AN EXTRACT FROM THE SERMONS OF DR. CALAMY.

 

SERMON 1:

 

PREACHED AT. WIIITEHALL.

 

ON CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE. ACTS 10: 38. Who went about doing good.

WHICH words give us a short account of our blessed SAVIOR'S life here on earth$ it was spent in "doing good." They also teach us after what manner we, his disciples, ought to live in this world; namely, That we should omit no fair opportunity of doing good according to our several capacities. I shall speak to them,

I. As referring to our LORD, and- describing his manner of life to us.

II. As prescribing to us our duty in imitation of His example, "who went about doing good."

I. As referring to our LORD, and describing his manner of life to us. Now these words, "He went about doing good," especially signify these three things:-1. That this was the chief business and employment of his life. 2. That where he did not readily find, he went about - to seek, objects of compassion. 3. This he constantly persevered in, notwithstanding the foul ingratitude and malicious opposition his good works met with.

1. This was the chief business and employment of his life. To propound to you the several instances of it, were to give you a history of his whole life, the four Gospels being nothing else but the authentic records of those good works JESUS of Nazareth did; containing his excellent instructions, his free reproofs, the wise methods he used

for the reforming men's minds, together with those various kindnesses he showed to their bodies and outward estates, with a generosity and charity not to be paralleled. I shall not, therefore, descend to particulars, but only take notice, (1.) That " doing good" was his ordinary daily employment. (2.) That to the same end tended all his extraordinary miraculous works. And, (3.) That this was also the sum and substance of his religion. From all which it will easily appear, that he made " doing good" the chief business of his life.

(1.) Doing good was his ordinary daily employment. He did not only by the by, and on great occasions, exercise this charity, but it was as it were his only profession, his meat and drink, his business and recreation too; so that he denied himself the conveniences of life, that he might attend this work. How was he thronged after and pressed upon by the miserable and unfortunate, the diseased and possessed, in all places wherever he came; and can you tell of any one person whom he sent from his presence dissatisfied It was but saying, LORD, have mercy upon me, and the poor humble beggar's wants (of what kind soever) were straight supplied.

And by these acts of love and kindness he engaged men to hearken to his wise counsels, and obey his gracious commands. For he had, a farther design in all this compassion which he showed to men's bodies and outward estates, viz., to heal their bodies and their minds together; to instill good instruction, and to promote men's eternal welfare, by contributing to their ease and happiness in this present life.

All this good he did with the greatest readiness and joy; it was his greatest pleasure to spread his healing wings over every place, continually to dispense his benign influences, and to make every one, who had the happiness to converse with him, sensible of his good-will to mankind. Nor from this would he ever rest, not so much as on the Sabbath-day, though he was accounted a transgressor for it. He consulted the good of other men above his own reputation, and would cure the sick on that day, even before those who thought it a great piece of profaneness.

He wanted objects sooner than will to show kindness and nothing grieved him so much as that men, by their own perverseness, should obstruct and defeat his gracious designs towards them, and obstinately refuse to be made happy by him.

(2.) This was not only his ordinary daily employment, but for this end did he always exercise his extraordinary divine power. All his miracles were mercies to men, so that his wonderful works proved him to be sent from GOD, not more by that infinite power that was seen in them, than by that surpassing goodness they demonstrated to the world.

He never employed his omnipotence out of levity or ostentation, but only as the wants of men required it. His miraculous works were not such as the Jews sometimes demanded from him, such only as would strike their senses and fancy with admiration, as the making prodigious and amazing shows in the heavens, or in the air; but they were all expressions of a most immense benignity to mankind, such as healing the sick of all manner of diseases, making the lame to walk, and the blind to see, and the deaf to hear, cleansing the lepers, feeding the hungry, raising the dead, and casting evil spirits out of those that were miserably possessed and cruelly tormented by them.

In such good offices, so profitable to men, did he all along exert that divine power which God had anointed him with; thus demonstrating himself to be the most divine person that ever appeared in our flesh, not only by doing the most miraculous works, but especially by doing the most good in the world.

(3.) To do good was the sum and substance. of his religion. He affected not any precise singularities, or unusual severities of life. Of all the time he was on earth, he spent but (arty days in the wilderness in close solitude and retirement; the rest of his time he conversed freely and openly, that thereby he might have opportunity of obliging and benefiting all sorts of men. He neglected not, indeed, any duty of piety towards GOD, but then his love to God shone most resplendently in his incessant care of, and charity to, his creatures. He knew he could not please or glorify his FATHER better, than by hearing much fruit, or, which is all one, doing much good in the world.

His religion was active and operative. It consisted not in notions, or formalities, or external strictnesses, by which the several sects among the Jews were distinguished one from another; but the principal thing he was remarkable for, was a most sincere readiness to do all manner of good to all that came to him. Others might pray longer, fast more than he or his disciples did; (as we know was objected against him by JOHN'S disciples;) but no saint, no Prophet, no man ever before him so served GOD in his generation, or was either able or willing to show such kindnesses to the world as our blessed LORD and SAVIOR did.

And in this chiefly did his holiness appear above the rate of other men's, in that he was so infinitely merciful and charitable. He made not such a pompous show of religion as some of the Pharisees did, but his actions truly bespoke him what he was,-a person infinitely full of goodness, that could not be at ease without continual venting itself; nor yet by all the wants, infirmities, necessities, either of men's minds or bodies could ever be exhausted. Thus he made doing good the chief business and employment of his whole life, which is the first thing signified by these words.

2. That "he went about doing. good," implies farther, that where he did not easily meet with, he industriously sought objects of compassion. His goodness did often prevent men's desires, always surpass them; doing for them beyond all their requests or hopes. " He came to seek and save that which was lost."

He descended from the bosom of his FATHER, and eclipsed the glory of his divine majesty with a veil of flesh, and lived amongst us, that he might redeem us from the greatest evils and miseries, even whilst we were enemies to him, and desired no more than we deserved his love and favor. And while he was upon earth, he was not only easy of access,-he did not only courteously receive all that addressed themselves to him,-he not only freely invited and encouraged all men to repair to him for succor and relief; but also did not disdain himself to travel up and down the country on purpose to give opportunity to all that stood in need of him, to partake of his healing virtue. Those whom his disciples checked for their rude and troublesome importunity, he lovingly entertained, and never dismissed without a blessing.

This mightily enhanced the value of every kindness he bestowed; the frankness of his doing it doubled the benefit. We spoil a--good turn, when it is extorted from us. It loseth its grace when it is done grudgingly, and as of necessity.

Nay, our SAVIOR denied not to converse familiarly with publicans and the greatest sinners; he endeared himself to them by signal condescensions, though this also proved matter of reproach to him; as if he countenanced those vices he attempted to cure, or it were a disgrace to a Physician to visit his patients. He refused not the civil offer of a Pharisee, though his sworn enemy; and would go to the houses, and eat at the table of those who sought his ruin; and whatever ill design they might have in inviting him, yet he always improved the occasion for the doing them good.

3. And lastly, He constantly persevered in this, notwithstanding the foul ingratitude and malicious opposition his good works met with in the world. Never did any one meet with greater discouragements, or more unworthy returns than the SON of GOD; when all his acts of benevolence, all the good offices he had done amongst them, were so far from obliging, that they rather tended to exasperate and provoke that untoward generation; and the more kindness he expressed towards them, the greater haste they made to destroy him. This great Patron and Benefactor, this generous Friend and Lover of mankind, was mortally hated and cruelly persecuted, as if he had been a public enemy, and had done or designed some notorious mischief. They continually laid traps to ensnare him, loaded him with malicious slanders, greedily watched for an advantage to animate the multitude against him; took up stones to stone him, as a reward of his gracious attempt to make them wise and happy; made sinister interpretations of all the good he did, as if he designed to gratify his ambition, and make himself popular; so that he was looked upon as a dangerous man, and the more good he did, the more he was suspected; yet_ all this, and a thousand times worse usage could not dissuade him from persisting in doing good to them. He was ready to repay all these injuries with courtesies, even his bitterest enemies were partakers of his kindness, and he still continued to entreat them to accept of life from him, and, with tears of true compassion, bewailed their infidelity and wilful folly; nay, att last, when they laid violent hands upon him, and put him to the shameful death of the cross, yet then did he pray to his FATHER to forgive them; and, which is the very perfection of charity, he willingly laid down his life for them who so cruelly and treacherously took it from him. Thus our LORD "went about doing good." Let us who are his followers go and do likewise: which brings me to the second thing I was to consider, viz.:

II. Our duty to imitate His example," who went about doing good."

Though we cannot after that stupendous manner be beneficial to mankind as our SAVIOR was, yet there are very many things which we are able to do for the good of others, which our blessed SAVIOR could not do, by reason of his low estate in this world, without the expense of a miracle.

Few of us but, as to our outward circumstances, are in a more plentiful condition than the-Sox of God was on earth; and it is in our power by ordinary ways to relieve and succor, oblige and benefit many, as our LORD could not do, without employing his divine power.

Be pleased therefore to take notice, that it is not doing good just in the same instances, or after that same wonderful manner, that this example obligeth us to, but to a like willingness and readiness to do good upon all occasions, as far as our power reacheth. It obligeth us all in our several stations, according to those opportunities God has afforded us, and those abilities he has endued us with, and those ways of life his Providence has placed us in, to. endeavor, as much as in us lies, the welfare and prosperity, ease and happiness, of all men; so that others may bless the divine goodness for us, the state of their bodies or minds being bettered by our imparting to them what GOD has more abundantly bestowed upon us.

Contrary to which, is a narrow, selfish spirit, when we are concerned for none but ourselves, and regard not how it fares with other men, so it be but well with us; when we follow our own humor, and with great pleasure enjoy the accommodations of our own state; when we think, our own happiness the greater, because we have it alone to ourselves: which of all other things is the most directly opposite to that benign and compassionate temper which our SAVIOR came into the world by his doctrine and example to implant in men.

