THe Resurrection of the dead, is a riddle in nature, and a paradox to reason; but an undoubted Article of the Christian faith. If a man die, shall he live again? saith Job; Job 14. 14 that is, in this world, or by the ordinary course of nature, he shall not, he cannot live againe. Death is a privation of life, and that, from the privation to the habit, there is no returning: it goes for a maxim amongst Philosophers, and is evi­dently A privati­one ad ha­bitum non datur re­gressus. Plin. lib. 10. c. 2. true, according to the course and power of meer natural causes. That of the long-liv'd Arabian bird, the Phoenix, towards her end, making her nest (as it were her death-bed) of spices, which are said to be set on fire by the Sun-beams; and out of her ashes, a worm, and from that worm, a new Phoenix to be produced, may well go among vulgar errours (which cre­dulous Dr. Brown ignorance and common reception have made currant) and may rhetorically serve for a Ambr. Hexam. l. 5. cap. 23. symbolical allusion, but no sound argument, of the [Page 2] Resurrection. Resurrection, (as Creation) is Tertul. de Resur. car. cap. 13. 2 Cor. 1. 9. John. 11. 45. an act of Omnipotency, an argument of Christs Deity, in matter of fact; a work beyond the sphere of Natures activity, and an object of di­vine faith. One of the greatest masters of Phi­losophie; who saw as far by the dim Moon­shine of natural reason, as any man since his daies (unlesse by having that advantage, which a Dwarfe may have, by standing on a Giants shoulders) could see and say no farther then this, That of nothing, nothing can be made. He knew not the difference betwixt making, and Ex nihilo, nihil fit. creating; To make something of something, is a production natural or artificial, as of an egge, a bird; of a tree, an image: but to bring some­thing out of nothing, is supernatural; meerly the finger of God, and fals under the notion of faith. And as the creation of things, is an Heb. 11. 3. omnipotent act, in bringing light out of darkness at the first; so is Redemption, and (the blest issue of it) Regeneration (which is our new creation) 2 Cor. 5. 17 out of the darknesse of ignorance, bringing us to the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; which 2 Cor. 4. 6. is called the first Resurrection, Rev. 20. and is the Rev. 20. 6. raising of the soul, from the corruption of sin, as the second resurrection shall be, the raising of the body, from the corruption of the grave: The one is the act, of a merciful power; the other, of a powerful mercy, and both Gods. That which fals under the Apostles argument at large in this chapter; and our present discourse, is the Resurrection of the body; a grand truth, which the Sadduces denied, the Epicures laughed at, Luke 20. Acts 17. 23. Profane men tremble at, but good Christians be­lieve, and believing rejoyce in, and rejoycing [Page 3] desire, and desiring hope and long for; knowing and saying with our Apostle, If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most mi­serable.

Which words, at the first view, present us with these two parts; first, a supposition, and secondly, a conclusion. A supposition, in the first words, If in this life only we have hope in Christ. A conclusion in the rest, we are (then) of all men most miserable. A supposition of a thing very untrue; Christians to have their hope in Christ, in this life only. A conclusion of a thing very unjust and unreasonable, Christians to be of all men most miserable: But the best is, the first is not a position, but a supposition, or a position (perhaps) of the Sadduces, but a supposition only of the Apostles, which he gives, but grants not, si nisi non esset; If it were not for if, Chri­stians were but in a sad case. As to the conclu­sion, the consequent is very unjust, that the ser­vants of the best master, should have the worst wages (absit) God forbid; that such as have led a strict, mortified and righteous life; yea, and have laid down their pretious lives, for the testimony of Jesus; that they should (like, mar­tyres stultae philosophiae) have no better, no far­ther hopes, then here, and now, where they neither found, nor expected, nor were ever pro­mised better usage, then reproach, poverty, per­secution and the crosse: A consequent [I say] very unjust, yet the consequence or inference, Mat. 16. 24 Mar. 10. 30 Joh. 16. 33 very just and necessary, upon the hypothesis, up­on which it depends and from whence it argues, as in all connex axioms be the parts (one or both) simply and singly true or false; the inference is [Page 4] mainly looked at, and that holds strongly here—If—Then. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are (Then) ( [...], for [...], an enallage of the de­gree, frequent in the Scriptures, the comparative, Bezae an­not. in lo. for the superlative) more miserable then any, or most miserable of all men. The design of the Apostle, in his way of arguing all along, is (adversarium ducere ad absurdum) by just and due inferences, from the Tenet his Adversarie holds, to bring him thereby necessarily to grant ( [...] or [...]) something absurd or ridicu­lous. If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is not Christ risen, vers. 13. which is plainly against evidence of fact and sense: Then is our preaching vain, and your faith also vain, vers. 14. Then are we false witnesses of God, vers. 15. Then you are yet in your sins, vers. 17. and the Saints de­parted (in this hope) perished, vers. 18. Then the baptizing over the dead is in vain, vers. 29. Then all the reproaches, dangers & sufferings of Christi­ans even to death, are all in vain, vers. 30, 32. and in the Text, Then Christians have their hopes in this life only, and then are of all men most mise­rable.

