A discourse of the Resurrection shewing the import and certainty of it / by William Wilson.

CHAP. I.

1. IT implies, That we shall return from a state of Death and live again: Or, that the Soul, which is separated from the Body by Death, shall return from its state of Separation to live in a Body again. When we die, these Earthly Tabernacles fall down and go to the Dust; and our Souls, which dwelt in them, take their flight and go to the place of unbodied Spirits. This separation of Soul and Body is an effect of the Divine displeasure upon us: It is to deprive us of that Particle of his Breath or Spirit, by which, when he made Man, he became a living Soul, Gen. 2.7. And accordingly, when he resolved upon the De∣struction of the Old World, he threatned them, That his Spirit should not always abide in those Men, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Gen. 6.3. i.e. Should not al∣ways lodge or inhabit in the Bodies of those Men, as in a sheath, as it is in the Original: My Spirit; i.e. The Breath or Soul that I breathed into Man when I made him: But I will surely punish them with Death, by taking from them the Spirit, which they abuse by making it a Servant to the Flesh. And now if this be a true account of the Nature of Death, it is plain, that in the Notion of it, it does not imply either a Destruction, or that sleep of the Soul, which some Men dream of

For all that this denunciation teaches us, is, That God, when we die, does withdraw the Soul out of the Body: And this he may do, though he assign it another place to live in, after he has taken it out of the Body. Now this we may much rather conclude from this Threat, than that it is put into a state of In∣sensibility by Death. For it being a Threat to deprive Man of the Blessing he had given him, when he made him; the most Natural sense must be this, I will punish these Men by ta∣king away their Souls from them, and making them live a Vagabond life out of the Body, which I designed at first to be their proper habitation. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, It shall not abide or dwell in the Body, but it shall still abide or live, though out of the Body. And this notion of Death the Scripture does in other places take notice of: As in that mournfull Saying of Jacob, Gen. 37.35. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 I shall go to Hades to my Son mourning; i.e. To the place where his Soul was gone; for he believed, that his Body was devoured by wild Beasts; And the hopes of dying the same Death could not be the thing that he comforted himself withall. So likewise that Expression of the Psalmist is to be understood, Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, nor suffer thine Holy One to see cor∣ruption, Psal. 16.10. i.e. Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hades, the place where separate Souls live out of their Bodies, nor my Body in

the Grave. And accordingly our blessed Lord told the converted Thief, That that day he should be with him in Paradise; which cannot be so understood, as if he should that day go with him into Heaven; because our Lord did not ascend to his Father till forty days after his Resurrection. And therefore the Creed does not only teach us, that he died, and what manner of Death he died, but that he was bu∣ried; i.e. His Body was disposed of, as the Dead Bodies of all other Men are, and that he went down into Hell; i.e. During the time, that his Body was in the Grave, his Soul was in the place, where separate Souls do live after Death.

But although the Soul, when it ceases to live in the Body, does still live; yet when it leaves the Body, we, who consist of a Soul and a Body, do die: And so long as the Soul does live without its Body, so long we are under the power of Death; And even that Soul, that still lives, is in the state of the Dead. So that the Resurrection, which is design'd to be a Remedy of that Calamity, Death is to us, must be the freeing the Soul from that Vagabond state, that the Displeasure of God makes it to suffer out of its Body. It is the bringing the Soul, that lives, when we are dead, out of that state, where it lives in a preter-natural condi∣tion without its Body, to live as the Soul of a Man was by God appointed to do, when he breathed it into a Body of Flesh. I call the

separate state of our Souls a vagabond and preter-natural Condition; because when they go out of the Body, they leave their own pro∣per Habitation, and wander into unknown Re∣gions. And therefore St. Paul styles our being in the Body a being at home; and when we die, in his style, we travel out of the Body, or go abroad, 2 Cor. 5. And according to the import of that Curse, by reason of which we die, and go out of the Body, we should for ever, like Vagabonds, that leave their native Soil, and roam about the World, have conti∣nued abroad; but that God in great Good∣ness to us has provided us a mercifull Savi∣our, whose business it is to take care of our Souls, when they leave their own Habitations, and in his due time to bring them back again to their homes. And therefore St. Paul, though he speaks of this separate state as a thing no way desirable in it self, That no Man, how lit∣tle reason soever he has to be in love with this World, does groan, for that he would be un∣cloathed, v. 4. Yet considering the safe hands our Souls are committed to, when they are a∣broad, does upon that reason speak of this state as a thing much more Eligible than to stay al∣ways here in the Body, though it is our home: We are always confident, knowing that whilest we are at home in the Body, we are absent from the Lord: We are confident, I say, and willing ra∣ther to be absent from the Body, and to be pre∣sent with the Lord, v. 6, 8. i.e. Though we

