection will prove the truth of his and indeed both are true for as by Christs rising ours is affirmed so by ours his is demonstrated oâ— 3. The denyal of the Resurrection it also damneth all those that have departed this World in the faith of this Doctrine If Christ be not raised as if he is not we rise not then is not onely your faith vain and ye are yet in your sins that are alive but then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished 1 Cor. 15. 17 18. 4 He that denyeth the Resurrection of the Just he concludeth that the Christian is of all men the most miserable Mark the words If in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men the most miserable 1 Cor. 15. 19. First of all men the most miserable because we let go present injoyments of those that will never come if the deaâ— rise not of all men most miserable because our faith our hope our joy and peace are all but a lie if the dead rise not But you will say he that giveth up himself to God shall have comfort in this life Ah but if the dead rise not all our comfort that now we think we have from God will then be found presumption and madness because we believe that God hath so loved us as to have us in his day in Body and Soul to Heaven which will be nothing so if the dead rise not If in this 〈◊〉 onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable Poor Christian thou that lookest for the blessed hope of the Resurrection of the Body at the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ how wilt thou be deceived if the Dead rise not but now is Christ risen and become he first fruits of them that sleep for since by man came death by man came also the Resurrection from the dead 1 Cor. 15. 20 21. 5. But again he that 〈◊〉 the Resurrection of the dead he setteth open a â—â—â—udgate to all manner of impiety he cutteth â—he throat of a truly holy life and layeth the Reins upon the neck of the most outragiâ—us â—ustâ— For if the dead rise not let us eat and drink that is do anything though never so diabolical and hellish let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die and there is an end of us we shall not arise again to receive either evill or good 1 Cor. 15. 32. 6. To deny this Resurrection nay if a man do but say it is past either with him or any Christian his so saying tendeth directly to the destâ—uction and overthrow of the faith of them that hear him and is so far from being according to the Doctrine of God that it eateth out good and wholsome Doctrine even as Cankers eat the face and flesh of a man how ill favouredly do they look that have their nose and lips eat off with the Canker even so badly doth the Doctrine of no Resurrection of the dead look in the eyes of God Christ Saints and Scripture 2 Tim. 2. 18. Lastly I conclude then that to deny the Resurrection of the Bodies of the Just it argueth First Great ignorance of God ignorant of his power to raise ignorant of his promise to raise ignorant of his faithfulness to raise and that both to himself Son and Saints as I shewed before therefore saith Paul to those that were thus deluded Awake to Righteousness and sin not for some have not the knowledge of God I speak this to your shame 1 Cor. 18. 32 33 34. as if he had said Do you profess Christianity and do you question the Resurrection of the Body Do you not know that the Resurrection of the Body and glory to follow is the very quintessence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Are you ignorant of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus and do you question the power and faithfulness of God both to his Son and his Saints because you say there shall be no Resurrection of the Dead you are ignorant of God of what he can do of what he will do and of what he will by doing glorifie himself Secondly As it argueth very great ignorance of Gods power faithfulness c. so it argueth gross ignorance of the Tenor and curâ—ant of the Scriptures for as touching the Dead that they are raised have ye not read in the Book of Moses saith Christ how that God said unto him in the Bush I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living ye do therefore greatly erre Mark 12. 26 27. To be the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob it is to be understood of his being their God under a new Covenant-Consideration as he saith I will be their God and they shall be my People Heb. 8. 10 11. John 8. 44. 1 John 38. 9 10. Hos. 6. 2. Col. 3. 4. Ephes. 1. 4. Now thus he is not the God of the Dead that is of those that perish whether they be Angels or men Now I say they that are the Children of God as Abraham Isaac and Jacob they are counted the Living under a threefold Consideration 1. In their Lord and Head and thus all the Elect may be said to live for they are from Eternity chosen in him who also is their life though possibly many of them yet unconverted I say yet Christ is their life by the eternal purpose of God 2. The Children of the new Covenant do live both in their spirits in glory by open vision and here by Faith Gal. 2. 20. and the
because Christ is risen from the dead Christ is the head of the Just and they are the members of his Body and because of this union therefore the Just must arise This is the Apostles own Argument If Christ saith he be preached that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no Resurrection of the dead but if there be no Resurrection of the dead then is not Christ risen 1 Cor. 15. 12 13. Now I say the Reason why the Apostle thus argueth the Resurrection from the dead by the Resurrection of Christ. It is because the Saints of whose Resurrection he here chiefly discourseth are in their Bodies as well as in their Soul the members of Christ know you not saith he that your Bodies are the members of Christ 1 Cor. 6. 15. A very weighty Argument for if a good man be a member of Christ then he must either be raised out of his Grave or else sin and death must have power over a member of Christ. I say again if if this Body be not raised then also Christ is not a compleat Conquerour over his enemies for as much as death and the Grave hath still power over his members The last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death Now though Christ in his own person hath a compleat Conquest over Death c. yet Death hath still power over the Bodies of all that are in their Graves now I say Christ being considered with relation to his members then he hath not yet a compleat Conquest over death neither will he until they every one be brought forth of their Graves for then and not till then shall that saying be every way fulfilled Death is swallowed up of Victory 1 Cor. 15. 26. and 53 54. Secondly As there must be a Resurrection of the Just because Christ is their Head and they his members so also because the Body of the Saints as well as their Soul is the purchase of Christs blood Ye are bought with a price saith Paul wherefore glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirit which are Gods 1 Cor. 6. 20. Christ will not lose the purchase of his blood O Death saith Christ I will have them O Grave I will make thee let them go I will ransom them from the power of the Grave I will redeem them from death I have bought them and they shall be mine O Death I will be thy plague O Grave I will be thy destruction Hos. 13 14. Job 18. 13 14. Revel 1. 18. I say though the power of the Grave be invincible and death be the King of terrours yet he who hath the Keys of Hell and of Death at his Girdle to him belongeth the issues from death He that is our God is the God of Salvation and to God the Lord belongeth the issues from death Psal. 68. 