1. By taking away the ground of it: and,

2. By producing several texts of scripture, which are utterly inconfiftent with it. And this I fhall the rather do, because fome men have taken a great deal of pains to establish and prove this opinion; though I confess I do not well understand to what end, because there is as little comfort as truth in it.

1. By taking away the only ground, that I know of, of this opinion; and that is, from the frequent metaphor and resemblance in fcripture of death to fleep. And, indeed, those which are dead, are frequently, in fcripture, said to sleep, or to be fallen asleep: But then (which falls out very cross to this opinion) this metaphor of sleep is no where in fcripture applied to the foul, but to the body refting in the grave, in order to its being awakened and raised out of this fleep at the refurrection. And thus it is frequently used, with express reference to the body: Dan. xii. 2. Many of them that fleep in the duft of the earth fhall awake; and, furely, fleeping in the duft of the earth, can only be applied to the body. And more exprefly yet, Matth. xxvii. 52. And the graves were opened, and many bodies of faints which flept arofe. Acts xiii. 36. David, after he had ferved his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, and was laid unto bis fathers, and faw corruption: but he whom God raifed again, faw no corruption, Now that of David which fell asleep and was buried with his fathers, and faw corruption, was certainly his body, and that of our Saviour, which was raised again, and faw no corruption, was likewife his body, according to that prediction concerning him, Thou wilt not leave my foul in hell, in Hades, by which is plainly meant the ftate and place of fouls feparated from the body; nor fuffer thy boly one to fee corruption, that is the body of our bleffed Lord to rot in the grave. 1 Cor. xv. 20. But now is Chrift rifen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that flept; that is, the refurrection of his body out of the grave, is an earnest and affurance, that our bodies alfo fhall be raifed, And, ver. 51. We shall not all fleep, but we shall all he changed; where the Apoftle

poftle undoubtedly fpeaks both of the death and change of thefe corruptible bodies. And fo likewife the text is to be understood of the refurrection of the bodies of the faints, which shall be raised up by the found of the great trumpet, and re-united to their fouls, that they may in perfon accompany Chrift at his coming. So that it is the body, which is every where faid in fcripture to fleep, and not the foul; and if so, then the only foundation of this opinion is taken away.

2. I fhall fhew, that this opinion of the fleep of the foul is utterly inconfiftent with feveral paffages of fcripture, which plainly fuppofe the contrary; as Luke xvi. 22, 23. where, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the different ftates of good and bad men, immediately after their departure out of this life, are described; but they are fo defcribed, that it is evident that the fouls of neither of them are asleep. It is faid of Lazarus, that he was caried by the Angels into Abraham's bofom, and that there he was comforted; and of the rich man, that he was in hell, and there tormented in flames. This was not like to be a ftate of fleep and infenfibility, and the rich man cries out of his torment; and that we may be fure he was awake, he is faid to lift up his eyes. And there is all the reafon that can be to conclude, that Lazarus was every whit as fenfible of the comfort and happiness that he was in, as the rich man was of his torment. Luke xxiii. 43. where our Saviour fays to the penitent thief, this day Jhalt thou be with me in paradife: but not furely to fleep there till the refurrection. Though fome have endeavoured to avoid the force of this text, by referring this day to what goes before, and not to what follows after; as if our Saviour had faid; I fay unto thee this day; and not, this day thou shalt be with me in paradife: which is a foolifh evafion, becaufe, I fay unto thee, neceffarily implies the present time, and there is no need to add, this day; befides that there is no fuch phrase any where used, as I fay unto thee this day, Phil. i. 23. I am in a strait between two, having a defire to depart, and to be with Chrift, which is far better. But if to be with Chrift, be to be in a ftate of sleep and infenfibility, how is that fo much better than to be in the body, ferving God and his church? 2 Cor. VOL. VIII. v. 6,

v. 6. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we fojourn in the body, we are abfent from the Lord; we are confident, I fay, and willing rather to be abfent from the body, and prefent with the Lord. But certainly, to be prefent with the Lord, which the Apoftle here affirms that good men are, fo foon as they depart out of the body, muft needs fignify a ftate of happinefs; which fleep is not, but only of infenfibility. Befides that the Apoftle's argument would be very flat, and but a cold encouragement to Chriftians against the fears of death, that, as foon as we are dead, we fhall fall asleep and become infenfible. But the Apostle ufeth it as an argument why we should be willing to die as foon as God pleaseth, and the fooner the better; because fo foon as ever we quit thefe bodies, we shall be prefent with the Lord: that is, fhall be admitted to the blissful fight and enjoyment of him; and that whilft we abide in the body, we are detained from our happiness. But if our fouls fleep as well as our bodies, till the general refurrection, it is all one whether we continue in the body or not, as to any happiness we shall enjoy in the mean time; which is directly contrary to the main fcope of the Apoftle's argument.