do leave our Habitations, we are well pleased with our condition, because we shall be under the immediate care of him, who at the last will brng us out of this exiled State, and re∣store us to our own Habitations again. Hence the Resurrection is spoken of as our triumph over Hades, that receptacle or prison of sepa∣rate Souls. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; O Hades, where is thy victory? 1 Cor. 15.55. The Sea gave up the Dead which were in it: and Death, and Hell, or Hades, delivered up the Dead that were in them: And Death and Hell, or Hades, were cast into the lake of fire, Rev. 20.13, 14. i.e. Death will deliver up our Bodies which lie imprison'd in the Grave; and Hades will deliver up our Souls that are there impri∣son'd, and then an Everlasting Being shall suc∣ceed.

The Resurrection then does not only respect our Bodies, which see Corruption, but that Immortal part of us, which by Death is forced out of the Body, and driven like an Exile to live from home in a foreign Country, contrary to the Laws of its Nature. For the Resur∣rection restores us that, which Death deprives us of, and brings back our Exiled Souls to their old native Dwellings. Although the Re∣surrection will bring our Dead Bodies out of their Graves, yet this is not all that we are to understand by the Resurrection; because the raising a Dead Body to life, will not be the raising the Man that died, unless the same

Soul and Spirit, that was separated from it by Death, be re-united with it again. To breathe a New Soul into a Body, that is raised out of the Dust, is rather the creating a New Man, than the raising an Old one: For the same Man, that died, cannot be said to be raised to life again, unless the Soul be brought out of its Prison, as well as the Body out of its Grave: For so long as the Soul is kept a Prisoner in the place, where separate Soul live, we are as much in the state of the Dead, as while the Body does lie in the Grave. This re-embody∣ing the Soul, that by Death is compell'd to quit the Habitation it is at first born with, and to live abroad in an unknown Region, is the thing, in which our Conquest over Death does consist; and consequently is the Resur∣rection, that the Gospel speaks of.

'Tis true, the Resurrection has most usually a respect to the Body, and does denote its lea∣ving its Prison, whither it is conveyed. But besides this, the Holy Scriptures do speak of the Resurrection with a respect to the Soul, and that alteration of its state, when it shall of a separate Spirit become embodied a second time; i.e. When it shall be brought out of its confinement, and returned to its own Habita∣tion.

This is the meaning of that place, where the Sadducees are said to have denied the Resur∣rection; i.e. They were, as is plain from our Saviour's Answer, persuaded, that Death does

as well reduce the Soul to nothing, as the Bo∣dy to Dust: And that since after Death there is no part of us remains alive, there is nothing lest to ground our hopes of a Resurrection up∣on; because there is nothing of us left, in re∣spect of which the Resurrection will be a Bles∣sing; and consequently, that there is no state of life to be expected after this, because Death does not only dissolve, but destroy the very Principles of our Constitution. Our blessed Lord therefore, to prove to them, that there is a Resurrection, makes use of an Argument, that proves, that the Soul is alive after Death; and consequently, that there is another state, in which, as Men, we must live an Immortal life: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, saith our Saviour; i.e. The Souls of the great Patriarchs are alive somewhere, else God could not properly style himself The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and therefore they must rise again.

Wherein the strength of our Saviour's argu∣ment lies, I shall not now enquire: For it is enough to my present purpose, that he proves, there will be a Resurrection, because the Soul is still alive. For this implies, that the Resur∣rection will not only bring the Body out of its Grave, but the Soul out of its Prison, and return it to its ancient Habitation; Otherwise the Soul's being alive, after we are dead, would no more prove a Resurrection, than if it was extinguish'd. For how is it possible to con∣clude,

there will be a Resurrection, because the Soul lives in its separate state, if the Re∣surrection means no more than that the Body shall come out of its Grave, and that a new Soul shall be breathed into it? Our Blessed Lord undoubtedly meant, when he urged this to prove a Resurrection, That the Soul, which after Death subsists without its Body, shall come out of its state of Death, as well as the Body, because it is still alive; And by being united to the Body again, have a new way of subsisting after Death; which second state of Men is that, which (as the Learned Hammond observes) is implied in the Resurrection.

Obj. If it be enquired how we can be said to rise again, if the Soul, as well as the Body, be not laid to sleep?

Ans. I Answer, 1. That the Resurrection does not only import a restoring life to that, which is dead, but the giving us another kind of subsistence than that, which we have after Death has separated the Soul from the Body. So that though the Soul does live after Death, yet it does not live as it will do after the Re∣surrection: It lives in a separate condition from the Body, when Death has broken the Union; but the Resurrection will restore it to its ancient way of subsisting in a Body. And therefore,

2. The Resurrection does respect us as Men, and is for the restoring us that Humane Life, which we are deprived of by Death: For though the Soul does live, yet it is not the Soul alone, that is the whole Man. And as we are said to die, when the Soul leaves the Body, though the Soul still lives in its sepa∣rate state; so we are said to rise again, when the Soul that is Immortal, and does not cease to live, when it is gone out of the Body, is re∣united to the Body again.