20. and we the price of his blood shall be delivered Thirdly As the Body is the member of Christ and the price of his blood so it is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in us What know you not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you and you are not your own The Body is no such rediculous thing in the account of Christ as it was in the account of the Saduces The Body is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the Body and that no onely in this World but that which is to come wherefore he saith God hath both raised up the Lord Jesus and will raise us up also by his power 1 Cor. 6. 13 14. 19. that is as he hath raised up the Body of Christ so will he raise up ours also by Christ. Fourthly The Bodies of the Just must arise again because of that Similitude that must be betwixt the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bodies of the Saints When he shall appear we shall be like him 1 John 3. 2. Now we have it abundantly manifest in Scripture that the Body of the Lord Jesus was raised out of the Grave caught up into Heaven and that it ever remaineth in the holiest of all a glorified Body Luk 24. 3 4 5 6 7 8. 35. 36 37 38 39 40 41 42. John 20. 24 25 26 27. Acts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. Acts 2. 31. Acts 17. 30 31 32. Mar. 16. 6 7 19. Heb. 7. 24 25 26. eb 8. 2 3. Heb. 10. 12. Now I say it would be very strange to me if Christ should be raised ascended and glorified in that Body and yet that his People should be with him no otherwise then in their Spirits especially seeing that he in his Resurrection is said to be but the first begotten from the dead and the first fruits of them that sleep Col. 1. 18. 1 Cor. 15. 23. for we know that a first begotten doth imply more Sons and that first-fruits do foreshew an after Crop wherefore we conclude that as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order Christ the first fruits and afterwards them that are his at â—is coming 1 Cor. 15. 22 23. And hence it is that the Scripture saith He shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious Body And hence it is again that the day of Christ is said to be the day of the manifestation of the Sons of God and of the redemption of our body for then shall the Saints of God not onely be but appear as their Saviour being delivered from their Graves as he is from his and glorified in their Bodies as he is in his Phil. 3. 20 21. Rom. 8. 21 22 23. Fifthly There must be a Resurrection of the Body of the Saints because the Body as well as the mind hath been a deep sharer in the afflictions that we meet with for the Gospel sake Yea the body is oft-times the greater sufferer in all the Calamities that for Christs sake we here undergo it is the body that feels the stocks the whip hunger and cold the fire and rack and a thousand calamities it is the body in which we have the dying marks of the Lord Jesus that the life of Jesus also might be made manifest in our mortall slesh Gal. 6. 17. 2 Cor. 4. 9 10 11 12 13 14. God is so just a God and so merciful to his People that though the bodies of his Saints should through the malice of the enemy be never so dishonourably tortured killed and sown in the Grave yet he will as further will be shewed anon raise it again in incorruption glory and honour as he saith also in another place that we who have continued with Christ in his temptations that have for his sake underwent the reproach and malice of the World to you saith Christ I appoint a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me Luk. 22. 28 29. If we suffer with him we shall reign with him he that hateth his life
Nay further we do not onely see what operation the Spirit will have in our Body by the carriage of Christ after his Resurrection but even by many a Saint before their Death The Spirit used to catch Elijah away no man could tell whether It carryed Ezekiel hither and thither It carryed Christ from the Top of the Pinacle of the Temple into Galilee through it he walked on the Sea the Spirit caught away Philip from the Eunuch and carryed him as far as Azotus 1 King 17. 11 12. 2 King 2. 11. Ezek 3. 14. Luke 4. 14. Matth. 14. 25. Act. 8. 39. 40. Thus the great God hath given us a Tast of the power and glory that is in himself and how easily it will help us by its possessing of us at the Resurrection to act and do like Angels as Christ sâ—ith They that shall be counted worthy of that World and of the Resurrection from the Dead they shall not die but be equal to the Angels Luk. 23. 36. Further as the Body by being thus spiritualized shall be as I have said so again it must needs be that hereby all the Service of the Body and Faculties of the Soul must be infinitely inlarged also Now we shall see him as he is and now we shall know even as we are known 1 Joh. 3. 2. 1 Cor. 13. 12. First now we shall see him to wit Christ in his Glory Not by Revelation onely as we do now but then Face to Face and he will have us with him to this very end Joh. 17. 24. Though John was in the Spirit when he had the Vision of Christ Rev. 1. 17. yet it made him fall at his Feet as dead and also turned Daniel's Beauty into Corruption Dan. 10. 8. It was so glorious and so over-weighing a Glory that he appeared in but we shall at the Day of our Resurrection be so furnished that we shall with the Eagle be able to look upon the Sun in his strength We shall then I say see Him as he is who now is in the Light that no Eye hath seen nor any man can see till that Day 1 Tim. 6. 16. Now we shall see into all Things There shall not be any thing hid from us there shall not be a Saint a Prophet or saved Soul small or great but we shall then perfectly know them Also all the Works of Creation Election and Redemption and shall see and know as throughly all the Things of Heaven and Earth and Hell even as perfectly as now we know our A B C. For the Spirit with which we shall in every Crany of Soul and Body be filled I say that searcheâ—h all things yea the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. We see that strange Things have been known by the Prophets and Saints of God and that when they knew but in part Abraham could by it tell to a day how long his Seed should be under Persecution in Egypt Gen. 15. 13. Elisha by it could tell what was done in the King of Assyria's Bed-Chamber 2 King 6. 12. Ahijah could know by this Jeroboam's Wife so soon yea before her Feet entred within his Door though he saw her not 1 King 14. 1 2 3 4 5. The Prophet of Judah could tell by this what God would do to Bethel for the Idolatry there committed and could also point out the man by name that should do the Execution long before he was born 1 Kin. 13. 2. What shall I say Enoch by it could tell what should be done at the end of the World Jud. 14 15. How did the Prophets to a circumstance prophecie of Christ's Birth his Death his Burial of their giving him Call and Vinegar Of their parting his Raiment and piercing his Hands and Feet Isa. 53. Of his riding on an Ass Also all this they saw when they spake of him Joh. 12. 41. Peter also though half asleep could at the very first word call Moses and Elias by their Names when they appeared to Christ in the Holy Mount Luk. 9. 33. He is very ignorant of the operation of the Spirit of God that scrupleth these Things But now I say if these Things have been done seen and known by Spiritual men while their knowledge hath been but in part how shall we know see and discern when that which is perfect is come Which will be at the Resurrection It is raised a Spiritual Body Thus in few words have I shewed you the truth of the Resurrection of the Just and also the manner of their Rising Had I judged it convenient I might have much inlarged on each particular and have added many more For the Doctrine of the Resurrection however question'd by Hereticks and Erroneous Persons yet is such a Truth that almost all the Holy Scriptures of God point at and center in it God hath from the beginning of the World shewed to us that our Body must be with him as well as our Soul in the Kingdom of Heaven I say he hath shew'd first he hath shewed us how he will deal with those that are alive at Christs coming by his translating of Enoch Gen. 5. 