ins hath he quickened," &c. O, what a notable change! It
maketh them no longer the same men, but new creatures, and therefore it is
the death of sin, and the resurrection of the soul. For as long as it is
under the chains of darkness and power of sin, it is free among the dead,
it is buried in the vilest sepulchre. Old graves, and these full of
rottenness and dead men's bones, are nothing to express the lamentable
case of such a soul, and yet such are all by nature. Whatsoever
excellency or endowment men may have from their birth or education, yet
certainly they are but apparitions rather than any real substance, and
which is worse, their body is the sepulchre of their souls, and if the
corruption of a soul were sensible, we would think all the putrefactions
of bodily things but shadows of it. And therefore no sooner is there any
inward life begotten in a soul, but this is the very first exercise of it,
the abhorrency of the soul upon the sight and smell of its own
loathsomeness.

Now, there is no hope of any reviving. Though all the wisdom and art of
men and angels were employed in this business, there is nothing able to
quicken one such soul, until it please the Lord to speak such a word as he
did to Lazarus, "Arise, come forth," and send his Spirit to accomplish his
word, and this will do it. When the Spirit cometh into the soul, he
quickeneth it, and this is the first resurrection. O blessed are they who
have part in this, whose souls are drawn out of the dungeon of darkness
and ignorance, and brought forth to behold this glorious light that
shineth in the gospel, and raised out of the grave of the lusts of
ignorance, to live unto God henceforth, for such have their part in the
second resurrection to life. For you see these are conjoined, "If the
Spirit dwell in you, he shall raise you," &c. You see here two grounds and
reasons of the resurrection of body,--Christ's rising and the Spirits
indwelling. Now I find these in the scripture made the two fountains of
all Christianity, both of the first and second resurrection.

The resurrection of Christ is an evidence of our justification, the cause
of our quickening, or vivification, and the ground and pledge of our last
resurrection, and all these are grounds of strong consolation. The first
you have, Rom. iv. 25. "Christ died for our sins, and rose for our
justification," and the 34th verse of this chapter, "Christ is dead, yea,
rather has risen again, who then sha