And now if the Resurrection does imply our returning from a state of Death, and recover∣ing a new life, or the bringing the Soul out of its place of confinement to its own proper Habitation. Before I proceed, let us consider what Reflections this furnishes us with. And,

1. We may hence inform our selves of the true nature and meaning of Death. And this is very necessary to be done, that we may not despise and give way to mean and contempti∣ble thoughts of it, as if Dying carried nothing in it that was frightfull and amazing. It is certain, that those of the Heathens, whose Names are transmitted down to us for the gallantry of their Minds, have generally gain'd this reputation from the slight opinion they had of dying. For it was reputed among them as a generous heroick Act, to lay violent hands upon themselves, and by a draught of Poyson, or a sturdy Abstinence, to put an end to their

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own Lives, when their Designs and Interests did not prosper according to their Minds, or they were in danger of falling by a publick Executioner. Now that which brought this way of Dying into so much credit with them, was their not knowing what Death is: They either were persuaded, that nothing of us re∣mains after Death; or if they had some dark Notices, that the Soul does survive, they spoke very doubtfully of it, and were altogether ig∣norant how it lives, when it is gone out of the Body; but did believe, they did them∣selves a mighty service, when they thus esca∣ped from a Temporal misfortune. And thus it often happens still, that Men, when their Affairs succeed ill, revenge their ill fortune upon themselves, and die rather than feel the smart of their Calamities. This is chosen as a Refuge from threatning Ills, and fled to as a Remedy of present Pressures. But yet both the one and other of these are to be pitied: The former, because they were governed by a belief, that the Soul, while it is in the Body, is a Prisoner, and that it vanishes into nothing when it is let out: And the other, because a clouded Mind betrays them to desperate Thoughts.

But besides these, there are others, that think lightly of Death; for no other reason, but be∣cause they think it a glorious thing to die like a Roman, without discovering any signs of fear: Such, I mean, who account it a bravery of

Mind to out-face Death, who are govern'd by no other Principle than a supposed base∣ness in Fear; and therefore are resolved not to tremble, although they know not, but that they for ever lose all that they account dear to them. This is a Temper that is of great account in the World: But what greater base∣ness is it to fear losing that, which we love and cherish, than to love and desire that which we account good for us? For my part, I do not understand what great Vertue there is in living fearless of Death, or in being able to meet it without a dejected look, or undaunt∣edly to expose a Man's self to the danger of it, what-ever horrid shape it appears in; if he, who thus despises it, has nothing out of this World, that he can love or take pleasure in; especially when we consider, that it is as na∣tural to fear that, which is hurtfull and de∣structive to us, as to love that, which is good and beneficial. There is, I know, a contempt of Death, which is a noble Vertue; but it is only that which Religion does work the Mind to. For he, who knows he shall live again, has a great deal of reason to be fearless of dy∣ing. But what account can that Man give of his slight opinion of Death, who as little thinks of another Life, as he seems regardless of Death; and who, while he resolves not to fear Dying, thinks not, and perhaps does not be∣lieve, he shall rise again. These Men undoubt∣edly know not, what it is to die; otherwise

they, who have all the reason in the World to fear it, would never make it a Vertue not to be daunted or unconcern'd at it. For,

1. Death has not only a respect to our Bo∣dies: It is not only the closing our Eyes, and stopping our Ears, and tying our Hands and Feet, and the rendring the several Members of our Bodies uncapable of performing the Functi∣ons of Life any more. It is not the depriving this Earthly Machine which now we see to move, and which we feed and cloath with art and care, of all sense and motion. If Death was nothing else but this; I mean, if all the hurt, it did us, respected the Body only; such as the letting out our Spirits, and congealing our Blood, and the turning the Body into a Carcase, and sending it to a Grave; perhaps it might be as easie a thing for a Man to be fear∣less, as a Beast is inapprehensive of it. For why should a Man be more averse to dying than a Brute, if he has nothing more to lose? But when we cannot cure our selves of that Aver∣sion we have to Death but by Religious Con∣siderations, which is the way that good Men take; or by hardening our Minds to a stupid contempt of it, which is the method that bad Men grow fearless of it by; this shows, that Death is somewhat more than what our Bo∣dies suffer by it. Yet,

