THe holy Prophet having in the foregoing Chapter set forth many gracious Evan­gelical promises, doth here in this cele­brate them with a song of solemn and publick thanksgiving, blessing the Lord for his [Page 2] salvation to his Church, and his severity against the enemies thereof.

Whereupon we find the Church entertaining many holy Resolutions, as fruits and expressions of that her joy. She resoves to trust in the Lord for e­ver, in regard of his strength and fidelity towards his people, and of his power and jealousie against their enemies, ver. 4, 5, 6, 7. She resolves to wait upon God in the midst of judgements, upon the remembrance of that Name of his, whereby he made himself known to his people in Egypt, Exod. 34 6, 7. as a God able to give being to every promise, and by his truth and power to performe what his mercy had covenanted to do for her, Micah 7. 20. ver. 8, 9, 12. And this confident waiting upon God in trouble is commended ab op­posito by the contrary disposition of wicked men, whom favours and mercies cannot perswade to learn righteousness, ver. 10, 11. She resolves to submit to Gods fatherly Government alone, and to renounce all other usurping and tyrannical Lords, who had exercised domination over her, in re­regard of Gods judgements executed on them, and his mercies renued to his people, v. 13, 14, 15. She resolves to poure out her prayer unto God in the midst of all present troubles, acknowledging her own impotency, and the miscarriage of all her own carnal counsels and contrivances, and thereupon trusting no longer in her self, but in God which raiseth the dead, ver. 16, 17, 18, 19. Lastly, af­ter all these pious dispositions and noble resolves, she concludeth her song with a triumphal Epinicion [Page 3] and insultation over all her enemies, and with an assurance that as they should die and not live, fall and not rise, their persons and their memo­ries should perish, ver. 14. so she should live, and rise and sing, and flourish, as the herbs buried in the Earth, when the dew of Heaven falls on them to refresh them, ver. 19.

Some refer the words to the Babylonian Captivi­ty, wherein they were as dead bones in a grave, Ezek. 37. 11, 12. without any strength, wisdome, or visible hope of being ever delivered.

Some to the afflicted state of the Church under the Gospel, and the Rest or Sabbath which the Lord would give them at the last, out of all their labours and sufferings, Heb. 4. 9. Rev. 20. 2.

Some to the last Resurrection and the faith of the Church touching that. And there is nothing more usual then for the Church and holy men therein to support their hearts above their incumbent afflictions, and to secure to them­selves, the comfort of promised deliverance, not­withstanding all the seeming improbabilities thereof, by the general doctrine of the Resurrection. See Job 19. 25, 26, 27. Isa. 66. 14. Hos. 6. 2. 2 Cor. 1. 9. Irenaeus lib. 5. cap. 15. 30. Tertul. de Re­surrect. c. 32. Hieron. & Cyril in loc.

Whatever was the particular state of the the Church then, certain it is, that in the general the words extend to the Resurrection of the faithful, and are so interpreted by the Ancients, Irenaeus, Tertul. Hierom, Cyril, Augustine, Aug. de Civ. dei lib. 20. cap. 21. Calvin Institut. l. 2. c. 10. sect. 21. l. 3. c. 25. sect. 4. and by learned moderns Expositors.

The sore affliction here of the Church is com­pared [Page 4] to the pangs of a woman in travel, who earnestly cryeth out, and striveth to be delivered; a frequent allusion to expresse any exquisite pain by, Isa. 13. 8. Jer. 13. 21. She had in this her sore distresse, cryed with strong groans and cryes unto God to be delivered, but all in vain, she brought forth nothing but wind, pain without pro­fit, Jer. 12. 13. Wind is an usual expression, where­by the Scripture describeth frustraneous events, Jer. 5. 13. Hos. 8. 7. 12. 1. the womb of the Church miscarried, and brought forth, flatum pro faetu, they looked for salvation and deliver­ance, but they were totally disapointed, they had the pains of a travelling woman but not the comfort of a child born, John 16. 21. when they looked for deliverance from one calamity, they fell into another; or as some render it, instead of bringing forth a child, or working any deli­verance, they were delivered of their own spirit, or gave up the Ghost. The next words are a litteral explication of the metaphor, We have not wrought any salvation or deliverance. All our con­ceptions and cries end in vanity and disappointment. All our Hopes touching the ruine of our enemies, ver. 14. are come to nothing, they are not fallen. But we are dead men, very carcasses, we dwell in the dust, we are as low as calamity can make us.

Now above all this misery the Church by faith lifteth up her head, in the assurance of a glo­rious Resurrection. She turnes away from the view and sense of her own sufferings, from the [Page 5] conceptions and parturitions of her own Counsels, and carnal contrivances, and with a triumphant. A­postrophe turns to God.

Thy dead men shall live] The pronown is ve­ry emphatical, for they are the words of the Church to God, as appears by the continuation of the context, from ver. 16. so it is not meant of all, but of Gods dead men, whether fi­guratively in any desperate clamity, or really in their graves, For the words will extend to both.

Shall live] or do live, are prisoners of hope, have a seed of life in them, even in the grave. It is the Apostles similitude and illustration, 1 Cor. 15. 36, 37, 38.

With my dead body] In the Original it is thus. My dead body, They shall live; by an usual Enal­lage of the number, every one of my dead bodies shall live. Some make it an expression of the Prophets faith, applying to himself the comfort of that common salvation, Calvin. preaching nothing to them which he was not in his own particular as­sured of. Sasbout. Some take it as an Answer of Christ to the Churches faith, as if it related to that, Mat. 27. 52, 53. I conceive them to be the words of the Church still, comforting her self in the assurance of Gods mercy to every one of her mystical mem­bers, which assurance is expressed by a kind of Hypotyposis, calling the dead to come forth out of the dust, and to rejoyce for her deliverance.

For thy dew is as the dew of Herbs] Thy divine word, power, and promise is able to do unto us as dew unto herbs, though they seem outwardly [Page 6] dried up and dead, yet having a vital Root, they do by the fall of the dew send forth their Leaves and beauty again. Now God hath more care of us then of herbs, and his spirit more efficacy then the dew, and therefore however we may be wi­thered and consumed with calamity and death, yet he will raise us up again, and cloath us with beauty and glory. Thus the Scripture often ar­gues from natural to supernatural things, Jer. 31. 35, 36. Jer. 33. 20, 21. Psal. 89. 36, 37. 1 Cor. 15. 36. And this similitude of dew reviving and refresh­ing decayed herbs we frequently meet with, Prov. 19. 12. Isa. 66. 14. Hos. 14. 5, 6.

