the Lord; wherefore comfort one another with these words." I know very well, that St. Paul tells the Hebrews," that it is appointed unto all men once to die;" therefore I conceive that this great change that shall be made in the bodies of them that shall be then alive, shall be a kind of death; for Christ will destroy and abolish altogether, in them, all corruption and inclination to mortality. And when he shall change the bodies of the reprobates, he will make them like to the other reprobates, whom he shall fetch out of their graves. He will make them immortal, that they may be eternally tormented in hell. But he will cause the bodies of believers then alive to be like the other believers, that they may all partake and enjoy the same glory and eternal bliss. Christians, in what condition soever you be, seriously apply to yourselves these divine consolations. You that are grieved to see your bodies maimed and deprived of one of your members, your eyes, hearing, or some other of your senses, whether you be so born, or whether such a privation hath happened to you by a disease, by a mischance, or by any other accident, rejoice and comfort yourselves with this assurance, that you shall see one day this wretched body restored to a perfect state, to a perfection that shall never be lost. You who fret and vex yourselves, to behold how old age and sickness have disfigured your bodies, what breaches and ruins they have caused in you, comfort yourselves in expectation of this glorious resurrection, which shall supply this decayed and languishing body with new strength and vigour, and adorn it with a perfect beauty and an eternal glory. And you, whom death undermines, and intends shortly to lay in the dust, grieve not at it; for what you lose at present, you shall find again at the great day of the resurrection. When Joseph died, he commanded his brethren concerning his bones, that they should carry them out of Egypt into the land of Canaan. Now our bones are the bones of Jesus Christ, our true Joseph. Therefore he will command his angels to gather them up safe, he himself will have a care to preserve them; at the great morn of the resurrection, he shall fetch them out of their graves, as out of an Egypt, out of an house of bondage, and will carry them to his celestial Canaan. When the tabernacle was taken to pieces, the high-priest delivered every piece in charge to the Levites, so that when they were to set it up again, there was nothing wanting; likewise our Saviour hath given in charge, and delivered by retail to our tombs, every member and part of our bodies, these tabernacles which he hath sanctified for himself. Therefore they shall all be found again at the resurrection, without the least diminution. These tabernacles shall not only be found entire, but they shall be beautified with a far greater glory and splendour than before. There is none but would be glad to lay himself down to sleep in his bed, and pull off his garments willingly, if he were certain to be more healthy, and to find his garments fresher and more beautiful in the morning; if he were persuaded, that, instead of old rags, he were to put on a royal attire, and most magnificent garments, who would not willingly go out of a pitiful cabin, and forsake a miserable lodge, which shall be one day changed into a golden palace adorned with precious stones? Comfort thyself, believing soul, and rejoice in God thy Redeemer; cast off willingly this garment that is so incommodious and troublesome to thee. Forsake this wretched body, undermined by sickness and diseases, and consumed by time. Sleep quietly in the Lord Jesus, and repose thyself in his bosom; for when thou shalt wake again at the sound of the archangel's trumpet, thou shalt find this garment whiter than snow, and as bright as the light. Grieve not to see this miserable dwelling fall to pieces and rot; for God shall build it up again with his own hands, and convert it into his own temple, and a pavilion of his glory. Thou mayest be said shortly to return again, and to find this woeful lodge of earth become an heavenly palace, purer than fine gold, and brighter than diamonds, rubies, and all precious stones. Weep not for thy beautiful eyes that are shut, nor for the rest of thy senses that are lost, or for the members of thy body that consume away one after another. For with these same eyes that have lost, or shall shortly lose, the sight of the day, thou shalt behold a divine light, thou shalt shine eternal in heaven; thou shalt behold the face of the King of kings, and all the glory and magnificence of his kingdom. With these ears that are almost deaf, and that shall be shortly stopped, thou shalt hear, with transports of joy, the ravishing harmonies of the saints, and the songs of the blessed angels. With this stammering tongue, which is to lose the faculty of speech, thou shalt sing with a loud voice the praises of Almighty God, in the glorious company of the church triumphing. With these unsteady hands that can scarce hold any thing, thou shalt one day receive immortal palms, and golden viols, which thou shalt never quit. With these feet that are dying, and that can scarce support thee, thou shalt follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, and thou shalt walk about the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem. And this same body, that is going to rot, and to be turned to dust, shall one day shine as the firmament, and as the sun in its greatest splendour. What desirest thou more, Christian soul, for thy comfort? What addition can there be made to thine happiness, since thou art going to the fruition of eternal joys, and of endless pleasures in heaven? In the meanwhile, the body shall endure no pain or grief; and God will shortly raise it up again from this deep sleep, that begins to dull thy senses and close thine eye-lids. Shortly God will publish the year of the great jubilee; all the prisons of death shall be then opened, and the prisoners shall be set at liberty. Thou shalt shortly hear the the sound of the last trumpet, that shall rouse thee out of the dust, and cause thee to appear in the presence of thy great Redeemer. Thou leavest a wretched body, full of darkness and corruption, assaulted by death on all sides; but shalt shortly be made incorruptible, immortal, and adorned with light and glory. Let therefore thy heart rejoice, thy tongue be glad, and thy flesh rest in hope; for the Lord will not leave thee always in the grave, he will not suffer thee to continue for ever in dust and corruption; he will not only discover to thee the ways of life, but he will shortly come down himself from heaven to transport thee thither. When death shall be upon thy lips, when it shall be ready to lay thee in thy grave, let not this disturb the quiet of thy soul, nor the peace of thy conscience; let it not shake thy precious faith that keeps thee up, nor drive thee from the anchor of thy blessed hope fixed in heaven, where Jesus Christ is entered as thy fore-runner. In short, when thy body shall be all covered with sores and boils, as that of Job, (ch. xix.) when it shall all fall to pieces before thine eyes, let nothing hinder thee from crying out with this patient man, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another." And with St. Paul, Phil. iii. "We look from heaven for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." A PRAYER A PRAYER and MEDITATION of a Christian, who, being ready to depart out of the World, comforts himself with an Assurance and Expectation of the glorious Resurrection of his Body from the Dust. Ο Eternal and divine Word! by whom all things were created, and without whom was not any thing made that was made; thou hast not only formed our souls, and fashioned our bodies with thy skilful hands, but, when they were miserably lost and corrupted with sin, thou hast been pleased to redeem both our souls and bodies with thy most precious blood, and to renew thy glorious image in us. This wretched body is but an earthen vessel; yet thou hast inclosed in it the richest treasures of life and light. Thou hast appointed it to be the temple of the Holy Ghost, and a noble pavilion of the Godhead, to participate with the soul in the eternal happiness of thy kingdom. I feel my strength failing me, and this earthly tabernacle decaying every day, and every hour, so that I am certain it shall be reduced to dust. But, Lord, I am sufficiently comforted with this knowledge, that if the outward man decays, the inward is renewed day by day; if this wretched body falls down by death, thou wilt raise it up again at the general resurrection. My Lord and my God, thou art sufficiently able; for all power is given to thee in heaven, and in earth, and the depths of the sea. As the Father raiseth and quickeneth the dead, thou dost also quicken them whom thou hast chosen. Thou hast fashioned my body of dust, and created this dust of nothing; and shalt not thou be able of the same dust, into which this my body shall be turned by death, to make and fashion it again? Thou hast by thine almighty power created my soul, and infused it into this body; and canst not thou command it back again, when it shall please thee, to live for ever in a more blessed society than before? O Prince of life, Death hath sufficiently felt |