A Complete Body of Divinity, Sermons · 109 (Question 28 cont.)
SERMON CIX.
FROM the General Conſideration of Chriſt a Exaltation, we paſs to take a more diſtinct Account of it in the ſeveral ſteps. And theſe are comprized under two heads. They are either thoſe degrees of Triumph, which he is already exalted to; or ſuch, the …nifeſtation whereof is reſerved for the Day of Judgment. God hath already highly ſifted him up, and will yet, more conſpicrouſly make known his Glory, at the end of the World. The Saints in Heaven ſee his face in Glory, and are happy in that fight. Believers upon Earth, ſee him with an eve of faith, and rejoyce in it, 1 Pet. 1.8. Whom having not ſeen, ye love: in whom though n…w ye ſee him not, yet believing, ye roj…y…e with jor unſpeakable and full of glory. But his enemies alſo muſt ſee it. They ſaw him dead & buried, and that was the laſt ſight they had of him; but they muſt ſee him glorifyed; to their eternal confuſion. Rev. 1.7. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye ſhall ſee him, and they alſo which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth ſhall wail becauſe of him: even ſo Amen.
TO begin wi…h the Glorification which Chriſt hath already arrived to: It conſiſts in two things, viz. His Reſurrection from Death, and his taking poſſeſſion of the Kingdom of Glory. And we may take an Account of the former of theſe at preſent, viz. His Reſurrection, which was the firſt ſtep of his Glory, after he had humbled himſelf to Death.
THIS Article is a main Pillar of the Chriſtian Faith, and we had need to be well built on it. As the Apoſtles were appointed to be witneſſes of it, (Act. 1.22.) ſo they preached of it diſtinctly, wherever they came. We may than take a brief Account of it, under ſeveral heads.
1. THE proper Nature of Chriſt's Reſurrection conſiſts in two things: There is ſomething Internal, viz. the re…union of his ſeperated Soul and Body: And there is ſomething External, viz. His coming out of his Grave after his re union. Both of which are pointed at in the words uſed in the New-Teſtament to expreſs it. That in Mar. 28.6. He is riſen. foreign, ſignifies both to wake out o… ſleep and riſe out of bed. And when Chriſt's Soul came into his body, he then awaked, and when he left his Sepulchre, he then left his bed. It is alſo expreſſed by foreignwhich ſignifies a riſing from a fall, and ſtanding up again. Chriſt fell down into the duſt when he died, and roſe and ſtood up again when he aroſe. The former of theſe was properly his Reſurrection, and the latter the manifeſtation of it.
II. THE Subjects of this Reſurrection may be diſtinctly conſidered, in two Concluſions,
1. THE prover ſubject of this Reſurrection, was the whole Humane Nature of Chriſt. Chriſt is ſaid to die, and to riſe again. 1 Cor. 15.14, 15. It is aſcribed to his Perſon in reſpect of his humane Nature; for the divine Nature is not in it ſelf capable either of Humiliation or Exaltation. But the Perſon was in regard of one of his Natures. But it may be attributed to his whole humane Nature, in as much, as both his Soul and Body were ſharers in it. His whole Humanity fell by Death, in ſome ſenſe, his Soul therefore aroſe by a deliverance from the ſtate of ſeparation, by its re-union, and his Body by a reſtauration to life, and being brought out of his grave.
