A practical improvement of the articles of Christ's descent into hell and rising again from the dead in a sermon, preach'd in the parish church of Bridgewater, on Easter-Day, Anno Domini, 1697 / by William Allen.

ACTS II. 27.

Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, neither wilt thou suf∣fer thy Holy One to see Corruption.

SAint Peter, in a short but notable Sermon, demon∣strates Jesus to be the Messias. The Holy One of God. The Lord, the Christ. First, From the Mira∣cles he did in his Life-time; they being witnesses of the same, v. 22. Secondly, By the fulfilling of Prophecy; in being not only rejected by his own, but Crucified by them, according to the determinate Counsel of God, ver. 23. Thirdly, From the Wonders he did, not in Life only, but in Death; he brake thro' the bonds of it; the Grave could not detain his Body, nor Hades his Soul. And this according to Prophecy, and Pro∣mise, Psal. 16. v. 10. Which is the Apostle's Quota∣tion, and my Text. And the Doctrine or Article of Faith grounded upon it, is this.

That Jesus, the Christ and Saviour of the World made a Sacrifice for Sin, and, actually dead and buried, went into the Region of Spirits, but returned speedily from thence, and reas∣suming his Body, rose victoriously from the Grave.

In discussing this Doctrine, I will shew,

(1.) What is the meaning of Christ's Soul being in Hell.

(2.) The Reason and Occasion of this Article bo∣ing inserted in our Creed.

(3.) The Incorruptibility of his Body, it did not see Corruption. Tho' the Jews gave its Death∣wounds; yet the wounds putrified not. Together with the Use we ought to make of these Considerations.

I shall not mention the various Opinions about this Article; they rather disgrace than instruct; but speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and that as concisely and clearly as I can.

(1.) What is the meaning of Christ's Soul being in Hell For, with respect to his Godhead, we may say of him in the words of the Psalmist, Psal. 139.7, 8. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into Heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in Hell, behold thou art there. But our Discourse is of the Soul of the Messias, and that was for a while in Hell. Not in the sense the Damn'd are, who are in a State of Torment, in a Region of Woe and Misery, which is full of Flame and Fire; as the Rich Man roars out in the Text, Luke 16.24. Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send La∣zarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But the Soul of the Messias, when he gave up his Ghost, passed into the Receptacle of Blessed Souls, into that Paradise where the Redeemed and Pardoned are Lodged, and where with him went the Repenting Thief on the

Cross, Luke 23.43. This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.

'Tis this Receptacle of good Souls, this Paradise for those that die in Christ, that is called Hades; that is, an invisible State, a Being, tho' in a remote Region, which Eye cannot reach or penetrate.

I confess 'tis a hard matter to beat out of the vul∣gar Heads the gross conception of the word Hell, which sounds to them no other than horrour, and blackness of darkness, and fire and brimstone. The word Hell in our English is harsh and dreadful, and speaks to us the place of the Damn'd:

A place very improper to look for the Soul of Christ, when departed out of his Body, for Him and His Be∣trayer Judas to meet in the same place. He that had by Death purchased Heaven for others, himself after death to descend into Hell.

This therefore cannot be; no, is not the meaning of the word Hell where Christ went; he came not near that Abyss, nor was at all among those Reprobated Crew. The word Hell, is a word of Latitude, and hath a larger signification, as all that understand Greek know: And I cou'd wish, for the sake of the People, we cou'd find a softer and more expressive word to speak in: for the true, easie, and natural sense of Hades, is an invisible Region, the Mansion of blessed Souls, which in Scripture is called Paradise, Heaven, Abra∣ham's-bosom.

Object. If Hades means Paradise, why should Christ pray against his being left in Hades, and hope that his Soul shall not be left in Hades, as he hopes his Body shall not see Corruption?

Answ. He doth not pray thus, as if it were not well with his Soul in Hades, as to what he enjoyed: For his Soul was the Soul of the Messias, the Soul of a Re∣deemer, a Soul that was to Conquer Death, and not to stay any considerable time from his Body born of the Virgin Mary. He had work to do which other Souls had not; he was to rise for others justification. He was to ascend into the Holy of Holiest, as the great High-Priest of our Souls; and therefore he must return to his Body, that he may as God-Man in Humane flesh for ever enter into the Vale. As if he should say, thou wilt not leave me under Death; that is, my Soul in separation: This wou'd be the triumph of the Devil. But tho' the Messias's Soul, when in its separation, was in Bliss; and all Holy Souls departed are so; yet Christ's Soul had an undertaking that sur∣mounted that of all Humane Souls; and therefore, to accomplish that, he prays for the fulfilling of the Pro∣mise: That tho' his Soul, as others of Humane Kind, were really separated, yet that his might speedily be re-united, for the perfecting of the work he took upon him the form of a Servant, and came into the Body at first.