Secondly, What is here meant by God's bringing with him thofe that fleep in Jefus? In general, thefe words fignify a bleffed refurrection, as may be feen by the oppofition: If we believe that Jefus died, and rofe again; even fo them alfo that fleep in Jefus, fhall God bring with him. Where to Chrift's death is oppofed our sleeping in Jefus and to his refurrection, God's bringing us with him; that is, his railing us out of the grave to accompany him at his coming. But the meaning of this expreffion will beft appear, by confidering what follows after the text: For this we fay by the word of the Lord, that is, by fpecial revelation, that we that are alive, and remain at the coming of the Lord fhall not prevent them that are aSleep; that is, we fhall not be taken up into heaven, before the faints who are already dead fhall be raised: but thus it shall be, the Lord himself fhall defcend from heaven with a fhout, and the voice of an Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Chrift fhall rife firft: then we which are alive, and remain, shall be caught up toge

ther

ther with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. The plain meaning of all which is, that first the dead in Chrift fhall be raised and taken up to him in the air, to accompany him at his coming, and thus he shall bring them with him and then those which are alive at his coming, shall be changed and taken up likewife, to meet the Lord in the air. And the fame account the fame Apostle gives us, I Cor. xv. 51, 52. Behold, fays he, I fhew you a myftery, (which is the fame he had faid before in the former text, this we fay unto you by the word of the Lord) I fhew you a mystery, (fo he calls that which was not revealed to all by our Saviour, but to himself particularly) we shall not all fleep, but we shall be changed; that is, all shall not die, but at the coming of Chrift many fhall be found alive and changed; but these fhall have no advantage of those who were dead in Chrift before: for in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, the dead shall be raifed incorruptible; that is, with fpiritual bodies which fhall be no more liable to corruption; and we, that is those that remain then alive, fhall alfo he changed. From all which it appears, that the meaning of this expreffion, those that fleep in Jefus, fhall God bring with him, is this, that the Lord Jefus fhall come in the clouds of heaven, in the glory of his Fatber, and by the found of the trump of God fhall raise the dead in Chrift. And our Saviour tells us more particularly, that this fhall be done by the miniftry of angels, Matth. xxiv. 30, 31. When the Son of man comes with power and great glory, that the Angels fhall with the great found of the trumpet gather the elect from the four winds; and when they are thus gathered, God fhall bring them with him.

And here I cannot but obferve, that the title of God is given to our Saviour, who is to be Judge of the world. Them that fleep in Jefus, fhall God bring with him. And elsewhere our Apoftle fpeaking of this glorious appearance and coming of Chrift to judgment, calls him the great God; Tit. ii. 13. Looking for the blessed hope, and glorious appearance the great God and our Saviour Jefus Chrift. Which cannot be understood of the appearance of two perfons, viz. God the Father, and his Son Jefus Chrift our Saviour; for then the article would have ◊ 2

been

been added to distinguish them, and it would not have been καὶ σωτῆς ἡμῶν, but καὶ τῇ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, as if he had faid, the appearance of the great God, and of Jefus Chrift our Saviour; when as according to the propriety of the Greek, the article being wanting, it ought to be rendered thus, looking for the appearing of Jefus Chrift the great God and our Saviour. This is very much confirmed, in that the fame Apoftle here in the text, fpeaking of Chrift's coming to judgment, calls him God; them fhall God bring with him.

The words thus explained, give us this obfervation; that it is a firm principle of the Chriftian religion, that thofe who die in the faith of Christ, that is, in the ftate of true Christianity, fhall have a bleffed refurrection. If we believe, faith the Apoftle, that Jefus died, and rofe again; even fo them alfo that fleep in him, fhall God bring with him. The Apoftle to the Hebrews reckons the refurrection of the dead, among the principles of the doctrine of Chrift, Heb. vi. 2.

In fpeaking to this obfervation, I fhall do thefe three things:

First, I fhall fhew what it is to die in the faith of Chrift, or in the ftate of a true Chriftian, which is here called, fleeping in Jefus.

Secondly, I fhall fhew how the death and refurrection of Chrift are an argument and proof of our resurrection from the dead. And,

Thirdly, Wherein the bleffednefs of the refurrection of the juft doth confift.

Firft, What it it is to die in the faith of Chrift, or in the ftate of a true Chriftian, which is here called fleeping in Jefus. And this imports one of these two things; either,

1. That we die in fuch a belief of the doctrine of Chrift, as hath been accompanied with a holy obedience of life to the commands and precepts of the gospel; that our profeffion of the Chriftian religion hath evidenced itfelf in the virtues of a good life, in the conftant courfe and tenor of an holy and unblameable converfation. This affurance the Chriftian religion gives us, that if we bave our fruit unto holiness, our end fhall be everlasting life.

Or