The Mourners Directory, Chapter 16
CHAP. XVI. The Shout, the Voice of the Arch-angel, the ſounding of the Trumpet: The miniſtration of Angels. The Dead ſhall be raiſed, before the [then] Living ſhall be changed. Both ſhall meet the Lord in the Air.
IS it nothing to aſſwage our Sorrow, believingly to conſider the Shout, the Summons, and Call that ſhall be given to the Dead, to awake, ariſe, and come forth of their Graves, and the Attendance and Miniſtration of the Glorious Angels, in reference to the Dead then raiſed? 1 Theſ. 4.16. The Lord himſelf ſhall deſcend from Heaven with a Shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the Trump of God. 1 Cor. 15.52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an Eye, at the laſt Trump, (for the Trumpet ſhall ſound) and the dead ſhall be raiſed incorruptible. What a potent Call, what a mighty Sound, what Almighty Power ſhall that be, which ſhall quicken all the Dead in a moment, in the twinkling of an Eye? What is ſhorter than a moment? what is ſooner done than the twinkling of the Eye? and yet with ſuch quick diſpatch the Dead ſhall be made to live, they are ſleeping in their Graves as before: Chriſt comes, the Trumpet ſounds; the Lord calls, the Dead ariſe; they all ſtart up, they all come forth, and look up, and ſee the Lord is come, and who it was that made them Live. Concerning this Trumpet of God, this hath been ſaid of old,
Tuba …irum spargens ſonum
P…r Sepulchra R…gionum,
Coget omnes ante Thronum.
At the laſt Trumpets ſound,
The Dead, tho' under ground,
Shall riſe, his Throne ſurround.
What this Shout, this Voice of the Archangel, and Trumpet of God ſhall be, is diverſly interpreted. foreign properly ſignifieth ſuch Voices and Cries that Mariners uſe one to another, as a ſign when all ſhould put ſorth their Oars to row together; or of men heaving at ſome weighty burden, do uſe as a ſign when all ſhould heave together, and joyn their ſtrength together to lift it up: And then it is ſpoken after the manner of Men, for tho' the raiſing of all the Dead be a great Work, yet God will do it eaſily, and needs not the help and aſſiſtance of Angels thereunto; or elſe to expreſs the Joy that the Dead in Chriſt ſhall riſe, and to increaſe the Terrour of the Ungodly at that Day.
The Trumpet at the Laſt Day that ſhall be ſounded in order to the raiſing of the dead, is three ways judged of.
1. Some apprehend it ſhall be a proper, real and material Trumpet, ſounded by Angels. Mat. 24.31. And he ſhall ſend his Angels with a great ſound of a Trumpet. As when God came down to give the Law, there was Thunderings and Lightnings, and the Trumpet ſounding, Exod. 19.16, 18, 19. So when the Lord ſhall come down to raiſe the Dead, and to judge the impenitent Tranſgreſſors of his Law.
2. Some underſtand it figuratively, alluding to the manner of Men, who ſound a Trumpet to gather Aſſemblies together. Num. 10.2. God spake to Moſes ſaying, make thee two Trumpets of Silver —that thou mayeſt uſe them for the calling of the Aſſembly, and for the journeying of the Camp. So when the year of Jubilee came, the Trumpet of the Jubilee was to ſound throughout all the Land, Levit. 25.9. The Day of the coming of Chriſt, and of the raiſing of them that ſleep in Jeſus, will be to all Believers their Jubilee, and the Trumpet ſhall ſound throughout all the World.
3. Some conceive this laſt Trumpet ſhall be Chriſts own audible Voice, Calling and Commanding the Dead to ariſe, and come forth of their Graves. And they give theſe Reaſons:
1. The expreſs Letter of the Word. Joh. 5.28. The Hour is coming, when all that are in the Graves ſhall hear his Voice, and ſhall come forth. The Lord Jeſus ſhall utter his Voice, and the Dead ſhall hear it, and come at his Call.