I shall not undertake to set before you the several instances of doing good, since they are so various and infinite, and our duty varies according to our circumstances and opportunities, which are very different; and every one may easily find them out by considering what good he would have other men do for him. What he should reasonably expect, or would take kindly from those he converseth with, or is in any ways related to, all that he is in like cases to be willing to do for another; so that this doing good is a work of large extent and universal influence; it reacheth to the souls and bodies of men, and takes in all those ways and means whereby we may promote the temporal, spiritual, or eternal advantage of others. And to so happy and noble an employment, one would think there should be no need of persuasion. However, I beg your patience whilst I put you in mind of some of those arguments and considerations which seem most proper to engage men to the imitation of this blessed example, to do all the good they can in the world.

1. This of all other employments is most agreeable to our natures. By doing good, we gratify the noblest of our natural inclinations and appetites. The very same sense which informs us of our own wants, and doth powerfully move us to provide for their relief, doth-also feel the distresses of another, and urge us to yield him all necessary succor. This is true in all men, but most apparent in the best natures, that at beholding the calamities of other men, they find such yearnings of their bowels, and such sensible commotions in their own breasts, as they can by no means satisfy, but by reaching forth their helping hand: therefore, to deny our assistance according to our ability, is a violence to our very natural instincts, as well as contrary to our religious obligations.

This is a gracious provision God has made in favor of the necessitous and calamitous; that since his Providence, for great reasons, is pleased to permit such inequalities in men's outward conditions; the state of some in this life being so extremely wretched and deplorable, if compared with others; lest the sick, and blind, and naked, and poor, should seem to be forgotten, or wholly disregarded by their Maker; he has implanted in men a quick and tender sense of compassion, which should always solicit and plead their cause, stand, their friend, and not only dispose us, but force us for our own satisfaction, though with some inconvenience to ourselves, to relieve and succour the afflicted: and this sympathy doth as truly- belong to human nature, as love, desire, hope, fear, or any other affection; and it is as easy to divest ourselves of any other passion as of this: and he who, like the Priest and Levite in our SAVIOR'S parable, is void of all compassion, is degenerated not so much into the likeness of a brute beast, as of the rock or marble. Thus to do good is according to the very make and, frame of our beings and natures.

2. Hence it follows, that it must be the most pleasant and delightful employment. Whatever is according to our nature, must, for that reason, be pleasant; for all actual pleasure consists in the gratification of our inclinations. Since therefore the very constitution of our nature prompts us to the exercise of charity and beneficence, the satisfying such inclinations, by doing good, must be truly grateful to us; and it cannot be more delightful to receive kindnesses, than it is to bestow them. A seasonable, unexpected relief, doth not affect him that stands in need of it with more sensible content, than the opportunity of doing it doth rejoice a good man's heart. Nay, it may be doubted on which hand lies the greatest obligation, whether he who receives is more obliged to the giver for the good he has _done him, or the giver to the receiver for the occasion of exercising his goodness. When we receive great kindnesses, it puts us to the blush; we are ashamed to be so highly obliged; but the joy of doing them is pure and unmixed: and this our Savior has told us, '1 It is more blessed to give than to receive;" (Acts 20: 35;) and some good men have ventured to call it the greatest sensuality, a piece of epicurism, and have magnified the exceeding indulgence of God, who has annexed future rewards to that which is so amply its own recompense.

These two advantages this pleasure of doing good has above all other pleasures whatsoever. (1) That this satisfaction doth not only accompany the act of doing good, but it is lasting, endures as long as our lives. The very remembrance of the good we have done in the world, doth refresh our souls with a mighty joy and peace, quite contrary to all other worldly and corporeal pleasures. There are indeed some vices, which promise a great deal of pleasure, but it is short-lived, a sudden flash presently extinguished. It perishes in the very enjoyment, a like the crackling of thorns under a pot," as the wise man elegantly expresses it; it presently expires in a short blaze and noise, but has very little heat or warmth in it. All outward bodily pleasures are of a very fugitive volatile nature, there is no fixing them; and if we endeavor to make up this defect, by a frequent repetition and constant succession of them, they soon become nauseous; men are cloyed with them. Nor is this all; these sensual pleasures do not only suddenly pass away, but also leave a sting behind them: they wound our consciences; the thoughts of them are uneasy to us; guilt and bitter repentance are the attendants of them; sadness and melancholy come in the place of all such exorbitant mirth and jollity. These are the constant abatements of all outward unlawful pleasures; whereas that which springs from a mind well pleased with its own actions, loth for ever affect our hearts with a delicious relish; continually ministers comfort and delight; is a neverfailing fountain of joy, solid and substantial; fills our minds with good hopes and cheerful thoughts, and is the certain ground of true peace and content.

(2.) This pleasure that attends doing good doth herein exceed all fleshly delights, that it is then at the highest when we stand in most need of it. In a time of affliction, old age, or at the approach of death; the remembrance of our good deeds will strangely cheer and support our spirits under all the calamities and troubles we may meet with in this state. By doing good we lay up a treasure of comfort, a stock of joy against an evil day, which no outward thing can rob us of. It is not thus with bodily pleasures; they cannot help us in a time of need, they then become miserably flat and insipid; the sinner cannot any longer taste or relish them; nothing remains but a guilty sense, which in time of distress is more fierce raging, especially at the hour of death.

Yet even then, when our former pleasures shall prove matter of torment to us; when all the flowers of worldly glory shall wither; when -all earthly beauty, which now doth so tempt us, shall be darkened and eclipsed; when this world, and the fashion of it, is vanished and gone; when the pangs of death are just taking hold of us, and we are ready to step into another world, what a comfortable refreshment then will if be to look back upon a wellspent life To consider with ourselves how faithfully we have improved those talents God has entrusted us with; how well we have husbanded our time, estates, parts; reputation, learning, authority, for the glory of GOD, and the good of other men. The time will surely come wherein you shall vastly more rejoice in that little you have laid out for the benefit of others, than in all that which by so long toil and drudgery you shall have saved and purchased. They are not your great possessions, lands, or estates, nor your dignities and titles of honor, nor your eminent places and trusts, nor any external advantages you have purchased or acquired, that at such a time will yield you any true peace. What use you have made of them, and what good you have done with them, is that which your conscience will then inquire after.

3. To do good is the most divine and god-like thing. By it we most especially become like GOD, who is good, and who does good; and not only like him, but we resemble him in that which is his very nature and essence, and which he esteems his greatest glory: for such is his goodness, which doth, as it were, deify all his other attributes and perfections.

There is no quality or disposition whatever, by which we can so near approach the divine majesty, as this of beneficence, and delight in doing good. - As for knowledge and power, the evil spirits partake of them in a greater degree than the best men; but a man has nothing of God so much as to do good. By contributing to the content of other men, and rendering them as happy as lieth in our power, we do God's work, are in his place and room, perform his office in the world; we make up the seeming defects of his Providence, and one man thereby becomes as it were a god to another. Hence this employment must needs be the highest accomplishment and perfection of our beings. It is the argument of a brave and great soul, to extend his care and thoughts for the good of all men; and not to do so is a certain indication of a little narrow spirit.

4. This is the very end of all the blessings and advantages God has vouchsafed to men in this life, that by them they might become capable of doing good in the world; this is the proper use they are to be put to, for which they were designed by the author of them; and if they are not employed to such purposes, we are false to our trust, and the stewardship committed to us, and shall be one day severely accountable to GOD for it. For the sovereign LORD and disposer of all things both in heaven and earth has assigned to every man his particular station in this world; has given him his part to act on this great theatre, and has furnished him with abilities of mind and body fitted for several uses, in the due improvement and management of which, every one may in some measure be helpful and serviceable to others.

There is no man but God has put many excellent things Into his possession, to be managed by him for the common interest; for men are made for society and mutual fellowship. We are not born for ourselves alone, but every other man has some right and interest in us; and as no man can live happily in this world without the assistance of others, so neither is any man exempted or privileged from being in his place some way beneficial to others.

It is with men in this world, as it is with the parts of the body natural. It is ST. PAUL'S comparison; (1 Cor. 12:;) the body consists of divers members, which neither have the same dignify and honor, nor the same use and office; but every part has its proper use, whereby it becomes serviceable to the whole body, and if any one part fails or is ill affected, the whole suffers for it, and the meanest part is necessary for the good of the whole; so that the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you." Thus has God distributed several gifts amongst the sons of men. They have art, skill, and experience, some in one thing, some in another, none in all; so that it is impossible but that every man must want something for the conveniency of his life, for which he must be obliged to others; upon which account it is highly reasonable that he also himself should some way serve others.

But besides this, there are many special advantages which some enjoy above others, which also are designed for the common good. It is plain, there is a very great. inequality amongst men, both as to the internal endowments of their minds, and their external conditions in this life. Many more talents are committed to some than to others; but yet we greatly mistake when we think them given us merely for own sakes, to serve our own turns, and for the satisfaction of our own appetites and desires: no, at the best they are but deposited with us in trust; the more we enjoy of them, the greater charge we have upon our hands, and the more plentiful returns God doth justly expect from us; "for unto whomsoever much is given," says our SAVIOR, "of him shall be much required."

This ought especially to be considered by all those who by reason of the eminency of their qualities and dignities, and by their superiority above others, have authority over them; whose sphere is large, and influence great, who have many dependants that court their favor; what infinite good may such do in the world, especially by their example!

5. Doing good is a most substantial part of Christian Religion, a most acceptable sacrifice to God; and-therefore do we so often find in Scripture all religion summed up as it were in this one thing, it being the best expression of our duty towards GOD, and either formally containing or naturally producing all our duty towards our neighbor, whence this is said to be the Fulfilling of the law. It is not enough that we give to every man what is due to him. His religion is but of a narrow compass, who is only just; nay, he that is rigidly so in all cases has no religion at all. That I have wronged no man, will be a poor plea at the last day; for it is not for rapine or injury, for pillaging or cozening their neighbors, that men are then formally impeached and finally condemned, but "I was an hungry, and ye gave me no meat; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: “ You neglected to do that good which you had power and opportunity to do.