2. THAT hence, the Reſurrection is aſcribed to his Body, to his Soul, and to his Perſon, in divers reſpects,
1. TO his Body as that which was moſt properly raiſed. For that only fell down; whiles his Soul went upward to Paradice, Luk. 23.43. That only lay in the grave, his Soul aſcended to Heaven. That only was wholly deprived of all its operations, his Soul, as it went into, ſo it was actively happy in the preſence of God. Now in reſpect to his Body, (1.) IT was the ſame Body that fell, which was raiſed again. Mat. 28.5, 6. And the angel anſwered and ſaid unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye ſeek Jeſus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is riſen, as he ſaid: come ſee the place where the Lord lay. He did not aſſume another to be exalted in, but the ſame in which he was humbled. (2.) HIS reaſonable Soul came from Heaven into the Sepulchre, where his Body lay, & was there re-united to it. Pſal. 16.10. For thou wilt not leave my ſoul in hell. Which muſt be underſtood of the ſtate of ſeparation. (3.) HIS animal Spirits, which had been diſſipated by Death, were now again reſtored, and ſo made way for the re union, and helped to knit his Soul & Body together. On which account he is ſaid to be revived, Rom. 14.9. For to this end Chriſt both died, and roſe, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead & living. (4) HIS Senſes were alſo reſtored to his Body. The Organs of them had been deprived of their power, by his Death, and were for the preſent uſeleſs, but now his eyes, ears, and other inſtruments of ſenſe were made again to receive their power of operation, and ſo ſitted every way to ſerve his reaſonable Soul, according to the natural uſe of them: and they were the evident proofs of his being again alive. Act. 1.3. (5.) AND now the priſon doors were opened, and he came out of his Grave. His Body was now raiſed a glorious Body, Phil. 3.21.1. Cor. 15.43. Tho' the glorious ſplendour of it, was for a while vailed, while he ſaw meet, for a few days to converſe with his Diſciples, before his Aſcenſion, that they might be ſo capable of ſuch communion with him.
2. IN regard of his Soul. It is more improperly ſaid to riſe, but yet there is … of a Reſurrection to be obſerved in it. (1.) IT came into, and was re united to … Body, after ſeparation: Elſe his Body … not have riſen. Its Death was proc…d …y that ſeparation, and therefore its … on muſt be made by ſuch a re-union. (2.) HEREBY it was delivered from th… paration, which was contrary to the … inclination of it; and was made again … joy the deſired and delightful company of it The ſeperate Soul being but part of the…, is not at reſt till it be reſtored to the … part, for which it was made, and ſo … goes a ſort of Death whiles ſeperate. (3.) IT came out of the Sepulchre with … in his Body, and ſo it joined with it in the ſecond part of his Reſurrection. For it … hereby that his Body was enabled to … forth, which before was altogether … (4.) IT now enjoyed its ancient & fall … of exerciſing its operations upon and … glorious Body. It had again the uſe … his ſenſes and members, which had … the while ſuſpended. (5.) BOTH together took poſſeſſion of the Glory which he had merited with b…th … Humiliation. Pſal. 16.9, 10, 11. His … torial Glory was not compleated, till … thus raiſed.
3. AS to his Perſon. It is certain, theſe who roſe was Chriſt, the Second Perſo… … Sacred Trinity. And although, as was … hinted, the divine Nature, being unch… ble, could neither die, nor riſe, yet, as …thclarative glory of his divine Nature, … fore obſcured in the days of his … began to beam our, and ſhine forth … in his Reſurrection. Hence that, … And declared to be the Son of God … according to the Spirit of holineſs, by … … rection from the dead. And in this … was a declarative begetting of him, … 33. God hath fulfilled the ſame unto … children, in that he hath raiſed up Jeſus … as it is written in the ſecond Pſalm, … my ſon, this day have I begotten thee. … as Me…lator was now glorifyed, in … of the promiſe made to him in the … of Redemption.
III. THAT Chriſt did really Ri…. The Scripture gives abundant … thereunto. And it being a matter … ſufficient witneſs is a good evidence … to entertain it: though there is aſ… … reaſon to make it appear. Here the… … that Scripture ſaith it,
1. THERE is the Teſtimony of … Angels for it, Mat. 28.5, 6. Luk. 24.4… … this is enough both for number and … cation.
2. THE Teſtimony of the Women … to the Sepulchre, where they ſaw & … him. Mat. 28.9.
3. THE divers Apparitions which … to his Diſciples. He was firſt and laſt, … his Aſcenſion, ſeen of at leaſt five … p…ſions, who had his Reſurrection confirmed …s them by many ſenſible & convincing proofs of …, 1 Cor. 15.5, 6, 7, 8.