24. Heb. 1. 5. and taking him Body and Soul to himself As also by his catching of Elias 1 King 2. 10 11. up Body and Soul into Heaven in a Fiery Chariot Secondly He hath often put us in remembrance of the Rising of those that are Dead at that Day First By the Faith he gave Abraham concerning the Offering of his Son For when he offered him he accounted that God was able to raise him up even from the Dead From whence also he received him in a Figure In a Figure of the Resurrection of Christ for Abraham's Justification and of Abraham's Resurrection by Christ at the last Day for his Glorification Heb. 11. 19. Secondly By the Faith he gave Joseph consuming his Bones which Charge the Godly in Egypt did diligently observe and to that end did keep them four hundred years and at length carryed them I say from Egypt to Canaan Heb. 11. 22. which was a Tipe of our being carryed in our Body from this World to Heaven Besides How oft did God give power to his Prophets Servants and Christ Jesus to raise some that was now dead and some that had been long so and all no doubt to put the present Generations as also the Generations yet unborn in mind of the Resurrection of the Dead To this end I say how was the Shunamites Son raised from the dead 2 King 4. The man also at the touching of the bones of Elisha 2 King 13. 20 21. Together with the body of Lazarus with Jairus Daughter and Tabitha and many others Luke 8. 53 54 55. Joh. 11. 43 44 45. Acts 9. 40 41. who after their Soul was departed from them Lazarus lying in his grave four dayes were all raised to life again and lived with that very Body out of which the Soul at their death had departed But above all that notable place in
in this World shall keep it to life eternall 2 Tim. 2. 12. John 12. 29. all this is to be injoyed especially at the Resurrection of the Just. But sixthly There must be a Resurrection of the Just otherwise there will be the greatest disappointment on all sides that ever was since man had a being on the Earth A disappointment I say First Of the Will of God for this is the will of the Father that sent me saith Christ that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing not a dust but should raise it up again at the last day John 6. 39. Secondly A disappointment of the Power of God for he that hath raised up the Lord Jesus doth also intend to raise us up by his Power even our Bodies as Paul saith the body is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the body and God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his Power 1 Cor. 6. 13 14. Thirdly If there should be no Resurrection of the Just Christ also would be wonderfully disappointed of the fruits of all his sufferings As I told you before his People are the price of his Blood and the members of his Body and he is now at the right hand of God far above all Principalities and Powers and every name that is named expecting till his enemies be made his Footstool and brought under Heb. 1. 13. the foot of the weakest Saint which will not be untill the last enemy Death is destroyed We know that he said when he went away that he would come again and fetch all his People to himself even up into Heaven that where he is there we may be also Joh. 12. 26. Joh. 14. 1 2 3. Joh. 17. 24. But I say how will he be disappointed if when he comes the Grave and Death should prevent and hinder him and with its bars keep down those whom he hath ransomed with his blood from the power thereof Fourthly If the Bodies of the Just arise from the dead then they also will be disappointed 'T is true the Saints departed have far more fellowship and Communion with God and the Lord Jesus then we have or are not yet capable of having Luke 23. 43. They being in Paradise and we in this World but yet I say for all that they are though there very much longing for the day of the Lords vengeance which will be the day in which they will and must arise from the dead This I say is the time that they long for when they cry under the Altar How long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the Earth When they died they Heb. 11. 35. died in hope to obtain a better Resurrection and now they are gone they long till that day be come Rev. 6. 10 11. Till the day come I say when the dead even all the enemies of Christ shall be judged for then will he give reward to his Servants the Prophets and to his Saints and to 〈◊〉 that fear his name small and great Revel 11. 1. 8. Fifthly If the Just arise not great disappointment also will be to the Saints yet alive in this World for notwithstanding they have already received the first-fruits of the Spirit yet the wait not onely for more of that but also for the Resurrection Redemption and changing of this vile body Rom. 8. 20 21 22 23. Phil. 3. 20 21. For our Conversation is in Heaven saith Paul from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body But now I say if the body riseth not then how can it be made like to the glorious Body of Christ Jesus yea what a sad disappointment infatuation and delusion are those poor Creatures under that look and that by Scripture warrant for such a thing They look for good but behold evill they expect to be delivered in their whole man from every enemy but lo both death and the Grave their great enemies do swallow them up for ever But Beloved be not deceived Psal. 9. 10. Tâ—e needy shall not always be forgotten the expectâ—tion of the poor shall not perish for ever saith Christ he that seeth the Son and believeth on him that sent him hath everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day John 6. 40. Sixthly If the Just arise not out of their Graves then also is every Grace of God in our Souls defeated for though the spirit of devotion can put forth a feigned shew of holiness with the denyal of the Resurrection yet every Grace of God in the Elect doth prompt them forward to live as becomes the Gospel by pointing at this day as First 'T is this that faith looks at according as it is written I believed and therefore have I spoken we believed and therefore speak knowing that he that hath raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus and shall present us with you 2 Cor. 4 13 14. Secondly Hope looks at this We saith Pâ—ul which have the first fruits of the Spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adâ—ption to wit the redemption of our Body that is we expect this by hope but hope which is seen is not hope for what a man seeth or hath in present possession why doth he yet hope for it Rom. 8. 23 24 25. Thirdly The Grace of self-denyal also woâ—keth by this Doctrine If after the manner of men I have fought with Beasts at Ephesus what advantageth it me if the Dead rise not As who should say wherefore do I deny my self of those mercies and priviledges that the men of this World injoy why do not I also as well as they shun persecution for the Cross of Christ If the dead rise not what shall I be the better for all my trouble that here I met with for the Gospel of Christ 1 Cor. 15. 32. Fourthly Both Zeal and patience with all other the Graces of the Spirit of God in our hearts are much yea chiefly incouraged animated and supported by this Doctrine as James saith Be patient therefore my Brethren unto the coming of the Lord for then shall the dead be raised 1 Thes. 4. 16 17. Behold the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruits of the Earth and hath long patience till he receive both the early and latter Rayn be ye also patient stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draws nigh Jam. 5. 7 8. Seventhly The Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Just must needs be a certain truth of God if we consider the devilish and satanical errours and absurdities that must unavoidably follow the denyal thereof as First He that holdeth no Resurrection of our Body he denyeth the Resurrection of the Body of Christ this is the Spirits own Doctrine For if the Dead rise not then is not Christ risen