Some men are so taken up with their courses of piety and devotion, that they have no time to do good. If they be but temperate and just, and come frequently to Church, and constantly perform the duties of GOD’s worship; this they hope will carry them to heaven, though they are covetous and uncharitable, and hardly ever do any good office for their neighbors or brethren. Some again there are who pretend to be of a more refined religion, spend their time in contemplation, and talk much of communion with GOD; but look upon this way of serving God by doing good, as a lower attainment, an inferior dispensation suitable to novices in religion. And yet read over the life of the best man that ever lived, the Founder of our faith and religion, and you cannot but confess what I have already shown, that the thing he was most illustrious for, was his unwearied readiness to help all men: " He went about doing good." And it is a scandal raised on our. Church, that we do not hold the necessity of good works in order to salvation; we hold and teach them to be as necessary as Papists themselves can or do; but then we say, they are accepted by God only for the sake of JESUS CHRIST.

6. Lastly: Nothing has greater rewards annexed to it than doing good, and that both in- this life and that which is to come. I have time now but just to mention to you a some few-of those advantages that either naturally flow from it, or by GOD’s gracious promise are annexed to it.

To do good with what we enjoy is the most certain way to procure GOD’s blessing upon all we have; it entitles us to his more especial care and protection. "Trust in the LORD," says DAVID, '1 and be doing good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." The divine goodness cannot but be pleased to see men, so far as they are able, imitating itself, and following the example of GOD’s benignity.

For every good office we do to other men, we may plead with GOD to engage him to bestow upon us what we want or desire; not by way of merit or desert, but God himself graciously becoming our debtor, takes what is done to others as done to himself, and by promise obliges himself to full retaliation.

By this means we provide that which will mightily support us under all the troubles and afflictions that may happen to us; our good works will attend us at the hour of death, nay, they will appear for us before GOD’s tribunal, and will procure for us, for the sake of JESUS CHRIST, at the hands of our merciful God, a glorious recompense at the resurrection of the just; for at the final reckoning, the great King shall pass his sentence according to the good men have done, or neglected to do, in this life.

SERMON 2:

 

ON THE WICKEDNESS OF THE HEART.

 

MATT. 15: 19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts-.

As it is GOD alone that knows the thoughts of man, so his commands alone directly reach to them; and no little part of religion consists in the due government of them; whence it is commonly laid down as a rule of interpreting any of GOD’s laws, that though only the outward action be expressly commanded or forbidden, yet it must be extended to the inward thoughts, affections, and dispositions of our minds; and he that appears unblameable as to his words and actions, may yet really in the sight of GOD stand guilty of the greatest wickedness by reason of his impure, malicious, or otherwise evil thoughts.

Thoughts indeed are free from the dominion of men we may conceal or disguise them from all the world: we may deceive the most subtle, by speaking and acting contrary to our minds; by pretending what we never mean, by promising what we never intend: but yet our thoughts are absolutely subject to GOD’s authority; are under His jurisdiction who is omniscient, "who seeth not as man seeth, nor judgeth as man judgeth; for the righteous GOD trieth the hearts and reins," discerneth the most hidden workings of our souls, is conscious to all the wanderings of our imaginations, is acquainted with all our private designs and contrivances, and knoweth our secret ends; so that in respect of the divine laws, our very thoughts are as capable of being really good or really evil as our actions.

Now thoughts here I understand in the largest sense, as comprehending all the internal acts of the mind of man, viz., not only simple apprehensions, fancies, pondering, or musing of any thing in our minds; but also all the seasonings, consultations, purposes, resolutions, designs, contrivances, desires, and cares of our minds, as opposed to our external words and actions. Whatever is transacted within ourselves, of which none are conscious but God and our own souls, I understand here by thoughts.

But, then, by evil thoughts, I do not mean the bare thinking of any thing that is evil, or the apprehending or considering what is sinful; for this of itself doth no more defile our souls, than seeing a loathsome sight doth hurt the eye. The Prophet indeed tells us, " that GOD is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that he cannot look on iniquity," that is, not with the least.degree of complacence or approbation; but yet for all this, GOD seeth all the sins that are committed in the world; "for he beholdeth mischief and spite to requite it with his hand; " and when he forbids it, punisheth it, or pardons it, sin must then be the object of the divine understanding. " The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good."

Thus our blessed SAVIOR, though he was free from all sin, yet when he was tempted by the Devil, had in his mind the apprehension of that evil he was instigated to by that wicked spirit; it was all at that instant represented to his thoughts; but since his will did not in the least comply with it; since the motion was rejected with infinite abhorrence, he contracted not the least guilt thereby.

A bad man may often think of what is good, may entertain his mind with speculations about God, his immortal soul, a future life, the benefits purchased for us by JESUS CHRIST; nay, he may take pleasure in thinking of such objects, and in using his reason, judgment, invention, or fancy about them, as other men are delighted in the study of any other sciences, or in any acquired knowledge. Yet these thoughts about good things, are not good thoughts, nor is the man at all the better for them, if his will do not join with nor is governed by them.

And on the other side, good men may, and sometimes must, think of those things that are sinful. There is no reading the Holy Scriptures, or any other history, wherein the evil actions and speeches of wicked men are recorded; there 'is no living or conversing in the world, where so much evil is every day committed, without thinking of that which is sinful: but then in good men the thought of any such thing is always with grief and detestation; they think of it as of a thing that is most. hateful to them; as men think of a plague, shivering at the very naming of it, and praying to GOD to preserve them from it. Our thoughts then are not to be counted evil, only from the object of them.

Nor by evil thoughts do I understand any sudden thoughts, starting up in our minds before we are aware, which will not, I believe, be imputed to us as sins, though if consented to, they are undoubtedly evil. For nothing will be reckoned to us as a sin, but what is someway or other voluntary, and might have been avoided. Now such first motions which come upon us, without our knowledge and against our wills, are only the exercise of our virtues, when presently checked and contradicted; but when consented to and delighted in, they then '1 bring forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death," but to be more particular, I shall First show you, When our thoughts may be counted voluntary, and we are justly answerable for them.

Secondly, Propound to you some of the several kinds of evil thoughts.

Thirdly, Lay down some rules for the government of our thoughts.

First, I shall show, when we are justly answerable for our thoughts, or when they may be reckoned voluntary. And here I shall only give these three instances.

I. When evil thoughts are plainly occasioned by any thing that was voluntary in us, then they are to be accounted voluntary and sinful. What our thoughts shall be, depends very much upon the choice of the outward objects that we converse most with in the world. They will be oftenest on those things which we delight most in, and accustom ourselves most to. So far therefore as our company, discourse, employments, books, I may add diet too, contribute to the stirring up in our minds, wanton and lustful, covetous or ambitious, angry or revengeful thoughts, so far are such thoughts voluntary in us, and though they may arise in our minds without any actual consent of our wills, yet we are justly answerable for them, as having by some wilful act of our own disposed ourselves for such thoughts.

By sensuality, and intemperance, and indulging themselves in bodily pleasures, men may so debase their minds, that hardly any thoughts shall offer, but what are beastly and lewd, or at best trifling and useless. Empty, light, vain, foolish, extravagant thoughts, are the natural product of idleness, pride, and luxury. So that, though what we shall think of be not at, all times in our power, yet it is in our power in a very great measure to abstain from those things which are apt to incite evil thoughts, and minister fuel to them; from all incentives or provocations to inordinate or filthy imaginations. And as far as we ourselves give occasion to the.raising evil thoughts in our minds, so far are they voluntary and imputable to us.

2. When evil thoughts proceed from negligence and carelessness, then are we accountable for them: when we keep no guard over our minds, but give them liberty to rove, and let what will come into our thoughts; if they then prove vile and wicked, it is very much our own fault, and we must answer for them. When we set the doors wide open without any watch or guard, we must blame ourselves if dishonest men enter in sometimes as well as good friends.

Our souls are active and busy; and if we do not take care to furnish our minds continually with good and useful matter for our thoughts, they will soon find out something else to exercise themselves upon; and when we let them run at random, and think as it happens, we then tempt the Devil to choose a subject for us, we expose ourselves to the wildness and extravagance of our own vain imaginations; and when we keep- no watch, no wonder though we be over-run with swarms of vagrant thoughts. When, therefore, our evil thoughts arise from neglect and carelessness, they then may be accounted voluntary, and charged on us as sins.

3. Though evil thoughts may be involuntary at first, being occasioned by what we could not avoid hearing or seeing, or coming upon us unawares, or proceeding from the habit of our bodies, or impulses and motions of the animal spirits in our brain; yet if we with pleasure entertain and cherish them, this implies the consent of our wills, and they then become greatly sinful in us.

Nay, when such enemies have invaded our minds, if we do not presently raise all the forces we can against them, labor with all our power to quell and root them out, we are reasonably presumed to join with them. My meaning is this, That though evil thoughts at first enter without our leave and consent, yet if afterwards we knowingly indulge them, nay, if we do not straight upon reflection reject them with utter hatred and indignation, wee then stand guilty of them; which some have used to express thus, That "though we cannot hinder the birds from flying over our heads, yet we may.prevent their making of nests in our hair."

The sum of all I have said is this: That evil thoughts are no farther sinful; than they are voluntary, or than they may be helped and avoided: Whenever, therefore, we give manifest occasion to them, by allowing ourselves in such practices as are apt to incite evil thoughts, or when we do not beforehand duly watch against them, or when, if they do at any time arise in our minds, we fail to stifle then as soon and as far as we are able, then they are reckoned to us as sins, and are to be repented of as well as actual transgressions.

Secondly, Having thus briefly shown you when we are in fault if our thoughts be evil; I proceed now, Secondly, to give some account of the nature and kinds of evil thoughts.

