speak of the Resurrection of the Body I assert that there shall not only be rais'd the same specifical but the same numerical Body not only the same Body for kind but for substance not that I affirm that every individual Particle that compos'd the Body when it died shall be rais'd up again but so much of the Matter that made up the necessary constituent parts of it Now of what is necessary I think an ingenious Modern gives a very probable account his words are these By necessary Dr. Hody Parts says he I mean those which remain after the utmost degree of Maceration without which the Body would not be integral but imperfect And these are chiefly the Bones the Skin the Nerves the Tendons the Ligaments and the substance of the several Vessels As long as these and all that are necessary to Life remain the Body is truly whole tho never so much macerated But before I go off from this Head I would make a remark upon one Phrase which is within the compass of my Text and I think proves the Identity of the dying and rising Body and that is Death's being set forth by Sleep which would be very improper if the very Bodies that sleep in Jesus and are dead should not be awaken'd and reviv'd in the morning of the Resurrection There is but one thing more I shall stay to mention farther to support this important Article and 't is the instance given by the Apostle of those that shall be alive at Christ's second coming 1 Cor. 15. 51. he tells us they shall not all sleep but they shall all be chang'd Now this Change must refer to the qualities of their Bodies not to the substance of 'em we cannot imagine that by being chang'd he means that the whole substance of their Bodies should be annihilated and that they shall have quite new Bodies form'd out of other matter Moreover let me observe that should those very Bodies be destroy'd and new ones united to those Souls the destruction of the Body and the breach of the union would be Death whereas the Apostle asserts all shall not die So that upon the whole I argue thus That if those Persons that are found alive at Christ's second coming shall retain their old Bodies only with new Qualities then those that are rais'd from the Dead shall have the same Bodies which were formerly join'd to their Souls only with the addition of new Qualities For what reason can any man assign that the Saints that shall be alive when Christ shall come to judg the World should be caught up into the Air with their old Bodies only ennobled and refin'd and those that died should have Bodies intirely new and such as were never united to their Souls before such as never were the Instruments either of sinning or serving of God Now the Apostle do's not barely tell us of the Saints being brought with God our Saviour at his appearing and Kingdom which implys their Resurrection but he shews that their Resurrection depends upon the Death and Resurrection of our Blessed Saviour for says he If we believe that Jesus dy'd and rose again even so them also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him Heb. 2. 14. First Upon his death for thrô death Christ hath destroy'd him that had the power of Death that is the Devil When men were doom'd to death for the breach of the Law Christ changed conditions with 'em and offer'd up his precious 1 Pet. 1. 19. Blood as a Ransom to God for 'em so that our Saviour was victorious in dying and conquer'd as he expir'd on the infamous Tree He bruis'd the head of the old Serpent and silenc'd the Anathema's of a broken Law when in the sharpest Agony and amidst a thousand torments he bowed his head and gave up the Ghost I confess that his own Exaltation and Triumphs began with his Resurrection but if there had not been an infinite satisfying Merit in his Death he had been so fast fetter'd with the bonds of Death that he could never have burst 'em but having offer'd a Sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour to God which was of infinite worth and consideration the pains of death Acts 2. 24. were loos'd for 't was impossible he should be held by 'em naturally impossible because of his irresistible Power as God legally impossible because he had paid the full Demands of the Law and Justice Secondly Our Resurrection from the Grave depends on the Resurrection of Christ Christ's Resurrection from the dead proves that ours is not only possible but infallibly certain And this St. Paul reasons upon in a very convincing manner Now if 1 Cor. 15. 12. Christ be preach'd that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no Resurrection of the dead q. d. How can any deny either the possibility or certainty of the Resurrection of the Body since Christ has evidenced both by his own Resurrection from the Dead Christ has remov'd both the moral and natural impossibility of our revival after death the one by his abundant Merit and the other by his own triumphant Resurrection for having taken away the guilt of our Sins which is the cause of Death Death which is the consequent of Sin shall be destroy'd and swallow'd up in victory And our Lord declares That he is the Resurrection and the Joh. 11. 