Son of God if this Body do not at all rise again but some other thing which is not in us and our Nature But to be short the Apostle here when he saith Flesh and Blood shall not inherit c. speaks properly of that Mortality and Weakness that now attends our whole Man and not of our reall substantial Body it self For after he had said Flesh and Blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God he adds Neither doth Corruption inherit in corruption Which two sayings are answerable to what he presently adds Saying Behold I shew you a Mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinckling of an Eye at the last Trump for the Trumpet shall sound and the Dead mark the Dead shall be raised incorruptible that is the Dead shall be so raised as that in their rising Incorruption shall possess them in stead of Corruption and Immortality instead of that Mortality that descended to the Grave with them For this Corruptible mark this Corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on Mortality Mark I say it is this Corruptible and this Mortal that must be raised though not Corruptible and Mortal as it was buried but immortal and incorruptible it shall leave its Grave-Cloaths of Corruption and Mortality behind it Cor. 15. 50 51. 52 53. The manner of which their Rising the Apostle doth more distinctly branch out a little above in four particulars Which particulars are these that follow 1. It is sown in Corruption it is raised in Incorruption 2. It is sown in Dishonour it is raised in Glory 3. It is sown in Weakness it is raised in Power 4. It is sown a Natural Body it is raised a Spiritual Body 1 Cor. 15. First it is raised in Incorruption We are brought into this World by Sin and Corruption Corruption is our Father and in Sin did our Mother conceive us Job 17. 14. Psal. 51. 5. And hence it is that we have our Life nnt onely like a span shadow or post for shortness but also that it is attended with so much vanity and vexation of spirit But now being raised from the Dead incorruptible which is also called a Begetting and Birth these Things that now in our Life annoy us and at last take away our Life are effectually destroy'd And therefore we live for ever as saith the Spirit And there shall be no more Death nor Sorrow nor Crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things that is all our Corruptibleness are passed away Rev. 21. 4. There shall be in our Resurrection no Corruption either of Body of Soul no weakness nor sickness nor any thing tending that way as he saith He will present us to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing Ephes. 5. 25 26 27. Therefore when he saith it is raised in Incorruption it is as if he had said It is impossible that they should ever sin more be sick more sorrow more or die more They that shall be counted worthy of that World and the Resurrection from the Dead neither marry nor are given in Marriage though 't was thus with them in this World neither can they die any more for they are equal unto the Angels and are the Children of God being the Children of the Resurrection Luk. 20. 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36. Secondly It is raised in Glory the Dishonour that doth attend the Saint at his departing this World it is very great he is sown in dishonour he is so loathsom at his death that his dearest friends are weary of him stop their noses at him see no beauty in him nor set any price upon him I speak nothing here how some of them are banged starved banished and so die torn to pieces and not suffered to be put into Graves but it is raised in glory Glory is the sweetness comliness purity and perfection of a thing The light is the glory of the Sun strength is the glory of youth and gray hairs is the glory of old Age. That is it is the excellency of these things and that which makes them shine 1 Cor. 15 40 41. Prov. 20. 29. Therefore to arise in glory it is first to arise in all the beauty and utmost compleatness that is possible to possess a humane Creature I say in all its features members inconceivably beautifull sin and corruption hath made mad work in our bodies as well as in our Souls 'T is sin commonly that is the cause of all that deformity and ill-favouredness that now cleaveth to us and that also rendereth us so dishonourable at our death but now at our rising we being raised incorruptible we shall appear in such perfections and that of all sorts belonging to the Body that all the beauty and comeliness sweetness and amiableness that hath at any time been in this World it shall be swallowed up a thousand times told with this glory The Psalmist saith of Christ That he was fairer than the Children of men Psal. 45. 2. and that as I believe in his outward man as well as in his inward part He was the exactest purest compleatest and beautifullest Creature that ever God made Isa. 42. 14. Col. 1. 18. Till his visage was so marred by his persecutions for in all things he had and shall have the preheminence Why our Bodies at our Resurrection will not onely be as free from sin as his was before he died but also as free from all other infirmities as he was after he was raised again In a word if incorruptibleness can put a beauty upon our Bodies when they arise we shall have it There shall be no lame legs nor Crump-shoulders no blare-eyes nor yet wrinkled faces Phil. 3. 20 21. He shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body Again all the glory that a glorified Soul can help this Body to it at this day shall enjoy That Soul that hath been these hundreds or thousands of years in the Heavens soaking in the Bosom of Christ it shall in a moment come spangling into the Body again and inhabit every member and vein of the Body as it did before its departure That Spirit of God also that took its leave of the Body when it went to the Grave shall now in all perfection dwell in this Body again I tell you the Body at this day will shine brighter than the face of Moses or Stephen even as bright as the Sun the Stars and Angels When Christ who is our life shall appear we shall appear with him in glory Exod. 34. 29. 35. Acts 6. 15. Dan. 12. 3. Mat. 13. 42 43. Luk. 20. 26. Col. 3. 3 4. Thirdly It is raised in Power While we are here we are attended with so many weaknesses and infirmities that in time the least sin or sickness is too hard for us and taketh away both our strength our beauty our dayes our breath
the Word and Doctrine I say a recompence for all the Souls they have saved by their Word and watered by the same Now shall Paul the Planter and Apollo the Waterer with every one of their Companions receive the reward that is according to their works 1 Cor. 3. 6 7 8. Now all the Preaching praying watching and labour thou hast been at in thy endeavouring to catch men from Satan to God shall be rewarded with spangling glory Not a Soul thou hast converted to the Lord Jesus nor a Soul thou hast comforted strengthned or helped by thy wholsom Counsel admonition and comfortable speech but it shall stick as a Pearl in that Crown which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give thee at that day 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. That is if thou dost it willingly delighting to lift up the name of God among men if thou doest it with love and longing after the Salvation of sinners otherwise thou wilt have onely thy labour for thy pains and no more if I do this willingly I have a reward but if against my will a dispensation of the Gospel is committed to my charge 1 Cor. 9. 17. Phil. 1. 