And the earth shall cast out the dead] as a wo­man doth an untimely birth. The Grave shall be in Travel with the dead, [...]. the Apostle seems to point at such a Metaphor, Acts 2. 24. and shall be delivered of them. Another version thus, Thou shalt cast the Giants in the earth. They who here as Giants did trample on the Church, and were formidable unto her, shall then fall and pe­rish, when thy people shall awake and sing, as ver. 14. so elsewhere, They shall take them cap­tives whose captives they were, and they shall rule o­ver their oppressors, Isa. 14. 2. the sons of them that afflicted them shall come bending unto them Isa. 60. 14. 65. 13, 14.

In the words we observe two general parts 1. The Churches complaint under very great cala­mity and disappointment, ver. 18. 2. Her tri­umph over all her enemies and sufferings, ver. 19. The complaint being expressed by the metaphor of [Page 7] conception and parturition intimateth. 1. The Greatnesse of their affliction. 2. The Contrivances they used to procure deliverance from it. 3. The disappointment of them all; we have brought forth winde, as elsewhere ye shall conceive chaffe, and shall bring forth stubble, Isa. 33. 11.

In the Triumph we may consider, 1. The Mat­ter of it, Deliverance from the lowest to the best condition, from death to life, from a carcasse to a Resurrection, from corruption to glory, from dust to singing. 2. The Reasons of it, 1. In regard of the subject, Mortui tui, Gods dead men, Cadaver meum, the Churches dead body. 2. In regard of the Author and vertue whereby it should be ef­fected, the Word, the Power, the Spirit of God metaphorically expressed, Ros tuus, Thy dew is as the dew of herbs.

From the first general the Prophets complaint we may observe three things.

1. That the Lord exerciseth his own people, yea his whole Church sometimes with sore and sharp afflictions, with the pangs and throws of a woman in travel. Sometimes we finde them in a house of bondage in Egypt; sometimes in a Grave in Babylon; often oppressed with Philistims, Mi­dianites, Cananites, Ammonites, Edomites, Syrians, under the tyranny of the four great Monarchies of the earth. So the Christian Church first under the persecutions of the Heathen Emperors of Rome, and then under persecutions of Antichrist & her witnes­ses prophesying in sackcloth 1260. years. Rev. 11. 3. 12. 6. As Christ first suffered & then entred into glory, Luk. 24. 26. [Page 8] so must his Church, Rom. 8. 17. Christ hath a double Kingdom, that of his patience, and that of his power, we must be subjects under the King­dom of his patience, before we come to that of his power. The Church must passe through the Sea and the Wildernesse to Canaan, they must be in a working and suffering condition, before they come to the Rest or Sabbath which remaineth for them, Heb. 4. 9. Davids militant Raign must go before Solomons peaceable Raign.

Our sins must this way be mortified. Our faith, hope, love, patience, humility, Christian courage and fortitude be exercised. Our conformi­ty unto Christ evidenced. The measure of the wick­ednesse of the enemy filled. The glory of God mag­nified in supporting them under, in delivering them out of all their afflictions, and raising them up when they are at lowest.

Therefore we should not esteem it strange when we fall into divers temptations, or see the Church of God in the world in a suffering or dying condi­tion, 1 Pet. 4. 12, 13, 17. Jam. 1. 2. If we will have Christ for our husband, we must take him for better for worse. 1. His afflictions are short, and but for a moment, Isa. 54. 7. 2 Cor. 4. 17. 2. Sanctified by the Spirit of glory and of God resting upon us, 1 Pet. 4. 13, 14. 3. Seconded with grace and the power of Christ to support us under them▪ 2 Cor. 12. 9. 4. Operative unto peace, righteousness and glory, Rom. 8. 28. Heb. 12. 11. 5. Not worthy to be compared with the glo­ry that shall be revealed, Rom. 8. 18. 6. Proporti­oned [Page 9] to our need, 1 Pet. 1. 6. and to our strength, 1 Cor. 10. 13. If we will come to glory we must go the same way unto it as Christ did, the way of holinesse, and the way of sufferings, Act. 14. 22. and surely if there be enough in a womans child to recom­pence the pains of her travel, John 16. 21. There will certainly be enough in the glory to come to re­compence all our pains, either in our obedience or in our afflictions.

II. We might here note, That even Gods own ser­vants in time of trouble & calamity are very apt to betake themselves to their own conceptions and con­trivances for deliverance; they are big oftentimes with their own counsels, and in pain tobring forth and execute their own projections, in order to the freeing of themselves from trouble. Gen. 12. 13. Abraham, Gen. 20. 2. when he was afraid of Pharaoh and Abimelech dis­sembled his relation unto Sarah; David fearing Achish the King of Gath fained himself mad, 1 Sam. 21. 11, 12, 13. when he feared the disco­very of his adultery, he gave order for the kil­ling of Uriah, 2 Sam. 11. 15. one sin is the womb of another. When Asa was in danger from Baasha King of Israel, he bought his peace with the spoils of the Temple, 2 Chron. 16. 1, 2. when Jonah was afraid of preaching destruction to Nini­ve, he fled unto Tarshish from the presence and service of the Lord, Jonah 1. 3. when Peter was afraid of suffering with Christ, he flies to that woful Sanctuary of denying and forswearing him, Mat. 26. 69—74. thus the fear of man causeth a snare, Prov. 29. 25.