Now upon a second view, having taken off the veil, not so much from the words as from the mind of the hearers, we find the sence quite other­wise, then the sound of the words, and what is affirmative, upon the supposition, is negative, upon the disquisition, both the antecedent and the consequent; that is, Christians have not their hope in Christ in this life only: Christians are not of all men most miserable; and so by a retorted argument (as it were by a back-blow) it implies, [Page 5] that therefore, there must be surely a Resurrecti­on of the dead. Thus we have looked upon the text, as upon a fist or hand closed together, as upon a rose in the bud: now we will blow out this bud into its leaves, stretch out this hand into so many fingers, in what is exprest or implied, in six pro­positions. First, Christians have their hope. Secondly, Christians have their hope in Christ. Thirdly, Christians have their hope in Christ in this life. Fourthly, Christians have their hope in Christ, but not in this life only. Fiftly, If Chri­stians had their hopes in Christ, in this life only, they were then of all men most miserable. Lastly, Christians, in that they have their hope, and that in Christ, and that in this life, and not in this life only, are not of all men most miserable; nay, [con­sideratis considerandis] upon the whole matter, are of all men most happy; and in the compleat­ing thereof, in the shutting up of all, at the Re­surrection it will appear so. Thus you see the tide runs in upon us, and every part gains of ano­ther, and swels higher and higher; like the wa­ters in Ezekiel, from the ankles to the knees, and Ezek. 4 [...]. from the knees to the loins, and from the loins to the neck; and so over head and ears that we can­not wade, but must swim through them. Thus I have opened the hand, and stretched it into five particulars, as so many fingers; yea, into six, as many as were the fingers of the Giant of Gath, upon each hand six: I must not omit one, lest 2 Sam. 21. 20. some accurate hearer should take notice of it, as the midwife tied a scarled thred upon the hand of Pharez, when he put it forth and drew it in again, Gen. 38. 28. Gen. 38. Therefore I shall take leave to run through them all; on such as are implyed only, [Page 6] I shall only touch and go, as by the by: on such as are chiefly intended, I shall insist longer, as upon the main; with Gods assistance and your good attention, which I humbly beg: For I see I have cut out as much work, as would require a far better work-man then I am, and more time, then can be reasonably asked or allowed me to do it in: Help me, I beseech you, Men, brethren and fathers, help me by your prayers, and by your pa­tience; your patience shall make my task easier to me, and make the time seem shorter unto you, and now the good Lord prosper it in all our hands. I begin with the first.

Christians have hope: Faith, hope, and cha­rity Doct. 1 are the three Theological vertues, daughters 1 Cor. 13. 13. of one mother, or hand-maides of one mistrisse, which is Divine Truth: what Truth propoundeth or promiseth, Faith believeth, Love embraceth, & Hope waiteth for; so that hope is the expectation of some good thing, that is possible and future. There are three things requisite to make up the object of a regular and discreet hope, that it be something; 1. good, 2. possible, and 3. future. First, that it be good, for whatsoever presents it self as evil (either, corruptivè or contristativè, as we di­stinguish it, into the evil of sin, or of sufferings) the soul naturally abominates and avoids it, if that evil be present, grief undertakes it; if fu­ture, fear: It must be good then which the soul enlargeth it self unto and makes towards. Second­ly this good must be future, for if it be present good, joy entertains it; but if it be future, it fals under the jurisdiction and office of hope. Thirdly, it must be possible, which possibility is a conveni­ency [Page 7] or proportion, betwixt the end or the thing hoped for, and the means tending to that end: and if no such proportion be apprehensible, this seeming impossibility discourages and balkes hope, which gives over the chase or pursuit, and causes the soul to shrink and shrivel up and dwindle into despaire. Fourthly, Aquinas adds Aqui. 12. q. 40. 1. 0. another qualification of the object of hope; that is, that it be something that is hard or difficult; which difficulty hath an eye to something with­out us, as the help or means necessarily concur­rent to the attainment thereof; since no man is said properly to wait for that thing, which is absolutely in his own power, how and when he will to bestow upon himself. And this difficulty exercises and provokes courage, unto sedulity and perseverance, and puts metal into hope; where­as that which is apprehended to come easily, cer­tainly and of course, makes the wil languish into a lazie presumption. Fiftly, S. Augustine adds Aug. Eu­chir. cap. 8. one more; and that is, that hope is of such good things, as concern our selves, only or chiefly, and so differs from faith, which is of greater latitude, and extends to any Truth at large; and when hope takes in the good that concerns other men, it is by the conjunction of charity, which is rare­ly separated from the other two, in any of their actings. Now because some things that nearly and highly concern us, appear and are not only difficult, but impossible to nature, which yet are possible to grace; impossible to men, but yet possible unto God; therefore a Christians faith Mat. 19. 26 and so his hope (which vertues many times in Scripture exchange both names and duties) is of a strain higher then his reason; as to know that [Page 8] which passeth knowledge, Eph. 3. so to believe in Eph. 3. 19. hope, above or against hope, Rom. 4. as in the case Rom. 4. 