but now 'tis builded upon a Rock which Ser.III, cannot be fhaken; for which way could Chrift be more manifeftly declar'd to be the Son of God than by his Refurrection from the Dead? This was the moft illuftrious Mark of God's Favour towards him, and Approbation of all that he had done and taught; and you know Life and Immortality was the great Defign of his Incarnation and Suffering, the great Doctrine that he taught, the great Promife that he made his Difciples; God fo loved the World, Jahn iii, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who- 16. foever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting Life. Father, I will that John xvii. they also whom thou haft given me be with me 24 where I am, that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me. 2dly, In this especially confifts the Kingdom of Chrift; namely, the rewarding his faithful Followers, and punishing his Enemies, in the railing the one from the Dead, and in the Deftruction of the other from the Prefence of his Glory. For 1 Cor. xv. be must reign till he hath put all Enemies un-25, 26. der his Feet; the laft Enemy that shall be defroy'd is Death. So that the Apoftle with great reafon calls Chrift the first Fruits of v. 20. them that flept; and tells us, that as in Adam all die, even fo in Chrift fhall all be made alive, Chrift is the spa (wamaler, F. 45, πνεῦμα ζωοποιέν, a quick E 4 V. 22 L John v. 26. Vol. II. a quickening Spirit For as the Father hath Life in himself, fo bath he given to the Son to have Life in himself. Marvel not at this, v. 28, 29. for the Hour is coming in the which all that are in the Graves fhall hear his Voice, and fball come forth, they that have done Good unto the Refurrection of Life; and they that. have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation. Thus it appears that the Resurrection of Chrift is a plain Proof of ours. Hence it is that St. Paul makes use of this as a convincing Argument to prove a JudgA&s xvii. ment to come. The Times of this Ignorance 39, 31. God winked at, but now commandeth all Men every where to repent; because he hath appointed a Day in the which he will judge the World in Righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordain'd, whereof he hath given Affurance unto all Men, in that he hath raised. him from the Dead, The Certainty then of our Reward is very clear; and yet St. Paul makes ufe of Two Confiderations more in this Chapter for the Confirmati on of it. ift, The Refurrection is a Doctrine highly reasonable in it felf. If there were no Refurrection this Life were a worthlefs thing, there would be no Support under the Evils and Trials of it, there would be no Encouragement to Holiness and Vir tue, tue, and confequently we fhould be plun- Ser. III. ged into all forts of Senfuality and Wickednefs. Let us eat and drink, for to Morrow 1 Cor. xv. we die. Be not deceiv'd, evil Communica-32, 33, tions corrupt good Manners. 2dly, He anticipates and removes the only Objection which can be started against the Refurrection of the Dead. But fome will fay, how are the Dead rais'd v. 34. up? and with what Body do they come? Our Saviour had on the like Occafion given this Answer to the Sadduces. Te do err, Matth. not knowing the Scriptures, nor the Power of xxii. 29. God. And thus the Apoftle filenceth the bold Objecter (for fome have not the Know- 1 Cor. xv. ledge of God: 1 fpeak this to your Shame) by 34. putting him in mind of God's Omnipotence, and urges Two very pertinent Inftances of it. The firft is God's Prodution of very beautiful Bodies out of putrified Seeds, and those proper and peculiar to each Seed. Thou Fool, that which v. 36, 37 thou foweft is not quickned except it die; and 38. that which thou fowest, thou foweft not that Body which shall be, but bare Grain, it may chance of Wheat, or other Grain; of Some but God giveth it a Body, as it hath pleafed him, and to every Seed his own Body. The other is God's Formation of Bodies vaftly different in their Figure, Perfection, and Glory, out of the fame Original Matter: All " Vol. II. All Flesh is not the fame Flefb, but there is one Kind of Flesh of Men, another Flesh of Beafts, another of Fishes, and another of Birds. There are alfo Celestial Bodies, and Bodies Terreftrial, but the Glory of the Celestial is one, and the Glory of the Terrestrial is another. So alfo is the Refurrection of the Dead; an incorruptible Body is rais'd from a corruptible Seed fown in the Earth, and from the fame Kind of Seeds fhall spring up Bodies as different in their Glory,as one Star is different in its Splen Fedor from another. 59 SERMON IV. The Influence which the Greatnefs and Certainty of the Reward of CHRISTIANS ought to have on their Lives. [The Second Sermon upon this Text.]. 1 Go R. xv. 58. Therefore, my beloved Brethren, be ye ftedfaft, unmoveable, always abounding in the Work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord. HE great Reafon why the ge- Vol. II, is, because fo vaft a Distance and fo thick |