Secondly, The Occasion and Reason of this Article

being inserted in our Creed. Not that it was there at first, but it came in afterward, and that occasion'd by a new Heresie that started up in the Church; and there∣fore to obviate that, this Article was added as a Truth proveable from Scripture, that Christ went into Hades.

The Errour was this, that Christ had no proper In∣tellectual, or Rational Soul. Which Heresie was be∣gun and propagated by one Appolonius, and his Fol∣lowers. That the Word, or the Divinity, supplied the place of a Soul, and that therefore he was not properly dead when his Body was in the Grave. But in oppo∣sition to this Error, the Christians assert that Christ had a humane Soul, that it underwent all the Offices of one in the Body, and out of the Body, of a humane Soul: that first it was infused as other Souls are, when a Body was prepared; and when in the Body, it actuated as other Souls, by opening and enlarging its faculties, as the Body grew in stature, and the Man in years; and he hungred and thirsted as other Men did, the Union of his Soul and Body being to be preserv'd by the same aliment that others were: And when he was Crucified, and by the pains of that disposed for a resignation of his Spirit, he gave it up to God, and waited upon his disposal of it. For all Souls are to return to the Father of Spirits, to be consign'd to the state or place they are meet for: And the Soul of the Messias went to the Apartment of separated Souls, that is of Good and Righteous ones.

The improvement we make of this Article, and Doctrine of Faith, is as follows.

(1.) That we are assured that we Are, when we go hence: And the Disciples of Christ go to Paradise, as he did: I do not say they go into the Heaven of Heavens, for that Christ did not himself, 'till he re∣assum'd his Body. But when they are not as to mor∣tal Eye, they shall Be. So our Saviour told the re∣penting Thief, This day shalt thou be with me in Para∣dise; thy Soul and mine shall go together to the As∣sembly of the first-born: The dissolution of our Bodies shall not break off our Being; the Soul, the better part, Is; even in the state of separation. The dust must re∣turn to dust, but the Soul returns to God, to be dis∣posed of to its appointed Mansion. The Soul of the Messias went to Hades, the Congregation of the Just, the Receptacle of Blessed Spirits, the Rest that remains for the People of God, 'till they are recalled to take up their Bodies. They enter into rest, not a cessation of Being, or a rest of sleep, 'till the awaking at the sound of the last Trump, the dream of some. But they rest in hope, they live in a joyful expectation of a more glorious appearance. They are cloath'd upon from above, as soon as they go out of the Body. But they await under that cloathing, be it what it will, for their first Bodies to be made like Christ's glorious Bo∣dy. They rest from sin and sorrow, and all the ill Concomitants of a mortal Body; but yet are vigorous

and lively, and in possession of a happiness that de∣serves the name of Heaven and Paradise; tho' even in that state it may be said, what St. John says of the Sons of God here, that it doth not so fully appear, even there, what they shall be: But yet there, as here, they have this assurance, that when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall they and we apppear with him in Glory. Our Saviour's return to re-assume his Body, gave an Ocular demonstration of the Immortality both of Body and Soul. The Immortality of the Soul was not so much question'd; but that of the Body, and the Resurrection of that, was ridicul'd. Acts 17.18. And so in after times, as I find in an Ancient Christian Writer. But Christ's Soul came into his Body, and by that he gave us assurance of the whole Man's appearing a∣gain in Body and Soul. The Body shall not always be in the Grave, nor the Soul be without its old Com∣panion; with these Eyes shall we again see our Re∣deemer. This Doctrine is peculiarly the Revelation of the Gospel. The Philosophy of the Gentiles could not reach it. A thousand difficulties they raise against the possibility of it: but what Christ did for himself, he will do for his followers. He follow'd the Spirits of Just Men into their state, after their separation from the Body, and he will bring them and their Souls back again to their Bodies, and he will give them again their former Tabernacles or Abodes; and the Organs of

those of them that sleep in Jesus shall be awakened, and their scatter'd Atoms shall be recalled to make up the whole Compositum, Body and Soul; and as Men in Bodies they shall ever be with the Lord.