18 of Abraham to believe and expect, that strange and (only because God's not incredible) promise, of having a childe, when his own body and Sarahs womb were now as it were dead; that is barren; and in the date and strength of nature, past chil­dren: Such is the hope of the Resurrection from the dead, a hope above hope, as in another sense, out of the stones, so in this, out of the dust, to raise children unto Abraham, and so to all his children, Mat. 3. 9. who was called the father of the faithful Now in­deed this hope here mentioned, is not either that natural passion of hope, nor yet that theological vertue of hope, singly or properly (for, to speak accurately, hope in that sense, is in this life only, in the chief exercise of it) for in heaven, faith shall be turned into vision, and love into union; and then hope shall be turned into fruition, and hope that is seen, is not hope: for what a man seeth (or enjoyeth) why doth he yet hope for it? Rom. 8. But it is the object of hope or the thing Rom. 8. 24 hoped for, that is here intended; the hope which is laid up for us in heaven, as S. Paul sayes, Col. 1. Col. 1. 5. which faith, the substance of the things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen; so antidates Heb. 11. 1. for the time, and represents unto us in the manner of a divine prospective glasse; that, that which is a far off in the place, and time of the accomplish­ment, is very near in the assurance and appre­hension; yea rather, the comprehension of it. Yet neverthelesse it is in relation unto, and under the excercise of this passion, and of this vertue, of hope here, waiting for it, and rejoycing in it, as in a just and indubitate, as in a certain and in­defeizable, [Page 9] right, title and interest in reversion, to great things. This is the Christians hope. This is that we are chosen unto, even the hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began, Tit. 1. This is that we are Tit. 1. 2. begotten unto, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (who hath purchased it by his death, compleated and settled it, by his resurrection) even to a lively hope, 1 Pet. 1. This is that we are called unto, in one hope of our calling, Eph. 4. this being [sure 1 Pet. 1. 3. Eph. 4. 4. enough] the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, Phil. 3. unto this we are sanctified, Phil. 3. 14. that we might have good hope, through grace, 2 Thes. 2. both as grace refers to the fountain, whence it is graciously given; and as it refers to 2 Thes. 2. 16. the water, which is grace it self, given, and given, as a sure pledge, that God will own both it and us; given us as a well of water within us, spring­ing up into everlasting life, John 4. for grace is John. 4. 14 nothing lesse, then glory inchoated, and glory nothing more, then grace consummate, when we shall enjoy that blessed hope (which now with wa­tering eyes and longing hearts, we wait for) even the glorious appearing of the great God and our Sa­viour Tit. 2. 13. Jesus Christ. This is that blessed hope, that lively hope, as it is called, & wel may be so, that de­pends & relies upon such lively and such precious merits and promises: exceeding great and pretious promises, 2 Pet. 1. Great in the greatnesse of the 2 Pet. 1. 4. things promised; great both in their value, and in their durablenesse, spiritual and eternal things; and great in the greatnesse of the promise, who is the great God himself, wise and good, potent and constant; divine attributes abundantly enough to create confidence, and to corroborate [Page 10] hope into an humble assurance. Faithful is he that hath promised, who also will do it, 1 Thes. 5. 1 Thes. 5. 23. and I know whom I have trusted, and that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him, 2 Tim. 1. This is the Saints helmet: take for a 2 Tim. 1. 12. 1 Thes. 5. 8. 1 Pet. 1. 5. Heb. 6. 19. helmet the hope of salvation, 1 Thes. 5. A helmet that cannot be battered nor beaten off, because it is made and kept on by a sure hand. This is the anker of the soul, Heb. 6. 19. which hope we have as an anker of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entreth into that within the veil: An anker forged by the finger of God himself, which Lu. 11. 20 Mat. 12, 28. is his Spirit, and fixed in heaven, in the truth of God it self, and so fastned to a cable that can­not be cut or broke, the promise of God let down unto us in the Scripture; yea, let down into us by the holy Ghost. It was the folly of Tyrus (as it is described at large Ezek. 27.) that Ezek. 27. having made provision of all necessaries for a voyage to Sea, both as to the hull and tacklings, and marriners, there is no mention of ankers in all the inventory: and such is the misery and madnesse of all such, as being to sail on the sea of this world, where they must needs expect storms and billows, are yet without the anker of hope; such are all unregenerate men, that are without Christ, having no hope, Eph. 2. a sad thing, to be Eph. 2. 12. without a helmet in a day of battel, especially where they go to it with down-right blows: a sad thing to be at sea in a storm, without an anker, or to have an anker that will start and lose its hold and come home, and so the ship be driven to and again, at the mercy of the windes. Such was his condition, that lay languishing on his death­bed, saying, doubting I have lived, and doubting [Page 11] I die, I know not whither I go, even farewell friends. Job sayes of the hypocrites hope, that it shall perish, and shall be cut off, and his trust Job 8. 13, 14. shall be as a spiders web Job 8. A spiders web, that is curiously wrought, but soon swept down, of no strength, of no stead, such is the hope, rather the presumption, of the hypocrite, and such it will prove to them that fix their preten­ded hopes on Gods unconditioned mercy, or on naturall abilities, or on morall preparations, or on their own merits, or on works of superero­gation, the Churches abundancie, or on any thing, but that on which the Christians hope is lodged and fixed, and that is on Christ, which hastens us, to the second particular.