2. It is not such a state of Insensibility, as supposes the Soul as well as the Body to be laid in a profound sleep; and that it is out of

such a state of Silence that the Resurrection will awaken us, For there is nothing more plainly taught us in all the Holy Scriptures, than that the Soul does survive the Body, and is in a state either of Happiness or Misery, from the very time of its departure out of the Body. For how else could God in any sense be styled the God of the living, and not of the dead, if there be no part of us that lives after Death? For if the Soul as well as the Body falls asleep, when Death puts an end to this lie, and so continues to sleep as well as the Body till the Resurrection gives new life unto it, the Soul is as much Dead as the Body till the Resurrection does quicken it again. And if so, God must be the God of the dead, and not of the living, till at the Resurrection he gives us new life. And besides, the Parable of Dives and Lazarus does prove, that the Souls both of good and bad Men do live in another state after Death. For how else could it be said, that the one was carried into Abraham's Bosom, and the other tormented in Hell, if there were not two different States, in which the good and bad do live after this life? For if the Souls of all Men do sleep from the day of Death, till that of the Resurrection, then the Souls of Dives and Lazarus must have been in one and the same condition, which the Parable does not suppose they were. But,

3. It is the haling the Soul out of its own proper Dwelling to a Prison, or the banishing

it from its own home to a strange unknown Region. It is not the setting it at liberty by breaking down the Walls of its Prison, which has been of old, and still is a very prevailing Notion: Sumus in his inclusi compagibus cor∣poris. Est enim Animus coelestis ex altissimo do∣micilio depressus, & quasi demersus in terram, locum divinae Naturae, aeternitatíque contrarium, saith Tully. We are shut up within these fleshly Walls: For the Soul was thrown down from its sublime Habitation, and forced into an Earthly dwelling, a place contrary to the Divinity and Eternity of its Nature; which was the Opinion of Plato and his Followers, who supposing a Pre-existence of the Soul, taught it was thrust out of its Celestial Habi∣tation into an Earthly Body for some fault; and therefore that Death did but restore it to its ancient State by setting it at liberty from the Body. So Hierocles discourses, That it was by leaving the Fields of Vertue and Truth, deplumed and thrust into an Earthly Body, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, being banish'd Heaven, and made a Vagabond upon Earth. And there∣fore it is no wonder that they made light of Death, which, they supposed, did set them at liberty, and restored them to their first and most ancient way of living; Ex vita discedo tanquam ex hospitio, non tanquam ex domo; I go out of this life as from an Inn, not from home. Now according to this Notion of Life and Death, we have infinitely more reason to

be weary of Life than afraid of Death, and to mourn the Birth rather than the Death of our friends.

But the case is quite otherwise, if we take a view of Death without any respect had to those Considerations, that Religion furnishes us with. For there is nothing more dolefull, no greater Calamity can befall a Man; and therefore there is nothing, that he has more reason to stand in awe of and tremble at. It is so far from breaking open the doors of a Pri∣son, and restoring our Souls to their pristine liberty; that it pulls down its House, and drives it like an Exile from its native Soil to live in an unknown place after an unusual manner. The Body is not its Prison, but its House and Dwelling-place; and when Death takes it hence, it is not as from an Inn, where it ne∣ver intended to stay long; but from the Ha∣bitation, where it would fain live its Immor∣tal life, and where according to the appoint∣ment of our Creator it was designed to inha∣bit for ever.

Now that Death does mean thus much, is plain from the Doctrine of the Resurrection, which is design'd to bring our Souls out of the Prison whither they are carried to live in a Body again; which Doctrine God has made us acquainted with as a wonderfull Instance of his Mercy to us, and that great Blessing, which is to bear up our Minds against the Apprehen∣sions of, and sad Aversions we have to Death.

But now what Blessing would this be to us, and what Comfort would it afford us, if the restoring our Souls to their Bodies was to re∣turn them to a Prison, and for ever to deprive them of their true and native Liberty? This would be so far from being matter of joy and comfort to us, that we should rise again, that we had reason to look upon it as a Me∣nace, and bewail it as a Calamity as grievous as the Platonists suppose the first descent of the Soul into its Body to have been. For what comfort can it be to us to know, that our Souls, after they are restored to their liberty, (if their separate condition be their true and most genuine way of living) they shall be ca∣ged up again at last so as never to recover their liberty more. But if it be an expression of abundant Mercy to us; a matter, for which we are bound to bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he has begotten us again to a lively hope of rising again by the Re∣surrection of Jesus Christ; we have no reason to think, that Death does us a kindness by set∣ting our Souls at liberty from the Body as from a Prison. It is in one respect a kindness, as we shall rise again and live in pure and im∣mortal Bodies; but consider'd in it self, if the Resurrection will be a Blessing to us, it is a Calamity we ought to dread; for it imports an Execution of that frightfull Sentence, by which we stand condemn'd to lose our Souls; that Sentence, that suffers not the Breath, that

God has breathed into us, to abide with us. So that we have as much reason to be afraid of Death, as a Criminal has to dread a Jail, or an Exiled person to lament his Misfortune, when he is condemn'd to quit the Society of his friends and acquaintance to go into a strange Country, perhaps to live among a Bar∣barous people, the Customs and Manners of whom he is unacquainted with.