25. Life he that believeth in me says he tho he were dead yet shall he live q. d. I am and shall be the principal cause of the Resurrection my voice shall break the silence of the Grave and cause those that sleep in the dust to awake and live again He is also said to be the first fruits of them that sleep 1 Cor 15 20 â—â— 22. And says the same Apostle For since by man came death by man came also the Resurrection of the dead For as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive From all which we may collect that our Saviour's Resurrection is the Pledg and Assurance of ours Rom. 8. 11. For if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that rais'd up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you In a word Christ rose from the dead as a publick Person as the Surety and Head of his Church and because he lives we shall live also And being called the first-born among the dead he owns all that have dy'd in the Faith as his Brethren who shall be restor'd to Life according to his excellent Pattern for his Resurrection is not only the Pledg but the Model of ours Therefore we are expresly told That he shall change Phil. 3. 21. our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself How glorious our Lord is in his
Lord. The Eccles 3. 4. wise Man tells us that there is a time to mourn and a time to weep as well as for other things certainly it cannot be an unfit season to weep when God takes away our pious Friends that have been eminently useful and publick Blessings to a Nation And 't is observable how the Prophet complains of the gross Stupidity of the Jews who were insensible under the signs of the Divine Displeasure Isa 57. 1. The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart And we find also that 't is threatened as a Jer. 22. 18. Judgment when any die without being lamented yea 't is said to Job 27. 13 14 15. be the Portion of the wicked from God and the Heritage of the Oppressor that they are cut off and their Widows shall not weep So that upon the whole 't is very evident that St. Paul in my Text has no design in his Disswasive from immoderate Sorrow to recommend the Stoical Apathy for the Rules of the Christian Institution have no tendency to eradicate our Passions but to correct and govern ' em And here I cannot but remark that what has been said casts no favourable Aspect on the Doctrine of the Stoick Philosophers which teaches that Men are to stifle all natural Affections both of Joy and Sorrow that no outward Emoluments should move the Affection of Joy and that a Person should be as easy and as free from the passion of Grief in a violent Paroxism of the Gout or Stone as if he were in perfect health in the midst of the most ravishing Delights 'T is reported of Possidonius a Stoick Philosopher who passed a great part of his Life under very acute Diseases that being visited by Pompey at Rhodes he entertain'd him with a Philosophical Discourse and when his Pains were the most sharp and violent he chid 'em in such Language as this * Nil agis dolor quanquam sis molestus nunquam te esse confitebor malum In vain dost thou assault me Pain tho thou art troublesom thou shalt never force me to confess thou art evil Indeed could the pomp of words abate our painful Sensations there would be some shew of reason in this Philosopher's method but since the contrary is evident by universal Experience 't was an instance of great Pride and the most ridiculous Folly And 't is worth remarking that the greatest Masters in this Philosophy when they fell into sharp Adversity suddenly sunk into such deep Despair and Impatience that they laid violent hands upon themselves I need only name Cato and Brutus the most eminent among 'em who as one observes professing themselves to be wise in their Speculations became Fools in Practice and were confounded with all their Philosophy when they should have made use of it Which brings to my mind a Passage I have read of Seneca who was not a little inclin'd to the Stoick Philosophy who tells us that at the death of his dear Friend Annaeus Serenus he * Epist 63. Inter exempla eorum fui quos dolor vicit was found of the number of those whom Grief overcame Upon which one remarks That Nature was too strong for his Philosophy tho at other times none outbraves the Misfortunes of Life or the Terrors of Death at a higher rate as if they had not the least power to move his wise Man So that upon the whole we see the insufficiency of Philosophick Axioms to support a Mind overwhelm'd with Sorrow but that which Philosophy has vainly attempted Divine Revelation has fully compleated and finish'd as will be evident when I consider the Arguments St. Paul uses in the Text to disswade from mourning as those that have no hope But before I touch upon them I must be a little more particular in this other matter I have already told you what kind of Sorrow for the dead the Scripture indulges but that which is without hope you see our Text condemns Now our mourning may fall under this Character First When 't is excessive in the measure and degree Secondly In the length and continuance First When 't is excessive in the measure and degree as it may