Christians have their hope in Christ. Now, O Doct. 2 Lord, what is my hope? truely my hope is even in thee, saith holy David, Psal. 39. even in our Lord Psal. 39. 7. Jesus Christ, who is our hope, saith S. Paul, 1 Tim. 1. 1 Tim. 1. 1 from him we derive all our right and interest to grace and glory, we in Christ, and Christ in us, Col. 1. 27. the hope of glory, Col. 1. Christ is the foundati­on of a Christians hope: In this our elder Bro­thers Gen. 27. garment, we receive the blessing, not by supplantation, but by consent, and by a graci­ous compact, for (a filio filiatio nostra) from this Son of God, we come into son-ship with the Gal. 3. 27. Father, and into the priviledges of it; children, and if children, heirs; heirs, and coheirs with Je­sus Rom. 8. 17. Christ, Rom. 8. This is the generall claim of Christians, their plea, their tenure; we hold all, in Capite, from him; All things are yours, and 1 Cor. 3. 22 you are Christs, 1 Cor. 3. and all the promises of God, (the charter of our hopes) are in him, yea, and in him, Amen, 2 Cor. 1. Out of Christ, we 2 Cor. 1. 20 [Page 12] must needs be out of all hope of respect or union with God, whom sin hath set at such an infinite distance from him, farre below the basenesse of our mortall condition: for what is the daughter of the thistle, till she be married to the son of the Cedar? It is the union, the marriage of our flesh, with the Son of God, by his incarnation, that e­nobles our blood, and gives us a title of the kings daughter (not by birth, as Thamar, the daugh­ter Psal. 45. 13 of King David, but as Esther, a poor bond­maid, Esther. but freely beloved, chosen by, and mar­ried to King Ahasuerus) so are we, as a chaste virgin, espoused unto one husband, even to Christ, 2 Cor. 11. 2 by a particular right, and in a double sence, made partakers of the divine nature, 2 Pet. 1. 2 Pet. 1. 4. What are the children of darknesse, untill they are engrafted into the stock of light? What is the issue of sinfull corruption, untill they bee adopted into the family of grace and hope, which is in Christ Jesus. It is his assuming our nature Heb. 2. 16. that advances us even above the Angels: it is his righteousnesse, his active and passive obedience, Rom. 8. 33. that makes us hold weight, in the ballance of the sanctuary: it is his intercession, that ingratiates our persons, and our petitions, and, as incense, Rom. 8. 4. perfumes our prayers offered up on his golden al­tar, and out of his fulnesse, we all receive, even John 1. 16 grace for grace, John 1.

A perfect Embleme of our Blessed Saviour, and our interest in him, we have in that ladder Jacob saw in his dream, Gen. 28. The foot there­of Gen. 28. 12 stood upon earth, in reference to his humanity, and the top of it reached to heaven, in order to his Divinity: His incarnation, circumcision, temptation, holy life, his passion, crucifixion, bu­riall, [Page 13] resurrection, ascension, session at Gods right hand, his intercession, and mission of the Holy Ghost, are the severall rounds of this ladder. And as the Angels ascended and descended, by and up­on this ladder, so all our adresses, and all our re­turus, to and again, are made by, and upon Him: our prayers, and praises, and alms-deeds, and all our hopes and wishes, go up this ladder: all his graces, and his promises, and his comforts, all come down this ladder; even all our hope what­soever is in Christ, which is (in part) in this life, and leads us to the third particular.

Christians have hope in Christ, even in this life. Doct. 3 Godlinesse (as S. Paul sayes) hath the promise of this life: It hath the promise of this life, and 1 Tim. 4. 8. in this life. First, of this life, and the things of this life, as to the spiritual right, and secondly, as to the sanctified and comfortable use of them, and thirdly, as they are evidences of Gods inward love, and fourthly, pledges of better things to come. Wicked men have them not so (though their na­turall or civill right to them, may be unquestio­nable, as their portion in this life:) but (which is much more) even in this life, they have the Psal. 17. 14 promises of a better, and so a title to it (jus ad rem) even here, and now, a right to heaven, and to eternity. All things are yours, [saith the Apostle] whether Paul or Apollo, or Cephas, 1 Cor. 3. 21, 22. or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, 1 Cor. 3. And Beloved now are we the sons of God, saith S. John, 1 Joh. 3. 2. 1 John 3. Sons under age, indeed, and not yet come to be (adulti) of full yeers, to be heirs in possession, yet sons and heirs we are, in right of reversion, and have received that which is the [Page 14] earnest of our inheritance, Ephes. 1. Now the earnest is not onely a pledge, but a part of the bargain: And doubtlesse God will not forfeit, cannot lose his earnest, as S. Chrysostom sweetly; Chrys. in 2. Cor. 1. hom. 3. we have it upon his word, and under his seal, and he hath given earnest of it, and that no lesse then his own eternall and unchangeable Spi­rit, being sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Ephes. 1. 13. 14. which is the earnest of our inheritance, untill the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory: This is, by the same Apostle, called the first fruits of the spirit, Rom. 8. and the first fruits sanctifie all the harvest, or vin­tage, Rom. 8. 23 and intitle us comfortably to the whole crop. These are as the fair cluster of grapes, brought down out of the land of Canaan, by them that went to make a search of it, and brought down for an Essay, to shew what fruit the vines of Canaan bore, Num. 13. This is that Num. 13. 23. which is given us for a taste, to whet our appe­tites, and to stay our stomacks, as the Church prayes passionately in the Canticles, Stay me with 1 Pet. 2. 3. flagons, and comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love. These are the flagons, to stay us a while, Cant. 2. 5. and to refresh us, till we come into the wine-seller; these are the apples to comfort us, till we come into the orchard, unto the tree of life. These are as the full sacks, and as the waggons, Joseph sent down to his father Jacob, but as a Gen. 45. token of what shall be. But this is not all, nor one half, for Christians have not their hopes in Christ, in this life onely, which is the fourth par­ticular.

