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we may say of the Fire that shall torture the Damned, what the Spouse in the Canticles saith of the divine Love that had enflam'd her Soul, Many Waters cannot quench it, neither can the Flouds drown it, Cant. viii. And S. Paul tells us, That the things that God hath prepared for them that love him, Eye hath not seen, Ear bath not heard, nor did it ever enter into the Heart of Man, 1 Cor. ii. So on the contrary, we may say, that those things that God hath prepar'd for them that hatehim, Eye hath not seen, Ear hath not heard, nor did it ever enter into the Heart of Man. From hence shall proceed their Rage, Madness and De fpair; they shall cry in Cain's Language, My Punishment is greater than I can bear, Gen. iv. When they shall fee nothing but an extream Misery, and woful Darkness, they shall curse God, the King of all Creatures, Ifa. viii. In their Fury and Rage they will eat their Tongues, and blafpheme the great God of Heaven and Earth. It had been far better for fuch Persons that they had never been born; therefore they shall seek Death, and shall not find it, Mat xxvi. They shall defire to die, that is, to be reduc'd to nothing, Rev. ix. But this Death shall fly from them; who of you can dwell in everlasting Burning? Ha. xxxiii. Who of us can dwell in eternal Flames? Rev. vi. If the Vials and little Gups full of God's Wrath force the Wicked to cry out, how much more shall the Rivers and the Ocean of God's Vengeance draw from them, O Mountains, fall upon us, O Rocks, cover us, and hide us from the Face of him that fits upon the Throne, and from the Wrath of the Lamb; for the Day of bis Anger is come, and who may abide it? Prov. i. But as they have stopt their Ears to God's gracious Calls, and hardned their Hearts to his Invitations to Repentance, God shall also stop his Ear to their Outeries, and his Eyes to their grievous Sufferings; and when they shall be overcome with Fear and Despair, God will scorn and mock at their infufferable Misery.

CHAP.

CHAP. IV.

That Jesus Christ our Lord hath redeem'd us from eternal Death, and by Degrees refcues us from a Spiritual Death.

WE

TE read in the fifth Chapter of the Revelations of St. John, that he wept bitterly, because no Being in Heaven and Earth, nor under the Earth, was able to open the Book sealed with seven Seals, that was in God's Right Hand. At that Instant, one of the twenty four Elders spake to him, Weep not, behold the Lion of the Tribe of Juda overcome to open the Book, and to loose the seven Seals. Thus we have until now wept bitterly, because we could find no Body in the Armies of Ifrael, to encounter with that powerful Monster Death. But let us also wipe our Tears, and take good Courage, my beloved; for this fame Lion of the Tribe of Juda is appointed to fight with this dreadful Enemy: Our victorious and triumphing David, who hath torn in pieces the infernal Lion, bruised the ancient Serpent's Head, and spoiled Principalities and Powers, triumphing over them in his Cross, Col. ii. 15. 'Tis he that hath undertaken this glorious Combat; 'twas for that Purpose that he left for a while the Throne of God the Father, and the Company of his holy Angels, I Sam. xvii. "Twas for that Intent that he came into the Camp and Confufion of Ifrael. He hath not borrow'd the Weapons and Assistance of the World, Heb. ii. All that he hath taken from us, is our frail Nature. But he hath armed himself with Righteousnefs, as with a Breast-plate, and hath put on the Helmet of Salvation. He hath cloathed himself with Vengeance as with a Cloak, be hath alone trodden the Wine-Press, and no Body hath affifted him, Ifa. lix. 63. But his Arm hath fav'd him, and his Hand hath upheld him. As David cut off Goliah's Head with his own Sword, Jesus Chrift hath

hath overcome Death by Death. Like unto the strong Sampson, he hath deftroy'd all the Enemies of his Glory by his Death, 1 Sam. xvii. He hath overcome in dying, him who had the Empire of Death; that is, the Devil, Heb. ii. and hath delivered them, who through Fear of Death, were all their Life-time subject to Bondage; then was fulfilled this Saying of Hofea, O Death, I will be thy Plague, O Grave, I will be thy Destruction, Hof. xiii. And that of Ifaiah, he will swallow up Death in Victory, and the Lord God will wipe away Tears from off all Faces, and the Rebuke of his People shall be taken away from off all the Earth, Ifa. xxv. 1 Tim. vi. This blessed Prince, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who only hath Immortality, and dwelleth in an inaccessible Light, hath deftroy'd Death, and brought to light Life and Immortality by the Gospel, 1 Tim. i. O Death, where is thy Victory! O Grave, where is thy Sting? The Sting of Death is Sin, and the Strength of Sin is the Law; but blessed be God who hath given us the Victory by our Lord Jesus Chrift, 1 Cor. xv.