15. But I say if thou do it graciously then a reward followeth for what is our hope or joy or Crown of rejoycing are not even ye saith Paul in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming for ye are our glory and joy 1 Thes. 2. 19 20. Let him therefore that Christ hath put into this Harvest take comfort in the midst of all his sorrow and know that God acknowledgeth that he that converteth a sinner from the errour of his way doth even save that Soul from death and covereth a multitude of sins Wherefore labour to convert labour to water labour to build up and to feed the flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind and when the chief Shepheard shall appear ye shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away Jam. 5. 20. 1 Pet. 5. 2 3 4. Secondly And as the Ministers of Christs Gospel shall at this day be recompensed so shall also those more private Saints be with tender affections and love looked on and rewarded for all their work and labour of love which they have shewed to the name of Christ in ministring to his Saints and suffering for his sake Whatsoever good thing any man doth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free Heb. 6. 10. Ephes. 6. 8. Ah! little do the People of God think how largely and thorowly God will at that day own and recompence all the good and holy acts of his People Every bit every drop every rag and every nights harbour though but in a wisp of straw shall be rewarded in that day before men and Angels Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a Cup of cold water onely in the name of a Disciple verily I say unto you saith Christ He shall in no wise loose a Disciples reward Mat. 10. 40 41 42. Therefore when thou makest a Feast saith he Call the poor the maimed the lame and the blind and thou shalt be blessed for they cannot recompence thee for thou shalt be recompenced at the Resurrection of the Just. Luk. 14. 13 14. If there be any repentance among the godly at this day it will be because the Lord Jesus in his person members and word was no more owned honoured entertained and provided for by them when they were in this World For it will be ravishing to all to see what notice the Lord Jesus will then take of every Widows mite He I say will call to mind even all those acts of meâ—cy and kindness which thou hast shewed to him when thou wast among men I say he will remember cry up and proclaim before Angels and Saints those very acts of thine which thou hast either forgotten or through bashfulness wilt not at that day count worth the owning He will reckon them up so fast and so fully that thou wilt cry Lord When did I do this and when did I do the other When saw we thee a hungry and fed thee or a thirst and gave thee drink When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked and cloathed thee or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee and the King shall answer and say unto them verily I say unto you in as much as ye did it unto one of the least of these my Brethren ye did it unto me Mat. 25. 37 38 39 40. The good works of some are manifest before hand and they that are otherwise cannot be hid 1 Tim. 5. 25. Whatever thou hast done to one of the least of these my Brethren thou hast done it unto me I felt the nourishment of thy food and the warmth of thy fleece I remember thy loving and holy visits when my poor members were sick and in prison and the like When they were strangers and wanderers in the World thou tookest them in Well thou good and faithful Servant enter Thou into the Joy of thy Lord. Matth. 25. 21 22 23 34 35 36. Thirdly Here also will be a reward for all that hardness and Christian induring of affliction that thou hast met with for thy Lord while thou wast in the World Here now will Christ begin from the greatest suffering even to the least and bestow a reward on them all from the blood of the suffering Saint to the loss of an hair nothing shall go unrewarded Heb. 11. 36 37 38 39 40. 2 Cor. 4. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14. For these light afflictions which are but for a moment they work out for us a far more exceeding and eternall weight of glory 2 Cor. 4. 17. Behold by the Scriptures how God hath recorded the sufferings of his People and also how he hath promised to reward them Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and speak all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake rejoyce Luk. 6. 22 23. leap for joy and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven Mat. 5. 16 17 18. And every one that hath forsaken Houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Laws for my names sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life Matth. 19. 29. Fourthly There is also a reward at this day for all the more secret and more retired works of Christianity there is not now one act of faith in thy Soul either upon Christ or against the Devil and Antichrist but it shall in this day be found out and praysed honoured and glorified in the face of Heaven 1 Pet. 1. 7. 2. There is not one groan to God in secret against thy own lusts and for more grace light spirit
the Judge is appointed their deeds are written the deep Dungeon is with open mouth ever waiting for them wherefore at the day appointed neither Earth nor Death nor Hell can hinder There shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the just and unjust Lastly Besides what hath been said I cannot but believe there shall be a Resurrection of the wicked at the last day because of the ungodly consequences and errours that do most naturally follow the denyal thereof For first He that taketh away the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the wicked he taketh away one of the main Arguments that God hath provided for to convince a sinner of the evill of his wâ—yes for how shall a sinner be convinced of the evill of sin if he be not convinced of the certainty of eternall Judgement and how shall be he be convinced of eternall Judgement if you perswade him that when he is dead he shall not at all arise especially seeing the Resurrection of the Dead and eternall Judgement must unavoidably be one the forerunner of the other Heb. 6. 2. It was Pauls reasoning of Righteousness Temperance and Judgement to come that made Felix tremble 'T is this also he calleth the Argument of terrour wherewith he perswaded men This was Solomons Argument and Christs also where he saith That every idle word that man shall speak he shall give an account thereof in the day of Judgement Acts 24 25. 2 Cor. 5. 10 11. Eccles. 11. 9. Mat. 12. 36. Secondly They that deny the Resurrection of the wicked they do both allow and maintain the chief Doctrine of the Ranters with most of the debauched persons in the World For the Ranters deny it both in principle and practice and the other in practice at least Now to me it is very strange that these men above all other should both know and live in the Doctrines of the Kingdom of God especially seeing the denyal hereof is an evident token of one appointed to wrath and destruction 2 Tim. 2. 18. But to be plain There shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the just and unjust Wherefore whatever others may say or profess being beguiled by Satan and their own hearts yet do thou fear him that can destroy both Body and Soul in Hell Matth. 10. 28. There shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the just and unjust Rev. 20. 13. And the Sea gave up the Dead that were in it and Death and Hell delivered up the Dead that were in them Having in the first place shewed you that the wicked must arise I shall in the next place shew you the manner of their rising And observe it as the very Title of the just and unjust are opposites so they are in all other matters and in their Resurrections First then as the just in their Resurrection do come forth in incorruption the unjust in their Resurrection shall come forth in their corruptions for though the ungodly at their Resurrection shall for ever after be incapable of having Body and Soul separate or of their being annihilated into nothing yet it shall be far from them to rise in incorruption for if they arise in incorruption they must arise to life and also must have the Conquest over sin and death 1 Cor. 15. 