Thirdly, A God Incarnate takes actual care both of our Bodies and Souls, in every state after we come into the Body; in Life, in Death, and after Death.

A God Incarnate, I say; for so was the Lord of Glory that was Crucified for us, that Died, and rose again from the Dead. Not that God could die, but the Nature he was Hypostatically united to, suffer'd a separation; and he himself re-assumed his Body, and by the power of his Divinity returned from Hades.

Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up, Joh. 2.19. He spake of the Temple of his Body. v. 21. There∣fore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of my self: I have power to take it again, John 10.17, 18. And this Power he exerts not only for himself, but all his Followers; he is with them in Life, in Death; in the Body, and out of the Body. He dwells with them by his Spirit, while in the Ta∣bernacle of the Flesh; and when out of the Body, they are with the Lord. He beams his Light of Glory in∣to the Regions they are in, for a while, as separate from the Body; he never leaves them nor forsakes them. James, and John, and Peter, saw his transfi∣guration on the Mount, and were transported into

extasie; in so much that St. Peter crys out, 'tis good to be here. He was so ravish'd as not to think of any other after-glory, he was so well contented with that, Matth. 17.2. St. Stephen, under a shower of Stones, looked up stedfastly into Heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Acts 7.55. And some such like manifestations se∣parate Souls have of their glorified Saviour, which makes them wait with joy for a farther Salvation.

Fourthly, That a Separation hereafter will be ever made, betwixt the Righteous and Unrighteous. Our Saviour in the state of Separation had nothing to do with the Damn'd; he gave them no visit, he was none of their Company, he made not up one of their num∣ber; he went not into Hell in this sense. They that are inclinable to take the Doctrine in the grosser sense, yet do not understand it of his being pain'd or punish'd with the Damn'd. But rather that he consign'd them the more firmly in their state of horrour and dark∣ness; and that he triumph'd over Devils, only as up∣braiding them of their Apostacy, and falling from their station; and reproaching all Spirits in their Apostacy, for the same Rebellion, and binding them up in Chains of Darkness 'till the judgment of the great Day. But the true and brighter side of the Article, is to encourage, comfort, and confirm the Spirits of the Righteous with the hopes of a greater and farther glorification, and of a nearer approach to the Eternal Majesty, when

he shall come again to give up the Kingdom unto the Father, when he and they shall ever be with the Lord.

Fifthly, Nothing shall with-hold us from returning unto the Body, when the time of re-union comes. Nothing hinders the good Soul from entring into Pa∣radise. The Angels, that pitch their Tents about them that fear God in their life time, while in their Bodies, and who are Ministring Spirits to those that are Heirs of Salvation; do at the moment of their separation from their Bodies, await the good Soul's coming forth, and immediately guard it through the Region of the Air, the Principality of Daemons, into those Blessed Abodes, where good Souls await the redemption of the Body, by a Resurrection and Re∣union. Thus we read of Lazarus's Soul being carried by Angels into Abraham's bosom, Luke 16.22. I need urge no more on this Head, with reference to the Fol∣lowers of Jesus in the Regeneration, for their assurance of following him in Life, in Death, and after Death; than the great and triumphant Challenge and Con∣clusion of the Apostle, Rom. 8.34, 39. Wherefore let us comfort one another with these words, Christ is Risen; or rather with these of the Apostle, apposite to my Sermon, 1 Thes. 4.15, 16, 17, 18. For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again: even so them also which believe in Jesus, will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are

alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not pre∣vent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the Trump of God: and the Dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive, and re∣main, shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

You shall, as your Redeemer's Soul, go into Para∣dise; but that is not your Eternal Rest. It is a Man∣sion, but not the Everlasting Kingdom that is yet to come; and Christ will come to carry all and every of you, both Body and Soul, into the Kingdom pre∣pared for you. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Thirdly, The incorruptibility of his Body; it was not to see Corruption. Tho' the Jews [or Souldiers] gave him his death-wounds, yet they did not fester, nor his Body see Corruption. The immaculate Lamb was without spot, he was pierced, but he was not putri∣fied; he was butcher'd, but not blemish'd; his Body was cast into the Grave, but it did not see Corruption. Worms were neither his Brothers or Sisters; his Body was of a purer make, and had none of that taint that could attract such Vermin. But tho' this may look plausibly, yet it is not powerful without proof. I shall therefore, besides my Text, represent to you

some Considerations why Christ's Body was not to see Corruption.