2. We may hence observe, what Death is now to us, since we have the hopes of a Re∣surrection. For by this, all that is terrible in it, is taken away, and we may look upon it without terrour and amazement. For though it snatches our Souls from us, and sends them as Exiles to a strange place, yet they go out of our Bodies with a comfortable hope of re∣turning back again. That which makes the state of an Exile so extremely melancholy and afflicting is, That he is not only deprived of the comfortable Enjoyments of his own Coun∣try among his dearest Friends and Relations, but doom'd to spend all his days in a wan∣dring condition among strangers without ei∣ther Home or Kindred. But now our Souls, when they are commanded out of our Bo∣dies, do not leave them with any such sad and sorrowfull Reflections, but go to their appoint∣ed place with joyous Hopes of being restored again after a time. And by this Consideration it was, that the Apostle chear'd the Minds of the Thessalonians, exhorting them not to sor∣row

for those that were asleep, as others which have no hope, 1 Thess. 4.13. i.e. Not like the poor ignorant Heathens, who had no notice of a Resurrection. For in this he makes the joy∣ous condition of our Christian state to consist, that we can rejoyce in hope; i.e. In that hope of having our Souls, which the displeasure of God does not suffer to dwell long in our Bo∣dies here, return'd us again, which we have by the Gospel: Whereas the pitious state of the Heathens lay in this, That they were with∣out hope, Ephes. 2.12. i.e. Without this hope; but were either altogether ignorant, or in great doubts what became of their Souls when they lest their Bodies.

But the most comfortable Consideration of all is this, That our Souls, though they are thus haled out of our Bodies, and sent into an unknown World, yet they are under the care of a gracious Saviour. This is it, that alters the condition of separate Spirits, from what it would have been, had not Death been con∣quer'd; that he who has triumph'd over Death and Hell, or Hades, has the inspection and cu∣stody of all those pious Souls that enter there; that he is their Guardian, and will not suffer them to be lost for ever.

Our Blessed Lord makes the goodness of La∣zarus's Condition, when he died, to consist in this, That he was carried by Angels into Abra∣ham's bosom, Luk. 16.22. In which Expression he undoubtedly intimates to us the great secu∣rity,

that hereby was given him, that even in that condition God was still his God, which was the Blessing that was granted to Abraham, and by which our Blessed Lord tells us he is assur'd of a Resurrection. His being in Abraham's Bo∣som does denote a participation of Abraham's Privileges. For as by the Excellency of his Faith, that great Partriarch got the glorious Character of being the Father of the Faithfull, so he is an Instance to us of all the good that God designs those that believe as he did: And not only so, but he was, as it were, consider'd by the Jews as the great Patron of all, that died in his Faith: That upon the account of the Covenant, that was deposited with him, and the Promise that was granted to his Faith, God would certainly be a God to all that go whi∣ther he is gone. The Jews consider'd Abra∣ham, as we do Christ, to be the Corner-stone in whom all the Building of their Church, be∣ing fitly framed, grew to an Holy Temple, and the Head over all things to 'em; i.e. That principal Person, by means of the acceptable∣ness of whose Faith all the Privileges they en∣joyed, and the Blessings they hoped for, de∣scended to them: And that therefore they could no-where be so safe, and rest with so much hope as with him. For it was a com∣mon Opinion among them, that the Souls of good Men, when they left their Bodies, went to the place where Abraham was, and that there they lived with him as Children in the

House of their Father. To this sense may that promise be applied, Gen. 12.3. In thee shall all families of the Earth be blessed. Which does not only signifie, that it should be a Pro∣verbial speech among all people, that God would deal with them in this life, as he did with Abraham; but that in him, or by being under the Guardianship of his Faith all pious Souls should be happy after Death. So that our Lord, when he tells us, that Lazarus was carried to Abraham's Bosom, spoke in the Lan∣guage and the common Phrase of the Jews who believed that the Souls of good Men, when they left their Bodies, went to the place, where Abraham as the Father of a Family has the chief place. For why is Lazarus said to be carried into Abraham's Bosom, rather than the Bosom of Adam, Seth or Enoch, or of Isaac or Jacob, whose Posterity they were, but be∣cause the Covenant upon which they depend∣ed, was at first lodged with Abraham; and that by being with him, he was secured of the utmost Blessing, that was intended in it: These all, saith the Author to the Hebrews; i.e. The good Men of old that died, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some bet∣ter thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect, Heb. 11.39, 40. i.e. They did not in their times receive the promise of the Resurrection to an Eternal life, or it was not in the times of the Old Testament, that