4. ESPECIALLY the Teſtimony of the Ap…ies: Who becauſe they were to carry this …h, and witneſs it to the World, had frequent communion with him at times, for j…ry days after he was riſen, Act. 1.3 during which time, they ſaw & handled the word of …e, 1 Job. 1.1, 2. He gave their ſenſes the proof of it. Hence that, Luk. 24.39, 40. Be… my bands & my feet, that it is I my ſelf; …dle …e, and ſee for a ſpirit hath not fleſh and …es, as ye ſet me have. Joh. 20.27. Then … be to To…mas, Reach hither thy finger, and … my hands; and reach hither thy band, and … it into my ſide, and be not faithleſs, but …ing.
5. NAY the very nature of the thing ſaith, … he muſt needs be riſen. For, being the … God, and having by his Death ſatisfied …, and anſwered all the demands of j…tice, on the ſcore of his redeemed, it was …ſible that the Grave ſhould hold him. Wh… therefore he had lain in it long enough … confirm the reality of his being dead, there was no reaſon for his lying any longer there. So he argues, Act. 2.24. Whom God hath … up, having looſed the pains of death: be…ſe it was not po…ble that he ſhould be holden of it.
IV. IF it be demanded, by what Vertue he uſe, … who was the Efficient of his Reſurrections it may be replied, that it was not by any the adventitious power, but he Himſelf was … …ther of his own Riſing. This he clearly … before-hand, Joh. 2 19. & 10.17, 18. …, the work is aſcribed to God the … Act. 2.24. For he, being the Creditor, … fully ſatisfyed, in the diſcharge of …, which his Son undertook to pay, … Angel, as an Officer, to diſcharge him … …rious ſtate and majeſty. This alſo is … to the Spirit, Rom. 8 11. Becauſe he … by a glorious and almighty power, … did not ſo much appear in raiſing his … from the Grave, though nothing ſhort of …pot…y was able to do that, as in looſing … …nds of the ſecond Death which were … him in his ſtate of Humiliation, and …ing him from the ſentence of the law by which he was condemned to dye as … …ety, and repreſentative. And indeed …ng a divine work, belongs to the Deity, … …ſequently to the Trinity. But yet … aſcribes it to himſelf, becauſe his di…ture exerted it ſelf mightily in his …ction. As it was by a voluntary act … own, that he laid down his life, elſe … could have taken it from him; ſo, by … of mighty power, he took it up again. … it ſelf could not ſtand againſt him, but … a Conquerour over it, and ſo its … Perſon fulfilled that threatning, Hoſ 13.3…, I will ranſom them from the power of the …: I will redeem them from death: O …word will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy deſtruction; repentance ſhall be hid from mine eyes. The Angels which were preſent at it, were not inſtruments of it, but only waited on him their Lord, and did him honours in this paſſage of his Exaltation.
V. AS to the Time of Chriſt's Reſurrection, it was on the Third Day from his Death and Burial. Luk 24.7. This was foretold by Chriſt himſelf, Joh. 2.19. Mat. 16.21. And be raiſed again the third day. And in this regard he propoſed Jonas to be a type of him, Mat. 12.39, 40. He continued thus long in a ſtate of Death, that it might appear that he was verily dead; and it was no longer, that his Diſciples might not faint in their ſpirits, and he diſcouraging about the corrupting of his Body, it being foretold that it ſhould not ſee corruption, Pſal. 16.10. It is true, he lay not three whole days, but ſome part of three diſtinct days: for he was buried on the fixth day before Sun-ſet, and he lay the whole ſeventh day, and the night of the firſt day; reckoning the day to being with the evening: for if we begin it with the morning, there is no part of the third day in the account: and the beginning of it at midnight is meerly Aſtronomical, and never came into a Theological computation.