Christians have not their hope in Christ, in Doct. 4 1 Tim. 4. 8 this life onely, Godlinesse hath the promise of this [Page 15] life, and that which is to come: And now we are the sons of God, but it doth not yet appear, what 1 Joh. 3. 2. we shall be: but we know when Christ shall ap­pear, we shall be like him, or, we shall see him, as he is. Sons we are, and heirs, though (nondum apparet) not yet heirs apparent: but we know, we shall be like him; we know, by the assurance of hope, and of adherence; we know, by the assurance of his promise, and of his Spirit, al­though we do not see him yet, by the evidence of vision, of fruition, yet we shall see him, in his Joh. 17. 21, 22. glory, as he is, and be, as he is; we shall be like him, as like as like may be, as far as our capa­city will reach, and that humble distance will admit us, which our scantling of grace has pre­pared us for; we shall be like him, in the parti­cipation of his glorious perfections, and beati­tudes: we have here, but jus ad rem, there we shall have jus in re, here an expectation, there a fruition, here a reversion, there a possession: Here we stand, as Moses on a hill, and take a view of Canaan at a distance, but then and there, as Caleb and Joshua, we shall enter and enjoy that Deut. 34. 1, 4. good land which floweth with milk and honey, whereof Canaan was but a type: Here with Ja­cob we have news of Joseph, and see the wag­gons, Gen. 45. that is, partake of the promises and the glad-tidings that are sent us, but then we shall go up and see Joseph, our Brother, that will freely re­mit, all the injuries we have done him, and high­ly prefer us, I say not, in Egypt, but in Heaven, where he is Governour in Chief, In whose pre­sence Psal. 16. is fulnesse of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore. I beleeve that my Redee­mer Job 19. liveth, and that I shall see him with these [Page 16] eyes. This was Jobs Creed. O how great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee? This was Dauids meditation. We Psal. 31. 19 know when this earthly tabernacle shall be dissol­ved, 2 Cor. 5. 1. we have a building of God, a house not made with hands eternall in the heavens: This is the Saints generall assurance, 2 Cor. 5. and S. Paul for his own particular, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, from henceforth there is laid up for me, a crown of 2 Tim. 4. 8. righteousnesse, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, 2 Tim. 4. Henceforth, not here, not now, there is laid up, in the un­changeable decree of God, in the infallible pro­mise of God, in the unconquerable hands and pow­er of God, there is laid up, a crown of righte­ousnesse, a crown not of bayes, or of laurell, for that may wither, not of silver or of gold, for 1 Pet. 1. 4. that may canker; not a crown of gold, but of glory, not a crown of gold, set with diamonds, but a crown of glory, set with stars, or with some things richer then stars, grace, and peace, and immortality: and this the righteous Judge will do, righteous, not to us, in the justnesse of our merit, (Lord enter not into judgement with thy servants, said one of the best of his servants) Psal. 14. but righteous to himselfe, to his own word, who hath graciously promised it, and so made him­self Aug. both a donour, and a debtour; and righteous to his Son, who hath dearly earned, and justly won this crown, that we might wear it, and hath prepared it for our heads. There are three things, which when I consider sadly, my heart faints and dies within me; they are, the indig­nity of my person, the imperfection of my best [Page 17] works, and that huge disproportion, that is be­twixt me, a poor-mortall-sinfull creature, and a glorious everlasting crown, promised, and there­fore expected, from God. But there are three things to set against them, able to support me Bern. de fragmen. 7. miserie. ser. 3. at the lowest; that is, first the free love of my heavenly Father, that hath adopted me; secondly the faithfulnesse of his word, that hath promised me; and thirdly the omnipotencie of his power to performe what he hath promised; I will add a fourth, it is, the perfect and infinite merit of my Saviour, who hath redeemed me, and pur­chased this glory for me; and though I am utter­ly unworthy, yet is he worthy, both as to that I hope for in this life, and not in this life onely. It is said of Alexander the Great (great in every mans mouth) that as he conquered severall Towns and Countries, he bestowed them royally on his followers, and when he was asked, what he would reserve for himself, he answered, Hope; and yet at last when he had conquered all the World, (as the estimate of the world then went) he is said, to have sate down, and to have wept, that there were no more Worlds to conquer: and weep he might, poor man, after all his victories, and mourn, as a man without hope, that was ig­norant 1 Thes. 4. 13. of another world, a world to come, of another kingdom, not yet conquered, not yet heard of, the kingdom of heaven, which is said to suffer violence, and the violent to take it by Mat. 11. 12 force. This, this is the misery of the men of this Psa. 17. 14. world, that they have their portion in this life onely; who build their hope or trust on riches, or on honour, or on strength, or on Princes, or on any thing under the Sun, for they die and pe­rish, [Page 18] and their hopes, and their thoughts, perish with them. But the righteous hath hope in his Prov. 14. 32. death; and it goes with him to his grave, and it leaves him not there, as his dearest-friends do, for his hope is not at an end, untill he re­ceives the end of his hope, which is the salvation of his soul; and if it were not so, but that the hope and the happinesse of a Christian determi­ned with this present life, if he had his hope in this life onely, he were of all men most miserable, which is our fifth particular.