[Page 10] This therefore is a necessary duty in time of fear and danger, to look up (as the Church here after disappointment by other refuges, doth) with a victorious and triumphant faith unto God, Isa. 8. 13. and to make him onely our fear and our dread, not to trust in fraud and perversenesse, or to betake our selves unto a refuge of lies, Isa. 30. 12. 28. 15. but to build our confidence upon that sure foun­dation, on the which he that believeth shall not need make hast. If we lean not upon our own understand­ing, nor be wise in our own eyes, but in all our ways acknowledge him, and trust in him, and fear him, and depart from evil, we have this gracious promise that he will direct our paths, Prov. 3. 5, 7. the more we deny our selves, the more is he engaged to help us. But when we travel with our own conceptions and will needs be the contri­vers of our own deliverance, it cannot be won­dred if the Lord turn our devices into vanity, and make our belly prepare wind and deceit, Job 15. 35. as it here followeth. We have brought forth wind, we have not wrought any deliverance, all our endeavours have been vain and succes­lesse.

III. Carnal Counsels and humane contrivan­ces are usually carried on with pain, and end in disappointment, and do obstruct the progress and execution of Gods promises unto us. If we would go on in Gods way, and use the means which he hath directed, and build our faith and hope up­on his promises, we have then his Word to secure us, his Spirit to strengthen us, his Grace to assist [Page 11] us, his Power and fidelity to comfort us, we have him engaged to work our works for us, and his Angels to bear us in our Wayes. But when we seek out diverticles and inventions of our own, when we will walk in the light of our fire, and in the sparks which we have kindled, Isa. 50. 11. and be wise in our own conceit, Rom. 12. 16. and walk after our own thoughts, Isa. 65. 2. no wonder if we be disappointed, and made ashamed of our own counsels, Hos. 10. 6. when we sow the wind, it is not strange if we reap the whirle-winde, Hos. 8. 7. And therefore it is our wisdom to cease from our own wisdom, as the wise man exhorteth, Prov. 23. 4. in as much as the Lord hath pronounced a curse upon those that are prudent in their own sight, Isa. 5. 21. whom usually he disappointeth, Job. 5. 12.

We have considered the Churches complaint, her anguish, her disappointment. Now in her Triumph we are first to view her deliverance, and then the causes of it.

In the deliverance is a Gradation both in the misery from which, and in the condition unto which they are restored. For the former, 1. It extends unto dead men, whom to quicken exceeds the power of nature. But we do not use to give men over, and lay them out for dead as soon as their breath fails them, some diseases look like death; therefore the deliverance goes further unto Cadaver meum, my carkasse, which the re­mainders of vital heat have forsaken, laid out, carried away, severed from the living, hastning to [Page 12] putrefaction. But death makes yet a further pro­gresse, this carcasse must be had out of sight, lodged in the bowels of the earth, and there dis­solved into dust, his house must know him no more, Job 7. 10. and yet even here when death hath carried a man to the end of his journey, and land­ed him in its own dominion, so far shall the de­liverance extend. The Damsel whom Christ raised was mortua, though yet in the house a­mongst the living, Mark 5. 35. The widows son gone a little further into the Region of death, coffin'd up, laid on the Biere, carried out from the House, a Carcasse, Luke 7. 14. Lazarus in deaths den, Inhabitator pulveris, as far as death could carry him, yet raised up, John 11. 38, 44. so there is a gradation in the Terminus à quo of this deli­verance. There is likewise a gradation in the Terminus ad quem, the condition unto which they are restored.

1. They shall Live, and this is a favour though one stay in prison.

2. They shall Rise, their life shal be to an exalta­tion; the wicked shall live again, but it shall be to die again; but these dead shall live and rise, their life shall be an advancement to them.

3. They shall Awake, like a man out of sleep refreshed and comforted, Psal. 17. 15.

4. They shall sing, as victors over the grave, never to return thither more. So we have here, 1. The sad condition of the Church. 2. The great mercy and power of God to them in that condition.

[Page 13] Their sad condition in the former of these two gradations.

1. They are dead men, in a condition of death, their whole life a conflict with mortality. And though this be not a calamity peculiar to them, (for death feedeth equally upon all) and though there be a great alleviation in their being Mortui tui, The Lords dead men; yet in some respects we finde the weight of mortality on the Churches side. Wicked men meet many times with an [...], live in pleasure, and then die in ease, spend their days in wealth and jollity, in vanity and folly, and go suddenly to the grave, die onely once and together, Job 21. 13. whereas holy men have complain'd of dying daily, 1 Cor. 15. 31. of being in deaths often, 2 Cor. 11. 23. of being compassed about with death, Psal. 18. 4. The wicked have no bands in their death, Psal. 73. 4. they are at an agreement with it, have as it were hired it not to disquiet them, Isa. 28. 15. they put it far from them, Amos 6. 3. whereas good men have their souls often drawing nigh to the grave, Psal. 88. 3.

Dead, then here they are, 1. Quoad mortis praeludia, all the fore-runners and harbingers of death common to them with all others, sorrows, sicknesses, distresses, and infirmities of all sorts.

2. Quoad vitae exitum, they end their days in the same manner as other men; the wise man as the fool, Eccles. 2. 16. Psalm 49. 10. thus in common, good men and bad. But godly men

3. Are dead quoad affectus, Their affections [Page 14] and meditations are upon death. Wicked men feed and fat their lusts, fetch out all the sweet­ness that sin hath in it. Whereas holy men mor­tifie their earthly members, crucifie the flesh with affections and lusts, are ever dying to sin and the world, Rom. 6. 11.

4. They are dead, quoad seculum, crucified to the world, Gal. 6. 14. and therefore hated by it, John 15. 19. nothing to be looked for from it, but persecution and tribulation, John. 16. 33. as men have done to the green tree so they will to the dry, Luk. 23. 31. suffering belongs to the essence and calling of Christians, 1 Pet. 2. 21. they are here­unto appointed, 1 Thes. 3. 3. They are in his sense properly Mortui tui, the Lords dead men; for worldlings are not sufferers by calling and profes­sion as true Christians are. They are not in trouble as other men, Psalme 73. 5. Job 21. 7—13.

II. From Mortui tui, it proceeds to Cadaver meum; and such they are not onely by dissolu­tion after death, but by condition before it; used like a dead carcasse, exposed to contempt and dishonour, as the refuse and off-scouring of men, Lam. 31. 45. 1 Cor. 4. 13. troden under foot, Isa. 63. 18. Psal. 119. 51. had in derision, Jer. 20. 8. Jer. 20. 8. filled with con­tempt, Psal. 123. 3. made as the ground and as the street for proud men to go over, Isa. 51. 23. thus the righteous is an abomination to the wicked, they loath him as a man would do a dead carcasse, Prov. 29. 27.