First, Because he was in three days to re-assume it, according to Promise, and his own Prediction: He that laid it down, had power, and time pre∣scribed by himself to take it up; and that he limited according to the Laws of Nature: I mean of material Nature; because after such a Season of Stagnation, and Incirculation of Animal Spirits, according to the Laws of motion, the Body would Corrupt: A piece of Philo∣sophy we read a Woman's Capacity reach'd to; as in the instance of Lazarus's Body being in the Grave. Martha, the Sister of him that was dead, said unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. Joh. 11.33. The time of our Saviour's Body's being in the Grave was therefore prefix'd. And as a Bone of him was not to be broken, according to the Text: So neither was his Body to see Corruption. This he often intimated to his Disciples, tho' they were dull of hearing, or understood not his Sayings.

They would not believe that he must die, that he must be Crucified, and the third day rise again; though he had very seriously and solemnly Preach'd this Do∣ctrine to them, and that too as an Evidence of his being the Messias, deliver'd in the Scriptures. But, as he upbraids them after his Resurrection, They were slow of heart to believe what the Prophets had said of him, and what he had said unto them, Luke 21.25.

Which is proof to us, that his Body was not to see Corruption. For why should he chide them for their distrust and their unbelief, but that it was a thing they ought to have believ'd, that the Body of the Messias was not to see Corruption? His Body, in this sense, was not to be a Mortal Body, as ours, to return to Dust. That was the melancholly Sentence past on the Posterity of Adam, but not to reach him that is the second Adam; who was tho' the Son of Adam, as says St. Luke; yet not according to an ordinary Generation. His Mother knew not Joseph, nor was he Conceiv'd after the manner of Men; and whatever the Virgin Mary was, he was not born in Original Sin. But of this more under the subsequent Consideration.

He that laid down his Earthly Tabernacle, had power to raise it up again; and he would stay no lon∣ger in the Region of Spirits, when he saw it was time for him to return to his Body, from the begin∣ning prepared for him; which he was in every sense to keep immaculate.

He had said, destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up again; and he spake, says the Text, of the Temple his Body, John 2.21. All the whole stress of his Undertaking lay upon this, of his raising his Body. No body would have believ'd him, had he not rais'd his Body. This was the main Point that kept such a stir in Jerusalem, that rais'd the Scribes and Pharisees all in an uproar, that the Body they Cruci∣fied

was risen again. They took all the pains, and made use of all the craft imaginable to suppress the Report. They persecute the Disciples at a grievous rate, for their preaching and publishing the truth of his Resurrection. They own that he had said so, that he would raise his Body again. We remember what that Deceiver said while he was yet alive, after three days will I rise again, Matth. 27.63. And they would fain make him a Liar, and his Disciples too; and to that end they tamper with the Souldiers. They gave large money unto the Souldiers, saying, say ye his Di∣sciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. Matth. 28.12, 13. But he that was the Truth, was the Life, the Life to his own Body; he came back with his Spirit, and quickned it again. And accord∣ing to Promise, and Prediction, made good his word of both, and rose the third day. But we go on to Consider,

Secondly, His Body was not to see Corruption; be∣cause he was the second Adam, and was not under the guilt of the first. He was the Lord from Heaven, and the Lord of Glory; and his Body was to be a glorious Body. His Body was never stain'd by Sin or Sickness, and his Death-wounds only open'd a passage for his Spirit; but the Cabinet, tho' broken or bruised, was not disjoynted; the Temple was destroy'd without dislo∣cation of any part, or fracture of any joynt, and the whole compages remain'd sound and safe, 'till the good

Soul return'd to put the Organs again in tune. The first Adam brought in Sin and Death into the World; the second, Life, and Immortality: An Ar∣gument which the Apostle pursues, in 1 Cor. 15.47. The first Man is of the Earth, Earthy; the second Man is the Lord from Heaven. Our Bodies must to Dust, or Earth; because they were made of Dust. They must moulder, because they are Mortal. Our Natures, as de∣rivative from a Sinner, are decreed to death and disso∣lution, and must sink into the same Principle of which they are compounded; but the second Man is the Lord from Heaven; the Lord of Life and Immortality. He doth not bring Death, but Life to Body and Soul. And therefore, in v. 45. the Apostle stiles him a quick∣ning Spirit; keeping his Body tenantable, tho' he went out of it; and not only so, but he was Lord of his own Body, and none other had Power and Dominion over it. None, nor any thing, could assault his Bo∣dy laid up as in a Repository for his returning.