If Christians had their hope in Christ in this Doct. 5 life onely, they were then of all men most miserable. For what is a mans life at the best, but a warfare upon earth? and what is this earth at best, but a thorow-fare? and what are we else, but stran­gers Psal. 39. 12 and pilgrims as all our fathers were? Now what do strangers finde in their travail home­wards, but cold windes in their face, foul wayes, hard lodgings in their Inne, and sharp reckonings, Ex vita exeo, tanquam ex hospitio, said a wise Seneca. Heathen, I go out of the World as out of an Inne. This is common to men; but Christians, it may be hoped, finde better entertainment in the world: nay, but much worse, For we are 1 Cor. 4. 9, made (saith S. Paul) or set out, as a spectacle, as a gazing stock, to the world, to Angels and to men: Even to this present hour, we hunger and 11 thirst, and are naked, and are buffetted, and (as vagrants) have no certain dwelling place; and labour, working with our hands, reviled, persecu­ted, 13 and defamed; yea, worse yet, we are made as the filth of the world, and as the off-scouring of all things, as the faeces, or dregs, or refuse, or something perhaps more foul then modesty [Page 19] would have named. This is the estimation, this the entertainment that the followers of Jesus, yea the prime of them, the Apostles themselves, had in this life. Read the history of S. Pauls usage, under his own hand, 2 Cor. 4. We are 2 Cor. 4. 8. troubled on every side (yet not distressed) we are perplexed [but not in despair] persecuted [but 9 not forsaken,] cast down [but not destroyed,] alwayes bearing about in the body, the dying of our 10 Lord Jesus, and we which live are alwayes deli­vered over unto death, for Jesus sake: And again, 11 Chap. 11. In labours abundant: in stripes a­bove Chap. 11. 23. measure, in prisons frequent: in deaths oft: of the Jews five times I received fourty stripes 24 save one: thrice was I beaten with rods: once was I stoned: thrice I suffered shipwrack: in journey­ing 25 often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countreymen, in perils by 26 the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wildernesse, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren: in wearinesse, and painfulnesse, 27 in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fast­ings often, in cold and nakedness. I see it pities you, it wearies you to hear it, oh how would it weary you to bear it? yet such was the usage of the best Christians, in this life. Take an extract of the usage of all the primitive Saints, almost all the world over. Heb. 11. Some were tortured, Heb. 11. 35. others had triall of cruel mockings and scourg­ings, yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned, they were sawen asunder, were 36 tempted, were slain with the sword, they wandred 37 about in sheep-skins, and goats-skins, being de­stitute, afflicted, tormented, they wandred in de­serts, 38 and in mountains, and in dens, and caves [Page 20] of the earth, of whom the world was not worthy, and yet the world counted them not worthy of the least civilities, yea rather worthy of the most exquisite cruelties. Read the bloody Records of the ten persecutions; read the Ecclesiasticall Histories of all times, first or last, and you must needs conclude; If Christians had their hope in Christ in this life only, they weremore miserable then any men: for other men are of other mindes, and so of other wayes then Christians are: as for Epicures, they can, upon their own principles, indulge and pamper their genius, and let them­selves loose and at large, to all sensuall pleasures, as if the earth were given them, as the sea to the Psal. 104. 26. Leviathan, to take their pastime in: Jollitie and dalliance is the highest good, they aim at, and therefore they rant it one to another, as those revelling Romans did, saying, (Dum vivimus vivamus) Let us eat and drink for to morrow we 1 Cor. 13. shall die; and when we are gone, all is gone with us. For we are born (say they) at all ad­ventures, Wisd. 2. 2. and we shall be hereafter, as if we never had been, for the breath in our nostrils is as smoak, and a little spark in the moving of our heart, which being extinguished, our bodies shall be turned into 3 ashes, and our spirits shall vanish, as the soft air. For our time is a very shadow that passeth away, 5 and after our end, there is no returning, for it is fast sealed, so that no man cometh again. Come on therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are 6 present, and let us speedily use the creatures, like as in youth. Let us fill our selves with costly 7 wines and ointments; and let no flower of the spring passe by us. Let us crown our selves with rose­buds, 8 before they be withered, let none of us go [Page 21] without his share of our voluptuousnesse: let us 9 leave tokens of our jollity in every place, for this 10 is our portion, and this our lot. Alas, this is their portion indeed, all they hope for: a messe of pot­tage, goes for profane Esau's blessing; Musick and a fatted calf, the prodigalls of the world, ac­cept [...]. 10 for their childs part, as that wild Atheist said, he would not quit his part in Paris, for his part in Paradise. Again, ungodly men are men of this world, and therefore this world owns and Joh. 15. 19 loves them; and Satan the God of this world has no quarrell at them: they are Deer in his own Park, and tame Fowls in his own Yard, and at his command, and he (as Holofernes said) will Judeth 11. 1. never hurt any, that will serve Nebuchadonosor the king of all the earth: his deadly feud is against the servants of the King of heaven, Iob, and Paul, and Peter, and such as they shall feel his sting, if God restrain him not: as for others, whom Satan, the God of this world hath blinded, who 2 Cor. 4. 4. are led captive by him at his will, they need not fear at present, whiles the strong man armed 2 Tim, 2. 26. keeps the house, all is quiet there. So long as Israel will do their tasks, and couch under Luk. 11. 21 their bondage, Pharaoh sits still, but if once they turn their backs upon Egypt, he will soon pursue them, with all his might. 3. Yea, God himself is pleased a while to wink at his Act. 17. 30 enemies, and to hold his peace, and to say within himself, Let them alone, why should Psa. 50. 21. they bee smitten any more? hee prunes not Isai. 1. 