And here you must not expect that I should give you a particular enumeration of the several sorts of them, for that would be an impossible thing: " Who can tell how oft he offendeth " Who can declare all the several thoughts that come into a man's mind but in one day or one hour, which yet he would blush to have made known to those he converses with Our thoughts are very nimble and volatile, can wander in a, moment to the utmost ends of the earth, can leap straight from one pole to the other, are as various as the several objects of our senses, and the infinitely different ways whereby they may be disposed, united, or blended together. And if we should be at a loss for external objects to think of, the mind can easily frame objects to itself, and a thousand frenzies and extravagancies, and whimsies and conceits, are the monstrous issues of men's brains: I shall therefore only give some few instances of thoughts undoubtedly evil and sinful. Such are,

1. The representing and acting over sins in our thoughts when we erect a stage in our fancies, and on it, with strange complacence, imagine those satisfactions which yet we dare not, which yet we have not opportunity to bring into outward act. This is by some called speculative wickedness, the dreams of men awake. When we gratify our covetous or impure desires with the feigned representation of those pleasures we have a mind to. Now -such kind of thoughts may be considered with respect to the time present, past, or to come.

(1.) If we consider these imaginations as to the present time, there is no sin so vile and heinous, but a man may become truly guilty of it in the sight of GOD, by imagining it done in his mind, and taking pleasure in such a thought.

Thus the revengeful person, who perhaps has hardly courage to look his enemy in the face, yet in his thoughts can fight him and subdue him, imagine him lying at his mercy, and exercise all manner of cruelty towards him: he may fancy him undone and ruined, and then rejoice in his own mind, that he is thus even with him; and by this means may become guilty of the sins of murder and revenge, though he has not done his enemy the least mischief.

Thus again, modesty, shame, fear of discredit, or some other temporal consideration, may prevail with a man so far, as that he shall never attempt a woman's chastity; but yet if in his thoughts he fancies her present with him, this is the adultery of the heart; our mind then becomes a stew, and is polluted and defiled: and though the actual sin be a sign of more untamed lust, yet this argues the same kind of wickedness.

"Thus he is a thief that covets, though he never rifles another man's goods, if in his imagination only he possesses them: nay, a man may thus contract the guilt of more sins than ever he can possibly act. It is but a little, in reality, that the most ravenous oppressor can grasp to himself, or defraud other men of; but in his thoughts he may swallow empires, and plunder whole towns and cities. Thus a man, even whilst in this place, may stab another, though in Turkey; he may ravish every beautiful woman he sees; rob every man he meets with, and, in the twinkling of an eye, murder whole societies and kingdoms.

For this I take for an undoubted truth, that they who allow themselves in evil thoughts and imaginations, who give way to their ambitious, covetous, or lustful fancies, are not restrained by the fear of GOD from the actual commission of those sins they love to think of; it is some other by consideration, not the sense of their duty and religion: and this, I believe, every one that faithfully examines his own mind will yield, that if he could as freely, and as safely and secretly commit any sin, as he can think of it, he should not stick to do all those things he thinks of with so much joy. Could the revengeful person, whose mind boils with inward spleen and rage, by a thought, with as little danger, and as secure from all knowledge of other men, kill, or wound, or mischief his enemy, as he can desire it in his mind, do you believe he would spare any of his adversaries Could the greedy wretch as secretly get the possession of his neighbor's goods, as he can covet them, I doubt not but every such person would soon actually invade and usurp all those things he now swallows in his imagination. But, farther,

(2.) As to what is past, there is repeating over those sins in our fancies, which we had long before committed, and perhaps, as to the external acts, quite forsaken. When we revive our stolen pleasures in our memories, and run, over all the circumstances of sins long since committed, with new delight, this is much the same as if we lived continually in them. As good men with satisfaction reflect upon a well-spent life, recalling to their minds with joy what at any time they have well done; after the same manner do wicked men, as it were, raise again, by the witchcraft of their filthy imaginations, their past - sins, renew their acquaintance with them, and approbation of them. When weak and impotent, disabled by poverty, age, want of convenience or opportunity for the repeated commission of them, they possess the sins of their youth, and place them ever before them, with the same contentment almost as they first acted or enjoyed them; and thus their souls sin still as much as ever, although, as to the outward act they may be chaste, temperate, and sober. This is certain, we cannot be truly said to have forsaken those sins, the remembrance of which is grateful to us. To think of our evil ways with grief and shame, and to abhor them, is our duty; but to relish them in our thoughts is still to approve of them; it is a sure sign that we have not really renounced the sin, though we may have left it for some accidental reason.

(3.) If we consider evil thoughts with respect to the time to come; the speculative wickedness of men's imaginations shows itself in the wild and extravagant suppositions they make to themselves, feigning themselves to be what they would fain be, and then imagining what, in such circumstances, they would do. GOD only knows how much time men fool away in such childish conceits of becoming great, and rich, and honorable, and how bravely they would then live, how they would please every appetite and humour, Fulfill every desire, have their will in all things, and enjoy perfect ease and content. What preferments and advancements, what success, and prosperous fortune, do some men (especially young men) promise themselves! How do their thoughts go out to meet that pleasure and happiness they so much desire! They feed and live upon the promises of their own hearts beforehand; and as one has well expressed this-vanity, ' They take up beforehand in their thoughts upon trust the pleasures they hope to enjoy, as spendthrifts do their rents, or heirs their revenues, before they come of full age to enjoy them.'

' Well,' says the impatient youth, ' when my parents are once dead, and my time of being subject to masters, tutors, and guardians shall be expired, how merry will the days be, how short the nights, when I shall sin without fear of an angry look, or a severe check, please only myself, 'give no account to any!' Thus his mind is debauched long before his body is entered. These are the first sort of evil thoughts, lewd, or wicked, or trifling and useless imaginations. I shall but just mention some others, as,

2. Unworthy, atheistical, profane thoughts of GOD "saying in our hearts, There is no GOD; " either secretly denying there is any, or wishing there were none; questioning his power and goodness, distrusting his truth or faithfulness, bidding him "depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of his ways. What is the ALMIGHTY, that we should serve him and what profit should we have if we pray to him What advantage will it be to me, if I be cleansed from my sin" ' Here is a deal of bustle about conscience and religion; I will venture as I see a thousand others do; I shall escape as well as the rest of my company.' GOD only knows how many of us suffer such vile thoughts as these to lodge in our breasts.

3. I might instance in our thinking upon things innocent in themselves, which yet become evil because of the seasons of them; that is, because we should then be thinking of better things. For it is certainly lawful to think of our friends, relations, temporal concerns, but then it must be in due time and place; they must not jostle out other thoughts; nay, we must wholly banish them from our minds when we come into GOD’s more especial presence at, our prayers, or at the sacrament, such thoughts are by noo means to be admitted. Ought we to suffer them to wander to the ends of the earth, whilst in show we are engaged in worshipping that GOD who "is a SPIRIT, and will be worshipped in spirit and truth" What man that now hears me would be content that all the several things, not only, that have suddenly come into his mind, but which he has for a considerable time dwelt upon and entertained his mind with during this short exercise, should be here exposed to the whole congregation How many of us have been telling our money, or counting over our bags, or selling or buying in our shops, or ordering our household affairs, or conversing with distant friends Into how many countries have some of us traveled How many persons have we visited How many affairs have we dispatched, to say no worse, since we first this day began divine service

4. I might farther mention envious or fretting thoughts, when our spirits are disquieted and vexed at the prosperity of other men, who are preferred before us, because they have a greater trade, or are• better loved and more respected than ourselves. Or,

5. Anxious thoughts, of future events, multiplying to ourselves endless fears and solicitudes, distracting our minds with unnecessary cares for the things of this life. How many who want nothing they can reasonably desire, render their lives miserable, only by discontented and melancholy thoughts, and ill-boding apprehensions.

6. I might insist on haughty, proud, admiring thoughts of ourselves. How much time do many men spend in considering their own worth and excellencies How do they please themselves with viewing their own accomplishments, and imagining others to have the same opinion of them they have of themselves!

I have not time now to speak of vain, insignificant thoughts, when, as we ordinarily say, we think of nothing; that is, not any thing we can give an account 'of; when our thoughts have no dependence nor coherence one upon the other, which I may call the nonsense of our thoughts; being like the conceits of madmen, or like little boys in a school, who, as long as the master is with them, all regularly keep their places, every one minding his proper work, but as soon as his back is turned, are all straight out of their places, in disorder and confusion; such are our thoughts when we forget to watch over them: but this is an endless subject.

Thirdly, The only thing remaining is, to give some plain rules for the right government of our thoughts.

1. The first rule shall be grounded upon the words of my text: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts." If they proceed from our hearts, then we must look especially after them. In the words therefore of SOLOMON: "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." (Prov. 4: 23.) Thus the Prophet: " Wash thy heart from -wickedness. How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee" (Jer. 4: 14.) By " heart," in 'the Scripture phrase, is ordinarily meant the affections; such as love, hope, fear, joy, desire. Such as men's affections are, such will their thoughts be; we shall certainly think most of those things that we love most, that we fear most, that we desire most. Do we not find it thus in all other instances And were our affections but duly set upon divine and heavenly objects, we should as constantly think of them, as the worldly or ambitious man doth of his honors and riches. Were our hearts but once throughly affected with a sense of God and goodness, and the things of the other world, we should hardly find any room for meaner objects; divine matters would fill our souls, and wholly take up our minds. If we once really loved GOD above any present enjoyment, it would be impossible that things sensible should exclude the thoughts of him out of our minds, or that we could pass any considerable time without some addresses to him. Have we a business of such infinite moment depending upon those few hours that yet remain of our lives; and have we time and leisure to spend whole days in unprofitable dreams, in the mean time forgetting the danger we are in, and the only necessary work we have to do

Here then must the foundation be laid, in setting our affections upon things above, in frequent considering the absolute necessity of our duty in order to our happiness, until we love religion, and then holy, pious, and devout thoughts will be easy, free, and natural to us. It is a vain thing to persuade you to look after your thoughts, whilst your minds are estranged from GOD; but a renewed mind, a renewed heart, as the Scripture calls it, would produce new thoughts. As the fountain is, such will the streams be; " where the treasure is, there will the heart be also; " "an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit, nor can we gather figs from thorns, or grapes from thistles: “ evil thoughts, lusts, foolish imaginations, are the genuine spawn of a wild, dishonest mind. "When I was a child," says ST. PAUL, "I thought as a child, I spoke as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." As it is impossible for a wise man, after he is arrived to years of understanding, and his mind is furnished with the knowledge of the best things, to please himself with those childish imaginations, which were the entertainment of his younger years so it is impossible for any who is deeply touched with the things of GOD, and has a due sense of those things which are more excellent, to endure such silly, worldly, extravagant thoughts as possessed his soul, and pleased him in the days of his ignorance and folly. "How do I love thy law!" says DAVID; "it is my meditation day and night." This is the first rule: Look after your heart and affections.

