Earth and the Sea muft obey God's Voice at the laft day, and yield and give up their dead: The Earth fhall give up her dead. And yet the Earth devoured fome, as it did at God's Command, when Corah, Datban, and his Company was fwallowed up quick, fo at the last day of account, God fhall only fay the Word, and all his Creatures must obey it; for the dew of Heaven is as the dew of Herbs. And as the dew of Heaven waters the Flowers in a Garden, and the Sun caufes them to grow, fo will the dew of the Lord's Word, raife us up again at the laft day: We know that the dew of Heaven falls fuddenly, fo will the dew of the Lord fall fuddenly and unexpectedly, at the day of our Refurrection, even in the twinkling of an eye, in a moment; for the Trumpet fhall but found, and all fhall arife. It is a Divine Work, and is past our Underftanding; therefore let us rather admire God's infinite Wifdom and Goodness, than be too nice and curious to fearch into them. Then shall thefe corruptible parts of ours put on Incorruption, our natural Bodies fhall be made glorious Bodies, though we have lain a long time in the Grave, mouldring and confuming away.

We all know that every Night is the days Funeral, and what is the Morning, but the Days Refurrection again? or like the fetting of the Sun at Evening, which the next Morning fhall rife again? And we know that when we fet or put a Root into the Ground, that it muft lie all the Winter, and as we think dead; but in the Spring time we fee it revive by virtue of the

Sun:

Sun: Juft fo will it be with us at the day of our Refurrection: For it is certain, that he that can do the greater work, can alfo do the leffar; for God who made the World and alfo Man at firft of nothing, can at the day of our Refur rection make us perfect Bodies again of fomething. Therefore, O Lord, I befeech thee, prepare me for the day of my Death, and whether it fhall be by the meffengers of Death, or by the Trumpet of thy Judgments, that at the laft day when I fhall rife again, I may behold thy glorious Majefly, with all the Royal Army of Ho ly Martyrs and bleff.d Angels; that I may not be found with a distracted and guilty Confcience, nor with the Reprobates, call to the Hills to cover me, nor to the Rocks to fall upon me : but that I may tafte of thy endless mercy, and fo be received into thy Heavenly Manfion. Therefore, my Beloved, feeing we look for fuch things, let us be diligent, that we may be found of God, pure, fpotlefs and blameless; for feeing then that allthefe things fhall come to pass, and be diffolved, what manner of Perfons ought we to be, in all bylinefs and Converfation of life? Therefore let us labour while we live here on Earch, that we be found white as the Snow in Salmon, and cloathed". with the Robes of Chrift's Right.oufnefs. Alas, what are we at the beft, (as I have said) but Duft, Earth, and Ahes, a Coffin of Coffins, ye,a Coffin for the Worms? A little Sicknefs carries us away in our youth; and if we hold out a little longer, we confume and moulder away with old Age. We, at the belt, are but like a pal. t.d

painted Wall: one Winter-ftorm quite defaces the beauty of it: fo one blaft of death carries us quite away to the Grave and the Earth again; herefore faith the Prophet, The duft shall reurn to the Earth as it was, and the Spirit fhall return unto God that gave it. Eccl. 12 7.

-And let all men remember this, that we fall ife again; and ftand upon the earth: And then God will reward a finner in that day, (if he die without Repentance) as if the finner had but uft committed the acts of fin at the fame time. Paul will be found, although not preaching as he did on earth, yet in the condition he died, and we with the fame fins, or with the fame Righteoufnefs, as we live or die in; for our Confciences will then accufe us, our Memories witness against us, and our reason will be our Judges at this day. We fhall have no more to fay for ourselves, than the man in the Gospel who came to the Dinner without the Wedding Garment on, but mark, I pray you, Being asked how he came thither, the Text faith, he was dumb, he was filent, he had not a word to fay; his own Confcience accufed him, and fo he was bound hand and foot and calt into everlasting Fire. And if we would have the Wedding-Gar ment found upon us, we must first while we live here on Earth, labour to get Grace into our hearts and faith in our Souls, we muft wholly leave and forfake this fin of Covetousness. The Prodigal must forfake his fins of wantonnefs. We must do it prefently as Zaccheus did, who came down haftily, and received Chrift I joyfully

joyfully; and gave fatisfaction to thofe men he had offended: We must not defer the time, or take advice whether it were time yet fo to do: No, we mult with Zecheus make our own Will and be our own executors, and make Chrift our Overter. Behold, Lord, half of my Goods I give to the Poor, and if I have done wrong to a ny, I will restore him four-fold. God doth not regard the extenfin, but the intention: not only our tongue, but the heart: W. muft not flubb.r over our Confeffion, we mult not put away fome fins only and retain other fome. No, we mult put the Sword to the Throat of fins, and cut them off; and like Phineas, pierce Zimri and Cosbi through and through. We mult not (f we mean to appear before God blame lefs and fpotlefs) leave fome beloved fin in our bofom, no, not the fin of our bolom unrepented of; no, not our beloved Delilah's fins. And, like Naaman fay, The Lord be merciful unto me for this fin. I did not think it, no, I had forgot it: But pray with David, Cleanfe my Soul, even from my fecret fin. Sins whether done to pleafe my felt, or others, Yea, our whispering fies, fuck fins, as We have ftriven fo long to hide from God and Man, that now we have forgotten them our felves. O, faith David, Forgive me the fins of my youth, Pfilm 25. 7 My fis of Negligence and my fins of Ignorance, there is no fin fo mall or little, but is able to caft us into Hel for ever; there is no fin, which if it be unrepen ied of, but we thall one day render an account of

God Almighty, cife how fhould God's Juftice

be

be manifefted, if mans off nces be not punished? For the manifeftation of God's g ory will be fuch at this day, that we fhall confefs that his Juftice is but juftly and rightly fallen upon us; fo it fhall be with a wicked man at his Refur rection, he shall not have a word to answer for himself, no, not a word at all to plead for himfelf, Oh! What would Dives have given that he might have but fent to his five Brethren, to have warned them of the place of torments which he was in. No, faith Abraham, it cannot be, if they will not hear, and believe Mofes and the Prophets, they will not believe, though ong rife from the dead. A day there is for a man, and a day there is for God, and as there is a day for mans account to be made up in; fo there is a Day for G ds Eternity to be thewn. God's account is true, thofe live long, that live well the Text faith, as you may read, ifa. 65. 20. A Child fhall die an hundred years old, and the old man fhall not live half his days The meaning is, the gracious Child is the honourable old man: For where a young man obferveth God's Commandments, doth not he believe more than the old man, that hath spent his whole time in Vanity and Wantonnefs? He that can give an account of his time, and the life of his experience, bis frequent and fervent prayer, his many tears of Contrition fhed for his fins. His hearing Sermons and practifing what he heard, and his often receiving the Lord's Supper; His days fhall be long in the Land: the young man in this cafe, is the old man, because he is the fir 12

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