III. From dishonour they proceed to a kinde [Page 15] of despaire; They are Habitatores pulveris, they dwell in the dust, they are not onely dust by consti­tution, Gen. 3. 19. and by dissolution, making the Grave their House, and their bed in darknesse, Job 17. 13. but further by estimation, they judge so of themselves, abhorring themselves, and putting their mouths in the dust, Job 42. 6. Lam. 3. 29. they are valued so by others, Isa. 10. 6. as the mire of the streets. This is the sad condition of the Church sometimes in this world under persecu­tion and captivity, so they were in Babylon as dead bones in a grave, Ezek. 37. 11, 12.

By all which we learn what to look for in the world when we give our names to God. The usage not onely of strangers and enemies, but even of dead carcasses, to be buried in contempt and dishonour. The way to life lies through the countrey of death, as the way to Canaan through a sea and a wilderness; no scorns, no graves must deter us from a godly life, if ever we hope for a blessed resurrection. Neither may we think it strange when we meet with troubles in the world which are but the preludes and prefaces unto death, nor when one evil is over, may we sing a requiem to our souls as if all were passed, but look for vicissitudes and successions of sorrow, for clouds after rain, till we are landed in the Countrey of death. And since our tenure in this world is so obnoxious both to encumbrance and uncertainty, we should die to the world while we are in it, as those who are very shortly to be tran­slated from it, and having no abiding station here, [Page 16] be careful to look after that City which hath foun­dations, and so to acquaint our selves before hand with death by meditation on it, and preparation for it, that it may not come as a messenger of wrath, but as an Harbinger of glory, that in our death we may be Mortui tui, The Lords dead men, and prisoners of Hope, the Spirit of Christ in us being the earnest and seed of a Resurre­ction unto life.

We have considered the sad condition of the Church expressed by our Prophet in that Em­phatical Climax, Dead men, a Carcasse, Inhabi­ters of the dust. Let us next take a view of the mercy of God in her deliverance, a deliverance not onely commensurate to her troubles, but victorious over them, dead indeed, but she shall live; a carcasse, but she shall arise; asleep, but she shall awake; in the dust, but she shall sing. So there is mercy fully answerable to the misery, no temptation without an issue, no calamity with­out an escape.

1. Vivent Mortui, or as others read it, Vivant. True both. They do live, They shall live. They have life in death, and that life shall work them out of death.

1. They do live in death. Wicked men are dead while they live, 1 Tim. 5. 6. dead in Law un­der the sentence of the curse, as Adam was legal­ly dead by guilt and obnoxiousness the same day that he did eat the forbidden fruit. Dead in conscience under the pain of that sentence, and under the bondage of deserved and denounced [Page 17] wrath, Heb. 2. 15. Heb. 10. 27. dead in sin, under the power of Lust, Eph▪ 2. 1. Psal. 14. 3. their throats Sepulchres full of rotten words, Rom. 3. 13. their hearts Sepulchres full of unclean affections, Matth. 23. 27, 28. their lives Sepulchres full of dead works, Heb. 6. 1. But mortui tui, the Lords dead men live even in the Kingdome and Country of Death.

1. They live in praeludiis mortis, in all the fore­runners of death; in the greatest calamities they bear up their hearts in the favour of God, which is better then life, Psal. 63. 3. 2 Cor. 6. 9. In these things, all these things; we are Conquerours, more then Conquerours, Rom. 8. 37.

2. They live in Regno mortis, in the Kingdome and Country of death; when death hath possessi­on of them, they live still: you are dead, and your life is hid, Col. 3. 3. The death of a Christian is not the taking away of life, but the laying up of life; as a Parent takes the Childs money, and keeps it for him: He that believeth shall live, though he die, John 11. 25. As Abel being dead, yet speaketh, Heb. 11. 4.

Yea, their very bodies, though dead to them, do live to God, for he is the God of the living, Mat. 22. 32. therefore the Jews call their burying pla­ces Domus Viventium. 1. They live in the Promise and Power of God, Mat. 22. 29. 2. They live in the Life of Christ their Head; whether we wake or sleep we live together with him, 1 Thes. 5. 10. as we are risen with him, and sit with him in heaven, Col. 3. 1. Eph. 2. 6. 3. They live in the Seed of the Spirit of Holiness, whose Temples they are, which [Page 18] is in them a pledge and seminal virtue of Resurre­ction, Rom. 8. 11. compared with 1 Cor. 3. 16. 6. 19. In which respect the Apostle compareth the bo­dies of the faithful unto Seed, I Cor. 15. 42. to note, that by the Inhabitation and Sanctification of the Spirit, there is a vital virtue in the body to spring up and awake again.

Thus even in the state of death, we have vitam Absconditam, Col. 3. 3. hidden out of our sight and sense, as seed in the Furrow, as a jewel in the Cabi­net, as an Orphans estate in the hand of his Guar­dian, hidden with Christ the first fruits, and in God the Author and Fountain of Life. Thus vi­vunt, they do live.

And further, vivent, they shall live; for our life in Christ is not a decaying, but a growing and a­bounding life, Joh. 10. 10 therefore it will break forth into the similitude of Christs glorious Body, in whom it is hid, as the Corn groweth into the likeness of that seed wherein it was originally and virtually contained, Joh. 12. 24. Col. 3. 4. Phil. 3. 21. 1 Joh. 3. 2, 3. Of natural life we cannot say, I live, and I shall live, for natural life runs into death, as Jordan into the dead Sea: But of Christian life we may say, I live, and I shall live; it is a life which runs into life, though through the way of death; as the waters of the Caspian Sea are said through sub­terraneous passages to have communion with the great Ocean. It comes from heaven, Christ the Fountain and Center of it: and it goes back unto hea­ven: As a piece of earth falls to the whole earth, so every piece of heaven will find the way to its whole.

