may be very true though thou dost not understand it or at first resent it Remember how it was with the disciples of our Lord Christ Luk. 18. 31. 34. our Lord told them vers 31. of what he was to suffer and that all things that were written by the prophets concerning the son of man should be fulfilled and that at Jerusalem he should be spitefully dealt withall c. and delivered to the gentiles as they did vers 34. it is said they understood none of those things these sayings were hid from them neither knew they the things that were spoken in like manner our Lord Christ the Apostles and prophets have spoken and declared many things concerning his coming again in power and great glory and that every eye shall see him They have spoken of very many great things that wlll contemporize and take place then and amongst them in particular this mistery shewed by the Apostle Paul of the not aying of the servants of God but being changed whilst alive and put into their former happy estate which was lost in Adam but many of the servants of God and followers of the Lord Christ understand none of those things and the saying is hid from them and they know it not Haply it may be even so in this our day and in particular concerning this mistery this being changed whilest alive in a moment It is likely it may be better resented and understood hereafter and therefore I shall leave it to the giver of light and understanding to give forth as he shall please The day hasteneth the time it draweth nigh he that shall come will come and will not tarry In the mean time the just shall live by faith Farewell P. G. B. The Mystery of Not Dying but being Changed whilest alive Discussed 1 Cor. 15. 51. CHAP. I. Something offered in a brief and general way touching the resurrection of the dead from that in 1 Cor. 15. from the 34. to the end of vers 50 In order to the better taking knowledge of some other matter THe Apostle Paul having mentioned a question that some did or might make vers 35. How are the dead raised up and with what bodyes do they come He in an upbraiding manner answereth in an allusive way to the sowing of grain in the earth vors 36. Thou fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die vers 37. And that which thou sowest thou sowest not that body which shall be but bare grain c. a grain sowen becomes a stalk with ears and grain For vers 38. God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him and to every seed of this or that kind of grain his own body his own in nature and kind wheat bringeth forth wheat barly and all kind of grain their like In vers 39. the Apostle alludeth to flesh and mentions the several kindes all not being the same there is one of men another of beasts another of fishes another of birds then in vers 40. He tells also of celestial bodyes and bodies terrestrial And in vers 41. he speaks of the difference that is between the celestial bodyes in glory that there is a difference in degree and in the greatnes of their glory as in the sun and the moon And how one star differs from another in glory and this he doth in an allusive way to the matter in hand In vers 42. He applies that before spoken of to the resurrection saying so also is the resurrection of the dead it is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption c. And so according to that allusive way of speaking of sowing mans body is so sown in corruption and raised in incorruption God giveth a body as he pleaseth so as he giveth to the grain A body incorruptible as is set forth in vers 43. it is sown in dishonor it is raised in glory It is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body There will be a difference betwixt what they are when sown and what they will be when raised in sundry considerations In the latter part of vers 44. the Apostle doth positively assert that there is a natural body such is the present condition of all the sons of Adam and there is a spiritual body so will be the case and condition of all the just hereafter when they are raised again He speaketh as the holy Scriptures use to do of things that as yet are not as if at present they were There is a spiritual body it will surely be so What he means by spiritual body the matter following in vers 45. doth shew he confirms the differencing so by what is written saying and so it is written the first man Adam was made a living soul a living man Gen. 2. 7. God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life man became a living soul The last Adam to wit the Lord Christ the prince of life Acts. 3 15. He was made a quickning spirit being the first-fruits of those that rose from death vers 46. He shews that the natural state is first the spiritual state is afterward vers 47. the first man is of the earth earthly Adam was formed of the dust of the earth the second Adam or man the Lord Christ from heaven Vers. 48. As is the earthy such are they that are earthy as was Adam such are all his posteritie as is the heavenly such are they that are heavenly as is the Lord Christ such will be all the just they shall be like him 1. Joh. 3. 2. Their vile bodyes shall be changed and made like unto his glorious body Phil. 3. 21. Vers. 49. The Apostle fully asserts it As we have born and do yet bear the Image of the earthy we shall also bear the Image of the heavenly The Apostle saith we shall not that we do bear it now for our present state is a state of regeneration but our future condition will be a state of glorification which we shall then attain unto when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory Col. 3. 4. Vers. 50. The Apostle hath another positive assertion and a resolve in the case this I say brethren that flesh and bloud cannot inherrit the kingdom of God What he means by flesh and bloud that which he sayth further explains neither saith he doth corruption inherit incorruption namely man in his corrupt unchanged estate earthy Adam he cannot inherit that incorrupt estate as to dwell in the new heaven and the new earth wherein shall dwell righteousness or righteous ones only so in Rev. 21. 27. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth c. Man clothed with mortallity and corrupt flesh and bloud cannot come there or have any share or inheritance in that blessed state of which holy Peter speaketh 1. Pet. 1. 4. an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away