2. And more particularly, consider what care and art wicked men use to prevent good thoughts; and let us use the same diligence and endeavors to hinder evil thoughts. There is no man that lives in a place where religion is professed, that can go on in a course of sin, without some regret; sometimes his conscience will speak, notions of a GOD and a future state will be stirring, and are apt to disturb the repose of the most secure and hardened sinner. Now to one resolvedly wicked, such thoughts cannot but be unwelcome; therefore doth he strive all that he can to stifle them in their very first rise: he would fain run away from himself; he chooses any diversion, entertainment, or company, rather than attend to the dictates of his own mind; is afraid of nothing so much as being alone and unemployed, lest such ghastly apprehensions should crowd in upon him: he keeps himself always in a hurry and heat, and by many other artifices endeavors to shut all sober thoughts out of his mind, until, by often quenching the motions of GOD’s good SPIRIT, and resisting the light of his own conscience, he by degrees loses all sense of good and evil, and arrives at his wished-for state of sinning without disturbance or interruption.

Now if we would but use equal diligence and watchfulness to prevent or expel evil' thoughts, our minds would be in a great measure free from their importunity; would we but presently reject them with the greatest disdain, use all manner of means to fix our minds on more useful subjects, avoid all occasions, or provocations, or incentives to evil thoughts, as carefully as wicked men do reading a good book, we certainly should find our minds no longer pestered with them, and they would become as uneasy to us as now they are pleasant and grateful.

3. Would you prevent evil thoughts Above all things avoid idleness. The spirits of men are busy and restless; something they must be doing: and what a number of monstrous, giddy, improbable conceits daily fill our brain, merely for want of better employment No better way, therefore, to prevent evil thoughts, than never to be at leisure for them. "I went by the field of the slothful," says SOLOMON, "and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns." When consideration and argument are not able to drive out these wicked companions, yet business will; and therefore I know nothing more advisable, than that we should be always stored with fit materials to exercise our thoughts upon; such as are worthy of a reasonable creature, that is to live for ever. Those who are most busy, yet have some little spaces and intervals of time in which they are not employed. Some men's business is such, as though it employs their hands and requires bodily labor, yet doth not much take up their thoughts. Now all such should constantly have in their minds a treasure of useful subjects to think upon, that so they may never be at a loss how to employ their minds; for many of our evil thoughts are owing to this, that when our time hangs upon our hands, we are to seek what to think of. Let us therefore every one resolve thus with ourselves: The first leisure, the first vacant hour, I will set myself to consider of such and such a subject, and have this always in readiness to confront any evil thoughts that may sue for entrance; for if we do thus, temptations will always find our minds full and prepossessed: and it is a bard case, if neither the visible nor invisible world, neither GOD’s works, nor providences, nor word, can supply us with matter enough for our thoughts.

Another rule I would give is this: That we should live under the due awe of GOD’s continual presence, and bear this always in our minds, that the pure and holy GOD, the Judge of the world, before whose tribunal we must shortly stand, is conscious to every secret thought and imagination that passes through our minds; that he knows them altogether; that GOD is in us all: "One GOD and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all;" (Eph. 4: 6;) that he is present in the most inward recesses of our hearts, and knows every one of those things that come into our minds.

Now who of us is there but must confess, that if his thoughts were all known and open to other men; if his parents, his friends, his neighbors, or enemies, could have certain cognizance of them, he would be infinitely more careful about them than he is; he would not allow himself that liberty which he now takes; he would be as watchful that his thoughts should be orderly, rational, and virtuous, as he is now that his words and actions may be such. And while we profess to believe that the Majesty of heaven and earth is privy to all our wishes, desires, and purposes, observes and takes notice of all the motions of our minds, and that at the last day he will bring every secret thing into judgment, are we not ashamed of showing in his sight such folly, of committing such wickedness in his presence Should we blush to have but a mortal man know all the childish, vain, wanton, lustful thoughts that possess our minds And is it nothing to us that the great GOD of heaven and earth beholds and sees them all Consider this, O vain man, who pleasest thyself in thy own foolish conceits. Consider, there is not a thought that ever thou takest any pleasure in, not a deceit or imagination of thy heart, but what is perfectly " naked and open before that GOD with whom we have to do;" that he is with thee in the silent and dark night, when no other eye seeth thee, when thou thinkest thyself safe from all discovery, and that thou mayest securely indulge thy appetites and inclinations; for "the light and darkness are both alike unto GOD; he compasseth thy path and thy bed, he is acquainted with all thy ways." The due consideration of these things would certainly produce a mighty awe in us, and a suitable care not willingly to entertain any such thoughts as we should be ashamed to have known to all the world, nor ever to suffer any other to remain in our minds, than such as we-should not blush to have written in our foreheads.

For the right government of your thoughts, let me recommend to you, above all things, serious devotion, especially humble and hearty prayer to GOD.' Man is compounded of two natures, a spiritual and a bodily; by our bodies, we are joined to the visible corporeal world, by our souls to the immaterial, invisible world: now as by our outward senses the intercourse is maintained between us and the corporeal world, so by our devotions chiefly, our acquaintance is kept up with the spiritual world. When we lay aside all the thoughts of this lower world, and apply ourselves to the Father of Spirits, we then more especially converse with him, as- far as this state will admit; and the more frequently we do this, the more do we abstract our minds from those inferior objects, which are so apt to entangle our hearts, and take up all our thoughts.

Every devout exercise, conscientiously performed, will season our spirits, and leave a good tincture upon them; it is like keeping good company; a man is by degrees molded and fashioned into a likeness unto them: on the other side, the intermission, neglect, or formal and perfunctory performance of our devotion, will soon breed in us a forgetfulness of GOD and heavenly things; as omitting to speak of an absent or dead friend, or neglecting to call him to our mind, by degrees wears him quite out of our thoughts and memory. So that you see a due sense of GOD upon our minds, and of those things that belong to our greatest interests, is by nothing so well maintained as by our constant devotion; this is like seeing our friends often, or conversing with them every day; it preserves acquaintance with them, it cherishes our love and kindness towards them.

SERMON 3:

 

ON THE RESURRECTION. 1 Coil. 15: 35.

 

But some man will say, How are the dead raised up And with what body do they come

THE Apostle having in the beginning of this chapter established the truth of our SAVIOR'S resurrection from the dead, proceeds to infer from thence the certainty of our own resurrection. " Now if CHRIST be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is CHRIST not risen." (Ver. 1`d, 13.) It cannot now any longer seem impossible to you that GOD should raise the dead, since you have so undoubted an example of it in the person of our blessed LORD, who having been dead is now alive, and has appeared unto many. And to show of what general concern his resurrection was, " the graves were opened," as ST. MATTHEW tells us, " and many bodies of saints which slept, arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection; " showing that the same power " which raised JESUS from the dead, is able also to quicken our mortal bodies."

In my text, the Apostle brings in a skeptical person, objecting against this doctrine of the resurrection: "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come " - Two questions that every one almost is ready to start, especially those who love to cavil at religion; and it has not a little puzzled such as have undertaken to give a rational account of our faith, to give a "satisfactory answer to them. " How can these things be" How is it possible that those bodies should be raised again, and joined to the souls which formerly inhabited them, which many thousand years ago were either buried in the earth, or swallowed up in the sea, or devoured by fire; which have been dissolved into the smallest atones, and those scattered over the face of the earth, and dispersed as far asunder as the heaven is wide; nay, which have undergone ten thousand changes, have fructified the earth, become the nourishment of other animals, and those the food again of men How is it possible that all those little particles which made up, suppose the body of ABRAHAM, should at the end of the world be again ranged and marshaled together, and, unmixed from the dust of other bodies, be all disposed into the same order, figure, and posture, they were before, so as to make the self-same flesh and blood, which his soul at his dissolution forsook

This was one of the last things that the Heathens believed, and is, to this day, a great objection against Christianity. " How are the dead raised up And with what body do they come " In my discourse of these words, I shall

I. Show that the resurrection of the dead, even in the strictest sense, contains nothing in it impossible or incredible.

II. Since it is certain that the body which we shall rise with, though it may be as to substance, the same, yet will be much altered in its qualities; I shall give you a short account of the difference the Scripture makes between a glorified body and this mortal flesh. And,

III. Lastly, I shall draw some practical inferences from the whole.

I. I shall show that the resurrection of the dead, even in the strictest sense, contains nothing in it impossible or incredible. But before I do this, give me leave to lay before you some of the principal reasons and Scriptures upon which it is established. And,-

1. It must be acknowledged that this has been all along the received opinion amongst Christians, that at the last day we shall rise again with the very same flesh which we put off at our death; and that our heavenly bodies will consist of the same substance with our earthly, though in some properties changed. Most of the ancient Fathers believed, that at the general resurrection men should be restored to the very same bodies which they dwelt in here; that their bodies should be then as truly the same with those they died in, as the bodies of those whom our SAVIOR raised when he was upon earth were the same with those they had before; that no other body should be raised but that which slept; and that as our SAVIOR CHRIST arose with his former flesh and bones, and members, so we also, after the resurrection, should have the same members we now use, the same flesh and bones.