It seems by what we read in the History of the Gos∣pel, he put a Life-guard of Angels upon it, or about it, while he went into a far Country; which frighted both the Souldiers, and Devout Women that came to his Sepulchre to look after him, Luke 24.4.

The Socinians here banter and batter this Bulwark of our Faith, by asserting that Christ had no power of his Body; that, when dead, and in the Grave, was out of his Care or Concern. That 'twas God kept his Body

incorruptible, and rais'd it such. It was God the Fa∣ther that took care of the Body and Soul of God the Son. We yield this; but he was such a Son of God as dwelt in Flesh, not after the manner of the first Adam's Progeny. His Body was of a finer make, and purer mould; conceiv'd of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Vir∣gin, and so had the Seeds of Immortality in it; and was not to corrupt, tho' the Inmate was for a while to remove. God the Father did indeed raise Christ from the dead, as we read, Gal. 1.1. But it's also writ∣ten, that Christ also did raise himself. Joh. 2.21. Destroy this Temple, and I will raise it again. Where he speaks of the Temple of his Body: Which he might very properly call a Temple, because the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily. And in Scripture we are inform'd, That when he was risen from the dead, his Disciples remembred that he had said this unto them; and they believ'd the Scripture, and the word that Jesus had said: That Christ took care of his own Body, and rais'd himself: For 'tis written, Joh. 5.21. As the Fa∣ther raiseth up the dead, and quickneth them, even so the Son quickneth whom he will. He then which quickneth the dead Bodies of others, when he raiseth them; he also quickned his own Body, when he raised that.

Thirdly, and lastly. His body was not to see Cor∣ruption; because he was, as the Christian High-Priest, to enter into the Holy of Holiest, as the first-fruits of the Dead. So our Apologist St. Peter, v. 29, &c. of this

Chapter, Men and Brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the Patriarch David, that he is both dead and bu∣ried, and his Sepulchre is with us unto this day; therefore being a Prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an Oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his Throne: He seeing this before, spake of the Resurrection of Christ, that his Soul was not left in Hell, neither his flesh did see Cor∣ruption.

This Spiritual High-Priest must enter into the Holy of Holiest, with all his Pontificalibus; his Body and Soul Clean, and Clear, Pure, and Perfect, Radiant, and Glorious; the true Regalia that adorn'd the Inve∣stiture of this High-Priest. He was also to rise as the first fruits, the Cause and Pledge of all others Resur∣rection. Afterwards they that are Christ's; even Holy and Pious Men shall be raised up, but not immediate∣ly, for their Bodies must remain in the Grave, and their Souls in Hades, 'till he calls them. They must see Corruption, and pay the debt of a corrupt Nature, and undergo the Pennance of the Grave, and Hades. Not that they feel pain in the one, or the other; but they willingly resign to the Divine Decree, and for a while rest in hope of a glorious Redemption. For the bonds of Death were unloosed by the Captain of our Salvation, but they were such bonds as did not fetter; they were willingly put on, and easily put off. The Christian High-Priest was to be a Freeman, not a Pri∣soner;

he was not to enter with Shackles, but rather with the Armature of a glorious Victor, Eph. 6.13. &c. With the whole Armour of God, with the Brest-plate of Righ∣teousness, with the Shield of Faith, with the Helmet of Sal∣vation, with the Sword of the Spirit, by which he stood in the day of trial, and withstood the fiery Darts of the Wicked, and cut in sunder the bonds of Death.

To allude to the Apostle's Phrase.

From these Considerations, we may conclude his Body could not see Corruption. (1.) Because in three days, according to Promise and Prediction, he was to assume his Body. (2.) Because he was the second Adam, and so he was not under the guilt or the penalty of the first. (3.) Because he as the High-Priest, was to enter Body and Soul pure as the Aether, into the Everlasting Kingdom, the Regions of Light and Glory.