2. In raiſing of particular dead ones, he uſually uſed his Voice. Luk. 7.14. And he ſaid, Young Man, I ſay unto thee, ariſe. Joh. 11.43. And he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth. At the laſt day, when Chriſt ſhall ſay, Ariſe all ye dead, ariſe, come forth, they ſhall all hear, and come out of their Graves.
But others ſay what the Sound of the Trumpet ſhall be no man can tell, and ſo do not determine whether it ſhall be the one or the other, but ſay, The Lord himſelf coming down in his viſible Humanity from Heaven, ſhall call the World together, as men call Aſſemblies, by ſhout, by Voice, or by a Trumpet; ſo ſhall Chriſt by his unknown way, called the Voice of the Archangel, and the Trumpet of God. But when the Trumpet is ſounded, and the dead are raiſed, the holy Angels of God ſhall be employed concerning them: For they do not only come along with Chriſt as his Attendants to ſet forth the Greatneſs of his Majeſty, as Lords, and Dukes, and Earls waiting upon an Earthly King, but alſo to execute Chriſts Commands concerning thoſe that ſhall be raiſed; for as they did attend them at their Death, and were the Convoy of their ſeparated Souls into the place of Reſt and Joy, ſo they ſhall alſo be ſerviceable to them at their Reſtoration unto Life.
I. In gathering the Elect of God together. They died and were buried in diſtant places, far remote each from other, ſome in one part of the World, and ſome in another, and lie ſcattered far and near; but God ſhall uſe the Miniſtration of Angels to gather them together. Mat. 24.31. And he ſhall ſend his Angels with a great ſound of a Trumpet, and they ſhall gather together his Elect from the four Winds, from one end of the World to the other. If you have one godly Relation dieth in England, and another in the Eaſt, and another in the Weſt-Indies, trouble not your thoughts hereat, how ſhall they be brought together at laſt; if ſome die at one end of the World, and ſome at another, God by his Angels will find out where they were buried, and bring them together. Mar. 13.27. And then ſhall he ſend his Angels, and ſhall gather his Elect together from the four Winds, from the uttermoſt part of the Earth, to the uttermoſt part of Heaven. None ſhall be loſt or left behind; this might be a ſtay and ſupport to ſome that are mourning for their dead Relations, with this Aggravation, We know not where they died, nor where they were buried: Thô you do not, God will find them, tho they died in the uttermoſt parts of the Earth.
II. In ſeparating thoſe that died in the Lord, from thoſe that died in their ſins. W… … buried promiſcuouſly in common B…-… ces, where the Bodies of the Worſt a… B… are laid together? ſometimes in one com… Grave, and in ſucceſſion of time a Wi… mans body laid in the ſame Grave where … body of a Believer before was buried … theſe are raiſed together, ſhall not th… one be miſtaken for the other? No grou…d of ſuch Fears, for the Angels ſhall … …he one from the other. Mat. 13.49. So ſ… it be at the end of the World, the Angels ſha… …e forth, and ſever the wicked from among th… …aſt. But if thoughts ariſe in your Hearts, tho Angels be perfect in Knowledge, yet it is finite: they are not the Knowers and the Searchers of Hearts, and how can they diſtinguiſh an Hypocrite from one that was ſincere? You may be fully anſwered, That God hath wayes that we know not of, to direct them in making this ſeparation: However, to remove all doubting thoughts, we are aſſured that Chriſt himſelf, that is God as well as Man, and knows what every Man was, as ſurely and as eaſily as a Shepherd knows a Sheep from a Goat, doth he know an Hypocrite from one ſincere; he ſhall ſee, and will take care that there be not one Impenitent perſon among all the Company of the holy Ones; and that there ſhall not be one ſanctified Perſon left among the great multitudes of Impenitent ſinners that ſtand trembling to hear the Sentence of Condemnation to be paſt upon them. Mat. 25.31. When the Son of Man ſhall come in his glory, and all the holy Angels with him, then ſhall he ſit upon the Throne of his Glory. 32. And before him ſhall be gathered all Nations, and he ſhall ſeparate them one from another, as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from his Goats. Weigh all this, and try what Comfort it will yield you. When you hear the Sound of the Paſſing Bell, and what others may ring on the Funeral Day, the hearing of your Ear fills your Heart with Sorrow; think then that the Sound of the Trumpet ſhall be heard for the raiſing of thoſe that are lodging in the Duſt, and let that moderate your Grief, eſpecially when you conſider your Dead heareth not the one, and is not grieved at the ſound thereof; but He or She ſhall hear the other, and hearing rejoyce. When you ſee the common Bearers letting down their Corpſes in a common Burial-place, remember, tho the Wicked were laid on every ſide, yet when they ſhall be raiſed they ſhall be ſevered, and thoſe that ſlept in Jeſus ſhall all be ſet at his right Hand, without the mixture of one ungodly Perſon amongſt them all: And is it no Comfort to you, that yours ſhall be amongſt them?
