of our faith and hope; we may say, that Jesus Christ is no less able to save us, than Adam was to destroy us. Now Adam having lost both soul and body, we must conclude, that it belongs to Christ to save them both. Therefore the body is to rise again, that it may partake of that salvation or redemption procured to us by this great Saviour:

Sixthly, "As we have borne the image of the first man, who was of the dust of the earth, we must also bear the image of the second man, who came from heaven," 1 Cor.

Now we bear not this image at present in this life; we must therefore bear it in another.

Seventhly, God hath not made a covenant with part of man, but with all man, composed of soul and body. The body must therefore needs rise again, that it might partake of the eternal fruits of glory and happiness, which are promised to us by his divine covenant.

Eighthly, God is not only styled "the Father of spirits, and the God of the spirits of all flesh," Heb. xii. but he declares himself to be "the God of Abraham and of his posterity," Exod. iii. 6. He is not only the God of the soul, or the God of the body alone; but he is the God of believing persons, of both their souls and bodies. From hence it necessarily follows, that the bodies of such as are deceased, are not utterly destroyed; for God will raise them up again. With this argument Christ stopped the mouths of the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection: "Concerning the resurrection of the dead, (said he) have you not read what God himself speaksto you? I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

Ninthly, God hath adopted us to himself by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to make us the

heirs of his kingdom, and co-heirs of his Son. From this passage we may gather a certain assurance of the resurrection; for when this Father of mercies shall see our bodics lying in the dust, out of his tenderness and compassion he will say, These are the bodies of my children, the members of mine only Son. It is not convenient to leave them always in that shameful state, in the bowels of the earth. That love that I bear to them cannot suffer it. Doubtless it was this consideration that caused the apostle to call the redemption of our bodies, Adoption; for by that he assures us, that he shall fetch out of their graves, the bodies of all them whom he hath adopted; and that our future resurrection is an effect, and a necessary consequence, of our adoption.

Tenthly, If we consider death in itself, as it is in its own nature, we shall find it to be the wages of sin, and a punishment of our crimes. Now Jesus Christ hath paid for us these wages, and satisfied for all our sins, abolishing them in his cross. We may therefore conclude, that death is to be destroyed in respect of believers, and that their bodies. must needs rise again.

Eleventhly, St. Paul assures us that Jesus Christ "is the Saviour of his body." Now the mystical body of this great God and Redeemer consists not only in the infinite number of souls purchased with his blood, but also in the union of all bodies that have been the companions of these blessed souls. Therefore as he hath saved our souls from spiritual death and eternal damnation, he must also save our bodies from corporal death, and redeem them from the power of the grave.

Twelfthly, If death did for ever detain our bodies in the grave, we could not say, to speak properly, that our Saviour hath swallowed up death in victory, and that he hath destroyed the sepulchre; for, in such a case, death and the 3 F

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grave would remain victorious, and triumph eternally over these miserable bodies.

Thirteenthly, Our Saviour hath suffered in his soul, and in his body; and by that means hath purchased to himself both our souls and bodies, according to St. Paul's excellent intimation, "You are bought with a price; glorify therefore God in your bodies, and in your souls, that belong unto God." From hence we must conclude, that this glorious Saviour would be deprived of part of that which he hath purchased by his inestimable sufferings, if our bodies always continued in the power of death.

Fourteenthly, The Holy Ghost hath sanctified our bodies, and made them his temples, as St. Paul teacheth us, "Know ye not, that you are the temples of God, and that the Holy Ghost dwelleth in you?" From hence the resur rection of our bodies must needs follow as a necessary consequence. For can we imagine, that God will suffer the temple of his holiness to continue for ever in its ruins and desolations? Will he not rear up again the noble pavilion of his glory, cast down by death?

Fifteenthly, God hath predestinated us to make us conformable to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn amongst many brethren. Now the soul and the body of this only-begotten of the Father, that were separated by death, have been joined again in his glorious resurrection, and received into heaven. Therefore our souls, that depart out of the world to enter into paradise, must return again to their bodies, that we may ascend up to heaven both in soul and body. All the difference that appears between Christ and us, is, that the precious body of our noble Captain could not be subject to corruption, but was raised again as soon as it fell, because of that strict and personal union between

his humanity and divinity; whereas the most part of all other bodies are corrupted, and reduced to ashes.

Sixteenthly, We have the same Holy Spirit, and divine virtue, dwelling in us, which was in our Lord Jesus Christ, the efficient cause of his resurrection, although not in the same. measure and degree; therefore it will produce in us the same. effect, and raise our bodies also from the dust. St. Paul makes use of this reason, in the viiith of the Romans, "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Seventeenthly, The dead body that touched the bones of the prophet Elisha, revived again on a sudden. We have more cause to expect the resurrection of our bodies, because our bodies do not only touch Jesus Christ, dead and risen again, but we are become one body with him, flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone: "I am (said he) the resurrection and the life; he that liveth and believeth in me, shall never die; and he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live," John xi. 25, 26.

Eighteenthly, God hath imprinted upon our bodies his own signet, and the marks of his love; he hath given them visible and palpable assurances of their future blessedness. Under the Old Testament, believers carried the seal of the covenant of God in their flesh; for circumcision was the seal of the righteousness obtained by faith and hope of the blessed immortality. They also are the flesh of the Paschal Lamb, which was a type of Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Likewise, under the new covenant, God consecrates to himself our bodies by the water of baptism, and by the bread and wine of the Lord's supper. So by this means he assures them of a joy

ful

ful and glorious resurrection. For if by eating of this bread, and drinking of this wine, we eat and drink spiritually the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, it is an infallible assurance, that this divine Saviour will raise us up again at the end of the world, as himself promiseth, "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day," John vi. 54.

Nineteenthly, The body of a believer endures many assaults and evils for Christ's sake, and for his holy profession. It is often exposed to the most shameful and most cruel torments, and partakes in the same sufferings as he did on earth. Therefore it is just, that it should partake in his triumphs, glory, and eternal happiness. "It is a faithful saying; for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him. We always bear about in our bo dies the dying of our Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh," 2 Tim. ii. 2 Cor. iv.

Twentiethly, There is nothing that God doth in vain; he never bestows upon us useless desires; therefore to what purpose hath he kindled in us such an earnest longing to see this wretched body out of the misery and corruption unto which sin hath subjected it, and in the fruition of glory and immortality? As St. Paul tells us in these words, "The creature was made subject to vanity; not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God." He adds immediately after, " For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now; and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body," Rom. viii.

Finally,