The Doctrinal part of this Sermon speaks Comfort to us all, words of great Consolation, that should enliven us, and fill us with joy in believing.

For First, The same Lord Jesus that raised and re∣assumed his own Body, shall raise ours, and make them like his Glorious Body, Phil. 3.21. It is the Faith of all Orthodox Divines, that had the first Adam stood, we had stood in him, in his integrity, in a perfect and holy Nature, and in the favour of God. And that af∣ter the expiration of a determinate time, our Bodies and Souls had been translated as Enoch's and Elias's,

without seeing Death, into a state of Immortality. But what we lost by the first Man's prevarication, will be beyond our deserts, restored by the second Adam. And as in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive. All are to live, but some to the Resurrection of the Just, whose Bodies shall be made like Christ's glorious Body. The second Adam, say you, who is he? Why the seed of the Woman, that should bruise the Serpent's head, Gen. 3. That Seed in whom all the Nations of the Earth are blessed. The second Adam, in whom, and by whom, a new Covenant of Grace is made for blessings in this World, and far greater in another, that now we might have life, and that more abundantly; the life of Grace, and hereafter the life of Glory. This is the Christ whose Body did not see Corruption, nor his Soul remain among the Dead; of whom all the Pro∣phets spake, of whom the World hath from all Ages rung to all Nations. Tho' indeed the great expecta∣tion of him was eminently and more explicitely kept alive amongst God's own People the Jews, before his coming into the World. And they did look for such a one; and tho' when he did come, they rejected him, yet such a one they did and do still expect.

But we are convinc'd that Christ is that second A∣dam, and he hath fulfilled all Prophecies, and all Righ∣teousness; and that very same Jesus that was Crucified at Jerusalem, under Pontius Pilate (being then the Ro∣man Procurator) is the Christ, the promis'd Seed;

and is, as himself says, the Resurrection from the Dead, or He that shall raise the Dead. And therefore we are assur'd that our Bodies shall be raised, and that more especially,

Secondly, Because Christ is our Lord, he hath Re∣deemed our Bodies by his precious blood, and he Sa∣crificed his Body for ours, and we have dedicated our Bodies to him, and he is Lord of our Bodies. And as Lord of them he will appear again in the Body he appear'd in on Earth, in the Body he ascended up in∣to Heaven; in that Body shall he come again to judge the quick and the dead, and therefore in our Bodies shall we arise to meet our Lord, yea our Redeemer, and mighty Saviour. For he will command the Sea to give up its dead, and the Earth to give up its. Not only our Souls, but our Bodies are Redeemed by him from the Grave, and here is the state of the Dead.

He had not assumed a Body, nor suffer'd in his Body, nor risen again with his Body, but for the be∣nefit of us, otherwise Eternally Mortal and lost Crea∣tures in Body and Soul; That our Bodies may be made like his glorious Body, and that both Bodies and Souls may ever be with the Lord. And for a confirmation of this, we consider farther,

Thirdly, That Christ rais'd his own Body. But how know we this, say you? But then, say I, would it be satisfactory if you had seen it? Would you have be∣liev'd, if you had convers'd with him after he did rise

from the Dead: So fancied the Rich Man in Hell; but you remember what our Saviour return'd to his Request, Luke 16.31. If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be perswaded tho' one rose from the Dead. You have Moses and the Prophets, the Scriptures are your Light and Lanthorn, the Relation of the Evangelists and the Apostles are your Credentials; what hath in this matter been transmitted down from Age to Age for these Sixteen Hundred Years and up∣wards are your Testimonials. And if after all the Witnesses of the Church of God, and the Minds of Mar∣tyrs, we will not yet believe, tho' we saw before our Eyes a present Resurrection. The Jews did not in the Case of Lazarus. But I am not Preaching to Infidels, but Believers; and we know that because Christ is risen, we also shall arise, and our Bodies shall be made like Christ's Body. For,

Fourthly, Christ will do this great Work, by taking away all those Corruptible Qualities and Infirmities to which our Bodies are liable, both living and dead. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, That this vile Body may be refin'd, and freed from decay, being made like the Glorified Body of Jesus after the Resurrection. Hence some have Critically, if not too curiously, affirm'd, That the Infant, and the Aged, and all others, shall at the Resurrection appear in their Bodies, of the same youth∣fulness with that which Christ laid down, and rose again in. I can't be positive in that, but we may say

more to the purpose, when we say that our Bodies shall be like Christ's glorious Body. i. e. Bodies freed from the corruption of Matter, the blemishes of Age, and the greater stain of Sin; Bodies that shall be made capable of mounting aloft. And this will be easily effected, if we consider,

Fifthly, The Instrument by which our Lord shall effect this Wonder, even by his Omnipotence.

