Funeral Sermon for Mary Doolittle, Sermon · Chapter 6
CHAP. VI. That the Same Body, for Substance, is to be Raiſed again at the laſt day. And what the Change will be of theſe Bodies hereafter, from what they now are.
SECT. I.
IF it be inquired, How can the ſame Body, after ſo many Changes, be raiſed and re-united to the Soul? And what need is there of Aſſcrting, That it ſhall be the ſame? It ought to be conſider'd, that the very word Reſurrection, doth ſuppoſe, or imply this, That the Bodies of Men ſhall hereafter be truly the ſame with thoſe that died. It is the Body falls to the ground, when the Spirit goes upward; That Body that then fell, is to be raiſed again, and no other Body than that. This Mortal Body ſhall be quickened by the Spirit of Chriſt, that now falls, to the ground: The ſame Fleſh that was ſeparated from the Soul at death, ſhall be united to it again: The ſame Temple that was deſtroyed, ſhall be re-built; The ſame Tabernacle that was diſſolved, ſhall be raiſed. We are bid to fear God, who can deſtroy Soul and Body in Hell, Mat. 10.28. What cauſe of fear, if this very body be not to be raiſed? *Reſurgere non eſt niſi ejus quod cecidit. Tert. adverſ. Marc. l. 5. c. 9.This Corruptible muſt put on Incorruption, this Mortal put on Immertality: As the Body of Chriſt, which is our Exemplar, with which he roſe, was the ſame that he depoſited in the Grave; and as the bodies of thoſe whom our Saviour raiſed, when he was on Earth, were the ſame with thoſe in which they died. And how ſhall the Graves, and Sea give up their Dead at the Laſt Day, Rev. 20.13. What need of this, if the ſame Bodies are not to be raiſed? for they can give up no other Bodies than what they received. Theſe Receptacles of the Dead, might be ſuffered to be quiet for ever, and the Bodies that reſt there to remain there for ever, if we do not expect the ſame Body to be raiſed.
And as the Body was the Servant of Photii Bibliotheca. S. Nilt Oratio, Prima & Secunda in Patch. p. 1528, &c.the Soul, in good or evil actions, *Si quidem Sola Anima praeclaras edidit Officii Actiones Jola eriam Coronetur. Sin autem Corpus quoque partem ſuſtinuerit Certaminum, coronetur etiam Anima unà cum ipſo Corpore. Hoc enim juſtum, & aquum, & Convenicntiſſimum eſt. Iſid. Peluſ. lib. 4. Epiſt. 201.He that did good or evil in one Body, is not to be Rewarded or Puniſhed in another: for that other Body would not be a part of the whole. Our preſent bodies are the Members of Chriſt, and the Temples of the Holy Ghoſt, and he will not ſuffer them Eternally to be loſt. What words can more plainly expreſs, that it is the ſame body for ſubſtance, than the putting on of Incorruption, and Immortality; declaring, that the Corruptible, Mortal Body, that is laid in the Grave, is that which ſhall be Immortal and Incorruptible?
This has been the common opinion of Chriſtians in all Ages. Upon this account the Primitive Chriſtians were ſo careful of the Bodies of their deceaſed Friends, manifeſting their belief, that their Souls ſhould meet theſe Bodies again. On this account their Pagan Adverſaries, to ſhow their ſpite and malice, when they had burnt their bodies to aſhes, ſcattered their duſt in the Air, or had thrown them into Rivers; that, if it were poſſible, they might deprive them of all hopes of a Reſurrection, and make it impoſſible; Some of them triumph'd, ſaying, Now let us ſee whether they can riſe again, whether their God can help them, or deliver them out of our *See more of this in Dr. More's Myſtery of Godlineſs, l. 6. c. 4. With Dr. Beaumont's Obſervations thereon; And Dr. Bury's Naked Goſpel, Part. 1. Chap. 11. With Mr. Nichols's Anſwer.hands.
SECT. II.