[Page 19] 2. Resurgent: With my dead body they shall arise, their life shall be given them for their ad­vancement: wicked men shall live again, that they may dye again, and shall rise, ut lapsu graviore ru­ant, that they may be thrown deeper. Pharoahs But­ler and Baker came both out of prison, the one to his office, the other to dishonor, the one to be ad­vanced, the other to be executed: So mortui tui, and mortui seculi, shall both come out of their graves, the one from a prison to a Furnace, the other from a prison to a Palace: In which respect Believers on­ly are called, children of the Resurrection, Luke 20. 36. It is a Resurrection of life to the one, of condem­nation to the other, Joh. 5. 29. And therefore to distinguish them from the other, it is added:

3. Expergiscimini. They shall awake as a man refreshed with sleep, which puts a great diffe­rence be [...]ween the deaths and Resurrections of the godly and the wicked.

1. The death of the godly is but asleep: 1. In re­gard of the seeds of life abiding in them. A man in sleep ceaseth from the acts of sense, but the facul­ties he retaineth still: So an holy man, though he lose in death the acts of life, yet the seed and root he hath not lost, he lives to God still.

2. In regard of his weariness of the world, and ful­ness of dayes: A man wearied with labour lies down willingly to rest: Abraham d [...]ed full of dayes, he was satiated, and desired no more, Gen. 25. 8. the Apostle had enough of the world, when he de­sired to depart, and to be with Christ, Phil. 1. 23. whereas a wicked man, how old soever, is not said [Page 20] to die full of years, or satisfied with life: He may be loaded, but not replenished; he knows not whi­ther he is going, and therefore he would fain stay in the world still.

But it may be said, Have not wicked men brought death upon themselves, as Achitophel, Saul, Judas, and godly men been sometimes unwilling to die, as Hezekiah? Isai. 38. 1, 2.

True both, yet neither the one out of the love of death, nor the other out of love of the world: wick­ed men are impatient of present anguish, and in­considerate touching future terrours, and therefore rush upon the one to avoid the other: But godly men are weary of the body of sin, and believe the favour of God, and glory of Christs presence, and that makes them desire to depart, and to be with him: Nor did Hezekiah decline death out of a ser­vile fear, being able to plead unto God his upright­ness, but out o [...] a desire to live to compleat the Refor­mation of the Church which he had begun, and that he might have a Successor to derive the Line of the Royal Seed unto.

So then death to the godly is but a sleep, in re­gard of the rest it giveth them, Rev. 14. 13. from sins, f [...]om sorrows, from labours, from enemies, from temptations, from fear, from evils to come; and therefore Job calls the grave his bed, Job 17. 13. and so the Prophet, They shall lye down in their beds, Isa. 57. 2.

2. This awaking makes a great difference be­tween the Resurrection of the godly and the wick­ed: the one riseth refreshed, as sleep repaireth the [Page 21] decays of Nature, so that a man riseth vigorous and recruited; therefore the time of the Resurre­ction is called the time of refreshing, and of restituti­on of all things, Acts 3. 19, 21. The other riseth af­frighted, as a man awakened with a Thunder-clap, or whose house is in a flame about him; the one a­wakes to his work, the other to his Judgement; it is morning and everlasting day to the one, it is horrour and darkness to the other; and therefore it is ad­ded:

4. Cantate, when they awake they shall sing: as David when he awaked, calls on his Lute and Harp to awake with him, Psal. 57. 8. In their graves, at Bobylon, they hung their Harps on the Willows, no mu­sick then, Psal. 137. 3. but they go out of their graves, as Israel out of the Red Sea, with Victory and Triumph over Death and Hell, and so shall sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb. Dust and Ashes, in the Scripture phrase, are ceremonies of mourning, Job 2. 12. Mic. 1. 10. but here they who inhabit the dust, are called upon to put off their prison gar­ments▪ and to shake themselves from their dust, Isai. 52. 1, 2. to awake unto singing and triumph; when they awake they are satisfied, Psalm 17. 15. Thus we see the deliverance of the Church, is fully as large as their distress. From all which we learn:

1. The true cause why Death and the calamities leading thereunto, do still remain after Christs Vi­ctory over them; to wit: 1 To exercise our Faith and Hope in Gods Promises, for the righteous hath hope in his death, Prov. 14. 32. 2 to conform us un­to Christ, as well in the way to life, as in the end, [Page 22] 1 Pet. 4. 13. 3 To wean us from the love of the world, which both useth us ill, and passeth away, 1 John 2. 15, 17. John 15. 19. 4 To encrease our de­sires of glory, that we may with good Jacob, wait for the salvation of the Lord, Gen. 49. 18. 5 To commend our love to Christ, which makes us willing to be dis­solved, that we may go to him, as a stone is con­tented to be broken in moving towards its center, Phil. 1. 23. 6 To commend the power of Righteousness, which is not afraid of the King of Terrours, nor to go to Christ, though there be a Lion in the way, Act. 21. 13. Rom. 8. 35-37. 7 To shew the sweet­ness and virtue of the Death of Christ, which makes a Bed of a Grave, an Antidote of a Serpent; hath brought sweetness out of the strong, and meat out of the Eater; hath bound Death with her own Grave Cloaths, and set a Guard of Angels over the bodies of the Saints; hath rolled away the heavy st [...]ne from the graves of his people, and made it a place of ease and refreshment; hath made our Graves like a Garden, that our bodies like herbs might spring out again; hath slain Death as Benaiah did the Lion, in its own pit, and hath made it sick of the bodies of his people, and travel in pain like a wo­man with-Child, till at last it be delivered of them.

2 We should by Faith and Hope in this Do­ctrine comfort our selves against all other calami­ties, and incourage our selves against Death it self, which is but a depositary, and shall be an accomptant unto God for every member of his Church, though it hath swallowed them, as the Whale did Jonah, [Page 23] it shall cast them up again: though to the wicked it be a Trap-door which lets them down to Hell, and so keeps them in the midst of laughter sorrowful, in the midst of plenty and pleasures fearful, in the midst of hope doubtful, when they remember the dayes of darkness, for they be many, and the dayes of torment, for they be more: Yet to Believers it is a Bed, a Rest, a Sleep a Friend, when it shuts the door between us and the world, it opens a door between us and heaven: Pardon of sin, and peace with God, makes us bold to play with the hole of the Asp and with the Cocatrice den, Isai. 11. 8.