Why, says the same Apostle, should it be thought impossible that God should raise the Dead?

The Chymists tell us for certain, that the Particles of a resolv'd Body may retain their own Nature un∣der various alterations, and disguises, of which it is possible they may be stript, and that without making a Humane Body cease to be the same; it may be re∣paired, and augmented, by the adaption of congruously disposed Matter: Which Philosophy solves the diffi∣culty of the loss of Body into Earth, and from thence to Grass, and from Grass, to Chyle in the Ox or the Sheep's Belly, and from thence into food again for Man; so that thro' a successive Transmigration, the Body of Man becomes that of another. But why should it be thought impossible that a most intelligent Agent, whose Omnipotence extends to all that is not contradictory to the nature of things, or of his own, should be able so to order and watch the Particles of a Humane Body, as that a compleat number may be preserv'd, and retriev'd; so that stripping them of

their disguises, or extricating them from other parts of Matter, to which they may happen to be conjoyn'd, he may re-unite them betwixt themselves, and if need be, with Particles of Matter fit to be contexted with them; which being united with the former Soul, may in a sense consonant to the Expressions of Scripture, re-compose the same Man whose Soul and Body were formerly dejoyn'd by Death. But if you enquire as Nicodemus, How can these things be? I can answer no other than what is already said, unless it be in the words of our Saviour, to Peter's impertinent enquiry: What's that to thee, and I? Let us believe in God, be∣lieve also in Christ, and be followers of him in the Re∣generation, and we need not doubt of coming again, and appear at the Resurrection of the Just.

For Lastly, We conclude that a Spiritual Resurre∣ction in this Life, must precede the blessed and glori∣ous Resurrection to Eternal Life. 'Tis for the sake of a raised Mind, that the Body shall be like Christ's glorious Body; for we must not expect to have a part in the Resurrection of the Just, unless in this Life we commense such Men.

The pure in Heart and the pure in Life shall only see God as their Redeemer with their bodily Eyes, or their intellectual ones.

If any are so wretched as to go out of this World with corrupt Affections, and an Earthy Heart, with bru∣tish Minds, and sordid Desires, happy would it be if

they could perish as the Beasts do. But, ah Lord! there is a lower descent for such Men. They shall not be blessed with the refuge and silence of a Grave. The Earth must give up its Dead, and after a while Earth must be no longer Earth, but Earth must to Hell, in the most dreadful sense and sound of the word. And without all question, at the great Confla∣gration, Bodies and Souls will be tumbled down into the de∣vouring Fire, and the then Everlasting Flames. A corrupt Mind not only breeds a Worm that will continually gnaw, and that never dies, as our Saviour teaches, but it causes and leaves a sinful putrefaction in the Flesh, which remains after the Soul is fled, and will continue when the Soul returns; the torment of which will out-last the Corruption of the Grave, or the Doom-Days Fire, which neither the one or the other can consume or destroy.

Wherefore it concerns us all now to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit. There's no Purgatory after this Life; that's a Dream, or a Doctrine rather [if you will] of some Crafty Priests, that make Gain their Godliness; and would perswade Men that they are Redeemed with Gold and Silver; against the express Dogma of St. Peter. As the Tree falls, so it will lie. And if we sow to the Flesh, we shall of the Flesh reap Corruption. But let us from the Considerations before of∣fer'd, be provok'd, as the Philosopher, to bespeak our Souls after this manner. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

It becomes us, having a Glorious Hope for our Bodies and our Souls, to purifie our selves, as God is pure; to set our Affections on Things Above, and not on Things on Earth; to mortifie the deeds of the Body, and to mount and raise our Minds to the Coelestial Regions, the pure Aether, the proper Mansions for all that are made meet to be Inheritors with the Saints in Light.

FINIS.

Notes

• D. Lightfoot.
• Minutius Fe∣lix.