be deem'd 1. When our Sorrows are vented in impatient Murmurs and indecent Reflections upon the Conduct of Divine Providence as if when our Friends are taken from our Society God had done an unjust an unmerciful or an unwise Act. This is very criminal for hereby we affront him in his moral Perfections and seem to dispute with him about the Rights of his Godhead forgetting that he is our absolute Soveraign and has an original and unalienable Right in us and ours For as it was merely an Act of his choice to give us a Being all his subsequent Bounties can have no other Original than his own good pleasure And since he bestows his Favours upon us without our merit he may justly when he pleases recal 'em without our leave for his fundamental right in us and our Friends skreens him from the least shadow of Injustice when by Death he removes them from us So that if while we are mourning for our deceas'd Friends we permit our Passions to mutiny so as to utter any unbecoming Reflections on the Skilfulness of the Divine Hand 't is a strong evidence that our Sorrows are too excessive And this kind of Excess and Impatience seems to have overcome David when in the most mournful Accents and in an uncommon strain he laments the tragical end of his rebellious Son Absalom as the Text informs us The King was much mov'd and went 2 Sam. 18. 33. up to the Chamber over the Gate and wept and as he went thus he said O my Son Absalom my Son my Son Absalom would God I had died for thee O Absalom my Son my Son But 2. We sorrow like those without hope when our Grief does so ruffle our Minds and enfeeble our Bodies as to render us uncapable to discharge the special Duties of our Relation and Place and to exercise those Graces which are eminently useful and very necessary to be called forth into act in a time of solemn mourning and deep sadness If the Mind be greatly pensive and thrown into a convulsive Agony and do long continue so sadness and disorder will appear in the Countenance for the Laws of Union betwixt Body and Soul are so strict that 't is impossible for the Faculties of the Mind to be indispos'd but the Organs of the Body will be sensible of it and suffer by it For as any injury done to the Body occasions painful Sensations in the Mind so a violent hurry of the Powers and Passions of the Soul will soon abate the strength of the Body which while it declines and languishes increases the disorder of the Spirit so that by an unaccountable Sympathy they become partners in each others Sorrows and mutually hinder the performance of holy Duties and the exercise of Faith Hope and Patience for
7. of our Bodies return to God that gave 'em and are fix'd in a state of Happiness or Misery Had not the Apostle believ'd this we cannot imagine that he would have esteem'd Death to be gain to him or that he would have been in any strait to determine and fix his choice for present Death or longer Life for the latter would have been much more eligible if he had believ'd that his Soul at death would have been as insensible and unactive as his Body and no doubt but he would rather have desir'd to continue in this World where he had enjoy'd Communion with Christ and often seen him by a steddy eye of Faith than to be hurried out of it by Death and render'd utterly incapable of any enjoyment of his Redeemer till the Resurrection But 't is yet more evident from another Expression of our Apostle that he was very far from the Opinion or rather Dream of the Soul 's sleeping with the Body till the Resurrection His words are these We 2 Cor. 5. 8. are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. q. d. We have good courage and are well arm'd against the fears of Death being well assur'd that we shall have upon our Dissolution an immediate admittance into the Presence of our glorified Lord for the Apostle supposes not only that the Soul is capable of existing while separated from the Body and of exercising her Faculties and Powers in such a state but that so soon as she leaves the Body she shall enter into the presence of Christ and behold his Glory But I pass on and shall briefly represent the force of the Apostle's Arguments against immoderate Sorrow for the dead The first of which is taken from the nature of their Death who die in the Lord 't is describ'd by the soft Character of a Sleep which as you have heard refers only to the Body Now the death of the Righteous may be thus set forth on the following accounts 1. Because the Body is then eased of all its Pains and freed from all Fatigue and Toil to which it was expos'd while animated with the Soul And therefore as Death is compar'd to Sleep so the Grave is compar'd Isa 57. 