54. But that they shall not for it is the Righteous onely that put on incorruption that are swallowed up of life The wickeds Resurrection it is called the Resurrection of damnation Joh. 5. 28. These in their very Resurrection shall be hurt of the second Death They shall arise in death and shall be under it under the gnawings and terrours of it all the time of their Arraignment As it were a living death shall feed upon them they shall never be spiritually alive nor yet absolutely dead but much after that manner that natural death and Hell by reason of guilt doth feed on him that is going before the Judge to receive his Condemnation to the Gallows You know though a Felon go forth of the Goal when he is going to the Bar for his Arraignment yet he is not out of prison or out of his Irons for that his Fetters are still making a noise on his heels and the thoughts of what he is to hear by and by from the Judge is still frighting and afflicting his heart Death like some evil Spirit of Ghost doth continually haunt him and playeth the Butcher continually in his Soul and Conscience with frights and fears about the thoughts of the sudden and unsupportable after-clap by and by he is to meet withall Thus I say will the wicked come out of their Graves having yet the Chains of eternal death hanging on them and the talons of that dreadful Ghost fastned in their Souls So that life will be far from them even as far as Heaven is from Hell This morning to them is even as the shadow of death They will then be in the very terrours of the shadow of Death Job 24. 17. As Christ saith Their Worm never dies and their fire is never quenched Mark 8. 43 44. From Death to Eternity it never shall be quenched their bed is now among the flames and when they rise they will rise in flames while they stand before the Judge it will be in flames even in the flames of a guilty Conscience they will in their coming before the Judge be within the very Jaws of death and destruction Thus I say the ungodly shall be far off from rising as the Saints for they will be even in the Region and shadow of Death The first moment of their rising Death will be ever over them ever feeding on their Souls and ever presenting to their hearts the heights and depths of the misery that now must seize them and like a bottomless Gulf must swallow them up They shall come out of their holes like worms of the Earth and be afraid of the Lord our God Micah 7. 17. Secondly As the Resurrection of the godly shall be a Resurrection in Glory So the Resurrection of the wicked it will be a Resurrection in dishonour Yea as the glory of Saints at the day of their rising will be glory unspeakable so the dishonour of the ungodly at that day it will be dishonour beyond expression As Daniel saith The good shall arise to everlasting life but the wicked to shame and everlasting contempt Dan. 12. 2. And again When thou O God awakest that is to judge them Thou shalt despise their Image Psal. 73. 20. Never was Toad or Serpent more loathsome to any then these will be in the eyes of God in their rising forth of their Graves When they go to their Graves saith Job their bones are full of the sin of their youth which lyeth down in the dust with them Job 20. 11. And a rise they shall in the same noisom and stinking condition foras Death leaves so Judgment finds them At the Resurrection then of these ungodly they will be in a very
appeared such flames such Thunderings and Tempests as there were at the giving of the Law what flames and blackness will there appear at the execution thereof and if at the giving of the Law there appeared so much Holiness and Justice that it made all Israel flie yea holy Moses exceedingly fear and quake what will become of these that God shall judge by the rigour of this Law in the day of Judgement Exod. 19. 16. Heb. 11. 21. O what Thunderings and Lightnings what Earthquakes and Tempests will there be in every damned Soul at the opening of this Book then indeed will God visit them with Thunder and Earthquake and great noyse with Storm and Tempest and the flame of a devouring fire For behold saith the Prophet the Lord will come with fire and with his Chariots like a Whirl-wind to render his anger with fury and his rebukes with flames of fire Isa. 29. 6. Isa. 66. 15. The Lord will come with fire that is in the flaming heat of his Justice and Holiness against sin and sinners to execute the rigour of his threatnings upon their perishing Souls Secondly The second general Head that is contained in this Law to be opened at this day is its exactness and purity and strictness as to all acts of good that any poor Creature hath done in this life whereby he in the Judgement will think to shelter or secure himself from the wrath of God This is the Rule and Line and Plummet whereby every act of every man shall be measured and he whose righteousness is not found every way answerable to this Law which all will fall short of but they that have the Righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ he must perish as he saith Rom. 3. 21. 22. Judgement also will I lay to the line and Righteousness will I lay to the Plummet and the Haâ—l shall sweep away the refuge of lies and the water shall overflow the hiding places Isa. 28. 17 18. That is though men may now shelter themselves under legall Repentance cold profession good meaning thinkings and doings yet all these things must be measured and weighed in the ballance of Gods most righteous Law and as I said whatever in that day is not found the Righteousness of God it will be found a reâ—uge of lies and will be drowned by the over-flowing of the wrath of God as the waters of Noah over-flowed the World Mal. 4. 1. And hence it is that all the ungodly will at this day be found as stubble and the Law as fire As it saith From his Right hand went a fiery Law And again his lips are full of indignation and his tongue as a devouring fire Deut. 33 2 Isa. 30. 27. For as fire where it seâ—zeth doth burn eat destroy devoure and consume so will the Law all those that at this day shall be found under the transgressioâ— of the least tittle of it It will be with theâ—â— Souls at the day of Judgement as it is witâ— those Countries that are over-run with moâ—â— merciless Conquerours who leave not any thing behind them but swallow up all with fire and sword For by fire and by his Sword will the Lord plead with all flesh and the slain of the Lord shall be many Isa. 66. 16. There are two things at the day of Judgement will meet in their height and utmost strength and they are sin and the Law for the Judgement will not be till the iniquity of the World be full ripe Joel 3. 13. Rev. 14. 15 16 17 18 19 20. Now then when sin is come to its full having plaid all its pranks and done all the mischief it can against the Lord of Glory then God brings forth the Law his holy and righteous Law one of which will now reign for ever that is either the Law or sin Wherefore sin and sinners they must tremble with all that help and hold them up for God will magnifie the Law and make it honourable Isa. 42. 21. That is will give it the Victory over the World for ever for that is holy just and good they are unholy unjust and bad Therefore by this Law will the Lord rain snares fire and Brimstone and a horrible Tempest this shall be the potion of their Cup. Psal. 11. 