PRAYER and MEDITATION of a Christian Soul, which prepares to depart out of its Body, and comforts itself in the Contemplation of the Glory and Happiness of Paradise.

GOD! the Author of my being, and the sovereign

Lord of my life, thou seest all the motions and dispositions of my soul! Thou knowest that I have wholly resigned myself into thy hands, and desire nothing else but to depend upon thy good pleasure: speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth; here I am to do thy will, O God. As the Israelites waited for the motion and order to remove their camp; so I am as ready at thy command to leave this earthly tabernacle. And as the golden cherubims were always upon their feet, their wings stretched out, and their faces toward the mercy-seat; in like manner, I desire to be in a posture to take my flight up to thy mercy-seat, to my Lord Jesus, the propitiation for my sins, as soon as thou shalt stretch forth thine hand unto me, to take me out of this troubled sea, and out of this dark night of affliction. I am as willing to go to thee, blessed Saviour, and to leave my ragged garments behind, as blind Bartimeus, or as Elijah to cast off this mantle of the flesh, that I may ascend unto thee in a bright chariot of fire. I am not grieved to quit this earthly tabernacle; for thou hast prepared for me a more lasting dwelling in heaven. Let my body return to the dust from whence it proceeds, so that mine immortal being, a beam of thy glory, may be admitted into thy favour, mercy, and presence, unto which it desires to return. I doubt not of thy gracious reception of it, since thou hast promised to give the crown of life to all such as persevere in thy faith and fear; and the rewards of immortality, to such as fight under thy banner, and overcome Satan, sin, and the world. By thy grace and power, I have vanquished these enemies of my vation, and have no other to contend with but Death. O strengthen

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strengthen me with thy holy Spirit, that I may conquer this last enemy, that I may find by it a passage to thine eternal glory and happiness. I trust upon thy fatherly goodness and unchangeable affection, upon that intimate relation with which I am honoured, and am confident thou wilt not forsake me in my urgent necessity and agony. Send to me thy good angels, that they may carry me upon their wings, and introduce me to thy heavenly kingdom, and may see thy sal vation complete. I long to be with thee in thy celestial Jeru salem, and enter into thy holy sanctuary, into the society of the glorified saints, and immortal spirits, that minister before thy throne. I am sensible of thy saving grace bestowed upon me, and mine affections are already separated from the world; at present all my thoughts and expectations are with thee, my good God. Receive me into thy magnificent palace, that I may see thy face in glory, and embrace my blessed Redeemer. And before I go hence, speak to my soul in a language answerable to its vehement longings, and let me hear this comfortable saying, This day thou shalt be with me in paradise. I am already sensible of that joy that awaits me in thy presence, where it shall be full and complete; of that peace and happiness, into which I am going apace. I have already the foretaste of thy heavenly pleasures, which must needs exceed all that we can say or think. I see the heavens open, and my Lord Jesus ready to receive me. Into thy hands I commit my spirit; for thou hast redeemed it. Amen,

CHAP. XXIII.

The eleventh Consolation, The glorious Resurrection of our Bodies.

THEN God created angels, he gave them a spiritual

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and altogether celestial nature, that had no affinity with matter. I confess, that these heavenly spirits have of,