2. to a Bed where the righteous are said to rest In this Life the best of Men are frequently made uneasy by acute Distempers and corroding Pains and Death is frequently sought for because Life is a burden You that have frequently visited the Chambers of the sick cannot surely have forgotten the sighs of those Prisoners who have groan'd upon Beds of Down as if every part of their Bodies had been violently extended on a Rack It would be endless to reckon up the vast number of Diseases that affect the Children of God in this World for being tainted with original Sin as well as the vilest of the People they may expect the same Distempers and tho they tarry here but a few days they are ordinarily full of trouble and if their Bodies are not often indispos'd yet thro the Malice of Enemies and the Miseries and Unkindnesses of their Friends they are frequently made to bow towards the Grave before they drop into it For indeed the best of our earthly Comforts have their hidden stings but they shall give us no more pain and uneasiness after we are fallen asleep in Job 3. 17 18. Jesus For in the Grave the wicked cease from troubling there the weary be at rest there the Prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the Oppressor 2. In Sleep no labour is expected from the Body so when Believers are overtaken with a mortal slumber Christ expects no Service from their Bodies While the Soul continues united to the Body we are oblig'd to yield the Members of the one as well as the Faculties of the other Rom. 6. 13. as Instruments of Righteousness unto God but in a state of separation there is expected neither Service nor Suffering from the Body So that while we continue on the Stage of this World the Advice of the wise Man is very proper Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do Eccles 9. 10. it with thy might for there is no Work nor Device nor Knowledg nor Wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest All our vital and animal Operations shall cease when our Spirits return to God and our Bodies are reduc'd to Dust The one is fix'd in an unalterable state of Happiness or Misery and the other put into an incapacity for Action A middle place betwixt Heaven and Hell for departed Spirits is a groundless Imagination for it could not be said with truth that such as die in the Lord rest from Rev. 14. 13. their Labours if they were to pass into a refining Fire equally tormenting in degree but not in duration with that of Hell as those of the Roman Faction assert Therefore let us rather attend to the words of our Lord and follow Joh. 9. 4. his Example I must work the Works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no Man can work 3. Death to the Righteous is disarm'd of its sting and being alter'd in its nature it may sutably be set forth by the notion of Sleep St. Paul tells us that 1 Cor. 15. 56. the sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law Death receives its destroying Power from Sin and Sin from the Law Sin being a Transgression of the Law which discovers its odious nature and denounces Damnation for it But Death approaches Believers without its sting Christ having yielded an indefective Obedience to the Law and suffer'd the penalty of it in the room and stead of Believers Hence says the Apostle There is therefore now no condemnation Rom. 8. 1. to them which are in Christ Jesus Christ hath redeem'd 'em from the Curse Gal. 3. 13. of the Law being made a Curse for ' em And the Apostle represents Believers as triumphing over Death in such terms as these O Death where is thy Sting O Grave 1 Cor. 15. 55 57. where is thy Victory Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Christ has remov'd the scandal of Death by dying and perfum'd the Grave by lying in it and passing through it 4. The Death of the Righteous is compar'd to a Sleep on the account of what shall follow thereupon for as men do awake after Sleep so they shall revive after Death as we are assur'd by a very remarkable Prophecy Hos 13. 14. and Promise I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave I will redeem them from Death O Death I will be thy Plagues O Grave I will be thy Destruction repentance shall be hid from mine eyes In which words we must consider the Prophet as personating of Christ and uttering the Triumphs of a mighty Conqueror which contain a glorious Promise
exalted humane Nature cannot fully be represented by the most graceful turns of Language and lofty figures of Speech therefore we must be content with very imperfect Idea's of his Glory till we have the happiness to see him as he is Yet we have enough reveal'd concerning it to invigorate our desires and raise our wonder His eyes are represented Rev. 1. 15. like a flame of fire his voice as the sound of many waters his feet like to fine brass as if they burn'd in a furnace his countenance as the Sun shining in its full strength Now after this bright Pattern shall the Bodies of the Saints be form'd in the Resurrection O what proportion of Parts what agreeableness of Colour how radiant an Air shall sit upon their Countenance Mark 1◠43 〈…〉 for they shall shine with a lustre exceeding the brightness of all the Lamps of Heaven The Apostle also assures us that tho they are sown natural they shall be rais'd spiritual Bodies i. e. the Matter of 'em shall be exalted and improv'd to an extraordinary degree of fineness for Matter is properly enough said to be spiritual when 't is much refin'd And how great a difference may we observe in material things for instance betwixt the animal Spirits in the Brain and the grosser parts of the Body