The Resurrection and the Reward to Come Considered, Discourse
IMPRIMATUR;
Junii 19. 1689. Guil. Needham, R. R. in Christo Pat. ac D. D. Wilhelmo Archiep. Cant. a Sacr. Domest.
THE DOCTRINES OF THE Resurrection AND THE REWARD to COME, Considered as The Grand Motives to an HOLY LIFE. Discoursed of, from 1 Cor. XV. 58.
BY The late Pious and Learned JOHN WORTHINGTON, D. D.
LONDON, Printed for Awnsham Churchill, at the Black-Swan in Ave-Mary-Lane. 1690.
To the Honourable Sir PAUL WHICHCOT Knight and Baronet.
SIR,
IAm emboldened by the singular Vertues and other worthy Endowments I have been an Admirer of in You, to make choice of Yourself to be the Patron of the following Discourse. And the Law of Gratitude commands me likewise, to take this occasision of making a thankful Acknowledgment of the many Favours, which, as unworthy as I have been of them, I have received from you.
As to this Treatise and its Authour, Silence best becomes me in regard of the near Relation I bear to him. OnelyOnly this I would suggest, That since he had not prepared it for the Press, that Accuracy and Exactness ought not to be lookt for in it, which otherwise might be expected: But I doubt not, 'twill have the Approbation of all good men, as a Discourse well adapted to the Promoting and Furtherance of true Piety. And that it may be successful to this best of Ends, is the Hearty Prayer of,
SIR, Your most Obliged Kinsman And Humble Servant, John Worthington.
A DISCOURSE ON 1 Cor. XV. 58.
Therefore, my beloved Brethren, be ye Stedfast, Unmoveable, always Abounding in the work of the Lord, for asmuch as you know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord.
THESE words are a most just Inference from that great Fundamental Truth of another State, another Life after the Death of this Body, a reward and blessed Immortality after this present Life; which grand important Truth the Apostle doth assert, largely confirm, and illustrate in this Chapter; and that in opposition to those that denyed the Doctrine of the Resurrection, or of any other Life besides this present Life; as appeared by that wicked Speech of theirs, mentioned in Vers. 32. Let us Eat and Drink, for to Morrow we shall Die; that is, Let us live in pleasure, be merry and delight our Senses, let us take our fill of the good things of this World; for to Morrow we Die, for within a little while we shall be taken out of this World, Death will come 'ere long and seize on us, and then there will be an end of us. This is at large and in very lively expressions described in the Book of Wisdom, where wicked Men are brought in speaking out the inward Atheism of their Hearts, Chap. 2. 6, 7, 8, 9. Come on, let us enjoy the good things that are present, and let us speedily (or earnestly, foreign) use the Creatures like as in Youth. Let us fill our selves with costly Wine and Qyntments; and let no Flower of the Spring pass by us. Let us Crown our selves with Rose-buas before they be withered. Let none of us go without his part of our Voluptuousness (or jollity) let us leave Tokens of our joyfulness in every place. All this is a larger account of that, briefly exprest by the Apostle, Let us Eat and Drink. And as it follows, for to Morrow we Die; so upon the like consideration do these in Wisd. 2. encourage themselves to a Sensual Life, Vers. 1. Our Life is short; Vers. 5. Our time is a very shaddow that passeth away; and after our end there is no returning. And the like in Vers. 2. 3, 4. But let the Sensual ones, those that are Atheistically disposed, talk at this rate, and rejoyce in their Youth; let them walk in the ways of their Hearts, and in the sight of their Eyes; let them mock at the Righteous, and account his Life Madness, (Wisd. 5. 4.) They shall one day know, That verily there is a reward to the Righteous, and doubtless there is a God that judgeth in the Earth; The Righteous shall live for evermore, their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High; they shall receive a Glorious Kingdom and a Beautiful Crown from the Lords Hand, (Wisd. 5. 15, 16.) or as the Apostle here, their Labour is not (shall not be) in vain in the Lord.
The Words may be easily resolved into these Propositions.
1. Christians must be Stedfast, well-grounded and rooted in the Faith, Established in the Truth.
2. Christians must be Vnmoveable in the Profession of the Truth, particularly in the Profession of the Faith of the Resurrection and a Life to come.
3. Christians must always Abound in the work of the Lord.
4. Christians have good ground to be assured that their Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. They that abound most in God's work, in the Labours of Religion, may perswade themselves that they shall not lose their Reward, their Labour is not lost, is not fruitless; but shall certainly be rewarded.
In speaking to which Propositions, we shall not need to seek for Proof elsewhere then in the Text: For the following Proposition doth fully and pertinently prove the former, as thus. Christians must be Sted fast, for else they cannot be Vnmoveable. Christians must be both Stedfast and Vnmoveable, for else they will not, they cannot be Abounding always in the work of the Lord. Christians must Abound in the work of the Lord, for their Labour will not be in vain in the Lord.