Funeral Sermon for Mary Doolittle, Sermon · Chapter 5
CHAP. V. Of the Reſurrection of the Body. It is Poſſible. Probable, and Certain. Some have been raiſed from the Dead Where were their Souls during their Separation from their Bodies? Chriſt's Reſurrection of the Body farther illuſtrated and proved.
SECT. I.
The Fourth thing propoſed is to prove, that this Bleſſed ſtate and Life, which Chriſtians deſire and long for, is not ſuch a one, wherein they are to be alway without a Body, but to have their Bodies raiſed, changed, and glorified, or to be cloathed upon with an Houſe from Heaven.
The Poſſibility of the Reſurrection of the Body, the Probability, and the Certainty of it, have been often and largely *See Dr. Peirſon. Dr, Towerſon, &c. on the Creed. Art. XI. of the Reſurrection of the Body. And Mr. Baoeter's Saints Reſt, Part 1. Chap. 5. and Self-denial, Chap. 38.proved. That it is poſſible, both on the part of the Agent and Patient: Who, that conſiders the Divine Omniſcience and Power, can doubt, but that God can remake an Humane Body of that Duſt, into which it is reſolved; and however it be diſperſed, find out, and rally the ſeveral parts together, and unite them one to another? What Impoſſibility is it, that the deſperſed parts of a Man's Body ſhould be diſpoſed into their due Scituation and Order, and reduced to a Temper, fit to diſcharge the Functions and Operations of Life? and that the Soul ſhould be Re-united to a Body thus Reſtored? How is it impoſſible? Or why ſhould it be Difficult to him, who did at firſt frame and temper this Body out of the Duſt, and inſpire a Reaſonable Soul into it; and out of a meer Chaos make this Beautiful World? who formed and faſhioned our Bodies in the Womb; which is as ſtrange an inſtance of Allmighty Power, as the Reſurrection from the Dead will be: who gives us every Morning, and every Spring, a little Repreſentation of the Reſurrection of the Dead; Who makes the dry Bones to live, and is able to ſubdue all things to himſelf? Therefore to ſuch as doubt, or deny this, we muſt ſay as our Saviour to the Sadduces; You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the Power of God. Or, we may Expoſtulate, as St. Paul doth, *Acts 26.8What? Doth it ſeem incredible to you, that God ſhould raiſe the Dead? Is there any Atome of our Duſt can eſcape his Knowledge, though cloathed with different forms and figures, and hath paſſed through various changes, ſwallowed by Beaſts, or conſumed by Fire, or ſcattered by the Wind? Doth not the Foundation remain, though it put on a variety of forms? May not the Subſtance be intire, notwithſtanding all the transforming alterations that can be ſuppoſed? The Divine Knowledge being infinite, and his Providence reaching to the leaſt, as well as to the greateſt parts of the World, to the beginning progreſs and diſſolution of every one, he may eaſily call forth every part, when the appointed time comes for the Re-union of Soul and Body. We muſt queſtion the Divine Omniſcience, as well as Power, if we doubt of this. And are there not many things in the firſt Creation, every whit as incredible, as the Collection of our ſcatter'd Duſt, and compacting theſe diſperſed Atomes into an Humane Body? Can it be harder to reſtore thoſe things that were, than to create thoſe things that were not? *See Dr. Barrow's Works, 2 Vol. p. 520.Is it more difficult to an Infinite Arm, to Allmighty and Invincible Power, to do this, than to make both Soul and Body at firſt? Is not the Bleſſed Redeemer, who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth, able to make good his Word, who is alſo the Amen, the faithful and true Witneſs? and therefore to deceive us with a Promiſe and Expectation, of what he cannot, or will not do, would be an eternal Reflection his Truth, and Holineſs, and other Attributes.
SECT. II.
God hath already raiſed Some from the Dead, whereof we have Inſtances both in the Old Teſtament, and in the New. Many were raiſed by Chriſt himſelf, and many of the Saints came out of their Graves at the Death of Chriſt, and went into the Holy City, and appeared publickly to many. If it be inquired, Where were the Souls of thoſe that were thus raiſed, during the ſpace between their Death and Reſurrection? This being not to be known but by Revelation, and that ſpeaking nothing of it, we may ſafely acknowledge our Ignorance. It was a peculiar Caſe, that does not make a general Rule; and therefore our Inquiry about it muſt be very wary. It is ſufficient to ſay, they were in the hands of God, whereever they were. What if there were a particular Diſpenſation in regard of them, different from the caſe of thoſe, who are not to be raiſed till the laſt day: Nothing can well be propoſed in Anſwer to ſuch a Queſtion, but what is conjectural.
