the fire, at death; and bring them forth for the fire, at the refurrection That body, which is not now employed in God's fervice, but is abused by uncleannefs and lafcivioufnels, will then be brought forth in all its vilenefs, thenceforth to lodge with unclean fpirits, The body of the drunkard fhall then flagger by reafon of the wine of the wrath of God, poured out to him, and poured into him, without mixture. Thefe, who now please themfelves in their revellings, will reel to and fro at another rate; when, instead of their fongs and mufick, they fhall hear the found of the laft trumpet. Many toil their bodies for worldly gain, who will be loth to diftrefs them for the benefit of their fouls; by labour, unreasonably hard, they will quite disfit them for the fervice of God; and, when they have done, will reckon it a very good reafon for fhifting duty, that they are already tired out with other bufinefs: but the day cometh, when they will be made to abide a yet greater ftrefs. They will go teveral miles for back and belley, who will not go half the way for the good of their immortal fouls; they will be fickly and unable on the Lord's day, who will be tolerably well all the rest of the week. But when that trumpet founds, the dead fhall find their feet, and none fhall be miffing in that great congregation. When the bodies of the faints fhine as the fun, fearful will the looks of their perfecutors be. Fearful will their condition be, who fometimes fhut up the faints in nafty prifons, ftigmatized, burned them to alhes, hanged them, and ftuck up their heads and hands in publick places, to fright others from the ways of righteoufnefs, which they fuf fered for. Many faces now fair, will then gather backness. They fhall be no more admired and careffed for that beauty, which has worm at the root, that will caufe it to iffe in lothfomness and deformity. Ah! what is that beauty, under which there lurks a monftruous, deformed, and graceless heart? What but a forry paint, a flight varnish; which will leave the body so much the more ugly, before that flaming-fire, in which the Judge fhall be revealed from heaven, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the g fpel, 2 Theff.1.7,8. They fhall be fript of all their ornaments, and not have a rag to cover their nakeducfs; but their carcafes shall be an abhorring to all fieth, and ferve as a foil to fet off the beauty and glory of the righteous, and make it appear the brighter.

Now is the time to fecure, for yourfelves, a part in the refurrection of the juft. The which if ye would do, unite with Jefus Chrift by faith, rifing fpiritually from fin, and glorifying God with your bodies. He is the refurrection and the life, John xi. 25. If your bodies be members of Chrift, temples of the Holy Ghost; they thall certainly arfe in glory. Get into this ark now, and ye fhall come forth with joy into the new world. Rife from your fins: caft away thefe grave-clothes, putting off your former lufts. How can one imagine, that thefe, who continue dead while they live, fhall come forth, at the last day, unto the refurrection of life? But that will be

the

the privilege of all thofe, who having firft confecrated their fouls and bodies to the Lord by faith, do glorify him with their bodies, as well as their fouls; living and acting to him, and for him, yea, and fuffering for him too, when he calls them to it.

When the Son of Man fhall come in his Glory, and all the holy Angels with him, then fhall he fit upon the Throne of his Glory:

And before him Jhall be gathered all Nations, and he shall Jeparate them one from another, as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats:

And he fhall fet the Sheep on his right Hand, but the Goats on the left.

Then fhall the King fay unto them on his right Hand, Come ye bleed, &c.

Unto them on the left Hand, Depart from me ye curfed, &c.

And thefe fhall go away into everlasting punishment: but the Righteous into Life eternal. 1

Tthe Judge, changed, follows the General Judgment, plainly and awfully defcribed in this portion of Scripture; in which we fhall take notice of the following particulars. (1) The coming of the Judge, When the Son of man fhall come in his glory, &c. The Judge is Jefus Christ, the Son of man; the fame, by whofe almighty power, as he is God, the dead will be raised. He is alfo called the King, ver. 34. The judging of the world being an act of the Royal Mediator's kingly office. He will come in glory; glorious in his own Perfon, and having a glorious retinue, even all the holy angels with him, to minifter unto him at this great folemnity. (2.) The Judge's mounting the tribunal. He is a King, and therefore it is a throne, a glorious throne, shall fit upon the throne of his glory, ver. 31. (3.) The compearance of the parties. Thefe are all nations; all and every one, fmall and great, of whatsoever nation, who ever were, are, or fhall be on the face of L12 *the