We have thus far considered the Church as dead, buried in the dust; as quickned, raised, a­wakened, delighted in God: We are

III. To take a view of the causes of this delive­rance, which are 1 Dispositive, in regard of the Subject. 2 Efficient, in regard of the Author.

The dispositive causes qualifying the Subject for this deliverance, are in the two Pronowns, Tui, and Meum: thy dead men: my dead body. These mercies are not promised generally unto all dead men, but unto the Lords dead men, whom he hath chosen and formed for himself, Psalm 4. 3. Isai. 43. 21. If he say thou art mine, neither water, nor fire, nor East, West, North, South, Egypt, Ethio­pia, nor any other Enemy shall keep us back from him, Isai. 43. 1, 2, 6.

1. His we must be, if we will not be lost in death. 1 His by Consanguinity; for Christ having taken upon him the Nature of Adam, and the Seed of Abraham, and so vouchsafing to call Believers Bre­thren, [Page 24] Heb. 2. 11. by that means God is become our Father, John 20. 17. and therefore in the deluge of desolation, he will bring us into his Ark, as Rahab, when she was delivered her self, called to­gether her Kindred to share therein with her, Josh. 6. 23. 2 His by purchase; there was a dear and precious price paid for us, we were bought with no less a price then the Blood of God, Act. 20. 28. and therefore he will vindicate his Claim and Ti­tle unto us; no man will lose what he hath paid for, if he be able to rescue and recover it out of the hands of unjust possessors: Christ having bought us, Death shall not with-hold us from him, the Redeemed of the Lord shall return, Isai. 51. 11. 3 His by Covenant; thy Maker is thy Husband, Isai. 54. 5. and being married to her, he will make her return, Jer. 3. 14. Any loving Husband would fetch back his Wife from the Dead, if he were able to do it. 4 His by Dedication, Inhabitation, Consecration, as a Temple, 1 Cor. 6. 19. If Death destroy his Temple, he will raise it up again, John 2. 19. The Spirit that dwelleth in us, will quicken our mortal bodies, Rom. 8. 11.

2 His dead men we must be; we must dye to sin, because he died for it; we must kill that which killed Christ; we must be dead unto sin, if we will live unto God, Rom. 6. 11. His dead men, his perseverantly until death, Rev. 2. 10. His patiently, even unto death, Heb. 10. 36. Nothing must sepa­rate us from his love. His ultimately, whether we live, we must live to the Lord, or whether we die, we must die unto the Lord, Rom. 14. 8. that he may [Page 25] be glorified in our mortal bodies by life, or by death, Phil. 1. 20. And being thus His dead men:

1 We are sure Death comes not but with a Commission from him, his providence sendeth it, his power restraineth it, his love and wisdome guideth and ordereth it to our good; it is his Officer, it shall touch us no further then he gives it authority, John 19. 11. He hath muzled and chained it; he saith to Death, as to Satan concerning Job, He is in thine hand, but touch not his Soul, meddle not with his Conscience, or with his Peace; and for his Body, thou shalt but keep it, thou shalt not destroy it, thou shalt be accomptable for every piece of it a­gain.

2. Being His dead men, he hath alwayes an eye of compassion upon us, our sorrows and sufferings he esteems his own, Isai. 63. 9. Col. 1. 24. Act. 9. 4. and if they be his, he will certainly save us from them, and conquer them as well in us, as in himself, for unto him belong the issues from death, Psalm 68 20.

3 As ever therefore we look for blessedness in death, or deliverance from it, we must labour both living and dying, to be the Lords, that he may own us when the world hath cast us out, that we may be precious in his sight, when we are loathsome to the world; jewels to him, when dung to men, that our Graves may not only have worms in them to consume us, but Angels to guard us. If we die in our sins, and be Satans dead men, we shall never rise with comfort, rottenness will feed not on our bodies only, but on our names, we shall have worms [Page 26] in our consciences, as well as in our carcasses: But when we can say, Lord, I am thine, thou art mine, we may thence infer, we shall not dye, Hab. 1. 12. We have a life which death cannot reach, Col. 3. 3. this therefore must be our special care, to be Mor­tui tui, to dye to the Lord, to fall asleep in Christ, 1 Cor. 15. 18. that when he comes we may be found in him, and so may be ever with him, 1 Thes. 4. 17. This is the first qualification of the Subject for deliverance, to be Mortui tui, the Lords dead men.

2. The next is, that it is Cadaver meum: 1 Mine, as the words of Christ, being my body, they shall surely rise: 2 Mine, as the words of the Church; Every member of my dead body shall rise in the unity of the whole.

1 Then my dead body being members of an Head that lives for ever, and hath the Keys of Hell and the Grave, shall certainly rise: His life is the Foundation of ours, Because I live, ye shall live al­so John 14. 19. If death had held him, it would much more have held us: But because in him the Mercies of David are sure, therefore his Resurre­ction is an assurance of ours, Act. 13. 34. Christ will not be incompleat, and the Church is his ful­ness, Eph. 1. 23. The feet under water are safe, when the Head is above it: Christ is said to be the first that rose from the dead, Act. 26. 23. the first begotten, the first born from the dead, Rev. 1. 5. Col. 1. 18. For though some were raised before him, yet not without him, but by the Fellowship of his Re­surrection: As though light rise before the Sun, [Page 27] yet it doth not rise but from the Sun. The Mace goes before the Magistrate, but it doth so only in attendance upon him: He the only Conquerour of Death; and as the first fruits did sanctifie the whole Mass, Rom. 11. 16. so Christ by his Resurre­ction did consecrate all such as dye in the Lord, to be a kind of first fruits, and first born, Jam. 1. 18. Heb. 12. 23. and therefore it is said, that they shall rise first, 1 Thes. 4. 16. His Resurrection is unto all his members

1 Arrha, a pledge and earnest of theirs; He ha­ving paid our debt, death cannot detain us in pri­son for it: His Resurrection hath justified us against the claim of death, and will glorifie us against the power of death: What he did purchase by the me­rit of his death, is made applicable to us by the power of his Resurrection, Rom. 8. 34.