God had determined to conferr this Blessing upon them: But it was reserved for the times of the Gospel, when Christ having by the Sa∣crifice of himself satisfied for our offences, should merit and receive the power of resto∣ring us to an Immortal life. So that they did not receive the full of their Hope; but though they were secured of it, by being with Abra∣ham, yet they were to wait the full comple∣tion of it till the times of the Restitution of all things. This then of old was the thing, that sweetned Death to the Minds of those brave Men, that died in the Faith of Abraham; that they should go to that great Patriarch as Chil∣dren to their Father's house, who was assured of a Resurrection by having the Lord for his God.

But the Mind of every sincere Christian has a more powerfull consideration to support it, who goes out of the World in the favour of a mercifull Redeemer. Though the Soul be ravish'd from the Body, and carried away un∣der an Arrest, as a Criminal to a Prison; yet this is no terrible thing to a Christian, who not only goes to that Houshold of Faith, of which Abraham is the Father; but abides un∣der the shadow of the Almighty, and is un∣der the protection and care of him, who has the power of life, and whose second appearing he waits for. There he rests in hope, and re∣joyces in the favour of his Lord, who, he knows, will not suffer him to be lost for ever,

but will remember him at the last, and grant him the Blessing by which he shall be perfect∣ed. But again,

3. This may serve to cure us of that fond∣ness, we have for this life; to make us some∣what more indifferent towards it than usually we are. It is indeed so considerable a Blessing to us, that we can enjoy nothing without it: And upon this account it is so dear a thing, and so desirable to us, that when Age and In∣firmities have drawn of our Spirits, and made it a burthen to us, we generally feel so much sweet in it, that we can hardly be persuaded to part with it with any content. It is for the sake of this, that we rise up early, and sit up late, and employ the strength of the Body, and the vigour of the Mind, to find out Pro∣visions to sustain, and Remedies to prolong it.

There are a great many Considerations, which, if duly thought of, would go a great way toward the abating that over-passionate Love we have of it; for it is mortal, and that is such a disparagement to it, as ought to make us somewhat ashamed of doating upon that, which we cannot keep; And while we have it, it is not to be maintain'd but with an a∣bundance of cost and care, a great deal of la∣bour and toil both of Body and Mind. So that though Life be so valuable a thing, that we cannot but love and esteem it; yet it is not this life surely, that is so desirable: Nor would

a Wise man set a value upon Life, if he was sure he should have no other life, but this. For who can be in love with Corruption and Mi∣sery, or limit his Affections to Vexation and Sorrow? Who can be fond of a life, that is al∣ways so chargeable, and very often so tiresome a thing to us, as this is? This indeed might be a consideration to incline us to think well of Death, though it does drive our Souls out of our Bodies; because the Corruption and Filth of such a Habitation is enough to nause∣ate and make them glad to be rid of them. For what comfort can a Soul take in a House that is ever and anon ready to fall about its Ears, and which daily toils and drudges it to find out some means to prop and repair it? What pleasure can it be to a Spirit to live in so nasty a dwelling, that in every room and corner, from the highest to the lowest, pre∣sents it with nothing but stench and silthiness? But if the miseries and follies, with which this life is embitter'd, be not enough to wean us from it; if the Soul be not willing to leave the Body, though it is a dwelling, that affords it little pleasure, because it was not created to live alone; yet when we know, that after Death has sent it abroad to live, we well know not how nor where, we shall receive it again at the Resurrection. Methinks this is a very satisfactory Reason why we should the less va∣lue this present life: For the Resurrection does fully answer our desires of life, and will for e∣ver

put an end to that Regret our Souls have to live out of a Body; and therefore it as∣sures us of such a life as is far more worth our having than this is. Was this all the life, that we have reason to look for, perhaps there might be some reason in that, why we should love this life with all its troubles, and why our Souls should be unwilling to leave our Bo∣dies, as unpleasant a dwelling as they have in them, because a bad one is better than none at all. But when Death, which puts an end to this life, will it self have an End, and our Souls shall not be left in Hell for ever, as the Psalmist speaks of our separate condition, we ought in reason to have some kind thoughts for that life we shall rise to, when Death and Hell are destroy'd. Did we know no more of it but this, That we shall live again; there is this reason, why we ought not to be only fond of this life, because this is not the only life, we have to live. But when the life, we shall live, is Immortal and full of Glory, and our Souls shall never more be forced out of our Bodies, when we have once received them a∣gain; if we be found fit to live, we who hope to rise to such a life, have little reason to doat upon a life of sorrow and vexation, and which Death will at last deprive us of: We, I say, have little reason to be fond of this, which must end even upon this account, because we carry a fondness in us toward life: For this in∣clination ought much rather to be towards a

life that is altogether free from all, that does discontent this.