Therefore rejecting all Suppoſitions that cannot be reconciled to other expreſs Doctrines, and Articles of Chriſtianity, we may ſay, *Aeuures de Mr. Claude. Lettre 16.That either they were received to Heaven, or remained in the Air, at a little diſtance from the Body; Or, they continued in the Body, which was to be quickly raiſed again, without animating and informing that Body. If we ſay the firſt, and that theſe Souls returned from Heaven to their Bodies again, for the Manifeſtation of the Glory of Chriſt in ſuch a Miracle; it is no more unſuitable and unbecoming an Holy Soul to be willing of this, and to be thus imployed, than was the Humiliation of the Son of God, for the Glory of his Father. If we ſay the Second, that they remained in the Air not far from the Body, it being but for a little while, What Inconvenience, or ill Conſequence can be aſſigned of ſuch a Suppoſition? If we rather chuſe the Third way of ſolving this, it is conſiderable what the Apoſtle Paul ſpeaks of Eutichus, whom he raiſed from the *Acts 20.10.Dead; Be not troubled, for his Life, his Soul is in him, though it did not then animate, and inform his Body. As to thoſe who were raiſed at the time of Chriſt's death it was only for a little while, to … Teſtimony to our Lord, and then they laid down their Bodies again, and returned to the Reſt and Glory of departed Souls.
SECT. III.
But, The Reſurrection of our Bleſſed Saviour, is the great thing here to be conſidered, as an Argument both of the Poſſibility, and Certainty of our Reſurrection. For thus the Apoſtle Argues at large, 1 Cor. 15. v. 12. If it be Preached, and Proved, and Aſſured to us, that Chriſt is Riſen, How is it that ſome ſay, There is no Reſurrection of the Dead? that is, How can any deny the poſſibility of it, when there is ſuch an Evidence and Proof? How can it be doubted, but that the ſame Power which raiſed Chriſt from the dead, can alſo quicken our mortal Bodies? when the exceeding greatneſs of his mighty power, was diſplayed in *1 Eph. 19.20.raiſing Chriſt from the dead? His Reſurrection aſſures us, that his Death and Sacrifice were Satisfactory to the Juſtice of God: and all the Promiſes that concern the Bleſſings of the eyerlaſting Covenant, the ſure Me… of David, are hereby confirmed, … 32, 33, 34. We declare unto you … how that the Promiſe which was made … the Fathers, God hath fulfilled the … unto us their Children, in that he hath raiſed up Jeſus again; as it is alſo written … the ſecond Pſalm, Thou art my Son, th… day have I begotten thee. And, as con…ng that he raiſed him up from the dead, … no more to return to corruption; he ſaid on this wiſe, I will give you the ſure Mercies of David. And therefore, after his Reſurrection, he ſaluted his Diſciples with Peace, John 20.21. And God, as the God of peace, is ſaid to raiſe Chriſt from the Dead: For, had he not been reconciled, he would have left him in the Grave. Now both the Moral, and the Natural Impoſſibility of our Reſurrection is removed by the Death, and the Reſurrection of Chriſt; The former by the Merit of his Death, and the latter by his Reſurrection: for he can do the ſame for all Believers. If his Power be not ſufficient to raiſe us, it could not be ſufficient to raiſe him. He is now a *1 Cor. 15.45.Quickening Spirit, able to give Life, as the firſt Adam, to tranſmit Death to his Poſterity. And he was raiſed as a publick perſon, and the Head of his Church.
Our Perſons are redeemed by Chriſt, as conſiſting of Soul and Body; and our Bodies Sanctified by him, and are the Temples of the Holy Ghoſt, and therefore ſhall be raiſed by him. Yea, we are ſaid to riſe with him, and to be ſet down in heavenly places, in, and with him. It is not more true that he died for our ſins, than that be roſe again for our Justification; and if for that, he roſe for our Reſurrection too: For the guilt of ſin being removed, which is the meritorious cauſe of Death; Death, which is the Puniſhment, ſhall not remain, but be ſwallowed up in Victory; whereas it lives, and reigns, and keeps the Field, till the Reſtirrection. But we are aſſured that The Sea, and Death, and the Ʋniverſal Grave ſhall give up their Dead, Rev. 20.13. And then not only the ſting of Death, but Death it ſelf ſhall dye, and ceaſe for ever: for there ſhall be no more death, Rev. 21.4. Our dead Bodies ſhall then live, ſo as to dye no more. For, if we believe on him that raiſed Chriſt from the dead, the ſame Spirit, that raiſed Chriſt, ſhall be the Author of our Reſurrection, Rom. 8.23. And, if we believe that Jeſus dyed and roſe again, even them alſo which ſleep in Jeſus, will God bring with him, 1 Theſ. 4.14. He that was dead is now alive, and behold he lives for evermore; and he hath the keys of Death and Hell, Rev. 1.18. And he has expreſly told us, that the hour is coming, in the which All that are in their graves ſhall hear his voice, and ſhall come forth, They that have done good unto the Reſurrection of Life, and they that have done evil, unto the Reſurrection of Damnation, John 5.28.29. And this is the will of God that ſent him, that every one who believeth on him, ſhall have everlaſting Life; and he will raiſe him up at the laſt day, John 6.40. The like he declares afterwards to Martha, I am the Reſurrection and the Life, he that believeth in me, tho he were dead yet ſhall he live, John 11.25. He is the Firſt born from the dead, and Believers are the Children of the Reſurrection, Coloſ. 1.18. His Reſurrection not only proves the poſſibility of ours, but it is the pledge of the performance. God having raiſed him up, hath looſed the pains of Death, ſince it was impoſſible he ſhould be holden by them; Naturally impoſſible, becauſe of his Divine Power; and legally impoſſible, becauſe Divine Juſtice, after ſuch a Satisfaction as the Death of Chriſt, required that he ſhould be raiſed to Life, and receive a Diſcharge and Reward.