But though the bodies ſhall then, for Subſtance, be the ſame, with thoſe we now have, yet the modes and qualities of them will be ſo altered, that they will be quite another kind of bodies, than thoſe we have for the preſent. In reference to this Expected Change, the Apoſtle ſaith in this Chapter, ver. 7. That we walk by Faith, not by Sight. We do not yet know what our Happy State, by that Change, will be; but in another place he doth more particularly ſpeak of it, and more diſtinctly, viz. 1 Cor. 15.42, 43, 44.
1. That our vile bodies, Sown in Diſhonour, ſhall be Raiſed in Glory; ſhall be made Glorious, like the Glorious Body of Chriſt, Phil. 3.21. That which is ſown in diſhonour, ſhall be raiſed in Glory, and bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam: Shall be like the Glorious Body of Chriſt in Perfection of Parts, even in External form and figure, and it may be ſtature too. But, for certain, how vile and mean ſoever the matter of theſe bodies now be, however they may corrupt and putrifie in the Grave, they ſhall come forth in a bright and beautiful form; Compared to which, the moſt Exquiſite Beauty is but Darkneſs and Deformity. For the Righteous ſhall ſhine as the Sun, in the Firmament of their Father, Matth. 13.43. As the Stars of Heaven differ from a Clod of Earth, or a Carrion in the Ditch, ſo will their Glorified Bodies from this Earthly Houſe. The very activity, ſprightfulneſs, and joy of their Glorified Souls, will make their faces ſhine, and give the Countenance an amiable Air. Yea, Solomen, in all his Glory, was not arrayed like one of theſe Children of the Reſurrection, glittering with Heavenly brightneſs, and deck'd with Light, as with a Garment. The beams of Chriſt's Glory, who is the Sun of Righteouſneſs, ſhall reflect a Luſtre upon them, beſides what ſhall be tranſmitted from their Glorified Souls.
Our Lord gave a Specimen of this at his Transfiguration, and his Glorified Body is to be the Pattern of ours; His face did then ſhine as the Sun, Matt. 17.2. the Subſtance remaining, there was a Glorious Appearance: For he had the ſame Lineaments in Tabor, as at the foot of the Mount; otherwiſe Peter could not have diſtinguiſhed him from Moſes, and Elias. *Mr. Charnock, of Christ's Exaltation, Vol. 2. P. 1093.But his Body now in Heaven doth more excel in Glory that Body he had on Earth, than the Glory of the Sun ſurpaſſes that of a Glow-worm; not only from the Glory of his Soul, but of his Divinity ſhining through it. What a wonderful Change muſt paſs on the bodies of the Glorified Saints, to make them capable of beholding this Glory of Chriſt; when a little Glimpſe of it on Mount Tabor, was more than a Mortal Eye could bear; it caſt Peter into an Exſtaſie? Our Lord forbad his Diſciples to ſpeak of the Glory of his Transfiguration, till after he was Riſen from the Dead; but now is willing, and hath commanded it ſhould be ſpoken of, all the World over, that our thoughts and apprehenſions may be raiſed, to conſider that Glory, which this did but imperfectly ſhadow and repreſent. For if before his Reſurrection, and Aſcenſion, the Human Nature of Chriſt had ſuch a Glory, how much more in Heaven? and we ſhall be like him. Moſes on the Mount did ſo ſhine, that the People were afraid to come near him, and he was forced to caſt a Vail upon his Face. One ray of Chriſts Glory on the Holy Martyr Stephen, made his Countenance ſhine with an Angelical Luſtre. And when he ſhall appear, we ſhall be like him; he will then be admired of all them that believe: We ſhall be like him who is the Bleſſed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who alone hath Immortality, dwelling in that Light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath ſeen, or can ſee, 1 Tim 6.15, 16.
