shall never taste of death. I am the resurrection and the life: he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die ; and he that believeth in me, although he were dead yet shall he live," ch. xi. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection," Rev. xx. "The second death shall never have any power upon him." In a word, the gates of hell, that is to say, Death, cannot prejudice them who are settled upon Jesus Christ, the rock of eternity. This merciful Saviour hath also delivered us from the spiritual death, Eph. ii. "For we being dead in our trespasses and sins, he hath quickened us, and raised us up together unto newness of life," Col. ii. He hath carried our sins in his body upon the cross, that, he dying unto sin, we might live unto righteousness. We are buried with him in his death by baptism, that as Jesus Christ is raised from the dead by the glory of God the Father, we also should waik in newness of life, 1 Pet. ii. "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Jesus Christ shall enligh ten thee," Eph. v. For by his death he hath not only reconciled us to God the Father, Rom. vi. Col. i. but he hath also procured to us the Holy Spirit, new heart, and imprints the image of xxxvi. 2 Cor. v. He makes us become new creatures, and regenerates us by the incorruptible seed, 1 Pet. i. This is that which the scriptures name the first resurrection, Rev, xx. St. Peter was ravished in admiration at this great and wonderful benefit, and therefore he acknowledged it; "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Pet. i. God discovered to the prophet Ezekiel a field covered with dry bones, and commanded him to prophesy upon these bones, Ezek. xxxvii. At the prophet's command they began to draw near to one another; then the nerves began to appear, the flesh to grow, and to be covered

that creates in us a his holiness, Ezek.

with

with skin; but there was no life, till God commanded the prophet to prophesy again, "Thus saith the Lord, Spirit, come from the four winds, blow upon these dead bodies, and let them rise from the dead." Then the Spirit entered into them, they began to revive, and they stood upon their legs. This is the lively and true image of the first resurrection; for the Spirit of God, that blows whither it listeth, regenerates us by degrees, Job iii. and the new man is created in our hearts by little and little, as the child grows in the mother's womb.

When Joshua brought the children of Israel into the land of promise, he destroyed not all the Canaanites, Josh. xxiii. there remained some who became scourges in their sides, and thorns in their eyes. Thus our true and spiritual Joshua, who hath let us into the kingdom of his grace, hath not altogether destroyed all our evil affections: some yet remain that are like prickles in our sides, and like swords that pierce through our souls. They yet render our life bitter and unpleasant: therefore we often desire Death to come and put a period to this conflict. Sin was in possession of us, as a strong man armed in an house, but Jesus Christ is entered into our souls, and become master : he hath therefore bound and chained sin, and hath nailed it to his cross. But this furious beast, though he hath received a mortal wound, and is ready to give up the last gasp, yet struggles and foams within us. Our blessed Saviour hath extinguished, with the real stream of his blood, the infernal flames of our cursed affections: but yet there remain in the ashes some sparkles of this devilish fire, that yet cause in us feverish fits. Only this merciful Redeemer, of his infinite goodness, has loosed us from the devil's chains; but that we might have cause to be humble, to'desire the increase of grace, and long for the arrival of his glory, he leaves about us some of the troublesome fetters: by his holy Spirit he files them off by degrees; but one day he will take them away from us,

At

At the voice of this Prince of life, that reaches to the very bottom of our hearts, we are risen from the sepulchre of our vices with 'our grave-clothes about us, as Lazarus when he came out of his tomb. We are like the ancient slaves, who were set at liberty; we bear upon our foreheads the visible marks of our ancient bondage; but one day our Lord Jesus Christ shall cover these marks of infamy and disgrace with an heavenly diadem. If you desire another image of our spiritual condition, fancy to yourselves a dead man cast into a foul pit or sink, unto whom life is restored in a moment; afterwards, by degrees he is washed and cleansed of that filth that covered his body. We were not only dead of a spiritual death, but we were also overwhelmed in anabyss of corruption and filth. The Son of God hath pulled us out of this abyss, and already restored us to life; but the dirt and putrefaction with which we are disfigured he washes away with the water of grace, Zech. xiii. "For there is a fountain open for sin in the house of David," Isa. iv. in which God has promised to wash away all the filth of the daughter of Zion, and all the blood of Jerusalem. And as it happened to the cruel king Adonibezek, when the tribe. of Judah took him prisoner, he lost the thumbs of his hands and the great toes of his feet, but he suffered not death till he came to Jerusalem; thus our great God and Saviour, the prince of the tribe of Judah, hath cut off the strength and power of the old man, who tyrannized in our souls, and has deprived him of his venomous nails with which he wounded our hearts; he hath also given him a mortal wound, but he suffers him to enjoy a languishing life, and will not take away his last breath, until we bring him to the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem.

But to speak more openly; sin is yet in us, but it reigns. not for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has broken its sceptre, and pulled it from the throne; and as he hath taken

from

rom it all command in us, he constrains it to leave the possession of our souls by degrees. As a strong and mighty king who, having won the battle, pursues and drives the enemy, until he hath totally expelled them out of his kingdom; so doth our Saviour deal with sin.

And as it happens to a woman with child in her old age, there are in her body two contrary lives, that of the mother, and that of the child, the one decays and dies insensibly, the child's life grows and increases by degrees; so it is in the faithful and regenerate soul; there are two lives, that of sin, that the scripture names the old man; and that of the new man, which is created according to God in righteousness and true holiness; the one diminishes and draws to its final end; but the other grows and gathers strength, until we arrive to the perfect stature of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Spirit of God every day gets ground of our corruption and weakness.

CHAP. V.

Why we are yet subject to the Corporal or Natural Death, and what advantage we thereby receive in Jesus Christ.

HE wise king teaches us, in the ninth of Ecclesiastes,

THE

that "the same accident happens to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the clean and to the polluted, to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not." These words are to be understood of the several afflictions unto which we are exposed during this mortal life; but we may apply them to the natural death: for "it is appointed unto all men once to die, and after that judgment follows," Heb. ix. "By one man sin is entered into the world, and by sin Death; and thus Death is come upon all men, because they have all sinned," Rom. v. Therefore when Joshua felt

himself

himself feeble and decaying, he told the children of Israel, "That he was going the way of all flesh," Josh. xxiii. And Job complains unto God, "I know that thou wilt reduce me to death, and to the house appointed for all living," Job xx. It was upon this subject that the royal prophet was exercising his meditation, when he cried out, "Who is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he free his soul from the power of the grave?" Psa. lxxxix. And to speak the language of Solomon, "Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern:" that is to say, the back-bone, where marrow is as white as silver, be loosed; when the skull, which is like a precious vessel of gold, be broken; when the vena cava receives no more blood from the liver, the fountain of life; when the lights, which draw in and push forth the breath, move no more; or when the kidneys, which extract the humidity from the veins, and cause it to drop down into the bladder, as into a cistern, begin to fail; "then shall the body return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God that gave it."

To express to us this inevitable fate, Moses reckons all the ancient fathers who have lived longest in the first world : he mentions one who lived 700, others 800, others 890 years, and some near 1000, Gen. v. But when he had well spoken of their deeds, and of their children which they had left behind, he adds, in the conclusion of all,-and then such an one died. Thus our Creator executed upon all men the sentence once pronounced against Adam the father of all mankind, "Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return."

By this means God declared his justice and truth, and accomplished what was signified by the ancient types, Lev. ziv. For according to the laws which God gave to Israel by Moses, the house that was infected with leprosy was to be demolished,