2. This has not only been the received opinion of Christians, but also the most plain and easy notion of a resurrection requires it; namely, that the same body which died should be raised again. Nothing dies but the body, nothing is corrupted but the body; the soul goeth upward and returns to God, and therefore nothing else can be said to be raised again, but that body which died and was corrupted. If God give to our souls at the last day a new body, this cannot be called the resurrection of our bodies, because here is no reproduction of the same thing that was before, which seems- to be plainly implied in the word resurrection.

3. There are- many places of Scripture which plainly favor this sense of the article, that the very same flesh shall be raised again; what more plain and express than that of JoB: " Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see GOD; whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another" (Job xix. 26, 27.) And there are others in the New Testament of the same importance.

ST. PAUL, in the fifty-third verse of this chapter, speaking of our body, and the glorious change it shall undergo, tells us, that this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality; now by this corruptible, and this mortal, can only be meant that body which we now carry about with us, and shall one day lay down in the dust. Thus the same Apostle tells us, " He that raised up CHRIST from the dead, shall also quicken our mortal bodies." (Rom. viii. 11.) Now that which shall be quickened, can be nothing else but that very body which is mortal, and died: though the " quickening our mortal bodies by the Spirit of CHRIST dwelling in us," may also be understood, in a metaphorical sense, of the first resurrection from the death of sin to the life of righteousness.

But farther: The mention and description the Scripture makes of the places from whence the dead shall rise, plainly prove that the same bodies which were dead shall revive again. Thus we read in Dan. 12: 2, " That those that sleep in. the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting.life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt Where we may yet farther observe, that the metaphor of sleeping and awaking, by which our death and resurrection are here expressed, imply, that when we rise again, our bodies will be as much the same with those we lived in, as they are, when we awake, the same with those we had before we laid down to sieep. Thus again it is said, " The hour is coming, in which all that are in,the graves shall bear his voice, and shall come forth they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." (John 5: 28, 29.) And, " The sea gave up the dead which were in i-t, and they were judged every man according to their works." (Rev. 20: 13.) Now if the same flesh shall not be raised again, what need is there of ransacking the graves at the end of the world The sea can give up no other bodies but the same which it received; nor can the grave deliver up any, but only those that were laid therein: if it were not necessary that we should rise with the same bodies, the graves need not be opened, but our flesh might be permitted to rest there forever. To this may be added, that ST. PAUL tells its in the third chapter to the Philippians, that our Savior " shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body." Now this vile body can be no other than this which we are now clothed with, restored to life again.

4. If we consider the instances either of those who did immediately ascend up into heaven, or of those who after death were restored to life, they all confirm this opinion, that at the last day we shall rise again with the same bodies which we had here. ENOCH and ELIAS, of old, were translated into heaven in their terrestrial bodies; and therefore may be supposed now to live there with the same bodies they had when they were here upon earth. And those three that were raised from the dead in the Old Testament, and those that were recalled to life by our SAVIOUR, or accompanied him at his resurrection, all appeared again in the same bodies they had before their dissolution. Now these were examples and types of the general resurrection, and therefore our resurrection must resemble theirs, and we also must appear at the last day with the same bodies we lived in here. Even our SAVIOR himself, who was "'the first-fruits of them that slept," did raise his own body, according to that prediction of his: " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will build it up again." Nay, he appeared to his disciples with the very prints of the nails in his hands and feet, and with all the other marks of his crucifixion: " Behold my hands and my feet," says he, that it is I myself; handle me, and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as ye see me have From whence it follows, that we, in our resurrection, shall be conformable to our SAVIOR, and resume the very same bodies that were laid in the sepulcher.

I come now to show, that there is nothing in all this impossible or incredible; which I shall do by prodding these three things 1. That it is possible for GOD to, observe, and distinguish, and preserve unmixed, from all other bodies, the particular dust and atoms into which the several bodies of men are dissolved, and to re-collect and unite them together, how far soever dispersed asunder.

2. That God can form the dust so re-collected together, of which the body did formerly consist, into the same body it was before. And,

3. That when he has made this body, he can enliven

it, and make it the same living man, by uniting it to the same soul and spirit that used formerly to inhabit there. It cannot be denied, but that these three things express the whole of the resurrection in the strictest sense.

1. God can observe, distinguish, and preserve unmixed, from all other bodies, the particular dust and atoms into which the several bodies of men are dissolved, and re-collect and unite them together, how far soever dispersed asunder. Go n is infinite in wisdom, power, and knowledge, " He knoweth the number of the stars, and calls them all by their names; he measureth the waters in the hollow of his hand, and metes out the heavens with a span, and comprehends the dust of the earth in a measure; he numbers the hairs of our head, and not so much as a sparrow falls to the ground without his knowledge: " he can tell the number of the sands of the sea shore, as the Heathens used to express the immensity of his knowledge; and, is it at all incredible that such an infinite understanding should distinctly know the several particles of dust into which the, bodies of men are mouldered, and plainly discern to whom they belong, and observe the various changes they undergo in their passage through several bodies Why should it be thought strange, that He who at first formed us, a whose eye did see our substance, yet being imperfect, and in whose book all our members were written; from whom our substance was not hid, when we were made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts " of the earth, should know every part of our bodies, and every stool whereof they are composed The curious artist knows every pin and part of the watch or machine which he frames, and if the little engine should fall in pieces, and all the parts of it he in the greatest horror and confusion, yet he can soon rally -them together, and as easily distinguish one from another, as if every one had its particular mark. He knows the use of every part, can readily assign to each its proper place, and exactly dispose them into the same figure and order they were in before and can we think the almighty Architect of the world dbth not know whereof we are made, or is not acquainted with the several parts and materials of which this earthly tabernacle is composed The several corporeal beings that now constitute this universe, at the first creation of the world lay all confused in a vast heap, till by the voice of the Omnipotent they were separated one from the other, and framed into these distinct bodies and cannot the. same power, at the consummation of all things, out of the ruins of the world, collect the several relics of our corrupted bodies, reduce them each to their proper places, and restore them to their primitive shapes and figures, and frame them into the same bodies they were parts of before All the particles into which men's bodies are at-last dissolved, however they may seem to us to he carelessly scattered over the face of the earth, yet are safely lodged by GOD’s wise disposal in several receptacles and repositories till the day of the restitution of all things; *, says TERTULLIAN, they are preserved in the waters, in birds, and beasts, till the sound of the last trumpet shall summon them, and recall them all to their former habitations.

But the chief objection against what I am now pleading for, is this: That it may happen, several men's bodies may consist of the same matter: for the bodies of men are often devoured by beasts and fishes, and the flesh of these is afterwards eaten by other men, and becomes part- of their nourishment, till at last the same particles of matter come to belong to several bodies; and it is impossible that at the resurrection they should be united to them all.

Or, to express it shorter, it is reported of some whole nations, that they devour the bodies of other men; so that these must necessarily borrow great part of their bodies of other men; -and if that which was part of one man's body, comes afterwards to be part of another man's, how can both rise at the last day with the same bodies they had here To this it may be easily replied, that but a very inconsiderable part of that which is eaten, and descends into the stomach, turns into nourishment; the far greater part goes away by excretions and perspirations; so that it is not at all impossible but God, who watcheth over all things by his providence, and governs them by his power, may order that what is really part of one man's body, though eaten by another, yet shall never come to be part of his nourishment; or else if it doth nourish him, and consequently becomes part of his body, that it shall wear off again, and before his death be separated from it, that so it may remain in a condition to be restored to him who first laid it down in the dust. And the like may be said of men-eaters, if any such there be, that GOD by his wise providence may take care, either that they shall not be at all nourished by other men's flesh, or if they be, and some particles of matter which formerly belonged to other men be adopted into their bodies, yet they shall yield them up again before they die, that they may be in a capacity of being restored at the last day to their right owners.

2. Of this dust, thus preserved and collected together, GOD can easily rebuild the very same bodies which were dissolved. That this is possible, must be acknowledged by all that believe that Go n formed ADAM of the dust of the ground. If the body of man be dust after death, it is no other than what it was originally; and the same power that at first made it of dust, may as easily remake it, when it is reduced to dust again.

Nay, this is no more wonderful than the formation of a human body in the womb, which is a thing that we have daily experience of, which, without doubt, is as great a miracle, and as strange an instance of the divine power, as the resurrection of it can be; and were it not so common a thing, we should as hardly be brought to believe it possible, that such a beautiful fabric as the body of a man is, with nerves, and bones, and flesh, and veins, and blood, and the several other parts whereof it consists, should be raised out of those principles of which we see it is made, as now we are, that hereafter it should be rebuilt, when it is crumbled into dust. Had we only heard or read of the wonderful formation of the body of man, we should have been as ready to ask, ` How are men made

And with what bodies are they born' as now we are, when we hear of the resurrection, a How are the dead raised up And with what bodies do they come"

3. When GOD has raised again the same body out of the dust into which it was dissolved, he can enliven it, and make it the same living man, by uniting it to the same soul and spirit which used formerly to inhabit there. And this we cannot, with the least show of reason, pretend impossible to be done, because we must grant that it has been already often done. We have several undoubted examples of it in those whom the Prophets of old, and our blessed SAVIOR and his Apostles, raised from the dead. Nay, our SAVIOR himself, after he was dead and buried, rose again, and appeared alive unto his disciples and others, and was sufficiently known and owned by those who had accompanied him, and conversed with him for many years together, and that not presently, but after long doubting and hesitation, upon undeniable conviction and proof, that be was the very same person they had seen expiring upon the cross.

Thus I have endeavored to show you, that in the strictest notion of the resurrection there is nothing that is absurd or impossible, or above the power of such an infinite being as God is.

