.dn Expojition of the E'pijlle · --:-------- 1 ~ brought to Judgment : but thefe glorious qualifi~ations, the Saints have at the Ser. XVH. Ref~rreC\:ion,.whichisthepreparauontothe blory in Heaven, this indeed he ~metlted. Thrs Come DIVInes fay. But then the chiefandthelafl: thing f<;r which we are laid to be raifed u · in Chrifl:, is, becau!e that m hrs R.efurreehon he was a common Per!on and r! fcrlted us, and therefore when he role, we arefaid to have rifen. l fuall give~: Come Scriptures pertinent to that ofthe R.efurrection. I will not handle the Point in General as l thought to have done. Col. 1. I 8. He is called, the Beginning, the Firft·born from the Dead. He is cal– led the Beginning, to fhew, that he is the Caufe, the Meritorious Caufe and the efficient Caufe, of all the Glory the Saints fhall have, and of all the Giory they have. But then befides being the Caufe, and the Beginning, and the Foundation he is alto called, the Firjl-bornfrom the Dead. Now the Firfl:-born and all th~ Children tha~ followed were alike: It argues therefore, that Jefus Chrifl: was the exemplary Caufe, that look,what State he had afier his R.efurreCl:ion the Came fhaH we have. But that is not all: The Fir([-born ofthe Males that open~ the Womb was confecrated and dedicated unto God, and they were to pay a R.anfom which was for all the Children that followed, and then they were all freed, by vi~tue of that R.an!om, that was paid for the Firfl:-born; fo that the Fir[[-born, according to the Old Law, did reprefent all the Children that followed. So now doth Jefus Chrifl:, he is called, the Firjl-born from the dead, for when he opened the Womb ofthe Grave and came forth, we were all freed too, by virtue of the R.an– fom, which he paid, and then the Bars of the Grave were broken open too for us in him. ' And to give you another fimilitude, which is an elegant ooe. In I Cor.I 5.23.the Apof\le giving us there an account why we rife, faith he, Every Man in his own Or– der, Chriff the Firff-{mits, afierwardr they that are Chri/l's at his conJing. And, v. 2o. N ow is Chriji rifen from the dead, and become the Pirfi-frslits of them that jleep. This the Apo!Ue fets out by an elegant fimrhtude, whrch I fhall a little open to you, to {hew you that it hath this Scope that I now men~ion. F?r you fhall find at the 37th ver!c, that he compares our dymg, and our rrfing agam, to a Grain of Corn that is fown in the Earth, which cometh up out of the Ground again: Thou Fool, (faith he) tht~t which thou foweft ir not quick_ned, except it die : .And that which thctt Joweft, thou foweft not that Body that foal/be, lmtbareGrain. And our Saviour Chrifl:himfclf, in Jol"' I2. 24. fpeaking of his own death, andri– .fing again, ufeth the l1me fimihtude, Except a Corn ofWheat foU into the Ground, a11d die, it abidcth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit : Therefore, f.1ith he, the Son of Man mufl: die, and rife again, that he may bring forth fruit. Now mark it, if you have recourfe to the old Law, you fhall find, that the firfl:– fruits of the Grain that was fown, and came up again, it was confecrated un– to the Lord, and by virtue of that Confecration, all the Corn that fl:ood up– on the Ground unreaped was confecrated too, and dedicated to an holy ufe, and therefore Men might then enter upon the ufe of it. Now of all the Grains that Iball be {Q_wn of the Bodies of Men, there is Fruit to come up at the R.efur– rection ; bi:It o( them all Jefus Chrifl: was the Fir([-fruits : as he was the firfl:-born from the dead, folle, was the Fir[[-fruits of the rifing of all thefe Grains that fall into the Earth. And he is the firfl:-fruits in this refpect, that whilfi he rifetb, they all that are fown in the Ground, or fhall be fown, (for a common Perfon may reprefent thole to come) they are alfo laid to rife, they are all confecrated to that fl:~te ; even as waving and offering the fir([-fruits to the Lord, all the Corn that fl:ood upon the Ground unreaped was alfo con!ecrated. You fhall find thisMetaphor ufed alfo in lfo. 26. 19. Thy dead Men foal/ live, together with 111y dead Body Jbt~ll they arife: Awah.p a11d {ing, ye that dwell in the DHJ1; for thy Dew ir as the Dew of Herbs, and the E'arth foaU etifl out the Dead. I bring the place but for this, to fhew that the Scripture ufeth the Metaphor ofthe Fruits ri· fing out ofthe Ground, to exprefs the Refurrcction: and the Elegancy ofit, that the Apo!'de callethChri([ the Firfl:-Fr.uits, becaufe he reprefenteth all therefl:, and \hey all rife in him. And therefore, m I Cor. I 5· towards the latter end, when he !)ad fpoken of Chrifl:'s and ofour R.efurr~Qion, he endeth all with aThanks unto .· " Ood :
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