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ten appeared in human bodies to the ancient patriarchs; but those bodies were extraordinary and miraculously formed by the power of almighty God for such occasions. Besides, those holy spirits were not in those bodies as the soul is in ours, quickening and animating them in the same manner; but only as the pilot is in the ship that he governs. Therefore as soon as they had fulfilled the work about which they were employed by God, they left those bodies without prejudice. to their beings, as the pilot leaves and goes out of the ship when he hath brought it to the desired haven. All the happiness of these glorified spirits consists in this, that God hath confirmed them in his grace and love, and admitted them for ever to a continual contemplation of his glorious face. It is not so with our souls; for although they be also spiritual, and of an heavenly substance, God hath not created them to be alone, and to subsist at a distance from all matter, but to live in the pleasant company of those elemental bodies, which he hath fashioned in a most artificial manner. When he creates an human soul, and conveys it into an organized body, it is not that it should be there as water in a vessel, or as a king in his palace; it lives not there as an assisting form, or as an outward cause of the body's operations; but it is united to it by a very strict union, and serves as an essential form. It is the principle of our life, the eternal cause of motion, of sense, and of understanding. So that to speak properly, man cannot be said to be altogether of a spiritual nature, as the holy angels; nor a single body, as the sun and stars; but he is made up of both. Therefore, if our souls wish to depart out of this earthly tabernacle, it is not out of any hatred of it as it is in itself and its proper nature; for none ever hated his own body; every one seeks to nourish and cherish it but by accident, because of the vanity and corruption to which sin hath enthralled it, we desire earnestly to depart out of it to a place where righteousness and true holiness reign, that we might be with the Lord Jesus, to be

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hold him nearer. It is therefore an undoubted truth, that unless the body partakes of the same happiness and glory as the soul, man cannot be said to be perfectly and entirely happy. I confess, it is a great joy to us, to know that when our soul casts off this earthly body, it enters into the eternal dwellings of heaven, whither it goes to behold the face of the Father of Lights; but this holy joy is disturbed with sad reflections, and this heavenly sweetness is strangely altered with the bitter considerations of this poor body cast into the earth, and left to the mercy of the crawling worms. For it is a most hateful thing to view our body rotting and turning to ashes; that body that was our pavilion, our palace, nay,' more than so, that was half part of ourselves. Therefore if we will render our joy accomplished, and apply an effectual comfort to our souls, we must nourish and entertain this pleasant assurance, that the ruin of our bodies, for which we lament so much, shall not be eternal; but as our body falls down by death, it shall rise again one day at the general resurrection. This is one of the noblest and most excellent mysteries of our Christian religion, and one of its most glorious advantages. The wisdom of the world, with all its reasonings, and the Heathen philosophy, with its rarest subtleties, could never attain to this wholesome and comfortable doctrine. Therefore when St. Paul preached to the Coun cil of Athens, he was heard with admiration, until he had spoken to them of the resurrection; as soon as he began to mention that, they laughed at him.

Therefore, while human reason remains in its darkness and natural ignorance, it cannot of itself find out this glorious mystery. But as soon as it is enlightened with the Light from above, it discovers the most remarkable circumstances, and acknowledges the justice and necessity of the future resurrection of our bodies.

First, Since rewards and punishments ought to be proportionable and answerable to him who is to punish and reward, we must of necessity believe the resurrection of our body; otherwise the pains of the wicked cannot be extreme, and the happiness of the godly can never be absolute and perfect.

Secondly, As when a traitor is executed, men are wont to fasten to the scaffold, or to burn in the fire, the instruments. and tools with which he had assaulted or offended his Prince; in the same manner the bodies of the profane and impious varlets, of the traitors against God's divine majesty, ought to be treated; they ought to be eternally punished with their souls in hell-fire, because they have been the unhappy instruments employed in affronting their Creator.

Thirdly, The body is not only the instrument employed by the wicked against God, but encourageth them, and hurries them on in sin. For its humours stir it up, inflame, and carry it to evil acts. For example, its sanguine constitution makes it luxurious, and inclinable to the filthy lusts of the flesh; its choler hurries it to violent and furious actions; its melancholy prompts it to the most horrid and hellish attempts. So that if such are to be punished who cause us to perform heinous deeds, as well as the actors, it belongs to God's justice to inflict upon the body, as well as upon the soul, eternal punishments.

Fourthly, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens," Eccl. iii. As the bodies of the wicked and reprobate have had their good things and satisfactions during this life, they must needs have also in another life their punishments and torments.

Fifthly, But, not to forget the reasons which have a relation to the faithful, and which are the pillars and supporters

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