4. We may hence observe the Folly of Athe∣ism: For it teaches Men to deride, and make a mock at the very Blessing, which of all per∣sons the Atheist either is or ought to be most fond of; and for the making the most of which, he pretends to believe as he does. He believes that it is for the good of life for a Man to be at liberty to follow the swing of his own inclinations, and that nothing is a greater enemy to it than Religion; which, as he discourses, does extremely sour and em∣bitter it by those ill-natur'd restraints, that it lays upon us. And now is there any Man that ought to be so much afraid of Death, as this Man, who is unwilling that Life should be sour'd with any thing that is unpleasant? Is there any thing that he ought to dread more than that, which will not only put an end to all his Enjoyments, but deprive him of that great Blessing which he is for improving to the utmost, and labours with all his Art and Skill to sweeten it with all that is gratefull and pleasant, as he pretends? It is indeed upon this reason, that he persuades himself, there is nothing to be look'd for after Death. He loves this World so well, that he is not willing to believe there is another to be expected, after he is taken out of this, unless he should live in the other, as he does in this. Let us eat and drink, says he, for to morrow we shall die:

i.e. Let us make much of Life, while we have it, for we shall not enjoy it long: And the dead know not any thing, neither is there any device, or knowledge, or wisdom in the Grave, whither thou goest. This is the substance of this Man's be∣lief and reasoning: But yet, I say, he of all Men should not believe and reason thus; be∣cause he speaks against himself, and argues a∣gainst his own Principles. For at the same time that he speaks against Religion for being an Enemy to Life, he himself speaks very mean∣ly and contemptibly of it. The same reason, that makes him an Enemy to Religion, ought to make him the greatest Enemy to Death, and to raise in his Mind the greatest abhor∣rency of it: because, according to his Opini∣on, it will for ever take away all that sense, in the pleasing of which, he places all his hap∣piness. He, who would not have Life rendered unpleasant by any thing, ought above all things to startle and tremble at the thoughts of Death, as the greatest Enemy to Life.

All, that are persuaded, there is another Life after this, are taught by this belief to have a very indifferent regard to this life; because they know, that the loss of this life is not the loss of all the life they hope for. But now the Atheist is so much wedded to this life, that he places all his Happiness in the delights of it, and cares not to think of any other. And therefore the thoughts of dying must certain∣ly be very troublesome to him, because he is

persuaded, he shall for ever lose that, which he would not have embitter'd, and that all his joys and pleasures, all that he accounts good for him, are thereby for ever gone.

And now what a wofull condition is this Man in, who lives under such a persuasion as this? He shows, he is no Enemy to Life, when he tells the World, That all, that he aims at, is the making Life as pleasant and easie as 'tis possible to be. And yet that which he so much loves, he rallies upon, and pleases himself with the thoughts of losing it for ever. Now if it be so gratefull to him to think he shall die ne∣ver to live more, why is he so tender at all of Life? why does he seek out ways to make it pleasant? why does he not live in a continual neglect and contempt of it, if it be so ridicu∣lous a thing to live as he would persuade the World it is, when he derides the Religious Man's hopes of living again, though he dies? But if Life be worth all the care and pamper∣ing, that he bestows upon it, he of all Men ought not to make it his scorn. He pretends to be a very great friend to Life, while he un∣dertakes to teach the World the best way of living. And yet at the same time, that he professes so much kindness and friendship for Life, his Principles make him a perfect Ene∣my to it. He believes, that there is no more Life after this; but that, when once Death has closed his Eyes, he shall never wake more; and this Thought he so much pleases himself

with, that he laughs at all, that do not believe as he does. And yet he tells the World, that he is an Atheist purely for the good of Life. He is an Atheist, because he would not have his Life sour'd with ill-natur'd Restraints, as he believes them; And yet because he is an Atheist, he cannot endure to hear of a life that is Everlasting, or of recovering his life again when he has lost it.

And is it now a wise thing to be an Atheist, when every one, that is so, is taught by his Principles to thwart his own desires; and to make it a part of his Wisdom to deride the be∣lief of enjoying that for ever, which he pre∣tends to have a greater value for, and to con∣sult the good of more than any body else. If he be wise in being such a friend to life, as he would have the World believe he is, when he would have nothing to interrupt or lessen the joys and pleasantries of it; why is he such an Enemy to is, as to be unwilling the Faith of those, that believe an Eternal life, should be true? But if he be wise in ridiculing and op∣posing this Faith, why does he profess himself a friend to Life? Either he must be a fool in being contented, that this belief should be false, or in loving Life so much as he does; Especi∣ally, when we consider it is for the sake of Life, that he chuses to believe as he does. Why is Life so precious a thing to him, that he can∣not endure to think of any thing, that is trou∣blesome to it, when with a great deal of satis∣faction

he can think of loving it for ever? Atheism then is a very foolish thing, not only because it makes a Man an Enemy to his own Life, but an Enemy to the Immortality of it, only that he may be thought the greatest friend to it, by providing extravagantly for it now; as a foolish Heir sells the Reversion of an Estate, for the present Enjoyment of a small pittance of it.

