The mourner directory, guiding him to the middle way betwixt the two extremes, defect,…The mourner directory, guiding him to the middle way betwixt the two extreams, defect,…

Lord, confirm my Faith in this, That as sure as Christ is risen from the dead, so surely shall my dead, and all others be also raised: because I read in thy holy Word, that if Christ be raised, then those that sleep in Jesus shall also rise, and if these shall not, then Christ is not risen, and if Christ be not risen, we are all in our sins, and all Preaching, Praying, Believing, and all Religion is in vain; which being absurd and false, the other must be certain and sure: And by the belief of this (thanks be to my God) I find, I feel, my Sorrow is turned into lively Hope, earnest Desire, and comforting Joy.

Lord, confirm my Faith in this, That as sure as Christ is risen from the dead, so surely shall my dead, and all others be also raised: because I read in thy holy Word, that if Christ be raised, then those that sl•ep in Jesus shall also rise, and if these shall not, then Christ is not risen, and if Christ be not risen, we are all in our sins, and all Preaching, Praying, Believing, and all Religion is in vain; which being absurd and false, the other must be certain and sure: And by the belief of this (thanks be to my God) I find, I feel, my Sorrow is turned into lively Hope, earnest Desire, and comforting Joy.

Besides this, O my Soul, be further satisfied and quieted within me, forasmuch as ⟨p. 230⟩thy Lord hath not only said that those that sleep in Jesus shall rise again, but hath also foretold what Bodies they shall then be, tho the same for substance, yet their Properties, Qualities, and Endowments far more excellent, than when they lived or died. Dost thou sorrow because her Body was Mortal and did die? why dost thou not rejoice, because it shall be raised Immortal, and then shall die no more? Art thou grieved at the remembrance of its weakness, sickness and pains, why art thou not comforted at the believing Foresight that it shall be raised a Powerful and Impassible Body, and shall be sick and pained no more for ever? Or art thou cast down because that Natural Body by Food and Physic could no longer be supported, nor maintained in Life? Why doth not this raise thy Comfort, that it shall be raised a Spiritual Body, and need Food, and Physic, and Sleep, no more than the Angels in Heaven? Is it matter of thy trouble to consider how vile and loathsome Death hath made it; why doth it not delight thee to believe, it shall be raised in such Glory, that it shall shine as a glittering Star, yea as the Sun in the Kingdom of God; and that Beauty shall be its Clothing all over? Why doth sorrow daily fill thy Heart, because the Soul is gone, and left the Body a lifeless piece of Earth, a mass of breathless