2 Exemplar; His the pattern of ours: He taken not only from prison, but from judgement, death had no more to do with him, Isal. 53. 8. Rom. 6. 9. In like manner we shall rise Victors over death, never any more to be subject unto it: This the Apostle calleth the Image of the Heavenly Adam, 1 Cor. 15. 49. Phil. 3. 21.

3 Primitiae: The beginning of the future Resur­rection; for he rose not barely in a personal, but in a publick capacity, though it were a damnable Heresie of Hymeneus, that the Resurrection was past, 2 Tim. 2. 18. yet it is a truth to say, that it is begun. He first, then we at his coming, 1 Cor. 15. 23. By what is past in the Head, we are assured of what is expected in his Members.

[Page 28] 2 All the particular Members of the Church shall rise in the unity of one body, as mystically joyn­ed unto one Head, and as one Family, Eph. 3. 15. and all one in Christ, Gal. 3. 28. not barely the persons singly considered, but as a Church and Body shall rise.

1 Then be careful to be found in Christ at his coming; for though all men shall rise, yet with a great difference. The wicked potestate judicis, as malefactors are brought out of prison to the Judge to be condemned. The godly virtute capitis, the life of Christ shall be manifested in their bodies, 2 Cor. 4. 10.

2 A Christian must not onely believe, Thy dead men shall live, but furth 1 My dead body shall arise too. Herein is the Life of Faith in bringing down general promises to our own particular cases, interests and comforts, 2 Cor. 4. 13, 14. Joh. 20. 28. Gal. 2. 20.

3 Since we shall all rise as one, we should all live as one. As we have all one Head, one Spi­rit, one Faith, one Hope, one Inheritance, one com­mon salvation, so we should have one heart, and one soul, Act. 4. 32. Love as brethren, have the same care as fellow members one of another, weep with them that weep, rejoyce with them that rejoyce, That our life of faith on earth may in some mea­sure expresse our life of vision in heaven, and since we shall agree there, not to fall our in our way thither, Eph. 4 1. 6. Phil. 2. 1, 2, 3. Col. 3. 12, 13. And thus much of the dispositive cause, qua­lifying the subject of this deliverance.

[Page 29] 2 The Efficient follows. The word and com­mand of God, being like dew to the tender herbs, to revive them when they seem dead. Whence we observe,

1 The facility of the last Resurrection in regard of God, to whom miracles are as easie as natu­ral operations, A Miracle being nothing but a new creation. It is as impossible to us to cause raine as to raise a dead body. He therefore who we see doth cause the one, we may believe on his word that he will the other. We finde Raine and dew used as Arguments to prove the omnipotency and greatnesse of God, Psal. 147. 5, 8. Job 5. 9, 10. ler. 14. 22. Zach. 10. 1.

And this teacheth us a very useful point, to observe the wisdome and power of God in the Or­dinances of heaven and course of nature, and from thence to argue for the setling of our faith in such things as exceed the course of nature; for there is no lesse omnipotency required to govern natural causes, then to work those that are supernatural. He therfore that keepeth his Law, and sheweth his power in the one, will do so in the other too. The Lord strengthneth our faith by the consideration of natural things, the bow in the clouds, Gen. 9. 12. Isa. 54. 9. the stability of the mountains, Isa. 54. 10. the multitude of starres, Gen. 15. 5. the highth of the heavens, Psal. 103 11. the beauty of the Lilies, Mat. 6. 28, 30. the Or­dinances of the Moon and Stars, ler. 31. 35, 36. the Covenant of Day and Night, ler. 33. 20, 21. Thus the Lord teacheth us to make use of the rudi­ments [Page 30] of nature to confirme our faith in him.

I go quietly to bed and am not frighted with the horror of the night. I know the day will re­turn, It is Gods Covenant. I put my seed into the ground in the Winter, I know it will grow into an harvest, the Sun will return, it is Gods Covenant. And why should I not trust him, as well in his Covenant of Grace as of Nature? why should I not believe that that power which quickens dead corn, can quicken dead men, and can provide as well for my salvation as for my na­ture?

The truth is, all unbelief doth secretly question the power of God. Things past and present all can believe, because they are seen. But things promised, when they pose reason, and transcend the course of natural causes, and the contrivan­ces and projections which we can forecast, we many times stagger and falter about. Israel con­fessed what God had done, and that omnipo­tently, He smote the rock and the waters gushed out, and yet in the same breath they question his power, can he furnish a Table in the wildernesse? can he give bread also and provide flesh for his people? Psalm 78. 19, 20, 22. Moses himself stagger'd, when the Lord made a promise which seemed to exceed the power of ordinary causes, Numb. 11. 21, 22. And therefore when God will con­firm the faith of his servants, he draweth them off from viewing the greatnesse and strange­ness of the promises in themselves, to the con­sideration of his power. Is any thing too hard for [Page 31] the Lord? Gen. 18. 14. I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there any thing too hard for me? Jer. 32. 27. If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these dayes, should it also be marvel­lous in mine eyes, saith the Lord of Hosts? Zach. 8. 6. And therefore in all cases of difficulty, when sense and reason, flesh and blood, dictate nothing but despaire, we should by faith look up to the truth of God promising, and to the power and name of God giving being to his promis [...]s, whose ways are higher then our wayes, and his thoughts then our thoughts, Isa. 55. 8. 9. So did Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. 20. 12. so David, I Sam. 30. 6. so the Prophet, Ezek. 37. 3. so Abraham, Rom. 4. 19, 20, 21. so Pe­ter, Luke 5. 5. so we should all do when we walk in darkness and have no light, still trust in the Name of the Lord, and stay upon our God, Isa. 50. 10.

2 We hence learn the Original of the Resur­rection, it is an Heavenly work, as dew which comes from heaven to revive the grass. The Lord resolves the lineage and genealogie of corn into Heaven, Hos. 2. 21. takes it to himself to be the father of the dew, Job 38. 28. It comes from him whose body did shed drops of heavenly dew in the garden, and by them did slay death, and re­vive he herbs of the grave.

We must labour therefore by an heavenly conversation to have our Bodies Temples of the holy Spirit, that this Heavenly vertue, when it hath drawn us out of our graves, may then carry us to Heaven; for as that which is earthly, when it [Page 32] is out of its place, never leaves descending till it goes to Earth: so that which is Heavenly, will never cease rising till it get to Heaven. Earthly vapors may be drawn up, but they fall a­gain in rain and winde. Wicked men, though raised, will fall again. Any thing of heaven will go to heaven, any thing of Christ will go to Christ.