betwixt a lump of Clay and the refin'd matter of the Air betwixt the Earth and the Sun that shines upon it yet all material Substances from which we may collect what Christ can do to exalt and refine our bodies in the Resurrection But farther they may be called Spiritual in that they will be much better fitted to serve our Spirits than they are now Here our Bodies are oftentimes a clog and a hindrance to us but in the Resurrection they shall be like Wings to our Souls or to use the Phrase of the Antients They shall be as a Celestial Chariot to the Soul they shall neither be the cause of our ignorance nor of our sinning as they are now they shall not hinder but rather help forward our Devotions In a word they shall never suffer nor die more for they shall be rais'd immortal and incorruptible the one respects a deliverance from Death the other a freedom from Diseases so that Incorruptibility is an addition to the happiness of immortal Creatures for if Persons should never die yet if they were often diseased their happiness would be incompleat but the rais'd Bodies of the Saints shall never know any more sorrow sickness or death it shall not be in the power of any Creature to disorder the curious Contexture of the rais'd Bodys Mortality then will be swallowed up of Life This corruptible shall 1 Cor. 4 15 53. put on incorruption and this mortal immortality Thirdly The Saints being brought with Christ at his second coming does not only suppose their Resurrection but that with their rais'd Bodys they shall ascend up into the Air. And so much the Apostle asserts a little 1 Thess 15 17. after my Text For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep For we shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Whether those that are rais'd from the dead and those that shall be chang'd who never died shall be caught up into the Air by the immediate attractive Power of Christ or by the ministry of Angels I will not determine but that they shall ascend in order to their coming with him is beyond all dispute and probably their Bodies may be so refin'd that they may be capable of treading Air and mounting upwards as easily as they now move upon the Earth Fourthly Being brought with Christ at his second coming shall be to illustrate the Glory of our incarnate God and to advance the happiness of his redeemed ones They shall attend their Lord's Triumph and make up a part of his magnificent Retinue for as he shall come to be admir'd 2 Thess 1. 10. in all those that believe so they shall all share in his Glory they will then know by experience what riches of Glory is comprehended in that Promise and Privilege of being Heirs of God and joint Heirs with Jesus Christ O what a glorious Procession will this be through the Air when he that suffered upon the infamous Tree shall appear at the head of so long and bright a Train when all that the Father gave to him shall appear with glittering Crowns and spreading Palms the Rewards of Grace and the Tokens of Victory I proceed now to make some improvement of what I have said And First This Doctrine that I have deliver'd discovers to us the excellency of the Christian Institution Life and Immortality is brought to light by the Gospel All that has been said by Heathen Poets and Philosophers concerning a Future State was but obscure Conjecture to the shining Revelation of the Gospel They understood not that the sting of Death was remov'd by the sufferings of the Redeemer or that the Body should be rais'd with a transcendent Lustre and Dignity to receive a Reward with the Soul Yea under the Mosaick Oeconomy a future State was but obscurely reveal'd but under the Dispensation of the Gospel we have a most charming Landskip of Heaven and the way to obtain it is set in the most clear and certain light Secondly This Doctrine may be improv'd to guard good men against the slavish fears of Death Why should the Righteous be afraid to repose upon a bed of dust Death is but a sleep from which we shall be awaken'd in the morning of the Resurrection and Christ as you have heard hath disarm'd Death of its Sting and alter'd it in its very nature to the Righteous I confess I do not wonder that the wicked and profane are afraid of Death for they know it puts a period to their Pleasures and begins their Torments it snatches them from the joys of Life and fixes 'em under the agonies of the second Death So that some not only fear Death it self but the very name of it is terrible which occasion'd a Prince that I have read of to forbid the mention of it in all his Court Yea so enslav'd are some by the fear of Death that they conceive an abhorrence at the sight of a Coffin the dress of Mourners and the solemnities of a Funeral which as one says are only the Outguards that make up the Retinue of the King of Terrors 'T is reported of Alexander who had often encounter'd the numerous Armies of the Asian Monarchs and despis'd the terror of Battels yet when he was seiz'd with a mortal Disease in Babylon he was so afraid of Death that his Court was fill'd with Diviners and Victims and all the little arts of Superstition were us d to preserve his Life