We could hardly believe the Dead ſhould riſe to Life, if Chriſt by his own Reſurrection, and by raiſing others, had not proved it poſſible, and already done. But he hath not conquer'd Death for himſelf alone, but for his Members too, and to them he has promiſed, that they ſhall *John 11.26.never ſee Death, or come within the Proſpect or Danger of it: And not only ſhall not, but cannot dye any more, after the Reſurrection, for they ſhall be equal to the Angels, Luke 20.36. His Victory over Death was declared by his Reſurrection, and his entrance into Glory did Compleat the Conqueſt. Now as Chriſt hath carried his Humane Nature into Heaven, we are to be made like him, and bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam, and therefore our Fleſh ſhall be raiſed too. He is the firſt-fruits of them that ſleep, 1 Cor. 15, 20. And, it is *Biſhop Ʋſher.obſervable, tha the Roſe from the Dead on that Day, whereon the Jews obſerve their Feaſt of Firſt-fruits. That Feaſt was not ſtinted to any day of the Month, as other Feaſts were, but was to be always on the Morrow after the Paſſover Sabbath, that ſo it might fall always on the Firſt day of the Week, the Day of Chriſt's Reſurrection. Well therefore might the Apoſtle ſay, Chriſt being Riſen, is become the Firſt-fruits of them that ſleep; As the Offering of the Firſt-fruits amongſt the Jews Conſecrated all the reſt.
SECT. IV.
Neither can we ſuppoſe our Happineſs would be compleat, without the Reſurrection of the Body. As Soul and body concur to the Conſtitution of man, the Soul is in a State of widowhood till reunited to the Body. And in this Life the Body has a ſhare in the work and ſervice of the Man, which is to be rewarded or puniſhed, as executing the deſigns of the Soul. And the members of the Body ſerve as members of Righteousneſs, or Sin. The Law of God commands the intire Man, compoſed of Soul and Body, and this Law is obeyed or violated by both, though the moral good or evil of our Actions be chiefly attributed to the Soul, as the principal Agent; But on this Account the Body ſhall partake in the rewards or Puniſhment of the next Life, if the intire Perſon be to be recompenced. And it is with reſpect to the Body, that ſeemed to be loſt, that the Reſurrection is promiſed; the Body reſolved into duſt, or ſwallowed in the Sea, or conſumed by fire: Such promiſes of the Reſurrection are made to Believers for their encouragment and hope. Beſides, there are many Objects in the heavenly State that do ſuppoſe a Body, and are to be diſcerned by our bodily ſenſes, as, the glorious beauty and magnificence of the bleſſed manſions, and the Humane Nature of our glorious Redeemer, &c. On which, and many other accounts, the Body ſhall be raiſed, and changed, and glorified.
SECT. V.
Reaſon it ſelf would make this Probable. Man being created with a Body and a Soul, which have ſo natural an Inclination to one another, that there is an appetite and deſire, as it ſeems, to be united, and co-operate together, and many of our Capacities, of Joy and Comfort, as well as of Sorrow and Grief, reſult from, and depend upon this Union: In order therefore to the full and final Felicity that God will confer on ſome, and for the greater Miſery wherewith divine Juſtice will puniſh others, it is very probable from principles of Reaſon, that God will raiſe the Bodys of men; That being united to their Souls, they may be better capable of enjoying the promiſed Happineſs, or ſuffering the threatened miſery of the next World. This ſeems to be the ſenſe of Job 14. Chap. 14. ver. where he ſays, that all the days of his appointed time, I will wait till my change come, Speaking of the Reſurrection of the Body. There is hope of a Tree he ſaith, if it be cut down, that it will ſprout again; but man dyeth, and where is he? he lyeth down, and riſeth not, till the Heavens be no more. If a man dye, ſhall he live again? All the days of my appointed Time &c. *Mr. Howe of Bleſſedneſs. p. 210.According to common Apprehenſion, and Appearance, the State of man at death is hopeleſs; But he profeſſeth his Expectation, that at a ſet and appointed Time, God would remember him, ſo as to recall him out of the Grave: And therefore puts the queſtion, If a man dye, ſhall he live again? And till the appointed time when God ſhould revive him, out of the duſt, he would wait for that glorious Change. when God ſhall have a deſire to the work of his hands, i. e. not allways forget to reſtore and perfect his own Creature.