2. There will be a change of theſe bodies in reſpect of Spirituality. It is ſown a Natural body, and raiſed a Spiritual one. The groſſneſs and Feculency that now adheres to it, ſhall be purged off. Not Spiritual in oppoſition to Corporeal, that is a Contradiction; but in oppoſitition to Natural; of a Spiritual Nature in oppoſition to this infirm fleſh; a body raiſed to the higheſt degree of Excellence, as near the Angelical State as a body can be brought. It is called our Houſe, from Heaven, foreign not foreign, not an Houſe that is to deſcend from Heaven to us, but that is of an Heavenly Nature, all of a Peice with Heaven. So Purified, as to be Aſſimilated to the Heavenly Region, where we are to dwell for ever. The first Man was of the Earth, Earthly; the ſecond Man is the Lord from Heaven: And from each of them we partake of an anſwerable Nature. As is the Earthly, ſuch are they that are Earthly, even all of us in our fleſhly State having earthly bodies from an earthly Adam, and natural bodies from the natural Adam. And as is the Henvenly, ſuch are they that are Heavenly: For Chriſt will make them like himſelf; and as he hath an Heavenly Spiritual body, and not an Earthly. Natural body, ſo ſhall his Members have, that they may be like him. And as we have born the Image of the Earthly, in having a Natural Fleſhly body, we ſhall alſo bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam, in having a Spiritual Body, not needing the uſe of Meats, or Drinks, or any of the refreſhments or pleaſures of the animal Life, or be imployed in any of thoſe Acts, whereby the body is now denominated Natural, and ſuited to this Earthly State. But our bodies ſhall then be Spiritual, ſuited to the Life that Angels and Saints live in Heaven; every way greatly refined, and the Activity of our Spirits improved, without the defects and infirmities of fleſh and blood; ſhall be inveſted with Caeleſtial Qualities, depending wholly on the Soul, and yielding ready obedience, and conformity to its deſires and motions, executing all its Commands with pleaſure and Diſpatch. Yea, the imployment and operations of the body ſhall be raiſed above thoſe in the preſent ſtate, as much as the Imployment of a King exceeds that of a Scullion. This Spiritual Body one repreſents by Organized Light, as a torch or wood that looſeth its droſſy and foggy qualities, when heightened into a pure flame, or minerals heightened into Spirits.
3. The Bodies of the Saints ſhall be changed from weak and paſſive, into Active and Powerful Bodies. Sown in Weakneſs, but raiſed in Power. They are now dull and ſluggiſh, but then they ſhall be nimble and active, like the Body of Chriſt, that, at his Aſcenſion into Heaven, being done in one day, moved many thouſands of Miles in an hour; the diſtance between the higheſt Heavens and this Earth, being computed to be ſome hundred millions of Miles: They ſhall be raiſed with Angelical Agility and Strength: He that is weak among them ſhall be as David; he that is as David, ſhall be as an Angel of God; moving without difficulty, and without wearineſs. Now we often find the Body cannot keep Peace with the Soul, the Fleſh is weak when the Spirit is willing, but it ſhall be raiſed in Power. It is now liable to Diſeaſes and Paſſions, can do little and ſuffers much; but no Diſeaſes or Infirmities ſhall hereafter hinder its motions, or impair its Health. A glorified Body will move without wearineſs, and faſt without hunger, and wake for ever without need of refreſhment: Herein there will be a ſuitableneſs to the Activity of a glorified Soul; and without this they could not bear the weight of the Heavenly Glory: Beſides, they are to indure to all Eternity, without reparation by meat, and drink, and fleep.
4. They ſhall be Incorruptible, and Immortal. It is ſown in Corruption, it is raiſed in Incorruption. This mortal ſhall put on Immortality, They ſhall dye no more, but live for ever. Therefore the day of the Reſurrection, is called the Redemption of our Bodies; They ſhall not be liable to be put out of tune by infirmities, and pains, and numberleſs diſeaſes, as now; which often make Life it ſelfe a Burden. They ſhall be Immortal, without needing that Labour by day, or ſleep by night, which now we beſtow to ſupply their Neceſſities, and repair their decays, and prevent Death. Now the Body has the ſeeds of Mortality and Corruption, but ſhall then be refined from all ſuch Principles; There ſhall not be a tendency to Death, in the nature and conſtitution of the Body; ſuch will be the glorious Change, that they cannot dye any more, 20. Luk. 36. They that were raiſed by Chriſt when on Earth, they dyed again, their ſecond Life was no more exempt from death, than their Firſt: But at the Reſurrection, Mortality ſhall be ſwallowed up of Life, it ſhall loſe its power and force for ever.