Concerning this dear and worthy Lay, though my custom be to be very sparing in Funeral Elo­gies, yet many things were in her so remarka­ble, that the mentioning of them cannot but tend to the Edification of others.

I shall not mention her meere Exterrals. The worth, credit and dignity of her family. The gentlenesse and sweetnesse of her disposition, and all amiable accomplishments which rendred her lovely to those that knew her; nor set forth the proportion between her and the present Text. I shall onely name such things as commended her to God as well as to men.

She looked after Heaven very young: would frequently blesse God for the Religious Educa­tion which she had under her parents. She was even then assaulted with Temptations unto A­theisme, and to think that there was no God. But took the best course to repell and resist them, that the most experienced Christian could have directed her unto. Immediately betaking her self by prayer unto that God whom she was tempted to deny.

[Page 33] She was a woman mighty in the Scriptures, read them over once a year, and searched after the sense of difficult places out of the several Annotations before her. She was as it were a Concordance directing usually to the Book and Cha­pter where any place of Scripture mentioned in discourse, was to be found.

She was constant in reading substantial Au­thours, of dogmatical and practical Divinity, and by that means grew greatly acquainted with the whole Body of wholsome doctrine.

She was unweariedly constant in the perform­ance of private duties, in so much that it is ve­rily believed by him, who had best reason to know it, that for twelve years together she ne­ver intermitted her morning and evening addres­ses unto the Throne of Grace. When she was suddenly surprized with the pangs of this last child, she ran into her closet to be first de­livered of her prayer, and to poure out her soul to God, before she was delivered of her child.

She had a singular delight in the publick Or­dinances, and was a most constant frequenter of them, with very serious and devout attention, calling her memory to an account when she came home, and if any particular slipt from her forgotten, she would enquire of her husband in bed to recover it for her.

She left behind her in her closet a paper book, wherein with her own hand she had collected divers general Directions for an holy spending [...] [Page 32] [...] [Page 33] [Page 34] of the day, with several particular meanes for the faithful observance of those General Rules.

She highly honoured Holinesse in the poorest and meanest persons, and would frequently with some decent and modest excuse get off from un­profitable & impertinent discourse, that she might have her fill of more edifying conference with such, in whom she had learned of David, to place her delight.

For divers months before her death she was wonderfully improved heavenward, as those a­bout her observed, not regarding the world, nor letting any vain word drop from her; and her countenance many times after her coming out of her closet, seemed to have strange impressions of her conversing with God shining in it, as some conversant with her have professed to ob­serve.

She was greatly adorned with Meeknesse, Mo­desty and Humility, which are graces in the sight of God of great price. When one wish'd her ioy with the Honour lately come to her, she an­swered, That there was a greater Honour which she looked after, which would bring with it more solid joy.

She alwayes expressed much Honour and Re­verence to her parents, in all comely and dutiful comportment towards them, which much endear­ed them unto her.

Full of conjugal affection to her dear husband revoking with an ingenuous Retraction any word [Page 35] which might fall from her, which she judged lesse becoming that Honour and Reverence which she did bear to him. When he was ingaged upon publick concernments, and more particular­ly when he cross'd the seas to wait on his Sa­cred Majesty, she daily put up such ardent and heavenly petitions unto God for him, as caused those about her to conclude it impossible that the husband of so many prayers and teares should meet with any miscarriage. Wonderful watchful over his Bodily health; and spying out distempers in him before he discovered them himself. Earnestly desiring what is now come to passe, that he might survive her, that she might never know the wound of a deceased Husband.

She had a more then ordinary care in the Educa­tion of her children, holding them close to the read­ing, and committing to memory both Scripture and Catechisme, wherein by her diligence they made a very strange progress, a pregnant in­stance whereof to speak nothing of her children yet living, was her eldest son, who went to hea­ven in his childhood, about the age of five or six years, of whose wonderful proficiency in the knowledge of God, an exact account is given by a grave and godly Divine in the printed Sermon, which he preached at his Funeral.

She was very affable and kind to her servants, specially encouraging them unto holy duties, who have professed themselves very much benefited in their spiritual concernments by the discourses [Page 36] which she hath had with them.

She was very charitable and ready to do good to poor distressed persons, specially those of the houshold of faith, visiting, edifying, and comforting them, and with her liberality relieving their ne­cessities, acknowledging Gods free and rich mer­cy in allowing her a plentiful portion of outward blessings, and that she was not in the low conditi­on of those whom her charity relieved:

In her sicknesse and extremities of travel and other pains, she earnestly pleaded Gods promises of healing, of easing, of refreshing those that were weak and heavy laden, acknowledging her self so to be, not in body onely, but in soul too, and was full of holy and servent ejaculations.

Yea, when the disease affected her head, and disturbed her expressions, yet even then her speeches had still a tincture of Holinesse, and sa­vour'd of that spirit wherewith her heart was seasoned.

She advised those about her to set about the great and one necessary work of their souls while they were in health, assuring them that in sick­nesse all the strength they had would be taken up about that.

She desired her husband to read to her in her sicknesse Mistris Moores Evidences for salvation, set forth in a Sermon preached by a Reverend Divine at her Funeral, meditating with much sa­tisfaction upon them.

And when some cloud overcast her soul, she de­sired her husband to pray with her, and seconded [Page 37] him with much enlargement of heart, and bles­sed God for the recovery of light again.

Thus lived and died this excellent Lady, a worthy patterne for the great ones of her sex to imitate. Such works will follow them into an­other world, where none of the vanities of this, no Pleasures, no Pomp, no Luxury, no Bravery, no Balls, no Enterludes, no Amorous or Comple­mental discourses, or other like Impertinencies of the world will have any admittance. The more seriously you walk with God, and plie the concernments of your immortal souls, living as those that resolve to be saved, the greater will be your treasure of comfort in your death, and of glory in another life; whereas all your other delights and experiments for content will expire, and give up the Ghost in Solomons va­nity and vexation of Spirit. The Lord make us all wise unto salvation.