VI. IT was requiſite that Chriſt ſhould riſe from the Dead. As he muſt dye, ſo he muſt riſe and live. And there are ſeveral things wherein this appears neceſſary,
1. HE roſe again to give a proof & declaration, that he was the Son of God. Rom. 1.4. During his Humiliation, and eſpecially in his Death, his Divinity was clouded under a veil of manifold infirmities attending his humanity; but in and by his Reſurrection, he made proof of his eternal Power & Godhead. It is true indeed, others have been raiſed, and ſhortly all ſhall riſe; and therefore meerly to be made to riſe, is not a proof of the divinity of the ſubject: but yet to raiſe himſelf up by his own power, was a ſufficient proof for this. He gave evidence of it by raiſing others in his own name; he muſt needs do ſo in raiſing himſelf, this being a divine prerogative. But there was a further evidence of his Deity in his Reſurrection, for he dyed by the Law and Juſtice of God, ſentenced as our Surety to ſuffer the whole weight of the wrath of God; and for him to get out from this ſentence, and after he had born it, to live again, having fulfilled all the demands of Juſtice upon him, proves him to be God. The weight of that wrath would have broken the whole Creation, and they could never have evaded.
2. HENCE, herein he gave a teſtimony of his perfect Victory over Death, and our ſpiritual Enemies. It was not enough that Chriſt ſhould die for us, but in dying he muſt be a Conquerour, elſe his Death could not profit us. Yea, he ſuffered, that by it he might overcome. Heb. 2.14. That through death he might deſtroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. And this comes to be known and proved by his Reſurrection Paul therefore, after he had by manifold argument proved him to be riſen, and ſhewn what was the glorious efficacy of it, determines all in that triumph, 1 Cor. 15.57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. It is true, Chriſt conquered all on his Croſs; there the battle was fought, and the victory gained: But this victory encreaſed into a triumph in his Reſurrection. Now all his enamies fled, and quitted the field. Pſal 68.1. Let God ariſe, let his enmies be ſcattered: let them alſo that hate him flee before him. He made a conqueſt of Death it ſelf, and it lay dead at this feet. Chriſt had never been known to be a Conqueror, but for this. If Death had detained him her Captive, where had been his Victory?
3. HE roſe for our Juſtification. Rom. 14.25. As he died to pay our debt, ſo he roſe again that he might acquit or abſolve us from it. Chriſt's Reſurrection was both his and our diſcharge: His, as he ſtood our Surety bound for us, and ours, as thoſe for whom he was ſo. As Chriſt, by dying, was made vertually, ſo by rifing he becomes actually the object of our juſtifying faith. He became a ſufficient object of faith, not meerly by undertaking to reſpond for us, but by actually finiſhing tranſgreſſions on our account, in paying our whole debt. If he had not ſatisfied for us, we could not in Juſtice have been pardoned. If he had not fully reconciled us to God, and compleatly anſwered the Law's demands, we could not have been ſaved. And if he had continued dead, it would have argued the continued of the payment; which would have diſcovered the imperfection of it, and conſequently its invalidity. Chriſt could not riſe till Juſtice acquitted him. His bond was in for us, and it muſt be taken up, and that by a full payment of it: But when he aroſe, this bond was returned to him, and that cancelled. So that here is ground for our Juſtification. Our debt is paid, and our bonds taken up. It is therefore his Reſurrection that ſtands of force againſt all that can be laid to our charge, Rom. 8.34. This therefore is one argument by which the Apoſtle proves that he muſt needs be riſen, 1 Cor. 15.17. And if Chriſt be not raiſed, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your ſins.