III. May not the Priviledge that thoſe that ſleep in Jeſus ſhall have above thoſe that ſhall be found alive at the Coming of Chriſt, be ſome alleviation of our Sorrow? Why elſe doth the Apoſtle alledge it as a ground and Reaſon againſt exceſſive Sorrow, when he deſignedly treats upon this Subject? and doth Preface ſo ſolemnly before he delivers this Doctrine as ground of Comfort? Ver. 15. For I ſay unto you by the Word of the Lord; that which I am to ſay, are not my words but the Lords: if I had not had it from him, I could have told no ſuch thing; that we that are alive and remain unto the Coming of the Lord, ſhall not prevent them that are aſleep. V. 16. The dead in Chriſt ſhall riſe firſt. The like Order and precedency he affirms 1 Cor. 15.52. The dead ſhall be raiſed Incorruptible, and we (thoſe that ſhall be alive) ſhall be changed. We think that thoſe that ſhall be found alive, will have an advantage above thoſe that are dead. But they ſhall have this advantage above the then Living, that they ſhall be firſt raiſed, and be made immortal, glorious and incorruptible Bodies ſooner and before thoſe that ſhall be alive: As they put off the mortal and corruptible Body before them, ſo they ſhall put on the Immortal and Incorruptibble Body, ſooner than they. Theſe died a Temporal Death, which the other ſhall not; but they ſhall live an Immortal Life ſooner than thoſe that are not to die a Temporal death. The Living muſt wait for their Change, till thoſe that were changed from Life to Death, ſhall be again changed from Death to Life. Do you mourn becauſe your holy Relations are dead, and do not Live? Rejoyce alſo that they ſhall Live, and have the preeminence before thoſe that ſhall not die, but only be changed, becauſe God hath told you how mindfull and careful he will be of thoſe that ſleep in Jeſus: Forgotten by Men, remembred by God.
IV. Is it nothing to moderate your ſorrow that Chriſt and yours ſhall ſurely meet? Death was a parting you and them, and that parting day was a ſorrowful day: And you record the day of their Death, and your parting, and mention it with Grief and Tears▪ Remember a meeting day will come, not only when they and you ſhall meet, but when they and Chriſt ſhall meet, and let the Thoughts thereof cauſe you to rejoyce. What tho you and they ſhall meet no more while you live, yet Chriſt and they and you alſo if you believe ſhall meet and never part. But where ſhall this Meeting be? In the Air. But how ſhall they get up? They ſhall be caught up, by the Power of God; or be ſuch agile and nimble Bodies, that they ſhall be as able to move upwards, as now they are proue to fall downwards. You follow them to the Grave, and ſee them there let down, and you are filled with Sorrow: Think again, as if you ſaw that Body raiſed again, and mounting aloft as ſwiftly as any winged Bird into the Air to meet the Lord; and let ſuch a Foreſight abate your preſent ſorrow.