5. James 5. wilde vines, but lets them runne, reclaims not untamed heifers, but suffers them in his green pastures, to bee fatted to the Psal. 73. 5. slaughter. So that they are not in trouble as [Page 22] others, neither are they plagued as other men, 6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain, and violence covereth them as a garment; there­fore 7 their eyes stick out with fatnesse, and they have more then their hearts can wish. Behold, these are 12 the ungodly, who prosper in the world and encrease in riches. When all the day long I have been pla­gued, 14 and chastened every morning. This trou­bled David, till he had recovered himself, by go­ing 17 into the sanctuary and by considering their end (that this is their share and their portion, a poor, short and sensual happinesse) and suddenly they 18 are cast down into destruction. Last of all, other men can dispense with their consciences, (by a lit­tle mistake) serving the time instead of serving the Lord, they can keep a temper, comply, and serve Rom. 12. 11 [...] pro [...]. turns, and (in an evil sense) become all things to all men, to gain something, though they lose them­selves, in the end, by it: By this means they provoke no enemies (as to their religion at least) or indanger themselves, as Daniel, and the A­postles Dan. 6. 10. Acts 4. did, so they may sleep in a whole skin, and preserve their own interest with the world, they dare trust God with their souls, and for mat­ters of lawful or unlawful, Gallio careth for none of these things. These censure and be fool other men, that betray themselves into sufferings, as too nice and tender, as too precise and scrupulous, accounting carnal pollicy, to be the only piety, 1 Tim. 6. 5 and gain to be godlinesse; by a fallacy of dividing what Christ hath joyned; the serpents wisdom, Mat. 10. 16 from the doves innocency. But the Saints cannot do so, cannot give or take to themselves liberty, to become the servants of men, by a sinful compli­ance, 1 Cor. 7. 23 or to warp to the sunny side, when their [Page 23] duty and conscience strongly inclines them ano­ther way: God corrects every son that he receiveth, Heb. 12. 6. and whom he loves he chastiseth, lest they should wax wanton and unworthy of the sincere disci­pline of such a father. Satan is their sworn ene­my, Rev. 12. 10 who are Gods friends, the accuser of the bre­thren, and let loose upon them some times, for their trial, exercise and glory; yea, and they in assured hope of a better life, are content to accept of Christs tearms in this, (being no worse then he under-went himself for us, and before us) that is, through many tribulations to enter into the Acts 14. 22 kingdom of God: for this is the general rule (via regia) the great road of Christendom; All they 2 Tim. 3. 12. that wil live godly in Christ must suffer persecution ( [...]:) they that will, that are resolved upon it, what ere it cost them; resolved to walk urightly ( [...]) to walk strictly ( [...]) they shall, they must prepare, to suffer for it; We are not called to be Christs Disciples upon any other conditions, then to take up his crosse and Mat. 16. follow him; nor promised to reign with him, un­lesse we also suffer with him. Did Christ our ma­ster 2 Tim. 2. 12 drink of any other cup, and must not we pledge Mat. 20. 23 Mat. 10. 25 him in the same cup, though it be gall and vinegar? it is enough that the disciple be as the master. They that go about to pull the crosse out of the Christi­ans arms, spoyl the whole coat, if I have any skill, in the herauldry of heaven: they prevent the glory of martyrdom, and deflowre the Saints of their prime renown, whose robes were died white Rev. 7. 14. in bloud, double died in bloud, their Saviours and their own: whose glory shines most bright in their sufferings; as silver vessels (vessels of 2 Tim. 2. 21. honour) scoured with scorn and cruelties, by the [Page 24] Devils scullions upon earth: here is the faith and patience of the Saints; and these are they that fol­low Rev. 13. 10. 14. 4. the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Those then that misapply the doctrine of Christian pru­dence and self-preservation, to save their skins, and to avoid their sufferings for righteousnesse sake and a good conscience, seem to me to attempt to pluck out the thorns out of Christs crown, which is made up of them, & so mar it in the mending, and prevent the crown of martyrdom. These men surely dream of a temporal kingdom of Christ, as some­times Acts 1. 6. the Apostle did, and could hardly be beaten out of that haunt, or to have fained to themselves a smoother, easier, way to heaven, then that the A­postles and confessors of Christ, & Christ himself, ei­ther went, or chalked out for us to go by. No, no, this life is not the place for Saints to receive their 1 Cor. 9. 24 2 Tim. 4. 8. Mat. 20. 1. hopes in: this is their race, to run in, their field to fight in, their vineyard to work in; a glassie sea, a fiery furnace, a valley of tears; and had they their hopes in this life only, they were of all Luke 16. men most miserable. Then were the rich-man, with the purple and fine linen, and his dainty fare, to be adjudged more happy then poor La­zarus, that lay at his door, on whom the dogs took more pitty then their master did: then should Herod have been accounted more happy, then John Baptist, Saul then David; when Da­vid 1 Sam. 20. 26. was hunted by Saul like a partridge upon the mountains. Saul is the hawk, a proud bird of prey, man'd and dieted and carried on the fist, with her velvet hood, her silver varvels, her sil­ken jesses, her gingling bels, and attendants after her, which whistled off the fist upon her wings, lessens her self in the air, watching till the poor partridge be sprung to her pleasure. But David [Page 25] is as the partridge, safe no where, but in a sad dilemma for her life; if she rise she is in danger of the hawke, if she flick on the ground, she is in danger of the dog: but marke the end, when the hawke dies, she is stript of her ornaments, and cast out unto the dung-hil, as a carrion kite: but when the partridge is killed, she is carefully drest and served up in a dish for princes. This is the difference then, of such as fear God, and such as fear him not, of such as have hope, hope in Christ, in Christ in this life, but not in this life only; surely they cannot be of all men most mi­serable; surely they cannot but be of all men most happy, which (as the rebounding of the text) is the last particular.