This great God and Saviour has perfectly redeem'd us from eternal Death, as he himself teaches us in the Gofpel of St. John. He that heareth my Word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting Life, and shall not come into Condemnation, but is passed from Death unto Life, Chap. v. 24. I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven, if any Maneat of this Bread, he shall live for ever, Chap. vi. 51. v. 40. Your Fathers dideat Manna in the Wilderness, and are dead, that is the Bread which cometh down from Heaven, that a Man may eat thereof and not die, Chap. viii. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if any Man keep my Word he shall never taste of Death. Lam the Resurrection and the Life, he that lives and believeth in me shall never die, and he that believeth in me, although he were dead, yet shall he live, Chap. xi. The Wages of Sin is Death, but the Gift of God is eternal Life through our Lord Jesus Chrift. Blessed and Holy is he that hath part in the first Refurrection, Rev. xx. The second Death shall never have any Power upon him. In a word, the Gates of Hell, that is to say, Death, cannot prejudice them who are fettled upon Jesus Christ, the Rock of Eternity. This merciful Saviour hath also deliver'd us from the Spiritual Death, Eph. ii. For we being dead in our Trespasses and Sins, he hath quickned us, and raised us up together unto newness of Life, Coloff. ii. He hath carried our Sins in his Body upon the Cross, that he dying unto Sin, we might live unto Righteousness. We are buried with him in his Death by Baptifm, that as Jesus Christ is raised from the Dead by the Glory of God the Father, we also would walk in newness of Life, I Pet. ii. Awake thou that sleepest, and rise from the Dead, and Jesus Christ shall enlighten thee, Rom. vi. For by his Death he hath not only reconcil'd us to God the Father, Eph. v. Coloff. xi. but he hath also procur'd to us the Holy Spirit that creates in us a new Heart, and imprints the Image of his Holiness, Ezek, xxxvi. 2 Cor.v. He makes us become new Creatures, and regenerates us by the uncorruptible Seed, I Pet. i. This is that which the Scripture names the first Refurrection, Rev. xx. St. Peter was ravish'd in Admiration at this great and wonderful Benefit, and therefore he acknowledg'd it. Bleffed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant Mercy, hath begotten us againunto a lively Hope, by the Refurrection of Jesus Chrift from the Dead, I Pet.i. God difcover'd to the Prophet Ezekiel a Field cover'd with dry Bones, and commanded him to prophefie upon these Bones, Ezek. xxxvii. At the prophet's Command, they began to draw near to one another, then the Nerves began to appear, the Flesh to grow, and to be cover'd with Skin, but there was no Life until God commanded the Prophet to prophefie again, Thus faith the Lord, Spirit, come from the four Winds, blow upon these dead Bodies, and let them rise from the dead. Then the Spirit entred into them, they began to revive, and they stood upon their Legs. This is the lively and true Image of the first Refurrection. For the Spirit of God that blows whither

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it lifteth, regenerates us by degrees, John iii. and the new Man is created in our Hearts by little and little, as the Child grows in its Mother's Womb.

When Joshua brought the Children of Ifrael into the Land of Promife, he destroyed not all the Canadnites, Josh. xxiii. there remain'd fome who became Scourges in their Sides, and Thorns in their Eyes. Thus our true and spiritual Joshua, who had led us into the Kingdom of his Grace, hath not altogether destroy'd all our evil Affections; some yet remain that are like Prickles in our Sides, and like Swords that pierce thro our Souls. They yet render our Life bitter and unpleafant, therefore we often defire Death to come and put a Period to this Conflict. Sin was in Poffeffion of us as a strong Man arm'd in an House; but Jesus Chrift is enter'd into our Souls, and become Master; he hath therefore bound and chain'd Sin, and hath nail'd it to his Cross. But this furious Beast, tho' it hath receiv'd a mortal Wound, and is ready to give up the last Gafp, it struggles and foams withinus. Our blessed Saviour hath extinguish'd with the red Stream of his Blood, the infernal Flames of our cursed Affections; but yet there remains in the Ashes fome Sparkles of this develish Fire, that yet cause in us feverish Fits. Only this merciful Redeemer, of his infinite Goodness hath loofed us from the Devil's Chains; but that we might have Cause to be humble, to defire the Encrease of Grace, and long for the Arrival of his Glory, he leaves about us some of the troublesome Fetters: By his holy Spirit he files them off by degrees; but one Day he will take them away from us.

At the Voice of this Prince of Life, that reaches to the very bottom of our Hearts, we are risen from the Sepulchre of our Vices with our Grave Cloaths about us, as Lazarus when he came out of his Tomb. We are like the ancient Slaves who were set at Liberty; we bear upon our Foreheads the visible Marks of our ancient Bondage; but one Day our Lord Jesus Christ shall cover these Marks of Infamy and Disgrace with an heavenly Diadem.

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