I conclude this head, therefore, with that question of ST. PAUL: "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead" (Acts 26: S.) The change from death to life is not so great as that from nothing into being; and if we believe that GOD, by the word of his power, at first made the heavens and the earth of no preexistent matter, what reason have we to doubt, but - that the same GOD, "by that mighty power whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself," can 'also raise to life again those who were formerly alive, and have not yet wholly ceased to be And though we cannot answer all the difficulties and objections which the wit of men (whose interest it is that their souls should die with their bodies) has found out to puzzle this doctrine with; though we cannot fully satisfy our minds about the manner how it will be done, or the nature of those bodies we shall rise with, yet this ought not- in the least to shake or weaken our belief of this most important article. Is it not sufficient that an almighty Being, with whom nothing is impossible, has solemnly promised, that he will reanimate our mortal bodies, and after death raise us to life again Let those who presume to mock at this glorious hope of all good men, and are continually raising objections against it, first try their skill upon the ordinary appearances of nature, which they have every day before their eyes; let them rationally solve and explain every thing that happens in this world, of which themselves are witnesses, before they think to move us from the belief of the resurrection, by raising some difficulties about it, when Omnipotency itself stands engaged for the. performance of it. Can they. tell me how their own bodies were framed, and fashioned, and curiously wrought' Can they give me a.plain and satisfactory account by what orderly steps and degrees this glorious and stately structure, consisting of so many several parts and members, which discovers so much delicate workmanship and true contrivance, was at first erected How was the first drop of blood made, and how came the heart, and veins, and arteries to receive and contain it Of what, and by what means, were the nerves and fibers made What fixed those little strings in their due places and situations, and fitted and adapted them for those several uses for which they serve

What distinguished and separated the brain from the other parts of the body, and placed it in the head, and filled it with Animal spirits to move and animate the whole body How came the body to be fenced with bones and sinews, to be clothed with skin and flesh, distinguished into various muscles Let them but answer me these, and all the. other questions I could put to them about the formation of their own body, and then I willingly undertake to solve all the difficulties they can raise concerning the resurrection of it. But if they cannot give any account of the formation of that body they now live in, but are forced to have recourse to the infinite power and wisdom of the first Cause, the great and sovereign Orderer and Disposer of all things; let them know that the same power is able also to quicken it again after it is returned to dust. Let us then hold fast what is plainly revealed, namely, that all those who love and fear God shall be raised again after death the same men they were before, and live for ever with God in unspeakable happiness.

Thus I have endeavored to show the possibility of a resurrection in the strictest sense; I now proceed to the second thing I propounded, which was,

II. To give a short account of the difference the Scripture makes between a glorified body and this mortal flesh.

But before I do this, I shall premise, that all our conceptions of the future state are very dark and imperfect. We are sufficiently assured that we shall all after death be alive again, the same persons we were here; and that those that have done good shall receive glory, and honor, and eternal life. But the nature of that joy and happiness which is provided for us in the other world, is not so plainly, revealed; this we know, that it vastly surpasses all our imaginations, and that we are not able in this imperfect state to conceive the greatness of it; we have not words big enough fully to express it; or if it were described to us, our understandings are too narrow to comprehend it. And therefore the Scriptures, from which alone we have all we know of a future state, describe it

either, first, negatively, by propounding to us the several evils we shall then be totally freed from or else, secondly, by comparing the glory that shall then be revealed, with those things which men most value here; whence it is called an inheritance, a kingdom, a throne, a crown, a sceptre, a rich treasure, a river of pleasures, a splendid robe, and, an "exceeding and eternal weight of glory." All which do not signify to us the strict nature of that happiness which is promised us in another world, which doth not consist in any outward sensible joys or pleasures; but these being the best things which this world can bless us with, which men ordinarily most admire and value, are made use of to set out to us the transcendent blessedness of another life, though indeed it is quite of another kind. These are only little comparisons to help our weak apprehensions; but we shall never fully know the glories of the other world until we enjoy them. However, so much of our future happiness is revealed, as may be sufficient to raise our affections above the empty shadows and fading beauties, and flattering glories, of this lower world; to make-us sensible how mean our present joys are, and to excite our best endeavors towards the attainment of it, whatever difficulties and discouragements we may meet with in this life; though all that can be said, or we know of it, comes infinitely short of what one day we shall feel and perceive, and be really possessed of.

Having premised this, I come to consider what change will be wrought in our bodies at the resurrection, which is no small part of our future happiness. Now this change, according to the account the Scriptures give of it, will consist chiefly in these four things:-I. That our bodies shall be raised immortal and incorruptible. 2. That they shall be raised in glory. 3. That they shall be raised in power. 4. That they shall be raised spiritual bodies.

All which properties of our glorified bodies are mentioned by ST. PAUL: " So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body." (I Cor. 15: 42-44.) And the explication of these words will give us the difference between the glorified body which we shall have in heaven, and that vile earth which we are now burdened with.

1. The bodies which we shall have at the resurrection will be immortal and incorruptible: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, 'and this mortal must put on immortality." (Ver. 53.) Now these words, " immortal," and "incorruptible," do not only signify that we shall die no more, (for in that sense the bodies of the damned are also raised immortal and incorruptible,) but they denote farther a perfect freedom from all those bodily evils which sin has brought into the world, and from whatever is penal, afflictive, or uneasy to us; that our bodies shall not, be subject to pains or diseases, or those other inconveniences to which they are now obnoxious. This is called in Scripture " the redemption of our bodies; " the freeing them from all those evils and maladies which they are here subject to. Were we at the general resurrection to receive the same bodies again, subject to those frailties and miseries which in this state we are forced to wrestle with, I much doubt whether a wise considering person, left to his choice, would willingly take it again whether he would not choose to let it he still rotting in the grave, rather than consent to be again bound fast to all eternity to such a cumbersome clod of earth. Such a resurrection as this would indeed be what PLOTINUS calls it:*, ' a resurrection to another sleep.' It would look more like a condemnation to death again, than, a resurrection to life.

The best thing that we can say of this tabernacle of clay, the tomb and sepulchre of our souls, is, that it is a ruinous building, and it will not be long before it be dissolved and tumbled into dust; that it is not our home, or resting place, but that we look for another house, " not made with hands, eternal in the heavens;" that we shall not always be confined to this doleful prison, but that in a little time we shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption; and, being disengaged and set free from this burden of flesh, shall be admitted "into the glorious liberty of the children of GOD." Alas! what frail and brittle things are these bodies of ours! How soon are they disordered! To what a troop of diseases, pains, and other, infirmities, are they liable! And how doth distemper or weakness disturb our minds, interrupt our ease, and make life itself a burden! Of how many several parts and members do our bodies consist! And if any one of these be disordered, the whole man suffers with it; if but one of these slender veins, or tender membranes, or little nerves and fibres, whereof our flesh is made up, be either cony tracted or extended beyond its due proportion, or obstructed, or corroded by any sharp humour, or broken, what torment and anguish Both it create! How doth it pierce our souls with grief and pain! Nay, when our _bodies are at their best, what pains do we take, to what drudgeries are we forced to submit, to serve their necessities, to provide for sustenance, and supply their wants; to repair their decays, to preserve them in health, and to keep them tenantable, in some tolerable fitness for the soul's use! We pass away our days with labor and sorrow, in mean and servile employments, and are continually busying ourselves about such trifling matters as are beneath an immortal spirit to stoop to; and all this only to supply ourselves with food and raiment, and other conveniences for this mortal life, and to make provision for this vile flesh, that it may want nothing that it craves or desires. And what time we can spare from our labor, is taken up in resting and refreshing our tired and jaded bodies, and giving them such recruits as are necessary to fit them for work again, and restore them to their former strength and vigor. How are we forced every night to enter into the confines of death., even to cease to be, at least to pass away so many hours without any useful or rational thoughts, only to keep these carcasses in. repair, and make them fit to undergo the drudgeries of the ensuing day! In a word, so long as these frail, weak, and dying bodies, subject to so many evils and inconveniences both within and without, are so closely united to our souls, that not so much as any one part of them can suffer, but our souls must be affected with it; it is impossible we should enjoy much ease or rest, when it is in the power of so many thousand contingencies to rob us of it. But our hope and comfort is, that the time will shortly come when we shall be delivered from this burden of flesh; " when GOD shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow; nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away; when we shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on us, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and shall lead us to living fountains of waters." 0! when shall we arrive at those happy regions, where no complaints were ever heard, where we shall all enjoy a constant and uninterrupted health and vigor both of body and mind, and never more be exposed to pinching frosts or scorching heats, or any of those inconveniences which incommode this present pilgrimage When we have once passed from death to life, we shall be perfectly eased of all that troublesome care of our bodies, which now takes up so much of our time and thoughts; we shall be set free from all those tiresome labors, which here we are forced to undergo for the maintenance and support of our lives, and shall enjoy - a perfect health, without being vexed with any nauseous medicines, or tedious courses of physic for the preservation of it. Those robes of light and glory which we shall be clothed with at the resurrection of the just, will not stand in need of those careful provisions, or crave those satisfactions, which it is so grievous to us here either to procure or be without. "But they," as our SAVIOR tells us, " which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage, neither can they die any more;" for they are *, equal to angels; they shall live such a life as the holy angels do. Whence TERTULLIAN calls the body we shall have at the resurrection, *,angelifed flesh, which shall neither be subject to those weaknesses and decays, nor want that daily sustenance and continual recruit which these mortal bodies cannot subsist without. " Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but GOD shall destroy both it and them." This is that happiness which 'all good men shall enjoy in the other world: which, according to a heathen Poet, may be thus briefly summed up, *; ' a mind free from all pains and diseases.' Thus our mortal bodies shall be raised immortal; they shall not only, by the power of GOD, be always preserved from death, for so the bodies we have now, if God please, may become immortal; but the nature of them shall be so wholly changed, that they shall not retain the same principles of mortality; so that they who are once clothed with them, as our SAVIOR tells us, "cannot die any more."

