'a64 The 1'offihility of ' the Refu,rreCfion, &c. Vol. IL The Second, for the Encouragementof Obedience and a good Life. I. For our Comfort and Support under the Infirmities and Miferiet of this moi- tal State. The Confideration of the glorious Change of our Bodies at the Re- furre&ion of the Jlift, cannot but be a great Comfort to us, under all Bodily Pain and Sufferings. One of the greateft Burdens of HumaneNature, is the Frailty and Infirmity of our Bodies, the Neceffities they are frequently prefs'd withal, the manifold Difeafes they are liable to, and the Danger and Terrors of Death, to which they are continually fubje& and enflaved. But the Time is coming, if we be careful to prepare our felves for it, when we {hall be cloathed with other Kind of Bodies, free from all thefe Miferiesand Inconveniences which Fleth and Blood is fubje& to. For thefe vile Bodies {hall be changed and fafhioned like to the glorious Body of the Son of God. When our Bodies (hall be raifed to a new Life, they (ball become incorruptible ; For this Corruptible muß put on Incorruption, and thisMortal muffput on Immortality; and then "hall come to paf the Saying that is Written, Death is fmal- lowed up in Viëlory. When this laftEnemy is conquered, there {hall be noflfhly Lofts, nor brutifh Paffions, to fight againfi the Soul ; no Law in our Members, to mar againff the Lary of our Minds; no Difeafe to torment us, no Danger ofDeath to amaze and terrifie us. Then all the Paffions and Appetites of our outward Man (hall be fubje& to the Reafon of our Minds, and our Bodies {hall partake of the Immortality of our Souls. It is but a very little while, that our Spirits {hall be crufh'd, and clogg'd with thefe heavy and fluggith Bodies. At the Re= furreétion they {hall be refined from all Dregs of Corruption, and become Spi- ritual, and Incorruptible, and Glorious, and every way fuited to the A&ivity and Perfe&ion of a glorified Soul, and the Spirits offull Men madeperfef. II. For the Encouragement of Obedience and a good Life. Let the Belief of this great Article of our Faith have the fame Influence upon us, which St. Paul tells us it had upon him, AEis 24. 15, ad. I have hope towards God, that there (hall be a Refurretïion of the Dead, both of the tuft andVnjufi ; and herein do I exercife myfelf always to have a Confcience void ofOfence, towards God and towards Men. The firm Belief of a Refurre&ion to another Life fhould make every one ofus verycareful how we demean our felves in this Life, and afraid to doany Thing, or to neglect anyThing that may defeat our Hopes ofableffed Immortality, and expofeus to theextream and endlefs Mifery of Body and Soul in another Life. Particularly, it fhould be an Argument to us, to glorifse God in our Bodies, and in. our Spirits; and to ufe the Members of the one, and the Faculties of the other, as Inftruments of Righteoufnefs, unto Holinef. We fhould reverence our felves, and take heed, not only how we defile our Souls by finful Paffions, but how we difhonour our Bodies by fenfual and brutifh Lulls ; fince God hath defigned fo great an Honour and Happinefs for both at the Refurreétion. So often as we think of a Bleffed Refurre&ion to eternal Life, and the happy Confequences of it; the Thoughtsof fo glorious a Reward fhould make us dili- gent and unwearied in the Service of fo good a Matter, and fo great a Prince, who can and will prefer us to infinitely greater Honours, than any are to be had in this World. This Inference the Apofile makes from the Do&rine of the Refurre&ion, r Cor. i 5. 58. Therefore, my beloved Brethren, beye ftedfafi and unmoveable, always abounding in the Wort of the Lord; forafmuch asyeknow thatyour Labour "hall not be in vain in the Lord. Nay, we may begin this Bleffèd.State while we are upon Earth, by fettling our Hearts and-Affeelions upon the Things that are above, and havingour Converfations in Heaven, from whence alfo we look for a Saviour, the Lord yefus Chriff ; who (hall change our vile Bodies, that they may be fafbioned like unto his glorious Body, accord- ing to the Working whereby he is able tofubdue all Things to himfel f Now the God of Peace, who brought again from the Dead our Lordyefus Chrifi, the great Shepherd of the Sheep, through the Blood of the everlafting Covenant, make us perfebl inevery goad Work to do his Will, working in us always that ?rhich is pleaf/ng in his Sight, through yefreChrifi to whom be Gloryfor ever. Amen. S E R-
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