to the lively hope of he tells us in the words following it is to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away it is safe and in sure hands it is reserved in heaven for believers they are kept by the power of God through faith for that great salvation ready to be revealed and it is kept for them and shall be brought unto them they shall not need to go to fetch it but when will it be at the revelation of Jesus Christ 1. Pet. 1. 3. 4. 5. He wills the servants of God to hope on for that great grace that shall be brought unto them at the revelation of Iesus Christ vers 13. Then will Abraham and Isaack and Iacob be chief among the holy ones as it is said many shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down with Abraham Isaack and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven Math. 8. 11. This seemeth to eye that in Isa 25. 6. The feast the Lord will make unto all people in his holy mountain a feast of fat things and wine well refined full of marrow and fat things see the place it eyeth in a likely way as to its full fulfilling such a time when Abraham and Isaack and Iacob and the holy prophets and Apostles c. shall feast together in the kingdom of Christ It looketh beyond the spiritual feast of the gospel to a time as vers 8. When death shall be swallowed up in victory Which the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 15. 54. Relateth to a very far time for the making of it good and fulfilling of it even the time of the kingdom of the Lord Christ in the world to come When corruption shall have put on incorruption and mortality immortalitie And as it followeth agreeing with and speaking out that to be the time all tears will the Lord wipe away from the faces of his people and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth This world will not as to the full fulfilling of it afford such a happy day the waited for salvation of the people of God shall then be fully enjoyed and great shall be their joy and rejoycing Redemption from the captivity of sin and satan from death and the grave sore enemies and cruel tyrants believers have redemption from them all in the bloud of Christ and may reckon and account themselves virtually ransomed and delivered by their redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ and that they are redemed ones by the price of his most precious bloud but this is only virtually and in the first fruits in the sure promise in the earnest to wit the spirit the redeemer shall fully come to Sion then shall the great redemption and deliverance take place Rom. 11. 26. the deliverer shall come to Sion and shall turn away ungodlynesse from Iacob or as holy Isaiah expresseth it the redeemer shall come to Sion and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob. It is good and true in both readings those believers that have turned to God by faith and repentance he shall come to them and coming he shall take their iniquities quite away I conceive by chainging them in a moment in the twinkling of an eye putting off their corruption and putting on incorruption so he shall come to the turned and likewise turn away their iniquitie The redemption of the body shall be then from the prison and power of the grave Rom. 8. 23. A great thing which believers have in the promise and in the earnest to wit the spirit they shall have then in the enjoyment of it the whole man Body and spirit with all the parts and faculties of both united in one full and perfect and it will be eternal redemption which the redeemer the Lord Christ hath obtained for his Heb. 9. 12. No more slavery then to sin or death or the grave Christ our blessed redeemer hath fully subdued it then and will set us fully free so as instead of saying as sometime holy Paul did who shall deliver us from this sinful body of death to wit subject to sin death and the grave those great tyrants we by faith may say according to our present interest and hope what shall then be sayd and sung aloud in the full posession and enjoyment of it by way of praise to their redeemer Rev. 5. 9. Thou art worthy c. For thou wast slain and hast redeemeed us by thy bloud out of every kinred and tongue and people and nation and hast made us unto our God kings and Priests and we shall reign on the earth then followeth that great thanksgiving of that great number in the three following verses in praise of the redeemer The time this relateth unto when it will be made good and fulfilled it is very likely it will be then when our Lord cometh the second time when the raised from the dead and the then living changed shall take place when they shall meet the Lord Christ and come with him to the new earth where he will fully set up his kingdom and throne then will that be fully made good Isa 35. 10. Isa 51. 11. The ransomed of the Lord or the redeemed shall come to Sion with joy and songs and everlasting joy shall be on their heads they shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away Their rejoycing and felicitie then shall not be of the length of a kings reign as to instance in Solomon in whose dayes there was great felicity but it lasted not beyond his dayes but this shall be everlasting as long as the sun and moon endureth Psal 72. 7. This world affords it not nor never will it is likely as to the fulness of it Trouble and sorrow and disquiet hath been and is at the present the portion and lot of the righteous here in this world our Lord hath told us so Ioh. 16. 20. Ye to wit the righteous shall weep and lament that is their condition here for a season what shall the men of the world do but the world shall rejoyce it is their day ye namely the righteous shall be sorrowful oh but when that time comes they shall then rejoyce your sorrow shall be turned into joy and their joy shall none take from them As to the fulnes of it it 's the time when sorrow and tears and pain and death shall be no more we know what time that is it is Jerusalems happy day in the new earth in the world to come then it will be so and all made good and fulfilled in the fulness and length of time Of neere affinity with redemption is salvation or being saved which we shall dilate on a little Not after the way of a theam or common place but only as salvation by Jesus Christ the blessed saviour of such as believe in him The beginning of it and first fruits here in regeneration in this world and the full harvest and perfection in the world to come at that