4. IT was to put him into a fit condition for the compleating of what remained to be done in the execution of his Offices. We before obſerved, that he executes them both in a ſtate of Humiliation and Exaltation. As Prieſt, he was to ſatisfy Juſtice for us, and atterwards to intercede, Heb. 7.25. As a Prophet, here he taught with his Mouth, but there belongs to it, the ſending forth of his Spirit, and for this he muſt go to the Father, Joh. 16.7. As a King, he here commanded his Diſciples, and gave them laws, but he muſt alſo govern them by his power, and ſway the Scepter over the World; and this was eminently accompliſhed at his Reſurrection, Pſal. 2.6. &c. compare Act. 13.33. Yea, these … the glory of a Mediator promiſed to him … his Obedience, and it was neceſſary that is ſhould riſe to take poſſeſſion of it. Luk. 24.2… Ought not Chriſt to have ſuffered theſe …, and to enter into his glory?
5. HE muſt riſe, that he might be the … fruits of our Reſurrection, both ſpirited … bodily. See, 1 Cor. 15.20, 21, 23. Whe… … ſuſt ſruits, we are not to underſtand the … order of time, but only of cauſality. Th… that roſe at his Death, of whom we … an account, Mat. 27.52, 57. aroſe by the … and influence of his Reſurrection, … is a ſure pledge of the Reſurrction of … his members. When the firſt fruits … offered to God, under the Law, he … of them, & gave to his People by this … an aſſurance of an harveſt. Abd the … proves this, ver. 21. from the order of … Covenant in which God had ſet him … Adam in the firſt Covenant ſtanding … procured us to dye, ſo Chirſt in the new … venant, being our Surery, hath purcha… Reſurrection for us, and his Reſurrection … the earneſt of ours. In ſum, Chriſt is God, is the efficient; as in our natute ſar… for our ſins, is the meritorious; as riſing … the dead is the enſuring cauſe of our Reſurrection. Hence that, Joh. 14.19. Yes a … while, and the world ſeeth me no more: … ſee me: becauſe I live, Ye ſhall live alſo.
USE. 1. LEARN hence, that it … all thoſe, that would have a joyful is … Reſurrection at laſt, to get and ſecure a … Chriſt's Reſurrection. There will be a … riſing again of all that die, both … unjuſt, but none ſhall riſe in Glory, … as are under the ſaving efficacy of the …rection of Chriſt. Others ſhall only … receive and everlaſting ſecond fall in… bottomleſs pit of never-ending miſer … ſo long as men are out of Chriſt, the th… of the Reſurrection may well be a … them; and it is that which truly … Dearth to be a ground of terror; for if … put an end to the being of men, it … not have ſuch terror in it, as the confide… … that after it comes a dreadful Judge… … a Reſurrection to Condemnation, put … To think that I muſt be reſtored to an … ruptible ſtate, on purpoſe to be ſi… … ſuffer in eternal torr…nts, and lie in … laſting burnings, is a moſt amazing th… This is enough to put us on ſolemn … How may we eſcape this, and be ha… … that day? And we have it, lot us … … vertue of his Reſurrection applied to … to raiſe us up from ſin, which is down … life; and then to raiſe us up to glory … will be in the laſt day; which latter … a dependence on the former. Make … that he roſe for our Juſtification, by … in him by Faith, ſo ſhall we be bo… … and glorified by him at that day.
USE. II. LET us labour to get ou… … ſtrongthned on, and eſtabliſhed by a right … … of the Reſarrection of Chriſt. Let this ſatisfy us, that he hath wrought out a … Redemption. So the Apoſtle argues. … 7.25. Juſtice had him in its hands, it … him to Death, but is hath diſcharged him. A riſen Surety muſt needs be a ſufficient Saviour; not can there be any reaſon after that to queſtion whether the Juſtice of … be ſatisfyed. Let it encourage us to … Chriſt, to perfect all that is wanting. … being …ed for Eternal Life, remembring that be is riſen, and exalted for this very …, to finiſh what he began in his Death and Merit. And then, let the conſideration of … intereſt in his Reſurrection, help us to triumph over Death and the Grave, remem…g, that he is riſen, and gone to Heaven as … ſore runner, to take poſſeſſion in our …, & make ready for our entertainment: … thearfully follow him, rejoycing in the … of an happy riſing, and being with him …
[June 8. 1697.]