The Atheist will perhaps plead for himself, that he is no Enemy to a suture Life, but to the belief of it without Reason. And it is true, he is no Enemy to the Life, that he now lives; nor is there any reason that he should, because it is all he hopes for. But if he loves Life at all, why is he a friend to those Principles, that will not suffer him to rejoyce in the hopes of a Resurrection to Life again? He saith, he sees no reason to believe this. Suppose he had well consider'd the matter, yet methinks he should not deride those, who are persuaded, there is good reason to believe it; but rather lament it as his misfortune, that he cannot discern the reason, upon which others ground their belief. For he, that so loves his Life, as to be unwilling to lose it, should at least be very favourable towards a Doctrine, that pro∣mises the Restauration of Life again, and wish that he could see good reason to believe the Truth of it. But to laugh and make a mock at it, as if it was not worth wishing it was true, does not savour of that Wisdom,

which a love of Life should prompt him to.

5. We may hence inferr the Reasonableness of a Holy Life. Our Religion does wisely command us to set our Affections on things a∣bove, and not on things on the Earth, and to have our Conversation in Heaven, because our Life in this World will shortly have an End; and it is in Heaven that we must live an Ever∣lasting life: Upon which account it is very fit that we should acquaint our selves with the Nature of the place we are going to, and how we must live when we come thither: And as he who is about to settle in another Country to send those Vertues before-hand thither, which may be a maintenance to us, when we come thither. We, to be sure, ought not so to live now, as if we were to live no more; for what will become of us, when we do live again, if we have made no provision at all for that life. The main solicitude that ought to fill our thoughts, is not how we may thrive and improve our Fortunes in this World; i.e. To put our selves into such a condition, that while we live here, we need not fear either poverty, or the disgrace that accompanies it; but what we must do, that when we are re∣turned from the Dead, we may not be despised for our want of such Vertues as are to support that Life.

This ought to be the End of our Living now, because we must live again: For a loose

inconsiderate way of living can be reasonable upon no account, but either because we shall never be taken away from a World of such delights, as now we live in; or because when we are once gone out of this World, there is nothing more to be expected. In either of these two cases a Man might be allowed to provide for this life with all the care and soli∣citude, that he can, without thinking of any other: But if we must die, and after Death must rise to Life again, the same reason, that obliges us to be carefull for this, ought also to prevail with us to provide for another life. We are very apt indeed to live here in this World, as if we should never leave it; i.e. While there is marrow in our bones, and vi∣gour in our spirits, we are very apt to forget we shall die: But yet there is no Man so ig∣norant or so insensible of the corruptible state we are at present in, as to believe, he never shall. No, the Graves they meet with in eve∣ry Church-yard, and the frequent Funerals of their friends or neighbours, are so many irre∣sistible Notices of their own Mortality, and tell them the sad story, that this lovely World, they so much doat on, and they must part.

This then is not the reason, why Men live loosely; but generally they, who live wicked∣ly, are apt to persuade themselves, that they shall never live again. And though it is the illness of their Lives does drive them to this

persuasion, yet they discourse the matter as if the reason, why they live no higher than this World, was, because they were certain, there is no other. And it is true, that if they be right in their belief, they are not much to be blamed for their way of living; because if there be no other life but this, a Man has no∣thing more to do, than to enjoy this the best he can. But then this is a tacit confession, That if there be another life, they ought not to live as they do, because a sensual way of living can only be suited to a World, that af∣fords no other than sensible delights. And then let this Man think with himself, whether he does wisely to live so here, as to put him out of conceit with another life, when all his unwillingness to live again will not hinder him from returning to a new state of life. Let him think whether his way of living be such, as he can approve of, and satisfie him∣self in, when it makes him rather to chuse, since he cannot avoid dying, never to see nor hear any thing more, than to rise and live a∣gain afterwards. And if a wicked Man can upon no other score go on in his way with any tolerable ease, but by wishing he may never see day again, when once Death has closed his Eyes, how can we chuse but think, that a Resurrection to another life does, in the opinion of this Man, call for another course of life, than what he now lives. For if we we must rise and live again after this, it is

surely our interest and concern so to pass through this life, as to carry along with us none of those sensual Inclinations and Affecti∣ons, as will not suffer us to live well in the next.