Christians having hope, and if in Christ, and Doct. 6 that in this life, and not in this life onely, are of all men most happy, and that they may be compleatly happy, may sure enough expect a resurrection of the body. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord: hence­forth, even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours and their works follow them, Rev. 14. Rev. 14. 13 Their good works die not with them, they follow them, those that went before them in the perfor­mance, follow them in their good fame among men. 2. In their good acceptance and reward with God; the works done in the body, shall be rewarded, and therefore the body it self must needs rise again; in which, and by which, they 2 Cor. 5. 10 were done, that reward may be done in kind. Can we reasonably imagine or believe, that Al­mighty God, who fashioned the body by his own Gen. 2. 7. hands, quickned it with his own breath, honour­ed it with his own likenesse, fitted it to be the habitation of the soul, which in it first is capable of [Page 26] grace, and in it only of the means of grace, the holy word and Sacraments, who allows it to be his chappel and chaplaine for prayers, his almo­ner for bounties and good works, his votary and martyr, in watching, fasting, continency, endu­ring cold, nakednesse, shame, imprisonment, stripes, yea, and death it self for Gods cause, can we think that that body shall not rise again from the grave and have a share in glory? Can we believe, that body which Christ so ennobled, as to assume it John 1. 14. 1 Cor. 6. 19 unto his diuine nature, which the holy Ghost so graced, as to make it his temple, and which Christ hath taken with him as our pledge, speci­fically into heaven, when he ascended thither as 15 our head, that we may be well assured the head and members cannot be for ever separated, and shall not this body rise again from the dead? Can he that commanded us to love our neigh­bour as our self (sayes Tertullian) forget that flesh Tertul. de Resur. Car. cap. 9. to which he was so near allied, so near neighbour­ed, when he dwelt amongst us? No, no, but as the soul and body took sweet counsel together upon earth, fasted, prayed, and went to the house of God as friends, so they shall share together in fe­licitie, though divorced awhile by death, they shall be married again, and live and love toge­ther to all eternity. Non possunt separari in mer­cede, caro & anima, quas in operibus conjunxit. Absit, absit ut Deus manuum suarum operam, in­genii sui curam, afflatus sui vaginam, molitionis suae reginam, liberalitatis suae haeredem, religionis suae sacerdotem, testimonii sui militem, Christi sui sororem in aeternum destituat interitum, saith the same father. Neither can the soul be compleat­ly happy without the body, nor the body with­out [Page 27] the soul; the soul takes possession first, but the body rests in hope, waiting the good time, when the trumpet shall blow, and the dead bodies shal rise incorruptible, 1 Cor. 15. 52. Such a day the saints may sure enough promise to themselves, knowing they serve a good master, and their works shal not be in vain in the Lord, verse 58. Not in vain, not of all men the most miserable, which negation of vanity or misery, may imply the contrary, in a strong and high elegancy. The day of a good mans death, is the last of his combates, and the first of his triumphs; the last enemy that shal be subdued (above ground) is death, and death it self is subdued for us, and the grave is only a dormitorie, a with-drawing chamber for a while: a good mans grave is his bed, where he rests from his labours, both from his sorrows and his sins. Why then should friends mourn, as men without hope, 1 Thes. 4. for them that died in a lively hope, candidates and expectants of that blessed hope, to be conpleated at the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ: yea, and in their better part, are gone out already to meet it, and to enjoy it? why should our griefs and out-cries, so much as call them or wish them back again, who are now in their haven, and at their rest? you bid them to their loss, to engage them to begin that warfare againe, which they have happily finished. This is no place intended for the felicitie or securitie of the Saints; here 1. the body is mortal, crazie and corruptible: 2. the soul clogg'd with infirmities, and corruptions. 3. The Church mixt of good and bad: 4. this is Satans walk, where he has leave and time to range and tempt. 5. This was never intended for our home, our fathers house; here are none of the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, nor Jesus Christ himself, without whom heaven it self could not be a happy place. No, no, migremus hinc (as the voice said at Jerusalem awhile before the fatal ruines of it) let us away hence, let us away hence. Volemus ad coelum, Chri­stiani, [Page 28] volemus ad coelum (as holy Monica in a devout ex­tasie) let us flie to heaven; O Christians, let us flie to hea­ven! Oh that I had wings like a dove; that I might flie away and be at rest, said holy David, Psal. 55. 6. and so I hear you say (me thinks) within your breasts. I would not live alwayes upon earth, if I might; truly no wise man would, for that were to be ever miserable, so saith my Text; and so will all say I presume that have heard me this day; If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we were of all men most miserable.