happy day of our Lord Christ when as it is written Heb. 28. To them that look for him he shall appear the second time with ut sin unto salvation full salvation of soul and body salvation to the utmost Heb. 7. 25. Salvation begun by the spirit of regeneration it hath for the earnest of the whole the holy spirit and it hath sure promises all yea and Amen in Christ About which faith in the servants of God is exercised laying hold on them and with much consolation and encouragement go on from faith to faith after the way of the living of the just they live by faith and they also dye in faith and do not receive the thing promised to wit full salvation They that went before to wit Abraham and Isaack and Jacob c. Nor those that followed after since their day they have not neither shall they or any others receive it till that blessed time come Heb. 11. 13. These all dyed in faith and received not the promise so vers 39. They obtained a good report through faith but received not the promise It is the salvation of the whole man body and spirit united in one as at the first when God made man and breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living soul or person of that we speak which the Apostle tells us is nearer then when we first believed It grows nearer and nearer As we have a mighty redeemer so we have a blessed saviour who is able to save to the uttermost Heb. 7. 25. He hath undertaken it he hath begun it he will perfect it and finish it to the full then at that time will that be made good to the full Rev. 12. 10. Now is come salvation now so as never before full absolute perfect it was before but in the beginning and in the way to perfecting but then it will be fully finished in the world to come and true to the utmost when our Lord cometh again and all his faints and saved ones with him Then the mistery of godlyness and salvation will be finished as he hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets Rev. 10. 7. This great salvation the prophets as holy Peter tells us 1. Pet. 1. 10. have enquired and searched diligently who prophecyed of that great grace the saviour that brought salvation unto all the saved ones they enquired after the manner and after the time testifyed by the spirit when it began or was to begin in a way of humiliation and suffering of the Lord Christ and end and be perfected in great ensuing glory vers 11. O happy and blessed saying Col. 3. 4. When Christ who is our life and our salvation shall appear then shall we also appear with him in glory and behold him in his glory and be like unto him The happy restoration of all things that God hath spoken must here be treated of but I shall wave it here and speak of it after by it self and shall take knowledge of something concerning immortalitie and eternal life which Adam was not possessed of a great thing indeed of which the holy scriptures of the new testament speak much a blessed thing to come which will be enjoyed then at that happy day of the Lord Christ in the world to come immortalitie and eternal life are of neere affinity as the cause and the effect the root and the fruit immortality hath for its contrary mortalitie or dying which all the posterity of Adam know experimentally we have treated of it before and shall be breif in what shall be further offered The same may be said of immortality and life everlasting as was sayd of redemption and salvation the servants of God have the promise and likewise the earnest to wit the spirit in their hearts here in this world but not the things themselves otherwise then as afore the things themselves in the real possessing and enjoying of them to the full in the world to come as it is written Mark 10. 30. The sufferers for Christ shall have rewards here In this world and in the world to come everlasting life Luk. 18. 30. the same Immortalitie is so great a thing as the scripture tells us God only hath Immortality 1. Tim. 6. 16 He will give it at that day by Jesus Christ to the raised and to the changed ones they shall then and not before whatever some unwisely say put on immortalitie as it is said 1. Cor. 15. 53. 54. This mortalitie it shall put on immortalitie Then it shall be as is elsewhere said mortality shall be swallowed up of life 2. Cor. 5. 4. to wit of life everlasting the concomitant of immortalitie This of immortalitie and life everlasting appertains unto and shall be enjoyed by the whole person the body more especially into which the spirit or angelical part was breathed by almighty God when he first made man this is vulgarly called the soul happily not very properly it is a received principle that dyes not nor is capable of it but returns to God that gave it Eccles. 12. 7. how and where and in what manner it subsisteth and whether it hath sympathy and distinct desire as it had in the body is I conceive a very high and very hidden thing of which I shall forbear to say any thing To be made immortal and put into such an estate is a condition beyond what Adam attained unto in his happy estate it is one of the additions of blessedness the raised and changed saints shall be made partakers of at that happy day very few have as yet and it is likely none shall further attain it till then and then they shall put it on and enjoy it those that by patient continuing in well doing seek for glory honor and immortalitie and eternal life Rom. 2. 7. They shall then finde it according to the promise of the Lord Christ Math. 7. 7. Seek and ye shall finde c. such shall finde and enjoy immortalitie and everlasting life This life to wit eternal life of the saints of God it is hid with Christ in God and when he that is their life so shall appear then shall they also appear with him in that state of glory and immortality and life eternal As it is written the gift of God is eternal life It shall be given them then as our Lord sayth concerning his sheep that hear his voice he gives them eternal life and they shall never perish or be lost Rom. 6. 22. 23. Ioh. 10. 27. 28. they shall be immortal then though now for the present they be mortal and dying dayly The Angelical part or spirit in man simply considered in it self and barely minded so seemeth not to be reckoned as eternal life in the scriptures without the further gift of God and grace of the saviour together with all those adjuncts of blessedness and happiness adjoyned as attendants making up the whole for that the wicked as they have such angelical spirits in their day here