5 6. Let no man say then that because God is so famous in his mercy and patience in this day of his Grace that therefore he will not be fierce and dreadful in his Justice in the day of Judgement for Judgement and Justice is the last thing that God intends to bring upon the stage which will then be to the full as terrible as now his goodness and patience and long sufferance is admirable Lord who knoweth the power of thine anger even according to thy fear so is thy wrath Psal. 90. 11. You may see if you will a few of the sparks of the Justice of God against sin and sinners by his casting off Angels for sin from Heaven to Hell by his drowning the old World by his burning of Sodom and Gomorah to ashes condemning them with an overthrow making them an example to those that after should live ungodly 2 Pet. 2. 4 5 6. Jude 6. 7. For whatsoever the Law saith it saith it to them that are under the Law that every mouth may be stopped and all the World become guilty before God Rom. 3. 19. Moses seems to wonder that the Children of Israel could continue to live when they did but hear the Law delivered on the Mountain Did ever People saith he hear the Lord speak out of the midst of the fire as thou hast done and live Deut. 4. 73. O that ye did but know the Law and the wonderous things that are written therein before the Lord cause that fearful Voyce to be heard Cursed is every one that continueth not in every thing that is written in the Book of the Law to do them which curse must fall on all that walk not in all the Commandements of God without iniquity which none do I say but they that walk in Christ who hath alone fulfilled them all Gal. 3. 10. Ezek. 33. 15. Col. 2. 10. The Law is that which standeth at the entrance of the Paradice of God as a flaming Sword turning every way to keep out those that are not righteous with the righteousness of God that have not skill to come to the throne of Grace by that new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh Gen. 3. 24. Heb. 1. 19 20. for though this Law I say be taken away by Christ Jesus for all that truly and savingly believe yet it remains in full force and power in every tittle of it against every Soul of man that now shall be found in his Tabernacle that is in himself and out of the Lord Jesus Col. 2. 14. Rom. 3. 19. Job 18. 14. it lyeth I say like a Lyon rampant at the gates of Heaven and will roar
the like and cut off all opportunity of good leaving no place for mercy or amendment these shall go away into everlasting punishment c. Mat. 25. 40. This word depart c. is the last word the damned for ever are like to hear I say it is the last voice and therefore will stick longest and with most power on their slaughtered souls there is no calling of it back again it is the very wind-up of Eternall Judgement Thus then the judgement being over the Kingdom ceaseth to be any longer in the hand of the Man Christ Jesus for as the Judges here among men when they have gone their Circuit do deliver up their Commission to the King so Christ the Judge doth now deliver up his Kingdom to his Father And now all is swallowed up of Eternity Mat. 21. 8. The damned are swallowed up of eternal justice and wrath the saved of eternal life and felicity and the Son also delivereth up I say the Kingdom to the Father and subjects himself under him that did put all things under him that God may be all in all 1 Cor. 15. 24 25 26 27 28. For now is the end come and not before even the end of the reign of death it self for Death and Hell and sinners and Devils must now together into the Lake that burns with fire and Brimstone Rev. 20. 14 15. And now is the end of Christs Reign as the Son of Man and the end of the Reign of the Saints with him in this his Kingdom which he hath received of his Father for his work sake which he did for him and for his Elect. Then cometh the end faith Paul when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God the Father But when shall that be why he answers saying When he shall have put down all Rule and all Authority and Power for he must reign saith he untill he hath put all his enemies under his feet which will not be untill the finall Sentence and Judgment be over for the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death For God hath put all things under his feet but when he saith all things are put under him it is manifested he is accepted that did put all things under him And when all things shall be subdued unto him then shall the Son also himself be subject to him that did put all things under him that God may be all in all All things being now at this pass to wit every one being in its proper place God in his Christ in his the Saint in his and the Sinner in his I shall conclude with this brief touch upon both the state of the Good and Bad after this Eternal Judgment 1. The Righteous now shall never fear Death the Devill and Hell more And the Wicked shall never hope of life 2. The Just shall ever have the Victory over these things But the Wicked shall everlastingly be swallowed up of them 3. The Holy shall be in everlasting Light But the Sinner in everlasting Darkness Without light I say yet in Fire ever burning yet not consumed always afraid of death and hell vehemently desiring to be annihiâ—â—ted to nothing Continually fearing to stay long in Hell and yet certainly sure they shall never come out of it Ever desiring the Saints happiness and yet alwayes envying their felicity They would have it because it is easie and Comfortable yet cannot abide to think of it because they have lost it for ever Ever loaden with the delight of sin and yet that is the greatest torture alwayes desiring to put it out of their Mind and yet assuredly know they must for ever abide the guilt and torment thereof 4. The Saints are always inflamed with the Consideration of the Grace that once they imbraced but the Wicked most flamingly tormented with the thoughts of rejecting and refusing it 5. The Just when they think of their sins they are comforted with the thoughts of their being delivered from them but the Ungodly when they think of their righteousness will gnaw themselves to think that this would not deliver them from Hell 6. When the Godly think of Hell it will increase their Comfort but when the Wicked think of Heaven it will twinge them like a Serpent Oh this Eternal Judgment What would a damned Soul give that there might be though after Thousands and Hundreds of Thousands of Millions of Years an end put to this Eternal Judgment But their misery is they have sinned against a God that is Eternal they have offended that Justice that will never be satisfied and therefore they must abide the Fire that never shall be quenched Here is Judgment Just and Sad. Again As it will be thus with Good and Bad in general so again more particularly when the Wicked are thus adjudged and Condemned and also received of the Fiery Gulph then they shall find That as he that busieth himself to do good shall have more glory than others So they that have been more busie and active in sin than others they shall have more Wrath and Torment than others For as doing good abundantly doth inlarge the Heart to receive and hold more Glory So doing evil abundantly doth inlarge the Heart and Soul to receive Punishment so much the more And hence it is that you have such Sayings as these It shall be more tolerable in the Judgment for Sodome than for others that is then for those that had sinned against much greater Light and Mercy For these as he saith in another place shall receive greater Damnation Yea it standeth to reason that he who had most Light most Conviction most means of Conversion and that was highest towards Heaven he must needs have the greatest Fall and so sink deepest into the Jaws of Eternal Misery Luke 10. 12. Luke 20. 47. As one Star that is as one Saint differeth from another in Heaven so one damned Soul shall differ from another in Hell It is so among the Devils themselves they are some worse than others Matth. 9. 34. Mar. 3. 