2. Our bodies shall be raised in glory. " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their FATHER." (Matt. 13: 43.) Our heavenly bodies in brightness and glory shall contend with the splendor of the sun itself: a resemblance of this we have in the lustre of MOSES'S face, which, after he had conversed with GOD in the mount, did shine so gloriously, that the children of Israel were afraid to come near him, and therefore when he spake to them, he was forced to cast a veil over his face to eclipse the glory of it: and that extraordinary and miraculous majesty of Sr. STEPHEN'S countenance seems to be a presage of that future glory which our heavenly bodies shall be clothed with: "And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." That is, they saw a great light and splendour about him;- and if the bodies of saints sometimes appear so glorious here on earth, how will they shine in -the other world, when they shall be made like unto CHRIST'S own glorious body For so ST.' PAUL tells us, that "CHRIST will fashion our vile bodies like unto his glorious body." ' Now, how glorious the body of CHRIST is, we may guess by the visions of the two great Apostles, ST. PETER and ST. PAUL.

The former of them, when he saw the transfiguration of our SAVIOR, when "his_ face did shine as the sun, and his raiment became- shining, and white as snow," was at the sight of it so transported- and overcharged with joy and admiration, that he was in a manner besides himself, for he knew not what he said. When our SAVIOR discovered but a little of that glory which he now possesses, and will, in due time, communicate to his followers, yet that little of it made the place seem a paradise; and the disciples were so taken with the sight of it, that they thought they could wish for nothing better than always to live in such pure light, and enjoy so beautiful a sight. "It is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles; " here let us fix and abide for ever. And if they thought this so great a happiness, only to be where such- heavenly bodies were present, and to behold them with their eyes, how much greater happiness must they enjoy, who are admitted to dwell in such glorious mansions, and are themselves clothed with so much brightness

The other appearance of. our blessed SAVIOR after his ascension into heaven, to ST. PAUL, as he was traveling to Damascus, was so glorious, that it put out his eyes; his senses were not able to bear a light so refulgent: Such glorious creatures will our LORD make us all, if we continue his faithful servants and followers; and we shall be so wonderfully changed, by the word of his power, from what we are in this vile state, that the bodies we now have will not be able so much as to bear the sight and presence of those bodies which shall be given us at the resurrection.

3. Our bodies shall be "I raised in power." This is that agility of our heavenly bodies, the nimbleness of their motion, by which they shall be rendered most obedient and able instruments of the soul. In this state our bodies are no better than clogs and fetters which confine and restrain the freedom of the soul: " The corruptible body," as it is in the Wisdom of SOLOMON, "presseth down the, soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that muses upon many things." Our dull, sluggish, and inactive bodies are often unable, oftener unready, to execute the orders, and obey the commands of our souls; so that they are rather hindrances to the soul, than any ways useful to her. But in the other life, as the Prophet ISAIAH tells us, "They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint: " (Isa. xl. 31:) Or, as another expresses it; "They shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble; "' the speed of their motion shall be like that of devouring fire in a heap of dry stubble, and the height of it shall surpass the towering flight of the eagle; for they shall "meet the LORD in the air," when he comes to judgment, and afterwards mount up with him into the highest heavens. This earthly body is continually grovelling on the ground, slow and heavy in its motions, listless and soon tired with action; and the soul that dwells in it is forced, as it were," to drag and hale it along; but our heavenly bodies shall be as free, as active, and 'nimble as our very thoughts are.

4. And, lastly, Our bodies shall be "raised spiritual bodies; " not of a spiritual substance, for then the words would imply a contradiction; it being impossible that the same thing should be both a spiritual and a bodily substance. Spiritual here is opposed, not to corporeal, but to natural or animal; and by it is expressed the subtlety, and tenuity, and purity of our heavenly bodies. Yet I would rather explain it thus: In this state our spirits are forced -to serve our bodies, and to attend their leisure, and depend' upon them in most of their operations; but on the contrary, in 'the other world our bodies shall wholly serve our spirits, and minister unto them, and depend upon them. So -tiiat by a natural body, I understand a body fitted for this lover and sensible world, for this earthly state; by a spiritual body, such a one as is suited 'to a spiritual state, to an invisible world, to such a life as the angels lead in heaven. And indeed this *is the principal difference between this mortal body, and our glorified body.

This flesh, which now we are so apt to doat upon, how doth it hinder us in all our religious devotions, How soon Both it jade our minds, when employed in divine meditations; how easily by its bewitching pleasure doth it divert them from such noble exercises "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death" Who shall Death -shall. That-shall give us a full and final deliverance. When once we have obtained the resurrection unto life, our flesh shall cease to vex our souls; and being itself spiritualized, purified, exalted, and freed from this earthly grossness, shall become a most fit and proper instrument of the soul in all her divine and heavenly employment,, It shall not be weary of singing praises unto GOD Almighty through infinite ages: it shall want no respite or refreshment, but its meat and drink shall be to do the will of GOD.

In these things chiefly consists the difference between those bodies which we shall- have at the resurrection, and this mortal flesh-; which we can but very imperfectly either conceive or express: but yet from what has been discoursed on this subject, it doth sufficiently appear that a glorified body is infinitely more excellent than that which we now carry about with us. The only thing remaining is,

III. And lastly, To draw some practical inferences from all I have said on this subject. I shall but just mention these five, and leave the improvement of them to your own private meditations.

1. From what I have said, we may learn the best way of preparing ourselves to live in those heavenly and spiritual bodies which shall be bestowed upon us at the resurrection; which is, by cleansing and purifying our souls still more and more from all fleshly filthiness, and weaning ourselves from this earthly body, and all sensual pleasures. We should begin in this life to loosen and untie the knot between our souls and this mortal flesh, to refine our affections, and raise them from things below, to things above; to take off our hearts, and disengage them from things present and sensible, and to accustom ourselves to converse with things spiritual and invisible; that so our souls, when they are separated from this earthly body, may be prepared to actuate a pure and spiritual one, as having beforehand tasted spiritual delights, and been, in some degree, acquainted with those objects which shall then be presented to us. A soul wholly immersed and buried in this earthly body, is not at all qualified for those glorious mansions which GOD has provided for us: an earthly, sensual mind is so much wedded to bodily pleasures, that it cannot enjoy itself without them, and is incapable of relishing any other, though infinitely to be preferred before them. Nay, such persons that mind only the concerns of the body, and are wholly led by its motions and inclinations; as do,*, as it were, embody their souls, would esteem it a great unhappiness to be clothed with a spiritual and heavenly body. Such glorious bodies would be uneasy to them; they would not know how to behave themselves in them; they would be glad to retire and put on their rags again. But by denying the solicitations of our flesh, and contradicting its lusts and appetites, and weaning ourselves from bodily pleasures, and subduing and mortifying our carnal lusts, we dispose ourselves for another state and when our souls are thus spiritualized, they long for their departure; they are always ready to take wing, and fly away into the other world, where, at last, they will meet with a body suited to their rational and spiritual - appetites.

2. From hence we may give some; account of the different degrees of glory in the other state. For though all good men shall have glorious bodies, yet the glory of them all shall not be equal; they shall all shine as stars, and yet " one star differeth from another star in glory: There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of -the stars; so also is the resurrection of the dead." Some will have bodies more bright and resplendent than others. Those who have done some extraordinary service to their LORD, who have suffered courageously for his name; or those who by the constant exercise of severity and mortification have attained a greater measure of purity and holiness than others, shall shine as stars of the first magnitude: " And they that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." (Dan. 12: 3.) It is certain that the purest and most spiritual bodies shall be given to those who are most fitted for them, to the most heavenly and spiritual souls; so that this is no little encouragement to us to make the greatest proficiency we can possibly in the ways of virtue; since the more we wean ourselves from these sensible objects, the more glorious and heavenly will even our bodies be at the resurrection.

3. Let this consideration engage us patiently to bear those afflictions, sicknesses, and bodily pains, which we are exercised with in this life. "The time of our redemption draweth nigh; " let us but hold out a while longer, and all tears shall be wiped from our eyes, and we shall never sigh nor sorrow any more. And how soon shall we forget all the misery we endured in this earthly tabernacle, when once we are clothed with that house which is from above

We are now but in our journey towards the heavenly Canaan, are pilgrims and strangers here, and therefore must expect to struggle with many difficulties; but it will not be long before we shall come to our journey's end, and that will make amends for all. We shall then be in -a quiet harbor, out of the reach of those storms wherewith we are here encompassed: we shall be at home, at our FATHER's house, no more exposed to those inconveniences which, so long as we abide in this tabernacle of clay, we are subject to. And let us not forfeit all this happiness only for want of a little more patience and constancy but let us hold out to the end, and we shall receive abundant recompense for all the trouble of our passage, and be in perfect endless rest and peace.

4. Let this especially arm us against the fear of death; for death is now conquered, and can do us no hurt. It then separates us indeed from this body for a while, but it is only at we may receive it again far more pure and glorious. It takes away our old rags, and bestows upon us royal robes: Either, therefore, let us lay aside the profession of this hope of the resurrection unto life, or else let us with courage expect our dissolution, and with patience bear that of our friends and relations. "Woe is us, who are forced still to sojourn in Mesech, and to dwell in the tents of Kedar " For bow can it be well with us so long as we are chained to these earthly carcasses As God, therefore, said once to JACOB, "Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will go down with thee, and I will surely bring thee up again; " so may I say to you, Fear not to go down into the house of rottenness; fear not to lay down your heads in the dust; for GOD will certainly bring you out again, and that after a much more glorious manner. Let death pull down this house of clay, since God has undertaken to rear it up again infinitely more splendid and useful.

5. And, lastly, Let us all take care to live so here, that we may be "accounted worthy to obtain the other world, and the resurrection from the dead.", Let us "rise," in a moral sense, " from the death of sin to the life of righteousness," and then the second death shall have no power over us. A renewed and purified soul shall not fail of an heavenly and glorified body; but a sensual and worldly mind, as it has no affection for, so can it find no place in, those pure regions of light and happiness.

Since, therefore, we have this comfortable hope of a glorious resurrection to life eternal, let us "purify ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit; " let us hold fast our profession, and steadfastly adhere to our duty, whatever we may suffer by it here, as knowing "we shall reap, if we faint not." And this is ST. PAUL'S exhortation, with which he concludes his discourse of the resurrection 11 Therefore, my beloved Brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the LORD; forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the LORD."