There are many Images and Reſemblances of this. As in the Corn by which we live, when it is caſt on the earth, and buried in the ground, that it may corrupt; after it is corrupted, it revives and multiplies: Our Bodys are fed with this conſtant Experiment. And the Apoſtles ſimilitude of a grain of Corn Sown in the ground, that it riſeth multiplied, augmented, and adorned, ſets out the advantagious difference between the Qualities of our Bodys when they dye, and when they ſhall be raiſed. And herein he imitates the manner of the Jews, who were wont familiariy to illuſtrate the buſineſs of the Reſurrection, by the ſimilitude of leed ſown in the ground, and ſpringing up again. And what can we diſcern in a ſmall corn, or litle ſeed, of a Tree, with Body, Bark, Branches, Leaves, Flowers, Fruit? and yet afterwards we behold them, when the ſeed hath been ſown in the ground. The Apoſtle at large Inſiſts on this ſimilitude of ſeed, to explain the manner of the Reſurrection, 1 Cor. 15.35. So alſo is the Reſurrection of the dead *Dr. Scot of the Chriſtian Liſe, part 2. chap. 7., So is this mortal Body to be the ſeed, and material Principle of our Reſurrection: For that which is ſown is not quickened, except it dye. And ſo is this Seed of our mortal Body to dye, and be corrupted, before it ſhall be raiſed again. And Sois this dead corrupted Body to be raiſed and quickened by the power of God. For God gives to every Seed a Body as it pleaſes him. And ſo are our dead Bodys to be raiſed again, into the proper form and kind of humane Bodys, for unto every ſeed God giveth his own Body. And, Lastly, So is the Reſurrection of the Dead; that is, So are thoſe humane Bodys to be changed, and altered by the Reſurrection, as that which is but bare Seed when it is ſown; when it is quickened, it ſprings up into a long ſtalk and ear: So the raiſed Body ſhall be changed for the better.
This is further Illuſtrated by *Mr. Baxter of Self-denial, p. 206.another, That the dead Body of a man may be ſuppoſed to have a living Root, as truely as the plants in winter. The Soul is the Root of the Body, and the Soul is ſtill alive; And Chriſt is the Root of the Soul, and he is ſtill alive: For though we are dead, our Life is hid with Chriſt in God; and when he who is our Life ſhall appear, at the Spring of the Reſurrection, we ſhall alſo appear with him in Glory, Coloſ. 3.3, 4. There is a Relative Union between Soul and Body, and a deep rooted Love of the Soul to its Body, and Inclination to it; ſo that it is mindful of it, and waits with longing for that hour when the Command of God, ſhall ſend it to revive that Body. Why may not the Living Soul, that is the Root and Life of the Body in the duſt, be the Inſtrument of God, to inform its own Body, as it will be the Principle that ſhall re-inform it? The Body in the Grave hath its own Relation to Chriſt, who is ſtill Living, and reſolved and ingaged by Promiſe, and inclined by Love to revive that Body. And when the Hour comes for this Soul that waits to be ſent again into the Body, what can hinder? The very Love of the Soul to its Body, and its deſire to be re-united, is a kind of Natural Cauſe of the Reſurrection. A Candle not lighted, is as far from Light, and as much without it, as a dead body is without Life; and yet one touch of a lighted Candle will light that which never was lighted before: And ſo may one touch of the living Soul, that is now with Chriſt, put Life into the body, that lies in the duſt. And as the lighted Candle makes the other like it, and Communicates of its Nature to it; ſo does the glorified Soul Communicate a new kind of Excellency to the Body, which it never had before; even to be a Spiritual, Glorious, Incorruptible, and Immortal Body. And God takes the Soul to Heaven before hand, that it may be firſt Glorified, and ſo be fit to communicate Glory to the body. So that there is more reaſon for the Reſurrection of the body, though it be turned to Earth; than there is reaſon that a Candle, that is gone out, ſhould be lighted again by another; or than there is reaſon, that I ſhould put on my Cloaths in the Morning which I put off at Night: For Nature diſpoſeth me to abhor nakedneſs, and deſire my Cloaths, and therefore in the Morning I will put them on: So Nature teaches the Seperated Soul to deſire a re-union with its body: And therefore when the Reſurrection-Morning comes, it will gladly take the word from Chriſt, and give that vital touch to the body, that ſhall revive it; and ſo put on its antient Garment, but wonderfully changed for the better, &c.