22. Belzebub is the Prince or the Chief of the Devils That is One that was most glorious in Heaven Chief among the reprobate Angels before his Fall Isa. 14. 2. and therefore sinned against the greater Light Mercy and Goodness and so became the Chief for wickedness and will also have as the wages thereof the Chief of Torments For that will be true of the damned in Hell which is prayed for against Babylon Revel 18. 7. How much she hath glorified her self and lived deliciously so much torment and sorrow give her Can it be imagined that Judas should have no more torment who betrayed the Prince of Life and Saviour of the World than others who never came near his Wickedness by ten thousand degrees He that know his Masters Will and prepared not himself neither did according to his Will shall be beaten with many stripes With many moâ—e stripes than others that through ignorance did commit sin worthy of many stripes But what should I thus discourse of the degrees of the Torments of the damned Souls in Hell For he that suffers least will the waters of a full Cup be wrung out to him The least measure of wrath it will be the Wrath of God eternal and fiery Wrath insupportable wrath it will lay the Soul in the Gulph of that Second Death which will for ever have the Mastery over the poor damned perishing Sinner And Death and Hell were cast into the Lake of Fire which is the Second Death And whosoever was not found in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of fire Rev. 20. 14 15. FINIS See more of this in their Judgement The first Book opened in its first part Mans nature is a Book or law to it self The Book of Gods Remembrance opened The Witnesses give in their Evidence The sinners plea for himself at the Judgment-Seat The Book of Life opened
Matthew at the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus gives us a notable fore-word of the Resurrection of the Just Saith the Text And the graves were opened and many BODIES of Saints which slept arose and came out of their graves after his Resurrection and went into the holy City and appeared unto many Matth. 27. 50 51 52 53. When the Authour to the Hebrews had given us a Catalogue of the Worthies of the Old Testament he saith at last These all died in Faith In the faith of what That they should lie and rot in their graves eternally No verily this is the Faith of Ranters not of Christians They all died in faith that they should rise again and therefore counted this World not worth the living in upon unworthy terms that after death they might obtain a better Resurrection Heb. 11. 13 35. 'T is also worth the Considering that of Paul to the Philippians where he saith That he was Confident that that God that had begun a good work in them would perform it untill the day of Christ Phil. 1. 6. Which day of Christ was not the day of their Conversion for that was past with them already they were now the Children of God but this Day of Christ it is the same which in other places is called the Day when he shall come with the sound of the last Trump to raise the Dead For you must know That the Work of Salvation is not at an end with them that are now in Heaven no nor ever will untill as I shewed you before their Bodies be raised again God as I have told you hath made our Bodies the Members of Christ and God doth not count us thoroughly saved untill our Bodies be as well redeemed and ransomed out of the grave and death as our Soul from the Curse of the Law and dominion of Sin Though Gods Saints have felt the power of much of his grace and have had many a sweet word fulfilled on them yet one word will be unfulfilled on their particular person so long as the grave can shut her mouth upon them But as I said before when the gates of death do open before them and the barrs of the grave do fall asunder then shall be brought to pass that saying that is written Death is swallowed up of Victory and then will they hear that most pleasant voyce Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust for thy dew is as the dew of herbs and the Earth shall cast forth her dead Isa. 26. 19. Thus much touching the truth of the Resurrection of the Just with the manner of their rising Now you must know That the time of the rising of these Just will be at the Coming of the Lord For when they arise nay just before they are raised the Lord Jesus Christ will appear in the Clouds in flaming fire with all his mighty Angels the effect of which appearing will be the rising of the dead c. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout saith Paul and with the voice of the Arch-Angell and with the Trump of God and the dead shall rise 1 Thess. 7 8. 2 Thess. 4. 16. 1 Cor. 15. 52. Now at the time of the Lords Coming there will be found in the World alive both Saints and Sinners As for the Saints that then shall be found alive they shall so soon as all the Saints are raised out of their graves not die but be changed and swallowed up of incorruption immortality and glory and have the Soul-spiritual Translation as the raised Saints shall have as he saith We shall not all die or sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye For the Trump shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed And again For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Arch-Angel and with the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Ayr and so shall we ever be with the Lord. As he saith also in another place He shall judg the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdome 1 Cor. 15. 52. 1 Thess. 4. 15 16 17. and 2 Tim. 4. 1. Now when the Saints that sleep shall be raised thus incorruptible powerful glorious and spiritual and also those that then shall be found alive made like them Then forthwith before the unjust are raised the Saints shall appear before the Judgment Seat of the Lord Jesus Christ there to give an account to their Lord the Judge of all things they have done and to receive a reward for their good according to their labour They shall rise I say before the Wicked they being themselves the proper Children of the Resurrection that is Those that must have all the glory of it both as to preheminencie and sweetness and therefore they are said when they rise to rise from the dead that is in their rising they leave the reprobate World behind them Luke 20. 35 36. Acts 3. 15. Acts 4. 10. Acts 13. 30. Joh. 12. 1 9 17. And it must be so because also the Saints will have done their Account and be set upon the Throne with Christ as Kings and Princes with him to Judge the World when the wicked world are raised The Saints shall Judg the World they shall judge Angels yea they shall sit upon the Thrones of Judgment to do it But to pass that 1 Cor. 6. 2 3. Psal. 122. 5. Now when the Saints are raised as ye have heard they must give an account of all things in general that they have done while they were in the World Of all things I say whether they be good or bad First of all their bad but mark not under the Consideration of Vagabonds Slaves and Sinners but as Sons Stewards and Servants of the Lord Jesus That this shall be it is evident from divers places of the Holy Scriptures First Paul saith We must all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ We Saints For it is written As I live saith the Lord every Knee shall bowe to me and every tongue shall confess to God So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God Again Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him for we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one of us may receive the things done in his body according to what he hath done whether it be good or whether it be evil Rom. 14. 10 11 12. 2 Cor. 5. 10. 'T is true God loveth his People but yet he loveth not their sins nor any thing they do though with the greatest zeal for him if it be contrary to his Word Wherefore as truly as God will give a reward to his Saints and Children for all that they