I answer, that it shall be in the day in which God hath appointed to judge all the world, by the man whom he hath ordained, Acts xvii. You are not to expect from me, Christians, that I should point out to you precisely the day when this shall come to pass; for it belongs not to us to know the times and the seasons, which God hath reserved to himself. 'Tis true, we may see, that most part of the prophecies are already fulfilled; so that we may say in general terms, "The Lord is at hand, and our salvation is nearer than when we believed," Phil. iv. Rom. xiii.

Nevertheless, I cannot undertake to mark out unto you this glorious day, nor to tell you the year nor age when this shall be. There is no man upon earth, nor angel in heaven, that is able to speak of it with certainty. Therefore Jesus Christ himself informs us, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only,' Matt. xxiv. If our Saviour saith more, "That the Son himself knoweth not the day," Mark xiii.we must understand this as he is a man, and during his abode in the world; for, as he is God, he knoweth all things from all eternity. And now that he is glorified, as he is a man, he understands all things. But he hath hid from men the time of his coming, that we might expect him at every moment. As he tells the holy apostles, "Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour the Lord doth come; but know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, be would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up," Matt. xxv. He writes in the same language to the angel of the church of Sardis, "Remember how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast andrepent; if therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come to thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." The first Christians were very well acquainted with this wholesome doctrine, as we may judge by this passage of St. Paul to the

Thessa

Thessalonians: "But of the times and of the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you; for yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape," 1 Thess. v. As the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. For as they were before the deluge, eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, and were not sensible of the deluge, until it was come, and carried them all away; so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man, Matt. xxv.

The wise man tells us, "That hope delayed causeth the heart to languish," Prov. xiii. But we must except the hope and expectation of the resurrection; for though this blessed resurrection shall not come to pass yet many thousand ages, it should not cause such as die in the Lord to languish. For while their bodies are in their graves, they suffer nothing; and as they are there without sense, they cannot be impatient, no more than a man that is in a deep sleep. For the soul enjoys in the contemplation of God's face such unspeakable satisfactions, that it is not capable of grief, sorrow, displeasure, or the least disturbance. St. Peter tells us,

That a thousand years with God are but as a day," 2 Pet. iii. We may say the same of those who were admitted to God's glorious presence to behold his face; for a thousand years in such an happy state, appear less than one day in this miserable condition. Hundreds and thousands of years pass away far quicker to the blessed inhabitants of heaven, than the moments to such as live in troubles upon earth.

4.3. Others desire to know where this resurrection shall happen. The Jewish whimsies and extravagancies have given occasion to this question; for they think, that the dead bodjes rise in no other place but the Holy Land. Therefore

they

they have made another childish fable, That the bodies of all their nation, that die in several parts of the world, shall go through earthly vaults, and roll through the secret convey. ances of this globe, until they come to the land of Canaan, where they are to arise from the dead. And as one error occasions another, they say further, That they shall feel more or less pain in their passage, according to the goodness or sins of their lives. I need not spend any time in the refutation of this foolish and impertinent opinion; but it may justly cause us to acknowledge the just judgment of God upon this unhappy people, who have refused, with a devilish ob stinacy, the great Saviour of the world. For, because they have not received the love of the truth, that they might be saved, God hath sent them strong delusions, that they might believe a lie, and hath given them over to a reprobate sense, 2 Thess. ii. For us Christians, we say, That, without sa much ado, where the body is at the last day, there it shall rise from its grave.

4.The next question is, What shall rise from the dead?—I answer, That the same body which falls by death, shall rise again at the general resurrection. If God should make a new body to join it to our souls, it would be no more a resurrection, but rather a new creation; neither shall we only take such a body as our own; for things that are only alike, are not the same, let them be never so much alike; but we shall take again the same body, which our souls animate during its abode here below; and if I may make use of the expres sions and terms of divines, it shall not only be the same body, but also the same individual. As in the first resurrection, God creates not a new soul, but he regenerates and sanctifies that which was dead in its trespasses and sins; thus, in the second resurrection, God makes not another body, but he only bestows another life upon that which was lying in corruption, and amongst the dead. As when our Saviour rose from

from the dead, he made not for himself a new body, but he took again that same which had been formed in the womb of the blessed Virgin; likewise, in the general resurrection, he will not create for us new bodies, but he will restore to us that same which we had from our mothers' wombs. This argument is not to be answered; for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not only the efficient or meritorious cause of ours, but also the pattern and model, or, as the schoolmen tell us, it is the exemplary cause of our future resurrection. But there is no need of arguments, when the word of God is so clear and express on this subject. St. Paul informs us, "That the Lord shall change our vile body; that this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality," Phil. iii. 1 Cor. xv. " And that the life of Jesus shall be made manifest in our mortal flesh," 2 Cor. iv. And the holy Job saith, ch. xix. "not only that he shall see God, but that he shall see God in his flesh, and that he shall see him with his eyes." For the same reason, in some ancient copies, in our Apostles' Creed, as in the Creed of Aquila, I find not only, "I believe the resurrection of the flesh," but, "I believe the resurrection of this flesh."

5. Some ask, Whether the bodies of the wicked shall rise from the dead, as well as the bodies of the righteous?-The Jews, who delight in whimsical inventions, fancy a resurrec tion only for the just, in which unbelievers and reprobates have no share. To strengthen this dream, they abuse the words of the first Psalm, "The wicked shall not stand in judg ment, not sinners in the congregation of the righteous." Finally, They are so much besotted with an high conceit of themselves, that none are righteous but of their own nation; that none are pleasing to God, or ought to rise again from the dead, but the Israelites. But we Christians are brought up and instructed in better doctrines; we believe, without hesitation, that all men that are dead since the beginning of the

world,

world, of every people and nation under heaven, shall rise again at the day of judgment. For St. Paul assures us, "That there shall be a resurrection of the just, and of the unjust." David, in his first psalm, speaks nothing against this truth, which is as clear as the sun, and as infallible as the heavens and the earth; for he saith not, the wicked shall not rise again, but only, that they shall not stand before God in judgment; that is to say, that they shall not subsist before the tribunal of God's justice, nor be able to abide the fiery presence of God, angry and displeased for their impieties. But this we may observe, that although God will raise up all the men of the world, without exception, from their graves, there shall be a notable difference between them; for he will raise the wicked up, and draw them out of their graves, as a judge drags an offender out of his dungeon, to sentence him to death. But he will raise again believers as their Redeemer, that their bodies, as well as their souls, might enjoy the blessed fruits of the redemption purchased for us. Therefore this divine Saviour styles them children of the resurrection; for none but they shall inherit his blessing, and partake of his eternal glory.

6. Some inquire further, In what manner shall this resurrection be?-I answer, That our Lord and Saviour shall come down from heaven, clothed with light and glory, and attended upon by the angels of his power, and millions of his saints. He shall be preceded by the cry of the archangel, and the trumpet of God, for the trumpet shall sound; and as at the sounding of the silver trumpet that proclaimed the Jews' jubilee all the prisons were opened, and the prisoners set at liberty; in the same manner, at the sound of the last trumpet, all the prisons of death shall be broke open, and the bodies that were imprisoned shall go out: to speak in the language of the Holy Ghost, "the sea shall give up her dead, and death and he'l shall restore the dead that are in them." And as Lazarus rose up as soon as Jesus Christ had called to him