HE dead being raised, and thefe found alive at the coming of

Thirdly, They fhall be powerful and strong bodies. The strongest men on earth being frail and mortal may juftly be reckoned weak and feeble in regard their ftrength, howfoever great, is quickly worn out and confumed. Many of the faints now have bodies weaker than others; but "the feeble among them, (to allude to Zech. xii. 8.) at that day, fhall be as David, and the houfe of David fhall be as God." A grave divine fays, that one fhall be ftronger at the refurrection, than an hundred, yea, than thousands are now. Certainly great, and vaftly great, muft the ftrength of glorified bodies be, feeing they fhall bear up under an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The mortal body is not at all adapted to futh a state. Do tranfports of joy occafion death, as well as exceffive grief uoes? And can it bear up under a weight of glory? Can it fublift in union with a foul filled with heaven's raptures? Surely no. The mortal body would fink under that load, and fuch a fill would make the earthen pitcher to fly all in pieces. The Scripture has plainly told us, that flesh and blood, (namely) in their prefent frail ftate, though it were the flesh and blood of a giant, cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. xv. 50. How ftrong muft the bodily eyes be, which, to the foul's eternal comfort, fhall behold the dazzling glory and fplendor of the new Ferufalem; and ftedfaftly look at the tranfcendent glory and brightness of the Man CHRIST, the Lamb, who is the light of that city, the inhabitants whereof shall fhine as the fun? The Lord of heaven doth now, in mercy," hold back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it;" that mortals may not be confounded with the rays of glory, which fhine forth from it, Job xxvi 9. But then the vail fball be removed, and they made able to behold it, to their unspeakable joy. How firong muft their bodies be, who fhall not rest night nor day; but be without intermiflion for ever employed in the heavenly temple, to fing and proclaim the praises of God, without wearinefs, which is a weaknefs incident to the frail mortal, but incompetent to the glorified body!

Laftly, They fhall be spiritual bodies. Not, that they shall be changed into Spirits; but they (hall be spiritual, in respect of their fpirit-like qualities and endowments. The body fhall be, abfolutely, fubfervient to the foul, fubject to it, and influenced by it; and therefore, no more a clog to its activity, nor the animal appetites a fnare to it. There will be no need to beat it down, nor to drag it to the fervice of God. The foul, in this life, is fo much influenced by the body, that, in Scripture-ftyle, it is faid to be carnal: but then, the body fhall be spiritual, readily ferving the foul in the business of heaven; and in that only, as if it had no more relation of earth, than a fpirit. It will have no further need of the now necessary supports of life, namely, 'food and raiment, and the like: "They fhall hunger no more, neither thirft any more, Rev, vii. 16. For in the refurrection, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as "the angels of God in heaven." Then fhall the faints be strong

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without meat or drink; warm without cloaths; ever in perfect health without medicine; and ever fresh and vigorous, though they fhall never fleep, but ferve him night and day in his temple, Rev. vii. 15. They will need none of these things, more than fpirits do. They will be nimble and active as spirits, and of a moft refined conftitution. The body that is now lumpish and heavy, fhall then be moft sprightly. No fuch thing at melancholy fhall be found to make the heart heavy, and the fpirits flag and fink." Where the carcafe is, there fhall the "faints, as fo many eagles, be gathered together." I shall not further dip into this matter: The day will declare it.

As to the qualities of the bodies of the wicked, at the refurrection, I find the Scripture fpeaks but little of them. Whatever they may need, they fhall not get a drop of water to cool their tongues, Luke xvi. 24, 25. Whatever may be faid of their weaknefs, it is certain they will be continued for ever in life; that they may be ever dying: they fhall bear up, howfoever unwillingly, under the load of God's wrath, and fhall not faint away under it. "The fmoak of their ❝ torment afcendeth up for ever and ever. And they have no reft "day nor night." Surely they fhall not partake of the glory and beauty of the faints. All their glory dies with them, and fhall never rife again. Daniel tells us, they fhall awake to fhame, and everlasting contempt, chap. xii. 2. Shume follows fin, as the fhadow followeth the body:" but the wicked in this world walk in the dark, and often under a difguife: nevertheless, when the Judge comes in flaining fire, at the last day, they will be brought to the light; their mask will be taken off, and the fhame of their nakednefs will clearly appear to themselves and others, and fill their faces with confufion. Their fhame will be too deep for blushes: but "all faces fhall gather blacknefs," at that day, when they fhall go forth of their graves, as male-, factors out of their prifons to execution; for their refurrection is the refurrection of damnation. The greateft beauties, who now pride themselves in their comeliness of body, not regarding their deformed fouls, will then appear with ghaftly countenances, a grim and death-like vifage. Their looks will be frightful, and they will be horrible fpectacles, coming forth of their graves like infernal furies out of the pit. They fhall rife alfo to everlafting contempt. They fhall then be the most contemptible creatures, filled with contempt from God, as veffels of difhonour: whatever honourable ufes they have been employed to, in this world; and filled alfo with contempt from men. They will be most despicable in the eyes of the faints, even of those faints, who gave them honour here; either for their high ftation, the gifts of God in them, or because they were of the same human nature with themfelves. But then fhall.their bodies be as fo many lothfome carcafes, which "they fhall go forth and look upon with abhorrence: yea, they fhall be an abhorring unto all flesh," Ifa Ixvi. 24. The word here rendered an abhorring, is the fame w in the other text is rendered contempt; and Isaiah and Daniel

1

at one and the fame thing, namely, the lothfomness of the wicked, at the refurrection. They will be lothfome in the eyes of one another. The unclean wretches were never fo lovely to each other, as then they will be lothfone: dear companions in fin will then be an abhorring, each one to his fellow: and the wicked, great and honourable men, fhall be no more regarded by their wicked fubjects, their fervants, their flaves; than the mire in the streets...

USE 1. Of comfort to the people of God. The doctrine of the refurrection is a fpring of confolation and joy unto you. Think on it, O believers, when ye are in the house of mourning, for the lofs of your godly relations or friends, that ye for row not, even as others, which have no hope; for ye, will meet again, Theff. iv. 13, 14. They are but lain down, to reft in their beds for a little while, (Ifa. Ivii 2.) but in the morning of the refurrection they will awake again, and come forth of their graves. The vessel of honour was but coarfe, it had much alloy of bafe metel in it; it was too weak, too dim and inglorious, for the upper boufe, whatever luftre it had in the lower one. It was crackt, it was polluted; and therefore it behoved to be melted down that it may be refined and fashioned more gloriously. Do but wait a while, and you fhall fee it come forth out of the furnace of earth, vying with the ftars in brightness; nay, as the fun when he goeth forth in his might. Have you laid your infant children in the grave? You will fee them again. Your God calls himself the God of your feed; which, according to our Saviour's expofition, fecures the glorious refurrection of the body. Wherefore let the covenant you embraced, for yourself, and your babes *now in the duft, comfort your hearts, in the joyful expectation, that, by virtue thereof, they fhall be raised up in glory; and that, as being no more infants of days, but brought to a full and perfect flature, as is generally fuppofed. Be not difcouraged by reafon of a weak and fickly body; there is a day coming, when thot fhalt be every whit whole. At the refurrection, Timothy fhall be no more liable to his often infirmities; his body, that was weak and fickly, even in youth, fhall be raised in power: Lazarus fhall be heal and found, his body being raifed incorruptible. And although, perhaps, thy weakness will not allow thee, now, to go one furlong to meet the Lord in publick ordinances; yet the day cometh, when thy body fhall be no more a clog to thee, but thou fhalt meet the Lord in the air, Theff. iv. 17. It will be with the faints coming up from the grave, as with the Ifraelites, when they came out of Egypt, Pfal. cv. 37 There was not one feeble perfon among their tribes. Halt thou an uncomely, or deformed body? There is a glory within, which will then fet all right without; according to all the delire of thine heart. It fhall rife a glorious, beautiful, handfome, and well proportioned body. Its uncomelinefs, or deformities may go with it to the grave, but they fhall not come back with it. O, that thefe, who are now fo defirous to be beautiful and handfome, would not

be